Gooden Struggles, Suffers Second Loss
American League
Dwight Gooden struggled in his second straight start for the New York Yankees, and Juan Gonzalez hit a three-run double that led the Texas Rangers to a 10-6 victory Saturday.
Gooden (0-2) was tagged for six runs on nine hits and three walks in 5-1/3 innings in his first Yankee Stadium appearance. He received polite applause when he was pulled.
Indians 14, Red Sox 2
Boston
Albert Belle homered and drove in four runs, leading Cleveland past Boston and sending the error-plagued Red Sox to their worst start in 50 years.
The Red Sox lost their third consecutive game and dropped to 2-8, matching their 1945 start.
Royals 3, Brewers 2
Milwaukee
Michael Tucker’s three-run homer - the only hit off knuckleballer Steve Sparks in eight innings - gave Kansas City a win.
The Brewers put men on the corners with one out in the ninth, but Jeff Montgomery coaxed a double-play grounder from Jose Valentin.
White Sox 6, A’s 5 (12)
Chicago
Tony Phillips’ RBI single in the 12th gave Chicago a win over Oakland.
Orioles 7, Twins 6
Baltimore
Brady Anderson hit a solo homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth and Baltimore rallied from a five-run deficit to defeat Minnesota.
Tigers 9, Angels 5
Detroit
Cecil Fielder hit his major league-leading sixth homer and also doubled as Detroit beat California. Fielder’s double began a four-run sixth that broke a 3-3 tie.
N.J. has stadium plan
New Jersey has sent the New York Yankees a plan for a new stadium, the New York Times reported.
The report was the latest of a flurry of publicity surrounding efforts to find a new home for the Yankees after its lease on the stadium in the Bronx expires in 2002.
The Times said the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority gave George Steinbrenner, the Yankees principal owner, plans for a baseball-only stadium that would hold about 50,000 people and cost about 50 percent less than a multipurpose sports stadium in Manhattan.
Problems in Milwaukee
A meeting of business interests and municipal officials failed to produce assurances that the Milwaukee Brewers can fulfill a pledge to the state for building a ballpark.
“I’m hopeful but I’m a long way from saying we have a deal,” Fritz Ruf, executive director of the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, said after the closed-door talks Friday.
Brewers president Bud Selig said the franchise may leave Wisconsin unless it gets a money-making replacement for County Stadium.
Money matters
Cleveland general manager John Hart announced last week the Indians have withdrawn from talks with free-agent-in-waiting Albert Belle.
The Indians offered Belle a five-year deal worth an estimated $38 million on March 8 that would make him second-highest paid player in the game next to Ken Griffey Jr.
Not quite high enough.
“We gave it a very good shot,” Hart said. “We made what we consider to be a tremendous offer to Albert. We don’t feel we have anything to apologize for. We just couldn’t get a deal done. The direction we were going, we felt it was best to back away.”
Hart still believes a deal can be worked out.
Clearing the bases
Tino Martinez of New York is 0 for 16 at Yankee Stadium. … Frank Thomas, who went 3 for 5 Saturday, has hit in all 10 of Chicago’s games. … After today’s game at Milwaukee, Kansas City begins an 11-day homestand, its longest this season. … Randy Myers, who ranked fourth in the National League last year with an .864 save percentage (38 of 44), was 4 for 4 for Baltimore during opening week… . Detroit has scored 38 of its 76 runs on homers.