Page 16--Thursday, June 29, 1978-The Michigan Daily BUT TRIBE TAKES NIGHTCAP Slaton notches 8th win in opener By PAUL CAMPBELL Special to The Dally CLEVELAND - Everybody loves a winner. Jim Slaton's counting on that. Slaton, who hopes to join the ranks of baseball's monied elite through free agency at year's end, chalked up another unimpressive win last night as the Tigers hung on to nip Cleveland, 4-3, in the opener of a twi-night doubleheader. However, Mike Paxton hurled a fine seven-hitter and got a good relief job from Sid Monge to defeat Detroit 2-1 in the nightcap. The Tigers wasted an out- standing performance by Milt Wilcox who limited the Tribe to just three hits. The 28-year-old Slaton leads the Detroit staff with an 8-4 record, though his contribution to the Tigers' win in the opener was marginal. Slaton pitched 5% innings, giving up five hits and four walks. But the Bengal infield turned four double plays to minimize the damage done by Slaton's sloppiness, preserving Detroit's 4-0 lead. One of the twin killings came in the fifth inning after the Indians Rick Man- ning led off with a single. But Slaton issued back-to-back walks to Andre Thorton and Bernie Carbo. Gary Alexander then barely cleared the left field wall to bring Cleveland back within one run. It was Alexander's 14th home run of the year and his second three-run job against the Tigers in three games. Slaton left the game after the gopher ball, taking with him an ERA of 4.80. That sad figure takes considerable luster off his respectable record. John Hiller saved the game for Detroit, the eighth time he has done so this year. He struck out four and wriggled his way out of jams in the last two innings when the Indians put the winning runsin second base. While Slaton has been pitching poorly and winning, Cleveland starter Rick Waits has been pitching well and losing. Though he wasn't up to his standard last night, it took a bit of bad luck to open the door for a three-run Tiger rally in the third. After Mark Wagner reached first when third baseman Ted Cox dropped his high bouncer, singles by Steve Dillard and Ron LeFlore brought him around. Steve Kemp's sacrifice fly and Aurelio Rodriguez's two-out single ac- counted for the other RBI's. It was the same story in the fourth inning when Detroit scored the winning run. Wagner singled, was sacrificed to second, and came home whdhLeFlore Hill er-ifi punched a single to center. But the Indians countered in the bot- Rodriguez led the Tigers' eight-hit at- tom of the same inning on an RBI single tack with two singles and a ground-rule by Thornton to round out the scoring. In double, while Jason Thonspson went 0- all, the game took just over two hours to for-5, ending his 12-game hitting streak. complete. In the second game Cleveland scored The split keeps Detroit's record at first in the third inning on an RBI single .500 (36-36). The Tigers and Indians by Manning. play the rubber game of their five- The game zipped along and it wasn't game series at noon today. until the sixth inning before the Tigers The starting pitchers for today's got on the scoreboard. Rusty Staub game will be David Clyde (4-3) for singled home LeFlore to momentarily Cleveland, and Bob Sykes (3-4) for even things up. Detroit. Bird's wing stretched i nN.Y.; joitn s Tig ers First Game DETROIT ab LeFlore cf .......... 4 Kempif......... 3 Staub dh........... 3 J. Thompsonlb. .. 5 A. Rodriguez3b.......... 4 m. Stanley rf .............. 3 Parrishc............. 3 M. May c........... Wagaer ss ... 4 Dillard 2b .............. 5... 0 Whittaker 2b.......... 0 Total ..... ............... 32 r 1 0 o.. z 0 0 a CLEVELAND ab r Daderf.............. . 5 0 Manningc.........2 0 Gruabb i .......... 3 0 Thontnlb....3 1 Carboa.dh. ......2 1 Pruitt ph.. .......1 0 G.Alexander. . 3 Kuiper 2b.......... 3 0 Blanks ph.. . .....1 0 Cox 3b... .....3 0 Veryzer ss.,.. . ..... 3 0 Total .....29 3 Detroit . . . 