The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 25

www.tennessean.oom THE TENNESSEAN Saturday. July 8, 2000 5C SPORTS: BASEBALL day tibway droibleheader to Much anticipated a bus with their uniforms oa" Rusch and Yankees Game 2 starter Roger Clemens will have a much shorter day. Clemeas doesn't plan to come to the opener. Rusch said will watch die first few innings of the opener at home in Connecticut before driving to Shea The rest of the players can lixtk forward to a 16-hour day. "In years to come we can look back and say in the year 2000 we had a day in which we played two games in two separate parks," Mets lefthander Al Leiter said.

"But Saturday, for the most part, guys are going to view it as an inconvenience." Leiter's view Ls shared by many from Shea to Yankee for the first 3,000 fans who produce ticket stubs to both games. The players won't have to deal with the subway commute, taking a police escort from Shea to Yankee Stadium. The Yankees will leave immediately after the first game, which should end around 430 p.m. The Mets will shower, go upstairs to eat dinner while the clubhouse staff cleans up, before heading to the Broax in uniform at about 6:45 pm "It's like American Legion agaia" said Mets second-game starter Glen-don Rusch. "It's not too often that you see a big league team getting off Yankee Stadium and do it again.

never been done before. It will be exciting to be part of history." It has happened before, albeit 97 years ago. On Sept 7, 1903 one year before the first subway opened New York the Brooklyn Super-bas (who became the Dodgers) played the New York Giants in a scheduled split doubleheadcr. There wasn't much hoopla that day. Only 9300 fans turned out to watch the Giants win the opener 6-4 Washington Park at 10:30 am People who wanted to see the second game could have taken the Fourth Avenue trolley to Sands Street in downtown Brooklyn, switched to an elevated train across the Brooklyn Bridge, and taken the 35-minute ride on the elevated Third Avenue line to the Polo Grounds at 155th Street They then would have seen Brooklyn win the second game 3-0 in front of 23,623 fans.

It's safe to say that there was no need for the city to add transportation for that doubleheader. But today, transit officials will add seven subway trains to the No. 7, No. 4 and lines that connect the stadiums to accommodate the 110,000 fans expected to watch the games. The New York Mercantile Exchange will be giving away Metro-cards for a free one-way subway ride Milwaukee Brewers catcher Henry home in the first inning yesterday.

nn mm. mm 1 V'CV i Associated Press NEW YORK The last time there was a Subway Series split dou-bleheader like this in New York, there were no subways. For the first time since 1903, two New York teams will play two games in two stadiums in one day. The unique, day-night double-header today a 1220 p.m. game at Shea Stadium followed by an 7:10 pm contest at Yankee Stadium is the result of a rainout last month.

'It's going to be special," Yankees manager Joe Torre said yesterday before the opener of the four-game series. "Having Doc Gooden pitch the first game, saddle up and go back Glavine Associated Press BOSTON Tom Glavine took another step in his turnaround and Andres Galarraga homered in a five-run second inning as the Atlanta Braves beat the Boston Red Sox 5-3 last night. Glavine (9-5) allowed six singles, three by lose Offerman, in 7 2-3 innings as he won his second straight start after going 0-4 in his previous sevea Pete Schourek (2-8) didn't get out of the second inning as the Braves kept hitting against left-handers and Schourek in particular. They began the game with a major league best 325 batting average against lefties and went 7-for-U against Schourek, who is 2-9 with an 8.25 ERA agaiast Atlanta Leading 5-0, the Braves survived a plague of wildness in the eighth. Nomar Garciaparra drove in one run with a fielder's choice ground-out after Offerman and Jeff Frye singled.

