The Modesto Bee from Modesto, California • 5

FIRST EDITION Sports Sortie by Rangers 3 Larry Minner Sports Editor a strikeout Charlie Hough called it the 10-10 Witt said go out there trying to do that stuff It just When the strange stuff ended the sat in collective frustration blankly considering work He has constructed a reputation on wildness all with a repertoire of lively pitches performance touched both poles Until cornered into a sufficiently dangerous situation pitches sailed everywhere Then suddenly they acquired direction and purpose The ultimately By RON KROICHICK McClatchy News Service OAKLAND Welcome to Bobby wacky world of pitching No discrimination here We accept all kinds of pitches high low outside inside Even nasty sliders on the corner Logic has no place in this world Just ask the firsthand witnesses Saturday at the Coliseum They put 14 runners on base against Witt 15 in all They still lost 3-2 to the Texas Rangers It somehow made no sense walks 10 strikeouts and we Rickey Henderson said wrong" i Update Page C-5 Ten walks 10 strikeouts That was bizarre line on a sparkling sunny day by the Bay He stretched his winning streak to 1 1 games despite escorting free group tours to first base Once in the second inning Witt dispensed with any notions of creativity He simply walked the bases full Big deal Then he blew a fastball past Mike Galle-go to end the threat Twice more the loaded the bases against Witt Each time he escaped with stranded 13 runners you throw 18 pitches outside the area code and then paint the corner with two Oakland's Carney La re ford said how you get away with that If Witt deserved some credit hit also owned plenty of blame Jose Canse co struck out three times again earning a chorus of boos from the home crowd Except for Lansford and Harold Baines every member of the lineup struck out at least once So hitting coach Merv Rettenmund reduced his analysis oi See Page C-5 Giants all but out of it after loss The Associated Press Mets catcher Charlie obtained from Milwaukee on Friday makes tag on Matt Williams Vols show No 8 Tennessee runs UOP no mercy to 55-7 victory in opener Tale of 2 teams I could have been the best of times a I vast tableau of postseason precognition for the Giants and Now the outlook is only half-vast It was to be the week of decision: The at Fenway Park for an American League playoff preview against the Red Sox he Giants against Cincinnati at Candlestick with the National League West title at stake Now however the only way anyone will notice the the Giants-Reds series is if Roger Craig and Lou Piniella spew more epithets at each other or if Piniella attempts to break his world basethrowing record In Boston they are already buzzing about a Dave Stewart-Roger Clemens re-re-rematch Tuesday Good Even though Boston was the only team to take a season series from the last year and even though Clemens is 20-5 this season two of the five losses have been to Stewart If Stewart is to keep his slim Cy Young hopes alive another head-to-head win Tuesday is imperative But first how about those roster changes? I know I was pleased I always thought they had one too many Joses and Hendersons What it meant too was that the Modesto Alumni Association was kept busy working overtime to track all the moves All five players shipped out in the Willie McGee and Harold Baines acquisitions did time here: Felix Jose Stan Royer Darryl Green Joe Bitker and Scott Chiamparino The other half of the local angle is that Modestan Ray promotion to St Louis last Tuesday made it possible Lankford took over in center field for the Cardinals and made McGee prematurely expendable What a deal! For the cost of a back-up outfielder and four minor-leaguers the emboldened bought themselves a second straight World Series two 31-year-old four-time all-Stars with good attitudes and sweet swings The upshot: could spend the rest of the season with 1990 batting champions hitting back to back at the top of the lineup and a lefty batting cleanup alleviates some of the pressure on Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire The Giants meanwhile are in a funk Even skipper Craig the ultimate optimist is wavering is running he concedes So while all the contenders in all four major-league divisions made trades to beat Friday's deadline the Giants kept their heads In addition to twin killing the Red Sox picked up reliever Larry Andersen the Reds got infielder Billy Doran the Mets acquired Tommy Herr in time for him to homer against San Francisco and the Pirates traded for Carmelo Martinez (OK so the Pirates made a mistake At leasl they tried) What did the Giants do while all this news was swirling around them? They announced that somebody named Paul McClellan will start today The past week was the season in microcosm for the Giants and A week in the life: Monday: Both teams had byes (good news for the Giants) Tuesday: The A's beat Kansas City 3-2 he ninth the Giants lose 5-2 at Montreal and Craig says looked like a class Class-B team" Wednesday: The lose the Giants hit two homers in the ninth to beat Montreal 6-5 and arouse false hopes Thursday: The win 6-5 in the ninth the Giants lose 12-2 Friday: The win 4-2 the Giants lose 4-3 after leading 3-1 with two out in the ninth Saturday: The lose 3-2 by squandering 1 1 walks the Giants lose 6-5 on homer Outfielder Dan Pasqua knew trades were the death knell for his White Sox and he like the take-noprisoners attitude else did they get" he snapped Mitchell and Cecil The payroll for next year already is approaching $30 million without signing free-agents McGee and Bob Welch In the A's clubhouse Canseco is bracketed by the new arrivals cubicle is next to him on