Pottsville Republican from Pottsville, Pennsylvania • 11

POTTSVILLE (PA.) REPUBLICAN TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1986 11 Bias reasoim to Ibe exeiUedl alboiiilt winning run batted in. His parents and brother drove in from Secaucus, N.J. to see the game. "They've seen me pitch a lot of games in the minor leagues," Bittiger said. "I'm glad they could be here for this one." It was 'difficult for him to designate the biggest thrill of the night.

"They're all nice," Bittiger said. "I guess the home run was probably the most unexpected but I'm here to pitch. I think I can pitch up here. I just need the Bittiger was working for the first time since Sept 2. After' he lost his" major league debut to the San Diego Padres, pitching coach Claude Osteen worked with him on developing a sinking fastball.

"I think he got a pretty, good idea that you can't pitch hitters up high in the major leagues," Osteen said. Bittiger lasted five innings in his first start, allowing five runs and twd home runs. Monday, he scattered six hits over 6 innings and hit the first of the Phillies' four home runs. Glenn Wilson hit a three-run hom By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PITTSBURGH Philadelphia Phillies' rookie pitcher Jeff Bittiger spoke excitedly about his major league future. A few lockers away, third base man Mike Schmidt calmly discussed the end of his own career.

Bittiger homered for his first major league hit and Schmidt hit his 495th career homer Monday night as the Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-4. With the New York Mets having won the National League East, the Phillies' only goal is second place. Schmidt talked about the importance of rookies like Bittiger getting experience late in the year, then repeated his belief that his career may end after the 1987 seasoa "There's a possibility that next season will be my last," Schmidt said. "Before the season, 111 sit down with the owner of the Phillies and my wife and well discuss if Bittiger, 24, lived a rookie's dream at the expense of the Pirates. He homered, earned his first victory and was credited with the game- er and John Russell added a two- run shot as the Phillies won for the ninth time in 11 games.

Bittiger, who struck out in his only previous at-bat, hit a 3-1 pitch over the left field wall against Bob Kipper (5-8). Bittiger signed as a pitcher-third baseman in the New York Mets organization but was converted to pitching early. He said the home run was his first since 1980, his first season of professional baseball in the Mets' system. Wilson's career high 15th homer came off Kipper in the fourth, the 17th homer Kipper's allowed this year in 99 innings, "He's had problems keeping the tall in the park and that scares me," Pirates' manager Jim Leyland said. "I hope he's learned from this year' Russell hit his 13th in the sixth against Ray Krawczyk and Schmidt led off the seventh with his major league leading 37th off John Smiley.

The Pirates, losers in seven of their last nine, got an RBI double from Johnny Ray, a run-scoring single from Barry Bonds and a two-run homer from Tony Pena, his 10th. Rookie pitcher Jeff Bittiger hit his first Major League home run and earned his first victory as the Phillies defeated the Pirates 8-4. (AP Laserphoto) form TewMs retariis to early CNN JD. 1 'i saves, gave up another sacrifice fly by Gerhart after the Orioles loaded the bases on three hits in the eighth. Righetti also yielded a hit in the ninth, but converted his 24th consecutive save opportunity.

In his last 27 outings, he has allowed six earned runs in 48 innings, a 1.12 earned run average. Lombardi's second homer since his recall from Columbus came in the second after Scott McGregor (10-14) walked Dave Winfield. Winfield singled home a run in the sixth and Willie Randolph's- fourth homer, his major league hit, came in the eighth. Don Mattingly, New York's batting leader at .351, had a single and a double while extending his hitting streak to 21 games, tying Cleveland's Joe Carter for the longest in the major leagues this season, Mattingly tied Lou Gehrig for second place on the club's all-time hit list with 220; He trails only Earle Combs, who had 231 hits for the 1927 Yankees. The Orioles, who have gone 12-32 since pulling to within 2 games of the league lead on Aug.

