InfoBeat Major League Baseball Monday, September 4, 2000

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Monday's Games
--------------------------------------------------------------

**FLORIDA MARLINS 5, Houston Astros 2
**New York Yankees 4, KANSAS CITY ROYALS 3
**SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 3, Philadelphia Phillies 0
**Texas Rangers 5, CHICAGO WHITE SOX 4


FLORIDA 5, HOUSTON 2

HOUSTON (AP) - The Houston Astros had no solution to Chuck Smith.

That's nothing new.

Smith, a former Astro farmhand, tied his career high with 11
strikeouts, and Preston Wilson drove in three runs as the Florida
Marlins defeated the Astros 5-2 Monday.

Smith (4-5) allowed five hits and two walks in eight innings,
retiring 13-of-14 batters between the first and fifth. Antonio
Alfonseca pitched the ninth for his 39th save in 43 chances.

"I don't know why he spent so much time in the minors, every time
I've seen him, he looks great," Houston's Chris Truby said. "He's
done that before against us."

Smith was 24-21 in four years in the Astros' organization before
the Chicago White Sox took him in the 1994 major league draft.
The previous time the 30-year-old rookie faced Houston, he didn't
give up an earned run in seven innings but took the loss.

"I wanted to show these guys I could play," Smith said. "It felt
good going against my former team, and I feel I rose to the
occasion. You have it in the back of your mind that these are the
guys who said you couldn't compete. If I'd done terrible against
them, they would have said we knew he couldn't pitch."

The Astros were saying anything but that Monday.

"He kept his breaking ball down and he moved his fastball around
real well," Jeff Bagwell said. "It's obvious the guy knows how to
pitch."

Wilson drove in one run in the first when second baseman Julio
Lugo misplayed his grounder for an error with Mark Kotsay on
third. Wilson added an RBI single in the third and a run-scoring
groundout in the fifth for a 4-1 lead.

Houston closed to 4-2 when Tim Bogar doubled off the right-field
wall with two outs in the fifth and scored when pitcher Chris
Holt lined a 3-2 fastball from Smith down the left-field line for
an RBI double.

Holt (6-14) allowed five runs -- four earned -- and 10 hits in
seven innings, setting a career-high for losses in a season. He
was 5-13 last year.

"I loved the Astros, Chris Holt was my teammate and e were good
friends, he knows it was tough for me to get a chance," Smith
said. "I don't know what happened. I guess that's baseball.
Different people see different things in you. I might have been
one that got away."


FLORIDA MARLINS 5, Houston Astros 2

FLORIDA AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
LCastillo 2b 4 1 1 0 1 0 .350
Kotsay rf 4 2 1 0 1 0 .289
Floyd lf 5 1 3 0 0 0 .301
PWilson cf 4 1 2 3 1 0 .260
Lowell 3b 4 0 2 1 0 1 .278
DLLee 1b 4 0 0 0 1 2 .284
AGonzalez ss 4 0 1 1 0 1 .205
RCastro c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .247
CSmith p 4 0 0 0 0 1 .097
Alfonseca p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

Totals 37 5 11 5 4 5


HOUSTON AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Cedeno lf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .253
Lugo 2b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .256
Bagwell 1b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .313
Meluskey c 2 0 0 0 2 1 .299
Alou rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .363
Hidalgo cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .274
Truby 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .263
Bogar ss 3 1 1 0 0 2 .188
Holt p 2 0 1 1 0 1 .100
a-DWard ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .250
MValdes p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Totals 30 2 5 1 3 11

------------------------------
Florida 102 010 100-5 11 0
Houston 100 010 000-2 5 3
------------------------------

Lowell reached first on catcher's interference.

a-struck out for Holt in the 7th.

E-Lugo (16), Meluskey 2 (12). LOB-Florida 11, Houston 4.
2B-PWilson (29), Hidalgo (30), Bogar (8), Holt (1). 3B-Lugo (3).
RBIs-PWilson 3 (104), Lowell (77), AGonzalez (36), Holt (3).
SB-PWilson (31). SF-AGonzalez. GIDP-CSmith, Lugo, Alou.