003 10........003 100 Clev'eland ........0 00 0 03 h bi 2 2 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 4 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 l 3 000 o-4 000 o-3 DETROIT (AP) - Ailing Detroit Tigers pitcher Mark Fidrych was to rejoin the team Wednesday in Cleveland after getting treatment from the New York Yankees' team physician. The Tigers said they sought out Dr. Maurice Cowen because of his success in treating a similar ailment of Yankee pitcher Don Gullett. Fidrych received what the Tigers termed "vigorous treatment" from Cowen, an orthopedic specialist at New York's Lenox Hill Hospital. "I agree with previous diagnoses of tendonitis in Mark's shoulder," Cowen said. "I found that repeated episodes of inflammation resulted in tightening of the right shoulder, limiting complete movement of the arm. "In an attempt to get Mark pitching again, under a general anesthetic, I manipulated the shoulder, stretching the scarred tendons, muscles and ligaments so he could get his arm into a cocking position, which he had not been able to do before." Cowen said the treatment was similar to those he gave Yankee pit- chers Gullett and Jim Hunter, who have been suffering similar ailments. Fidrych has been on the disabled list since May 1 and has not pitched since April 17. He was leaving New York im- mediately for Cleveland, where the Tigers played the Indians last night. Tiger officials said he would resume an exercise program which included light throwing. It was Gullett's performance against the Tigers on Sunday that prompted E-Cox, veryzer. DP-Detroit 4. Cleveland 2. LOB-Detroit 9, Cleveland 7. 2B--A. Rodrigues. HR-G. Alexander (14). S-Dillard, LeFlore, Cox. SF-Kemp. IP H R ER BB SO Detroit Slat W, 8-4. 5% 5 3 3 5 1 Hiller .. ..... 3 2 0 0 2 4 Cleveland Waits L,5-8........ 7h 8 0 4 2 3 2 Spillner. 1 0 0 0 1 1 Monge........2 0 0 0 1 1 Save-Hiller8. WP- Hiller T-2:33. Jim Slaton . 8th win club officials to seek Cowen's help. Fidrych had planned to consult Dr. Frank Jobe in Los Angeles who treated him last month. But the Tigers said their team physician, Dr. Clarence Livingood of Henry Ford Hospital, made arrangements for him to see Dr. Cowen. "Dr. Jobe feels Gullett's ailment was somewhat similar in location to Mark's," explained Tiger General Manager Jim Campbell. "And since Dr. Cowen had such good results with Gullett, we decided to send Mark to see him." Fidrych's trouble has been diagnosed as tendonitis in the right shoulder. Rest and controlled exercise were prescribed. He spent a month in the Florida sunshine but threw no better on his return June 21 than he had before. Fidrych was 19-9 and the American League Rookie of the Year in 1976. Last year he was 6-4 before his arm gave out. This year he was 2-0 when he was sidelined April21. Wfftjt~' League Sta~ug AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST W L Boston .................... 51 22 New York .................42 30 Milwaukee ... ... 41 31 Baltimore ................ 40 33 Detroit ................ 36 35 Cleveland ................. 32 39 Toronto...................25 47 WEST Texas ..................... 39 32 Kansas City ............... 38 33 California ................37 36 'Oaklad . . 35 30 Chagoa. .... 33 39 Minnesota................. 30 41 Seattle. . .. .26 49 Laegames nottincluded Pot. .599 .583 .569 .548 .505 .457 .347 .549 .535 .507 .479 .458 .423 .347 GB _ 8t/2 9a/2 11 14 181/2 25/ 1 3' NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST W L Philadelphia .............. 37 30 Chicago .:.................37 33 Montreal .................. 37 36 Pittsburgh ............... 34 36 New York .................32 44 St.Louis............. 28 47 WEST SanFrancisco......... 46 26 Cincinnati .................44 29 Los Angeles ............ 40 32 San Diego .................35 38 Houston. . ........31 38 lout.... .31 30 Atlanta ....... . .. 29 41 Late gamesnotincluded Pct. .552 .529 .507 .486 .421 .373 .639 .603 .556 .479 .449 13 .449 -.44 GB 11 3 4 9 112 13 21 11 11 131 16 John Hiller ... . 8th savea