10B Monday, August 19, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Royals beat Texas against odds
Belcher surrenders just 6 hits; snaps Rangers' 7-game winning streak
The Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Texas — Tim Belcher figured that a seven-game winning streak meant Texas was ripe for a loss.
Belcher pitched a six-hitter against a team that began the night with an AL-leading .292 batting average, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Rangers 4-1 Saturdaynight.
"Sometimes the odds go against you," said Belcher, who beat the Rangers in Arlington for the first time in his career after going 0-3 with a 5.30 ERA. "It's hard to keep long winning streaks going. Sometimes you catch a well-pitched game against you."
Belcher (12-7) walked none and struck out five in his second complete game of the season. Belcher's control was the key. He gave up no walks for the third time this season.
When the Royals signed Belcher as a free agent last winter, they were hoping that the 34-year-old right-hander would provide veteran leadership, but they weren't sure how many wins he could give them. Belcher started the season with a 20-32 record in the AL.
"We expected a .500-type guy but he's been much better than that," Royals manager Bob Boone said. "He's as prepared as any pitcher I've seen. He had a good plan going in and he executed it. He was able to carry his stuff all the way through nine innings. We've seen this kind of performance from him a half a dozen times this season."
Rangers starter Ken Hill (13-7), who had won six of his previous seven decisions, gave up a career-high 13 hits in 7 1/3 innings.
"They don't hit a lot of homers but they hit the ball all over the park," Hill said. "It's frustrating, but they did what they had to do to win the game."
Kansas City scored twice in the fourth for a 2-0 lead. Singles by Bob Hamlin, Craig Paquette and Michael Tucker loaded the bases with no outs. Johnny Damon had a sacrifice fly and Mike
Paquette went 3-for-5 with two runs scored.
Texas scored in the bottom half on an RBI double by Juan Gonzalez.
Sweeney hit an RBI single.
Darryl Hamilton singled and went to third on Rusty Greer's single. Gonzalez bleoped a run-scoring single, then Texas loaded the bases when Paquette bobbled Will Clark's grounder to third base. Belcher got Dean Palmer to ground into a double play to end the threat.
The Royals scored two in the eighth on Damon's sacrifice fly and Sweeney's RBI double.
Kansas City didn't have many hard-hit balls, but the way Belcher was pitching, the Royals didn't need much offense.
"This is as good as I've ever seen him pitch," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "We didn't hit too many balls on the nose. He didn't give in to our hitters."
Palmer continued to struggle at the plate. In addition to hitting into the double play in the fourth, Palmer struck out with runners on first and third in the ninth, ending the game. He's 11-for-60 during his last 15 games.
Oates said. "When he's in a groove, nobody can get him out. Now he's struggling and we have to pick him up."
With the game on the line in the ninth, the Royals hoped Belcher could finish.
"We all know Deano's a streaky hitter."
"Belcher is a horse," Sweeney said. "We were all on the edge of our seats in the ninth inning. We were all really pumped when he struck Palmer out. I'm happy for Timmy."
Notes: Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez did not start because of stiffness in his lower back. Dave Valle started in place of Rodriguez and he threw out Tom Goodwin attempting to steal in the fifth. That broke a streak of 16 consecutive steals by Goodwin, who was last thrown out by Cleveland's Tony Pena on July 16.
Gonzalez had two outfield assists, throwing out Paquette at the plate in the sixth and Tucker at third in the fourth.
The Rangers record for most hits allowed is 14 by Oil Can Boyd and Bobby Witt.
The Rangers extended their errorless streak to 13 games, one short of the AL record. set by California in 1991.
Hamilton has scored 19 runs in his last 19 games.
Missed plays frustrate KC in loss to St. Louis
NFL's No.2 defense falters against Rams in exhibition game
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The sure-touchdown pass St. Louis rookie Eddie Kennison dropped the week before seemed far, far away Saturday night after he caught three scoring passes against Kansas City's tough defense.
"Last week was last week, and I've forgetten about it," Kennison said after the Rams, taking advantage of rare mistakes by Kansas City's defense, rallied for a 34-30 exhibition victory. "We came in here and beat a good team, and I'm sure we were underdogs."
The Chiefs' defense, which was ranked No. 2 in the NFL last year and hadn't yielded a touchdown in nine exhibition quarters, self-destructed with penalties and missed tackles in every TD drive by the Rams (2-1), who scored their most points in an exhibition game since the Los Angeles Rams beat the St. Louis Cardinals 39-7 in 1985.
It was the most points scored against the Chiefs since a 35-17 loss at Cleveland last Sept.24.
Kennison, drafted out of LSU with the Rams' second first-round pick after they took Nebraska running back Lawrence Phillips with their first, caught TD passes of 6,30 and 9 yards.
