Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • 44

8 Section 3 Chicago Tribune, Saturday, July 27, 1991 BASEBALL Cubs Torborg, Sox switch to Plan '4 Game, 4-man rotation postponed Ik lit i 1 I -a Tribune photos by Nancy Stone (left) to score the Braves' first run. Bl BB SO vfl. aw inning grounder, enabling Ron Gant rr Ft? Mm MW Continued from page 1 spent most of this summer toiling in the shadow of teammate Tom Glavine, whose 13 wins lead the league and make him the leading candidate for the Cy Young Award. "He's keeping me in the background, so I sneak up on people," said Avery, who was only 3-1 1 in his 1990 rookie season. The same might be said for Frank Castillo, the Cub rookie righty who's only a year older than Avery- He surprised the National League with victories in his first three decisions, but on Friday he went through a painful learning experience.

With two down in the first, Castillo gave up back-to-back singles to Terry Pendleton and Ron Gant. Then he just missed on a two-strike pitch to Lonnie Smith or so plate ump John McSherry ruled. Castillo thought otherwise. "There was a pitch on the outside corner that was a strike," Castillo said. Castillo walked Smith, then watched in dismay as Luis Salazar booted Jeff Blausers grounder to put the Braves up 1-0.

Atlanta made it 2-0 on Pendleton's sacrifice fly in the second. With two down and the bases loaded again, Castillo gave up a stinging two-run single to Smith to make it 4-0. It turned out to be more than plenty of room for Avery, who has won seven of eight decisions on the road. Thirty minutes after the game, Castillo was still kicking himself for the pitch he threw to Smith. "I had two strikes on him, and I had thrown two fastballs by him," Castillo said.

"I came back with a changeup, and he smoked it." Manager Jim Essian has been generally dazzled by his rookie's performance, so he wrote the afternoon off to experience. "Some better fielding and a call or two from the umpire would have helped Frank in the first two innings," he said. "He never had a chance to settle down. Still, he didn't have his good stuff." Avery had his, especially after the Cubs gave away those two outs on the basepaths in the first inning. Once he settled down, he walked only two more hitters while striking out four.

Avery was gunning for his first complete game in six weeks when he got Grace to pop up to open the ninth. But then he walked Sandberg to set the table for Dawson, whose vicious liner bucked a strong wind and made it into the left-field seats. Dawson's pill snapped a six-game, 276-batter homerless streak at home for the Cubs, who lead the league with 96 home runs. They hadn't gone that long without a homer in the Friendly Confines since the 1989 division winners went seven games without a homer. Maybe it's an omen.

Nexts Vs. Atlanta, Saturday Nixon rt 5 1 1 0 0 .328 Treadway 2b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .320 Lemke 2b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .220 Pendleton 3b 3 1 1 1 0 0 .333 Gantcf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .260 LoSmlthll 3 0 1 2 1 1 .262 Sanders If 0 0 0 0 0 0 .198 Blauser ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .267 Belliard ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .226 Hunter lb 4 1 1 1 0 2 .273 Olson 4 2 3 0 0 0 .266 Avery 3 0 0 0 0 1 .205 Berenquer 0 .000 Totals 34 9 5 2 5 CUBS AB Bl BB SO Avg. CWalkercf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .301 Grace 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .266 Sandberg 2b 2 1 1 0 2 1 .294 Dawson rt 4 1 1 2 0 0 .286 GBellll 4 0 1 0 0 0 .285 Salazar 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .262 Dunston ss 2 0 0 0 1 1 .224 Wilkmsc 3 0 0 0 0 0 .248 Castillo 1 0 0 0 0 1 .063 a-Walton oh 1 0 0 0 0 0 .243 Scanlan 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 b-Dascenzo ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .251 Pavlas 0 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 29 2 5 2 4 4 Atlanta 130 000 0026 9 0 CUBS 000 000 0022 5 1 vis Who's on 1st no big deal to Torborg By Alan Solomon Chicago Tribune BOSTON The question continues to come up: When will Frank Thomas play first base again? White Sox manager Jeff Torborg hasn't exactly grown weary of the question. He has just put the urgency aside. "I don't make a big deal of that, because the other guys have done so well," said Torborg, who had Ron Kittle set to start there Friday before the rainout.

"My major concern at the beginning was we didn't have a guy that had Sox notes played a lot over there, and it also kept me from being flexible with my lineup." Defensively, none of the half-dozen others who have played there have embarrassed themselves or the club. fl The day-night makeup sit-uation didn't thrill Sox bullpen coach Dave LaRoche. He remembers them at Fenway from his playing days. "As a player, it was a long, long day," LaRoche said, very slowly. "Most of the guys stayed in here and played cards." Others, he said, were invited to have lunch at the Stadium Club.

That didn't make it any easier to endure a workday that will begin before 10 a.m. and end around midnight. "You're talking about a long day." Right-hander Ramon Garcia briefly was a missing person in Boston Thursday. Seems after the charter arrived at Logan Airport, Garcia went to perform a bodily function. When he emerged from the function area, the team bus already was on its way to the Boston hotel without him.