Glavine then loaded the bases by walking Morgan Burkhart and hitting Bernard Gilkey with a pitch. John Rocker came in and walked Ed Sprague to force in a run. Kerry waves to It's in at a Blanco drops the ball as he tries to tag out Detroit's Rich Becker at Becker scored from third on a sacrifice fly by Bobby Higginson. i i on omas oacic other players, who dislike normal doubleheaders, hate day-night ones, and aren't intrigued by the special nature of this twinbilL "I'm not thinking much about history," Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams said. "I'm thinking about how difficult it will be for us.

I'm excited for it to be over so we can go home and relax. We will be tired." Not all of today's players are negative on the historical concept "No one's ever been through that so you can't pool on your experience for it," Mets catcher Mike Piazza said. "It'll be exciting and a special thing for the city. It's a lot of fun for us as players." ran Rangers defeat Padres Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas David Segui's two-out RBI single in the 10th inning lifted the Texas Rangers to a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres last night. The Rangers loaded the bases with none out in the 10th Pinch-hitter Frank Catalanotto led off with a double off Matt Whiteside (2-3).

After Luis Alicea walked, San Diego shortstop Kevin Nicholson dropped a throw from second baseman Bret Boone for an error on an attempted forceout at second on Rusty Greer's grounder. The Padres got two outs when Nicholson threw to the plate to force out Catalanotto on Scarborough Green's grounder, and Ivan Rodriguez popped to second. But Segui's single to right drove in Alicea for the Rangers' first extra-inning win in five tries this seasoa Doug Davis (3-1) pitched a perfect 10th for the victory. Angels 12, Rockies 4 ANAHEIM, Calif Troy Glaus homered twice and rookie Bengie Molina hit his first major league grand slam as Anaheim handed Colorado its fifth consecutive loss. Given the previous night off by manager Mike Scioscia and mired in a l-for-29 slump, Glaus led off the second inning with a home run off Kevin Jarvis.

The Angels third baseman added his 25th homer, a three-run shot, in the sixth off reliever Scott Karl. Glaus, just named to his first All-Star Game, tied Leon Wagner for most homers ever by an Angels player heading into the break. Wagner had 25 at the before the 1962 AU-Star game, but just 12 the rest of the seasoa Giants 4, Cardinals 2 ST. LOUIS Rich Aurilia's RBI single snapped an eighth-inning tie as San Francisco beat St Louis for its seventh straight victory. J.T.

Snow homered and Ellis Burks had three hits for the Giants, who have won 17 of 24 overall. The NL Central-leading Cardinals were without Mark McGwire, who has tendinitis in his right knee. Burks doubled with one out in the eighth off Matt Morris (0-2) and Minp Trpsno wns hit hv a nitch be fore Aurilia's hit. He's 10-for-23 in July with two homers and seven RBI. Alan Embree (1-2) entered with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh and got Fernando Vina to ground into a double play on his first pitch.

Robb Nen worked the ninth for his 16th save in 21 chances. lite Sox beat Ouh aswl Yankees beat Mete A AP Pirates 8, Twins PITTSBURGH Pat Meares hit a go-ahead home run against his former team and Pittsburgh rallied from four runs down to beat Minnesota, the Twins' sixth consecutive loss. In an interleague matchup with far less fan appeal and far fewer fans than Yankees-Mets or White Sox-Cubs Pirates right fielder John Vander Wal had a tying two-run double in the sixth, a solo homer in the eighth and threw out a runner at the plate. Meares broke a 6-all tie by leading off the seventh with a homer off Bob Wells (0-6). It was Meares' seventh homer.

Reds 2, Indians 1 CINCINNATI Denny Neagle pitched eight shutout innings and Chris Stynes homered off All-Star Chuck Finley, leading Cincinnati to a victory over Cleveland. The loss dropped Cleveland a season-high U'A games behind the Chicago White Sox. Neagle (8-2) won his third consecutive start. Ken Griffey who has the most homers (23) and RBI (59) in interleague play, went 0-for-4 as he stayed in his rut. Griffey is 3-for-32 in his last 10 games.

