Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Tuesday August 13 2002 — A9 &DMDb®ir fltoir Middling Giants need to heat up IM Sosa hits SAN FRANCISCO ( AP) — Barry Bonds' chase after his 6(X)th home run last week disguised a discomfiting fact of life for his team! while Bonds was certain to gel his homer the San Francisco Giants are no sure thing to make the playoffs The Giants haven't yet made the second-ha- lf surge that has characterized manager Dusty Baker's previous two clubs which were a combined 95-5- 6 after the All-Stbreak — the NL's best mark over that period In 2(XX) San Francisco rose all the way to baseball's best In 2001 the record at 97-6- 5 Giants missed the playoffs but ' gave another fine effort finishing two games behind eventual world champion Arizona in the NL West and three games behind St ' Louis in the wild card race This summer the Giants are 16-1-4 since the break losing 10 of their last 19 games despite a 4-- 2 homestand against the Cubs and Pittsburgh “It's getting to the point where we've got to turn it around and start either catching Arizona or taking control of this wild card race” said Jeff Kent 'whose torrid hitting helped carry San Francisco ' " through nearly a month of inconsistent offense and starting pitching San Francisco opens a six- - ' game road trip on Tuesday night with the first of three games against Atlanta which has the majors' best record at 77-4- 0 before three weekend games at Florida With seven weeks left in the regular season San Francisco MLB-be- st 40th homer in victory The Associated Press By losing for the fifth time in six games the Pirates are a seaso- Scott Rolen hit a three-ru- n homer and Albeit Pujols drove in four runs as the St Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-- 6 Monday at night Rolen who was (ISO) in his first 1 1 games after being traded July 29 laarrmr teEBB " i 14 n-low 52-6- games under 500 The game started 62 minutes late because of rain Winner Jason Simontacchi (8-had gone six starts without a victory since defeating San Diego 4-- 1 on July 3 He had been 0-- 3 with a 745 ERA in that stretch The Pirates scored three runs in the first before Rolen’s 19th home run tied it at 3 in the fourth It came off Brian Meadafter Edgar Renteows (0-ria’s single and the first of Jim Edmonds's two doubles The Cardinals broke the tie with a four-ru- n fifth inning JD Drew Fernando Vina and Edgar Renteria hit consecutive singles for the first run Edmonds had an RBI single off reliever Joe Beimel and Pujols doubled in the last two runs Martinez hit a solo home run his 14th in the seventh off Josias Manzanillo Pujols’ 26th home run came ' 4? 6 4) i from Philadelphia to the Car' dinals has now homered and driven in three runs in two straight days Pujols had three hits double including a two-ru-n and a two-ru-n homer Tino Martinez also homered as the Cardinals stretched ' their NL Central lead to 2 12 games over idle Cincinnati with their fourth win in five games St Louis had lost five in a row on the road Brian Giles hit his 30th ' home run for Pittsburgh After 3) ‘ Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen trots around third base after blasting starter Brian Meadows in the fourth inning Monday in Pittsburgh off Brian Boehringer and gave St Louis a 10-- lead Cubs 9 Astros ( Sammy Sosa connected again hitting his major g 40th home run and No 490 of his career but it wasn’t enough as the Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs 6 Monday night 6 league-leadin- 9-- Sosa now has five home runs and 16 RBIs in three games Coming off a big weekend at Coors Field his shot made him only the third player in NL history with five straight seasons twb-ru-n er a three-ru- n late-seas- on AP photo homer off Pirates Rockies 1 Marlins 0 Jason Jennings became the winningest rookie in Colorado history and Todd Hcllon hit an RBI double as the Rockies beat A J Burnett and the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium lost despite Burnett ( 1 and pitching a four-hittHe leads the out nine striking NL with six complete games Jennings (13-5- ) surpassed Armando Reynoso's franchise record of 1 2 wins by a rookie in 1993 The only run scored in the fourth Larry Walker drew a one-owalk and scored on Helton’s double to left field Hall of Famers Ralph Kiner and Duke Snider ) (1953-57- ) also accomplished the feat In a game in which Cubs and ace Kerry Wood (9-Houston pitcher Roy Oswalt (14-- 6) were both ejected the Astros took a 9-- 2 lead and held on Daryle Ward led the Astros with three RBIs and a career- high four hits finishing a triple away from hitting for the cycle Jeff Bagwellarid Ward hit consecutive homers and Brad Ausmus added a pair of RBIs