Page 16-Friday, July 28, 1978-The Michigan Daily SLATON SUFFERS EIGHTH LOSS: Birds tally early, top Tigers 7-3 By DAVE RENBARGER Special to The Daily DETROIT - If last night's game was any indication at all, Tiger pitcher Jim Slaton may find himself in the poorhouse instead of a country club a year from now. Slaton, who is anxious to sell his ser- vices to the highest bidder next winter, was shelled for five runs in just three innings and the Baltimore Orioles cruised to a 7-3 victory at Tiger Stadium. THOSE KIND of performances aren't likely to help the 28-year-old righthan- der up the ante at all in the free agent jackpot bid. And they certainly don't Slaton ... ... Slammed help the Tigers in their bid to improve upon their current fifth place standing. Slaton was the biggest culprit last night. However, he was not the only one as four Tiger hurlers marched to the mound at one time or another. The Orioles, in gaining a split of the two-game set and snapping Detroit's three game win streak, banged out a total of 15 hits. Six Baltimore batters connected for two apiece, as Earl Weaver's third place club attacked from all angles. ON THE MOUND Oriole starter Scott McGregor turned in a sterling perfor- mance after recovering from a shaky two-run first inning. At one point, the Oriole southpaw retired 15 Tigers in a row to run his record to 11-9. The Tigers, who had scored 20 runs in their last two contests, were kept off- balance at the plate throughout the game, chalking up but one hit in innings two through seven. They did manage to push across one meaningless run in the eighth. By that time, the Birds were up 7-2, thanks largely to Slaton's ineffec- tiveness. SLATON HAD thrown complete games in each of his last three outings, but almost did not survive the very first inning against Baltimore. Orioles' Larry Harlow and Rich Dauer stroked back-to-back singles, on Slaton's first two deliveries of the game. Sluggers Eddie Murray and Ken Singleton then socked back-to-back homers to supply McGregor with all the runs he would need. Murray's three-run shot ended up in the upper deck in right-center field, while Singleton's drive, hit directly into the wind, just cleared Tiger leftfielder Steve Kemp's outstretched glove. Slaton had thrown but eight pitches, and already the Tigers were out of the game. The Detroiters pecked away at the Birds' margin in their half of the first, picking up a couple of runs. Ron LeFlore extended his hitting streak to seven games with a leadoff double down the third base line. After infield outs by Lou Whitaker and Rusty Staub, Jason Thompson delivered a run- producing single. Leftfielder Kemp followed with a long triple to make it 4- 2. Baltimore struck back with another run in the fourth to signal Slaton's exit. Singles by Lee May and Rick Dempsey got the rally going, and fill-in shortstop Kiko Garcia delivered a double to score May. HOUK THEN made his first move to the bullpen, summoning lefty Jim Crawford. A unique Kemp to Thompson to Aurelio Rodriguez doubleplay got Crawford out of the inning. MAJOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP Reggie hfts big in split NEW YORK - Controversial Reggie Jackson returned to the New York lineup for the first time in 10 days with a pair of run-scoring singles and a solo home run yesterday as the Yankees crushed the Cleveland Indians 11-0 in the opener of a double-header. Cleveland scored nine runs in the fir- st inning and won the nightcap 17-5 as Catfish Hunter failed to retire a batter for the first time in his career. Jackson, who had been reduced to a part-time designated hitter by Billy Martin before the manager's forced resignation earlier this week, returned to the lineup in right field and respon- ded with RBI singles in the first and fif- th innings and his 15th homer of the season in the fourth. He walked and scored in New York's seven-run second inning and had two singles and an RBI in five at-bats in the nightcap. Jackson was roundly booed each time his name was announced until his third at-bat in the opener, when he received a mixed reception. He promptly lined a homer, his 15th, over the center field fence, and from that point on the cheers outnumbered the jeers. In the nightcap, Bob Lemon, the