Runners left in scoring position-Florida 5 (Kotsay, DLLee 2,
AGonzalez, RCastro); Houston 2 (Cedeno, DWard).

Runners moved up-Kotsay, Lowell, Truby.

DP-Florida 2 (AGonzalez and DLLee), (AGonzalez, LCastillo and
DLLee); Houston 1 (Holt, Bogar and Lugo).

FLORIDA
IP H R ER BB SO NP RA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
CSmith W, 4-5 8 5 2 2 2 11 102 3.44
Alfonseca S, 39 1 0 0 0 1 0 11 4.62

HOUSTON
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Holt L, 6-14 7 10 5 4 3 4 121 5.08
MValdes 2 1 0 0 1 1 31 4.44

IBB-off Holt (DLLee) 1. WP-CSmith.

Umpires-Home, Schrieber; First, McClelland; Second, Rapuano;
Third, Cuzzi.

T-2:38. A-33,388 (40,950).

*** For the Florida/Houston scoring summary, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569471639-98c



NEW YORK 4, KANSAS CITY 3

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Mariano Rivera held on -- barely. A day
after causing a loss to Minnesota, Rivera loaded the bases in the
ninth inning before saving the New York Yankees' 4-3 win over the
Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

"I'm throwing good," said Rivera, who retired Mike Sweeney on a
game-ending flyout to center. "Sometimes these things just
happen."

Jorge Posada went 3-for-4 with two doubles and drove in the
go-ahead run, and Andy Pettitte (17-7) won for the eighth time in
nine decisions since July 20 as New York maintained its
season-high, six-game lead over second-place Boston in the AL
East.

And Rivera supplied the drama. Dave McCarty singled leading off
the ninth and went to second on Hector Ortiz's sacrifice. Rivera
struck out Carlos Febles, then walked Johnny Damon and allowed an
infield single to pinch-hitter Wilson Delgado, released by the
Yankees on Aug. 11. Sweeney, who had been 3-for-4, then hit his
drive to medium center, falling to 21-for-49 (.429) with the
bases loaded in his career. Overall, he is hitting .339 this
season.

"Mariano Rivera is one of the best closers in the game," Sweeney
said. "My job was to hit the ball hard and try to win the game
for our team. I did half the job -- I hit the ball hard."

Pettitte allowed all three runs and nine hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Jeff Nelson once again was shaky, letting an inherited runner
score on Sweeney's RBI grounder in the eighth before striking out
Joe Randa to end the inning with runners on first and third.

Mac Suzuki (8-8) gave up four runs and seven hits in 6 2/3
innings as Kansas City dropped to 1-6 this year against New York.
Jermaine Dye was 3-for-4 with three doubles off Pettitte.

New York took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on a run-scoring single by
David Justice, who reached 100 RBIs for the third time in his
career, and a run-scoring grounder by Tino Martinez. Randa's
two-run, two-out single tied the score in the bottom half, but
the Yankees came right back and went ahead 3-2 in th fifth on
Posada's second double. Derek Jeter hit a sacrifice fly in the
seventh.

With two outs in the first, Sweeney had tried to score from first
on the first of Dye's doubles. But Jeter took the Justice's throw
from left to shortstop and threw a one-hopper to Posada, who
tagged out Sweeney.

"That's good spring training stuff," Yankees manager Joe Torre
said. "That's why you work on it."


New York Yankees 4, KANSAS CITY ROYALS 3

NEW YORK AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Jeter ss 2 1 1 1 1 0 .326
Posada c 4 1 3 1 0 0 .301
O'Neill rf 3 0 0 0 1 2 .295
BeWilliams cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .309
Bellinger cf 2 1 0 0 1 0 .241
Justice lf 4 0 1 1 0 1 .286
TMartinez 1b 4 0 0 1 0 0 .268
GHill dh 4 0 0 0 0 3 .351
Sojo 2b 4 1 2 0 0 0 .330
Brosius 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .233

