The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 12

C2I The Sun TUESDAY, May 28. 1991 KALEIDOSCOPE Hershiser to return Wednesday night By CHUCK HICKEY Sun Sports Writer SL vs-. Vs. v. APWIREPHOTO Don Mattingly slides into second base ahead of Luis Rivera, slightly injuring his finger.

Rangers pound Minnesota for 14th consecutive win Pitcher weds into no-out situation A pitcher for the Williamsport Bills entered into a no-cut, lifetime contract this weekend right on the pitcher's mound. Dave Sommer, a member of the New York Mets' Double-A Eastern League team, was married to Jamie Lynn Harris during a pre-game ceremony Saturday night. Joel Horlen, the Bills' pitching coach and a former major leaguer with the Detroit Tigers, gave the bride away, and Morion's wife, Lois, served as matron of honor. Williamsport Manager Clint Hurdle, a former big leaguer with the Kansas City Royals, was the pitcher's best man. Players from both teams formed an honor guard from the mound to home plate, and the bride was brought onto the field in an antique pickup truck.

Afterward, Williamsport lost to Harriburg 12- 9. Appetite for winning Orioles manager Johnny Oates, 0-3 since replacing the fired Frank Robinson: "I've lost eight pounds in three days. This belt fit me when I started on Thursday. I'm a cookie freak and I don't even want a cookie. I think a win could change this, though." Heads and backs against the wall Portland forward Buck Williams: "Coach Ad-elman is doing a great job, but we're not implementing his plan.

Until we do, we'll be hitting our heads against the wall." Sorry, we didn't realize After yielding 11 earned runs, 10 hits, five walks and three wild pitches in 4' a innings in back-to-back games, reliever Eric Plunk said: "Things haven't been going my way lately." A surprise in every box score Minnesota manager Tom Kelly on struggling veterans Allan Anderson and Jack Morris: "When you're driving to the ballpark, you like to have a feeling you're going to win. With Andy and Jack, we don't know what to expect." AL ROUNDUP "Reports from San Antonio said that he struggled with his mechanics, but that he recovered physically from that," Claire said. "But every time he pitched, he threw better, he threw more pitches and he recovered nicely from it." "I was frustrated that my mechanics were so bad, but that was probably from a lack of concentration," Hershiser said of his San Antonio performance. "But out of all the starts, I came out of that game with not one ounce of pain or stiffness. "We decided that we would not move to the next stage until we were bored with the one were at.

And in San Antonio, they saw a bored Orel Hershiser." Hershiser went 2-1 in his rehab starts, throwing 44 pitches for Bakersfield on May 8, 68 pitches for Albuquerque on May 13, 83 for Bakersfield on May 18 and 92 for San Antonio. Hershiser had a 1.17 ERA. To make room in the rotation, Kevin Gross, who is 3-4 with a 4.98 earned-run average, will be moved to the bullpen. A player will have to be sent down to the minor's to make room for Hershiser on the 25-man roster and that decision is likely to come Wednesday. "Kevin took it very well," Claire said.

"I've been pleased with his performance from his first day here and he took it as a true professional." Ramon Martinez, who was scheduled to pitch on Wednesday will be moved back a day and pitch Thursday's opener of a four-game series with Cincinnati. "I haven't had a heart-to-heart with Tommy yet, but I want to be treated like any other pitcher," Hershiser said. "If it's the fifth or sixth inning, I want Tommy to ask if I can go another three innings or if he should use a pinch hitter." Dodgers notes The Dodgers have not lost a series since losing two games at Montreal on April 30 and May 1, a streak of seven series. Oarryl Strawberry, Juan Samuel and Kal Daniels all returned to the starting lineup on Monday. Strawberry was out with a sore toe and Samuel a sprained ankle.

Daniels rested his sore knees Sunday against Cincinnati after playing six consecutive days on AstroTurf. The Dodgers are the only major-league team to not play an extra-innings game. LOS ANGELES The Bulldog is back. Thirteen months and one day after it was announced Orel Hershiser would undergo major reconstructive surgery on his right and throwing shoulder, the Dodgers said Monday that Hershiser would pitch at the major-league level on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. This comes after the 1988 National League Cy Young Award Winner had a 30-day rehabilitation with stops in Bakersfield, San Antonio, Texas, and Albuquerque, N.M.

Dodgers general manager Fred Claire made the announcement shortly before Monday's game against the Astros that Hershiser will be activated prior to the game Wednesday. "Orel has worked so hard to get to this point in just over a year," Claire said. "The decision was made by him as to when he would be ready to come back." "We've come a very long way," Hershiser said. "It's a fantastic opportunity to pitch again and fantastic that it will be here at Dodger Stadium. "The organization never pressured me.