Yankees new manager, suffered his fir- st defeat in four games since replacing Martin. The first 10 Cleveland batters reached base on five walks and five hits - including Duane Kuiper's bases- loaded triple and a two-run single by Bernie Carbo - as the Indians scored seven runs before a batter was retired, one short of the American League record. Twins tease Jays BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - Mike Cubbage hit for the cycle and Stan Per- zanowski, making his first big-league appearance in over two years, fired a six-hitter as the Minnesota Twins top- ped the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 yester- day. Cubbage connected for a two-run homer, his fifth of the year, in the four- th. Cubbage became the fifth Twin ever to hit a single, double, triple and home run in one game when he tripled in the seventh, giving the Twins a 6-2 lead. Cubbage had four runs batted in in the game. Padres bounce Bucs SAN DIEGO - Ozzie Smith collected three hits and drove in a run yesterday to lead the San Diego Padres to a 6-3 victory over Pittsburgh and a sweep of their three-game series with the Pirates. The Padres broke open a 3-3 tie in the seventh by' scoring two runs off three Pirate pitchers. With one out, Bill Almon walked and advanced to third on Jerry Turner's pinch-hit single. Gene Richards' sacrifice fly scored Almon and advanced Turner to second, who then came home on Smith's third single of the contest. Bob Shirley, 6-11, the third Padres pitcher, got the win and Rollie Fingers picked up his league-leading 22nd save. Pirate reliever Ed Whitson, 3-4, took the loss. I atoj Leagute Slaedigo AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST W L Pct. GB Boston-------..---- 63 35 643 - Milwaukee----------...57 40 .588 5 1 Baltimore.............56 44 .560 8 New York..............55 44 .556 8%/ Detroit.-.-.............52 48 .520 12 Cleveland..............47 52 .475 1611 Toronto................36 61 .355 28% WEST Kansas City............55 42 .567 - California-----------54 47 .535 3 Oakland............51 50 .505 6 Texas---------.....47 51 .480 8% Minnesota.............43 54 .442 12 Chicago................ 41 56 .43 14 Seattle.................36 65 .356 21 Yesterday's Results Baltimore 7.etroit 3 New York 11., cleveland 0-17 Sliueseta9, Toernto 3 tLatepimesnotincluded) NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST W L Pct. GB Philadelphia........53 42 .558 - Chicago-------------...49 48 .505 5 Pittsburgh.............47 49 .495 6 Montreal..............47 55 .461 91/ Mew York.............45 58 .437 12 St. Louis...............40 61 .396 16 WEST W L Pct. GB San Francisco.........60 40 .600 -- Los Angeles............59 42 .584 1% Cincinnati...........58 42 .580 2 San Diego.............50 52 .485 11 / Atlanta.............46 53 .465 13% Houston..........44 56 .440 16 Yesterday's Results San Diego 6.Pittsburgh 3 (Late games not included) New Hall of Honor to induct Ford, Ufer The Michigan Open Golf Championship is coming to The University of Michigan course for the first time, but the four-day tournament may be overshadowed by what promises to be an all-star dinner event in Crisler Arena Aug. 9. That's when former President Gerald R. Ford and five other former wolverine greats will be inducted as charter members into the Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor. They are Bill Freehan (baseball), Cazzie Russell (basketball), Tom Harmon (football), Bob Ufer (track), and Bennie Ooster- baan (football). Mr. Ford, of course, was Michigan's most valuable football player in 1934. Also attending the Hall of Honor dinner will be scores of former professional athletes as well as college coaches, including Michigan's Bo Schembechler and Johnny Orr, Bobby Knight from Indiana, and Ara Par- seghian, former Notre Dame football coach. Tickets for the Hall of Honor dinner are available by advance reser- vation only and can be purchased at the Athletic Dept., 1000 S. State St. Tickets are $50 each and all proceeds go to the Michigan Athletic Scholarship Fund. A social hour with entertainment begins at 6 p.m. with dinner at 7:30 p.m. A Pro-Celebrity golf tournament will be staged at the University Course Aug. 9, and the Open Championship will run Aug. 10-13.