Monday, April 10, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section B · Page 5
Twins beat Royals minus perfect game
The Associated Press
KANSS CITY, Mo. — The first 20 Kansas City batters failed to reach base against Eric Milton. Then it looked like the next 20 would.
"Now," Kansas City's Mike Sweeney said.
"I see why he throw a pitcher last year."
Milton didn't allow a runner until Carlos Beltran's two-out double in the seventh, and the Minnesota Twins hit six homers in a game for the first time since 1993, then hung on and beat the Rovals 13-7 yesterday.
"He was doing whatever the catcher asked him for." Beltran said.
On a day that saw the teams combine for nine home runs, Ron Coomer connected twice for the Twins. Butch Huskey, Jacque Jones, Matt Lawton and Matt LeCroy also homered.
Milton (1-0), a 24-year-old left-hander acquired from the New York Yankees in the Chuck Knoblauch trade, took no-hit bids into the sixth inning three times last year. On Sept. 11, he pitched a no-hitter against Anaheim.
"It's silly to say, but I've been in that position before, and I felt relaxed," Milton said. "By no means am I used to it, but I have been in that position before, and it definitely calmed me down. I had great stuff today, at least 100 times better than I had my previous time out."
Coomer, Jones and LeCroy homered off Brad Rigid during a four-pitch spain in the
sixth, the first time three straight Twins homered since June 7, 1982, when Ron Washington, Tom Brunansky and Kent Hrbek did it, also against Kansas City.
"I got the ball up and got away from what I do well," Rigby said. "I knew if I kept us in the game we could come back. I didn't."
Beltran, Jermaine Dye and Sweeney hit consecutive home runs for the Royals in the eighth — two off Eddie Guardado and one off Hector Carrasco.
"It was nice to hit some balls over the fence," Minnesota manager Tom Kelly said. "Then they started flying out against us."
Minnesota hadn't homed six times in one game since Aug. 15, 1993, at Oakland.
"The ball was carrying pretty good today. We had a lot of guys swinging the bats real well, and so did the Royals," said Lawton, who was three for five with four RBI and lacked only a triple for the cycle.
Kansas City trailed 13-0 entering the eighth, then had nine straight batters reach base.
Milton allowed two runs and four hits in more than seven innings pitched, struck out three and walked none.
"Eric pitched a terrific game. He had all his pitches working, his cutter, his slider." Kelly said. "He was changing speeds masterfully."
Even though they didn't expect to recover from a 13-0 deficit, the Royals were relieved to break up the perfect game.
Vijay Singh wins his first Masters
The Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. — No one ever came farther to get a green jacket than Vijay Singh.
The final leg was an uphill climb to the 18th green yesterday at Augusta National, where Singh completed his troublesome journey around the world and claimed the most prestigious prize in golf.
Singh won the Masters by meeting every challenge from the biggest stars in the game, closing with a 3-under-par 69 and a three-stroke victory against Ernie Els.
Singh rolled in an 18-foot birdie pout on the last hole, kissed the ball as he removed it from the cup and embraced his family. His 9-year-old son, Qass, taped a message to his bag that said, "Poppa, Trust Your Swing."
Singh ignored an early charge by Tiger Woods, and watched David Duval self destruct
At 37, Singh has now won two of the last six major championships, which validates him as one of the
game's top players.
Once a teaching pro in the jungle of Borneo, the 37-year-old from Fiji played tours on five continents and was banned from two of them, one because of a cheating allegation that he long has denied but has haunted him throughout his career.
Singh, who won the PGA Championship at Sahalee in 1998, finished at 278 and
earned
$828,000 in his eighth career victory.
two-time U.S. Open champion, couldn't get a birdie to put on fall the last three holes and shot a four-day total of 281.
The biggest threat came from Duval, but a bogyon on the final hole gave him a 70, and he finished in a tie for third with Loren Roberts.
Woods, trying to pull off the greatest 36-hole comeback in Masters history, was within three strokes of the lead but played evenpar on the back and finished fifth, six strokes back.
Cincinnati's Martin receives Wooden Award
LOS ANGELES — Even without an opportunity to shine in this spring's NCAA tournament, Cincinnati's Kenyon Martin continues to be acknowledged as the men's college basketball player of the year.
The Associated Press
Martin, a 6-foot-9 senior who broke his right leg in Cincinnati's Conference USA tournament first-round game four weeks ago, was a runaway winner of the 24th John R. Wooden Award, presented Friday at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
He previously was honored as player of the year by The Associated Press, the Atlanta
'Tueoff Club and the United States Basketball Writers' Association
"If I could have played, I would trade all this in," Martin said. "Just not being able to help my team, that was the biggest thing. But it is a great honor receiving this award."
The awards handed out earlier were based on the regular season; the 1,047 sportswriters and sportscasters who voted for the Wooden Award had until
March 27 to cast their ballots. By that time, the Final Four had been determined.
"He's the best player I've ever had," said Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins. "He influences the game at both ends, which very few people do. He'll be a great pro, I think. He's got great quickness, he's got great explosion, and he's really got great skills.
"He's a better person than he is a player. He's really a good guy."
Martin, who's still on crutches, figures to be one of the top picks in the upcoming NBA draft.
"I just want to play ball, that's all I'm looking forward to," he said.
A three-time Conference USA defensive player of the year, Martin averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.4 blocked shots this season.
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KANSAS
presents a
FREE ADVANCE SCREENING
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS @ Woodruff Auditorium
8:00 PM Tuesday, April 11
FREE ADMISSION* while passes last
INFO?: call 785-864-3477 www.ukans.edu/~sua
- Pick up passes at SUA Office, Kansas Union, 4th floor, 2 passes per KU I.D. Passes will be distributed from the SUA office the day of the event.
Passes required. Seating is limited and not guaranteed. Please arrive early.
Presented in association with Student Union Activities.
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