University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, July 6, 1988 Sports 9 Pitcher returns, beats Royals The Associated Press KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A temporary demotion to the minor leagues may have been just the medicine Mike Birkbeck's ailing career needed. Last night, in his first start since Milwaukee recalled him from Denver of the Class AAA American Association, Birkbeck gave up five hits in 83 innings as the Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals 3-1. Birkbeck retired the first 13 Kansas City batters before Pat Tabler singled. He wound up with four strikeouts and didn't issue a walk. "At the time, the demotion didn't seem like the right thing for me," said Birkbeck, who was 2-5 with a 6.13 ERA with Milwaukee earlier in the season and 4-1 at Denver. "But it might be 20-20, now I think it was." "Nobody wants to be demoted," he said. "But as it worked out, it was the best thing for me. I got quality, consistent work and pitched a lot of 'nings. Royals manager John Wathan said Birkbeck's performance didn't reflect his statistics. "He had a good curve, a good engage and control of his pitches." Watson said. Kansas City scored in the ninth when Kurt Stillwell led off with a double and Kevin Setzer singled one last time, but the last two batters for his 16th save. The Brewers' Jeffrey Leonard opened the second inning against Floyd Bannister, 8-7, with his third home run of the season. Dale Sveum followed with a double, moved up on B.J. Surhoff's sacrifice and gave the Brewers a 2-0 lead on Joey Meyer's single. With two out in the seventh, Meyer walked. Pinch runner Billy J Robi-dessole stole his first base of the season on a double by Darryl Hamilton In other American League action last night, Scott Bailels pitched a five-hitter for his second career shut-out and Rick Rodriguez posted his first victory of the season in the nightcap as the Cleveland Indians swept a two-night doubleheader from the Oakland Athletics 3-0 and 4-2. Gary Gaetti's three-run homer in the eighth innning off Boston reliever Lee Smith rallied the Minnesota runs to a 6-4 victory over the Red Sox. pitch over the center field fence for his 18th home run of the season. With one out, Kirby Puckett singled off Smith, 2-4. Kent Hrbek also singled and Gaetti drove a 1-2 Gaetti also singled and drove in a fourth-inning run as the Twins won for the 21st time in their last 30 games and pulled within 4/2 games of first-place Oakland in the American League West. Minnesota reliever Juan Berenguer, 8-3, was the winner despite giving up the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning on Mike Greenwell's bases-loaded sacrifice fly. Jeff Reardon pitched the ninth inning for his 23rd save. The New York Yankees scored all their runs in the first inning, including two straight walks with the bases loaded, and held on to beat the Texas Rangers 5-3 Tommy John, 7-2, the oldest player in the majors, yielded two runs and six hits in six innings, but it took three relievers to protect the 284th victory of his career as the 45-year-old left-hander tied Ferguson Jenkins for 22nd place on the all-time victory list. Tim Stoddard retired Scott Fletcher, the only batter he faced, on a fly ball with the bases loaded, ending the game after the Rangers scored a ninth-inning run off Dave Righetti. Brewers 3, Royals 1 Brewers ab r b h rbi Molitor dh 4 0 2 0 Gantner 2b 3 0 0 0 Yount ef 4 0 1 0 Leonhard ff 4 1 1 0 Sveum ss 4 1 1 0 Surhuff 3b 3 1 0 0 Meyer tb 2 0 1 1 Dobroux ib 1 1 1 1 Hamilton rf 1 1 1 1 O'Brien c 3 0 0 0 Totals 32 3 7 3 **Royals** ab r h rhi Stillwell ss 4 1 1 0 Wilson cf 4 0 0 0 Seitzer 3b 4 1 0 0 Brett 1b 4 0 1 0 Tabler rf 3 0 1 0 Tartabull ph 1 0 0 0 White 2b 3 0 0 0 Jackson lf 3 0 1 0 Buckner dh 3 0 0 0 Macfarlane c 3 0 0 0 **Totals** 32 1 5 1 Milwaukee 020 000 100 — 3 Kansas City 000 000 001 — 1 W. Birkbeck (3.5), L. Iannasier (8.7) S. Pleaser (16), M哭昂 Hieman (14) E. Liverpool (24), Hieman (24) S. 5.B. Silkwell, Swem, Hamilton, Molitor H- Liedon (4), SB- Rouxiboux (1) S. Brown's successor still eludes Kansas Three weeks into the search. Kansas is still without a men's basketball coach. The local media speculated that Sponhour would receive an offer the following day, prior to his departure on a 10-day trip to the Netherlands. However, Spoonhour removed his name from consideration. Three