Battle Creek Enquirer from Battle Creek, Michigan • Page 15

SPORTS SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 1990 BATTLE CREEK ENQUIRER 3C fl fisxse By MIKE LOPRESTI Gannett News Service NO A Finals Sunday: Game 3, Detroit at Portland Trail Blazers, 3:30 p.m. Television: Ch. 3, 6. Series: Tied 1-1. PORTLAND It is a new series now, and not just in time zone or climate.

The NBA Finals have come West, with the Detroit Pistons in strange retreat "We face the ultimate challenge," Isiah Thomas said in the wee hours of Friday morning after Portland had dashed by Detroit in overtime 106-105. So in a series tied 1-1, with three games to be played beginning But with the seconds winding down, and Drexler with the balL and the Palace shaking, Rodman could not make his body do what his mind told him was needed. When Drexler drove, Rodman was too slow to stop him and reached out and bumped him as he went by. Thursday's first half was a clear enough example of how Detroit needs Rodman. The Pistons led 30-19 when he aggravated his ankle injury.

They were outscored 34-15 the rest of the half. Usually, the Detroit bench plugs the holes of any injury. But that is a problem, too. Well, one part of it is. Vinnie Johnson.

The Microwave couldn't heat a cupcake right now. He is 3-for-25 his last four games. "I can't figure him out," Daly said. "He's not aggressive offensively. I don't know what his problem is." For the Pistons, who now face a heat they never had in last year's Cakewalk, they arrive here with this certainty: They do have problems, and only five days to fix them.

"They are always confident They never look over at their coach after a bad shot" But when their outside, fire-from-the-hip attack sank them Tuesday, the Blazers went to attacking inside Thursday. The Pistons responded with hand checks. The Blazers marched to the free throw line 4 1 times. Detroit's response was not that of a team with its usual superb instinct for the kill So the Pistons sat in their locker room afterward more puzzled than panicked. "It's very hard to understand how we've come all this way and lose our emotion for winning," Coach Chuck Daly said.

"It may be fatigue or whatever. But I just don't see the emotion in wanting to win at this point" There are two other notable clouds on Detroit's horizon. Dennis Rodman's ankle injury is acting up, and he is a lot of the heart on defense and the boards. He is used to making the big defensive play whenever it is needed, whoever it must come against they are not down 2-0, and listing in the water. As it is, the clock is ticking on a team not supposed to lose.

"All we need is one out there," John Salley said. "We've got to take one. Preferably the first one. That would stop their momentum." Suddenly, the Pistons have questions to answer, most of all about their mental state. They may have slipped into the dangerous attitude of thinking they can cruise for 40 minutes, surge the last eight, and everything will be OK.

Often, this has worked. But not always. It did not in Game 2, despite the fact Detroit had a 8-1 edge in three-pointers and had a lights-out night from the guy who still looked like Bill Laimbeer but shot like Pete Maravich. The Pistons have run into a young and fearless team unafraid to gamble, and to learn. "You know what I like about their team?" Salley said one day this week.

Isiah Thomas Grandma Laimbeer hasn't given up hope on Pistons. 1C land's rightful spot in this match. The Blazers needed extra suitcases to bring back new confidence, not souvenirs, from their week in Detroit "The war is not over; we just won a Buck Williams said. "Detroit is a fine ballclub. But our intent is to wrap it up at home." "Maybe now," Coach Rick Adelman said, "people will realize how good we are." Oh, it is likely the Blazers have the Pistons' attention now.

Urgency, and frustration, have leaked into the Detroit camp. A case could be made the Pistons are lucky Sunday in a rainy town where the Pistons have come up dry for 16 years, it is now like this: The Blazers think they can finish it Here in Portland. Clyde Drexler's free throws with two seconds left Friday were more the winning shots to win a game. They reaffirmed Port- Tigers split wifito IMairiinieirs By HARRY ATKINS The Associated Press Eye on the Tigers Friday: Seattle Mariners 5-3, Detroit Tigers 2-6. Today: Seattle (Swan 0-0) at Detroit (Petry 5-2), 7:30 p.m.

