AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Sanderson Loses No-Hitter, Wins Game

The former boss, George Steinbrenner wanted the New York Yankees to go after Darryl Strawberry and Bo Jackson. There is still talk of going after Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla, the unhappy Pittsburgh Pirates.

But, when the season opened, the main new face was veteran right-hander Scott Sanderson.

If his debut as a Yankee is an indication, they didn’t do too bad for starters.

Sanderson had a no-hitter for eight innings Wednesday at Detroit and settled for a 4-0 victory over the Tigers.

Tony Phillips opened the ninth inning with a double that deflected off the glove of right-fielder Jesse Barfield and hit the right-field screen. With the no-hitter spoiled on a cold day, Sanderson gave way to Greg Cadaret, who completed the one-hitter.

Sanderson, 34, won 17 games for Oakland last season and was purchased by the Yankees. He began his career with Montreal in 1978.

The cold weather forced Sanderson to throw mainly fastballs and he didn’t throw a breaking pitch until the fifth inning.

“I grew up around Chicago and I’ve pitched in plenty of cold weather,” Sanderson said. “It (the no-hitter) hit me after the first inning. I thought about it after every inning. I’m not kidding. Every pitcher knows whether he’s given up a hit.

“I wasn’t supposed to go as far as I did, but Stump (Manager Merrill) let me stay in there. As long as I had a no-hitter going I wanted to stay in there. But I was tired.”

Barfield appeared to have trouble with Phillips’ drive on the first pitch of the ninth.

“The ball hit off the tip of my glove,” the right fielder said. “It’s easier to hit than field in the wind. It was a tough play all the way around. Even without the wind it would have been a tough play with the sun.”

It would have been the first no-hitter in Tiger Stadium, maybe the best hitter’s park in the majors, in 18 years. Not surprisingly, it was last done by Nolan Ryan.

It would also have been the Yankees’ first winning no-hitter since 1983 when Dave Righetti pitched one against Boston. Andy Hawkins pitched a no-hitter last July 1 against Chicago, but lost.

Last season there was a record nine no-hitters pitched. Is this to be another similar season? The season is three days old and already, Sanderson and Dennis Martinez have flirted with gems.

Barfield’s two-run double off Walt Terrell in the sixth gave the Yankees all the offense they needed.

The temperature was in the low 40s, holding attendance to 7,842.

Minnesota 4, Oakland 1--The Twins not only kept Rickey Henderson from stealing a base and tying Lou Brock’s record, they beat Bob Welch at Oakland.

Allan Anderson, an 18-game loser last season, held the Athletics to two hits in eight innings. Welch, who had a 27-6 record last year and won the Cy Young Award, gave up four runs, three earned and six hits in going the distance.

Henderson, who needs one steal to reach 938, Brock’s record, was hitless in three at-bats, with a run batted in on a ground out.

He walked in the fourth, and took second on an infield out, but when he took too large a lead, Anderson picked him off.

Chili Davis, who homered Tuesday night, singled in two runs for the Twins.

Kansas City 1, Cleveland 0--Pitching prevailed on a cold day at Kansas City.

Kevin Appier, impressive as a rookie last season, pitched eight shutout innings and Danny Tartabull singled in the only run in the third inning.

Charles Nagy of the Indians was almost as sharp as Appier. But Kevin Seitzer walked in the third, went to third on George Brett’s single and came home on Tartabull’s hit.

Chicago 2, Baltimore 0--The White Sox are getting some good pitching as well. Greg Hibbard held the Orioles to three hits in eight innings and Bobby Thigpen pitched a hitless ninth for his first save.

Scott Fletcher’s two-run double in the fifth ended a scoreless battle between Hibbard and Jose Mesa.

Toronto 5, Boston 3--The bases weren’t full, the way Pat Tabler likes it, but he made do with two on in the eighth inning.

Tabler came up with the Blue Jays trailing, 3-2, and hit his first home run of the season to give the Blue Jays the victory at the SkyDome.

Mike Timlin pitched a scoreless eighth inning to get his first major league victory. Tom Henke gave up two hits in the ninth, but picked up his second save of the young season.

Milwaukee 6, Texas 0--Chris Bosio, a bust last season when he won only four games, is still a good April pitcher.

Bosio gave up just four singles in eight innings at Arlington, Tex., to improve his record in the first month of the season to 14-2. Lifetime he is only 38-46.

Bill Spiers and Greg Vaughn hit home runs as the Brewers began the season with two victories in a row over the Rangers.