the left and is on his right Before game against the Royals Canseco looked up from his locker and saw Bo Jackson visiting with McGwire and Rickey Henderson we got Bo he asked No 'jjoubt the woulhave if they had a place to play him College Football AP TOP 25 7 Nebraska 13 Baylor 0 8 Tennessee 55 Pacific 7 10 Clemson 59 Long Beach 0 13 Texas 28 Hawaii 13 15 Virginia 59 Kansas 10 16 BYU 30 UTEP 10 18 Pittsburgh 35 Ohio 3 25 Virginia 35 Kent St 24 OTHER SCORES San Jose St 10 Louisville 10 (tie) Fresno St 41 Michigan 10 Sac St 22 Texas St 12 Montana 22 Oregon St 15 Washington St 21 TCU 3 Fullerton St 38 Sonoma St 34 Utah 19 Utah St 0 New Mexico 29 Mexico St 12 Colorado St 35 Air Force 33 Maryland 20 Virginia Tech 13 Kentucky 20 Cent Michigan 17 Carolina St 67 Carolina 0 DetailsIPage C-3 play that bad against a team as good as they Harris said are a lot stronger but we didn't roll over and let the score get to 70 or 80 like some teams do We fought and fought and found a way to The Tigers were unable to muster much offense against the Volunteers (1-0-1) of the Southeastern Conference who scored at will even with their reserves offense cross the 50-yard line until early in the second quarter and that drive ended with a punt UOP which concentrated on the pass during a 2-10 season last year started with Troy Kopp at quarterback until he injured his left shoulder The Tigers switched to Daryl Hobbs and finally See Page C-3 PACIFIC The Associated Press KNOXVILLE Tenn The outcome was expected but it still pretty for the University of the Pacific Tailback Chuck Webb ran eight yards for a touchdown less than two minutes into the game igniting a 31 -point first period that carried No 8 Tennessee to a 55-7 victory over the Tigers Saturday night With a crowd of 94467 looking on the Volunteers were simply too much for Pacific settling the outcome early in Walt return to Knoxville Harris was offensive coordinator for six years before taking the head coaching position at Pacific last season If there was any consolation for Pacific in its season opener it was that the defeat might have been worse Giants Update Page C-5 By NICK PETERS McClatchy News Service NEW YORK The bruised and battered San Francisco Giants continued to self-destruct Saturday against the streaking New York Mets making monumental blunders and losing for the fifth time in six games Lapses by starting pitcher John Burkett and shortstop Jose Uribe gave the Mets a 4-0 lead after two innings and a 6-5 victory With Pittsburgh losing to Houston Saturday night the Mets moved into first place in the National League East by a half-game By losing the Giants virtually dropped out of the NL West race A crowd of 42018 at Shea Stadium watched as the Mets improved to 5-0 on this home stand when left-hander John Franco squirmed out of the ninth inning for his 31st save matching Jesse team record Giants Manager Roger Craig made it easier for Franco by nearly exhausting his bench Consequently with no catchers left Terry Kennedy was allowed to face Franco and he hit a check-swing grounder to the mound for the final out The Giants fell 9' games out of first See Page C-5 GIANTS The Associated Press George Allen makes his debut for Long Beach St 49ers bothered by the way they lost to Seattle 49ers Update Page C-2 By JIM JENKINS McClatchy News Service SANTA CLARA You could have interrupted the calm at the San Francisco 49ers' training complex Saturday with the drop of a pin A few veterans sat around talking quietly while most players made themselves scarce for interviews A 1-3 preseason record can have that effect on a team especially a two-time defending Super Bowl champion that opens its regular season in eight days It so much that the 49ers lost their exhibition finale 30-10 to Seattle on Friday As nose tackle Fred Smerlas put it the way you Coming from Buffalo as a Plan free agent this year Smerlas is new to the 49ers Still' the former All-Pro is well See Page C-2 49ERS Inside RAY STEWART seeking his first PGA Tour win leads by three in the Milwaukee Open Page C-6 T- Three seeds lose Graf Capriati get rematch Open notes Page C-8 By STEVE WILSTEIN The Associated Press NEW YORK Brad Gilbert wobbled wearily to the end Michael Chang saved three match points before succumbing and Goran Ivanisevic simply quit trying as three more seeds tumbled from the US Open on Saturday Defending champion Boris Becker avoided the same fate beating Tomas Carbonell 6-4 6-2 6-2 in a night match to set up a fourth-round match against surprising Australian Darren Cahill Jennifer Capriati and Steffi Graf skirted the upset that befell Monica Seles in the third round and set up a rematch of their Wimbledon clash Capriati never a shy teen says up" and set to attack the suddenly vulnerable Graf in the renewal of their growing rivalry Capriati 14 the youngest player to reach the round of 16 in US Open history played superbly while beating US 6-4 the On be until the Reinach first only set The once early Stefan Gomez ranked Brad in wore Maria Standlund 6-1 before a packed crowd on stadium court the more intimate grandstand court though slice backhand seemed to attracted to the net and her powerful forehand soared frequently beyond the baseline she found her rhythm in third set to beat Elna 6-4 3-6 6-1 In Graf's two victories she dropped six games without losing a seeds struggled more adding to the list of victims that includes No 1 Edberg No 5 Andres and No 16 Martin Jaite Amos Mansdorf of Israel 41 knocked out No 8 Gilbert 5-7 5-7 6-3 7-5 6-1 a four-hour match that down Gilbert until he was See Page C-8 OPEN The Associated Press Andre Agassi returns volley to Franco Davin during their third-round match Saturday.