The Palm Beach Post from West Palm Beach, Florida • Page 33

SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1992 The Palm Beach Post SECTION port Braggs' homer beats Braves again 7-4 Major talent show: All-Stars come out tonight at stadium Two-minute drill The Florida State League All-Star Game Is at West Palm Beach Municipal Stadium tonight. Don't even think about yawning. Riverfront Showdown After losing the first game of a three-game series, the Atlanta Braves trail the Cincinnati Reds by two games In the Nl West. NL WEST FRONT-RUNNERS Pet. GB Team Braggs said.

"Every time I go against him I do well." "Three bloopers and a blast, and that meant four runs," Reds' manager Lou Piniella said. It also meant the game. "It all came down to that," said Avery (6-6). "If I get out of it, it changes the whole game. We might go on and win.

But down 4-0 is too much for your hitters to overcome." Tom Browning (6-5) improved his career record against the Braves to 14-5, his best mark against any club. The lefthander scattered four hits in seven innings "There were about six balls right against the wall," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "It was one of those nights. Browning had us hitting fly balls." The Associated Press CINCINNATI Glenn Braggs opened a weekend showdown for first place in the NL West with a first-inning grand slam, sending the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-4 victory over, the Atlanta Braves Friday night. The Braves lost for just the fourth time in 25 games, slipping two games behind the division-leading Reds.

Cincinnati has been atop the NL West every day in June. i "That was a dynamic hit," Braggs said. "I think I've come close 10 or 12 times. It was a good situation to get the first one." Braggs has two homers this season. He hit a two-run homer last week in Atlanta that gave the Reds their only win of the series.

TV: WPEC-12, WCIX-6, 1 p.m. Box score 4C Cardinals beat Mets 4-3 4C "They're breathing right down our necks," Braggs said. "They're close to us right now. We've got to go out and play good baseball every day." The Braves took 3-of-4 from the Reds in Atlanta last weekend and chopped the Reds' lead from 4V4 games to just one in the last week. But Braggs halted the charge with his first career grand slam off Steve Avery (6-6).

Braggs was 10-for-22 (.455) with two homers against Avery when he came to bat in the first following three infield singles. "Some guys are your nemesis," 42 28 .600 Cincinnati 41 31 .569 2- Atlanta RESULTSSCHEDULE rne Desi 01 me Desi ai the Class A level are the players with a genuine chance to advance to the major leagues. Bob Tewksbury, 8-2 for the St. Louis Cardinals, started the 1982 FSL All-Star game, the only other one played in West Palm Beach. Others to participate since the series was resumed in 1981 after 15 years of disinterest are Jose Rijo, Ramon Martinez, Kevin Maas and Ken Friday: Cincinnati 7, Atlanta 4 (WP: Browning 6-5; LP: Avery 6-6).

Today: Atlanta (Leibrandt 6-2) vs. Cincinnati (Rijo 3-6). 1 :05 p.m. Sunday: Atlanta (Glavine 1 1-3) vs. Cincinnati (Belcher 7-6).

2:15 p.m. Dave George rans out of steam i mhbhbm Caminiti. The host West Palm Beach Expos have planned for everything, including your enthusiasm. That's why the outfield bleachers weren't dismantled after spring training this year. Other than a downpour, the only development that could be more disappointing to them would be a crowd of less than 4,132, an FSL All-Star game attendance record set in 1939 at Sanford.

A postgame fireworks show without spectators is like Michael Jordan dunking in the dark. The best in the West: Summer is the time for blockbuster sequels. This weekend it's "The Batmen Return," playing at Riverfront Stadium for three exclusive dates, beginning with Friday night's 7-4 Reds victory. Take these stats to the TV room with the popcorn and the antacid tablets. The Braves have won 21 of their last 25 games, including 3-of-4 over Cincinnati a week ago, and i I M4 J.

cJ i i tiT Jm 1 1 still never made it to first place. This has been like chasing a mountain goat up the Matterhorn. No matter how high you climb, you're still eating dust. There is a mental edge here that Lou Plniella surely will exploit. The Atlanta pitching staff got only halfway to the record with its streak of 28 consecutive scoreless innings.

The all-time mark is 56 innings without a run by the Pittsburgh Pirates of 1903, who had six straight shutouts that year. For that matter, the Braves didn't match their own streak of 36 innings in April. Just four years ago, when Rick Mahler's nine victories led the staff, a scoreless streak of 28 minutes was noteworthy for the Braves. Nothing has changed as much in Atlanta as the pitching. Of the Braves' 41 wins, 11 have been shutouts.