Astros 9, Royals 5 HOUSTON Scott Elarton won his fourth straight decision and Houston stopped its six-game home losing streak by defeating Kansas City. Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Mitch Meluskey homered as Houston ended its longest home losing skid since a seven-game slide in 1995. a first leads own 3 Ligtenbcrg replaced Rocker and walked Brian Daubach to make it 5-3. With the bases still loaded, Jason Varitek ended the threat with a fly to center. Ligtenberg got four outs for his seventh save in eight chances.

The Red Sox returned home on a roll, outscoring Minnesota 44-27 in four-game sweep. But the Twins have the second-worst record in the AL, while the Braves lead the NL East despite losing three of four games to Montreal this week. One big inning was all Atlanta needed with the way Glavine was pitching. That came in the second. Galarraga led off with his 20th homer before Javy Lopez singled and took third on Bobby Bonilla's double.

Lopez scored on Reggie Sanders' groundout. After Walt Weiss struck out, Quil-vio Veras was hit by a pitch. He and Bonilla moved up on the first of Schourek's two wild pitches. An-druw Jones then singled in two runs, and Ghipper Jones made it 5-0 with a double to center. That put even added importance on the already over-hyped series and Hernandez pitched just like it was the playoffs.

El Duque, who is 5-0 with a 1.02 ERA in the postseason, was just as stingy on a warm July night against the Mets. He allowed one run and five hits in eight innings. Orioles 2, PhSSes 1 PHILADELPHIA Baltimore's Mike Mussina struck out 10 over eight innings and outpitched Curt Schilling. Mussina (6-7) allowed one rua seven hits and walked three for his first win since June 16. Schilling (4-5) pitched his second complete game, allowing two runs and seven hits.

He struck out eight and walked one. Devi Rays 8, Marirts 3 MIAMI Fred McGriff hit two solo home runs against Ryan Dempster, and Bubba Trammell drove in three ruas as Tampa Bay improved to 6-4 in interleague play. Dempster (9-5) struck out II in just over six innings. Expos 10, Blue Jays 5 MONTREAL Jose Vidro hit his second straight RBI double with two outs in the seventh inning for Montreal, which has won three straight and four of five. Toronto is 11-6 against the Expos in interleague pkiy.

streak ends 3 Four innings later. Ah Yat gave up a one-out, two-run home run to Lou Lucca on a 3-0 count "That pitch was right down the middle of the plate, instead of me running it outside," Ah Yat said. "I clearly see the mistake I made. I guess that's a hitter's dream a 3-0 fastball. We were pretty much in the game until thea You can't make those mistakes in that situatioa" Tonight game: RHP Rob Matt-son (3-6, 5.48 ERA) goes for his second straight win as the Sounds continue their three-game series at Memphis.

For the Redbirds, it'll be RHP Fred Rath (4-3, 4.41). Game time is 6:05 pm Second chance: Chad Hermaasen was called back up to Hrtsburgh following the Sounds' win Thursday at Oklahoma I lermaasen, who hit just J81 (17-92) before his May 20 demotion to Nashville, batted 243 with six home runs and 23 RBI in 38 games with the Sounds. Taking Hermaasen's place on the Sounds' active roster is infieldcr Abraham Nunez, who began the year with Nashville and had 19 multi-hit Simes. Associated Press CHICAGO No DHs allowed, so Frank Thomas had no choice. He dusted off his glove and headed to territory that for the last month has been unfamiliar.

He was back at first base. "The ball jumped off the bat a couple of times over there and I was like, "Whoa'" Thomas said. "I went out with the attitude that I can help the team and not hurt it That's what I wanted to do. Not being in the field for a month is tough." Thomas didn't hurt the White Sox in the opener of their second interleague series with the crosstown Cubs. Far from it.

