Mike Boddicker gave up three runs to Boston in the first inning Sunday, then settled down to pitch scoreless ball the rest of his outing to become the first Oriole pitcher this spring to go five innings. . . . The 8-3 loss to the Red Sox extended Baltimore`s losing streak to seven.
BOSTON RED SOX
DATELINE: WINTER HAVEN, FLA.
The outfield alignment Sunday had Jim Rice in left, rookie Brady Anderson in center and Mike Greenwell in right. Rice and Greenwell each were 1 for 3, and Anderson, getting a shot during Ellis Burks` absence (ankle surgery), led off and went 2 for 4. It`s doubtful that manager John McNamara will use that setup once Burks gets back in six weeks or so, especially if Anderson gets off to a fast start. With Dwight Evans seemingly set at first base, someone-either Rice or Greenwell-will wind up as designated hitter, a spot loathed by Rice and not exactly coveted by Greenwell, who last year hit .328 in his first full season. ”They have some big decisions, but I think the biggest decision they have is me and Rice,” Greenwell said. ”He`s been in left for 12 years. I`m sure he understands my feeling. Back when he was breaking in, he had Yaz (Carl Yastrzemski) to contend with. Now I have Jimmy to contend with.”
Lee Smith pitched one inning Sunday, and it was a pretty impressive one:
He struck out Baltimore`s Larry Sheets, Terry Kennedy and Jim Traber, all left-handed hitters, on a total of 12 pitches. Boston starter Dennis ”Oil Can” Boyd groped for an adjective to describe Smith`s performance. ”Awesome is not the word for it,” he said. ”I stopped running (in the outfield) just to watch the guy throw.” Said Smitty: ”All my pitches were fastballs. It was running for me, and I was hitting the corners.
CALIFORNIA ANGELS
DATELINE: TUCSON
Brian Downing, who had three hits on the day, singled home Jim Eppard with the winning run in the 10th inning off Mark Huismann and the Angels beat Cleveland 8-7. Believe it or not, Downing turned 37 during the off-season. . . . Stu Cliburn, coming off two consecutive lost seasons because of injury, pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three, to get the victory.
CLEVELAND INDIANS
DATELINE: TUCSON
When Dave Clark was bumped from the roster by the signing of Steve Carlton just before the team left camp last spring, he took out his frustrations on minor-league pitchers. He hit .340 with 30 home runs at Triple-A Buffalo. ”I think I showed them (the Indians) something. I took everything they had to give me and still had the best season of my career,”
said Clark. Still, the 25-year-old former No. 1 pick is hardly a lock for a regular job with the Tribe this year. The outfield is set with Mel Hall in left, Joe Carter in center and Cory Snyder in right. ”I see him fitting in this way,” said manager Doc Edwards. ”He could give Pat Tabler a day off at DH. He could play for Cory against a tough right-hander. He could pinch-hit for a catcher in the ninth inning and give us a chance to win a game.” Clark will take any or all of the above. ”I`ll do anything it takes,” he said.
”When they call Dave Clark`s name, I want to come out swinging.”
DETROIT TIGERS
DATELINE: LAKELAND, FLA.
GM Bill Lajoie thinks the club`s drafting rookie right-hander John Wetteland is going to pay off. It had better. The Tigers stand to lose both Wetteland and $25,000 to the Dodgers if the 22-year-old Californian can`t make the jump from Class A ball to the big leagues. So far, Wetteland, 12-7 at Vero Beach last year, has shown a powerful fastball but has had trouble getting it over. ”Wait until two more times out for him, until he realizes he can do it with that fastball,” Lajoie said. ”He`s going to shoot by a lot of people. He`s not going to be any `carry,` I`ll tell you that.” . . . Ray Knight will miss 10 days because of a pulled calf muscle in his right leg. . . . Walt Terrell`s injury is above the ankle, not in it as previously reported by the club, and it might only cost him one regular-season start.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS
DATELINE: LAKELAND, FLA.