It was when I was ready to come back and pitch again." "The top concern from Day 1 was Orel's good health and when Orel felt comfortable to return," Claire said. "It will look great to see him out there again," said Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. "I've been waiting for this day to come for quite some time and I can't wait for Wednesday to get here. "He was, and I emphasize was, and I hope he still is, one of the most prominent pitchers in the league." Hershiser last pitched on Friday for Double-A San Antonio, where he had trouble with his mechanics and suffered his only loss at the minor-league level. Hershiser gave up 11 hits and three runs (two earned) in seven innings, striking out five and walking one.

San Antonio lost the Texas League game, 3-0. Texas came home and stayed hot by winning its 14th straight game as Juan Gonzalez and Julio Franco each drove in three runs to help the Rangers rout Minnesota 11-4 Monday night. Rafael Palmeiro added three of Texas' 15 hits the 11th straight game in which the Rangers have had at least 10 hits. Texas is hitting .348 during the winning streak. The last American League team to win 14 straight was the Oakland Athletics, who did it April 23-May 9.

1988. The streak has brought the Rangers from sixth place and 5' games back to first place by a game over Oakland. Texas returned home after winning six straight in Minnesota and Seattle. The Rangers improved to 17-6 in May, tying the team record for victories in the month set in 1988. Last May, they went 8-19.

"I've never seen a team with an offense like this team's is jelling," Rangers manager Bobby Valentine said. "The little things are happening and the big things are happening." Again, the Rangers won despite a shaky performance from their starting pitcher. Kevin Brown (4-3) gave up three earned runs on six hits in five innings. Brown, who had to work out of jams in each inning, walked five and struck out two while throwing 90 pitches, only 49 for strikes. Kirby Puckett went 4-for-5 for the Twins.

TIGERS 15, BREWERS 9: Milt Cuyler's three-run double highlighted Detroit's seven-run 14th inning as the Tigers won at Milwaukee for their seventh win in 11 games. The Brewers had 18 hits and the Tigers 13 as the teams played for 5 hours and 37 minutes. INDIANS 3, ORIOLES 2: Beau Allred hit the tie-breaking homer in the sixth inning as visiting Cleveland kept Baltimore manager Johnny Oates winless. Baltimore has lost five straight four of them under Oates, who took over for Frank Robinson last Thursday. ROYALS 6, MARINERS 3: George Brett's single in the sixth inning drove in the go-ahead run and tied him with Lou Gehrig for 38th place on the all-time hit list as visiting Kansas City won its third straight game.

YANKEES 6, RED SOX 5: Mel Hall's second homer of the game, a three-run shot off Boston relief ace Jeff Reardon in the ninth inning, lifted New York over the visiting Red Sox to extend the Yankees' winning streak to five games. From Sun News Services Spirit defeats San Jose, 4-2 By KAL RUCKER Sun Sports Writer Drabek tosses one-hitter to defeat Cardinals, 8-0 NL ROUNDUP linger, who had struck out in his three previous at-bats. Kent then came on to record the final four outs for his sixth save. Both pitchers got out of jams the final three innings. "Garcia and Kent made the San Jose bats as quiet as they've been all year," said Spirit manager Tommy Jones.

"Pitching wins games. That was proven today." The Spirit took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning as Bobby Magallanes singled off Giants starter Pat Rapp and Alex Sutherland followed with a slicing, run-scoring double to the left-field corner. San Bernardino stretched its lead to 4-1 with two runs in the eighth. Jeff Keitges led off with a single and Magallanes walked to chase Rapp. Left-hander Max Aleys came in and gave up an RBI single to pinch-hitter Clay Klavitter.

Magallanes scored the fourth run on a sacrifice fly by Lipso Nava. "It was kind of exciting to come in like that," said Klavitter, who had just 24 previous at-bats. "It's kind of hard. You're sitting for so long. You've just got to be men-, tally ready." Rapp (6-3) took the loss.

He allowed all four runs on seven hits and three walks. He struck out eight. Spirit notes First baseman Jett Keitges (2-for-4 Monday) has collected at least one hit in each of the eight games on the road trip. The Spirit is now 4-1 in games when Alex Sutherland starts behind the plate. The 19-year-old.

left-handed hitting catcher was hitting .316 after six games with six RBI. He doubled in a run Monday and five of his six hits have gone for extra bases A short sleep didn't hurt the Spirit. The team left Visalia after Sunday night's game, bussed 200 miles to San Jose and played at noon Monday. "We iust came straight to the yard," Spirit manager Tommy Jones joked. Delvln Thomas was the Spirit's designated hitter Monday.

