Leiter Throws Toronto a Curve in 6-4 Victory

Al Leiter sat on the Toronto Blue Jay bench Thursday night and couldn’t help himself. He was not exactly rooting against his teammates, and there certainly was no joy in the 6-4 loss to the Angels.

But on this night, there was not a soul who could blame him for praying for his his older brother’s success.

Mark Leiter, who his teammates say has more courage than they can imagine, stymied the Blue Jays’ powerful lineup for seven innings and gained his first victory as an Angel.

It would be easy to say this victory was for Ryan, his 9-month-old son who died 10 days ago, but that, Leiter said, would be trivializing the situation.

“I’m not going to dedicate this game, or any game, to Ryan,” Leiter said. “I’m dedicating the rest of my life to Ryan.

“Ryan is the son I lost. There isn’t a win, a no-hitter or a World Series championship that can make up for the loss of my son.”

Leiter, facing the one American League team he had never defeated, yielded seven hits and three runs (two earned) in seven innings. It appeared that all he would get was a no-decision--leaving with the score tied, 3-3. But he happily watched his teammates come alive in the seventh.

Damion Easley, batting leadoff in place of the slumping Chad Curtis, broke the game open with a two-out homer over the left-field fence. Jim Edmonds, playing first base for the first time in his career after Eduardo Perez suffered a sprained left shoulder, followed with a single to center.

Tim Salmon, who hit a three-run homer in his previous at-bat in the fifth inning, knocked Blue Jay starter Juan Guzman out of the game with a double to left. Chili Davis greeted reliever Woody Williams with a run-scoring double that bounced into the right-field seats for a 6-3 lead.

The Blue Jays still managed to make it interesting for the 21,243 fans at Anaheim Stadium when they loaded the bases with none out in the ninth off reliever Joe Grahe.

Joe Carter, the hero of the 1993 World Series, then hit a sacrifice fly to right field. When Salmon’s throw skipped past shortstop Gary DiSarcina, Paul Molitor aggressively tried to take second. Third baseman Easley picked the ball up, threw to DiSarcina covering the bag, and Molitor was out for the double play. The game ended when John Olerud fouled out to Edmonds.

“Believe me, my brother is pretty special,” said Al Leiter, who also is a starting pitcher. “He’s going to grieve throughout his life. It’s good for him to get on with his life (rather) than dwell on other things. I think his wife (Allison) will need more support, and need help, but I think Mark will be all right.

“Mental things that you go through as a baseball player will help. This is excellent therapy.”

Said Mark: “I wasn’t so sure I did the right thing (pitching) in Milwaukee, but I got a lot of letters from people who said, ‘You’re doing the right thing.’ Now, I’m sure I did.”

These times are still painful, but Leiter never has backed down from a challenge.

He had three shoulder surgeries in 17 months, not even touching a ball for three years, then returned to baseball. He spent nine years in the minors before he made the big leagues to stay. He pitched against the Blue Jays as well as anyone this year.

“That’s not too easy,” Blue Jay hitting coach Larry Hisle said, “because this lineup just doesn’t have any weaknesses.”

It was only a fluke that the Blue Jays were able to score their first two runs in the first inning. Molitor hit a two-out single in the first when Carter came to the plate. He hit a flare that just dropped over DiSarcina’s glove into shallow left field toward the foul line.

Left fielder Bo Jackson tried to pick up the ball, bobbled it, and Molitor kept running until he scored while Carter reached second. Olerud followed with an RBI-single to left.