Rhoden Continues Yankee Arm Problems

Rick Rhoden’s pitching performance for the New York Yankees Friday night in Anaheim Stadium was a slice of his 1988 season.

In 5 innings, Rhoden treated the 44,293 fans--many of them Yankee rooters--to an outing that was chock full of twists, turns, ups and downs.

So far this season, he has been good, bad and so-so in compiling an 7-10 record for a Yankee staff with only one pitcher with 10 or more victories. John Candelaria, former Angel, leads the team with a 13-7 record. And Candelaria is hurting with a torn cartilage in his knee and might miss the rest of the season.

The Yankees’ lack of solid pitching has been a major reason why they trail Detroit and Boston in the American League East. Hitting has not been a problem. The Yankees are third in the league in team batting with a .269 average, trailing only Boston and Minnesota.

But the pitching has been woeful of late. It was again Friday night when Dave Righetti could not close out the Angels in the ninth inning, surrendering a two-out home run to Tony Armas that tied the score 6-6, sending it into extra innings.

It was just a little more agony to an odd season.

Rhoden started out the season on a high note, pitching a complete game April 5 to blank the Minnesota Twins, 8-0. He gave up just three hits and struck out four.

But three losses and a no-decision later, Rhoden was on the disabled list with a strained back muscle.

He stayed there from April 29 to May 21, when he beat the Oakland Athletics with a 3-2, 5-hit performance in 5 innings.

Since then he has traveled an inconsistent road.

A win, a loss, a no-decision, another loss. Rhoden luck has taken a decided turn for the worse, though.

Friday night, he was trying for his first victory since he beat Toronto, 6-3, on July 31. Instead, he got his sixth no-decision of the year.

Rhoden was effective enough to turn in 5 so-so innings and it appeared it might be enough to pick up his eighth victory of the season.

But Rhoden was downright medium at times, too.

By the time he left the game--holding a tenuous lead, 6-5--he had given up 10 hits, walked 1 and been on the verge of squandering a 6-0 lead.

Leading, 6-1, going into the bottom of the fifth, Rhoden gave up two runs on a two-run double down the left-field line by Wally Joyner. But Rhoden managed to wriggle out of the inning without further damage.

He got Armas to ground out to lead off the sixth, but then the roof fell in around him.

Bob Boone, the next batter, doubled to right. Then Dick Schofield followed with his sixth home run of the season.

Rhoden was taken out then, but relievers Neil Allen and Righetti held the Angels at bay until the ninth.