He might argue he's been the designated hitter all season. Thomas got hit by a pitch for the seventh time Monday. He also was hit in the head by a foul ball In the dugout during a game at High Desert. Doug Drabek pitched his second career one-hitter Monday as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0.

Drabek (3-7) struck out two and walked none as Pirates won their fourth straight game. Drabek found the touch that made him the Cy Young Award winner last season when he finished 22-6. The right-hander's first one-hitter came last season in Philadelphia when he lost a no-hit bid with two outs in the ninth inning on Sil Campusano's single. The Cardinals' only hit was a solid single to center field by Bernard Gilkey with two outs in the sixth. Drabek faced 29 batters, with the other base runner reaching on an error in the first inning.

Drabek also cooled off the Cardinals, who had 23 hits in beating the New York Mets 14-4 on Sunday. Jay Bell hit a three-run homer and double to pace the Pirates' attack. The Pirates, who had been ouscored 14-3 in the first inning in their last 12 games, jumped on starter Bob Tewksbury (3-2), for three runs in the first as Bobby SAN JOSE Monday was a memorable day for the Spirit. In a season short on highlights, San Bernardino beat the league's top team on the road Monday to match its longest winning streak of the season. Marcos Garcia and Troy Kent combined on a seven-hitter as the Spirit beat San Jose, 4-2, before a Memorial Day crowd of 3,215 at San Jose Municipal Stadium.

The victory was the third consecutive for San Bernardino (18-29), which evened its record on the nine-game road trip to 4-4. The Spirit also took three in a row from Salinas at the beginning of May. San Jose (32-15) dropped its second game in as many days and has yet to lose three consecutive this season. Garcia (2-4) won his second consecutive start. In 7'a innings, he allowed both runs on five hits.

He struck out 10 while walking two. "I'm making less mistakes," said Garcia, who lowered his ERA to 3.02. "I still made a few today and they cost me two runs. "It's feeling good to win," added the lanky Dominican, who had eight starts be-fore his first victory last week in Bakersfield, a 1-0 shutout. "I couldn't get discouraged.

I'm too far from home. I'm here for one purpose. I'm determined to go after my dream, which is to play in the big leagues." Garcia had a dreamy three-hitter going into the eighth against the Giants, who average almost six runs a game. In the eighth, Derek Reid singled, stole second, and with two outs, scored on a single by Clay Bel Bonilla had an RBI single, Barry Bonds hit a sacrifice fly and Mitch Webster added a run-scoring triple. The Pirates made it 4-0 on back-to-back doubles in the third by Bell and Andy Van Slyke.

REDS 3, GIANTS 2: Eric Davis homered before being ejected and Rob Dibble remained unblemished in relief as the visiting Reds beat San Francisco, handing the Giants their 12th loss in 16 games. METS 3, CUBS 1: Cubs manager Jim Essian lost for the first time in six games as Howard Johnson and Hubie Brooks hit home runs to help the New York Mets beat Chicago. BRAVES 3, PADRES 1: Steve Avery pitched seven strong innings and Ron Gant homered on the game's first pitch for visiting Atlanta. EXPOS 8, PHILLIES 1: Ivan Cal-deron, a last-minute starter, had two home runs and five RBI as visiting Montreal snapped a five-game losing streak. From Sun News Services SPORTS IN BRIEF Long Beach State in College Series AUSTIN, Texas Scott Talanoa's towering home run in the fifth inning sealed Long Beach State's 8-4 victory over Oklahoma State on Monday night in the championship game of the NCAA Central Regional.

The third-seeded 49ers (44-20) earned their second trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. It's the third time in the past four years that a California team has won the Central Regional. The second-seeded Cowboys, trying to reach the World Series for the 19th time and ninth in the last 10 years, ended the season at 47-20. The 49ers' Steve Whitaker (11-3) allowed only seven hits in 7V3 innings after pitching four innings of relief Friday. The 6-foot-6 left-hander, who threw 166 pitches, fanned nine batters.

Earlier Monday, Oklahoma State scored eight runs in the third inning to defeat Long Beach State 12-8, forcing the deciding game. Also. Creighton and Wichita State won their NCAA Regionals on Monday, leaving only two spots remaining in the eight-team field for the College World Series. Creighton won the West I Regional and Wichita State took the Midwest Regional. The winners of the South Regional and Central Regional tournaments will fill the remaining spots in the CWS, which starts Friday in Omaha, Neb.

