Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 15

Saturday, June 10, 1989 3B Reno Gazette-Journal Hearns vows to gain vindication against Leonard mil I I- -1 By Tim DahlbergAP LAS VEGAS For Sugar Ray Leonard, Monday's rematch against Thomas Hearns is about pride, self-satisfaction and $13 million. For Hearns, it's a whole lot more. It's a career. "I've lived with Ray Leonard beating me for almost eight years," Hearns says. "I donl want to live with it any more.

The pain has got to stop." Hearns finally gets the chance to vindicate his defeat at Leonard's hands when the two fighters put their aging bodies in the ring Monday night in a cho-jfed 12 round fight for Leonard's World ii-pcuml UiL. Neither Leonard nor Hearns are the same fighters who met in one of the decade's first megafights nearly eight years ago. when both seemingly had unlimited futures ahead of them. But both can still be dangerous and both have more than sufficient motivation, especially Hearns, who must win the fight if he is ever to rid himself of the shadow cast over his career by Leonard's first win. "I fear Tommy because Tommy believes he can win this fight," Leonard said.

"There's going to be tremendous anxiety on both sides." The fight is a rematch of their classic Sept. 16, 1981, meeting for the undisputed welterweight title, when two boxers in their prime put on brilliant performances they haven't been able to top since. Leonard rallied to stop Hearns in the 14th round to win that fight, handing the "Hit Man" his first defeat and dealing him a psychological blow that many believe he has never fully recovered from. Kinchen said. "I don't feel Tommy is washed up at all." Neither does Hearns.

"I think my skills are greater than they were seven or eight years ago," said the 30-year-old Detroit fighter. "It's just been a long time since I've been motivated for a fight." Leonard's performance might be a bit tougher to predict, though he has never taken the beatings that fighters have inflicted on Hearns. At the age of 33, he is a different fighter than he was at 25. Leonard has fought only four times for a total of 33 rounds since beating Hearns, and only twice spin decision win over vin Hagler. In his last fight against Donny Lalonde, he was knocked to the canvas in the fourth round before rallying to stop Lalonde in the ninth.

"I may be a step slower, but I know more where I am now in the ring," said Leonard, who is 35-1 with 25 knockouts. "I think if anything I'm able to stop an opponent faster now. I take my time more, set it up better." For Hearns, the fight is bigger than the 1981 bout because after years of pleading for a rematch with Leonard, this will be his only chance. "This is the one you're going to be talking about for years," Hearns vowed earlier this week. "I'm not going to be the one backing up.

I'm coming forward and giving it all I've got." Should the experts be right and Hearns loses, he almost certainly will call it quits after a 12-year career that saw him win 46 of 49 fights with 38 knockouts. age of the profits and Hearns will make at least $11 million. Leonard, as he did in the first fight, dictated the terms of the rematch, including a reported contract clause that carries big financial penalties if either fighter weighs in at any more than 164 pounds. He has also sought the psychological edge, predicting Hearns will force his own defeat by trying to dance and move through the fight, a tactic that worked well for Hearns when he used it in the first fight. "I think he'll try to box me for 12 rounds, but 1 don't think he can," Leonard said.

"I tried it lliislc: aiu ivS -tk. long. There will come a time when Thomas Hearns' legs say, 'I don't know about you, but I'm And when those legs give out, the fight is over." Leonard has visibly bulked up for the fight so much so that Hearns suggested on Thursday that he was using steroids and predicts he will play the role of the relentless slugger from the first bell on. "I'm going right at Tommy with no feeling out process," Leonard says. "I know him well enough that I don't have to feel him out." Many boxing observers believe Hearns' legs are shot and his chin is suspect.

Hearns was knocked out by Iran Barkley in the third round of their fight last June and was put to the canvas before rallying to win his last fight against James Kinchen. Kinchen sparred with Hearns this week, giving Hearns a total of seven tough rounds to help him prepare for Leonard. "A lot of people feel Tommy doesn't have a chance with Leonard but I think that is wrong," Associated Hiess HANDY WORK: Thomas Hearns gets in some work on the speed bag. "Tommy has not gotten over the big one because he's never won the big one," Leonard said. "All the accolades and everything he's had over the years, he's still haunted by that." The 33-year-old Leonard, a 7-5 favorite in the first fight, is a 3-1 favorite this time around to win a fight that might be boxing's richest ever.

