SPORTS Friday, June 7, 1985 Page 11 The Michigan Daily II PiSPORTS OF THE DAILY: PhiBing it NUl Jays outlast Tigers, 2-0 BY Phil Nussel Tigers'early problems ... ' . no emergencies yet It's only early June and Tiger fans are already saying that their team is going down the tubes. Of course this is a natural reaction considering that Detroit is 6 games out of first place and battling New York for third place. Now I'm not going to jump on this bandwagon of doom just yet. In fact, I'm going to stay on the optimistic bandwagon until I see that the Tiges are burried in fourth or fifth place, ten games out. The fact is, it really is too early to say that Detroit doesn't have a chance to repeat their works and miracles of 1984. But I'm not stupid either. The Tigers have indeed had too many problems in the first two months of the season and if these areas don't change, we'll all see the team buried in the pack like the Bostons and the Milwaukees (I won't even mention Cleveland because the Indians are and always will be the laughing stock of the AL East). As I see it, here are the problems that must be dealth with by manager Sparky Anderson: Larry Herndon. The leftfielder has been more than pathetic at the plate and if not replaced soon, will lose many more games than he wins. The veteran is hitting a ridiculous .228 with four homers and 11 RBI's. Last Tuesday against Seattle, Herndon left the bases loaded in the ninth and eleventh innings. A Phil Bradley home run in the next inning won it for the Mariners. Let's hear it for clutch hitting. *Juan Berenguer. The games are getting much too important now to be patient with this guy's many streaks of brilliance and inep- titude. This whole season he has been on one long streak of gopher- ball pitching. His ERA is more than lofty at 7.07. With Berenguer pitching so poorly, Anderson has had to go back to the farm and bring up young Randy O'Neal to be the fourth star- ter. Milt Wilcox' arm has not come around too well, so he's out of the picture as far as I'm concerned. He hasn't done anything but blow five-run leads anyway. " Willie Hernandez has not been used enough. Even with his league-leading 11 saves, Hernandez has not seen enough action. When he's been in, the Tigers win almost every time. When he's been out, somebody like Aurelio Lopez or Bill Scherer has lost the game. gaThe defense has been shoddy. Detroit has already committed two or more errors in several games, not to mention bad plays that were still hidden by lenient scorer's decisions. Miscues by Dave Bergman and Alan Trammell were the downfall of Doug Bair's fir- st start of the year on Tuesday. The Melrose, Oh. native didn't pitch too bad, but was betrayed by bad fielding. " The "we're going tobe okay" mentality. Baseball is of course a laid-back sort of game and it is easy to get lazy, especially when you're the defending World Champions. Even if they don't admit it, the Tigers have looked genuinely lazy this season. This had better change, or a team that is hungry to win - like Toronto - will walk away with the AL East title. Now that I'm done with my criticisms, here are my reasons for believing that the Tigers will still at least win the division: " There simply is too much talent. The up-the-middle crew of Lance Parrish, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammel, and Chet Lemon is the best in baseball and will win the pennant single handedly if they have to. Kirk Gibson (.280, 9 homers, 30 RBI's) will surely lend a helping hand too. " The top three starters remain consistent. Despite a few bad outings, Jack Morris and Dan Petry are still the best one-two punch in baseball. Walt Terrell has been more than a pleasant surprise with a 6-1 record. The three pitchers should combine for over 50 wins this season. " Darrel Evans. I hereby predict that this first baseman will hit .260 with 30 home runs and 105 RBI's. I know; I know, he's a streak hitter. I just have a feeling that his present streak isn't going to end in '85. With his bat, the Tigers will return to first place. " The rumors of a strike. With everybody talking abouta possible strike, nobody is talking about what's wrong with Detroit. With this, the pressure is off and things can return to normal for Detroit without thewhole world watching. There-it is..aThe good and the bad. Trust me, for the Tigers' 1985 season, the good will win out over the bad. Both teams had good scoring oppor- From staff and wire reports tunities in the late innings. The Blue TORONTO - If the first game of Jays had the bases loaded in the tenth the all-important Tiger-Blue Jay with only one out, but Petry got series was any indication of the next Damaso Garcia to hit into a rally- three games, it is going to be one hell breaking double play. Barbaro Gar- of a weekend. Last night, it took a 12th bey grounded out with two men on in inning two-run homer from Buck the 11th. Martinez to breaka scoreless tie. The Tigers could only muster four hits all night, but left eight men on The starters - Detroit's Dan Petry base. and Toronto's Jimmy Key - both pit- The loss leaves Detroit 7%12 games ched ten scoreless innings, but neither out of first with three games left could pick up the victory, series. Martinez, a journeyman for several KEY, IN fact, had a no-hitter going years, hit a 1-2 pitch for the round- into the ninth inning but had it spoiled tripper. It was Toronto's 14th win in 16 by third baseman Tom Brookens, who games. hit a line drive to left. Gary Lavelle EvertNarratilova wi took over in the 11th and Jim Acker took over in the 12th. Acker was Frum staff and wire repurts credited with the win. Chris Evert-Lloyd and Martina Navratilova both won yesterday in Willie Hernandez took over in the their French Open singles semifinal Evert 11th for Petry, but didn't come back matches to set up a showdown in the ... in French semis because of a possible injury on an in- finals tomorrow at Roland Garros field play. Lopez entered in the next stadium. inning and gave up the homer for his Lloyd downed Argentina's Gabriela - fourth loss of the season against no Sabatini 6-4, 6-1 while Navratilova wins, took care of West Germany's for- 'B N I~ midable Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 6-4, 6- Ann Arbor's fastest! 4. From 10-800 T-shirts screenprint- The match in the finals tomorrow ed with in 24 hours of order. will be the 63rd meeting of the two Multi-color printing our specialty. superstars in their long professional You supply art or use our expert careers. The series isatied at 31, but design staf f. Navratilova has had a decided edge dsq rl Hundreds of surplus T-shirts only over the last few years, playing $2 each. Located eh the oPigCae nearly flawless tennis over that span. 08' s Frs P The winner will have the first leg of the coveted grand slam of tennis - which consists of titles in the French C T Open, Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open. Neither of the two have been able to garner a grand slam title yet. /AiNrr A11110A Petry ... ten scoreless innings S say..MeA4 DISCOUNT MUFFLER AMERICAN AND FOREIGN CAR SPECIALIST FROM AS * FITS MANY nstaled by LOW As SMALL CARS Trained A 5 AT sPARTiIIATING Specialists DEALERS Installed Featuring. .One of th. fnest nam.s YPSILANTI in automotive parts!" 2606 Washtenaw Avenue (11 Mi. E. of US 23)....................572-9177 TAYLOR 14250 S. Telegraph Rd. (1 Bik N. of Eureka Rd.)....................946-8470 Individually Owned & Operated IN AND OUT IN 30 MINUTES IN MOST CASES WEN DAILY AND SAT.8-6PM Copyright 1985 Meineke Garcia ... blows Blue Jay rally