Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 27

MONDAY, MAY I 2 0 0 0 SPORTS DETROIT FREE I' SC. Pedro wins; he's no hit with-Tribe L' Into place on the victory list. Texas 8, Baltimore Ivan Rodriguez homeied twice and doubled for the visiting Rangers, who ended a four-game slide. Former Tirjcr Mark -Lewis, claimed on waivers Friday, drove In two runs for the Orioles. Anaheim 5, Tampa Bay 2: Kent Bottenfietd struck out nine In seven innings, and Dain Erstad finished a record April with his 47th and -48th hits for the host Angels Bottenlield (2-3) allowed five hits, Including Vmny Castrita's two-run homer In the seventh.

Troy I'ercival pitched the ninth for his sixth save. Erstad, who singled twice, broke the record of 47 hits in April, set by Colorado's Dante Bichette in 1998. Erstad finished April at .449 (48 for-1 07). Kansas City 6, Seattle 3: Joe Randa and Mark Quinn homered, and Jermaine Dye hit an RBI double to cap one of the most productive Aprils in Royals history. Dye, the first player in history to have 10 home runs and 10 doubles betore May 1 ended April leading the AL with 1 1 homers, 83 total bases, 12 doubles, 23 extra-base hits and an .847 slugging percentage.

His 1 1 homers and 28 RBIs are April club records. Oakland 8, Minnesota 2: Tim Hudson (3-2) struck out 10 in Th innings for the visiting Athletics, who got four hits from Ben Grieve (10 RBIs in past five games). Oakland rookie Adam Piatt hit his first career homer and tripled twice. Piatt is 8-for-19 since being called up from Triple-A Sacramento on Monday. hits, walked three and fanned 10 to win his llith straight decision.

He is 7-0 against the Indians, whom he beat in Game 5 of the division series last year. "I'm just going to do my job, and if that's going to cost people liking me, that's fine with me," he said. When Offerman batted in the eighth, Nagy (1-4) hit him in the side and players spilled out of both benches and dugouts. Martinez remained in the dugout at first but finally came out ufler several Indians, including Scott Kamieniecki, urged him. "I thought everyone in the stadium saw how much guts he has by throwing at a guy's head and then staying in the dugout," Kamieniecki said.

"I don't see how his teammates can respect him." New York 7, Toronto 1: At Yankee Stadium, Paul O'Neill hit a three-run double and Roger Clemens got his 249th career victory. Clemens (2-2) allowed one run, seven hits and two walks In seven innings. He struck out eight and moved Duti the fust weekend of June, the Cincinnati fteds will retire 'oarKy Aikii'rson's number. On Sumi.iv, the 1 tyxu did not, but they still might. "It's an K.AM- Hut Im to be confer, tod and it-sulvtd," "VV-a'll skiwiy srid hnvti the of i dozens of people would te on a dual decision: Should Anderson be the first non-ptayer to have h'S number retired by the 1 1-gers? Should he be without a Tiger i crip on his I lull of Fame pin jue to have his number retired Ly the 1 igers? Anderson's decision to wear a Reds cup on his Hal! plaque might keep the Tigers from retiring his number, "i don't know how significant of an issue that will bo," McHalesaid.

Anderson's No. 1 1 (he wore No. 10 for the Reds) hasn't been worn in the five years since he stepped down as Tigers manager. Asked whether he thought the Tigers might retire his number Sunday on Sparky Anderson Day Anderson said, "I have no right ever to judge what they might do. 1 hat's being unfair to them." During his on-field speech Sunday, Anderson thanked owner Mike Hitch and McHale "for treating me with great dignity." Perhaps Anderson has shelved his unhappiness toward Hitch for firing several employees when he bought the club in 1392.