There is a mental edge here that Bobby Cox surely will exploit. The Reds got the blood pumping for the big series with a nasty bench-clearing brawl against the Houston Astros. Piniella didn't like the way it went, pointing out a clear violation of baseball protocol when Rob Dibble, 6-feet-4 and 230 pounds, was wrestled down by Houston coach Ed Ott. "I thought it was a little unfair," Piniella said. "Coaches are supposed to be out there breaking it up." Section IV, paragraph 17 of the Marquis of IT I THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Danny Everett's second fastest 400 meters in history defeats Steve Lewis (351) Friday.

World record-holder Butch Reynolds (576) finished fifth. World record-holder finishes fifth as Everett wins i 1 -s, 'V iM txlU I 3 I i I re, '3 5 i there," he said. "They take the top six, and I'm fifth, so I expect to be there." The IAAF meets again July 30, and probably will decide whether to extend Reynolds' suspension for four years, as the organization has threatened to do. The IAAF reiterated Friday its intention to forbid Reynolds' running in the Olympics. This time, the IOC joined in, saying he was wasting his time.

"The situation hasn't changed," a spokesman for the IAAF said. "The IAAF will not change its position, no matter what happens in the trials. We are in a position where we don't care if Reynolds wins or doesn't win. The case is closed." The IAAF spokesman, who asked that his name not be used, said the IOC supports the IAAF's position. "We have confirmation in writing from the IOC that no athlete who is disqualified will be allowed to run in Barcelona," he aid.

Reynolds' lawyer, John Goff, said the fight isn't over. "We feel the U.S. courts clearly have jurisdiction," Goff said. "We feel they have the ability to protect Butch. We're going to go back to the United States court system, and we may visit the courts of England to see what they think of this." The Associated Press NEW ORLEANS World record-holder Butch Reynolds failed to back up his court victories with success on the track Friday at the U.S.

Olympic Trials, finishing fifth in the men's 400 meters. He qualified only as an alternate for the U.S. team. Danny Everett, bronze medal-winner in the 1988 Olympics, ran the second-fastest 400 in history at 43.81 seconds second only to Reynolds' 43.29 in 1988 followed by Steve Lewis, Quincy Watts, Andrew Valmon and Reynolds. "This is the culmination of many years of learning," Everett said.

"I'm a person who for the past few years was always coming in around third and making mistakes. Now, I've matured and put everything together." Reynolds is suspended by the International Amateur Athletic Federation, accused of using steroids. He ran in the trials under an order from the U.S. Supreme Court, and the IAAF waived its contamination rule Tuesday to let the other runners compete against him. Reynolds said his two-year fight to get to run again took a lot out of him.

"There was too much pressure. I didn't have it from the gun," said Reynolds, who ran a 44.63 his fourth race under 45 seconds in the trials. 'There was too much pressure. I didn't have it from the BUTCH REYNOLDS "Right now, I guess I'm going to Barcelona," he said. "If I'm not chosen to run on the relay team, I just won't run.

I'm tired. I'm real tired." The U.S. Olympic Committee meets Sunday in Indianapolis. "My expectation is that we will probably forward his name to the International Olympic Committee," USOC Executive Director Harvey Schiller said. Normally, the top six finishers in the 400 go to the Olympics, and the two alternates may be used in early rounds of the relay if the coach chooses to do so.

Mel Rosen, Olympic coach, did not respond directly to the question of whether Reynolds would run if he is permitted to do so. "He's an Olympic team member, unless the USOC says he isn't," Rosen said. Reynolds said he would gladly run on the relay team. "You're talking about a gold medal THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Beansbury rules says he right. Bonus babies: Every professional draft has its own language.

Comments of coaches and general managers at Wednesday's NBA version were downright childish. "He can put the ball on the floor," many said of their first-round selections, as if this were cause for celebration. Toddlers do this daily, for free. Others bragged, "He can beat you off the dribble." Never met an infant who couldn't do the same when supplied with a bottle of apple juice. Perhaps the message is that most of us are never closer to being a pro athlete than the day we are born.

Every day thereafter moves the average guy just a little bit further away. I got them first-class blues: John Daly, king of the long drive and the short fuse, has two weeks to explain to PGA Tour officials in writing why he withdrew from the Buick Classic at the last minute. A flap with a flight attendant over the availability of first-class seating for Daly and his caddy caused the golfer to step angrily off a flight in Denver before it left for New York. Sounds pretty lame. In two weeks, however, the story could grow as Daly's legend did during the course of the 1991 PGA Championship.

