The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 19

Qle ffitlatpfiia Inquirer Section Auto Racing C8 Baseball C4 Horse Racing C7 NBA C2 NHL C6 Sports in Brief C3 Payne Stewart, in a playoff, gets his first win since the 1991 U.S. Open. C5. indros-less Flyers lose punch, and game Sports Puck hits key center; Rangers in playoffs III I fjfflwr I Boston Globe JONATHAN WIGGS Sherman Douglas, who helped spark the Celtics with 20 points and 15 assists, exults over their surprising victory. I Celtics I 1 r'li i li i Eric Lindros is down and bleeding Rainout The Philadelphia Inquirer JERRY LODRIGUSS on the ice after a puck hit him below the left eye early in the game.

A team doctor said he's day-to-day. dampens Mimbs' debut The Phillies rookie fanned six Pirates before the postponement. Manager Jim Fregosi was impressed. By Gary Miles INQUIRER STAFF WRITER The Flyers reluctantly discovered yesterday how well they can play against the New York Rangers with-mmiimgm out star center Rangers Eric Lindros, and Flyers 0 it wasn't a pleasant surprise. With Lindros out of the game early because of a cut under his left eye, the Rangers got two goals from de-fenseman Brian Leetch and a shutout from goaltender Glenn Healy.

That was enough to give the New Yorkers a 2-0 victory at the Spectrum and a berth in the Eastern Conference playoffs, where they could end up facing the Flyers. Playing without their own star center, Mark Messier, who sat out with a sore lower back, the Rangers outshot and outhoodwinked the Flyers to notch their fourth win in the last six games. "Someone was smiling on us," Rangers coach Colin Campbell said. The injury to Lindros, which appeared to be serious when it happened, was labeled a "superficial laceration" by Gary Dorshimer, one of the Flyers' team doctors. Dorshimer said that about three stitches were needed to close the cut, and that Lindros had a bruise on his eye that caused his vision to be slightly blurred.

"Eric was hit with the puck along the cheek," Dorshimer said. "The puck came up and bruised the very front part of his eye. There was no damage to any other part of his eye. This should not be anything perma-' nent, and he'll be on a day-to-day basis. We want him just to rest." The Flyers had no comment on whether Lindros would be ready for tomorrow's regular-season finale, but it seemed unlikely that he would play in the relatively meaningless game against the New York Islanders.

Lindros may have to wear a shield when he returns, Dorshimer said. He is expected to be seen by an eye doctor today. Lindros went home after a precautionary visit to Pennsylvania Hospital during the game and was not available for comment. But Dorshimer characterized the 22-year-old center's demeanor as cool, calm and collected. "He feels pretty good," Dorshimer said.

"He was more nonchalant than anyone." Lindros, the leading scorer in the NHL and the leading candidate to win the Hart Trophy as the league MVP, suffered the cut 4 minutes, 25 seconds into the game on a freak play. Working a power play at the left point, Lindros fired a slapshot toward the New York net. Rangers de-fenseman Jeff Beukeboom bent over to block the rising shot, and the puck hit Beukeboom in the right hip. The puck bounced right back at Lindros and smacked him below his left eye. He immediately went down on his stomach and covered his eye with his glove.

With the sellout crowd of 17,380 holding its collective breath, Lin-See FLYERS on C6 barking instructions again. The recipient this time is a rookie free-agent wide receiver who waits in the flat instead of cutting back toward Cunningham for the ball. "Come back in the passing lane and give the quarterback the opportunity to get you the football," Gruden says. "Don't just be a spectator of the game. Be a participant." The Eagles' three-day minicamp ended yesterday, leaving plenty of evidence that the Eagles' new offense is looking for its groove.

Even a defense that, to be charitable about it, is being retooled had little problem foiling just about everything See EAGLES on C2 ambush Magic to tie series The underdogs did an about-face from Game 1. Now the favorites have to win in Boston. ByFredGoodall ASSOCIATED PRESS ORLANDO, Fla. The Orlando Magic's home-court advantage crumbled brick by brick yesterday, leaving the Magic with Celtics 90 a young team's Magic 92 nightmare the task of regaining it at hallowed Boston Garden. The top seeds in the NBA's Eastern Conference playoffs missed 19 of 23 shots in the fourth quarter and now face the prospect of elimination if they can't regroup at an arena where they are 2-10 in their six seasons.

Celtics rebounded from the most lopsided loss in their 49-year history with a stunning 99-92 victory that not only evened their first-round series at 1-1 but wrested the home-court edge from the heavily favored Magic. Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-five matchup will be played at Boston Garden on Wednesday and Friday, meaning that at least two more games are left at the arena, which will be closed after the season. The Magic had the best record in theuEastern Conference during the regular season, but they lost their last seven road games one of them at Boston Garden, where they were 1-sl during the season. 'l hope they can feel those old ghosts coming out," the Celtics' Sherman Douglas said. "We have to be aggressive, like they were in the first game, of this series).

