The Journal News from White Plains, New York • Page 29

U.S. loses, 1-0, to Italy Page D5 SECTION ma Horse racing National Baseball Local sports D2 D4 Friday, June 15, 1990 The Journal-News, Rockland County, N.Y. LATEST Luk snci SCORES Wild pitch plates AMERICAN YANKEES 3 Boston 1 go-ahead run ByJimCorbett Milwaukee 8 Baltimore 5 Staff Writer hander Hall bat in the seventh, though left-handed reliever Rob Murphy had just entered the game in place of starter Dana Kiecker. "You could go with Steve Balbo-ni in that situation, but he is a dead pull hitter," said Merrill, who wanted to move Barfield over from second in that instance. "Mel is a pro.

He knew what he had to do and he did his job." Well, sort of. After Hall returned to the dugout, he was greet Please see YANKEES, D4 Detroit 7 Cleveland 3 from the Red Sox to take their first series since May 11-13, have won three of their last four games. They are now 3-5 since Stump Merrill took over as manager last week. It's a start. "We'll take that any time," Merrill said.

"I know it's the first series since I've been here and it feels great." Merrill may not have won more games than he's lost so far in his brief tenure as Yankees manager. But he is winning respect with little moves like the one letting left Reed threw a wild pitch that scored the go-ahead run from third when Reed crossed up catcher John Mar-zano, who was looking for a pitch-out. Reed's pitch sailed all the way to the backstop, enabling Jesse Bar-field, who doubled leading off, to score. Wait. It gets better.

Barfield had moved over on Mel Hall's ground-out after Hall missed a bunt sign, just another lucky break in last night's 3-1 victory over Boston. The Yankees, who won two of three Yanks 3, Red Sox 1 Next: 7:30 p.m., today, vs. Toronto Radio: WABC-770 TV: MSG Jones (1-0) vs. Wells (4-1) Sanders to the minors? Page D4 Yankee Stadium. The American League's worst-hitting team got lucky for a change.

The Yankees caught a huge break when Boston reliever Jerry NEW YORK The Yankees Oakland 2 Chicago 3 were hitting like pitchers again and Toronto 7 Minnesota 1 on the verge of making another no-name pitcher look like a Hall-of-Famer. Seattle 5 Texas 4 Then a funny thing happened in the seventh inning of a tied game at NATIONAL METS at Pittsburgh, rain San Francisco 6 San Diego 2 Atlanta 3 Cincinnati 4 Montreal 3 St. Louis 2 Chicago at Philadelphia, rain NBA PLAYOFFS Portland 90 Detroit 92 HEADLINES LOCAL A Af rOs. Magadan blows top over lineup Teufel got the start vs. a lefty By Ed Christine Staff Writer PITTSBURGH Dave Magadan wasn't real hap- py- Actually, his look was something between disbelief and anger.

Or maybe he was in the transformation stage disbelief turning into anger. Whatever, when Magadan stood outside Buddy Harrelson's office pounding on the door, nobody needed to ask how he was doing. A lot of what follows sounds like something you heard last week. There is one difference what has happened recently. When Magadan looked at the starting lineup yesterday his name wasn't on it.

Tim Teufel's name was. The game was rained out in the bottom of the fourth inning. "There's always doubt in my mind, but I was 90 percent surk I'd play today," Magadan said. "I guess the joke's oi me." So how come he wasn't laughing? Because of what has happened in the seven games since he last, complained about not being in the lineup. Awesome numbers that read ll-for-22, 11 runs and 9 RBI.

During the Cubs series he was 9-for-16, including one stretch of 7-for-7. "I don't think I can do any more to help us win than I have in the last five days," he said. "Maybe go 16-for-16, but even that might not change anything." Maybe he's right. Please see MAGADAN, D4 Rainout means a doubleheader in September Page D4 Laviano signs with Yankees PAL BOXING: Boxers from 1 5 clubs in the metropolitan area will participate in a Police Athletic League boxing show tomorrow night from 6 to 8 p.m. at the PAL's Piermont Center on Hudson Terrace.

There will be approximately 15 bouts. Admission is $3 for adults and free for children under 1 6. RUNNING: The Rockland Lake Runners Association will hold a general meeting and picnic tonight, beginning 6:30 p.m., at Rockland Lake, parking lot No. 1. NATIONAL BOWLING: Butch Soper of Tustin, was the leading bowler after three rounds of the $140,000 Kessler Open at Earl Anthony's Dublin (Calif.) Bowl with 4,085 pins.

Mark Baker of Huntington Beach, was second at 3,965. Former West Nyack resident Ernie Schlegel, now of Vancouver, was 12th at 3,837. Earl Anthony, of Cornelius, finished 35th at 3,734 and earned $1 ,000. The top 24 advance. WEISS WATCH Associated Press Mark Aguirre gets caught between Portland's Kevin Duckworth (left) and Jerome Kersey during last night's game, won by Detroit, 92-90.

imcoire fair the Pistons NBA FINALS Walter Weiss, a 26-year-old native of Suffern, is a shortstop for the Oakland Athletics. Here is how Weiss performed last night: Score: Chicago 3, Oakland 2 At the plate: 2-for-4. In the field: No errors. By Pete Caldera Staff Writer The party could be heard on the other end of the line, and why not? There was something big to celebrate: Frankie is a Yankee. In the living room of his family's Spring Valley home yesterday, Frank Laviano signed his name to a professional baseball contract with the New York Yankees, and part of a childhood dream came true.