Television: PASS. gled as the Mariners outhit the Tigers 13-4 to end Detroit's four-game winning streak in the first game. Alan Trammell homered for the Tigers. Erik Hanson (6-4) struck out nine and walked two. He is 4-1 in his last six road starts.

Mike Jackson pitched the ninth for his second save. The Mariners tagged Frank Tanana (4-4) for four runs on 10 hits in 4 2-3 innings. Brian Giles, Matt Sinatro and Henry Cotto singled for a 1-0 lead in the third. Griffey singled in the fourth and Buhner homered. Cotto doubled in the fifth and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeftery Leonard.

A bases-loaded walk to Martinez in the eighth made it 5-2. Trammell hit his fourth home run in the fourth after a walk to Lou Whitaker. DETROIT Seattle reliever Billy Swift hit pinch-hitter Gary Ward with a pitch to force home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Friday, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Mariners 6-3 to split a twi-night doubleheader. The Mariners won the opener of the twinbill 5-2. Jay Buhner homered in each game and drove in five runs and Ken Griffey got a total of five hits for Seattle.

In the second game, Tony Phillips walked with one out in the eighth, Alan Trammell doubled and Cecil Fielder drew an intentional walk from Keith Comstock (1-2). After Lloyd Moseby popped up, Swift came on and hit Ward on the right arm with the first pitch. Chet Lemon followed with a two-run single for insurance. Mike Henneman (2-4) pitched the last 1 1-3 innings for the victory. Jeff Robinson had allowed only an infield single through the first six innings of the second game.

But Griffey and Edgar Martinez each singled to start the seventh and Buhner's third home run of the season made it 3-3. The Tigers took a 3-0 lead in the second. With two outs, Larry Sheets hit his fourth homer off Brent Knackert. Lemon then walked and Bergman hit his first home run. Griffey doubled twice and sin Here's Detroit's draft choices AP Photo Seattle's Henry Cotto (28) slides safely past Tiger catcher Mike Heath in Friday's first game.

By HARRY ATKINS The Associated Press Holy Cow! Cubs np the Phillies 1 5-2 The Associated Press Major Leagues Steve Wolf, right-handed pitcher from Fresno State. Roger Luce, catcher from the University of Texas. Greg McMurtry, outfielder from the University of Michigan. Brian Schubert, pitcher from Kent State. Brian Saltzgaber, outfielder from Western Michigan University who graduated from Tekon-sha High.

The problem is: Some of the youngsters the Tigers drafted are talented in more than one sport and may not be interested in signing with Detroit. The Tigers know they were taking a chance by using a high pick for Clark, 17, who has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at Arizona State. But they feel his raw talent made the San Diego native worth the gamble. Clark hit 1 1 home runs in 40 at-bats this season, with a .543 average. Bradford, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound power-hitter had been projected as a first-round pick until he signed a letter intent to attend the University of Arkansas on a football scholarship.

DETROIT The name of the game is still hitting and pitching, judging by the Detroit Tigers' picks in the recent amateur draft. The Tigers made El Cajon, schoolboy slugger Tony Clark an outfielder their first pick in the draft. With their remaining picks, the Tigers drafted three more outfielders, three pitchers, a catcher and a pair of shortstops, according to published reports. In an attempt to hide the remaining picks from college recruiters, major league teams don't release the names of players taken beyond the first round until a week after the draft. However, names of the Tigers' remaining draftees were obtained by The Oakland Press.

They are: Keith Grunewald, shortstop from Walton High School in Marietta, Ga. Vince Bradford, outfielder from Malvern, Ark. Jimmy Alder, shortstop from Kingsport, Term. Shannon Withem, right-handed pitcher from Ypsilanti Willow Run High. Eye on the Cubs Friday: Chicago Cubs 15, Philadelphia Phillies 2.

Today: Philadelphia at Chicago, 2:20 p.m. (WGN). Nicklays retains Dearborn lead The Associated Press Final: Giants 23, Braves 8 The Associated Press ATLANTA Rookie Rick Parker drove in seven runs and Will Clark hit two three-run homers as the San Francisco Giants set team records for runs and hits in a 23-8 blitz of the Atlanta Braves Friday night Parker, who entered the game with three RBI in 16 games, had a three-run homer, a two-run single and a two-run double as the Giants extended their winning streak to seven games and set major league season-highs for runs and hits. Gark capped a seven-run sixth inning with his 11th homer of the season and added another three-run shot in the eighth. Jose Uribe had four of the Giants' 27 hits, scored four runs and drove in three as the Giants won for the ninth time in 10 games.

