Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 40

Section 3 ttesqo Tribune, Saturday, July 14, 1990 -k DASSBALL Mete cut off talks with Strawberry SoxpitcHer's cap, baseball bound for Cooperstown at I 1 7-- five Perez brothers at various levels of professional baseball. "1 haven't heard from Vladimir," Perez said. "He's in Double-A Mets chain. He doesn't have the money for I should call him What's hard to figure, though, is how there have been seven no-hitters in the first 14 weeks of the baseball season. There haven't been that many in 73 years.

guess you'd say it had something to do with the screwy spring training, but you'd think if there was an effect, it would be no-outers," manager Jeff Torborg said. Another surprise is that Perez no-hit a team that had beaten him badly twice already this season, cuffing him for 12 runs in a total of 8 innings. And it came during a slump for the White Sox. "I never saw it coming," Torborg said. "But he's a kid who responds to challenges.

He keeps getting gunned up. Sammy Ellis, the pitching coach, told him yesterday, 'We really need a big one from you tonight. runners in scoring position, even though that's part of Jones' job. "I've been in a lot of tight games," Hibbard said. "A lot of times, I think JefTs thinking about having the set-up man come in with nobody on, and I agree with him.

It's a lot better for the set-up guy that way." WHITE BOX afetnbt HewTttrtt abfhM Sooarl M0 KMyol 4 010 Suit 3 10 0 Mattingly lb 0 0 0 1 Balboni dh 0 0 0 JaBarfMdif 4 0 11 UytlBSb 4 0 1 0 8andan pr 3 110 HaHW 1001 Oarano 4 0 10 4 0 2 0 4000 4 12 1 4 110 4 0 10 0000 3 0 11 3000 Ventura 8b Cameron Kittle lb Lyonelb Fiali Oh Karkmioee FMKMr2b Lkrtmaonof 10 0 0 if The Yanks' Steve Sax dodges Sox baserunner Lance Johnson Friday, but his throw to first was too late to double up Ozzie Guillen. White Sox notes Eanmoai 3000 TttiaH 23 2 3 Tottla 34111 WHITE KM 000 210 000-3 NaaiToill 000 200 0002 Sax. LOB WHITE SOX 3, Naw York 3. SB-Sax, HaU, Sou, JaBarfMd, Layriti. HR Balboni (8).

SB Soaa (15). CaMaron 1221. SF Hall, Uohnaon. WHITEPOX IP EW BBSO Hibbard W.7-6 7 7 2 2 0 2 Bvlonaa 1 0 0 0 0 1 ThkmanS.28 1 1 0 0 0 0 Hrm Tort IP EH BBSO CarvL- 3 3 2 4 3 By Andrew' Bagnato Chicago Tribun V' NEW YdRKCooperstown might not, havr known much about Melido Perez on Thursday afternoon, but on Friday evening it called' for his cap and one of the baseballs. Autographed, please, Mr.

Perez. Perez'the-legend. spent much of the first day of the rest of his life receiving congratulations, taking friendly abuse from his teammates and getting used to the idea of having thrown no-hitter. The world discovered him Thursday night, when he tossed a six-inning, rain-shortened no-hitter id the media capital of the free world. So when he arrived in the Sox clubhouse in Yankee Stadium Friday the writers surrounded him' to, find out exactly what it was like to gain admission to baseball's history books.

Ivan Calderon- watched with amusement for a while, then strolled past the outer circle of reporters. "Last night, you were lucky be Sox Out double in the second, this one to Hall, bur the Yankees scoreless. And in the fifth a pair of one-out singles put runners at the corners, but Hibbard retired the struggling Don. Mattingly and Bal-boni again. Hibbard fooled no one in the fourth, when Balboni opened with a cannon shot over the left-field wall, his eighth of the season and second off Hibbard this year.

"The one he hit was a mistake," Hibbard said. "He's probably one of the best mistake-hitters there But Balboni may Jiave made a fielding mistake in the fourth inning. With Sosa at third and Ivan Calderon at second and one out, Ron Kittle hit a short chop to Balboni at first. He gloved the ball and appeared to have plenty of time to nail Sosa at the but Balboni elected to Sosa scored to put the Sox up 1-0, and it became 2-0 when Carlton Fisk squeezed a single out of a ground ball up the middle. The Yanks tied it in their half Cubs Centimed from page 1 beat on your best pitch." It was his last pitch.

