Orioles’ Opener Nearly Perfect

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles dreamed about this day thousands of times, and they spent thousands of hours planning every detail. But even in their most imaginative moments, they would have had a difficult time coming up with a script to make the occasion more special than it turned out to be.

On a cloudless Monday afternoon in the club’s impeccable new home, Rick Sutcliffe made his pitching debut one to remember. The veteran right-hander left the Cleveland Indians flailing away, holding them to five harmless singles while the Orioles won 2-0.

It ended with the sellout crowd of 44,568 at the glistening Oriole Park at Camden Yards roaring its approval as Sutcliffe walked off the mound. The culmination of a stirring afternoon came when he took the game ball that his teammates had given him and handed it to Manager Johnny Oates -- his one-time teammate with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the man who gave him the opportunity to make a new beginning here.

“There was a lot of feeling there,” said Sutcliffe, who walked one walk and struck out six in the Orioles’ first complete-game Opening Day shutout since Jim Palmer in 1975. “A lot of people said I was through. One game obviously doesn’t make a season, but. ... this is a real big moment for me. This will be one to look back on after I retire, maybe the game that I’ll look back on.”

He was so efficient that the game required just 2 hours and 2 minutes to play, matching the shortest Opening Day game in franchise history. Sutcliffe threw 110 pitches, moving the ball in and out, up and down. He changed speeds masterfully. If any doubts lingered about him being the staff-stabilizer that the Orioles were seeking when they signed him as a free agent this winter, they were erased today.

“I think (Sutcliffe) was as surprised as the rest of us that he went as long as he did, as hard as he did,” pitching coach Dick Bosman said. “I don’t know how much better you can get from here.”

Indians starter Charles Nagy was almost as good, surrendering six hits and one walk over eight innings of handiwork. The lone walk hurt him, as the Orioles turned a one-out pass to designated hitter Sam Horn in the fifth inning into a game-winning two-run rally.

Leo Gomez yanked a single into left field, and Chris Hoiles pulled a sinkerball that didn’t sink into the gap in left-center field for a ground-rule double. Horn scored for a 1-0 lead, and Bill Ripken’s successful squeeze-play bunt brought Gomez home for a 2-0 advantage. Sutcliffe made that slim edge stand up.

He needed a helping hand from center fielder Mike Devereaux to get it done, though. After getting the first four outs of the game routinely, Sutcliffe ran into trouble in the second inning. Cleveland first baseman Paul Sorrento hit a one-out line drive toward short left-center for the first hit at Camden Yards, a single -- with a bobble by Orioles left fielder Brady Anderson allowing Sorrento to hustle into second base. Sutcliffe struck out Mark Whiten with a high fastball, but Sandy Alomar followed with a long drive to straightaway center field.

Devereaux froze momentarily -- thinking, he said later, that the ball was not hit as hard as it was. Once he got moving, it didn’t appear that he’d be able to make up for his initial reaction. But he did, snaring the drive with an over-the-shoulder grab on the run before slamming into the center field fence. Sutcliffe got stronger from there, as only one other base runner got as far as second base and none reached third. He retired 12 of the last 14 batters he faced, striking out three of the final seven.

He gave much of the credit to Devereaux, calling the play reminiscent of the famous catch that Willie Mays made in the 1954 World Series. “That play that Devo made, I thought the ball was out,” Sutcliffe said, adding that he couldn’t remember having a better defensive play made behind him. “I’ve seen clips of Willie Mays make a catch like that. I told Devo, ‘Stick with me, and you’ll win the Gold Glove this year.’ ”

Said Devereaux: “Actually, I misjudged it and made it look a lot harder than it really was. ... Once the ball was just about to come down, I knew it was catchable. Then it was just a matter of catching it. The credit should go to Sutcliffe for the game he pitched, not to me.”

This was the Sutcliffe who was one of the workhorse pitchers of the 1980s, not the one with a bad shoulder over the previous two seasons that led the Chicago Cubs to allow him to leave. This was the Sutcliffe who thrives in pressure situations, raising his career Opening Day record to 5-2 with his first shutout since June 1989 and his first complete game since July of ’89. This was Sutcliffe at his best, even at age 35.

And it came at a time when being at his best was rather difficult. Sutcliffe was one of the victims of the food-poisoning incident that stemmed from the Orioles’ clubhouse spread at their exhibition game Saturday at RFK Stadium. Sutcliffe said after Monday’s contest that he spent much of the weekend alternating between bouts of resting and vomiting. He laid down to rest at 4:30 Sunday afternoon, he said, and didn’t get out of bed until 8 Monday morning. Had it been a hotter day Monday (the game-time temperature was 63 degrees), Sutcliffe conceded that he likely would not have lasted as long as he did.

But he didn’t complain. When Oates walked by Sutcliffe’s locker a few hours before game time to see how his pitcher was feeling, Sutcliffe had a set of headphones on -- and Oates knew not to disturb him. When President Bush, who was on hand to throw out the first ball, walked through the Orioles’ clubhouse, Sutcliffe didn’t so much as flinch.

“Anybody in his right mind would have shook his hand, shined his shoes, whatever,” Sutcliffe said. “I just turned up my country music a little louder and tried to pretend like I was focusing in on the game. I would have wanted to take one of those pictures with him like everyone else was. One day, I’ll probably regret that I didn’t. But I had other things to do today.”

And because of that, the Orioles had an Opening Day to savor, one that reminded them in many ways of the season-opening win that put them on their way to their magical 1989 season. But mostly, it was a day to rave about Sutcliffe. “He was amazing,” said Nagy, who was seven years old when Sutcliffe made his professional debut in 1974. “That was a work of art.”

Said Oates: “I’d be lying if I said this was what I expected, but this is the type of ballgame we got Rick Sutcliffe to pitch. ... It’s exciting, no matter whether it’s a new ballpark or an old ballpark. It’s gratifying. But we have to keep it in perspective. It’s just one of 162 games. But boy, it feels good to win that first one.”