The Times from Shreveport, Louisiana • Page 28

SPORTS 61 SATURDAY, MAY 2. 1992 THE TIMES TV' BASEBALL SCOREBOARD CAPTAINS EAST DIVISION EAST DIVISION FRIDAY'S GAMES 5-run 4th leads Mets by Braves The Associated Press Pet GB 110 Streak Horn Away Toronto 16 8 .667 2-5-5 Lost 2 11-4 5-4 Baltimore 14 8 .636 1 j-7-3 Won 3 7-1 7-7 New Yortc 14 8 .636 1 6-4 Won 1 8-5 6-3 Milwaukee 11 9 .550 3 6-4 Won 3 6-6 5-3 Boston 10 9 .526 3'4 1-6-4 Won 3 7-5 3-4 Cleveland 8 16 .333 8 3-7 Lost 2 4-10 4-6 Detroit 7 15 .318 8 4-6 Lost 2 1-10 6-5 WEST DIVISION Pet GB L10 Streak Home Away Oakland 15 8 .652 1-6-4 Won 2 7-2 8-6 Texas 14 11 .560 2 5-5 Won 1 3-7 11-4 Chicago 11 9 .550 2'4 1-5-5 Lost 1 5-5 6-4 California 12 10 .545 2 5-5 Won 2 3-6 9-4 Seattle 10 12 .455 4'4 z-5-5 Lost 3 5-6 5-6 Minnesota 9 13 .409 5'4 z-5-5 Lost 3 4-7 5-6 Kansas City 3 18 .143 11 2-8 Lost 2 1-8 2-10 z-denotes first game wis win. Pet GB L10 Streak Home Away Pittsburgh 15 5 .750 2-7-3 Won 1 7-1 8-4 New York 14 9 .609 2'4 2-8-2 Won 4 8-4 6-5 St. Louis 11 11 .500 5 5-5 Lost 1 5-4 6-7 Philadelphia 10 12 .455 6 6-4 Won 1 5-4 5-8 Montreal 9 14 .391 7'4 3-7 Won 1 3-7 6-7 Chicago 7 14 .333 8'4 2-8 Lost 4 5-5 2-9 WEST DIVISION Pet GB L10 Streik Home Away Cincinnati 12 10 .545 6-4 Won 1 6-3 6-7 San Francisco 12 10 .545 5-5 Won 1 8-5 4-5 San Diego 12 11 .522 '4 5-5 Lost 1 8-6 4-5 Atlanta 11 12 478 1'4 2-6-4 Lost 1 7-4 4-8 Houston 10 11 .476 1'4 z-4-6 Lost 5 9-6 1-5 Los Angeles 9 13 .409 3 2-4-6 Lost 4 5-7 4-6 z-denotes first game was win. TODAY'S GAMES TODAY'S GAMES Kansas City (M.Davis 0-2) at Boston (Young 0-21, 12:05 p.m.

Texas (Pavlik 0-0) at Chicago (Hough 0-1), 12:05 p.m. Minnesota (Krueger 4-0) at New York (Sanderson 2-1), 12:30 p.m. California (Valera 1-11 at Cleveland (Cook 1-2), 12:35 p.m. Toronto (Morris 3-1) at Milwaukee (Plesac 2-1), 1:35 p.m. Seattle (Hanson 1-3) at Baltimore (Sutcliffe 3-2), 6:05 p.m.

Oakland (Welch 0-0) at Detroit (Terrell 0-3), 6:05 p.m. New York (Gooden 2-1) at Atlanta (Glavine 3-1), 12:05 p.m. Chicago (Morgan 0-2) at Cincinnati (Hammond 2-1), 1:15 p.m. Philadelphia (C.Brantley 1-0) at San Francisco (Burba 1-2), 3:05 p.m. Pittsburgh (Neagle 0-0) at Houston (Bowen 0-2), 7:05 p.m.

