Pirates

The Phillies' clubhouse is one of the few places in Veterans Stadium with air conditioning, one of the few places at the park protected from the past week's sizzling heat. It is hard for the players to notice. There is no cool, calming solace to be found in that room. Ten consecutive losses to the Pirates. Ten losses, across two seasons, and now the Phillies are nine games back and facing two more potentially miserable days of playing polite host to the hottest team not only in the division, but in all of the major leagues.

The Pittsburgh Pirates' board voted yesterday to end its 15-month search for a new owner by selling the team to Kevin McClatchy, but only after he raises more equity and formalizes a deal for a new stadium. McClatchy, who at 32 would be the major leagues' youngest team owner, was approved by baseball's ownership committee Tuesday, and he expected to sign a final purchase agreement yesterday. But, adhering strictly to baseball's 2-to-1 debt-to-equity ratio, the Pirates' board asked McClatchy to raise within 30 days an additional $9 million to $10 million in equity.

Charlotte Hornets owner George Shinn, once interested in buying the San Francisco Giants, hopes to talk to Pittsburgh city officials about buying the Pirates. There's only one problem: The city cannot legally entertain any offers for at least six months from any prospective purchasers who might move the team out of Pittsburgh. Still, Shinn, who also owns the Triple A Charlotte Knights, says he'll aggressively pursue the Pirates. The team's board of directors voted to put the team up for sale Wednesday, citing losses of $60 million since 1985.

For the last quarter of a century, Cinnaminson High has fielded one of the premier boys' soccer programs in South Jersey. The only accomplishment that has eluded the Pirates has been winning a state championship. Tonight, the Pirates will attempt to change that. Cinnaminson (14-6-2) will meet Harrison (18-4-1) in the Group 2 state final at 8 at Trenton State College. The Pirates have not won handily in most of their postseason games, but they have kept rolling along. They defeated Collingswood, 5-0, in the first round.

The laboratory rats concluding the Phillies' 1988 experiment wander a maze without cheese. There is no reward, no hope, and no way out. Win or lose, Oct. 2 will come when it will come. It will not arrive one minute sooner if the Phils win a few, or one minute later if they don't. Their September research is proving almost exclusively what won't work for 1989, not what might. The lone exception, Ricky Jordan, homered in the second inning last night to end the team's 23-inning scoreless streak.

Offense has been a problem for the Archbishop Carroll football team all season. The Patriots have failed to score in three of their seven games, and Saturday's game against St. John Neumann didn't prove to be much better. In a game that featured very little offense, Carroll tied the host Pirates, 7-7. "I don't think that there is a player in a Carroll uniform who's happy with his performance today," Carroll head coach Jake Clark said. "This was the flattest we've been all year.

The Pittsburgh Pirates' pitching picture got a little clearer yesterday when manager Jim Leyland made lefthander Denny Neagle part of the starting rotation. Neagle will join lefties Zane Smith and Steve Cooke and righthander Paul Wagner in the rotation. The fifth spot will be filled either by lefthander Randy Tomlin or righthander Scott Scudder. Neagle, 25, has made only 16 starts in 112 lifetime appearances with Minnesota and Pittsburgh. He is 3-7 with a 5.80 earned run average as a starter and 4-5 with a 4.18 ERA as a reliever.

One of the first things North Catholic coach Bob Kaupp wanted to know after his team's season opener was how many plays the Falcons ran in the second half. When he was told 16, he said, "See, that's it right there. That's 32 plays in a full game, and you need to get off at least 55 or 60 to win. " North did not manage a victory, but it did stave off defeat - pulling out a 7-7 nonleague tie against St. John Neumann in the reconstituted Beach Bowl at Wildwood's Maxwell Field.

On Saturday at noon, bring your swim attire and old shoes to defend the Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation at Ridley Creek State Park from pirate invasion during Pirate Splash Day for kids. The invasion of the plantation farmhouse begins at 12:30, and youngsters can throw wet sponges at the captured pirates. The pirates will help kids play games, teaching them how to use their feet to wash clothes and bob for apples. There will be foot races and a run through mazes while being sprayed with water.

Few of Pete Harnisch's career wins were more dramatic or emphatic than No. 99. Harnisch held Pittsburgh hitless into the seventh inning, tied his career high with 12 strikeouts and wound up sharing a one-hitter as the Cincinnati Reds beat the visiting Pirates last night, 1-0. Sean Casey homered off Kris Benson (10-10) with one out in the bottom of the eighth, moving the Reds back into first place in the NL Central by percentage points over Houston. The Astros lost to Milwaukee earlier in the day. Harnisch (13-6)