First, he hit a go-ahead single in the top of the 12th to start a two-run inning. Then he snared Sammy Sosa's liner in the bottom of the inning and stepped on first to double off Mark Grace as the White Sox beat the Cubs 4-2 yesterday. Third baseman Herbert Perry, who saved the game in the bottom of the 11th by throwing out Ricky Gutierrez from his knees, added an RBI double in the 12th as the White Sox won for the 24th time in 31 games. Once agaia they showed why they have the best record in the majors. They've done it with solid pitching, plenty of hitting and, on occasions like Friday, with defense.

"It was three bases easy," Sosa said of his liner. "He was right there. He got me." Thomas said when he saw the ball leave Sosa's bat, he nearly moved too sooa "Lucky I didn't jump more off the bat or it would have been a double American Conference Central Division I Pet. GB Albuquerque (Dodgers) Col.Springs (Rockies) Omaha (Royals) Iowa (Cubsl 48 539 .512 2Vi 6'i 40 36 .465 .404 12 Eastern uivwon Memphis (Cardinals) 54 34 New Orleans (Astros) 43 44 Oklahoma (Rangers) 43 44 Nashville (Pirates) 42 45 Pacific Conference Southern Division .614 .494 lO'i .494 10 .483 U'A Pet. GB .562 Sacramento (Athletics) Las Vegas (Padres) Tucson (Diamondbacks) 50 47 43 .553 .494 l-resno (Oianrsj 32 56 .364 17ft Northern Division Sort Lake (Twins) 33 42 42 56 .625 .523 9 .506 lO't .371 22 Tocoma (Marinersl Edmonton (Angels) lalgary maninsj Thursday's Games Colorado Springs 13, Calgary 8 Salt Lake 6, Edmonton 5 (12) Las Vegas 16, Fresno 14 Memphis 7, Omaha 6 (11) Nashville 9.

Oklahoma 1 Albuquerque 9, New Orleans 7 Sacramento 4, Tacoma 3 Tucson 4, Iowa 2 (101 Yesterday's Games Albuquerque at Omaha Calgary at Las Vegas Colorado Springs at Iowa Edmonton at Tucson Fresno at Tacoma Nashville at Memphis New Orleans at Oklahoma Soft Lake at Sacramento Today's Games Albuquerque at Omaha Calgary at Las Vegos Colorado Springs at Iowa Edmonton at Tucson Fresno at Tacoma Noshville at Memphis New Orleans at Oklahoma Salt Lake at Sacramento Tomorrow's Games Albuquerque at Omoha Calgary at Los Vegas Colorado Springs at Iowa Edmonton at Tucson Fresno at Tocoma Nashville at Memphis New Orlesrs at Oklahoma Snh lake "Sacramento rrnn down the line," Thomas said. "I just held my ground and the ball found me. Chicago's two baseball teams have been headed in opposite directions all seasoa but for most of a magnificent 75-degree day at Wrigley Field, it wasn't apparent that the White Sox have 55 wins and the Cubs 51 losses. Before the game, a Cubs fan waved a sign and heckled Thomas with chants of "Big Skirt, Big Skirt," a derisive takeoff on his nickname "The Big Hurt." Thomas looked at the man and casually said: "Check out the scoreboard," a reference to the White Sox's record. "It was crazy out there," said Thomas who was 0-for-5 before his RBI hit in the 12th "The Cubbie fans rode me the whole game.

It was a terrible game for me up until the last inning." Brewers 4, Tigers 3 MILWAUKEE Jeromy Bur-nitz homered and drove in three runs as the Brewers beat the Tigers in Detroit manager Phil Garner's return to Milwaukee. Burnitz preserved the victory by making a diving catch on Brad Ausmus' liner to right field for the final out with a runner on first base. Burnitz, a 1999 NL All-Star starter who is hitting .217 this year, had a solo homer in the first inning and a two-run double in a three-run fifth. Marquis Grissom, inserted at the cleanup spot for the game, then singled to drive in Burnitz with the go-ahead run. Redbirds 3, Sounds 0 NASHVILLE ab bi Brownd 3020 Nunezss 4000 Montgomery rf 3000 Wilsonc 4000 Wehner2b 4000 Hernandez lb 3020 Wood 3b 3010 Brederf 3000 Ah Yat 2010 Patterson ph 1000 Andujarp 0000 Totals 30 0 6 0 MEMPHIS little cf Clapp 2b Richard Young II Sutton lb lucca 3b Garcia ss Wilkins Weibl ab bi 4000 4010 4000 2000 4110 3112 4120 2000 301 1 Totals 30 3 6 3 Nashville 000 000 000 0 Memphis 010 002 00k 3 DP Memphis 1.