"I'm a die-hard Yankee fan, so there were a lot of emotional ties to it as well," Laviano said. "It's a nice ending to a hectic month." The 20-year old right-handed pitcher was shocked to learn he hadn't been selected in the June amateur draft, especially after seven teams, including the Yanks, had expressed interest. "I had filled out cards with the Major League Scouting Bureau, and I had a good feeling going into the draft that something would happen," he said. "It was a blow to my ego more than anything else." Then Yankee scout Jeff Taylor called. "He asked if I had heard from anybody and I told him that nothing happened, and then he asked me if I was still interested in playing professional ball," said Laviano.

"He basically thought that I was a draftable kid, and he was surprised, but he told me that some people slip through the cracks now and then, and he made me a really good offer what someone drafted anywhere from about the 12th to the 15th round would make." Please see LAVIANO, back page LOOKING BACK own last bow, missing their last three shots, including Terry Porter's desperation jumper from the corner at the buzzer. Porter also threw the ball out of bounds with the score tied at 90, setting up Detroit's winning play. "We had control of the game and the last two minutes you've got to give Detroit tremendous credit. They made every shot they had to make," Portland coach Rick Adelman said. "I told the team afterwards, I don't think I've ever been prouder of any situation I've ever been involved in than this team.

I think we're just starting to build something here. What we want to do is come back here next year and respond to this." It was hard to figure out what was most impressive for the Pistons, who packed achievement upon achievement. They became the first team to win the Please see PISTONS, DS Detroit repeats as league champ By Mike Lepresti Gannett News Service PORTLAND, Ore. Now the Detroit Pistons belong to history. Putting a legendary comeback on a legendary season, the Pistons took a leap to true greatness last night, coming from seven points back with 2:00 left to beat Portland 92-90 on Vinnie Johnson's 18-foot jumper with .7 seconds left to win their second straight NBA championship, four games to one.

"It's much sweeter (than last year) because we had our work cut out for us," said Pistons guard Isiah Thomas, who was the series' Most Valuable Player. "Everybody doubted us all season long. We're one of only three teams in history (to repeat). This is a special team." Detroit coach Chuck Daly said, "I'm so happy because we worked so hard and I wanted this one more than the other two times (in '88 and '89). I don't know why." Johnson's basket over a lunging Jerome Kersey capped off a furious rally for Detroit, which trailed 90-83 with 2:00 left.

Johnson, who had one point going into the fourth period but ended with 16, hit three baskets to lead the comeback. Thomas tied it with a jumper with 36.5 seconds left. "I do it a lot on the court when it doesn't count, but I've never been in that situation before, as far as winning a championship," Johnson said of his winning shot. "It felt good." The Blazers contributed to their 55 years ago today in Rockland County: The Haverstraw Purple Leafs held onto first place in the Hudson Valley Baseball League by beating the Piermont A.C., 5-4, as Lou Krause and Its Prudente had two hits each and Henry Siler pitched the victory. INSIDE It takes time getting oriented to Japanese baseball TP ii i ii inn ni.i ii 1 i By a longshot, he is not the first American playing professional baseball in Japan to come away with sentiment such as this.

Like many hefore him. Dis- Associated Press ence. But on the field It's been tough adapting, not just to the new pitchers or the parks, but to a whole new code of diamond ethics. The rules are the same but the game is different. "Players in the U.S.

can say what they feel," said Distefano. "Here you're told what to do." For example? Distefano has lots. "We were playing the Tokyo Giants and in the seventh inning we made a double switch and I came out of the game," Distefano said. "So I showered and watched the rest of the game in the clubhouse. "Then the next day in the team meeting I was told by the manager, Please see DISTEFANO, D5 'They're not worried so much with if you won or lost.

They're worried about your reputation about how you look doing it. If your technique is good and you lose, then it's as good as if you Benny Distefano year old Thiells resident expected. "It's different," he said over the phone from his current residence in Nagoya. "The language barrier isn't the problem, we have an interpreter with the club. It's just that it's an entirely different culture, a different way of thinking." Distefano made the decision to leave the Pittsburgh Pirates for Japan at the end of last season.

He's currently hitting .245 with four home runs through the first third of the season. But even though the opening months have been a struggle, his new environment does have its appealing sides. "It's been pretty good (living) here; I think the people are nice," he said. "Off the field everything's fine, I find it to be a great experi Rules are the same, but game is different By Pete Caldera Staff Writer The question is accompanied with a pause, and then finally the voice on the other end of the line repeats the question aloud, wanting to hear himself say the words. "Is baseball fun here?" Another pause.

"No." The words belong to Benny Dis-tefano, the voice coming from half way around the world. And despite the thought that went into them, the words aren't said with any measure of regret. They're said in a point-of-fact man- ON THE RUN: Detroit's Lloyd Moseby steals second base and advances to third as catcher Roberto Alomar's throw eludes Cleveland's Tom Brrokens in third inning, last night. Detroit won, 7-3. Baseball roundup, Page D4 BENNY DISTEFANO tefan0 ing how to live within the strict and unusual guidelines of Japanese baseball, and to deal with the pressure that comes with being one of two American former major leaguers on the Chunichi Dragons.

And in some respects the transition has been more difficult than the 28-.