5, stranded 10 runners. "I haven't seen anything as futile as us trying to get a hit with runners in scoring position," said Baltimore manager Earl Weaver. tl Three Baltimore pinch hitters delivered, including Juan Beniquez for the fifth consecutive time. He is 6-for-7, plus a walk, in his last eight pinch hit attempts. By GORDON BEARD AP Sports Writer BALTIMORE Bob Tewksbury has some catching up to do.

'The thing I have to do is show them I'm healthy," the New York Yankees' pitcher said after posting his first victory since July 9. "I like to think they know I can pitch." In his fourth start since being recalled by New York, after a stint at Columbus with a sore shoulder, Tewksbury allowed five hits in seven innings as the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-2 Monday night Another rookie, Phil Lombardi, hit a two-run homer for the Yankees, who kept their slim chances alive in the AL East and pulled to within 10 games of the idle first-place Boston Red Sox. Tewksbury (7-5) yielded only one run before reliever Dave Righetti survived a rare shaky outing and notched his 41st save. There was activity in the New York bullpen when the Orioles loaded the bases in the fourth inning. But, with one run in, manager Lou Piniella stayed with the right-hander when left-handed Jim Dwyer came up as a pinch hitter.

"It was a big thing that Lou left me in to pitch my way out of it," Tewksbury said. The first of two sacrifice flies by Baltimore rookie Ken Gerhart pulled the Orioles to within 2-1. After walking John Stefero to reload the bases, Tewksbury got Dwyer on a fly ball Righetti, the Yankees' bullpen ace, only the fourth pitcher to post 40 Chicago Cubs' outfielder Chico Walker bounces off the wall while trying to field a foul ball by Montreal Expos' Andre Dawson. (AP Laserphoto) Don Mattingly tied Lou Gehrig for second-place on the New York Yankees' single-season hit list with his 220th. Earle Coombs had 231 in 1927.

(AP Laserphoto) Valenzniela notches first 20-win season Sports Briefs 3 Tennis Don Sutton (15-9) his 310th career win. Tigers 2, Blue Jays 1 Detroit's Jack Morris (19-8) threw a six-hitter for his 19th victory, outdoing a three-hit performance by Toronto's Jim Clancy (14-12). Rangers 2, Mariners 0 Texas rookie Edwin Correa (11-13) threw a six-hit shutout, striking out 10 batters which matched his season high. Pete Incaviglia struck out three times and tied the American League's single-season record with his 175th strikeout this season. A's 5, White Sox 3 Jose Canseco hit his 33rd homer of the season, tying for the league lead.

Canseco tops the AL in RBI with 115, three shy of the club record. Twins 2, Royals 1 With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth inning and Tom Brunansky on first, Minnesota's Tim Laudner doubled off the left-field wall. Lonnie Smith stumbled while trying to field it, and Brunansky came around to score. By DICK BRINSTER AP Sports Writer Fernando Valenzuela, a shining light in an otherwise dismal season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, no longer needs to explain to anyone why has has failed to win 20 games in his major league career. The 25-year-old left-hander, the National League's Cy Young 'Award winner and Rookie of the Year in 1981, put that question to rest by pitching a two-hitter Monday night in a 9-2 victory over the Houston Astros that made him the first Mexican-born major leaguer ever to win 20 games in a season.

"It is special to me to be the first pitcher from my country to win 20 games," said Valenzuela, who may soon have company when another Mexican southpaw, Ted Higuera of Milwaukee, goes for his 20th Wednesday night. "I'm so thrilled about him winning 20," Dodgers' manager Tom Lasorda Giants 10, Reds 7 Dan Gladden hit the first grand slam of his career and singled twice to lead the Giants. Gladden's fourth homer highlighted a six-run sixth inning. Braves 9, Padres 8 Pinch-runner Omar Moreno scored the winning run in the ninth inning on a fielding error by catcher Benito Santiago. Expos 5, Cubs 2 Andre Dawson, who becomes a free agent at the end of the season, hit his 19th homer, added a single and a double and scored two runs.