Already in the field were East Regional winner Florida, Northeast Regional winner Clem-son, Atlantic Regional winner Florida State and West II Regional winner Fresno State. All four advanced with victories Sunday. Tarkanian on way out? LAS VEGAS Are new image problems with the UNLV basketball program a final straw for coach Jerry Tarkanian? Some close to the program say Sunday's publication of photos showing three members of his 1990 championship team with a convicted sports-event fixer may be just that. "I think you're going to see growing pressure on the coach and on the school," one source said after viewing photos of former players Anderson Hunt, David Butler and Moses Scurry with Richard "The Fixer" Perry. One photo shows the four sitting in a hot tub drinking beer, the other playing basketball on a court at Perry's Las Vegas home.

They were published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal and were reportedly taken before the 1989-90 season. Tarkanian said Sunday he has warned his players repeatedly to stay away from Perry, and has told Perry to stay away from the players. Exbourne wins Hollywood Turf INGLEWOOD Off to a slow start. Ex-bourne rallied in the stretch to beat the two favorites and win the $500,000 at Hollywood Turf Handicap at Hollywood Park Monday. Exbourne balked entering the gate and was slow getting underway with Gary Stevens riding, but he rallied in the stretch for a three-fourths length victory over Itsallgreektome.

Prized was third, another half behind. BRIEFLY NOTED: Unbeaten North Carolina jumped to a seven-goal halftime lead behind Dennis Goldstein's three goals and beat Towson State 18-13 for the NCAA lacrosse championship in Syracuse, N.Y. Gianni Bugno won a mountainous, 79-mile race on the island of Sardinia, but fellow Italian Franco Chioccioli moved into first place overall in the Tour of Italy cycling event. From Sun News Services Mavs edge Bakersfield, 7-6 By PETE MARSHALL Special to The Sun 0" i iiliTlU 4 DOOR STATION WAGON Ik A Or ck. axil, ok otr.

VJvVVViA TAURUS WML 7 sjvVvvl 4 DOC DM. STATtOM WAGON CI. catcher misconnections. First, a wild pitch sent him to third, and then he scored on a passed ball. High Desert came back strong in the bottom half of the inning.

Matt Witkowski singled with one out in the Maverick half. Mieske forced him, then went to third on a single by Jay Gainer. Mark Gicseke singled to right to score Mieske. Farmer then sent a 1-2 pitch over the fence in right-center for a 4-1 lead. The Mavericks expanded their lead to 6-1 in the fourth on a double by Paul Gonzalez, and singles by Mark Verstandig, Ray Holbert and J.

D. Noland. Mavericks notes Mavericks center fielder Matt Mieske was named California League batter of the week tor the week May 20-28. Mieske hit .460. with six doubles, one home run and 10 RBI in addition to tour stolen bases.

Mieske leads the Mavericks In six offensive categories. Reliever Chris Haslock, Iresh off of a fine outing Sunday, was promoted to Double-A Wichita In the Texas league. Reggie Fanner and Steve Betnea, both of whom have started recently due to iniuries by regulars, have different Ideas on what they're playing tor. Bethea said, "I know my role. Things are going well for me right now.

but Gonzo (Paul Oontalez) is our third baseman." On the other hand. Farmer said. "Hopefully by playing well, can put pressure on (manager Bruce) 8ochy to play me very day." Brian McKeon (5-2. 5 36 ERA) Is scheduled to pitch Tuesday against Bakersfield's Pedro Martinet (7-0, 1 81). Martinez older brother Ramon pitches for the L.A.

Dodgers. ADELANTO Now this is more like it. The High Desert Mavericks, who lost their tempers not to mention four of five games the last time the Bakersfield Dodgers were in town, pushed over a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to edge Bakersfield, 7-6. The victory came before 2,543 fans at Mavericks Stadium and pulled High Desert 7'i games back of first-place Bakersfield in the Cal League's Southern Division standings. After watching Bakersfield score twice in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 6-6, the Mavericks won on a single and stolen base by Matt Mieske, and a game-winning single by Reggie Farmer.

Ed Zinter (2-1), who had given up the tying runs in the ninth, was the winner. Albert Bustillos (2-2) took the loss for Bakersfield. Bakersfield got on the board first. With two outs in the first inning, Alan Lewis doubled into the left-field corner. He came around to score on some pitcher-.