Montreal (D.Martinez 1-4) at Los Angeles (Ojeda 1-2), 9:05 p.m. St. Louis (Osborne 2-0) at San Diego (Hurst 1-2), 9:05 p.m. FRIDAY'S RESULTS FRIDAY'S RESULTS Oakland 7, Detroit 6 Milwaukee 4, Toronto 3 Texas 8, Chicago 4 St. Louis at San Diego, (n) Montreal at Los Angeles, (ppd) Philadelphia at San (ppd) Cincinnati 4, Chicago 0 New York 8, Atlanta 7 Pittsburgh at Houston, (n) New York 5, Minnesota 3 Boston 6, Kansas City 5 Baltimore 15, Seattle 1 California 7, Cleveland 5 ATLANTA New York scored fiye runs in the fourth inning to snap the Atlanta Braves' scoreless pitching streak at 36 innings, and Daryl Boston hit an eighth-inning solo homer to break a tie after the Mets had squandered a seven-run lead Friday night in an 8-7 victory.

The Braves scored six runs in the seventh inning, capped by a two-run homer by David Justice, for a 7-7 tie. Justice had been hitting .037 entering the game. The Mets have won four straight games while the Braves had their five-game winning streak snapped. The Braves sold 47,061 tickets to the game, but only 31,637 showed up in the wake of protests and violence on Atlanta's downtown streets the past two days following the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers in the videotaped beating of Rodney King. were extra police assigned inside and outside the stadium.

No incidents were reported. REDS 4, CUBS 0 In Cincinnati, Chicago's scoreless streak reached 36 innings as Cfeg Swindell pitched six-hit ball over 8 innings and Bill Doran sparked Cincinnati's offense with three hits, The Cubs have been shut out their last four games, failing to score since last Sunday. It's their longest scoreless streak since they set the major-league record of 48 innings in 1968. THURSDAY'S RESULTS THURSDAY'S RESULTS Times phptcVJIM HUDELSOM Tulsa Drillers' Pete Kuld (front) was safe at home when he knocked the ball from Shreveport Captains catcher Dan Fernandez in Friday's Texas League game at Fair Grounds Field. Another one-run i win is racked up Milwaukee 3, Toronto 2 Only games scheduled Philadelphia at L.Angeles, (ppd.) Only games scheduled California 8, Cleveland 5 Oakland 10, Detroit 6 Chicago 12, Texas 1 San Fran.

9, St. Louis 3 Montreal 9, San Diego 3 New York 4, Houston 3 Brewers 4, Blue Jays 3 Reds 4, Cubs 0 Angels 7. Indians 5 MILWAUKEE CINCINNATI CALIFORNIA CLEVELAND abrhbi brkbi abrhbi abrhbi abrhbi akrhhi 11 innings: Shreveport beats Tulsa for its eighth one-run victory of the season. TORONTO White ef RAImr2t Carter rf Wnfield dh Gruber 3b Olerud 1b MldndoH Brdersc Lw ss TWardph Tetels Polonia If Curtis rf Felix cf Brooks dh AOavis 1b Gaetti 3b FtzgrW Gniales 2b DiSrcn ss 5 2 3 0 5 110 4 112 4 10 0 5 0 12 4 0 11 3 12 1 4 0 10 4 12 0 3 12 1 3 111 3 0 0 0 3 0 11 4 13 1 4 0 10 3 12 0 4 0 10 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Roberts If RSndrs cf DaMrtz 1b ONeill rf Doran 2b Sabo3b Oliver Bnvdes ss Swndell Dibble 4 0 0 0 4 2 3 0 4 111 3 0 11 4 0 0 0 3 0 11 4 0 0 0 40 10 3 0 0 0 10 0 0 34 3 7 3 Molitor dh listach st Hmlton rl GVghn If Yount cf Stubbs lb SeiUer3b Surhoff Gntiwr 2b Totals 4 12 0 4 12 0 4 0 0 0 4 113 3 12 1 3 0 0 0 3 0 10 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 31 4 i 4 CHICAGO Dnston ss Sosacf Grace 1b Sndbrg 2b Dawson rf Vllneva Scanlan Saiazar 3b Walton If GMddx Dscnzo ph KPtrsn Girardi Totals Lofton cf THwrd If Baerga 2b Pmhc2b Belle dh Whiten rf SAImar Ortiz Jacoby lb Writing 3b Srrento ph Mlewis ss Totals 2 10 0 4 12 0 30 10 0 100 30 13 4 0 0 0 1000 3 0 0 0 4 110 3 0 0 0 10 0 0 4 112 32 5 6 5 4 0 10 30 10 4 0 10 3 0 0 0 4 0 2 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 10 0 0 1000 0 0 0 0 10 10 30 0 6 0 Toronto Milwaukee 100 002 000-4 000 004 OOx-4 Totals 38 7 12 6 SCOREBOARD Minnesota at New York 112:30 p.m.l. Bill Krueger 14-01 of the Twins tries for his fifth victory against Scott Sanderson (2-1).