Hitch didn't attend Sunday's ceremony. Will he be there if and when the Tigers retire Anderson's number? fy Jchn Lowe JOHN b'VLWvJHL Sophie Gustafson celebrates Sunday after winning the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship. Gustafson gets 1st win with birdie on 18th hole COLT ROUNDUP FRtE PRESS NEWS SERVICES Bobby Higginson singles to centerfield off Chicago lefthander Scott Eyre with one out in the 12th inning, scoring Brad Ausmus with the winning run. V'- I it BURLESONAssociated Press IKIl PRESS Mill SERVICES CLEVELAND Pedro's still perfect against the Indians and perfectly despised by them. Pedro Martinez remained unbeaten against Cleveland on Sunday by taking a shutout into the eighth Inning before being ejected for hitting Roberto Alomar in the Boston Red Sox's 2-1 victory.

"He's the best pitcher in the game," Alomar said. "We know he's going to pitch inside. But the other stuff he went too far." Many Indians thought Martinez was intentionally throwing at Einar Diaz, who had doubled twice off him, in the seventh. They became more upset in the eighth when Martinez stayed in the dugout after Cleveland's Charles Nagy hit Jose Offerman, emptying the dugouts and bullpens. Martinez (5-0) allowed four Johnson 3rd pitcher with 6-0 April NATIOW.1L LEAGUE FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES CHICAGO Randy Johnson doesn't care about milestones, statistics or his place in history.

That's OK. The rest of the Diamondbacks are impressed enough by what he's doing. "I don't think anybody assumes to take lightly what he's able to do," manager Buck Showalter said. "Guys like him don't come your way very often." Only twice before in modern baseball history, to be exact. Johnson became the third pitcher to win six games in April, striking out 11 and giving up five hits over seven innings Sunday as Arizona beat the Cubs, 6-0.

Last year's Cy Young winner won his last three decisions of '99, giving him a nine-game streak. "I don't get all wrapped up in that stuff," Johnson said. "I go out there every fifth day and do the best I can." He was in trouble once loading the bases in the seventh before fanning Shane Andrews the third whiff of the inning. He has 130 games in his career with 10 or more strikeouts. Johnson leads the majors in ERA (0.91), strikeouts (64) and opponents' batting average against He also leads the majors in victories, shutouts (two) and complete games (three).

Bernard Gilkey walked, singled and hit a two-run homer. St Louis 4, Philadelphia 3: Mark McGwire and Jim Edmonds each hit their eighth homer as the host Cardinals completed a sweep. St. Louis finished April with 55 homers, tying the 1947 New York Giants for most homers in any month by an NL team. Curt Schilling, starting his first game after off-season shoulder surgery, fanned eight In six Innings for Philadelphia.

Cincinnati 8, Pittsburgh 2: Ken Griffey Jr. hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning for the visiting Reds. Milwaukee 4, Houston 3: Host Milwaukee won on Jeromy Burnltz's two-out double In the ninth. New York 14, Colorado 11; Edgardo Alfonzo went 4-for-5 with four RBIs, and Todd Zeile capped a successful weekend at Coors Field with his first homer of the season. Zeile, who entered the series hitting .254, went 8-for-1 5 with seven RBIs in three games to raise his average to .302.

Tom Goodwin hit his first career grand slam tor the Rockies. Montreal 4, San Francisco 3: Pinch-hitter Rondell White hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth Inning to beat the Giants, who lost their seventh in eight games at Pacific Bell Park. Los Angeles 7, Florida 1: Kevin Brown allowed a run and three hits over seven innings, and Shawn Green homered twice as the host Dodgers completed a three-game sweep. 23; Kills in April tor Anaheim second bu''mjn P. Jy, the of the at Northriduo and tbo first -venr rcjuliir whom the Ap'j- '3 yot Witt; it -ha-idor ZjV.v' kM in the rprlnj -Irjininj JimElnunc'strcda vMthtt.