It was Garcia's first time in town, and his English, though improving, is less than fluent. Somehow, everything turned out all right. Tim Raines, who jarred his right knee crashing into the left-field pads Thursday afternoon, was set to start feels good," Raines said of the knee. or one guy's record is not as important as setting up the whole team. "I'm sure he's very concerned with Jack.

Pretty valuable man right there." Delighted, of course, was Garcia, who only days ago had been relegated to long relief and emergency starts. "I'm happy he's giving me a chance to pitch tomorrow," Garcia said. "Whatever Jeff wants me to do, I'll do bullpen or start," Pitching with three days' rest Saturday: the bullpen. Among the others the committee sent invitations to was Nevada-Las Vegas basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, but he had another commitment. Lee was disappointed more so-called critics of NCAA enforcement didn't take the opportunity to testify.

He expects this to be the only hearing. "1 would have liked to have heard what they had to say," Lee said. "But I was very impressed with the quality of information we received today." a-grounded out lor Castillo in the 7th. b-flied out for Scanlan in the 8th. Salazar (6).

LOB Atlanta 5, CUBS 4. 2B Olson (10). HR Dawson (16) off Avery. Hunter (6) off Pavlas RBIs Nixon (16). Pendleton (47), LoSmlth 2 (29).

Hunter (23), Dawson 2 (64). CS CWalker (3), Sandberg (7). Avery. SF Pendleton. GIDP Lemke.

Runners left in scoring position Atlanta 3 (Hunter 2. Avery); CUBS 2 (Dawson. Wllklns). after being tossed out trying to loss to Atlanta on Friday. fielder's choice.

Treadway singled. Olson scored on Pendleton's sacrifice fly, Nixon to third. Gant walked. Smith singled, Nixon and Treadway scoring. Three runs.

BRAVES NINTH Hunter homered. Olson singled, took second on Avery's sacrifice bunt and scored on Nixon's single. Two runs. CUBS NINTH With one out, Sandbenj walked and scored on Dawson's homer. Two runs.

By Alan Solomon Chicago Tribune BOSTON The four-man rotation, which White Sox manager Jeff Torborg announced Wednesday and hedged on Thursday, died Friday. What happened? "I happened," Torborg said. Rain happened, too. It washed out Friday night's scheduled game between the Sox and the Boston Red Sox, which means the clubs will play a day-night double-header at Fenway on Saturday. That isn't what changed the rotation.

The rainout just moved it a little. Greg Hibbard, Friday night's intended starter, will go Saturday afternoon. But Ramon Garcia, who was supposed to hang out in the bullpen for a few weeks, will start Saturday night. That's the difference. What changed Torborg's mind? "Two complete games," he said.

Charlie Hough went nine innings Thursday after Jack McDowell did the same Wednesday. The possibility his pitchers might throw complete games in a four-man rotation was, of course, always there. But these particular completions (especially McDowell's, in which he threw 141 pitches), along with lingering concern over some fleeting tenderness in Alex Fernandez's shoulder, changed Torborg's rnirid. "I got worrying about it," Torborg said. "I didn't want to hurt somebody.

"I called Sammy Ellis, the pitching coach today. I said, 'I want to go this other He said, 'I know what you're What he was saying was he just wasn't comfortable with the scenario, even if, based on past performance, it made sense. "I've never, in recent years with a young pitching staff, been a believer in the four-man anyway," Torborg said. "I grew up with that with the Dodgers, but I've always believed, especially with power pitchers or young arms, that the five-man is necessary. "But we were going to try it." Not now.

Not yet. Hibbard, the pitcher most excited about the move back to four days' rest, wasn't thrilled about the switch. "For me, I'm a finesse-type pitcher," Hibbard said. "I don't think being stronger would help me a lot. What the four-man would do would get me more chances to get on the mound more often in a short period of time.

"Therefore, my finesse stuff would be sharper. It seems logical: The more times you get to the mound, the more practice you get." Torborg, who understands all that, said he'll move Hibbard up, pitching him on short rest from time to time. McDowell, who likes both extra rest and extra starts, assumed his own long outing the other day influenced Torborg's decision. "I'm sure it did," said McDowell, who didn't seem particularly upset. "I haven't even come close to my college days yet.

I'd throw 150 pitches." Fernandez and Hough reacted essentially with acceptance. "It doesn't matter to me," said Fernandez. "I never got the chance to start with the four-man. I think I would've felt fine but it's their call." Hough? "Jeffs got to make his decision," said the veteran. "As a player, you just go with those decisions.

It's not a big deal. I've always pitched better on three days' rest, but my record charged that Illinois had offered money to Thomas while recruiting him. "The only true way to resolve credibility is to see and hear what the witness has to say," Beckett said. Beckett was one of eight people to appear before the committee. Others included Kentucky football coach Bill Curry, Georgia Athletic Director Vince Dooley and Southern Cal basketball coach George Raveling.

