Baseball / Ross Newhan : Giants in First, but Craig Is Still Waiting for Starters to Turn Corner

Is there trouble in Forkball City? Roger Craig, the San Francisco Giants manager and master of that specialty pitch, pointed a split finger at some of his pitchers the other day and said:

“I’m tired of this crap. We keep walking guys to start innings. I can’t tolerate it any more. We’ve got guys who can throw 95 miles per hour and they’re trying to hit corners. I’ll make some bleeping changes.”

The Giants continue to lead or challenge for the lead in the National League’s West Division, primarily on the strength of a productive outfield and effective bullpen.

The relievers, led by Scott Garrelts and Jeff Robinson, had a 13-4 record entering a weekend series at Philadelphia. Craig’s dissatisfaction was with his starters, who had an 11-12 record and had produced only three wins in the last 19 games, a stretch in which they were averaging barely five innings per start and had an earned-run average of 6.10.

In May, opposing leadoff hitters, taking advantage of the starters’ tendency to try to work the corners, had an on-base percentage of .483, meaning that just about every other inning opened with a runner on base.

Craig has responded with a series of changes. Roger Mason was sent out. Mark Davis was sent to the bullpen. Kelly Downs and Mark Grant, who made six consecutive starts without a decision, will each miss one turn at least. Atlee Hammaker, Mike LaCoss and Jim Gott all returned to the rotation.

Craig’s biggest concern is with Mike Krukow, who came to grips with the split-fingered fastball last season and had a 20-9 record. Krukow has won one of nine starts this year. In his last four starts, he has allowed 31 hits and 21 earned runs in 16 innings.

“I think there’s a black cloud over me,” he said. In reality, it’s his manager’s mood.

Batting only .229 left-handed, the Giants’ switch-hitting outfielder Chili Davis went to bat right-handed against right-hander Curt Brown in Montreal Tuesday night, angering Craig, who had a private meeting with Davis later and said he would bench Davis in the Wednesday night series finale. Craig changed his mind, however, and Davis delivered four hits left handed.

The secret?

“I hit bottom last night,” he said, alluding to his reaction to the events of Tuesday night. “I had about 12 double scotches. I got drunk and sick. I don’t think I can do that before every game.”

Reflecting on a recent conversation with his manager, Tom Trebelhorn, Milwaukee Brewer General Manager Harry Dalton said: “I told Treb, ‘Give us one thing. In six weeks we’ve shown ‘em the best of times and the worst of times.’ ”

The Brewers have become the first team in baseball history to win and lose as many as 12 straight games in the same year. The key to each streak was run production.

In winning 13 in a row, the Brewers averaged seven runs per game and batted .331 with runners in scoring position. In losing 12 in a row with Paul Molitor on the disabled list and Rob Deer often unavailable, the Brewers averaged 2.1 runs a game and batted .101 with runners in scoring position.

The Brewers ended the losing streak Wednesday night against Joel Davis of the Chicago White Sox, the same pitcher who had snapped their win streak.

“We knew it was going to end sooner or later,” Trebelhorn said of the latest streak. “The main thing is we stayed together. We didn’t have a clubhouse brawl. I didn’t kick any cans over. I still can’t believe we lost 12 in a row.”

An off day followed the win that ended the streak, prompting Trebelhorn to shake his head and say: “One in a row is very exciting. I hate to have a day off when we’re so hot.”

The Oakland A’s most productive home run bat does not belong to Reggie Jackson or Jose Canseco or Ron Cey. It is being swung by former USC star Mark McGwire, who entered a weekend series against the Baltimore Orioles on a pace projecting to 71 homers. McGwire, a member of the 1984 Olympic team, after hitting one Saturday, has 10 in his last 12 games and 15 for the season, particularly impressive since he spent the first two weeks on the bench and has only 30 hits in all. The 30 hits have accounted for 29 runs batted in.

“It’s unexplainable,” he said, alluding to a home run pace that puts him ahead of Babe Ruth and Roger Maris. “I don’t think it’s hit me yet that I’m on top of the American League in home runs, probably because in the back of my mind I know there’s such a long way to go. I’m down to earth. I realize this pace isn’t going to keep up.”

The St. Louis Cardinals stole five bases in Tuesday night’s game at Atlanta, where they don’t normally run because of the swamp-like infield--both natural and man made. Said Vince Coleman, who had 2 of the 5 steals:

“This time they didn’t have the Atlantic Ocean out there.”