A sellout crowd of 15,366 will pay a gate of some $8 million and the sale of the pay-per-view and closed-circuit broadcast could bring total fight revenues from between $70 million and $80 million. Leonard is guaranteed $13 million plus a percent Jones drives in 7 runs as Giants rout Padres National League iW P. V- a- v-" i i Wire service reports Tracy Jones drove in a career-high seven runs with four singles and Kevin Mitchell hit his 23rd homer Friday night as the San Francisco Giants routed the San Diego Padres, 12-2, at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Jones, who began the game batting .127 with three RBI in 71 at-bats, went 4 for 5. He hit three two-run singles with the bases loaded, two of them after intentional walks to Mitchell.

Mitchell, who leads the major leagues in home runs and with 62 RBI, hit a solo homer and drew three walks. The Giants had 17 hits, including Ken Oberkfell's three-run, pinch-homer. Don Robinson, 4-4, gave up one run on seven hits in eight innings. Bruce Hurst, 5-5, was tagged for six runs on 10 hits in five innings. Mitchell hit his eighth home run in nine games this month for a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

The Giants scored three times in the third. Jose Uribe blooped a single and went to third on Robinson's single. Donell Nixon flied out, but right fielder Marvell Wynne dropped the ball while taking it out of his glove and Uribe scored. Will Clark doubled with two outs and Mitchell was walked intentionally to load the bases. Jones hit a line-drive single to left for a 4-0 lead.

Robby Thompson and Clark singled in the fifth and Mitchell was again intentionally walked. Jones followed with a single to left, making it 6-0. The Giants scored five times against reliever Greg Booker in the sixth. Nixon reached base on a one-out infield single and went to third on Clark's two-out single to center. Mitchell drew another walk, and both Nixon and Clark scored when Jones' beat out a dribbler to second for a single.

Oberkfell followed by hitting an 0-and-l pitch over the right-field fence for his first home run. Tim Flannery hit an RBI double in the Padres' eighth and Chris James had a run-scoring grounder in the ninth. REDS 4, DODGERS 0 at Los Angeles Jose Rijo scattered five singles for his first major-league shutout as Cincinnati beat Los Angeles' Orel Hershiser. Lenny Harris hit his first major-league homer, a three-run shot, and Ken Griffey also homered off Hershisher, 7-5. He had allowed only two home runs in 93 2-3 innings this season.

Rijo, 6-2, struck out five, walked one and permitted only one runner to reach second base. Rijo pitched his sixth complete game in 86 big-league starts. CARDINALS 1, CUBS 0 at Chicago Jose DeLeon allowed three hits in eight innings and Pedro Guerrero's first-inning double drove in the game's only run as St. Louis finally cooled off hicago's bats. In winning five of their previous seven games, the Cubs had scored 54 runs and homered 13 times, including six at St.

Louis last Sunday. The Cardinals have won three straight. DeLeon, 8-3, allowed singles by Dwight Smith in the fourth and sixth innings, and Vance Law's single in the seventh. The right-hander struck out 10, tying a season high, and walked two. After Damon Berryhill's one-out single in the ninth, Todd Worrell replaced Ken Dayley and retired the next two batters for his seventh save.

PIRATES 4, METS 3 at Pittsburgh Barry Bonds' hard slide broke up a potential inning-ending double play and allowed Andy Van Slyke to score the winning run in the 10th as Pittsburgh ended a seven-game losing streak. Darryl Strawberry hit a solo home run in the ninth that put the Mets ahead 3-2. But Pittsburgh tied it in the bottom half and then won it in the 10th with the help of Strawberry's two-base error in right field. EXPOS 5, PHILLIES 0 at Montreal Dennis Martinez pitched a three-hitter for his first complete game of the year and Andres Galarraga drove in three runs as Montreal blanked Philadelphia. Martinez, struck out six and walked two in his first complete game since last July 31.

It was his 15th career shutout. ASTROS 6, BRAVES 5 at Houston Houston rallied again, winning for the 14th time in 15 games when Billy Hatcher's single capped a four-run sixth inning. The Astros won their fourth straight game. Houston has come from behind in its last six California League Reno pounds out 15 hits in 10-5 triumph By Martin RosalezGazette-Journal The Reno Silver Sox pulled off a rarity Friday night. Namely, they hit the ball with authority against the best pitching team in the California League.

Reno, facing a San Jose team that had a league-best team ERA of 2.27, clubbed 15 hits to beat the Giants, 10-5, at Moana Municipal Stadium. Reno Shawn Barton led the attack by going 4 for 5 with two doubles, two runs scored and a pair of RBI. "It was just one of those nights, I guess," Barton said. "Everyone was seeing the ball real well and started "That's my best hitting game of the year. It's strange that I've played all this time and still haven't gotten three hits in a game this season." The Silver Sox marched 12 batters to the plate in the second inning and scored seven times to take command.

