American League Roundup : Stieb Gets Fifth One-Hitter for Blue Jays

Not even Nolan Ryan has had a shot at as many no-hitters in the last year as Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Three times in less than a year the veteran right-hander has been within one out of pitching a no-hitter, only to lose his bid. Earlier this month he was pitching a perfect game when Roberto Kelly of the New York Yankees spoiled it with a double with two out in the ninth.

The suspense didn’t last that long Saturday at Toronto. Robin Yount of the Milwaukee Brewers beat out a sharp grounder with two out in the sixth inning, the only hit off Stieb as the Blue Jays won, 7-0, to remain 1 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East.

It was the fifth one-hitter for Stieb, who has never pitched a no-hitter.

Mookie Wilson, who has batted .465 in 23 games since the Blue Jays obtained him in a trade with the New York Mets, went four for five, scored twice and drove in a run.

In his last two starts last season, Stieb (13-8) retired 26 batters before giving up a hit. On Sept. 24, Julio Franco, then with Cleveland, got a bad-hop single and on Sept. 30 Jim Traber of Baltimore hit a bloop single.

Saturday, third baseman Kelly Gruber dived to his right for Yount’s drive but could only knock it down.

“I didn’t even see the play,” Stieb said. “It was one of the few pitches I followed through on and didn’t see the result. But it didn’t bother me at all. I don’t worry about no-hitters any more. I don’t mind giving up the hits as long as they don’t score the runs.”

It was his third complete game of the season. He walked four and struck out five as the Blue Jays won their fifth in a row. It was the fifth loss in a row for the Brewers, who fell 5 1/2 games back.

The Brewers’ Teddy Higuera (9-5), after giving up six runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings and losing for the first time in his last eight starts, complained of a shoulder problem.

Baltimore 6, New York 4--When Syd Thrift was general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, he had a surplus of outfielders and he traded Joe Orsulak to Baltimore for a couple of minor leaguers.

Now that Thrift holds the same job with the Yankees, Orsulak has come back to haunt him.

Orsulak, with only 14 home runs in 1,593 at-bats, hit two off Walt Terrell (2-4) at New York and gave the Orioles their third victory in four games with the Yankees.

Orsulak went three for three and drove in three runs.

With the bases loaded in the eighth, Oriole Mark Williamson got two outs to save it for Dave Johnson (5-2).

Boston 5, Detroit 2--Roger Clemens (13-9) survived a shaky start at Boston.

Clemens loaded the bases in the first inning and escaped. He gave up two runs in the second inning but after that gave up only three hits in six innings. Lee Smith pitched the ninth.

Even with the victory, Clemens is 16-16 since he suffered a rib cage injury July 31, 1988.

Kansas City 2, Oakland 0--Bret Saberhagen pitched a four-hitter at Kansas City for his seventh victory in a row and the sizzling Royals moved to within 2 1/2 games of first place in the West.

Willie Wilson gave Saberhagen (16-5) all the support he needed when he hit his first home run batting right-handed in two years in the first inning.

The Royals scored in the ninth without a hit. Todd Burns walked George Brett and Bo Jackson before Jim Eisenreich sacrificed. While trying to give Danny Tartabull an intentional walk, Burns made a wild pitch, Brett scoring.

Minnesota 1, Seattle 0--David West held the Mariners to four hits in 7 2/3 innings as the Twins won at Minneapolis.

The Mariners have lost 10 in a row, their last victory coming in the game that Charlie Hough held them to one hit.

Twin Manager Tom Kelly said the Mets, who traded West to the Twins in the deal for Frank Viola, allowed West’s mechanics to get messed up.

Chicago 4, Cleveland 3--Ivan Calderon had two hits and two RBIs as the White Sox won at Cleveland.

ONE-HITTERS IN 1989

DATE PITCHER HIS TEAM OPP./SITE April 10 Dave Stieb Toronto at New York April 10 Bruce Hurst San Diego Atlanta at San Diego April 23 Nolan Ryan Texas at Toronto April 28 Kirk McCaskill Angels Toronto at Anaheim May 4 John Farrell Cleveland Kansas City at Cleveland May 16 Randy Kramer Pittsburgh at Cincinnati May 19 Mike Scott Houston Pittsburgh at Houston May 26 Chuck Finley Angels at Boston June 3 Nolan Ryan Texas at Seattle Aug. 15 *Charlie Hough Texas at Seattle Aug. 26 Dave Stieb Toronto Milwaukee at Toronto

DATE WHO GOT HIT April 10 Jamie Quirk April 10 Lonnie Smith April 23 Nelson Liriano April 28 Nelson Liriano May 4 Kevin Seitzer May 16 Ron Oester May 19 Glenn Wilson May 26 Jody Reed June 3 Harold Reynolds Aug. 15 Harold Reynolds Aug. 26 Robin Yount

* Lost the game, 2-0.