The Week (may 8-14)

AL WEST

Apparently the Gunfight at the KC Corral is over. After American League President Lee MacPhail fined eight Rangers and two Royals for participating in a May 7 brawl, the teams met peaceably three times last week. Not even the appearance of Joe Louis, who threw out the first ball on Friday, could set things off. The decision went to KC two games to one, but not before Gaylord Perry came off the canvas to four-hit the Royals 2-1. The only sparring was verbal as the Royals predictably accused Perry, who entered the game with a 1-4 record and a 6.67 earned run average, of throwing spitters. The Rangers responded by down-playing Jim Colborn's pitching after he no-hit them 6-0, and Colborn agreed (see box). For the week, neither team had much oomph, Texas going 3-4 and KC 2-4, although the Royals did beat Ranger Pitcher Bert Blyleven for the first time in seven decisions, 4-3.

Both Minnesota (4-1) and Chicago (5-1) had far better clout and remained, surprisingly, the division's one-two punch. Off to their fastest start since 1970, the Twins have five regulars hitting over .300, which was to be expected, and are third in the league in pitching, which nobody would have predicted. Dave Goltz, Jeff Holly and Ron Scheuler each got his second win of the season as Minnesota stayed in first, despite having played almost two-thirds of its games on the road. Meanwhile, the White Sox, who scored the third-fewest runs in the league last year, kept up their astounding hitting. In an 18-2 shelling of Cleveland, Jim Spencer got his first career grand slam and tied a club record held by Shoeless Joe Jackson, Carl Reynolds and Tommy McCraw by batting in eight runs. Jorge Orta homered and drove in three runs to beat Texas 6-3, and Chet Lemon became the first American Leaguer this season to get five hits in one game, pacing an 8-3 win over Cleveland with three singles and two doubles. The pitching wasn't bad, either. The White Sox allowed three runs in each of five straight games.

After losing 12 of 14 on the road, including 10-4 and 9-3 thrashings by their fellow expansionists in Toronto, Seattle (2-5) flew home to face red-hot New York and got its first series sweep by scores of 5-2 and 8-6. "It's out of a storybook," said Yankee Reggie Jackson. "David and Goliath. Good for baseball." Then David reverted to form, as big bad Boston took two straight from the Mariners. Oakland (2-3) dropped to fifth as Shortstop Rodney Scott's error set up one of their losses. Owner Charlie Finley did little to help his team's future when it was determined that he had illegally cut rookie Tommy Sandt's pay before shipping him to St. Louis in the spring. After a grievance hearing, Sandt was declared a free agent. Now Finley must compensate St. Louis, probably with another player.

California's week (4-3) was more upbeat. Frank Tanana predicted he would throw a shutout, then did it, setting down Baltimore 6-0 for his fifth win as Bobby Bonds, Don Baylor and Ron Jackson hit successive homers. Nolan Ryan defeated KC 6-1 for his 11th career two-hitter. To shore up their shaky bullpen, the Angels reacquired Reliever Dave LaRoche from Cleveland. He arrived just in time to save a game for Don Kirkwood. "I was more nervous than the first game I pitched here as a rookie," LaRoche said. The next day rookie Gil Flores showed he was nerveless. Checking in from Salt Lake City, where he had been hitting .333, Centerfielder Flores moved into the Angels' leadoff position and got their only three hits in a 3-0 loss to New York.

MINN 21-11 CHI 20-11 KC 17-15 TEX 15-14 OAK 16-16 CAL 14-19 SEA 11-26

AL EAST

Boston (3-2) was up on its luck when Fred Lynn returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering an ankle injury in spring training. On the first pitch, he homered. On his second trip to the plate, he homered again. And that was not all of the Red Sox' good fortune. Jim Willoughby threw seven innings of scoreless relief and George Scott hit a home run to beat Seattle 7-5. Still, Lynn's return was the best news for Boston. "Fred came to me and begged to play," said Manager Don Zimmer. "I didn't want him to. I didn't think he was ready. Shows what kind of a manager I am."

Before the season began, even some Baltimore players did not think the Orioles had a ghost of a chance of contending, but the standings are no mirage. And the league's best pitching is no illusion, even if Jim Palmer lost 7-5 to the Angels after taking a three-run lead into the eighth inning. It turned out the blame belonged to Manager Earl Weaver. "I told him in the fifth my neck hurt," Palmer said. "It was his decision to keep me in." Weaver's decision to stay with Pat Kelly had happier results. Kelly went 9 for 19 with five RBIs as the Orioles took three of five. The sole Oriole mishap occurred when Pitcher Scott McGregor was hit on the lip by a batting-practice grounder. The wound required six stitches, and necessitated the removal of McGregor's mustache. "It'll take a year to grow back," said McGregor.

New York (3-2) had its weekly blowup. This time Manager Billy Martin fumed over the absence of a third catcher at a time when the Yankees had an open spot on their roster and was fined $2,500 for his outburst. Thurman Munson backed up Martin, saying, "If you think I can catch 155 games, you're crazy." Munson's substitute, Fran Healy, who has caught six innings this season, was not heard from, but General Manager Gabe Paul was. Defending his decision to call up Outfielder Del Alston, who was hitting .338 at Syracuse, instead of Catcher Elrod Hendricks, Paul said, "If we have to depend on a player hitting .105 [ Hendricks], with the kind of talent that has been provided, we are indeed in bad trouble." The Yankees played like it, though, committing five errors in an 8-6 loss to Seattle before Ed Figueroa and Don Gullett beat the Angels 3-0 and 4-1 with complete games.