Reno bathers had five consecutive singles before Brian Hartsock, the eighth batter of the inning, doubled to the center-field wall to chase San Jose starter Montie Phillips (4- 4). Reno catcher Frank Domingue then hit the first pitch from Giants reliever Don Brock into left field for a single to bring Hartsock with the final run of the inning. Barton said Friday night's game is a sign of things to come for the Silver Sox. "We have a good team here and we're just trying to get ready for the second half of the season," Barton said. "In the first half we just didn't know each other very well, ana by the time we did, we were 10 games out (of first).

We're looking foward to a new start." Silver Sox starter Carlos Carrasco went 6 innings and allowed three runs to improve his record to 4-4. Carrasco, however, yielded nine walks and was pulled from the game after walking three batters and giving up an RBI single in the seventh. "I felt good and I was confident," Car- rasco said. "The walks really hurt, though. I walked just about everybody on their team.

"The reason I was throwing a lot of balls was because I was opening up too early on my delivery. Take away all those walks and I probably would have had a complete game." In addition to hitting the ball well, Reno also played excellent defense. The Silver Sox committed one error but turned three i double plays that killed San Jose rallies. The Silver Sox and Giants play the second game of the series tonight at 7 o'clock. Associated Press HARD' TAG: Astros catcher Craig Biggio applies a hard tag to the face of the Braves' Jeff Treadway, who was out trying to score on an infield grounder.

A's waste McGwire's grand slam, lose to Rangers American League six innings. Wells finished for his first save of the season, striking out four. Frank Tanana, 5-6, allowed eight hits in his first complete game this year. He walked five and struck out 10, his most since he had 10 against Toronto on Sept. 25, 1986.

Baltimore past Milwaukee. Baltimore, which snapped a season-high two-game losing streak, has won eight of 10 and 13 of 16. Tettleton has 1 1 home runs, 23 runs batted in and 24 runs scored in his last 23 games. He has 35 RBIs this season after having 37 all of last year. Mark Williamson, 4-2, who relieved starter Brian Holton with one out and two on in the fifth, pitched 3 scoreless innings.

ROYALS 6, ANGELS 1 at Kansas City, Mo. Bo Jackson hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Kurt Stillwell drove in three runs with a pair of singles as Kansas City defeated California. Charlie Leibrandt pitched a six-hitter for his third complete game this season and the 40th of his career. Leibrandt, 4-6, struck out three and walked none as he won for only the second time since April 28. Kirk McCaskill, 7-2, lost for the first time since April 23, allowing seven hits and six runs in 3 innings.

He entered the game leading the American League with a 1.69 earned-run average and left with 2.27 ERA. BLUE JAYS 2, TIGERS 0 at Toronto Dave Stieb and David Wells combined on a four-hitter and Toronto scored twice in the first inning to beat Detroit in the first completely indoor game in the SkyDome. Stieb, 5-3, allowed two hits and walked five in Staff and wire reports, The Oakland Athletics roughed up nemesis Charlie Hough and then watched the Texas Rangers give A's pitchers, including starter Dave Stewart, their worst mugging of the season Friday night at Arlington, Texas. Pete Incaviglia broke an 8-8 sixth inning tie with a two-run double down the left-field line that led the Rangers to an 11-8 victory over the Athletics before 35,799 fans at Arlington Stadium. Incaviglia's hit off Eric Plunk, the fourth of five A's pitcher, was the fifth time the lead changed hands in the three-hour, 34-minute game.

The Athletics wasted Mark McGwire's first-inning grand slam homer into the left-field seats against Hough, who has won his last eight decisions against Oakland since 1985 and was fortunate to escape a defeat after giving up six runs. The Rangers' racked the A's pitchers for the most hits, 16, and runs they have allowed this season. Before Friday's game, the Athletics had given up nine runs against the Milwaukee Brewers and 13 hits in two games. "They hit pitches that were good to hit and they also got some that were pretty good pitches," said Athletics manager Tony La Russa. The A's ran head-on into a juggernaut that is the middle of the Rangers' lineup.

The second through fifth batters in the order Scott Fletcher, Rafael Palmeiro, Julio Franco and Incaviglia accounted for 13 of the hits and drove in five runs. Franco knocked in four for the fourth time this season to raise his league-leading total to 54. "They have guys with so many RBI," McGwire said. "I see why. Those guys are hitting.

