AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : No Need to Be Leary of Yankee Pitching

Pitching was expected to be the biggest problem for the New York Yankees, whose rotation is made up of castoffs found wanting by other teams.

Yet they have already had outstanding performances by three of their starters.

First, Scott Sanderson pitched a near no-hitter. Then, Chuck Cary handed the Chicago White Sox their first defeat.

And Friday night in New York, Tim Leary tossed a three-hitter, posting a personal-best 12 strikeouts, as the Yankees scored a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Jesse Barfield hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie and give the Yankees their fourth victory in 10 games.

Barfield’s first homer of the season spoiled another strong performance by Mike Boddicker as the Royals suffered their fourth consecutive defeat.

Boddicker is 1-2 despite an earned-run average of 1.57, and his other loss was by 2-1.

Leary (2-0) is pitching for his fifth major league team, Sanderson his fourth and Cary his third.

The Royals lost more than a game. Relief pitcher Mark Davis suffered a broken ring finger on his pitching hand trying to field Mel Hall’s smash in the eighth inning.

Seattle 11, Oakland 7--Dave Stewart’s streak of 20 victories in April ended at Seattle.

Stewart (1-1) had not lost an April decision since 1987, and was 14-0 against Seattle since joining the Athletics in 1986. But the Mariners tagged him for seven runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings, and won their fourth game in a row.

Last Sunday, Stewart escaped with a no-decision against Seattle when he gave up six earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Stewart, trying for his fifth consecutive 20-victory season, has a 7.00 ERA after three starts this year.

Alvin Davis broke a 4-4 tie in the fifth inning with a two-run homer, and the Mariners chased Stewart with three runs in the sixth.

Toronto 5, Milwaukee 2--John Olerud might take a shot at home run records if he could face Brewer pitching more often.

Olerud hit two more home runs, and Rance Mulliniks added another at Milwaukee to give Dave Stieb his first victory after two defeats.

Olerud is seven for 15 against the Brewers, with three homers, helping the Blue Jays win three of the five games.

Stieb, who won 18 games last season, served up a home run to leadoff hitter Paul Molitor, then settled down to pitch a complete game.

Olerud connected off Don August (0-2) to tie the score in the second inning. Mulliniks, who had been hitless in 15 at-bats, then got an opposite-field home run that barely cleared the fence near the left-field foul pole.

“I really wasn’t trying to hit home runs,” Olerud said. “I was just trying to get base hits.”

Baltimore 5, Texas 0--The Orioles couldn’t stop hot-hitting Brian Downing, but they took care of the rest of the Rangers at Baltimore.

Downing, who had three more hits, is 13 for 18, a .733 average, and has reached base 20 times in 24 at-bats.

Jeff Robinson struggled early but wound up pitching seven innings for his first victory. In the first three innings of the shutout, Robinson threw 50 pitches. Then he settled down and retired 14 of 17.

Glenn Davis hit his second home run for the Orioles and also had a single, and Cal Ripken drove in his 10th run in his ninth game.

“I worked on some things fundamentally and mechanically,” Robinson said. “That was the only problem, and I got it straightened out.

“I didn’t do my job last time,” he added. “Tonight, (catcher) Bob Melvin helped me a lot as far as keeping me on top of what was going on and working with me.”

Said Oriole Manager Frank Robinson of his pitcher: “He threw a lot of pitches and struggled out there early, but it looked like the longer he stayed out there, the better he got.”