The Week (sept. 13-19)

Milwaukee's starting pitchers no longer worked with the assurance that Rollie Fingers could arrive from the bullpen to bail them out. In fact, some Brewers feared that Fingers, who tested his sore right arm and admitted it still hurt, might be through for the season. Dwight Bernard (two saves) and Jim Slaton (one save) helped ease Milwaukee's concern. Mike Caldwell threw a three-hitter as he beat New York 14-0 that eliminated the Yankees from the race. Caldwell now has a 12-3 career record against New York, and his .800 winning percentage is the best ever for a pitcher with 10 or more wins over the Yanks. As usual, the Brewers (5-1) pounded the ball. Don Money had three RBIs as Milwaukee beat Detroit 6-2: Roy Howell had ditto in a 5-3 win over the Tigers; Paul Molitor knocked in four runs to help beat New York 6-4; Gorman Thomas hit his league-leading 37th homer during a 14-1 rout of the Yankees; and Robin Yount (page 34) batted .519.

Boston (3-5) virtually dropped out of contention despite the efforts of Bob Stanley and rookie Wade Boggs. Stanley's 7? innings of scoreless relief in a 6-2 defeat of Detroit gave him his 11th victory. Boggs batted .419. Although that performance raised his average to .374, Boggs doesn't have nearly enough plate appearances (327 through Sunday) to qualify for the batting title.

With Howard Johnson hitting .455, Detroit (3-4) regained fourth place. Milt Wilcox (11-8) and Dan Petry (15-8) defeated Boston 4-2 and 5-1, respectively, and Lance Parrish stunned Milwaukee 4-3 with a two-run homer in the 11th.

Ron Hassey of the Indians (4-3) hit an 11th-inning homer to beat the Red Sox 4-3 in the second game of a doubleheader sweep. Cleveland's Ed Whitson got the win in the opener by a score of 3-1. Then Dan Spillner gave up only one hit to the Bosox in three innings while sewing up a 7-4 victory with his 19th save. Four RBIs by Von Hayes plus the pitching of Rick Sutcliffe (13-6) beat Baltimore 5-3.

Even last-place Toronto (4-2) did some spoiling, defeating California 2-1 and 6-2. The Blue Jays' Dave Stieb yielded just one run and three hits in 11 innings in the first of those games but didn't get the victory. Toronto won in the 12th when Alfredo Griffin got on base via Reggie Jackson's two-base error and scored on Willie Upshaw's single.

MIL 89-60 BALT 87-62 BOS 82-67 DET 74-73 NY 73-76 CLEV 72-75 TOR 69-80

NL EAST

Lots of good Pitching moved St. Louis (7-1) in front by 4� games. While winning seven straight, the St. Louis pitchers yielded only six runs. Reliever Bruce Sutter had a win and saved 2-0 victories for John Stuper (in Philadelphia) and Bob Forsch (in New York).

The Phillies (2-4) briefly took over first place early in the week when Steve Carlton did it all against the Cardinals: He pitched a three-hitter, fanned 12, homered and became the season's first 20-game winner. But thereafter .191 hitting and a string of 25 innings without producing a single run sent the Phillies reeling.

Woes mounted in Montreal (2-4). Tim Raines confessed that he'd used drugs, although he insisted he'd quit "about four months ago." Manager Jim Fanning's migraines became so severe he was placed in Queen Elizabeth Hospital's intensive-care unit. Andre Dawson's homer in the 11th inning beat the Mets 6-5, but the Expos' opponents got most of the big home runs. Montreal blew a 7-0 lead against the Cubs (5-1), who prevailed 10-7 as Jerry Morales and Bump Wills each homered with two on in the eighth. Reliever Lee Smith saved that game, as well as 3-1 and 7-5 defeats of the Expos. Chicago also beat Pittsburgh twice, 7-3 and 7-2. The Cubs' Jody Davis had a total of five RBIs in those games, the second of which was Ferguson Jenkins' 275th career win. For the week Bill Buckner batted .444 as Chicago roughed up two of the East's contenders.