Willie Wilson and Bo Jackson each homered off Jack Morris in Kansas City`s 5-1 victory over Detroit. Jackson also tripled and scored two runs. . . . Charlie Leibrandt, who hasn`t yielded an earned run in 10 innings, gave up three hits and an unearned run in four innings. Steve Farr followed with four hitless innings, and Mel Stottlemyre Jr. finished up.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS
DATELINE: CHANDLER, ARIZ.
In their 10-4 victory Sunday, San Diego opened the fourth inning with seven consecutive hits off Brewers starter Chris Bosio and sent 12 men to the plate and opened up a 9-2 lead. Bosio was tagged for nine hits in the fourth before being lifted. Bosio, being counted on heavily as a starter, gave up some heavy numbers: 9 runs and 14 hits in 3 2/3 innings. He has now given up 15 runs and 22 hits in 9 innings this spring. . . . Brother Rice High School grad Jim Adduci, who played last season in Japan after failing to stick with the Brewers, had an RBI single in the eighth inning in his only at-bat. He`s 8 for 15 this spring, a .533 average.
MINNESOTA TWINS
DATELINE: SARASOTA, FLA.
Doug Baker, for years an infield reserve in the Tigers` system, finally got his wish: a trade. Now he`s trying to win a job with the Twins. He begged Tigers GM Bill Lajoie every year to be traded, but Lajoie always felt he needed the insurance Baker provided. The problem, as far as Baker was concerned, was that the ”insurance” had to play in places like Evansville and Toledo. ”I was thinking of buying a house in Toledo,” he said, laughing. ”I kept telling Bill I was going to just quit baseball. He knew I was bluffing. I love the game too much. I couldn`t quit.”
NEW YORK YANKEES DATELINE: WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.
Here`s manager Billy Martin`s reaction to last week`s fuss involving the Mets and the Darryl Strawberry article in Esquire: ”I hate to see things like that in the paper. But I love it because it takes the pressure off us.”
OAKLAND A`S
DATELINE: PHOENIX
Pitching coach Dave Duncan didn`t have Bob Welch, Matt Young or Storm Davis on his staff a year ago at this time. Now he does, and he`s no longer having trouble sleeping nights. ”Last year we were very concerned that we have five guys in Triple A we could call up any time, because we felt there was going to be a need,” Duncan said. ”That`s how insecure we were. We had a question mark in Moose Haas, a question mark in Joaquin Andujar, a question mark in Chris Codiroli, a question mark in a young Curt Young and a question mark in Dave Stewart (who went on to win 20 games in `87). There`s really no comparison to this year.”
SEATTLE MARINERS
DATELINE: MESA, ARIZ.
Cubs third-base coach Chuck Cottier harbors no bitterness toward the Mariners, who fired him as manager in May, 1986. ”The only thing I think I`m a little disappointed about is having the greatest confidence in that team, the Seattle Mariners. I know they have some good players. I know they`re going to have some good times. I`m pulling for them as much now as when I was part of the organization. They`ve all had a chance to play together for four or five years now, and it`s just that you`re not still part of it. You`re kind of being taken away from the table without the dessert.”
TEXAS RANGERS
DATELINE: WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.
After an outstanding rookie season in 1986, onetime White Sox farmhand Edwin Correa struggled from the start of the `87 season to a 3-5 record and 7.59 ERA. Finally, on July 8, doctors discovered a stress fracture in a shoulder bone on Correa`s pitching arm. ”I thought there must be some reason they were hitting the ball,” he said. ”I had the velocity, but the ball wasn`t moving, and by the third or fourth inning my arm felt dead.”
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
DATELINE: WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.
Jim Clancy pitched one-hit ball for four innings, and youngsters Silvestre Campusano and Fred McGriff each hit home runs. Now the bad news:
Todd Stottlemyre was ripped for five runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings in the Jays` 6-4 loss to Texas.