STATS Felix Jose of the St. Louis Cardinals was 8-for-44 lifetime against San Francisco before going 3 for 4 Thursday. STREAKS The Atlanta Braves took a 33-inning shutout streak into Friday night's game against the New York Mets. Cleveland's Mark Whiten singled in each of his first three at-bats Thursday, giving him seven consecutive hits before he struck out in the eighth. The Indians' record for consecutive hits is 11, set by Tris Speaker in 1920.

The New York Mets have won eight consecutive games in Shea Stadium. SWINGS Andy Banes of the San Diego Padres, who allowed just one run in his first 25 1-3 innings, has given up 14 runs and 21 hits in losing his last two outings. Montreal, which scored just four runs for Ken Hill in 29 innings during his first four starts, helped him to a 9-3 victory over San Diego on Thursday. The Chicago White Sox are 9-0 when Jack McDowell or Greg Hibbard start. They are 2-8 in other games.

Totals 31 411 4 California Cleveland 100 132 000-7 000 000 Chicago Cincinnati 000 000 000-0 000 120 10x-4 1 LOB-Toromo 6, Milwaukee 3. 2S Wintield 14), Olerud (51, Molitor 4, Listach (2), Yount I4. 3B-RAIomar (1). HR-GVaughn (5), Yount (11. SB-Molitor 7, Listach 14).

CS-Seiuer (1). 9 RER BB SO Toronto 72-3 8 4 4 0 2 Hentgen 1-3 0 0 0 0 1 Milwaukee Navarro WJ-2 7 7.1 3 1 2 Austin 2-3 0 0 0 1 1 Orosee 1-3 0 0 0 0 1 Henry S.5 1 0 0 0 0 2 Navarro pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. Umpires Home, Kosc; First, Ford; Second, Clark; Third, Barnetl 2:47. A 13.794. Red Sox 6, Royals 5 Sandberg (1).

DP-Chicago 2. Cincinnati 3. LOB Chicago 5, Cincinnati 8. 2B-Grace 15), RSanders (5), Doran 3) Sabo HI, Oliver 2 I5I. HR-Doran (2).

SB-Roberts (10). CS-floberts (4), Doran (2). IP RER BB SO Chicago GMadduxU-2 5 6 3 3 0 2 KPatterson 1 3 0 0 1 1 Scanlan 2 2 113 2 Cincinnati Swindell W.2-1 8 1-3 6 0 0 2 4 Dibble SJ 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 HBP-by GMaddux (ONeill). WP Swindell. Umpires-Home.

Rippley; First, Rennert; Second, Hirschbeck; Third, Tata. A 41,440. E-Gaetti 2 (10). Lofton It), MLevns 2 17). DP California 2, Cleveland 2.

LOB-Calrlor-nia 7. Cleveland 4. 2FJ Curtis 131, Gaetti 131. HFt Fitzgerald 11), Mlewis 12). SB-Lofton (10), THowerd 131.

CS-THoward (21. IP RER BB SO California Langston 7 1-3 5 5 4 4 6 Crim 1-3 1 0 0 0 0 Harvey 1 1-3 0 0 0 0 2 Cleveland ScudderU-3 51-3 10 7 5 3 3 Nichols 2 23 2 0 0 0 1 Lilliquist 1 0 0 0 0 0 WP-Harvey, Scudder. Umpires Home, Scott; First, Garcia; Second, Morrison; Third, Welke. Yankees 5, Twins 3 In that inning, first baseman Mike Easley saved Shreveport two runs with a diving stop of a hard grounder by Colon. In the bottom of the fourth Adell Davenport tied the game with a solo homer.

