The Week (may 11-17)

AL EAST

"I owe my life to the Cleveland Indians," said Tim McKimson, 19, of Chicago. McKimson suffered a broken nose and lost two teeth when, he says, he and two friends were attacked by three youths near Comiskey Park. At the time, the Indians' bus was on the way to the team hotel after a game. Pitching Coach Dave Duncan spotted the fracas and hollered, "Hurry up, Bussie." McKimson "thought it was all over," but the Indians came to his rescue. Inside Comiskey, Cleveland (5-2) beat the White Sox twice—3-1 as Bert Blyleven pitched a four-hitter and 4-3 when Jorge Orta homered in the 16th inning. The Tribe downed Toronto twice on Sunday, Rick Waits winning 1-0 and Blyleven 2-1.

The Red Sox (4-3) downed the Blue Jays 7-6 as Rick Miller chipped in with five hits, including a major league record-tying four doubles. It may have been Miller time, but the winning hit was delivered in the ninth by Gary Allenson, who picked up his fifth RBI of the day. The Allenson Wonderland saga ended abruptly, however, when Gary was put on the disabled list after the game because of a torn ligament. Boston pitchers gave up back-to-back homers in three losses.

When asked if he felt his lengthy talk to the Brewers (3-3) at a team meeting had been effective, General Manager Harry Dalton said, "The father of the baby always thinks it's pretty." Dalton's babes then beat the A's three times, 3-0, 6-5 and 6-2.

Tight pitching buoyed the Tigers (4-1), Blue Jays (2-6) and Orioles (5-1). Detroit stopped Seattle 6-2 behind Milt Wilcox's five-hitter and 1-0 as Dan Petry gave up only three hits. Toronto's nifty mound work was begun by Dave Stieb, whose four-hitter stymied Baltimore 5-2. Jackson Todd then beat Cleveland 4-1. Baltimore had three shutouts: Scott McGregor's three-hitter took care of Toronto 4-0; Mike Flanagan's five-hitter stopped the Blue Jays 10-0; and Dave Ford went seven innings in relief of sore-armed Steve Stone for a 7-0 victory in Minnesota. "I don't think I should start anymore," Jim Palmer said after being knocked out in the fifth inning of a 5-2 loss to Toronto. "I can pitch three or four innings fine, but that's all." Palmer, who pitched just four complete games last season, suggested he be put in the bullpen. But Manager Earl Weaver ignored the suggestion, and on Sunday Palmer went 7? innings to beat the Twins 6-3. Baltimore also benefited from the 20 doubles banged out last week by Oriole batters.

New York (3-2) had some big boppers of its own. Reggie Jackson had seven RBIs; Aurelio Rodriguez homered on his first two swings of the season; and Bobby Murcer's five ribbies on seven hits gave him 10 runs batted in on 13 hits thus far. Reliever Goose Gossage continued to be overpowering, picking up his ninth and 10th saves and first win as he struck out 10 in 5? innings.

CLEV 18-9 BALT 19-11 NY 19-14 MIL 17-15 BOS 16-16 DET 16-17 TOR 11-24

AL WEST

In 30 starts last season, Rick Honeycutt's Mariner teammates supported him with a scant 65 runs. Understandably, Honeycutt savors the offensive backing he's had since joining the Rangers (3-3), who have scored 34 runs for him in six starts. The latest outburst on his behalf led to a 9-1 triumph over the Royals and was triggered by Bump Wills, who had three hits in that game and batted .435 for the week. With lefthander Paul Splittorff pitching for Kansas City, Texas Manager Don Zimmer was expected to use Bill Stein, a righthanded batter with a .452 average, at first base in place of Pat Putnam, a slumping lefty swinger who was 6 for 40 against southpaws. Zimmer, though, went with Putnam, who homered in the eighth for a 3-2 victory, the Rangers' seventh straight against southpaws.

Britt Burns of Chicago (3-3) put an end to Texas' mauling of portsiders, at least temporarily, when he sidetracked the Rangers 9-1. Another lefty, Ross Baumgarten, further cooled off Texas, winning 9-0 on Sunday.