Pottsville Republican from Pottsville, Pennsylvania • 16

16 POTTSVILLE (PA.) REPUBLICAN EVENING HERALD MONDAY, MAY 5, 2003 Phillies take 2 of 3 from Padres Sports briefing imi 1 win. Cormier's solid relief keys Sunday's win schuvlkill -2r: if 828-60O0453-10O0 462-3001. 647-7575 Info e89-2oo362-4oob CONNECT 773-2211 345-3200 BY BERNIE WILSON Associated fwt National League om Link to AP THE For the latest sports news Wi Local Sports Digest 2000 Sports Headlines 2091 IRE SAN DIEGO Philadelphia reliever Rheal Cormier has been untouchable since his first appearance of the season, when he allowed five runs In one Inning. Cormier helped preserve the Philadelphia Phillies' 3-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday, coming on with the bases loaded and no outs In the seventh and retiring the side. "He went above and beyond what he had to do," said winner Randy Wolf, who pitched Into the seventh, reached base twice and scored once as the Phillies took two of three from San Diego.

Wolf (4-2) and four relievers combined on a three-hitter. The Phillies had just five hits, one a double by Wolf. Wolf allowed one run and two hits, struck out six and walked three. He allowed only two runners as far as second through six Innings, then opened the seventh by allowing a a single by Brian Buchanan and walking Mark Kotsay, the first time the Padres had two runners In the same Inning. Terry Adams came on and walked pinch-hitter Ryan Klesko on four pitches, loading the bases.

In came Cormier, who got pinch-hitter Michael Rivera to ground Into a double that scored Buchanan, and Lou Merloni hit an inning-ending comeback-er. "It's not the greatest of situations to come Into," Cormier said. "One bad pitch can change the whole game. I was fortu- nate enough to come In and throw a ball down and the guy rolls over for a double play and I get the next guy out," Cormier has not allowed a run In 13 Innings In his nine appearances since allowing five runs In the seventh Inning of an 8-3 loss at Florida on April 3. "I remember his first outing back In Philly after that first outing, he wasn't greeted too well," Wolf said.

"It's good to see him really handle It, and come back and keep on throwing strikes. I think ev-. erybody In this clubhouse is happy he's bounced back like that. He's done a great Job now for a while." So has the entire Philly staff. It was the third time In the last four games that a Phillies pitcher worked out of a bases-loaded jam.

"Where we are In wins and losses is right now 85 percent because of the pitching," manager Larry Bowa said. "They've done a great job." Jose Mesa pitched a perfect ninth for his ninth save In 11 chances. Philadelphia Is 4-3 on a West Coast trip that continues with three games at Arizona. The Phillies won 5-4 Saturday night in 10 innings. R-Phillies 4 Curve 2 READING Bud Smith allowed just two hits over seven Innings as the Read- Associated Press Philadelphia's Placldo Polanco crosses the plate past San Diego catcher Wlkl Gonzalez during the fifth Inning of the Phillies' 3-1 win Sunday.

ing Phillies beat the Altoona Curve Sunday In the Eastern League. Smith (1-1) allowed two runs, walked four and struck out four. Dan Giese pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save. Smith took a no-hitter into the fourth and a one-hitter Into the eighth before Ray Na-varrete hit a two-run homer. National League changes rookie honor CHICAGO (AP) Zach Day Isn't the NL rookie of the month for April, after all.

One day aftor the Montreal Expos right-handor was picked as the NL rookie for April, the honor was rescinded and given Instead to Chicago Cubs first baseman Hee Seop Choi. It turns out Day spent a few days too many In the majors last season to still be considered a rookie. Day was 2-1 with a 2.48 ERA In April. But he began the season with 81 days of major league service Including 52 days before Sept. 1, According to rules established by the Baseball Writers Association of America, rookies cannot exceed 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched, or have been on an active roster for more than 45 days before Sept.

