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Show Playoffs continue tonight By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NATIONAL LEAGUE: The fans didn't come, the hitter didn' t hit and the ball kept bouncing the wrong way. This wasn' t what the Cincinpati Reds hoped for on the first two day of their NL playoff series against Atlanta. And to make matters worse, next up for the Braves is Greg Maddux. Atlanta beat Cincinnati 6-2 Wednesday night with a fourrWl rally in the 10th inning, giving the Brave a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 cries that resume toni ht in Atlanta. o L team ha ever come back to win a scrie after lo ing the fir t two gam at h me. "It' been frustrating o far. We've had two well-pitched games and could ea ily be up 20 right now," aid Barry Larkin, th lone offensive weapon thus far for Cincinnati. "Being down 2-0 and oing to Atlanta i a tough task. I'm sure people will ay this cries i over, but this team ha been resilient all yea.r." Th y'll have to rebound over the weekend to have any chance at coming back to Cincinnati for Games 6 and 7. The first task will be to get past Maddux, who won 19 game this year and i a hoo-in for his unprecedented fourt h straight Cy Young Award. AMERICAN LEAGUE: Slowly, it seemed the ede was sta.rting to slip away from the Cleveland Indians. The big hit they desperately needed was till missing. In t ad, their !in drive were winding up in the gloves of Ken Griffey Jr. and his teammates. The close call were going again t them. On one play, manager Mike Hargrove came out to question the decisions of two umpire . The fans were root.mg against them, and even tht> scoreboard uied to rob them - Seattle was credited with two runs on the board after the second innin d pite not scoring. "I think there was a e.rtain amount of frusuation that was rising," Hargrove admitted. At least, though, the Indians had two facto.rs in their favo.r: Orel Her hiser and Manny Ramirez. Focusing only on his catcher and unfazed by the large t crowd ever to see the Mariners at the Kingdom , Her hi er came through again. He remained perfect in po t ea on play, pitching the Indians pa t Seattle 5-2 Wednesday night to even the AL playoff at I-all. At 37, Her hiser looked like the best pitcher in baseball, which h once wa . He went eight innings and allowed ju t hits, including Griffey' ixth home run, which matched a po t ea on record. "We looked at thi a ort of a must-win for us," Hershi er said. Mariners looking for state to pay bill The ASSOCIATED PRESS But L wry said approving the $320 million package of state, and l cal contributions will be difficult and could take more Wa hington legislators meet in Olympia today to con ider how tO pay for a $320 million outdoor ballpark that will keep the Mariners in Seattle. The lawmaker were ~ call d into p cial ~ ses ion by Gov. Mike ~ Lowry after he and "' leader of both political 8 parties fa hioned a plan ~ they hope they can sell ~ to rank-and-file The Kingdome in Seattle, Washington lawmakers. than just one day. ''I feel very good, very optimistic we're going to get there," the governor said. The financing plan was work d out afte.r King County voter narrowly defeated a ale -tax increase to raise money for a new stadium. The Mariner since have been drawing record crowds at the K.ingdome by winning the AL West title and battling the Cleveland Indians for the right to go to the World Series. Deion's contract under attack by NFL Jones said the contract follows " This is not about Deion, the salary cap rules completely. what this is about is sticking . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - it to the Dallas Cowboys," Jerry Jones plans to fight the Jones said, adding that he NFL's questioning of expects to win the fig ht. comerback Deion Sanders' Technically, Sanders will $35 million contract, the make the NFL base salary Dallas Cowboy owner said of $178,000 for the first today, adding that he three years, but bis pay will con id rs the league's average $5.5 million per position an attack on his year including his nearly team. $13 million signing bonus. "They're trying to "Sanders' contract is intimidate the Cowboys, structured to avoid the they1rc trying to be a bully. salary cap, a very large We will not 1 t them "'portion which Deion is to intimidate or bully us." ~ receive is for his services The league told the t am to g during the arly years of his renegotiate its deal with § contract," Henderson said. g "The league has already Sanders to fit under the salary cap. The league has ~ approved contracts for conditionally approved the 5:! other players who used the deal, said Harold Henderson, t-- same technique , including the NFL's director of labor Barry Switzer tall<s with Sanders as Andre Rison and Eric league questions his 35 M contract. Allen." relations. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STRAWBERRY BREAKS PAROLE, AGAIN: Darryl Strawberry's impromptu visit to a Manhattan nightclub this week could land him behind bars for violation of the six-month house arrest sentence handed down at his incom tax trial. "We've turned the case over to the probation department," Deputy U .S. Attorney hirab Neiman said ye terday. The New York Yankees outfielder topped inside a Manhattan - - - - - - - - nightclLtb Monday night without pennis ion from hi probation officer. Strawberry was entenced April 24 to ix month house a.rrest foll wing hi guilty plea to a tax eva ion charge. But the night after the Yankees lost their playoff eries to the Seattle Mariner , he topped inside the China Club to visit some teammate , said his agent, Bill Good tcin. TARKANIAN' ON I TROUBLE: Fresno State ba ketball c ach Jerry Tarkanian describ d a n wspaper's report of a di turbance involving his son, a unfair. Tarkanian criticized The Fresno Bee for reporting last Friday's incident and said the story wa sen ationalized and distorted. "lam extremely up et and concerned about what J consider to be unfair coverage of the Fresno State men's basketball program by The Fresno Bee," the coach said. "The situation was unfortunate, but it did not go beyond a shouting match b tween college kids. There were no pLmch s thrown." Police said this w ek that a si tant coach DannyTarkanian and three Fresno State players were searched at gunpoint after someone reported a man with a gun creating a disturb.me outside a Fresno restau.rant. No weapon was found and police made no arrests. Tarkanian said he will not discipline his son or team members. JAZZ RELEASE FOUR PLAYERS: On Wednesday, Utah cut four players following its rookie-free agent camp in Cedar City, trimming the Jazz roster to 14 for the preseason schedule. The Jazz, which begins exhibition schedule today in Albuquerque against Golden State, released Willis Cheaney, a 5-foot-10 guard out of Kentucky-We ]cyan; Terrance O'Kelley, a 6-7 forward from Long Beach State, and Reggie Jackson, a 6-6 forward from Nicholl State. Also cut was Jimmy Oliver, a 6-5 guard who played professional ba ketball in Europe la t season after earlier stints with Detroit and Boston in the NBA. YANKEES PLAN TO PICK UP GOODEN: The New York Yankee , who acquired former Mets Darry] Strawberry and David Cone thi eason, are close to signing Dwight Gooden, according to publi hed reports. Gooden, who ha not pitched in the major leagues ince being su pended on July 28, 1994 for violating his drug aftercare program, negotiated for three days recently with Yankees owner George Steinb.renner, the New York Post and New York Daily News said yesterday. Gooden, who has a career record of 157-85 with a 3.10 ERA and one Cy Young Awa.rd, will reportedly receive a th.ree-year deal with team options for the second and third years. A. J. FOYT WANTS TO RETURN TO RACING: A.J. Foyt is like one of those trick birthday candles. Every time you think you've finally blown it out, the flame pops up again. The 60-year-old Foyt, who tried to come out of a somewhat tentative retirement and race in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in August, fell short in qualifying, but is going to try again in two weeks at Phoenix. The last of his 128 Winston Cup starts came in the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indy in 1994. He has raced only five times since 1990. He suppo edly retired from competition A. /. Foyt in 1992 with a low, tearful lap around his beloved lndianapolis Motor Speedway - - - - - - during qualifying for the Indy 500, a race he won four times. But Foyt, who spends most of his ti.me running his Indy-car team, can't seem to cool his racing itch. "It's just something I've wanted to do for a long time now," Foyt aid of getting back into a race car. |