Let's see, I gave up my seat on the plane for an elderly couple on the way to their 50th high school reunion. Yeah, that's it. No, it was 9 hijacking. I knocked a gun away from a guy with a mask and a smelly cigar and held him in the terminal until police could arrive. Right, right, that's what happened.

Table hangs prettier on Daly than fact, anyway. If there's any down-home Arkansas still in him, untouched by the endorsement dollars and the cute television commercials, it's time to mine it. The petulant celebrity gig is provided in surplus by sports personalities not as fresh and full of potential. T. Take a number: The Detroit Tigers have joined the San Francisco Giants as the latest major league teams to flirt with St.

Petersburg's Suncoast Dome. The Tigers want a new stadium in Michigan and are using talks with St. Pete officials as leverage. Why not call saying you're the owner of the St. Louis Browns or Seattle Pilots and see if that doesn't get you an appointment, too? Lendl hangs on in 5 sets; No.

7 Fernandez upset -SUM Dan O'Brien finishes the 100! meters in 10.5 seconds on the way to setting a world records for first-day decathlon competit tion in New Orleans and takings the early lead in his anticipated I showdown with Dave 5 TRIALS ROUNDUP, 7C UM coping! with second! family loss! By PATRICK McMANAMON Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Lamar Thomas expected to seffj Jerome Brown this weekend in MiJ ami. "A lot of guys were supposed tA meet up with him," said Thomas, wide receiver on the defending na- tional champion Miami Hurricanes football team. "He was Just coming down to visit." i Brown, a former UM All-Amer-; ica, was killed in his hometown of Brooksville, when the Cor vette he was driving skidded and hit a palm tree and a light pole before flipping and landing on its roof. Killed with Brown, 27, was bis 12-year-old nephew Augusta Wesley Brown. Brown's death was the second in two months of a former UM star.

Shane Curry was shot and killed Pleaie see BR0WN-7C Wimbledon At A Glance Friday's featured results: Men (2) Edberg def. Grant; (3) Stich def. Larsson; Women 1 Seles def. Gildemeister; (4) Nav-ratilova def. Rittner; Frazier def.

(7) Fernandez. Today's featured matches: Men 1 Courier vs. Olhovskiy; McEnroe vs. (16) Wheatoa Women Hiraki vs. (3) Sabatini; De Swarttt vs.

(2) Graf; (6) Capriati vs. Hy. TV: Noon, WPTV-5. WTVJ-4. k- Results, schedule 6C Ml V- iV SCOREUNE: (407) 820-4567 (Code 4000) I Palm Beach Post Wire Services WIMBLEDON, England Ivan Lendl's annual quest for Wimbledon riches almost hit the rocks again Friday against an Australian opponent bearing one of tennis' most famous surnames.

The lOth-seeded Lendl needed five sets to shake off the determined challenge of 21-year-old Sandon Stolle 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, and keep alive his bid to claim the only Grand Slam title to elude him. Solle is the son of three-time finalist Fred Stolle. Lendl, who is still suspicious enough of grass to repeatedly scour it between points with his sneaker soles, advanced in his 13th visit to Wimbledon. Three other seeded men failed to advance, and on the women's side, seventh seed Mary Joe Fernandez of Miami found herself immobilized by the combination of a strained hip muscle and a hard-passing opponent Fernandez, a base liner who's tried to adapt ber game to grass, was upset 6-3, 6-3 by Michigan's S-, 5 AMERICAN LEAGUE 5C NATIONAL LEAOU6 4C Toronto 6 Cleveland 1 Chicago 3 Philadelphia 0 Boston 8 Milwaukee 4 Cincinnati 7 Atlanta 4 Baltimore 6 Kansas City 5 Montreal 6 2 Chicago 2 New York 1 St. Louis 4 New York 3 Detroit 4 Texas 2 San Diego 6 San Fran.

2 Minn. 4 Oakland 3 Houston at L.A. late Calif, at Seattle late RECORD ROUND Gibby Gilbert shot a tournament-record 62 to take the opening-round lead in the Southwestern Bell Classic. Gilbert, a non-winner on the senior tour, has a four-stroke lead in Kansas City, Mo. GOLF, 7C Amy Frazier.

Injured when she attempted to chase down a shot midway through the first set. Fernandez said she "got tentative" thereafter, and her anxiety about ending points early hurt ber ability to deal with Fra-zier's potent groundstrokes in a Please see WIMBLEDON7C THE SSOCI7TD Germany's Michael Stich drops to the ground after his third-round win Friday Wimbledon..