The 23 runs were two more than the San Francisco team record set against St. Louis on July 9, 1988, and the 27 hits were one more than the Giants had against Los Angeles on May 13, 1958. The Giants scored 26 runs in a game in 1944 and had 31 hits in 1901, both while they were based in New York. The victory went to reliever Trevor Wilson (1-0), who allowed two runs in two innings. Mark Thurmond pitched the final four innings for his first save.

Derek Lilliquist (2-8), the first of seven Atlanta pitchers, was the losing hurler. DEARBORN Jack Nicklaus must have felt lucky on Friday. Despite bogeys on 17 and 18, Nicklaus retained the lead after two rounds of CHICAGO Shawon Dun-ston's grand slam highlighted a nine-run third inning as the Cubs broke a five-game losing streak to rout the Phillies 15-2 on Friday. They combined 16 hits, including three home runs, and 1 0 walks, in another game that would've burned out the bulbs in an electronic scoreboard. "When you throw high fastballs to a high fastball-hitting team with the winds blowing out, it spells trouble," Phillies Manager Nick Leyva said.

The Cubs enjoyed their biggest inning since they got nine runs in the first inning against Houston on June 3, 1987. Sandberg led off with his 13th homer of the year. Dunston scored on a grbundout by Grace, Hector Villanueva and pitcher Jeff Pico followed with RBI singles and Walton added an RBI double to chase Terry Mulholland (3-3). Sandberg later was intentionally walked to get to Dunston, who hit a 2-2 pitch from Don Carman for his second career slam and ninth homer of the season. The ball cleared the left-field bleachers and landed on Waveland Avenue.

Besides his slam, Dunston drew two walks. The free-swinging Dunston got razzed by his teammates for doubling his walk total for the year in one game, and finally reaching the 100-walk mark after six years in the majors. "They wanted to give me the ball," Dunston said. Pico (2-0), making his 1 00th major-league appearance and 20th start, gave up a run and six hits, while striking out two and walking two in seven innings. He entered the game with a 6.64 ERA.

"I was keeping the ball down. Throwing strikes is the key for me, and I was able to keep my concen- tration, even with the big lead," said Pico, who went 2-for-3 with a walk as a batter. Major-league batting leader Len Dykstra of the Phillies extended his hitting streak to 21 games with a single in the seventh. D(At) Astros 3, Reds 1 Glenn Wilson's three-run pinch-hit homer in the 1 0th inning preserved Mike Scott's three-hit, 15-strikeout performance as Houston beat Cincinnati to snap a seven-game losing streak. (At) Expos 18, Cardinals 2 Nelson Santovenia drove in a career-high six runs, four in in the first two innings, as Montreal demolished St Louis.

AMERICAN LEAGUE (At) Orioles 5, Yankees 4 Jim Leyritz, playing his first big-league game, singled home the tying run with two outs in the ninth inning, but made a throwing error in the 10th as Baltimore beat New York for the Yankees' seventh straight loss. (At) Red Sox 4, Indians 3 Roger Clemens became the first 10-game winner in the majors and the Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians without incident in their first meeting since last weekend's brushback battles. The Red Sox extended their longest winning streak of the season to six. White Sox 3, (at) Twins 2 Ron Kittle hit a solo home run, a 442-foot shot that broke an eighth-inning tie and sent the Chicago White Sox over the Minnesota Twins. Blue Jays 11, (at) Brewers 5 George Bell homered twice and drove in six runs, rallying the Toronto Blue Jays over the slumping Milwaukee the $1 million Senior Tournament Players Championship.