Clay Bellinger and Dan Fernandez alsrj drove in runs in the inning to spot Shreveport to a 4-2 lead. Which evaporated in the top of the fifth when Tulsa catcher John Russell nailed a 1-0 pitcn from Dan Carlson over the lefti field wall for a two-run home run. 4. After that, though, the game became a test of nerves. Tulsa got runners into scoring position in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but had nothing to show for it.

In the ninth, the Drillers had a man on first when Rusty Greer looped shot to left-center. Center fielder Reuben Smiley made a diving catch then got up and nailed the baserunner going back to first. Lou Pote (1-2) got out of trouble in the 10th and 11th innin; the last time on a one-put, barfy.4 loaded double play. 1 The Captains made the double play stand up in the bottom of the 11th when Weber led off with a single. Bellinger sacrificed him to second.

Then, after Easley was walked intentionally, catcher Dan Fernandez spanked a hard grounder to third baseman Luke Sable, who stumbled in the dirt while making the throw to second. The throw sailed wide and Weber came in with the run. "I turned around and saw the ball rattling around," Weber said. "I said, "Game's KANSAS CITY BOSTON abrhbi By JACK MITCHELL The Times Perhaps a change of team colors is in order for the Shreveport Captains. Silver and black seems more appropriate at the moment.

After all, the Captains have borrowed liberally this season from Los Angeles Raiders owner Al Davis' book of philosophy. They just win, baby. Parlaying a couple of singles and a throwing error into an llth-inning run, the Captains beat Tulsa 5-4 at Fair Grounds Field Friday night. The victory improved their record to 14-7 and kept them 2 games ahead of Arkansas in the Texas League Eastern Division standings. It also gave the Captains their eighth one-run victory.

Twelve of their first 21 games have been decided by a run. "I don't know what it is (about the close games)," said outfielder Pete Weber, who scored the winning run. "When we're in a close game, everybody is comfortable." Friday night, they had plenty of reasons to be uncomfortable. The Captains jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on Ron Jones' RBI double but lost the lead in the second on Chris Colon's RBI single. Two innings later, Pete Kuld's solo homer gave the Drillers a 2-1 lead.

NEW YORK MINNESOTA Standings abr hbi SLUGGERS George Bell had the third five-hit game of his career Thursday night as the Chicago White Son beat the Texas Rangers 12-1. STARTERS Joe Grahe became the first California pitcher with more than one win as the Angels beat the Cleveland Indians 1-5 Thursday. STARTS Nolan Ryan was wild in his return from leg injuries, allowing seven runs, five hits, five walks and a wild pitch in 2 13 innings Thursday night as the Texas Rangers lost to the Chicago White Sox 12-1. The 45-year-old Ryan, activated from the disabled list on Thursday and making his first appearance since opening day, also struck out three, raising his record career total to 5,518. abrhbi 4 12 1 4 111 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 4 12 1 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 3 110 2 12 1 30 5 1 5 Miller 2b 5 0 2 2 McRae cf 5 0 0 0 Jfferies 3b 4 0 0 0 Wlkrsn ss 10 0 0 Joyner 1b 4 2 2 0 Brett dh 4 0 10 McRytd If 10 0 1 Esnrich rf 4 0 2 1 Mcfrlne 2 12 0 Thimn pr 0 10 0 Mayne 0 0 0 0 Rossy ss 3 110 Mack If Hill 2b Puckett cf Hrbeklb Harper COavis dh PMunr rf leius 3b Gagne ss Totals 0 0 Smkwe 2b 1 0 Mttngly 1b 2 RKelly cf 0 0 Hall If 1 3 Nokesc 0 0 Brfield rf 1 0 Maas dh 0 0 CHayes 3b 0 0 Velarde ss 5 3 Totals 4 0 2 2 4 1 3 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 30 3 abrhbi 3 12 0 5 0 3 2 3 100 5 110 2 0 0 0 2 0 10 5 12 2 4 0 10 2 0 0 0 1111 2 10 0 10 10 0 0 0 0 35 6 12 5 Boggs 3b Reed 2b Plntier rf Burks cf Wnghm If Zupcic If MVghn 1b Penac Cooper dh Clark dh Rivera ss Grnwll ph Nhring ss Totals EASTERN DIVISION Club VV Pet.