"It was a lot of fun for all of us," Kennson said. "You look at this locker room, all these guys are smiling. I'm getting there slowly but surely."
"He made some mistakes out there, but he's going to make some big plays," Rams coach Rich Brooks said.
After the Chiefs (2-1) took a 13-0 lead with 5:14 left in the first half, the Rams staged quick scoring drives of 82 and 49 yards.
"The thing that was disappointing to me was the nature of some of our penalties," Chiefs coach Marty Schottenheimer said. "We were involved in the stuff that goes on after the play is over. That's ridiculous. There's no place for that in this business. We'd all better understand and learn from it because there's no excuse for it."
In the Rams' first scoring drive, defensive end Vaughn Booker was flagged 15 yards for a late hit on first down. Next defensive back Dale Carter was cited for an illegal blow to the head, adding 12 yards to Steve Walsh's 27-yard completion to Todd Kinchen.
On second-and-10 from the 12, defensive back Mark Collins was flagged for a personal foul, and Walsh hit Kennison with a 6-yard scoring pass on the next play.
"It's very frustrating," Collins said. "But I'm going to leave the locker room and forget about it, to be honest with you, because it's a preseason game and I really don't care. This was definitely a learning experience."
After a dull, scoreless first quarter, Missouri's two NFL entries combined for 30 points in the second quarter in the resumption of their Governor's Cup series.
Roman Anderson, battling Bjorn Nittmo for the Chiefs' kicking job, connected on a 37-yard with 11:25 remaining. A few minutes later, after a 28-yard punt by the Rams' Sean Landeta, Danan Hughes made a leaping catch for a 34-
yard gain to the 2 to set up Donnell Bennett's TD plunge.
The Chiefs, catching everybody off guard, executed an onside kick a moment later, setting up a 33-yard field goal by Anderson.
After Kennison's score made it 13-7, the Rams scooted 49 yards in just three plays to take a 14-13 lead. Walsh connected with Jermaine Ross for 23 yards and a 17-yard pass interference penalty on Perry Carter put the ball at the one yard line. Walsh floated a scoring pass to Derrick Harris with 1:12 left in the half.
Steve Bono whipped the Chiefs 67 yards in seven plays to set up Nittmo's 25-yard field goal as time expired, putting Kansas City on top 16-14.
With 3:33 left in the third period, Greg Robinson burst up the middle, broke three tackles, and went 41 yards for the Rams' third touchdown.
The Chiefs made it 24-21 less than a minute into the fourth period when Tony Richardson capped a 76-yard drive with a 2-yard run for a touchdown.
tracy Rogers' 15-yard penalty for a late hit helped set up Tony Banks' 30-yard scoring pass to Kennison a few minutes
Barkley may rocket to Houston
The Associated Press
PHOENIX — The Houston Rockets' summer-long pursuit of Charles Barkley is about to bear fruit, according to a published report that says the Phoenix Suns will trade the All-Star forward for four players.
The story said Houston would send point guard Sam Cassell and forwards Robert Horry, Mark Bryant and Chucky Brown to Phoenix. All four players will become free agents after this season.
The Arizona Republic, citing an unidentified source in Houston, reported yesterday that the four-for-one swap likely would be announced today if details could be worked out.
Neither Suns president Jerry Colangelo nor Barkley's agent, Glen Guthrie, could be reached by The Associated Press for comment yesterday. Calls to two sources in Houston were not immediately returned.
Barkley's relationship with the Suns soured last season, and he has said he would retire if the Suns didn't trade him to a contending team.
In an interview with NBC's Bob Costas during the NBA finals in June, Barkley said Houston was among the teams he would consider joining.
The Rockets have aggressively pursued a deal for Barkley this summer. Rumors last month had Barkley going to Houston in a three-way deal that would have sent Horry and Cassell to Denver and free agent center Dikembe Mutombo to Phoenix.
According to the Republic, the Rockets made a new offer to the Suns last week that added Brown to the package of Horry and Cassell. After the deal was rejected, the Rockets agreed to the Suns' demand to add Bryant.
Bryant, an eight-year NBA veteran, would strengthen the Suns' defense and rebounding. Cassell and Horry played key roles in the Rockets' back-to-back world championships in 1994 and 1995.
Horry, 25, was the 11th pick of the draft in 1992 out of Alabama.
Cassell, 26, was the 24th player taken in the first round of the 1993 draft.
Barkley, 33, has two years left on his contract, which pays him $4.6 million next season. The combined salaries of the four Houston players are within the allowable 15 percent of Barkley's salary, which brings the reported deal into compliance with the league's salary-cap restrictions.
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