His 4-un-der-par 68 left him with a two-day total of 11-under 133. Nicklaus 68. Nicklaus, playing one group behind Trevino, saw what happened but couldn't take advantage of it Trevino has been the hottest player on the Senior Tour, winning five tournaments and leading the money list. "I feel good about the round, I'm not down because I finished with a double-bogey," said Trevino, paired with Nicklaus in the third round. Stewart leads Western Payne Stewart, riding the emotional high of recent successes, shot a 67 and established a one-stroke lead at the halfway point of the Western Open golf tournament at Oak Brook, 111.

DQeddes in first Jane Geddes overcame a case of nerves and apprehension Friday to shoot a 3-under-par 68 for a one-stroke lead in the $650,000 LPGA McDonald's Championship in Wilmington, Del. Senior 1st In Stockholm Peter Senior of Australia fired another 5-under-par 67 and moved into the lead after the second round of the Scandinavian Enterprise Open. Pro Golf his third Senior tournament. "I played well, better than yesterday, and I putted well. "I don't really have any complaints.

The only thing is, I went 34 holes without a bogey and then made up for it real quick." Nicklaus drove into the rough on both 17 and 18 before missing 20-foot par putts on each hole. "Those last two drives hurt," he said. "Into the wind, both 17 and 18 are reasonably difficult. You have to drive the ball on 18 to be able to play it "If I hadn't birdied those par 3s, it wouldn't have been a very good back nine." Trevino's own misfortune on No. 18 helped Nicklaus stay on top.

They were tied at 1 2-under after 17 holes, but Trevino hit into a water hazard. He ended up with a double-bogey six to finish with a Jack Nicklaus is one shot ahead of Lee Trevino and Terry Dill, and two in front of Gary Player and Ben Smith, who shared the first-round lead with Nicklaus. "It doesn't matter whether you're one shot or 10 shots in the lead, how you play the next two days is going to decide what you do," said Nicklaus, playing in only Soccer From 1C soccer balls and one giant helium balloon that looked Georgia stomps Staimfoird like a soccer ball. Four heads of state Dresidents Francesco Cos- The Associated Press siga of Italy, Carlos Menem of Argentina, Paul Biya of Cameroon and Fernando Collor De Mello of Brazil watched the ceremony from the stands. The eame-dav alcohol ban already instituted in Ca- College World Series a Today: CWS Championship Game, 1 p-m.

Who: Oklahoma State (56-1 6) vs. Georgia (51-19). Television: Ch. 3, 6. charged with illegal possession of cocaine, hashish and amphetamines.

In the past week, three Britons were jailed for 20 days for damaging their Cagliari hotel room, and another received a suspended sentence after attacking an off-duty policeman. In Genoa, meanwhile, two Britons were arrested Friday while waiting to board a ferry for Cagliari when police found they were carrying knives and chains. After the wild beginning, the month-long tournament continues today when the Soviet Union plays Romania at Bari, while the United Arab Emirates takes on Colombia at Bologna where the stadium was given a waiver by the Interior Ministry just one day after its fire exits were found unfit for emergency evacuation. and Alabama in 1983, but neither won the title. Rebhan (13-5) denied Stanford (59-1 1) a chance to play in a third CWS title game.

Rebhan beat Stanford 16-2 with a five-hitter on Sunday and allowed just six on Friday. Mussina, who was the starting pitcher in the Bulldogs 16-2 shelling of Stanford on Sunday, didn't make it into the fifth on Friday, giving way to Scott Weiss. OMAHA, Neb. Mike Reb-han proved better than top-seeded Stanford for the second time in the College World Series as the Georgia right-hander beat the Cardinal 5-1 Friday night to put Georgia in the championship game for the first time ever. Fourth-seeded Georgia (51-19) will meet third-seeded Oklahoma State (56-16) in the final at noon today.

gliari and Milan spread to Rome, Turin, Ban and Palermo, Sicily. In Rome, the prohibition on liquor sales is restricted to airports, train and bus stations, ports and along roads leading to the city where Italy plays Austria tonight Interior Minister Antonio Gava had recommended such bans in all 12 World Cup cities as a way to prevent violence. Two Britons were arrested Friday shortly after their charter flight arrived at Cagliari, Sardinia, and were The Georgia Bulldogs are only the third Southeastern Conference team to make the championship game. Tennessee did it in 1951 Ml i CiC i.