American League Roundup : Brewers Bounce Back With a 6-4 Victory

When the Atlanta Braves set the record in 1982 by winning their first 13 games, they lost the next 5.

When the Milwaukee Brewers tied the record this season, they made sure they didn’t fall into the same slump.

With Rob Deer hitting his eighth home run and Glenn Braggs driving in the go-ahead run with a single in the eighth inning, the Brewers began a new streak Friday night at Milwaukee with a 6-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Ted Higuera survived a four-run second inning to pitch his second complete game and improve his record to 4-0 for a team that is 14-1.

The comeback victory gave Tom Trebelhorn a managerial record of 20-4. Trebelhorn, who took over as Brewer manager for the last nine games in 1986, has been transformed from a virtual unknown to a national figure in less than three weeks.

The 39-year-old Trebelhorn, after a five-year career as a player in the lower minors, became a manager at Boise in the Northwest League in 1975 at the age of 27. There followed several undistinguished years as minor league manager and major league coach.

When the Brewers made him their choice to succeed George Bamberger last September, he was given some advice by Sparky Anderson, who is nearing the end of his second decade as a successful manager.

“Sparky told me to stay myself and do what I think is right,� Trebelhorn said. “I’ve been trying to follow that advice.�

Although he was not expecting to be hounded by sportswriters or be in demand for TV appearances, the enthusiastic rookie manager seems able to handle his success.

He was asked when he thought the Brewers would lose again after the streak was stopped by the Chicago White Sox. “We play 19 games in a row starting this weekend,� he said.

“We may lose one in there,� he added with a laugh.

General Manager Harry Dalton is taking the bows for selecting Trebelhorn. “Tom has an enthusiasm that is contagious,� Dalton said. “I picked Treb because he impressed me with his intelligence, his organization and the respect he created with the players.

“It’s the fact that he knows this generation, not simply because he’s young, but because he’s been a teacher and dealt with this generation of athletes and students for quite a while. He knows how they think, and that’s important. He could have been 10 years older with the same credentials, and I would have hired him.�

Trebelhorn holds a degree in social science from Portland State and teaches school in the off-season.

He doesn’t need to teach Higuera anything. The 28-year-old left-hander from Mexico won 20 games last season and 15 as a rookie in 1985.

After giving up four singles and a walk for the Oriole runs in the second inning, Higuera allowed only three more hits and struck out six.

Cleveland 6, New York 5--It was the 325th career victory for Steve Carlton and it ended the Yankees’ 10-game winning streak, but it was one of the least deserved of the veteran left-hander’s wins.

Carlton’s job, when he came in to relieve 48-year-old Phil Niekro after Rickey Henderson hit a home run to open the eighth inning, was to protect a 4-2 lead and give the old man his 313th victory.

Instead, Carlton gave up a run in the eighth and a two-run homer to Henderson in the top of the ninth that put the Yankees ahead, 5-4.

But the Indians rallied in the bottom of the ninth to beat Yankee bullpen ace Dave Righetti. Andre Thornton’s long fly with the bases loaded brought in the tying run, and Cory Snyder’s single drove in the winning run.

So Carlton, 42, gave up 3 hits, 3 runs and 2 walks in 2 innings to even his record at 2-2.

Kansas City 7, Detroit 3--The Royals used a passed ball and wild pitches to get their first three runs in this game at Detroit.

With Charlie Leibrandt pitching seven shutout innings, it mattered not that the Royals committed five errors. They had a 7-0 lead before giving up three unearned runs in the eighth.

Texas 6, Boston 4--Pete Incaviglia hit a two-run home run in the 10th inning at Arlington, Tex., to give the Rangers the victory. It was his seventh of the season.

Starting pitcher Bobby Witt of the Rangers gave up 9 walks and threw 111 pitches in 3 innings. He left the bases loaded in each of the first two innings.

Toronto 4, Chicago 2--George Bell hit a two-run, upper-deck home run in the top of the 10th at Chicago to give the Blue Jays the victory.

Bell’s homer was into a 12-m.p.h. wind blowing in from left field.

Mark Eichhorn pitched 2 hitless innings to improve his record in relief to 3-0. Tom Henke pitched the 10th to get his third save.

The Blue Jays loaded the bases with none out in the ninth but failed to score. A force-out at the plate and a double play squelched the rally.

Seattle 6, Oakland 3--Harold Reynolds’ bases-loaded grounder in the eighth at Oakland scored Jim Presley, opening the gates for a three-run rally when A’s second baseman Tony Phillips threw wildly to the plate.

Seattle’s Mike Moore (1-2) struggled for three innings, then settled down to retire the final 17 batters.