Totals 32 4 8 4 3 7


KANSAS CITY AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Damon cf 4 1 1 0 1 0 .327
RSanchez ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .265
a-CBeltran ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .246
Ordaz ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .202
b-WDelgado ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .277
MJSweeney dh 5 1 3 1 0 0 .338
Dye rf 4 1 3 0 0 0 .326
Quinn lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .300
Randa 3b 4 0 1 2 0 2 .296
McCarty 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .264
1-Pose pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .186
HOrtiz c 3 0 1 0 0 0 .377
Febles 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .266

Totals 37 3 12 3 1 5

--------------------------------
New York 000 210 100-4 8 1
Kansas City 000 200 010-3 12 0
--------------------------------

a-struck out for Sanchez in the 8th. b-singled for Ordaz in the
9th.

1-ran for McCarty in the 9th.

E-TMartinez (5). LOB-New York 5, Kansas City 9. 2B-Posada 2 (30),
Brosius (18), Damon (38), Dye 3 (33). RBIs-Jeter (62), Posada
(83), Justice (100), TMartinez (80), MJSweeney (125), Randa 2
(88). SB-Damon (40). S-HOrtiz. SF-Jeter. GIDP-O'Neill.

Runners left in scoring position-New York 3 (Posada, BeWilliams,
GHill); Kansas City 5 (MJSweeney 2, Randa 3).

Runners moved up-TMartinez.

DP-New York 1 (Pettitte and TMartinez); Kansas Cit 1 (Febles,
RSanchez and McCarty).

NEW YORK
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Pettitte W, 17-7 7 1/3 9 3 3 0 3 96 4.15
Nelson 2/3 1 0 0 0 1 18 2.39
MRivera S, 32 1 2 0 0 1 1 20 2.88

KANSAS CITY
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Suzuki L, 8-8 6 2/3 7 4 4 3 4 117 4.00
Mullen 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 2 17 0.00
JSantiago 2/3 1 0 0 0 1 10 4.02

Inherited runners-scored-Nelson 1-1, Mullen 1-0.

IBB-off Suzuki (O'Neill) 1. WP-Suzuki.

Umpires-Home, Fichter; First, Roe; Second, Lamplugh; Third,
Shulock.

T-3:08. A-21,774 (40,625).

*** For the Kansas City/New York scoring summary, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569478236-3a5



SAN FRANCISCO 3, PHILADELPHIA 0

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Barry Bonds keeps adding to his impressive
power numbers. Then again, he keeps working at it too. Bonds
homered twice to top 40 for the fourth time in his career as the
San Francisco Giants defeated the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0, on
Monday for their sixth straight win.

"He spent about an hour doing extra hitting before the game and
it paid off," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "September is
Barry's month. His physical strength is the difference. He's in
shape."

Bonds hit solo shots in the third inning off Omar Daal (3-17) and
in the eighth off Jeff Brantley to give him 41 homers on the
year. Bonds has 45 career multihomer games, 10th on the career
list.

Russ Ortiz (12-10) allowed two hits, four walks and struck out
five in 6 1/3 innings to win his seventh consecutive decision.
The right-hander extended his scoreless streak to 17 innings,
dating to the second inning Aug. 25 at Philadelphia. He hasn't
lost since July 29 at Chicago.

Robb Nen got three outs for his 34th save in 39 opportunities. He
has converted 21 straight save chances, tied with Toronto's Billy
Koch for the longest in the majors this season.

San Francisco has a major league-leading 13 shutouts, the most
for the Giants since having 16 in 1989. They lead idle Arizona by
a season-high 5 1/2 games in the NL West.

The Phillies matched their season high with six consecutive
losses.

"When you're not scoring, everything becomes glaring," Phillies
manager Terry Francona said. "Our whole team is trying to do too
much. We're trying to hit the ball 500 feet, when 330 is good
enough."

Daal threw his third consecutive quality game, but still managed
to lose his fifth straight decision, giving up solo homers to
Bonds and Rich Aurilia.

"He pitched real good, but we're going through a period where you
have to be perfect and it's hard to be perfect," Francona said.
"I'd like to think if you only give up two runs we have a chance
to win."

