Valley News from Van Nuys, California • Page 35

Uatteij News Sports Section 4 Friday, August 26, Pirates' fleet scuttles Dodgers, 2-1 ByTOBYZWIKEL PITTSBURGH In an effort to bring his club out of a prolonged batting slump. Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda shook up his lineup on Thursday He will have to try something else, however, because John Candelaria and Larry Demery limited the Dodgers to six hits and the Pirates used more of their lightning speed to steal a 2-1 victory before 17.164 fans at Three Rivers Stadium. Candelana's ailing back foced his withdrawal after five shutout, four-hit innings, but Demery allowed only one hit after being greeted by Reggie Smith's homer leading off the sixth to gain his first save of the season. Candelaria. who lowered his league-leading ERA, which 2 63 entering the game, now is 14- 4 Smith's homer was his second as many days and his 24th of the season, the third highest total of his major-league career It was his 20th a and barely cleared the wall in left-center field over the leaping Omar Moreno In addition to the six hits.

Candelana and Demery issued four walks, but were aided by three double plays, including one that ended a Dodger scoring threat in the third inning and another that concluded the game Doug Rau (13-4) was the latest victim of the Pirates' fleet attack He opened the game with a walk to Frank Taveras, who scored moments later on a freak play Phil Garner then singled sharply off Ron Cey's glove into left field Dusty Baker's throw to third was too late to get Traveras and Cey relayed to Teddy Martinez in an effort to nail Garner Garner's slide pinned Martinez's left leg to the bag. knocking the Dodger second baseman to the ground, writhing in pain. Taveras seizing the opportunity to score The preliminary diagnose was a partial tear to the inside of his left knee. He was playing in place in Davey Lopes, whose neck still is stiff after being hit by a Bill Bonham pitch last week in Chicago. Steve Yeager was sidelined after his collision with Dave Parker Wednesday night.

Fernando Gonzalez used some more speed to set up what proved to be the winning run in the second inning. He singled to left, stole second, went to third on a fielder's choice and scored when Omar Moreno lined a double off Steve Garvey's glove into right field. Rau pitched out of a jam in the sixth before giving way to Elias Please turn to page 8, col. 1 Sportsline: Muhammad Ali's heavyweight championship bout with Earnie Shavers Spet 29 at Madison Square Garden was freed Thursday from all legal entanglements when the Garden and Top Rank reached an out-of-court settlement of their long-standingdispute over Shavers' contract. "All suits have been dismissed," said Mike Burke, the president of the Garden, "and Top Rank will participate significantly in profits from the Ali-Shavers fight.

The two organizations plan to co-promote other matches in the future." Al Hunter, a Notre Dame running back, was selected by the Seattle Seahawks Thursday in a supplemental draft conducted by the National Football League. Under the provisions of the supplemental draft as set by commissioner Pete Rozelle, the Seahawks will forfeit their fourth-round draft choice in the regular 1978 selection meeting next spring. Hunter was to have been a senior at Notre Dame this year, but he was suspended by the school because of a dormitory rules infraction and he no longer was eligible to play football for the school. Mel Purcell of Murray, gained the quarter-finals of the Men's International Young Masters Tennis Championships in Manhasset. by defeating top- seeded Bruce Manson of North Hollywood, Thursday- It was a fourth-round victory.

UCLA's Van Winitsky, the second seed, was forced to default with a reported virus, enabling Jay Lapidus of Princeton to advance. A decision by the New York State Racing and Wagering Board yesterday suspended Seattle Slew and other horses owned by Wooden Horse Investments, from racing in Mew York for 30 days because Dr. James Hill, one of the owners of the Triple Crown colt, attempted to keep his ownership secret and failed to obtain a license A spokesman for the board said a "gentlemen's agreement" with racing boards in other states would "usually" mean that the racing ban would be recognized outside of New York In one of the most exciting days of trials to determine a defender for the America's Cup. Courageous came from behind Thursday to edge Enterprise in a pair of races In the foreign trials to determine a challenger for yachting's most prestigious prize, Australia, the yacht backed by Perth financier Alan Bond, took advantage of some tactical errors to beat Sweden's Sverige. Japan's top home run slugger, Sadaharu Oh, blasted two homers, his 752nd and 753rd.

as the Yomi- yuri Giants blanked the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. 7-0. in a Central League game Thursday. The homers left Oh three more blasts behind Hank Aaron's career record of 755. Skyhawks open ASL title defense Where did I go wrong? John McEnroe is picture of defeat after absorbing 5- championships yesterday.

Defeat eliminated McEn- loss to Jimmy Connors in U.S. Pro Tennis roe. (See story page 5). UP Te ie hoto The Ix)s Angeles Skyhawks' magic number is three That's how many playoff games they need to win to capture the American Soccer League championship and become the first American soccer team in recent history to claim back-to-back titles. The ASL's Washington Darts were the last team to accomplish a feat in 19(58-69 and the Skyhawks will try to duplicate that achievement, beginning tomorrow night in their playoff opener Second-place finishers in the Western Division, the Skyhawks will meet the third-place California Sunshine in the 8 contest at Birmingham Stadium A victory over the Sunshine would advance the Skyhawks to the duihion finals where thev would travel to first-place Sacramento Aug 31 Another win would pit the Skyhawks against the Eastern Division champion Tomorrow's game will be staged as part of Skyhawk Fan Appreciation Night in which tickets will be sold at a reduced price California will carry- an 8-13-2 mark, Los Angeles 12-7-4 Despite the difference in records, the Sunshine has proven to be a formidable foe for the Skyhawks, i i one and splitting two of their five regular- season games.