for Houston (1947-51- 6) 9) er ut Appier blanks Tigers By The Associated Press Scott Spiezio and Garret ' Anderson hit consecutive homers and Kevin Appier pitched three-h-it ball into the seventh inning as the Ana- heim Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 7-- 0 Monday night The Angels’ third straight victory and 1 1th shutout of the season increased their lead in the AL wild card race to a full game over Boston and 2 12 games over Oakland Anaheim trails Seattle by two games in the West Appier (10-9- ) struck out three and walked four in 6 AP photo 2--3 v innings against Detroit of Darin Ochoa he of Erstad out as Alex the right jumps prepares last in the AL in Walks way Angel to throw to second base to get Detroit's Randall Simon during the second 'runs homers andon-bas- e inning at Edison Field Monday percentage Date Continued from A8 ing with more listening in on a telephone conference call Fehr said players didn’t want to have a public confrontation so close to the anniversary of last year’s terrorist attacks “Sure it’s a factor” hie said “Players understand Sept 11 Half were on the road when it hit” Last week both sides agreed on a $100000 raise in the minimum salary to $300000 and to mandatory random testing for steroids But they are still apart bn the key issues of increased revenue sharing among the teams and management’s desire clubs fora luxury tax on high-payr- recent weeks and have narrowed they differences “You establish a date when you believe it is essential to reach an agreement bearing in mind that a strike is the last thing the players want And we are not at that point yet” Fehr said ' Fehr said his membership was willing to wait until Friday before considering the question of a strike date again That gives negotiators three days to make sure the talks are still marking progress 'even if only on side issues “I think both Rob Manfred the ' oll “Ithinkboth parties have shown flexibility in an attempt - togettoacommon ground with respect to those core economic have shown flexibility in 'issues” Manfred said ' owners’top labor ' Tehr spoke with lawyer said sqid he commissioner Bud Selig thought ft was possible common ground with before the meeting but togetan agreement i ' “in the very near core declined to reveal to future” details of the conversa' economic “Wetookforwardto tkxi “We talked about ' n 7 7 the overall situation ia getting back to the bargaining (able and hope Rob Manfred bargaining the hopes ' we can reach a negotiowneru’ toplaboc lawyer we had as to what might ated agreement without transpire in die next few any need for the inter- 'days” Fehr said At ballparks players were relieved a ruptkni of die Reason” he said “Both deadline had been put off i parties feel pressure to teach an agree-me- nt because of the enormity of the harm “Everybody is a winner if we can get : that wqukl be caused by a strike” through this dung without setting a strike A strike date seemed inevitable once the dateCokndo’s Larry WaOtertuud executive board scheduled a meeting fo Crawford Tbxas White House Making it aeem even mote ootinous was deputy press secretary Scott McClelland said a strike “would be a terrible thing to have happen” Plnesident Bush the former owner m the Thxas Rangers has “not been games and a Worid Series The 1994 strike Involved in any way" McClellan said lasted 232 days and was foe longest stop-pag“But it is clear” he added “that a' in the history ofUS major sports strike would be unfortunate and terrible ' for baseball fans across America and Twenty of 3Q teams were off Monday parties an attempt to get e those respect issues" - 1 e and about 50 players attended the meet- -' the president is an avid baseball fan” sinHe gave up a two-oin walks and two the gle seventh before A1 Levine struck out Brandon Inge Loaiza (56) last won on Levine and Steve Shields the road May 31 at Detroit four-hittcombined io finish the He allowed just seven hits sending the Tigers to while striking out three and their seventh shutout ' walking two The Tigers tied a season Kelvim Escobar allowed high with three errors and leadoff a triple to Terrence total to a raised their season in ninth before finish- -' Long league-leadin- g 102 major ing for his'24lh save in 30 surpassing theMets opportunities Mark Redman (7-1was Aaron Harang (4-gave charged with six runs — five earned — and nine hits up two rups on five hits in four-plinnings failing ' over seven innings He walked one and struck out to retire any of the four batr five-ruIt was his loss in nine n faefed one he a ters during ' starts since June 15 fifth er 0) 3) us - i ' has the fourth-be- By Jim Lltka AP Sports Writer See GIANTS on A10 - CHICAGO — It was the right ' thing to do Whether the baseball players passed up setting a strike date for the right reasons is something different altogether ' Maybe foe ballplayers heard the constant grumbling by fans in those increasingly quiet ballparks Maybeuot Maybe they read the reports about all the jobs disappearing along with a handful of ballclubs teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and feel they’re lacking in chutzpah leverage or unity at ' the moment to draw a line in the infield dirt enormity of the harm that would be caused by strike” he said during a conference call moments after the union meeting broke up “We view this as an opportunity:" Fehr has hardly limited his tar- get audience to management types He might be a lawyer by r knows there are training times when splitting hairs is the last thing yoy want to do ' To a large number of fans setting a strike date means there is going to be a strike They won’t be bothered with distinctions when millionaires fight billionaires for a revenue pie that would feed Third World ' nations' Fans 'don’t 'want to hear ' but-Feh- —Commentary i “ ' ‘ ' w table That’s the beauty of doing nothing in this instance The effect is the same ' It’s now up to the owners to match the good-fait- h gesture And dangerous as optimism is around this bunch there's reason to think this round of negotiations will end better than the disastrous Work stop- -' page that wiped out the end of the 1994 season and the World Series "This isn’t 1994 both sides sticking their chests out” Jeff Bag-we- ll of foe Astros said in Houston “You’re talking about all the mil' lions of dollars all over the place but if there’s no fans at the games because of a work Stoppage then there’s no money for anybody “We want to play baseball That’s what Ve do We’ve done'a lot of good to get the game back to where it is I think it’s a very spe- cial time in the game Who wants " : about desperate measures from men making each year what most of them Won’t make in a lifetime So when someone asked how riiuch impact public opinion may have had in Monday’s1 decision Fehr said “Player are obviously cognizant bf the fan’s thinking They hear from the fans read what papers listento you writc in toward what you put on radio andTV” whSeS trigone instead But then the lawyer in Fehr sur--' the gesture as a sign of weakness v faced Don“If they do” union chief V that's a different courre “Of ald Fehr said “I’d suggest they deterthan whether one don’t know much about their plac- ' question mines a position with public rekh ers And I’d be astohifoed if any- tions as (hie first point of reference” in the commissioner’s office body Again it doesn’t matter whether : interprets it that way”1 they acted $it of mercy in the spir- As if on cue management’s top oif foe labor lawyer Rob Manfied said there it cooperation because of good feelings the game generated was no chance of that happening in the 'wakeofSepLil or because “Both parties fed pressure to union leadership simply blinked reach an agreement because of the It couldhe that their leadership feels there’s nyt enough cash in the union’s strike fund to call the owners’ bluff at this exact moment Or it could be th& cooler heads simply prevailed 'The reasons almost don't matter Hie union left its harqmer on the table Monday and extended hand st record in the league — but Arizona’s division lead stands at a healthy 7 12 games over Giants who ‘are the third-plac- e a half-gam-e behind Los Angeles in the wild card standings Injuries seem to be the primary culprit in the Giants’ recent mediocrity Just three weeks ago San Francisco's entire starting outfield — Bonds Reggie Sanders and Tsuyoshi Shinjo — was sidelined by hamstring injuries As Bonds and Sanders gradually returned the Giants acquired Kenny Lofton in a trade with theWhite Sox — and he sat out San Francisco's final two games against the Union’s hammer left on ' i (65-5- 2) -3 T i Blue Jays 2 Athletics 1 Esteban Loaiza allowed one run in 7 innings to win bn the road for the first time in six starts leading Toronto over Oakland ut -- ar to rtin that?” i ( We’ll find out soon enough k Fehr said his nietnbership wad ' willing to wait 'until Friday before considering the question of a strike date again That gives negotiators three day's to make sure the talks ' are still marking progress even if '' ' only on side issues He won’t let the hariimer out of his $ight then The playerscan afford td be V' generous now and the owners gracious in return: But sooner or later foe only issues left on the table will be revenue sharing and luxury taxes Then the sides won’t be arguing over public opinion or foe moral high ground They’ll be arguing about dollars and cents |