$iQ99 Family Dome $OQ99 3 I UM 3 0 1 Luis Salazar boots Jeff Blauser first Ryne Sandberg flips his helmet steal second base in the Cubs' 6-2 How they scored BRAVES FIRST With two out. Pendleton singled and took second on Gant's single. The runners moved up a base on CastWo's wild pitch. Smith walked. Pendleton scored on Salazar's fielding error.

One run. BRAVES SECOND OTson singled. Avety stnx out. Olson took second on Nixon's bunt, Nixon to first on a Cubs notes players must clear waivers before they can be traded, meaning that rival teams can block deals by claiming the waivers. Maybe home runs aren't so important after all.

The Cubs lead the league with 96 of them, but Andre Dawson's two-run shot in the ninth inning of Friday's 6-2 loss to Atlanta snapped a six-game homerless streak in Wrigley Field. "We've won four of those six, so we don't necessarily need them," manager Jim Essian said. who the outside consultants would be. There is speculation they could be retired judges or arbitrators, who currently are used to settle disputes in other sports. Big 10 Commissioner Jim De-Iany agreed with Slive, although both officials said the NCAA infractions committee could stillplay a role in determining penalties.

Both men also advocated speeding up the processing of cases, which sometimcshave taken years to complete. Slive called for the implementa Summer tubes Rumor has Rangers pursuing Buechele-for-Lancaster deal uf Atlanta i (Hunter ana blauser); uubs 1 (uun- WP Castillo. Umpires Home, McSherry; First, Oavls; Second, Davidson; Third, Layne. 2:32. A 35.604.

will go to Iowa to watch Jackson and Rick Sutcliffe, who will relieve Jackson after five innings. If Jackson is deemed ready to return to the Cubs, the earliest he could return to the rotation would be over the weekend in New York. With the addition of 6-foot-7-inch Dave Pavlas to the pitching staff, the average height of the Cubs' 14 pitchers four of whom are on the disabled list is 6-3. Three of them measure 6-7: Pavlas, Bob Scanlan and Sutcliffe. Saturday is former Cub manager Leo Durocher's 86th birthday.

PAGE 1 beating as a result of the publicity, the longer these cases go on," Delany said. The committee seemed responsive to Steve Beckett, Illinois basketball player Deon Thomas' attorney. Said you have here is not due process, it's a process." Beckett was frustrated during the recent infractions case involving Illinois because he wasn't given a chance to confront Iowa assistant coach Bruce Pearl, who ston and Grace). Atlanta IP ER BP SO NP ERA Avery 11-5 8 1-3 5 2 2 4 4 126 3 54 Berenquer 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 6 2 04 CUBS IP ER BB SO NP ERA Castillo 3-1 6 8 4 3 2 4 109 3.33 Scanlan 2 0 0 0 0 1 20 4 54 Pavlas 1 3 2 2 0 0 1218 00 By Andrew Bagnato With an important trading deadline only four days away, many of the Cubs are wondering about their futures. Though the club isn't believed to be close to making any trades, there's a persistent rumor out of Texas that the Rangers are trying to acquire Les Lancaster, who makes his 10th start for the Cubs Saturday afternoon in Wrigley Field.

Texas is said to be dangling third baseman Steve Buechele. July 31 is the deadline for clubs to make trades without placing players on waivers. After that, all NCAA Continued from page 1 forcement staff. "In the public eye, the committee doesn't pass muster," Slive said. "The times have changed.

For the overall good, I think it's time to be responsive to the call of the public and revise this process." Slive and others were vague on Until Dawson's homer off Steve Avery in the ninth, the Cubs had sent 276 men to the plate since the previous Wrigley homer, by George Bell on July 1 1. Dawson's teammates gave him a gift before Friday's game. It was a cloth umpire doll with detachable head and limbs, a pointed reference to his heated run-in with Joe West on Tuesday night. Danny Jackson received the go-ahead for his Monday night rehabilitation start in Iowa after pitching 15 minutes without pain on Friday morning. Pitching coach Billy Connors FROM tion of a plea-bargain system.

If the school agrees with the NCAA's allegations, a penalty could be agreed upon, thereby avoidingthe lengthy infractions-committee process. Delany said that once the NCAA completes its preliminary inquiry of a school it should share its information with the school so the parties can conduct a joint investigation. He thinks this will help speed up the processing of cases. "Higher education is taking a 1 In Fun Is On Sale Now At Reuss! SPALDING Academy Broadway tents Kr.UColorama rw 3 person -a Domei60 I 5 HQ" 5 person $1 79" 18 la Single $4 0099 Adult rectangular sleeping bag 20050 2.5 lb. Hoiilflll $Oyf99i sleeolnabaa wt 23100 Colossal $1 69" Double hi pi iwiP.nj jiiiiinm Ljiwiwti i.