Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 81

Today's television highlights: 1 p.m. Lions: Detroit at Washington 4 p.m. NFL: Chicago at San Francisco 4:30 p.m. Baseball: Toronto at Kan. City 8:15 p.m.

Baseball: LA at St. Louis Sunday, Oct. 13, 1005 mm l-J DETROIT FREE PRESS A capital offense: The Lions have never won in Washington, but that doesn't faze linebacker Jimmy Williams. Lions Preview, Page 6G. Sports Phone, 1-976-1313 Call with (ports newt: 222-6660 PREPS 5 SCOREBOARD 14 OUTDOORS 15 Wolverines set reven Hitch fllbom ge Finally, the game's afoot lor Cardinals speedsters ST.

LOUIS Speed kills. U-M defense manhandles MSU, 31-0 You can ask the Los Angeles Dodgers now. Surely they had nightmares Saturday night of cleats in motion, perpetual motion, dancing off the bases, kicking up dirt, sprinting from first to second, second to third, third to home. For that's how St. Louis finally beat them, closing the gap to 2-1 in their playoff series.

Not so much with bats and balls, but with the soles of their feet. Everyone knew the Cardinals were the fastest team in baseball. But it took them awhile to show it. Wait's over. From Vince Coleman's opening single Saturday, it was run for your life for as long as it mattered, which was pretty much the first two innings.

The Cardinals did all their scoring in those innings which took nearly an hour to play and it was less a game than a track meet. We should have brought stopwatches. We should have shot a starter's pistol and painted a finish line across home plate. 'i Am ff'JM v. Every time Coleman or fellow gazelle Willie McGee got on base five times Saturday the sell-out crowd roared, rose to its feet and waved red flags like a matador in the ring.

And the runners would ease out to the farthest border of the first base dirt, and claw at it, scratching their 1 1 hooves like the bull waiting to charge. The stadi -M 'I um thundered. Run! El Tow! Speed thrills. Pitchers under the gun And run they did. By JACK SAYLOR Free Press Sports Writer EAST LANSING Revenge is a powerful factor, but a bruising defense is even better.

Michigan had both in abundance Saturday and pummeled Michigan State, 31-0, before an overflow crowd of 78,235 fans who watched in emotions ranging from awe to boredom at Spartan Stadium. The victory was the fifth straight for third-ranked Michigan, which next plays No. 1 Iowa. This is the Wolverines' best start since 1977, when they won their first six and wound up 10-2 and in the Rose Bowl. If Michigan gets there again, it will be because of a battering, stifling defense, which has allowed only one touchdown this season.

Michigan, avenging a 19-7 upset by the Spartans a year ago, used two fumbles, a blocked punt and an interception to score four touchdowns. The only points the Wolverines' offense generated came on Mike Gillette's 29-yard field in the second quarter but even that might have been enough since U-M's defense left the Spartans (2-3) firing blanks. Andy Moeller, Mark Messner, Doug and Mike Mallory and Mike Hammerstein hounded MSU quarterback Bobby McAllister at every turn and shut down running back Lorenzo White. White had rushed for at least 100 yards in six straight games. Michigan held him to 47 on 18 carries 23 coming on one breakaway.

McAllister, constantly scrambling to avoid white-jerseyed Wolverines, completed only six of 19 passes, had one intercepted and was sacked three times. He connected with Mark Ingram on one 50-yard beauty, but netted only 33 yards otherwise. "They are a very aggressive team," McAllister said. "They come at you hard. Their secondary is very good and it took a long time for our receivers to get open.

"Our line just couldn't hold them out that long." COMPOUNDING MATTERS were critical errors, two of which came in the game's first 4:01 and put the Spartans in a 14-0 hole. When Gillette kicked his second-quarter field goal, the hole became a grave. "When it got to 17-0, we couldn't use Lorenzo; like we wanted to use him," said MSU coach Coleman stole second immediately. McGee walked. And Dodgers pitcher Bob Welch who, like all the pitchers the Dodgers sent out there, was at least semi-spooked by the threat of Cardinals runners threw wild on a pickof attempt at second.

Coleman raced home. McGee raced to third. Tommy Herr walked and he stole second. When the first inning had ended, the Cardinals had two runs on one hit and the pattern had been set for the rest of the game. "You wanna see this 5- MAaaafc.

A game?" asked Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda afterward. "Look at who scored three out of their four runs and you'll see this game." Free Press Photo bv MARY SCHROEDER Willie McGee Coleman and McGee. No. They can't take MSU safety Dean Altobelli watches as Eric Kattus catches a nine-yard pass from Jim Harbaugh for Michigan's first touchdown. all the credit.

For one thing, if the Cardinals won See MICHIGAN, Page 11G the sprinting events in this track meet, then the Dodgers won the stand-in-one-place events. They stranded base runners as if they were earning Tho Top ID coupons for each one. Every inning they put a man on base seven in total they left at least one Blue Jays one win from Series there for the third out. But what hurt them most were the Cardinals' larcenous legs. The threat a steal was bad enough.

What pitcher wouldn't be disturbed when every By GENE GUIDI Free Press Sports Writer time he set, he saw some dancing waterbug out of KANSAS CITY The Toronto Blue Jays the corner of his eye, just teasing him, tempting him. Come on. Try me. were so determined not to let George Brett beat them Saturday night that they almost beat themselves. "Sometimes you think about them more than No.

1 1owa 23, Wisconsin 13 No. 2. Oklahoma 14, Texas 7 No. 3 Michigan 31, Michigan St. 0 Auburn 59, No.