If we match their aggression, the game will be close. That's all I want for the game to be close." wThe Celtics also beat the Magic in Hartford, to claim two of the five regular-season meetings between the Atlantic Division rivals. Douglas, Dominique Wilkins and Dee Brown paced yesterday's turnaround less than 48 hours after the Magic destroyed the Celtics, 124-77, on Friday night. "It's about adjustments and being ready to go out there," Boston coach See CELTICS on C2 till U.W i- 1 I I I I i Jin ftifahathiLit infanwU v. fourth inning, first baseman Dave Hollins misplayed an infield pop-up.

Gary Varsho's fourth-inning double drove home the Phils' run. "I really wasn't nervous out there," said Mimbs, whose speaking voice is barely above a whisper. "I think I got all the jitters out of the way the other night against Baltimore in a preseason game." Mimbs had never risen above double A and spent last season pitching in the independent Northern League. Fregosi opted to put him in his rotation because, in the manager's words, "he makes hitters miss." He does that with a change-up that kept Pittsburgh's lineup, such as it is, off-balance. Mimbs said the pitch became more effective when he started turning it over after the Phils picked him in this winter's Rule 5 draft.

"He's got an excellent change-up," Fregosi said. "He's got excellent motion with it, and his arm speed is outstanding, which is what we saw from him in spring training." Mimbs' next major-league debut will come this weekend in Atlanta, against a Braves lineup that will have someone a little more formida- By Frank Fitzpatrick INQUIRER STAFF WRITER This weekend's Phillies-Pirates series was dominated by the good control of Paul Quantrill and Esteban Loaiza and the bad eyesight of Mark Widlqwski. So with the emergence of the unknown as its overriding theme, was anyone shocked that Mike Mimbs nearly became yesterday's Unfortunately for Mimbs, his day in the sun turned into a day in the rain. The five outstanding innings the 26-year-old lefthander compiled in his major-league debut were wiped out when, with the score tied at 1-1, the game was postponed after 4Vb innings. It will be made up as part of a twi-night doubleheader July 26 at Veterans Stadium.

"He did an outstanding job," said Phils manager Jim Fregosi. "It's a shame he doesn't come out of it with anything. But as far as this organization goes, he's got a little star next to his name." Mimbs struck out six Pirates and walked one, permitting five singles and one unearned run. That run scored when, with two outs in the The Philadelphia Inquirer PAUL HU "He's got a little star next to his name," manager Jim Fregosi says of Mike Mimbs, shown working against the Pirates. upset by the derision generated by his inclusion in the Phils' rotation.

"People were knocking me who had never seen me pitch, which tells you something about the character of those people," he said. "I read one See PHILLIES on C5 Eagles' new offense has a long way to go But no one is surprised. This is the defense's time to howl. And those new footballs are no help at all. Hornets interrupt Jordan's little party Charlotte, not content to be a foil for the superstar and his Chicago team, went out and tied the series.

ble than Steve Pegues hitting third. "Sure they've got good hitters, but any major-league hitter can hurt you," Mimbs said. "It doesn't make any difference what team he's playing for." The pitcher said he was slightly I'm 'f. Associated Press STEVE HELBER Lance Armstrong finishing first in the fourth stage of the Tour DuPont yesterday. The Texan moved into the overall lead.

C2. 53f i By S.A. Paolantonio INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Reggie Johnson cuts across the middle of the Veterans Stadium practice field, leans over, and reaches out for a knee-high pass from Randall Cunningham. Clank the ball bounces off Johnson's fingertips. Smack Johnson kicks the ball in frustration.

Aarrgh Johnson, still frustrated, walks over to the ball and kicks it again. "C'mon, tight ends, you're killing me!" yells offensive coordinator Jon Gruden, after Johnson drops another of several mishandled passes. "You're killing me!" A few minutes later, Gruden is By Frank Law lor INQUIRER STAFF WRITER CHARLOTTE, N.C. The Charlotte Hornets, perhaps resentful at being cast as splattered bugs in the path of Michael Jordan's Hornets 106 playoff comeback, Bulls 89 bounced back to defeat the Chicago Bulls, 106-89, yesterday to even their playoff series at one game apiece. The best-of-five first-round matchup moves to Chicago's new United Center, where Jordan has not yet gotten very comfortable, for Game 3 tomorrow and Game 4 on Thursday.

Yesterday's victory emboldened the Hornets, who had lost the first game in overtime but were nonetheless written off as nothing more or less than Jordan's first victims in his drive to even greater fame. What should really stoke the Hornets' confidence is that they won going away, even though Jordan led all scorers with 32 points, just two below his lifetime playoff average, but 16 below his total in Game 1. "Believe it or not, guys, this is a series," crowed Hornets coach Allan Bristow, who was shored up over the weekend by a vote of confidence from team owner George Shinn. "I know a lot of people think this is nothing but a cakewalk for Chicago See HORNETS on C2 i NBA Playoffs YESTERDAY'S RESULTS Boston 99, Orlando 92 Series tied, 1-1. Charlotte 106, Chicago 89 Series tied, 1-1.

Phoenix 103, Portland 94 Phoenix leads series, 2-0. San Antonio 122, Denver 96 San Antonio leads series, 2-0. Box scores, C2. i.