GB SHFtEVEPORT 14 7 .667 Arkansas 11 9 .550 2 '4 Tulsa 8 11 .421 5 Jackson 8 14 .364 6 WESTERN DIVISION Club Pet. GB El Paso 14 7 .667 San Antonio 12 10 .645 2 Wichita 10 11 .476 4 Midland 7 14 .333 7 Minnesota New York 000 201 000-3 010 010 03 Totals 33 5 10 4 Kansas City Boston 010 021 001-5 000 002 112-4 E-Hrbek (1), Perez 12). DP-New York 2. LOB-Minnesota 4, New York 5. 2B-Puck-ett (8), Stankiewicz 13), Mattingly (5).

CHayes (3). HR-Nokes 14). SB RKelly 2 atMan. RER BB SO FRIDAY'S RESULTS Shreveport 5 Tulsa (11) 4 Arkansas 1 Jackson 0 S. ntonio 11 Wichita 3 El Faso at Midland 7:00 TODAYS GAMES Tulsa at Shreveport 7:05 Jackson at Arkansas 7:30 Wichita at S.

Antonio 7:05 El Paso at Midland 7:00 Minnesota Tapani L.1-3 Guthrie New York Perez W.2-2 Fan 5,5 1 STOPPERS Duane Ward of the Toronto Blue Jays who had been 4 for 4 in save opportunies, gave up three runs in the eighth inning Thursday in a 3-2 loss to Milwaukee. SLUMPS Kevin Seitzer snapped an O-for-21 slump with an eighth-inning RBI single single Thursday night as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2. STATUS Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Stan Javier was given permission to return to the Dominican Republic for a family matter. It was not announced how long Javier would be gone. The Cleveland Indians purchased the contract of third baseman Craig Worthing-ton from Triple A Colorado Springs on Thursday and optioned catcher Jesse Levis to Colorado Springs.

No outs when winning run scored. E-Burks 12). DP-Boston 1. lOB-Kansas City 7, Boston 12. 2B-Joyner SI, Eisen-reich (1), Boggs 151.

SB-McReynolds It). CS-Eisenreich HI. S-Rossy, Zupcic. SF-McReynolds, Clark. IP RER BB SO Kansas City Gubiui 5 4 2 2 1 6 Heaton 1 2-3 2 1 I 1 4 Boddicker 2 3 3 1 1 1 1 MtgmyLO-3 23 3 2 2 2 0 Boston Gardiner 52 3 7 4 3 2 3 Bolton 21-3 1 0 0 1 1 Darwin W.2-0 1 2 110 1 Gubicza pitched to 3 batters in the 6th, Montgomery pitched to 4 batters in the 9th.

HBP-by Bolton (Meefarlanel. WP-Gubkza. Umpires Home, McCoy; First Hendry; Second, Meriwether; Third, Evans. 3:04. Tapani pitched to 2 batters in the 8th.

HBP by Perez (Hill). WP-Perez. Umpires Home, Phillips; First Roe; Second, Joyce; Third, Craft. 2:3. CAPTAINS' NOTEBOOK BATDNG-Krgk.

Philadelphia. Moran-dini, Philadelphia, RThompson, Sen Francisco, Gwynn, San Diego, WCIark, San Francisco, ONeill, Cincinnati, Sheffield, San Diego, .333. RUNS Bonds, Pittsburgh, 17; Gwynn, San Diego, 16; Lankford, St. Louis, 16; Hollins, Philadelphia. 15; Grissom, Montreal, 15; 9 -are tied with 14.