In came Williams, a month after nearly wrecking a knee covering first Lenny Harris welcomed him back with a single that sent Javier to third, and Kirk Gibson drove in two runs with a broken-bat double into the right-field corner, That was afl for Williams, who threw 11 pitches, followed through hard and, with a slightly adjusted de-hvery. didnl 611 once. Which, given the circumstances, was as important as the reaJirjf tfcit lie dklnt get any- Tve fdt to get aim in there," said 22trrmer.rw got to get him going. He's thrown on the side all he can throw. Now I've got to get him in game sjmattons," The Cubs' had broken through on Martinez far a run in the second.

With one out. MatveO Wynne who came in batting 326 for his previous 46 at-ba doubiod into the vines in left. Luis grounder pushed Wynne to third, and he scored whenr Joe Girardi poked a single over second. Back-to-back doubles by Dawson and Wynne in the fourth put tbe Cubs ahead 2-0. In the Dodger Sixth, Kal Daniels doubled, a nd Boskie walked Eddie Up Came Hubie Brooks, who doubled to right, scoring Daniels.

When' Dawson's throw to second bounded away for the error, Murray came home, and the game 'Tve got an outstanding defensive shortstop tad an outstanding defensive second baseman," said Zimmcr. "Yesterday, they made three errors in the first two innings and we get cause it rained," Calderon intoned in his bass voice, iust low enough so that Perez didn't bear him. Every no-hitter involves a certain amount of luck, but Perez later expressed mock disbelief when apprised of Calderon's crack. "Is that what he said?" Perez asked. "Last night, he said, 'Good job.

I'm going to take you out Perez's no-hitter is the 16th in White Sox history, the first since Joe Cowley no-hit the Angels Sept 19, 1986 in California. It was the first rain-shortened no- -hitter since Perez's brother, Pas-cual, tossed a five-inning no-hitter two years ago (Pascual watched from the Yankee dugout Thursday night). The Perezes are only the second pair of brothers to throw no-hitters in the major leagues; Bob Forsch threw two, and brother Ken threw one. If any family had a chance of producing no-hit siblings, it's the Perezes of San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic. There are believed to be BIO PLAY: Ozzie Guillen's diving stop in the first Inning, saved a run.

TOUQH DAY: Don Mattingly went 0 for 4 and heard boos. STREAKING: The White Sox are 23-10 In the road. QUOTABLE: Melido Perez on six AL no-hitters: "In this league, we've got tough pitchers. That's why. i NEXT: Meet the Yankees at 2:05 p.m.

on Balboni's blast, Barfield's double and Hall's sacrifice fly, but in the fifth shoddy fielding again cost Yankee starter Chuck Cary (4-5), who finished with a complete-game five-hitter. This time, Scott Fletcher singled to open the inning and was awarded third base when Sax threw the ball into the dugout trying to beat him back to the bag. Lance Johnson's sacrifice fly made it 3-2. From then on it was up to Hibbard to preserve the lead until Torborg could get on the horn to the bullpen. He didn't want to force Jones to bail him out with beat Today, we walk a man to put the tying run on, the next man doubles, the ball gets away from the shortstop, and all hell broke loose." The Cub offense? Wynne got picked off after his second double in the fourth: The only Cub runner the rest of day was Girardi, who singled leading off the eighth, got as far as third and died there as Sandberg chased a third strike.

It added up to a fifth straight loss. Boskie was livid. "I'm getting tired of coming into this clubhouse and it's a morgue every day," he said. "It's hard to have fun when you're not winning. "The little things are beating us, and if the- little things aren't beating us, we're just flat-out getting beat" loe Annates each PI CUBS SrwW LHamaab 110 DwSmHhN 5032 Bandbery 2B 0 0 0 0 Grace lb 4 1 0 Oaweonrf 0000 Wynne Of 1 000 SaMurSC 1 1 0 Ramoa as i 4 0 21 amide 4 0 10 Boskie 0 10 0 MWrtMeme 0 0 0 0 long 40 1 0 4 0 10,: 10 10 '1111 30 114 4 Totals 4000 4000 4000 4 110 4 12 1 3000 2000 3 02 1 20 00 0 000 0000 Qajeon of DenaatlP Gonxalszll COwymlf Murray lb Vizcaino pr Darnpamo 8amuea OrtfUnas nMarannp Javier ol Towa 30 3 S2 000 002 003-S 010 100 00O2 E-Gtanft, Dawson.

DP CUB8 2. LOB Lot Angeles Cues S. 2B OJrjean 2. Wvnne 2. Damon.

DanMia. Broons. Sdosda, S-flMartiiei 2. BosMe. 1 EBBS SO rW.UMi 5 2 2 13 0 0 0 0 1 JHoiel8J EH SB SO BoeMoLM 2-3 12 4 3 1 0 2 110 0 Long 1-3000' MfWNerno pMorted to 2 batters In Vis 0th.