Daal pitched six innings, allowing three hits bu none after
Bonds gave the Giants a 2-0 lead with one out in the third. He
walked five and struck out five.

Daal has allowed seven earned runs in his last 19 innings (3.32
ERA) to lower his ERA to 6.67 from a season-high 7.19 on Aug. 19.
He's won once in 14 starts since May 30.


SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS 3, Philadelphia Phillies 0

PHILADELPHIA AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Abreu rf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .317
Sefcik cf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .242
Rolen 3b 3 0 1 0 1 1 .294
TLee 1b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .231
Burrell lf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .244
MOAnderson 2b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .258
GBennett c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .273
TPerez ss 2 0 1 0 1 0 .235
c-KJordan ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .218
Daal p 1 0 0 0 0 0 .256
a-Ducey ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 .185
b-BRHunter ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .222
Vosberg p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Brantley p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

Totals 29 0 4 0 5 8


SAN FRANCISCO AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Benard cf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .260
Mueller 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .272
Bonds lf 3 2 2 2 1 1 .305
Kent 1b-2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .337
Burks rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .350
Aurilia ss 2 1 1 1 1 1 .273
REMartinez 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .296
Embree p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
FARodriguez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Nen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---
Estalella c 2 0 0 0 1 1 .248
RROrtiz p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .216
Snow 1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .286

Totals 27 3 5 3 5 6

--------------------------------
Philadelphia 000 000 000-0 4 0
San Francisco 011 000 01x-3 5 0
--------------------------------

a-announced for Daal in the 7th. b-struck out for Ducey in the
7th. c-flied out for Perez in the 9th.

LOB-Philadelphia 8, San Francisco 5. HR-Bonds 2 (41) off
Brantley, Daal; Aurilia (17) off Daal. RBIs-Bonds 2 (84), Aurilia
(68). SB-Abreu (21). CS-Mueller (2). S-Daal. GIDP-TLee.

Runners left in scoring position-Philadelphia 4 (Abreu, Sefcik,
Burrell2); San Francisco 2 (Burks, Aurilia).

Runners moved up-Burks.

DP-San Francisco 1 (Aurilia and Snow).

PHILADELPHIA
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Daal L, 3-17 6 3 2 2 5 5 104 6.67
Vosberg 1 1 0 0 0 0 14 3.54
Brantley 1 1 1 1 0 1 14 5.16

SAN FRANCISCO
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
RROrtiz W, 12-10 6 1/3 2 0 0 5 5 100 4.91
Embree 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 9 4.36
FARodriguez 1 1 0 0 0 0 11 2.48
Nen S, 34 1 1 0 0 0 2 16 1.52

Inherited runners-scored-Embree 2-0.

Umpires-Home, Guccione; First, Rieker; Second, Packard; Third,
Davis.

T-2:41. A-40,930 (40,800).

*** For the Philadelphia/San Francisco scoring summary, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569472819-b95



TEXAS 5, CHICAGO 4

CHICAGO (AP) - The Texas Rangers are looking at a bright future
with rookie Doug Davis. For Chicago White Sox rookie Jon Garland,
the future is now.

Gabe Kapler hit a solo homer and Ricky Ledee hit a tiebreaking
RBI single to lead the Rangers to a 5-4 victory Monday over
Chicago, snapping the White Sox's five-game winning streak.

Davis (6-5) stymied the White Sox, who were coming off a
three-game sweep over Anaheim in which they scored 35 runs. Davis
gave up two runs, eight hits and two walks in six innings to win
for only the second time in his last 11 starts.

"Since our starting rotation got disassembled, he's given us four
outings in a row," Texas manager Johnny Oates said of Davis, who
is 2-1 with a 1.52 ERA in his last four starts. "Pitching is hard
to come by and to have a left-hander like him and a right-hander
like Ryan Glynn come along is what you need."

"I think I broke about four or five bats today," Davis said. "I
was able to establish the inside and that opened up the outside
part of the plate."

Garland (3-5) took the loss in his first start since July 18 when
he was hit in the right forearm by a line drive. Garland gave up
three runs and eight hits in five innings.