BATTING RAIomar, Toronto, Lans-tord, Oakland, Wintield, Toronto, 374; Bordick. Oakland, CSelt, Chicago, McGwire. Oakland, RKelly. New York. .341.

Triple-A agreeing with Lewis, Hosey Beginning of end for Ryan? ORIOLES 15, MARINERS 1 In Baltimore, Mike Devereaux hit a grand slam and a solo homer and matched his career-high by driving in six runs, helping Baltimore blow out Seattle. Chris Hoiles, Leo Gomez and Billy Ripken also homered for the Orioles, who had 11 hits. Baltimore drew 13 walks, 10 from Randy Johnson (3-1) in 4 innings. Ben McDonald (3-0) pitted a complete game and gave up five hits, including Jay Buhner's home run in the fifth inning. McDonald walked none and sjruck out five.

BREWERS 4, BLUE JAYS 3 In Milwaukee, Greg Vaughn hit a game-tying, three-run homer and Robin Yount followed with his first home run of the season to rally Milwaukee past Toronto. RED SOX 6, ROYALS 5 In Boston, Mo Vaughn hit a two-run single with no outs in the ninth inning as Boston overcame Kansas City. After Keith Miller singled home the go-ahead run for the Royals in the top of the ninth off Danny Darwin (2-0), the Red Sox came back to win their third straight game. YANKEES 5, TWINS 3 In New York, Don Mattingly drove in the go-ahead run with a popup that fell between three Twins for a double as New York rallied for three runs in the eighth inning and beat Minneso-, ta. ANGELS 7, INDIANS 5 In Cleveland, Mark Langston pitched seven scoreless innings before faltering in the eighth as California built a seven-run lead and held on to beat Cleveland.

NBA PLAYOFFS Pistons edge Knicks 86-82 to tie series AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) Detroit forced a fifth game in its first-round series with New York as Joe Dumars and Bill Laimbeer sank free throws down the stretch to preserve an 86-82 win over the Knicks on Friday night. Game 5 will be played Sunday at New York's Madison Square Garden. The Knicks, who trailed by 16 points in the third quarter, cut the Pistons' lead to 82-81 on a layup by Charles Oakley with 48 seconds remaining. Dumars, who led Detroit with 23 points, hit two free throws with 41 seconds left for an 84-81 lead.

Dumars fouled Greg Anthony with 2.5 seconds remaining. Anthony made his first free throw and, following a timeout, missed the second on purpose. But John Starks fouled Laimbeer during the ensuing scramble for the rebound and Laimbeer, who finished with just four points, sank both free throws for the final margin. while Faneyte is hitting .339 with two homers and 12 RBI. Pitcher Vince Herring has pitched 11 3 innings' without giving up a run.

Clinton first baseman Charlie Alimena is hitting .367 through 16 games, with a homer and nine RBI. Ken Grundt, who pitched in Shreveport at the end of last season, hasn't given up an earned run in his 10 PICK-OFF PROWESS Tulsa starter David Perez didn't have much luck throwing to the plate Friday night. He got knocked out in the fourth inning after giving up four runs. But when he threw to the other bases, his luck was a lot better. In the first inning, he picked Ron Jones off second base.

In the second, he picked Pete Weber off first. BIG FINISH AHEAD? Food for thought: Having won 13 of their first 20 games, the Captains are on a pace to finish tjie season with an 88-48 record. They finished last season at 86-50. ry of Ryan's seventh no-hitter. The man who also has pitched 12 one-hitters and has the all-time record of 5,518 strikeouts Thursday made his first start since opening day.

The 23-day layoff because of a strained calf muscle and a sore Achilles tendon showed he wasn't anywhere near form. "I would have liked to have had 80 or 90 pitches and six innings," said Ryan, who lasted 2 1-3. He gave up five hits, walked five, struck out three and was charged with seven runs. The seven runs allowed matched his worst as a Ranger. What was the problem aside from the lengthy layoff? "I don't know," said Ryan, seemingly groping for an answer.