Coleman, incidentally, had a 13-game hitting streak snapped Wednesday. He had two or more hits in nine of the games, improving his average to .299. Is he finally a contact hitter of the type that the Cardinals have said he should be. Manager Whitey Herzog is cautious, pointing out that Coleman was at .295 last year when he went hitless in 37 at-bats. Coleman is cautious, too.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said. “Come back after 400 at bats.”

Add Cardinals: Asked about the managerial ability of shortstop Ozzie Smith, Herzog said it’s definitely there.

Herzog, however, pointed out that Smith has a clause in his contract with the Busch-owned Cards that guarantees him a beer distributorship when he retires.

“I don’t know if Ozzie wants to manage,” he said. “Which would you rather do, manage or have a distributorship? You never have a bad day with Bud. You never lose.”

Having matched his seven wins of last year, Kansas City’s Bret Saberhagen may be headed for a second Cy Young Award and first Comeback Player of the Year Award.

“Everybody loves a winner,” he said. “But I can’t blame anyone for the way they treated me last year. I love a winner, too. I’m as big a front runner as anyone. If guys are struggling you can only root for them so long. Who’s going to like the Sacramento Kings?”

With Bob Boone and Rich Gedman absent because of their late signings and Lance Parrish having gone to the National League, Toronto’s Ernie Whitt heads a mediocre list of 14 catchers on the American League All-Star ballot. The 14 were batting a combined .224 through Thursday.

The question is: Is it a ballot or advertising brochure? Peter Ueberroth’s penchant for corporate involvement has resulted in the camouflaging of the ballot with ads for Chevrolet, Eastern Airlines, Rawlings Sporting Goods and USA Today.

After hitting only .220 over the second half of last year, Minnesota Twins slugger Kent Hrbek was hitting only .234 entering a weekend series with the Detroit Tigers.

“You name it, I’ve tried it,” he said. “I probably stand differently every time I go up to the box.”

Teammate Roy Smalley suggests that what Hrbek needs is a mental adjustment.

“I believe he thinks that if he hits one into the upper deck he’s going to be out of it,” Smalley said. “But what he needs is a week’s worth of two hit games.”

Baseball Notes Houston relief ace Dave Smith has yet to allow a run in 11 innings this year but isn’t happy with his infrequent employment. . . . Montreal’s Jay Tibbs is only 4-4 despite having a lead in every game he’s pitched. “How many runs do we have to score for him?” Manager Buck Rodgers asked. “It gets pretty demoralizing scoring six runs a game for him and needing 10 to win.”. . . . There’s now speculation that Cleveland Manager Pat Corrales is in trouble. . . . Indian pitcher Ernie Camacho, who has one save and a 9.58 ERA, had to be physically restrained Tuesday night from attacking Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Bill Livingston, who had alluded to Camacho’s statistics and written that he was a “walking torch.” . . . Oakland’s Curt Young has a 1.91 ERA for his last 13 starts dating back to last year. . . . The Baltimore Orioles now have three rookie starters--Eric Bell, John Habyan and Jeff Ballard--for the first time since September of 1976 when Mike Flanagan, Scott McGregor and Dennis Martinez broke in. The latter three have won 385 games.

There’s no indication that Oil Can Boyd will be returning to the Boston rotation soon. A shoulder injury has prevented him from pitching competitively since March 20 when he pitched the last of his 13 scoreless spring innings. . . . Atlanta catcher Ozzie Virgil, getting the least for the most, has 14 home runs and only 21 RBIs. Eleven of the homers have been solos, and Virgil is only 3 for 27 with runners in scoring position. . . . They are both ex-Angels, but the relationship between Chicago White Sox General Manager Larry Himes and Manager Jim Fregosi is said to be tenuous. . . . Himes is attempting to unload the salaries of pitchers Richard Dotson and Floyd Bannister. He reportedly offered either to Cincinnati General Manager Bill Bergesch for shortstops Barry Larkin and Kurt Stillwell and outfielder Kal Daniels. “Can you imagine the gall of that guy,” Bergesch said. . . . The Texas Rangers had gone to their bullpen 88 times through 37 games. . . . George Argyros called in response to a Times analysis of his attempted sale of the Seattle Mariners and purchase of the San Diego Padres to say that he has never broken his Seattle lease, that Ueberroth did not set up the Padres purchase for him, that he does not have a special alliance with Ueberroth and that he is very close to a deal in Seattle, though he would not provide the name of the prospective buyer.