"He had pretty good stuff. He might not have executed as well as
he wanted to, but I thought he threw the ball good," White Sox
manager Jerry Manuel said.

The White Sox, who have a 7 1/2-game lead in the AL Central over
Cleveland, are counting on the rookie after learning that Cal
Eldred is probably done for the season.

Eldred, who was 10-2 in 19 starts, took himself out of a rehab
start Sunday night after two innings. He arrived at Comiskey Park
during Monday's game but left early. The White Sox did not issue
an updated medical report.

Kapler hit his 11th home run leading off the fourth as the
Rangers won for only the third time in 10 games.

Reliever Tim Crabtree gave up a solo homer to Carlos Lee with two
outs in the eighth. Lee went 4for-4 with his 22nd homer.

John Wetteland itched the ninth for his 29th save in 37
opportunities. He allowed a solo homer to Charles Johnson, his
26th, with two outs in the ninth.


Texas Rangers 5, CHICAGO WHITE SOX 4

TEXAS AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Catalanotto dh 5 0 1 1 0 2 .315
Alicea 2b 4 0 0 0 1 0 .284
RPalmeiro 1b 5 1 2 0 0 1 .285
Kapler rf 5 1 3 1 0 0 .285
Ledee lf 5 0 1 1 0 1 .231
Haselman c 4 1 2 0 1 2 .274
Lamb 3b 5 1 1 0 0 0 .283
Clayton ss 3 1 2 1 0 0 .244
SGreen cf 3 0 1 1 1 1 .179

Totals 39 5 13 5 3 7


CHICAGO AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
-- - - -- -- -- ----
Durham 2b 5 1 2 0 0 0 .285
Graffanino ss 1 0 0 0 2 0 .282
a-JAValentin ph-ss 1 0 0 0 1 0 .289
Thomas dh 5 0 1 1 0 1 .333
MOrdonez rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .326
CNLee lf 4 2 4 1 0 0 .299
Perry 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .305
Konerko 1b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .299
JAbbott cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .277
b-Baines ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .259
CJohnson c 4 1 1 1 0 2 .296

Totals 36 4 11 4 3 4

---------------------------------
Texas 000 210 020-5 13 1
Chicago 110 000 011-4 11 0
---------------------------------

a-grounded out for Graffanino in the 7th. b-struck out for Abbott
in the 9th.

E-Alicea (14). LOB-Texas 11, Chicago 8. 2B-RPalmeiro (21),
Haselman 2 (15), Clayton (17), Durham (32). HR-CJohnson (26) off
Wetteland; CNLee (22) off Crabtree; Kapler (11) off Garland.
RBIs-Catalanotto (36), Kapler (49), Ledee (64), Clayton (50),
SGreen (4), Thomas (127), CNLee (85), Konerko (81), CJohnson
(76). SB-Kapler (7), Durham (24). GIDP-Alicea, MOrdonez.

Runners left in scoring position-Texas 6 (Catalanotto, Kapler,
Ledee, Lamb 2, SGreen); Chicago 5 (Durham 2, Thomas, JAbbott 2).

Runners moved up-Kapler, Lamb 2, JAbbott.

DP-Texas 2 (Clayton, Alicea and RPalmeiro), (Kapler andRPalmeiro);
Chicago 1 (Durham, JAValentin and Konerko).

TEXAS
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
DDavis W, 6-5 6 8 2 2 2 3 105 5.47
Crabtree 2 1 1 1 0 0 20 5.51
Wetteland S, 29 1 2 1 1 1 1 23 4.02

CHICAGO
IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
-- - - -- -- -- -- ---
Garland L, 3-5 5 8 3 3 1 4 99 5.92
Buehrle 2 0 0 0 1 2 34 4.54
Bradford 1 4 2 2 0 1 22 9.00
Beirne 1 1 0 0 1 0 22 7.15

HBP-by Garland (Clayton).

Umpires-Home, Eddings; First, Carlson; Second, DeMuth; Third,
Higgins.

T-3:14. A-29,614 (44,321).

*** For the Chicago/Texas scoring summary, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569471087-7df





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