reported candidates have removed their names in a little more than a week. Duke coach Mike Krzylewski and Ohio State coach Gary Williams said they were not interested in the job shortly after confirming that Kansas had contacted them. "No offer has been made. I don't know exactly where we are in our relationship." Spoonhour said at the time. "We may be going steady, but we're not lavailered." Southwest Missouri State coach Charlie Spoonhour appeared to be in line for the job on June 30 after several days of talks with Kansas athletic director Bob Frederick. "They showed interest," Spoonhole told the Springfield Leader-Press. "But one thing you've got to remember is you can't get too excited just because you're getting a lot of attention." Southwest Missouri State athletic director Bill Rowe saidSpounbour told him he felt pressured in the game, according to the Leader-Press. "Charlie told me, 'I feel like I'm being squeezed on time,' " Rowe said. After Spoonhour's withdrawal from the list of candidates, Frederick told The Associated Press and the deadline of July 10 might not be met. "I told our staff to take off and enjoy their Fourth of July weekend." Frederick said. "As important as this is to our program and our University, we are not going to be rushed into anything." The search committee met again last night. However, Frederick could not be reached for comment about the meeting. Royals Report Monday: Red Sox 9, Royals 2 Ted Power, who came off the disabled list earlier in the day, gave up five runs and seven hits in two innings as Kansas City lost to Boston 9-2 on Monday night. For the Red Sox, Dwight Evans had a single, a triple and an inside-park home run. Red Sox 9, Royals 2 Boston 230 102 100-9 17 10 Kansas City 002 000 000-12 10 Power, Anderson (3), Gleton (7), and Macfarlane (5), Stanley (9) and Gedman. WClems (12-5) L-Power (4-2) 2B-Boggs 2, Rice. Greenwell, 3B-Burks, Evans. HRs= Sunday: Royals 3, Red Sox 2 Willie Wilson singled home Bill Pecota in the eighth inning and extended the Royals' winning streak to four games with a 3-2 victory over Boston Sunday. Jack Bonick hit his 11th run of the season in the sixth inning, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Royals 3, Red Sox 2 Boston 000 000 200—2 7 0 Kansas City 000 001 11x—3 10 0 Gubica, Montgomery (8), Farr (9) and Quirk and Macartain; Smithson, Stone (7) and Gedman, W-Montgomery (2-1), L-Smith (2-3), S-Farr (8), B2s-Seizer 2, Brett. Greenwell. Saturday: Rovals 3. Red Sox 1 Frank White doubled off Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd in the second and fifth innings and scored Kansas City's first two runs in a 3-1 victory over Boston Saturday. Bo Jackson, back from a torn hamstring, increased his hitting streak to 10 games with a run-scoring double on his first at-bat. doston 000 010 000-1 11 0 Kansas City 010 010 7 10-3 Leibrandt, Montgomery (6), Farr (9) and Mactlarean, Boyd, Stanley (6), and Bradley, W. Leibrandt (4-10), L-Boyd (7)-S-Farr (7), 2Bs-White 2, Jackson, Tables. 3Bs-Rice. Htts Friday: Rovals 8, Red Sox 7 Kurt Stillwell hit an RBI double in the sixth inning, giving Kansas City an 8-7 victory over Boston Friday night. The Royals had a six-run lead after two innings, but the Red Sox scored four runs in the third inning and three runs in the fifth inning, taking the lead. Rovals 8. Red Sox 7 Boston 004 030 000—7 12 12 Kansas City 420 020 0x—8 12 12 Saberhagen, Montgomery (6), Gleatney (7), Garber (8), Farr (9) and Macfarlane; Hurst, Ellsworth (2), Lamp (8) and Gedman, W.Montgomery (1-1) - LE-sworth (1-1) - S-Farr (6) - E- Lewis (5) Wed.: Royals 9, White Sox 8 Jamie Quirk, George Brett and Danny Tartabul hit fifth-inning home runs as Kansas City took a nine-run lead Wednesday and hung on for a 9-8 victory over the White Sox. Chicago rallied for eight runs on nine hits in the seventh inning. Rovals 9. White Sox 8 Chicago 000 000 800--8 13 4 Kansas City 005 004 19...8 14 2 Bannister, Montgomery (7), Gleaton (9), Farr (9) and Macfarlane and Quirk; Perez, Horton (5), Bittiger (7), Rosenberg (8) and Karkovice. B-Wannister (8)-L-6) Perez (8)-S-Farr (5). E-Isehness, Stillwille, Lyons, G. Walker, Perez, Guilen 28S-Wilson, F. White, Seitzer, Baines 2, Redus, RHQ-Kurick (3), Brett (13), Tartabul (13), Baines (10). ON DECK Today Royals vs. Brewers 7:35 p.m. Royals Stadium Today Royals vs. Yankees 6:30 p.m. Yankee Stadium Thursday Royals vs. Brewers 7:35 p.m. Royals Stadium Saturday Thursday Royals vs. Yankees 12:30 p.m. Yankee Stadium Friday Sunday Major League Standings Tuesdav American League Friday Royals vs. Yankees 6:30 p.m. Yankee Stadium All-Star Game 7:30 p.m. Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati East W 49 L 31 Pct. GB Detroit 49 41 613 New York 48 33 593 1½ Cleveland 44 39 530 1½ Boston 40 38 513 8 Milwaukee 40 42 483 10 Toronto 40 44 476 11 Baltimore 25 57 305 25 West W L Pct. GB Oakland 52 31 627 - Minnesota 46 34 575 4½ Kansas City 43 39 524 8½ Texas 38 43 469 13 Chicago 37 44 457 14 California 36 46 439 15½ Seattle 36 40 398 19 National League East W L Pct. GB New York 52 31 627 x Chicago 44 36 550 6½ x Pittsburgh 44 37 543 7¼ x Montreal 38 41 593 10 Philadelphia 38 43 469 13 Philadelphia 38 43 469 13 West W 4 L 3 Pct. GB x Los Angeles W 68 L 35 .582 x San Fran. 41 39 513 5½ x Houston 41 41 510 5½ Cincinnati 39 45 474 8½ Miami 37 45 476 11½ *Alanta 29 51 463 12½ x — late games not included Jeffrey Johnston/KANSAN Jeff Gross, Overland Park sophomore, prepares for a backhanded return. Gross lost yesterday 7-6, 7-6 to Dean Goldfinde of Hollywood, Fla., at the Mainline Classic Tennis Tournament. KU tennis players find local pro tournament a challenging venture Bv Linda Gaumnitz Kansan sportswriter The spectators at Robinson Center exhaled a sigh of relief yesterday. The blistering July sun had finally set, and Kansas tennis player Craig Wildey had won his opening round match in the Mainline Tennis Classic's main draw. Wildey, a Spring Lake, Mich, junior, beat Sven Salumela of Bloomington, Ind. 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 after almost three hours of play last night. "I'm happy to have won, happy to have the match under my belt." Wildey said. "It was fun. I think having played him before helped me Wildley beat Salumaa two years ago in California in a match similar to yesterday's match. "My serving was erratic," Wildey said. "I served well when I had to, but I'd prefer to serve consistently, what almost lost me the match." Much of the match was played at the net. "Salmaua likes to serve and volley close to the net," Wildey said. "Because he's tall, his range is wide at the net. I had a hard time hitting some of his balls back." Wildley said that he won the match because he was returning Salumaa's win. Last year Wildey lost in the first round of the main draw. Wildey plays at 11:30 a.m. today against Charles Merrzbach of Finley, Ohio. Wildley and teammate Chris Walker, a Grand Rapids, Mich. junior, also will play doubles tonight. Wildley will be his first match match Walker lost his first-round match 6,3-7, 5 to David Wills-Roth of Rockville. Md. Walker said, "I played badly in the first set, and played pretty well in the second set. But I didn't take advantage of the opportunities that I had during the match. "I didn't volley well. He made a lot of points at my feet. I just need to play more matches." Jeff Gross, Overland Park sophmore, also was eliminated in a close opening match, 7-6, 7-6 to Dean Goldfine of Hollywood. Fla. Gross said that though he hit the ball well, it was Goldfine who won the big points and tie-breakers. "He attacked a little bit more, and was a little bit more aggressive," Gross said. "It could've gone either way. I was up 5-4 and serving in the second set, but he didn't make many errors." Other winners in yesterday's matches were top seed Dexter McBride of Diamond Bar, Calif.; No. 3 seed Oren Moevasser of Israel and No. 16 seed Jaime Cortes of Colombia, all in straight sets. Merzbacher said the tournament competition was tough because of the number of college players that were competing. Merzbacher, who won his opening match 6-4, 6-4 over Spence Kooshian, said. "I was a little sore because I just got done with the number three satellite circuit (tournament) in Fort Worth. I was down 3-0 in the second set but then won the next five games." "The pros are in a little better shape than the college players, but the college players are pretty tough," Merzbacher said. "I just try to improve my game both mentally and physically every match." Manning, Richmond bound for final U.S. team tryouts The Associated Press COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Twenty-one players, ranging from 1987 College Player of the Year David Robinson to high school standout