October  26, 1991, Metro Edition

SECTION: Sports; Sid Hartman; Pg. 3C
LENGTH: 1383 words
HEADLINE: MacPhail confident in Erickson for Game 6
BYLINE: Sid Hartman; Staff Writer

 BODY:
   The Twins are down three games to two just as they were in the 1987 World Series, when they came back to win the final two games at home.

    Twins general manager Andy MacPhail says he likes his team's chances more now than he did in 1987 because the Twins have Scott Erickson pitching tonight; Les Straker was the starter in the sixth game of the 1987 World Series.

"We had Straker going against John Tudor in 1987, and Tudor had shut us down in St. Louis," MacPhail said. "Straker certainly had been up and down (he was 3-4 with a 4.53 ERA the last two months of the season).

    "This time we have Scott Erickson going against Steve Avery. Even though Scott hasn't pitched that well recently, we shouldn't write him off. He has been a 20-game winner and certainly has been a much better pitcher than Straker ever was. As recently as Sept. 24, he was throwing the ball well into the 90s and
pitched a good game. I'm not ready to give up the ship. We are going to be fine."

    Straker, after an ordinary 1987 season, pitched 11 2/3 innings in the postseason.  He gave up nine runs and 12 hits and wound up with a 6.94 ERA.

    Erickson's ERA hasn't been much better the last month, but he proved he has the ability to pitch in the major leagues when he won 12 straight games. A headline on a recent story about Erickson in the Boston Globe read, "The New Rocket or Just a Dud?" That probably best describes Erickson.

    Junior Ortiz, who has caught Erickson in every game this season, described Erickson's Game 3 outing against the Braves, when he lasted only four innings, as the worst he has pitched all year. "His ball wasn't moving and he didn't throw very hard," said Ortiz. "He can pitch a lot better."

    One positive is that Erickson has performed well in the past.  Some of us in the media thought manager Tom Kelly might start Jack Morris with two days' rest today after he had pitched only six innings Wednesday.

    There's no doubt that Kelly isn't going to stay with Erickson for long if he doesn't have his stuff.

   Davis to talk to Erickson

   Braves pitcher John Smoltz has his psychologist.  Chili Davis, Erickson's roommate, says he is going to try to help Erickson mentally prepare for tonight's game by talking to him at length.

    "There isn't any reason why Scott can't pitch like he did early in the season," Davis said. "He has the ability to pitch well against the Braves. He has to concentrate like he did early and he can do the job."

    What would help Erickson more than anything else is some big scoring by the Twins, something they didn't do in Atlanta.