Louis, Kennedy's April i an eiylit-RBI yame in Toionto and Saturday night's two-out, ninth-inning smg'e c'f Tampa Bay closer ta Hcrnarufcz that prevented a 6-5 Iocs. Anaheim won, 7-6, on Tim Salmon's homer in the 1 3h. Scores by which the Dodgers lost in New York on Monday and Atlanta on Tuesday marking the first time they had lost consecutive 1 -0 games since Games 3 and 4 of the '66 World Series, in which the Orioles swept the Dodgers and didn't allow a run after the third inning of Game 1 Number of games the pennant-winning Giants finished ahead of the last-place, first-year Mots in 1962. However, the Giants now have descended to the '62 Wets' level in one fashion their 0-6 start at Pacific Bell Park tied the '62 Mets (Polo Grounds) for the longest losing streak in a new home before a club gets its first win there. 8-23: The combined home records of the Tigers, Giants and Astros in their first-year ballyards.

Call it The New Ballpark Blues. 30,317: Friday night's paid attendance in Kansas City, the largest there in April (excluding home openers) in 1 1 seasons. The Royals are 10-2 at home, with most of the wins ending with the decisive run scoring the ninth or later. They're 2-1 1 on the road. 4: Homers allowed in the first inning Thursday by Houston's Jose Lima to the visiting Cubs.

Later in the game, Lima gave up a grand slam to Henry Rodriguez. "Jose is reverting to his form when we got him," Houston manager Larry Diorker said of Lima's arrival from the Tigers three seasons ago. "He's dropping down to a more sidearm delivery, and rather than driving everything down hard to the knees, he's leaving almost everything up." Lima, who won 21 games last season, is 1-4 with an 8.42 ERA. After Thursday's shower of homers, he said, "I stunk. I've never been so frustrated and disappointed in my life," By John Lowe several parents had their 4-to-6-year-olds at Comerica Park's Ferris wheel.

These are kids too young to know who Anderson is, let alone remember when he managed. TV screens at the Ferris wheel showed Anderson speaking. But few people, if any, watched. For Anderson aficionados, Sunday was terrific. Free of dugout strain and revitalized after heart surgery, Anderson, 66, looks at least as good as when he last wore the uniform five years ago.

"It was great to see him," president John McHale said. For those paying attention to the ceremony, Anderson provided one more chance to admire him for being an introvert who acts like an extrovert when his managerial role puts him on stage. No genuine egotist could have resisted watching a video tribute to himself on the scoreboard. But Anderson did Sunday, staring at the ground as those seated around him on the infield turned to watch the leftfield board. Anderson was in such a lowercase mood no that he didn't even refer to his former workplace by its title.

"I went this morning to the other stadium," he said. "I walked through it to see it and remember it." He meant, of course, Tiger Stadium. Unfortunately, until further notice, Tiger Stadium remains the last place the Tigers finished with a winning record. Contact JOHN LOWE at 313-223-4053 or JohnLoweySfiuol.com. STOCKBRIDGE, Ga.

Sophie; Gustafson made a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Sunday to clinch her first victory on the, LPGA Tour, a one-shot triumph over Kelly Robbins and Amy Fruhwirth at the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship. Karrie Webb, who had won four of her five events this year and finished second in the other, began the day three shots off the, lead and couldn't make up the deficit even though the three players in front of her to start the round were a combined 10 over on the front nine in near-perfect scoring conditions at Eagle's Landing Country Club. Webb finished with a 1-under-par 71 for the final round but was two shots behind Gustafson's 10-under 206 total. Gustafson rallied for a 72 Sunday after appearing on the verge of a major collapse, standing at four over through seven holes. "That showed how much courage she has," said Webb, who tied for fourth.

"She clawed her way back into the tournament." Gustafson, a native of Sweden who suffers from a severe speech impediment, rebounded from a double bogey at No. 7 to put together a string of five birdies in six holes beginning at No. 9. But, in a display that epitomized the erratic play of all the contenders, she nearly gave away the tournament with bogeys at 15 and 16. Gustafson made a testy 3-foot-er to save par at 17 before going to the final hole knowing a birdie would clinch her first LPGA victory.