Alonzo Mourning, were invited yesterday to begin training later this month for bouts on the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team. In addition to Robinson, who played at Navy and will play in the NBA for San Antonio after serving his military obligation, and Mourning, who will play for Olympic coach John Thompson at Georgetown, he was a volunteer camp camp were Stacey King of Oklahoma and Dwayne Schultz of Florida. Danny Manning, who led Kansas to the national championship in April and was the first pick in last week's NBA draft, led a group of forwards that included Charles Smith of Pittsburgh, Sean Elliott of Arizona, Danny Ferry of Duke, J.R. Reid of North Carolina, Dan Majerle of Central Michigan and Dyron Nix of Tennessee. The players are to report to Georgetown University on July 17 and the final roster of 12 players must be sent to the Seoul Olympic Organizing Committee by Sept. 2. The Games begin Sept. 17. — John Thompson Olympic basketball coach 'M The remaining players invited were Willie Anderson of Georgia, Stacey Augomn of Nevada-Las Vegas, Vernell Coles of Virginia My worry is the games en route to the Gold Medal. You never reach the big game if you have players who can't get up and play consistently.' Tech, Jeff Grayer of Iowa State, Hersey Hawkins of Bradley, Randolph Keys of Southern Mississippi, Todd Licht of Stanford, Mitch Richmond of Kansas State, Brian Shaw of Cal-Santa Barbara and Charles Smith of Georgetown. A list of players invited to the Georgetown camp was announced after the Olympic Trials in May. Augon, Coles, Mourning, Nix and Schintzius were added to that list after playing with a USA Select Team in Europe in June, Robinson, Majerle and Charles Smith of Georgetown also played on that team, and Grayer worked out with the team before it left on its tour. "The purpose of the select team tour was not to evaluate a player statistically." Thompson said. "Individuals were judged on their functional merits both offensively and defensively in the various position" Among the players who played on the select team but were not extended further invitations were Rex Chapman of Kentucky, Steve Kerr of Arizona and B.J. Armstrong of Iowa. Shelton Jones of St. John's withdrew his name from consideration last week. As defending gold medalist, the United States qualified for the Olympic competition as did South Korea, the host nation. In addition, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Central African Republic, China, Egypt and Puerto Rico have qualified for the tournament with three berths still to be decided. being considered. Consistency across the board is still a grave concern of mine. It has been my experience that players are easily motivated for the big games. My worry is the games en route to the Gold Medal. You never reach the big game if you have played well, get up and play consistently. All of these young men deserve a lot of credit for participating to this point and are considered alternates. Regretfully, we have only so many spots." A nine-game exhibition schedule including games against teams composed of NBA players has been set. It begins in Providence, R.I. on Aug. 7 and concludes in Los Angeles on Aug. 30. Dutchman maintains Tour lead LE MANS, France — Jean-Paul Van Poppel of the Netherlands won the third stage of the Tour de France cycling race yesterday, while countryman Teun Van Vliet retained the yellow jersey as the overall leader. The Associated Press Van Popel finished first in a final sprint of the 134-mile stage from Antoine to Le Mans in western Petanque, where he was in for hours, 92 minutes and eight seconds. Van Poppel beat another Dutchman, Mathieu Herman and Belgium's Eric Vandaerenaed in the final yards of the race after the pack had gradually caught up with two riders who staged a breakaway. Belgian Roger Hegams and Frenchman Henri Abdie had pulled away from the pack after about 33 miles. He had lead about 4.5 miles from the finish. Van Vliet, who gained the overall lead after the second stage Monday, held on to the top position by being the pack that was right behind the winner He strengthened his lead with the aid of bonus seconds by placing well in intermediate sprints during the second 18 seconds and 18 seconds ahead of Vandererden. Canadian Steve Bauer, who won the first stage on Monday, still is ninth. 32 seconds behind overall.