Gary Sheffield

Astros: Jack Howell was sent to a hospital for X-rays after colliding with Vladimir Guerrero on a play at first.Cardinals: Mark McGwire has 407 home runs, tied for 24th place with Duke Snider. McGwire's upper-deck shot was the first at Veterans Stadium this year. ... McGwire's 45 multihomer games put him 10th place all-time. Ron Gant led off, the first time he's done that since 1996.Cubs: Third baseman Kevin Orie did not play because of back spasms. Jim McMahon, who quarterbacked the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl championship in 1985, led the seventh-inning stretch.

AMERICAN LEAGUE He said it "The fans in Detroit were great, but Cleveland is just so special." Rocky Colavito, dealt by Indians to Tigers in controversial 1960 trade, after being honored yesterday as one of the top 100 Indians On deck The Yankees will receive their World Series rings today. NATIONAL LEAGUE He said it "[Barry Bonds] told me what kind of numbers I could put up to get in the Hall of Fame. Five or six hundred home runs - I think I can do that pretty easy." Gary Sheffield, Dodgers outfielder who has hit 301 On deck Andy Benes will throw another simulated game Tuesday before returning to the Cardinals rotation Saturday.

* Rockies catcher Joe Girardi is a Wednesday type of guy, judging by his statistics on this particular day of the week. He's hitting .750 (12-for-16), with nine RBIs.* With the promotion of shortstop Alex Rodriguez to the majors, the Mariners have six former first-round picks on its roster - Ken Griffey, Tino Martinez, Ron Villone, Dan Wilson, Joey Cora and Rodriguez.* In a three-game series in Colorado last week, the Dodgers scored 35 runs, batting .393 with eight doubles, five triples and five homers.

New York Yankees@Orioles Day .......................... Time ........... TV .....................................Starters Tonight .................... 7:05 ......... CSN ................ Jaret Wright (3-3, 4.30) ............................................................................. vs. Kris Benson (6-4, 4.80) Tomorrow .............. 4:35 ............ 13 .............. Randy Johnson (7-4, 5.37) ......................................................................... vs. Adam Loewen (0-0, 9.64)

SEARCHING FOR A WIN Koji Uehara left Wednesday's game after the fifth inning with a 4-2 lead and again ended up with a no-decision. Uehara, who allowed two runs on seven hits, is 0-4 with five no-decisions in his past nine games. Wednesday's potential win evaporated quickly when reliever Brian Bass entered in the sixth and allowed a one-out homer to Gary Sheffield and two singles and a walk before being pulled. Mark Hendrickson then walked Alex Cora with the bases loaded to tie the score at 4. TRYING TO BE TRICKY After Ryan Church's leadoff bunt single in the fourth, Sheffield hit a routine pop-up to the left side of the infield.

Being careful so as not to plug the competition, we note that a certain weekly sports magazine that also introduced the sneaker phone to the American lexicon offered up 12 players aged 25 or younger as the new breed of stars in its preview issue. So, how are some of the baseball Generation Xers doing? Winners and Losers picks over half the crop this week.PLAYERS ... ... ... ... ... ... COMMENTJuan Gonzalez ... .. Winner ... Lower BA and fewer HR's... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... than Canseco, but fewer reckless driving.

Arizona Diamondbacks Manager: Buck Showalter 1999 record: 100-62, first place No. 1: When was the last time a third-year expansion team arrived at spring training looking to improve on a 100-win season? No. 2: How in the world did Randy Johnson lose nine games? No. 3: With Jay Bell, Matt Williams and Steve Finley playing key roles, is this young franchise in danger of growing old prematurely? No. 4: Will Todd Stottlemyre, who passed up surgery to repair a shoulder tear, get through spring training, much less the season?

ATLANTA - After all was said and done and the Chicago Cubs had clinched their first postseason series victory since the 1908 World Series, Kerry Wood, Carlos Zambrano and Mike Remlinger ran out to the stands of Turner Field and began dousing the fans with champagne. After a 5-1 victory over Atlanta in Game 5 of their National League Division Series that delivered the Cubs into the NL Championship Series, it was time to share the glory. Drinks were on the house. "I'm just happy for everybody in the Cubs' organization," first-year Cubs manager Dusty Baker said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Chris Ray's 1-0 fastball buzzed under the chin of Gary Sheffield, sending the New York Yankees slugger to the dirt. Sheffield, who already had two home runs and six RBIs on that night last September at Camden Yards, brushed himself off, glared at the Orioles' rookie reliever and dug back in, waggling his bat with his typical ferocity. "Gary Sheffield, if you knock him on his butt, is going to come up and get you," said Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo, remembering the at-bat with clarity yesterday.

Orioles general manager Pat Gillick will bend his own rule as he attempts to re-sign Mike Mussina, Cal Ripken and Brady Anderson to contract extensions.Last year, Gillick would not discuss contract extensions once spring training began. This seasons, he's pushing that deadline back to Opening Day, April 1."I just think that's the sensible and fair thing to do," said Gillick. "We're talking to two or three guys, working on some things. We've got to show them some respect, considering how much they've meant to this franchise."