LOB Nashville 5, Memphis 7. 3B Clapp. HR lucca (o). iB roung. ip bb Nashville 7 6 3 3 3 3 Andujar 1 0 0 0 1 1 Memphis Weibl 4-2 9 6 0 0 14 HBP Montgomery (by Weibl).

2:04. late box Sounds 9, Red Hawks 1 NASHVILLE OKLAHOMA ab bi ab bi 5121 4201 Brown rf Brumbaugh3b 3000 Wehner 2b Hermansencf laker dh Montgomery If Wilsonc Wood 3bss Hernandez 1 Zoskvss Shave lb Valdesrf Sierra If Knorrc Livingston dh Zywtcacf Demetral 2b Boulista ss 4000 3010 4120 3010 4000 301 1 2010 3000 5010 3112 5112 4000 4000 522 1 21 20 Patterson ph3b 3120 Totals 40 911 7 Totals 29 1 6 1 Nashville Oklahoma Nashville Arroyo W.B-2 Baptist Oklahoma Lea. 2-8 Lopez Freeman 2:40. A 4,965.. 210 420 000 9 010 000 000 1 ip bb sa 7 5 112 2 2 1 0 0 2 1 3 6 7 3 4 4 3b 3 2 0 0 3 2 2 0 0 3 1 Associated Press NEW YORK For at least one night, the Yankees re-established themselves as the best team in New York.

With the Yankees' superiority in question for the first time in years, Paul O'Neill made a home-run saving grab to back Orlando Hernandez and preserve a 2-1 win over the Mets last night. After Melvin Mora tripled with one out in the eighth inning, Derek Bell hit a towering drive to right field. O'Neill went back to the wall and timed his jump perfectly, reaching about two feet over the eight-foot wall to bring back a sure, game-tying home run. Hernandez (8-6) pumped his fist on the mound and Bell rolled his eyes in disbelief when O'Neill took the ball out of his glove to show the umpire. It was by far the most dramatic moment in a tight Subway Series opener dominated by Hernandez and Al Leiter (10-2) and witnessed by 54,132 fans the largest crowd at Shea in 28 years.

With the Yankees pitching staff in disarray because of recent injuries to Flernandez, Roger Clemens and Ramiro Mendoza and the ineffectiveness of David Cone, the World Series champions had fallen into second place in both the AL East and the city standings. Sounds win By MAURICE PATT0N Sports Writer MEMPHIS Clint Weibl, the Pacific Coast League's most recent Pitcher of the Week, stopped the Nashville Sounds' five-game winning streak last night Throwing his first complete game of the season, a six-hitter, Weibl pushed the Memphis Red-birds to a 3-0 victory. "Their pitcher did a good job," said Nashville first baseman Alex Hernandez, who had two of the six hits. "We didn't get the hits with runners on base. We just didn't get the luck." For the Sounds (42-46), the loss was just their second in the last 10 games.

Paul Ah Yat (2-3) allowed just three runs in seven innings. Nashville, which only got two runners to third, couldn't overcome two mental miscues. With one out and runners at first and third in the second, Rick Wilkins bounced to Hernandez, who threw to home for the second out rather than trying for the inning-ending double play. Weibl followed with a flare into short right field to score Luis Garcia rom second. Li LU LL -jy HJ1 jW-i cap 'T Throttle Racer r- 0.