American League Roundup : No Respect: Orioles Extend Mastery Over Ryan to Eight Straight, 5-2

The Baltimore Orioles simply refuse to be intimidated by the Texas Rangers’ Nolan Ryan.

Even when they are in a slump, the Orioles perk up when Ryan takes the mound. Such was the case Saturday night at Baltimore.

The Orioles took advantage of the 42-year-old right-hander’s wildness to gain a 5-2 victory and, temporarily, at least, halt their slide in the East.

Their third victory in their last 17 games enabled the Orioles to open their lead over Cleveland to 2 1/2 games. The Orioles are 56-52; every other team in the division is below .500.

Ryan (12-7), absent from the league for the last decade, hasn’t beaten the Orioles since early in the 1976 season. He is 0-8 in his last 11 starts against Baltimore and 0-7 in his last eight starts at Memorial Stadium.

In his previous start Aug. 2, Ryan beat Milwaukee, 9-3, and didn’t walk a batter. But in this one he went seven innings, gave up six hits and all five runs. He walked six and struck out eight.

The two Oriole runs in the first inning were more typical of the old Ryan. A single, a walk, a double steal and two ground outs gave Baltimore a lead it never relinquished.

Ryan, the lifetime leader in walks (2,501) and strikeouts (4,973), threw 130 pitches before departing.

Bob Milacki (6-9) had not won in a month, but he pitched well into the ninth where Gregg Olson came on to get the last two outs for the save.

Before the game the Orioles learned that catcher Mickey Tettleton will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and will be out for at least three weeks. Tettleton has hit 22 home runs.

Seattle 11, Oakland 5--Darnell Coles hit two home runs, one of them a grand slam, at Seattle, and the Mariners prevented the Athletics from regaining first place in the West.

The A’s, who trail the Angels by half a game, built a 4-0 lead behind 14-game winner Mike Moore. Coles’ homer with the bases loaded tied it in the third.

Mike Kingrey homered in the fifth to put Seattle ahead to stay, and Scott Bankhead won hisclub-record ninth victory in a row.

Bankhead (11-4) hasn’t lost in 14 starts since May 17.

New York 5, Toronto 4--A A two-run pinch home run by Ken Phelps off right-handed reliever Duane Ward in the eighth inning brought the Yankees from behind.

Ordinarily, the Blue Jays would have brought in left-hander David Wells. But Wells wasn’t available; Friday night he walked in his sleep and put his left hand through a window. He needed five stitches to close a wound in his thumb and will be out for three or four days.

In the bottom of the eighth, left fielder Mel Hall, who has the weakest arm of any Yankee outfielder, threw out Tony Fernandez at the plate.

Fernandez, who had tripled, tried to score on Kelly Gruber’s fly ball. Hall threw the ball on the fly to catcher Don Slaught, who tagged out Fernandez.

“I’ve never had a real strong arm,” Hall said. “I try to make up for it by accuracy. This time I threw a strike.”

Boston 10, Cleveland 2--Manager Joe Morgan had a hunch his Red Sox were about to come out of their hitting slump. But he didn’t expect it to happen the way it did at Boston.

Three players who seldom hit home runs powered a 14-hit attack that enabled Mike Smithson to improve to 6-9.

Danny Heep hit his third homer of the season and two outs later in the sixth inning, Jody Reed hit his first. Then, Wade Boggs began the seventh with his third home run. The Red Sox scored six more runs in the inning as Luis Rivera doubled and Randy Kutcher tripled, both with the bases loaded.

“It was time to get back on the track after letting one with Baltimore get away and losing two to these guys,” Morgan said.

Chicago 7, Detroit 6--Carlton Fisk got four hits and drove in four runs, lifting the White Sox to their 13th Comiskey Park victory in a row.

Eric King (5-8), obtained from the Tigers in a preseason trade, had a 7-1 lead and was working on a three-hitter when Lou Whitaker opened the seventh with his 24th home run.

Bobby Thigpen barely got his 24th save. He gave up a two-run triple to Doug Strange in the eighth and the Tigers pulled to within one on Whitaker’s sacrifice fly in the ninth.

Doyle Alexander (5-12) gave up 12 hits and all of the White Sox runs in 5 2/3 innings. He haslost seven of his last eight decisions.

Minnesota 6, Kansas City 4--Kent Hrbek hit a three-run home run with two out in the seventh inning at Minneapolis as the Twins’ rallied from a 4-0 deficit.

The home run came off Jeff Montgomery, who had an 0.85 earned-run average in his previous 65 innings of relief dating to April 14.