UniMss lluiiie, Winters; First, Liyns Second, Oevtai Third, Runga. 2:56. A 3138. aiey score BSSfCONO I CUBS SECOND wuh one out, Wynne douhM. Sale-Mr grounrted out.

Wynne moving to trwxt Ramoa waked. Girardi singled, scoring Wynne. One run. CUBS muHTH-Cewson doubled. Wynne doubled, coring, Dawson.

One tun. DODQERS SIXTH Oenlete doihled. Murray waked. Brooka doubled, aoorlng DaMHe, and Murray aoored on Dawson's error. Two rune.

DO0OER8 NINTH Sdoeda rjoublad. Vamno ran fat cloeola. Plnon-hmar Javier angled, aoorlng Vizcaino, ws-lams paohmg. Hams emoted, Javier moving to d. Ob-Son doubled, eoormg Javier and Hams.

Three runs. Umpires Horn, Raad; First, Cousins; Sscond, Brlnkmani TtHrH, Tachkla. 2:41. 20 i02. How tftey Bcored SOX FOURTH sosa OoubM.

Vantura (lied to right. Caklsron walked. Soaa Itoie thin) and Calderon stole aeoond. Kittle grounded to first Sosa scoring, Calderon moving to third. Flak singled, Calderon.

scoring. Two tuna. NEW YORK FOURTH Balboni homered. BarfteW doubled, took third on Layrttz'a grounder to aecond and aoored on Hall's saorlrlcs Oy to right. Two rune.

80X FIFTH Fletcher singled, look third on Sax's throwing error and scored on Johnson's sacrifice fly to canter. One run. From Ocago Tribune wrse The New York Mets broke off contract talks Friday with outfielder Darryl Strawberry, who says he'll file for free agency after the season. Strawberry, in the final season of a six-year, J7.2 million contract, said he'll listen to offers from other clubs and from the Mets at the end of the season. "They wanted to give me a three year deal at an estimated $10 mil-lion, and I'm not interested in a notebook three-year deal," said Strawberry, who said it'll take a five-year agreement to keep him.

Mets senior vice president Al Harazin said the sides were far apart on length of con-; tract and money, so the club decided to end negotiations. Strawberry has indicated he'd like a contract similar to that of Oak-; land's Jose Canseco ($23.3 million over five years). "They're telling me, 'Go, you can Well, I will go. I'll go to uakiand," strawberry said, ima- i ine me playing in the same out" leld with Canseco and Rickev That's what the Mets seem to want. They're oushine me out the door.

But they'll be sorry when it happens, I promise you." Toronto outfielder Junior Felix had emergency surgery Friday to stop bleeding in his right leg and will be sidelined four to six weeks. Felix left Thursday's game against California with what was announced as a strained right calf muscle. His leg began bleeding overnight, and he was taken to a hospital for a 40-minute surgical procedure. Howard Starkman, a Blue Jays spokesman, said Felix will be hospitalized for several days. Felix was placed on the 21-day disabled list.

Toronto recalled in' fielder Luis Sojo from Triple-A Syracuse. Felix flied out to the warning track in left field to open the game Thursday night. The injury occurred as he was rounding first base. He is tied for second on the team in batting average at .283. He has 1 1 home runs, 46 runs batted in and 1 1 stolen bases.

George Steinbrenner, apparently concerned that he will receive a lengthy suspension from baseball, is preparing a legal attack based on the assertion that baseball's investigation of him was biased. That investigation was conducted for Commissioner Fay Vincent by. John Dowd, a Washington lawyer. A person close to Steinbrenner who is familiar with the defense of the Yankees' principal owner said the Steinbrenner camp believed Dowd was not impartial as the representative of Vincent, the decisionmaker in the case. "It was very biased, and there are a lot of things that show up in terms of the bias in the Dowd investigation," said the Steinbrenner confidant, who insisted on anonymity.

Dowd's investigation focused on Steinbrenner's relationship with former Yankee Dave Winfield and Howard Spira, a Bronx man whom Steinbrenner paid $40,000. Dowd sought to determine whether Steinbrenner, as Spira said, made the payment for information detrimental to Winfield, with whom he had a contentious relationship. He also looked into whether the owner conducted a campaign to discredit the outfielder and force him to accept a trade. Vincent, preparing to make a decision he said could come as soon as July 23, defended Dowd as well as the investigation. "It seems to me that people who have something to say publicly ought to speak to the merits and not to the techniques of the investigation," the commissioner said by telephone from his home in Cape Cod, Mass.

