BASEBALL PLAYOFFS : Tigers Are Down, 2-0, but Twins Are on Road

No, there is no panic in Detroit. Disbelief, maybe. Concern, certainly. But on the day after the Tigers were dealt a surprising 0-2 deficit in the American League playoffs, not one Detroit player or coach was spotted on the ledge of the roof at Tiger Stadium.

“I don’t think I’ll shoot myself,” Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson said. “I don’t think you’ll be reading about my suicide. We’re down, 0-2, and we’re not happy, but everything is safe in our camp.”

There is substantial reason for that line of thinking.

After getting an earful--and their hands full--in Games 1 and 2 in Minnesota, the Tigers now own the campsite for Games 3, 4 and, possibly, 5. At last, Detroit is beyond Thunderdome, and the Twins, road warriors of the worst kind, woke up Friday on the wrong side of the psychological advantage.

The Twins were baseball’s leading split personalities in 1987--a dynasty at home and a disaster away. Counting the playoffs, Minnesota is 58-25 at home and 29-52 on foreign fields. In the major leagues this season, only four clubs--San Diego, Boston, Atlanta and Cleveland--had poorer road records.

Detroit, meanwhile, compiled the second-best home record in baseball--54-27. The Tigers have won their last four games at home, among them a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays last weekend that determined the American League East title.

That sweep concluded one of the more startling turnarounds in major league history. Within a week, Detroit went from 3 1/2 games behind Toronto to 2 games ahead.

“People counted us out when we lost three to Toronto (the previous week),” Tiger relief pitcher Mike Henneman said. “Then, we brought them back to our yard and took care of them here.

“I think we all feel pretty good. This thing’s not over yet.”

The way the Tigers figure, an 0-2 deficit is only three days away from becoming a 3-2 advantage. As the Dodgers and Angels know all too well, 2-0 series leads can evaporate in a hurry.

In the World Series of 1978, the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in Games 1 and 2, then lost the series by losing the next four.

In the American League playoffs of 1982, the Angels took two from the Milwaukee Brewers in Anaheim, then hit the road and hit the skids. The Angels lost the next three games, and in those days--the days of the best-of-five series--three losses meant elimination.

So, it can be done. And for the Tigers, it could very well get started today, with what appears to be a pitching mismatch in Game 3.

That is because Minnesota’s pitching rotation runs only two deep. With Frank Viola and Bert Blyleven already having taken their turns, Twin Manager Tom Kelly is starting rookie Les Straker against Detroit’s 17-game winner, Walt Terrell, and praying.

Straker, who will be pitching on his 28th birthday, spent 10 years in the minor leagues before making Minnesota’s opening-day roster this season. At 8-10 with a 4.37 earned-run average in his first season, Straker has had nearly as many debilitating injuries as big-league victories.

What has bothered Straker? Count ‘em off:

--Right shoulder.

--Right elbow.

--Right ankle.

--Left knee. Blew out cartilage there that wiped out his 1983 season in Waterbury, Conn. Required reconstructive surgery.

--Rib cage. Pulled muscle there late in 1986 spring training. Began season on disabled list.

--Chicken pox. Caught as soon as his ribs healed in ’86. Went back on the disabled list.

--Right middle finger. Still bothered by blisters, which is why he has completed only 1 of 31 starts this year.

“And that may have been the shortest complete game in major league history,” said Tom Mee, Minnesota public relations director. “Les pitched 4 innings. He took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth in Kansas City, gave up a single to Frank White, a double to Jim Eisenreich and a home run to Bo Jackson. One out later, rain stopped the game, and he wound up a 3-2 loser.”

Straker said he had nearly retired after his 1983 knee injury, which would really have left the Twins strapped for Game 3.

“I almost quit then, but my wife talked me into staying with it,” Straker said. “She told me, ‘You only get one shot in this life and you have the ability to play ball.’ I feel like I have a good arm, so why not keep going? It’s all you can do.”

The Twins aren’t expecting much from Straker--six innings and a ballgame still in hand would be nice--but then, they weren’t expecting much from him in April, either. Straker got this far much the same way Minnesota won the AL West title--by attrition.

He began the season as the No. 5 starter in a four-man rotation. Then, incumbents Mike Smithson and Mark Portugal went haywire and wound up in the minor leagues. Veteran replacements Joe Niekro and Steve Carlton were brought in, and both quickly showed their age.

By simply hanging in there and staying healthy, Straker emerged as Kelly’s man on the mound for Game 3.

“He’s very enthused about pitching in a playoff game, and he deserves to,” Kelly said. “He made a lot of improvement over the year--he quickened his delivery to home, he holds the runners well. He gives you all he’s got for six or seven real good innings, and that is what we’re looking for.”

Against Detroit this season, Straker was 0-1 with a 5.79 ERA in 2 starts. He gave up 11 hits and 5 walks in 9 innings.

Terrell, meanwhile, was 17-10 and 4.05 against the American League and 2-1, 4.20 against Minnesota. Then there’s Terrell’s mastery in Tiger Stadium. He’s 13-2 with a 2.41 ERA there this season and has a 32-7 career record in the old park.

Terrell can’t explain his success at Tiger Stadium. Or rather, he wouldn’t.

“I’m not going to discuss that whatsoever,” was Terrell’s cryptic reply when the subject was broached during Friday’s press conference. “It’s absolutely meaningless.”

Maybe to you, Walt. But ask the Twins if their track record in the Metrodome was meaningless in Games 1 and 2.

As Minnesota’s Roy Smalley put it: “We got on a positive roll at home and a negative roll on the road. Have success at something early and it breeds momentum. I think it carries over and gives you a mind set.”

Right now, the Twins have their minds set on winning a playoff that appeared unwinnable Tuesday.