Her second shot sailed into the bunker alongside the green, but she escaped the sand with a brilliant shot that rolled just left of the flag and spun to a halt four feet away. Gustafson calmly made the putt and claimed the $135,000 winner's check in the tournament she led after all three days. "It's nice that I was able to come back and finish strong," said Gustafson, struggling to get the words out. At a ceremony on the 18th green, tour host Nancy Lopez presented Gustafson with the crystal trophy and spoke on behalf of tho winner to thousands of fans clustered in front of the clubhouse. "Her English is not quite as good as she'd like it to be," Lopez said.

"I'm going to talk for her and tell you some of the things she wants to say you." Lopez joked that Gustafson "must have stopped breathing" as she closed in on her first victory in the United States. Gustafson finally took the microphone and, in halting, dramatic fashion, told the crowd, "Thank you." Then, she handed the microphone back to the host. "1 LOWE I For one day, Spark back for Tigers From Page 1C the most wins and for being a Hall of Famer. But he also could have been introduced as the last Tigers manager with a winning season. That was 1993.

The Tigers, under four managers including Anderson, have had six straight losing seasons since the longest streak in club history. And to keep this season from being the seventh straight losing season, they must go 75-64 the rest of the way. "When people think it's so easy to turn things around like it's being on a Ferris wheel, it doesn't happen," Anderson said. "It takes time. And the only thing I'd say is that you're going to have to be patient.

But it doesn't happen overnight." Poignance infiltrated the appreciative air during the 25-min-ute ceremony for Anderson. His presence provided a reminder how for almost every season of his 17-year Detroit tenure right up until the past few seasons the Tigers continually were respectable and almost always finished with a winning record. Just the other day, Tigers pitcher C.J. Nitkowski said, "We somehow have to find a way to keep our respect, because right now we're not doing enough to be respected." It also felt poignant when Anderson started to speak about 25 minutes before the first pitch, not more than 10,000 from the crowd of 28,435 were there to watch. Anderson's speech lasted about three minutes.

(He's no doubt saving his best stuff for July's Cooperstown induction speech.) During those three minutes, many fans stood in concession lines or diverted themselves at the park's other pleasures, either unaware or uncaring of the lifetime-achievement tribute being given to the director of happier Tigers days. "People think it's so easy to turn things around like it's being on a Ferris wheel." Funny that Anderson should say that. While he spoke Sunday, bzciis era Series: Tigers at Boston, today through Wednesday. Tmby Fox Sports Not, CKLW-AM (800), Tuew! Fox Sports Net, WJR-AM (7li0), Fox Sports Net, CKLW, 7:05. Ts-i-y LHC.

Nitkowski (1-4, 7.18 fcKAJvs. LH Jeff Farosro (2-1 3.54); RH Mark Johnson (0-0, 4.50) vs. RH Brian Rone (1-2, 7.6?); V. iiwisy RH Jeff Weaver (0-3, 6.00) vs. LH Pete Schourek (1-2, 3.33).

homer in the second off Hideo Nomo held up until the Tigers tied it with an unearned run in the seventh. Chicago scored again in the eighth off Nomo and added what appeared to be an insurance run off Todd Jones in the ninth. Fick said the team is eager to start playing well for Garner. "He's a great dude," Fick said. "In the couple of months I've been around him, I can tell he's really going to be great to play for.

"The rest of the players in this clubhouse feel the same way. We've sucked so far, but he's been there for everybody. You don't see him ripping guys in the paper." Fick said that while Sunday's comeback was only one win, it could go a long way toward helping the Tigers escape a 6-17 hole. "We needed to experience that kind of win," Fick said. "It's something this team hasn't done and until you do it, you don't know if you can.

"I think this is something we can build on. I tell you what, it's going to be great getting on that plane (to Boston) with a win like this to celebrate. We've been flying all over America as losers." Contact GENE GUIDI at 313-222-2378. a strained left groin. Catcher-outfielder Chris Turner was called up from Triple-A Columbus.