Angles 4-0, Indians 3-7 California moved a step closer to clinching the AL West, but the Angels did it the hard way. They played two games Monday and split. Bobby Grich's three-run homer led in the first game cut the Angels' magic number to four before the Indians awakened 7-0 in the nightcap. Grich's homer came with two out in the sixth inning and brought California back from a 3-1 deficit. It gave said.

"Every guy on our ballclub was pulling for him. He gives you his heart and soul every time he Valenzuela gave his manager a present on Lasorda's 59th birthday his major-league-leading 19th complete game of the season. Steve Sax had two doubles and drove in three runs to lead a 13-hit attack and extend his hitting streak to 20 games. He finished the night hitting .329, third behind San Diego's Tony Gwynn at .332 and Montreal's Tim Raines at .330. The loss left Houston's magic number at four.

Mets 5, Cardinals 2 Dwight Gooden is warming up for New York's probable playoff matchup with Houston by getting cute. "(Pitching coach) Mel (Stottl-emyre) told me that the key was to show more than a curve and a fastball," said Gooden (16-6), who pitched a two-hitter for his third complete game in four starts. Schuylkill falls to Ogontz ABINGTON Penn State-Ogontz swept Penn State-SchuylkiU 9-0 in a Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference (CCAC) tennis match. In singles, Ross Callen (O) defeated Tom Levonas 6-1, 6-2; Chris Alexander (O) defeated Keith Scott 6-2, 6-0; Glen Werciynski (O) defeated Brad Norman 6-1, 6-0; Gary Zuibema (O) defeated Ron Mills 6-1, 6-4; Brian Meakin (O) defeated Mark Cremer 6-1, 6-4 and Rob McKinney (O) defeated Lisa Kopp 6-1, 64. In doubles, Callen-Alexander (O) defeated Levonas-Norman 6-1, 6-1; Mark Dugan-Werczynski (O) defeated Scott-Mills 6-0, 6-1; and McKinney-Zuibema (O) defeated Cremer-Kopp 6-1, 6-3.

Ogontz is 4-0 and Schuylkill is 1-2. Volleyball Penn State-Schuylkill goes to 6-0 SCHUYLKILL HAVEN Penn State-Schuylkill recorded a sweep over Penn State-Scranton and Penn State-Mont Alto in a Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference (CCAC) women's volleyball tri-meet. Schuylkill (6-0) defeated Scranton 15-11, 15-3 and Mont Alto 15-1, 15-7 with strong service games from Ces Hewins, Lori Myers and BarbSedesse. Golf L-4 i I (I 7 Eiler has Clubsters' low net READING Bones Eiler's 75-867 in Flight was the low net score in the Tremont Clubsters tournament at Willow Hollow Golf Course. Other winners were: Flight champion, Joe Dallago (76-7 69); runner-up, George Clark, (77-5 72); Flight runner-up, Joe Costanzo (83-10 73); Flight champion, George O'Neil (82-13 69); runner-up, Al Kulbitsky (86-16 70).

Closest to the pin winners were on No.3, Jack Yeager on No.5, Al Bender; on No.6, Bones Eiler; on No.9, Corky Schroding; on No.14, JoeSantilli. In the "Blind Holes" tournament on holes No.6, 10, 12, 13, 14 and 18, Al Bender, Al Kulbitsky, Corky Schroding and Joe Costanzo combined for first place (102). Two teams tied for second: Dave Frey, Joe Dallago, Bill Conshue and George Clark (105); Joe Santilli, Louie Pete. Henrv Kriner and Bones Eiler (105). Hidden Valley Senior Golf League honors champs The Hidden Valley Senior Golf League crowned flight champions following a 54-hole tournament.

Participating in the awards are, from left: Joe Bobby, tournament director; John Generella, Flight Marty Everly, Flight Gene Klevence, Flight Joe Pfeiffenberger, Flight John Stranko, Flight A-Minus; Robert Hooven, Flight Flight A-Plus; Nick Barbetta, league president. (Staff photo by Andy Matsko).