I don't think Cy Young would've gotten those guys out. That's what it looked like tonight." Even with a loss, the American League West-leading A's stayed a game ahead of the second place California Angels. The Kansas City Royals moved to 3 games back and the Rangers now trail by 4V2 games. ORIOLES 7, BREWERS 1 at Baltimore Mickey Tettleton homered twice and took over the American League lead with 16 in powering INDIANS 5, MARINERS 4 at Cleveland Joe Carter singled, doubled and tripled, and Cleveland took advantage of rookie Clint Zavaras' wildness to score five runs in the first two innings as the Indians edged Seattle. The crowd of 59,671, boosted by an oil company's promotion that gave away tickets with gasoline purchases, was the largest in the majors this year.

WHITE SOX 8, TWINS 3 at Minneapolis Carlos Martinez and Carlton Fisk had three hits each and Harold Baines homered as Chicago beat Minnesota. Martinez had two doubles, a single and two runs batted in. Fisk added three singles and drove in one run. Chicago had 13 hits off five Minnesota pitchers. Jerry Reuss, 5-2, allowed three runs on nine hits in five innings.

Shawn Hillegas pitched the final four innings for his second save. YANKEES VS. RED SOX rained out at New York The game between New York and Boston was postponed because of rain. It was rec-sheduled as part of a doubleheader on Sunday, beginning at 10:30 a.m. PDT.

Wichita State reaches Series finals against Texas NCAA golf page 1B Kevin Johnson led the way for Clemson with a 1-under-par 69 that gave him the lead with a 135 total. But Johnson had to survive two 'inquiries by NCAA and tournament offi-; cials regarding a problem with his score- card that could have resulted in his dis-! qualification for the round. Originally, Johnson said he never had a 'chance to sign his card. Tournament offi-; cials allowed the score to stand. Later, after other questions arose, Johnson told officials that he had been distracted at the scorer's tent by a media liaison who wanted to take him to an interview, and that he forgot to sign the card.

After lengthy discissions involving Johnson; his coach Larry Penley; the player who kept Johnson's score, David Sutherland of Fresno State; and tourna-; ment and NCAA officials, it was decided the score would stand. Citing rule 33-7 of the Rules of Golf, which allows for "extenuating circum-: stances," officials decided not to disqual- ify Johnson. "There were too many gray areas that prevented him from signing his card, and that's what kept them from doing him," Penley said. Johnson quickly left Oak Tree Country Club after the decision and had no com- ment. I tage of two errors to score four times in the top of the second.

Buddy Cribb opened with a single and headed to third wnen Chris Brock singled to right. Drei-fort's throw to third skipped past Mike Jones, allowing Cribb to score. After Brad Parker walked, Cedeno mishandled Marc Ronan's sacrifice bunt for an error to load the bases. Rocky Rau singled two runs home and Ronan scored on Pedro Grifol's grounder. Wichita State tied it in the fourth when Pat Meares and Jones singled and Wentworth homered to right.

It was only the second homer in 41 at-bats this year for Wentworth. In the sixth, Meares singled and stole By Tom VintAP OMAHA, Neb. Todd Dreifort drove in three runs, including the go-ahead run with a sixth-inning double, and Mike Wentworth hit a three-run home run as Wichita State earned a berth in the College World Series championship game with a 12-9 victory over Florida State Friday night. Wichita State, 67-17, advances to today's 10 a.m. (PDT) championship game against Texas, 54-17, which beat Louisiana State, 12-7, in the other semifinal on Thursday.

Texas, in its eighth final, is seeking its fifth championship and first since 1983. Wichita State lost to second and, after Tim Nedin came on to relieve, went to third on a passed ball. Dreifort then doubled in Meares with the go-ahead run and scored ahead of Jones' single. The Shockers scored five times in the seventh on Dreifort's two-run, bases-loaded single, a wild pitch and Audley's two-run single. But Florida State came right back in the top of the eighth with five of its own, three on Parker's 15th homer of the year.

Allen Bevis tripled in the fourth run of the inning and then scored on Grifol's grounder to make it 11-9. Meares made it 12-9 an inning later with his eighth homer of the season. College World Series Miami in its only championship game appearance in 1982. The Shockers handed Florida State starter Clyde Keller his first loss in 14 decisions this season, while Pat Cedeno, 13-4, avenged a 4-2 loss to the Seminoles in the tournament last Sunday. The Shockers also beat Florida State, 7-4, on Wednesday.

Florida State finished the season at 54-18. Wichita State scored a run in the first on P.J. Forbes' single and Mike McDonald's double. Florida State took advan.