Jose began his career in 1988 with Oakland. He also played with St. Louis and Kansas City until he was cut in '95. He was 2-tor-2 Saturday. Oakland: Right-hander Kevin Appier (3-2, 4.06) was placed on the 1 5-day DL because of a strained right forearm.

Right-hander Luis Vizcaino was called up from Triple-A Sacramento. mil ii i WED. MAY TUES. JULY AMATEUR "GO WINGS!" DUANE TIGERS I Higgy's hit drops Sox in 12th, 4-3 From Page 1C The Tigers had scored only four runs in 26 innings during the three-game series, so a ninth-inning rally seemed unlikely. "We kept wondering when are we going to put a crooked number up there," said bench coach Bob Melvin, subbing for Garner.

In baseball parlance, a crooked number is usually bigger than the "2" the Tigers scored in the ninth, but Melvin said: "The way we're going, two qualifies as a crooked number." Damion Easley and pinch-hitter Luis Polonia opened the inning with singles and were sacrificed by Shane Halter. Fick, pinch-hitting for Deivi Cruz, dropped a two-run double down the leftfield line to tie it at 3. The Tigers looked poised to win in regulation when they loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. But Juan Encarnacion forced a runner at the plate and Juan Gonzalez flied to deep left-center. Neither team threatened in extra innings until a leadoff walk to Brad Ausmus and a one-out single by Gonzalez set up Higginson's winner.

"It felt good to be able to help the team," Higginson said. "It just happened to be my turn to do it." Magglio Ordonez's leadoff missing the last month of the season with elbow problems. He struck out 233 in lG023 innings. He suffered the injury in his only spring training start last year, and had reconstructive surgery April 8,1999. Cleveland: Centerfielder Jacob Cruz is out for the season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while making a catch against the outfield wall Saturday against Boston.

Starting centerfielder Kenny Lofton was placed on the 1 5-day disabled list with a strained biceps muscle in his left arm. Outfielders Jotbert Cabrera and Mark Whiten were called up from Triple-A Buffalo. Cruz and Lofton join right-hander Bartolo Colon and catcher Sandy Alomar on the DL. Infielder Jeff Manto, waived by Colorado on April 22, signed a minor league contract. Manto played for the Tigers in 1998.

Milwaukee: Right-hander Jaime Navarro refused to report to Triple-A Indianapolis and was released. Navarro (0-5, 12.54 ERA) was designated for assignment Saturday after he allowed six runs and three homers in 2'j innings of a 7-0 loss to Houston on Friday. New York Yankees: Outfielder Felix Jose, who returned to the majors Saturday after a five-year absence, was placed on the 15-day DL with Wood will start TYiesday against Astros OVER SO NUDE INTERNATIONAL TAELE DAHCERS TIGER BUS TRIPS 10th DAY GAME vs. KANSAS CITY ROYALS 18th NIGHT GAME vs. CINCINNATI REDS WITH KEN GRIFFEY, JR.

CALL FOR PACKAGE DETAILS THE HORN FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES CHICAGO Cubs righthander Kerry Wood, who missed last season because of reconstructive elbow surgery, will return Tuesday night against Houston. "I've been waiting for the opportunity to write him down on my lineup card for a long time," manager Don Baylor said Sunday. Wood had been on track to return last week, but he developed a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand in his last rehabilitation start. Wood, 22, tied a major league record with 20 strikeouts against the Astros on May 6, 1998, in only his fifth career start. He fanned 13 more in his next start, setting a record for back-to-back strikeouts in nine-inning games.

Wood finished his rookie season 13-6 with a 3.40 ERA despite Tl' MAX!" I N1LLY SPORTS FANS NO COVER wfTICKET STUBS S10V.I.P. DANCES ALL WEEK LONO DAILY LUNCH SPECIAL FREE V.I.P. COVER PARKING EXCEPT FRI. SAT. NIQHT OPEN Fri.

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