NOTES

Kelly Gruber set a record in the third inning when he grounded back to pitcher Steve Avery. It was Gruber’s 23rd consecutive hitless at-bat in postseason play.

He had shared the mark with Dal Maxvill of the St. Louis Cardinals, who was 0 for 22 in 1968, and Dave Winfield, who was 0 for 22 for the New York Yankees in 1981.

Blue Jay Manager Cito Gaston said he had not considered dropping Gruber in the batting order.

“He’s done a good job for us defensively, and he hit that big home run in the playoffs,” Gaston said, referring to Gruber’s game-winning, two-run homer against the A’s in Game 2 of the Blue Jays’ playoff series against Oakland.

“Kelly might come out of it here tonight and have a heck of a night,” Gaston added.

Toronto fans were less patient than Gaston. When Gruber made his first trip to the plate, two spectators stood up and displayed placards reading, “Can Cone play third?”

Gaston turned out to be a prophet. Gruber’s solo homer to lead off the Toronto eighth inning tied the score, 2-2.

*

Steven MacLean, a Canadian astronaut scheduled to go into space this week aboard the shuttle Columbia, will take with him a Blue Jay cap and a baseball. Lest he be accused of being a front-runner, team officials said he asked for the souvenirs several months ago.

*

The Blue Jays are said to be interested again in acquiring Angel left-hander Jim Abbott, for whom they offered five players in a midseason deal that was rejected by Angel Senior Vice President Whitey Herzog.

This time, though, they hope to tempt the Angels with a package that includes Sprague, and they are willing to deal before the expansion draft.

Toronto General Manager Pat Gillick, who during the season offered Greg Myers, Rob Ducey, Todd Stottlemyre, Pat Hentgen and Derek Bell in an unsuccessful bid for Abbott, said he hasn’t spoken to Herzog recently.

*

This is actually not the first championship series between teams from Toronto and Atlanta.

In 1962, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost a six-game Junior World Series between triple-A International League division winners to the Atlanta Crackers, a team that included Tim McCarver and Brave dugout coach Jim Beauchamp.

In 1963, Atlanta swept a four-game series from Toronto and repeated that in a 1965 semifinal playoff series.