Skyhawk members point to overconfidence as part of the reason they haven't done better against the Sunshine. Said Los Angeles defender Mark Nickeas "I expect a very close game They've got to be confident "They won the last game (between the two, 3-2) and have done well against us this season Although a playoff game, the match will count for standings and individual records purposes as a regular-season contest The two teams were scheduled for this date to round out the regular season, but it was later decided to avoid having the meet twice in succession The Skyhawks 1 Jimmy Hmch will also have an important stake in tomorrow's game as he bids for his second straight ASL scoring title He's presently second with 32 points (13 goals, six assists) and trails New Jersey's Juse Neto by two points New Jersey has one game left, too Jimmy Rolland of Los Angeles, with 29 points also is a longhot for the scoring title In the Sunshine, the Skyhawks will be meeting an explosive team which has enjoyed a satisfactory first-year campaign Located in Santa A a the Sunshine has been a lot of goals this year, but has aloO permitted its share In one game this year. California fell behind, 3-0, against New Jersey only to score four unanswered goals to pull out the victory The ill be entering the game i considerable having won two straight matches, including a rousing 4-1 victory at home against Sacramento. Skyhawk officials are hoping for a large crowd to give the team a possible send-off to the ASL crown Seattle sweeps Aztecs with 1-0 win SEATTLE It's something the Los Angeles Aztecs can't help but think about. Could forward Steve David have made a difference? True, the Aztecs defeated San Jose in a one-game playoff and swept Dallas in their quarter-final series But they came up empty last night in the Kingdome.

Before 56,256 roaring fans, the Seattle Sounders captured the Pacific Conference championship with a 1-0 victory to complete a two-game sweep of the Aztecs The Sounders had defeated the Aztecs, 3-1, last Sunday at Memorial Coliseum Jocky Scott scored the only goal of the game 13'29 into the first half when he deflected a Jimmv Ro- bertson shot past Aztec goaltencier Bob Rigby Where was the Aztec firepower in the two-game series 9 That's going to lie a question on the Aztecs' minds as they w.itch the Cosmos and Sounders battle in the Soccer Bowl Sunday Without a doubt, the absence of David, the NASL's leading scorer with 26 goals, must have hurt the offense He injured hip knee against San Jose with only two more regular season games to he played. That was it for David's season Even without David, the Aztecs had their chances last night. With Los Angeles putting on the pressure late in the second half. Des Bakos hit the crossbar with a shot that Sounder goalie Tonv Chursky never saw For that matter, the Azteo controlled the second half as they did for the end of the first stanza after a shaky first few minutes But the Sounders had their moments, too Twice in the second half, they had apparent goals nullified because of off-side calls Rams, Namath look for boost tomorrow Las Vegas placed on probation for cage violations KANSAS CITY. Mo ITH The National Collegiate Athletic Association Thursday placed University of Nevada-1 Vegas on probation for two years for violations in its basketball program over a period Officials said the action followed consideration by the NCAA council of an appeal by the university Monday The council rejected the appeal and upheld findings of violations and penalties previously determined by the NCAA committee on infractions.

which hold series of hearings on the case During the two-year probation, the university's basketball team cannot compete in any post-season competition nor appear on any NCAA-con- trolled television programs. The Los Angeles Rams haven't gotten down on Joe Willie Namath yet. Los Angeles' celebrated quarterback draws his first starting assignment of the season tomorrow against Kansas City and he'll lie out to distinguish himself after three lackluster exhibition performances. Namath is expected to play the first half and Pat Haden will finish up. Young Vmce Ferragamo will probably not see action at quarterback Channel 2 will carry the contest at Kansas City live, beginning at 5:30 It's an important game for the Rams from the standpoint th.it they've won only one of three exhibitions and need a morale boost er And it would help if New York Jets" exile Namath can deliver it Through three games Namalh has not proven to be the Messi.jh that was expected to lead the Karns to their first Super appearance Besides being a very target lor would-be nargiug linemen.

Namalh has ompleled nine of 20 passes for 114 yards Hi-. efficiency rating is 42 That compares to a rd ing of H2 for Haden and 52 fl for But the Hams are not king about i i Namath-yet The reason is that they still have confidence in Namath and Haden continues to impress, continues to come up with the big play and continues to provide the needed spark Namath. who has shown a penchant for throwing to his tight end through his career, may fire often to club-leading receiver Terry Nelson. The 6 ft 2 in tight end has eight receptions, twice as many as any- other receiver. Nelson has caught passes for 14 yards in three games for an IS 3 yards per catch average His longest, a 2fi-yard reception against the 49ers last Sunday.

demonstrated his ability to run after the catch as he earned two de- fensenien seven yards Those eight grabs are three more than he's caught in three years as a professional He has spent considerable time Kicking up veteran tight end Hob Klein and has helped on the Items' spe- ial teams Nelson he still has to improve to earn a for himself "1 have to wurk on mv mer.jll game i running t'-rn. 1 and Nelson still h.i-u 1n work on mnte-1 i mark the of standout h.ilfb,i« MrCut heon. ho at out the first three pre- gjme.x with a pulled hamstring The Chiefs also 1 -2 in exhibitions Bui Kansas City's ton- was a big upset. 23-21, over Pittsburgh The Chiefs were bc-aten by the Lions. 17-0.

and the Redskins, 13-7 Los Angetes Aztecs defender Ane ,7) to ball in last night's NASL Pacific charnpion- and Seattle's Jimmy Robertson (19) have eyes glued ship game, won by Sounders. 1-0..