"Obviously the problem was my control." "I was wild in the strike zone and out of the strike zone. I never got in a groove to throw strikes. "I was getting behind the hitters and not getting my breaking ball over. My change was inconsistent. "It can't get worse than that," said Ryan, who threw 64 pitches with only 28 strikes.

"The few strikes I threw, they hit. I never had command." Ryan and Valentine were encouraged that he came out of the game physically fit. "I anticipate I'll be taking my regular turn now," Ryan said. "He came out of it healthy, that's my feeling," said Valentine. As he left the mound in the third inning, Ryan received a standing ovation.

"That usually happens with a performance like that by a visiting team," smiled Ryan. Hardly. More likely it was for past performances. And maybe it was because they thought they might not see Ryan pitch again. Ryan has indicated this could be his last year.

The Rangers have one more visit to Chicago this season in August and Ryan might not be scheduled to pitch during that three-game set. The Associated Press CHICAGO Like it or not, the Nolan Ryan watch is on again. Ryan came off the disabled list Thursday night and experienced one of his worst performances in recent years as the Texas Rangers dropped a 12-1 decision to the Chicago White Sox. Could this be the beginning of the end for the 45-year-old legend? "That's the way the mind works," said manager Bobby Valentine, realizing that whenever Ryan has a poor outing there will be speculation that the end is near. "It isn't fair, just as it isn't fair to expect him to throw a no-hitter every time." But Ryan has repeatedly laughed in the face of Father Time whenever he seemingly has reached the end of the line.

Like pitching his sixth no-hitter in 1990, nine years after No. 5 and coming back with another last year. Friday was the first anniversa By JACK MITCHELL The Times The jump from Shreveport to the San Francisco Giants' Triple-A team in Phoenix has suited some of last year's champion Captains just fine. Through the first 20 games, first baseman Dan Lewis and outfielder Steve Hosey have tied for the Phoenix lead in homers with three each. Lewis leads the team with 16 RBI, while Hosey has 10.

Erik Johnson, who is filling the same utility role for Phoenix that he filled last season for the Captains, is hitting .333. Second baseman John Patterson was hitting .304 with two doubles and two triples before being called up to San Francisco earlier this week. Center fielder Jamie Cooper has struggled at the plate, hitting just .185, but lead3 the team with six stolen bases. On the mound, former Captain Jim Pena leads Phoenix with a 3-0 record. Pat Rapp is 1-0 with a save and an 0.51 ERA.

Johnny Ard is 2-1 with a 2.31 ERA, while Jim Myers leads the Firebirds with four saves. Larry Carter, who makes his offseason home in Shreveport, is 1-0 with a 7.06 ERA. Phoenix split its first 20 games of the season. TAKING 'A' LOOK Down the road, a few of the Giants' A-ball players bear watching. In San Jose, outfielders Jason McFarlin and Rikkert Faneyte are off to strong starts.

McFarlin is hitting .303 with five RBI, 1 NHL PLAYOFFS Lemieux leads Penguins over Capitals 3-1 FIELDER HURT Cecil Fielder jammed his left wrist trying to make a play at first base Friday night and was forced to leave the game between Detroit and Oakland. Fielder was hurt in the seventh inning when he reached for a throw and his hand was hit by runner Carney Lansford's leg. Fielder finished the top of the seventh, but left for a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh. LANDOVER, Md. Mario Lemieux, aching back and all, carried the Pittsburgh Penguins into the second round of the NHL playoffs on Friday night.

Lemieux capped his best-ever Stanley Cup series with a goal and an assist, and the Penguins completed their biggest playoff comeback by beating the Washington Capitals 3-1, winning their Patrick Division semifinal series in seven games. BRUINS 3, SABRES 2 Dave Reid snapped a tie with 8:20 left as Boston rebounded from one of its worst games of the season for a 3-2 win Friday night and a 4-3 Adams Division semifinal victory over the Buffalo in Boston. RANGERS 8.DEVILS 4 Big guns Mark Messier and Tony Amonte led the way for New York as it scored an 8-4 victory over visiting New Jersey and advanced to the second round of the playoffs..