4 Florida St. 27 Nebraska 34, No. 5 Okla. St. 24 No.

6 Arkansas 30, Texas Tech 7 No. 7 Florida 17, Tennessee 10 No. 8 Penn St. 19, Alabama 17 No. 9 Nebraska 34, Okla.

St. 24 Penn St. 19, No. 10. Alabama 17 Other games Ohio State 48, Indiana 7 Minnesota 21, Northwestern 10 Purdue 30, Illinois 24 C.

Michigan 24, W. Michigan 17 B. Green 42, E. Michigan 24 Wayne St. 30, Michigan Tech 12 Hope 38, Alma 11 Details, Paget 8G to 13G you'd like to," said Welch, who may have set a The Blue Jays fell behind when an inten record for throws to first base.

You half -expected might have a heart attack out there," said Blue Jays second baseman Damaso Garcia, who started the last-gasp rally with a walk. THE BIG HIT for the Blue Jays was again provided by Al Oliver. Oliver, who singled home the winning run against Dan Quisen-berry in Wednesday's Blue Jays win, did it to the Quiz again, slapping a two-run double to right and breaking a 1-1 tie. "I've learned that to hit against someone like Quisenberry, you've got to be patient," Oliver said. "On both of my hits off him, I was to sit back and wait." Tom Henke, who pitched 2'3 innings of shutout relief, got the win.

Royals starter Charlie Leibrandt was tagged with the loss his second of the playoffs. "What a shame for Charlie," said Royals manager Dick Howser. "He hasn't pitched a better game this year." "We were so close to tying the series," Leibrandt said. "Sometimes you've got to make one run stand up; tonight I couldn't." AFTER BRETT'S four-for-four performance in Friday's 6-5 Royals victory, Toronto's strategy was to take the bat out of his hands at every opportunity. Blue Jays starter Dave Stieb intentionally walked him two of the three times Brett came See AL PLAYOFFS, Page 4G the umpire there to start calling balls and strikes.

tional walk to Brett backfired, but rallied with three runs in the top of the ninth, pulling out a 3-1 win in Game 4 of the American League playoffs. But can you blame him? The minute a Coleman or McGee gets aboard, they get under your skin. It's The victory gives the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead in like the guy who walks into a bank with his hand in his pocket and says he's got a gun. If he's mean- the best-of-seven series, and they could earn a ticket to the World Series today in Game 5, scheduled for 4:30 p.m. looking enough, you won't ask for proof.

You'll just start worrying. If we have many more games like this, I Like the Dodgers, who no doubt lost some of the warm confidence they had collected in Games I and 2, played out in the California sunshine. Speed chills. Cards could steal this series Bruins keep mastery in Still, you can't really call this an exciting series so far, unless maybe you're from St. Louis or LA or you don't get out much.

But at least it's predict Detroit, 9-2 able. The Dodgers pitch. The cardinals run. in Games 1 and 2, St. Louis totaled three runs off Dodgers pitching.

The Dodgers won both. Saturday, the Cardinals stole bases, forced throwing errors. They won. By KEITH GAVE Free Press Sports Writer After two games, first-year coach "We've got a job to do," McGee said. "When we're on base, pitchers have to pitch our hitters Harry Neale already is baffled by the Red Wings.

differently. They have to concentrate on us." "It upsetting and alarming when The Cardinals live by Lou Brock's old credo, Cardinals take graceless win in Game 3, 4-2 By GARY SANTANIELLO Free Press Sports Writer ST. LOUIS Take away the bunting, the national media and the inflated ticket prices and it would be hard to distinguish the first three games of the National League playoffs from a Texas-Seattle series. Or, more appropriately, a Pirates-Giants series. In September.

Saturday's eyesores included two ridiculous Dodgers throwing errors, an NL playoff-record 13 walks (six intentional) and 20 runners left on base and a combined 1 36 batting average (three-for-22) with runners in scoring position. And to think allegedly sane people are considering expansion. The Game 3 winners by default were the St. Louis Cardinals, who took sufficient advantage of a rare brutal performance by starter Bob Welch for a 4-2 victory over the Dodgers in a game that had the pace of a Senate subcommittee meeting on aid to Chad. The Cardinals' biggest crime was stranding II runners the first six innings "We were like a football team getting inside the 10 and not being able to punch it in, then missing See PLAYOFFS, Page 4Q you're beaten at home in the enthusiasm department in only the second game of the season," Neale said after Saturday night's 9-2 loss to the Boston Bruins.

"First base is nowhere." They parlay first base into second, third, home. They get fielders nervous, causing them to throw wild or long as several Dodgers did Saturday. If they keep pulling it off, they'll win. If the Dodgers keep them off In "We got beat in every department, base, it's theirs. Load the gun.

Bring out the blocks. Might as and it was a team effort." Neale was particularly critical "of our so-called best players (who) weren't anywhere to be found tonight." well ask Carl Lewis to show up. The Dodgers now know the agony of de feet. The Cardinals got sole. They needed a victory desperately.

And they got it. Led by Charlie Simmer hat trick, the Bruins continued their mastery over the Wings at Joe Louis Arena. Speed kills, speed thrills. And, for this game, In 10 meetings with Boston since ii anyhow, speed fulfills. setting up house at Joe Louis Arena, the Wings are 0-7-3.

Things aren't much better at Boston Garden, either. The UPI Photo Tommy Herr takes a curtain call after hitting a solo homer off Mitch Albom's pro picks, Page 6G. Dodgers pitcher Bob Welch. See RED WINGS, Page 7G.