1. Baker's son cheered after Wrigley singing CHICAGO (AP) Darren Baker is more than Just a cute bat boy. He can sing, too. The 4-year-old son of Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker sang Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at Sunday's game against Colorado, drawing loud cheers from a standing crowd. Darren sang at the Cubs' convention this winter, and team officials asked if he'd do it again Sunday as part of "Dusty Baker Beanie Baby Day." And Darren fared much better than some of the adults who've been guest conductors during the seventh inning stretch.

Wearing a Cubs cap and a red sweatshirt, he said he wasn't nervous at all. He said he's been practicing "a long, long time," and he knew all the words to the song. His mom, Melissa, held him as he stood on a countertop so fans could see him, and she sang along with the rest of the fans. Dad was singing, too, and he waved to Darren in the pressbox when his son finished. Eustachy faces deadline for appeal DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Iowa State basketball coach Larry Eustachy has until today to appeal the athletic director's recommendation that he be fired.

Eustachy, the Cyclones' coach for five years, has been consulting with his attorneys since then and has said he would fight to keep his job. One of the lawyers wouldn't say Sunday whether Eustachy would file an appeal. Athletic director Bruce Van De Velde suspended Eustachy and urged the university to fire him after it was reported that the coach partied and drank with college students in Columbia, and Manhattan, following games in those cities. pirffiUHlISS fill iESSt uster wins id's old seat lit tooK inn mi mi wirnnr nin.i.i.nirni twn Associated Press Tony Stewart, right, talks to a rescue worker after crashing during Saturday night's NASCAR Pontiac Excitement 400 race at Richmond International Raceway. Nemechek gambles, wins Pontiac Excitement 400 sis lis ilis Riist uoleEs lEFila lis eiscl Reach over 62,000 Schuylkill County adults every day and almost 69,000 Schuylkill County adults on the weekends with The REPUBLICAN Herald.

position, Nemechek got the lead with 71 laps to go and kept going. After nine full seasons and parts of others where missing pit stops, running into debris or just miscalculating somewhere along the line has cost him, Nemechek got his late-race wish. "We just needed something not to go wrong," Nemechek said. Robby Gordon finished fourth, followed by Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Matt Ken-seth, Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton and Rusty Wallace. Tracy earns pole for CART race WEST KINGSDOWN, England Paul Tracy's run at CART history will start from the pole position at the London Champ Car Trophy.

Tracy will try to become the first CART driver to win the first four races of the season today at Brands, Hatch. The Player's Forsythe driver will start from the pole for the first time since the Michigan 500 in 2000. This season, Tracy won the first three races starting from the second spot on the grid. Tracy's provisional time held up through Sunday's qualifying, giving the Canadian his 14th career pole. It's also his first pole on a road course since '94 at Laguna Se-ca, a race he won.

NASCARFrom Page 11 sped off and still seemed to have the race in hand, Had the race gone back to green after a red-flag rain delay, runner-up Labonte said he thought Nemechek would have won anyway, so hooked up was his Hendrick Motors-ports Chevrolet. "This car was unbelievable tonight," Nemechek gushed. "I could go high or low, from the top to the bottom, run across the apron I could do anything I wanted to do. "When you get a car that good, you've got to takad-vantage of it." That he did was something of a surprise after a miscom-munication with crew chief Peter Sospenzo found him driving past the pit road entrance while everyone behind him pitted. Nemechek had the lead at the time, but pitting three laps later shuffled him all the way back to 25th, essentially the back of the field with just 173 laps to make up the difference.

Sospenzo took the blame for the mistake. "He redeemed me by passing a lot of cars," the crew chief said. "He proved how good of a race car driver he is tonight. There's no question about it. I'm real proud of what he did." Choosing not to pit when most others did with 100 laps to go, and taking two tires on an earner stop to gain track Pottsville Euentag tf epublican SCHUYLKILL COUNTY'S NEWSPAPER Contact your sales consultant or display advertising at 628-6060, 462-4050, or 668-2428 Mennenga Associates.

Fall 2000 1.