A person familiar with the activities of Stenbrenner's legal team said a court challenge was being prepared because the feeling is growing among Steinbrenner's lawyers that Dowd's report will influence Vincent to discipline Steinbrenner, perhaps severely. Mlitea. jT UUt wftr.t vr. v-5 AP Laserpboto "I tried to call Coleman to tease him about it, but he had his phone number changed," Johnson said. Perez's no-hitter was the seventh of the season.

Did anyone notice that the last time there were seven was 1917 the year the White Sox tried to go back to on Wednesday? One of Perez's hardest jobs now will be deciding who among his legions of relatives in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, will receive one of the two dozen baseballs he was given after throwing the no-hitter. White Sox announcer Ken "Hawk" Harrelson was to appear on ABC News' "Nightline" on Friday night. The program aired a segment on sportscasters. Steve Schrenk was named the or- tanization's June Player of the Month, chrenk, a 21 -year-old right-hander at Class A South Bend, went 4-1 with a 1 .65 earned run average. Andrew Bagnato Cubs notes What can the Cubs do to salvage this season? "Get back to .500," said Andre Dawson.

"Gain a little more respectability. "we've dug too big a hole to catch three teams, so we'll have to be a little more focused to take a step at a time and just play a little bit harder the second half as a ballclub." When manager Don Zimmer moved to a four-man rotation Thursday, he also set Greg Maddux back a couple of days. "It'll give him a good rest," Zimmer said. "He may come back throwing the heck out of the ball." Mitch Williams said he's not sure how long he'll have to wear the brace on "his surgically repaired right knee. "My right leg's already stronger than my left leg," said Williams, who gave up two hits Friday but survived physically.

"They tested It yesterday." Shawon Dunston sat out Friday's Same, his hand still stinging from elng hit by a Jay Howell pitch Thursday night. "It's no big deal," said Dunston, who could play Saturday. Rick Sutcliffe threw long Friday without discomfort. No change In his status. Former Cub left-hander Pat Perry, now with the Dodgers, Is throwing again after off-season rotator-cuff surgery and subsequent problems put him on the disabled list for much of the season.

"I'm feeling real strong now," said Perry, who rehabbed over the winter with another ex-Cub, Al Nipper. "It's Just a matter of getting in shape." Despite 14 hits Friday, the Dodgers' team average has fallen from .265 on May 31 to .259. L.A.'s bullpen has blown 11 of 24 save opportunities. Cubs pitchers have 34 hits in 175 at-bats, a .196 average, best In the NL. Doug Daicenzo has not committed an error in 110 outfield appearances for the Cubs, handling 218 chances.

Alan Solomon WlM fcwU liel Chicago Tribune NEW YORK Carlos Martinei was on his way to joining the White Sox Friday evening, but he will have to stand trial after the season on a charge arising from an Incident last winter In his native Venezuela. A judge in Caraoas found enough cause to require a trial during the winter. A security guard in a local stadium alleges that Martinez broke his arm with a bat, a charge Martinez has denied. "The judge could have dropped the charges, but there was very little chance that would have happened," said Jaime Torres, Martinez's Chicago-based lawyer. Torres said Martinez won't have to return to Venezuela again this season.

He said Martinez was in good spirits when he left for the airport Friday. Lance Johnson beat former Cardinal teammate Vlnce Coleman in the race to hit their first big-league home run. Johnson tagged his on Thursday night off Andy Hawkins. fifth straight. QUOTABLE: Don Zimmer on the state of things: "I'm sure they're tired of It, and I'm tired of it.

The fans are tired of It. Everybody's tired of It." NEXT: Greg Maddux vs. Mike Morgan at 3:05 p.m. Saturday. RTS ') Tribune photo by Ed Wagner Dodger right-fielder Hubie Brooks almost collides with center-fielder Kirk Gibson, who catches Andre Dawson's flyball in the second.

At a glance BIQ PLAY: Stan Javier's RBI single In the ninth. TOUQH DAY: Dwtaht Smith, Ryne Sandberg and Mark Grace were 0 for 12. STREAKING; The Cubs lost their 1 i iaiJ arJ llawwaill SAVE BIG NOW! CARAVAN At Reuss' Naperville TODAY! 11 A.M. 3 P.M. at our millflllllllKI rt, Sidewalk Tent Sale Hundreds of namebmnd The Sports Caravan is the uramale experience tor sports fans, featuring: Glove and bat making eRawtingsGold Baseball sewing Glove Award Glove personalization Evolution of uniforms History of sporting goods and eouirjrnent Naperville location.

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