AMERICAN LEAGUE

Blue Jays vs. Indians
Toronto: The Blue Jays' young pitching staff has been going through its share of growing pains, which is not a surprise to manager Jim Fregosi. "Look at the great pitchers of the past decade," Fregosi said. "Randy Johnson is with his fourth organization, Pedro (Martinez is with his third, (Curt) Schilling is with his fourth. It's not like a light goes on. There are very few pitchers who can come to the major league level and have immediate success." ... Toronto's bullpen has had a lousy road trip. In the first nine games of the 13-game trip, the Jays' relievers had just one save. Toronto's bullpen ranks 13th in the AL in ERA (5.59) and opponents are batting .301 against Blue Jays relievers this season. Cleveland: 3B Travis Fryman, who will play in his fifth All-Star game next Tuesday, will never forget his first appearance in 1992. "I was nervous," Fryman said. "I fielded a ground ball hit to me cleanly, then threw one about 90 miles an hour over the head of Mark McGwire at first base. I hit a guy in the stands right in the chest. Paramedics were called in. The fan was fine. I'll never forget that." ... OF Ricky Ledee has made a nice impression since arriving last week from the Yankees in a trade for David Justice. "He's a steady looking player," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. "I can see why the Yankees thought he was going to be a tremendous prospect." Ledee is batting .300 with a homer and five RBIs in his five games in Cleveland. "I think it's early to project him out, but he's definitely a good looking player." ... Jim Brower's shaky start Wednesday _ six walks in 1 2-3 innings _ hasn't shaken Manuel's confidence in the right-hander, who is still the Indians' No. 4 starter. "He has shown us enough," Manuel said.

Orioles vs. Yankees
Baltimore: Manager Mike Hargrove has no problem with 3B Cal Ripken playing in the All-Star game next week even though he's on the DL. "I hope he does play. But that's Cal's decision. I can't make that decision for him." ... INF Ryan Minor missed his fifth straight game with a strained rib cage. ... Sidney Ponson had pitched at least seven innings in eight of his last 10 starts before being knocked out in the second Thursday. He allowed six runs, three hits and four walks in 1 1-3 innings. ... The Orioles are a major league-worst 13-34 on the road. New York: LHP Andy Pettitte will start Sunday night against the Mets on three days' rest instead of struggling David Cone. Pettitte has won seven of his last nine starts, including a shutout against Detroit last week on three days' rest. Cone has one win in 16 starts this season. "Because there was no game Monday, we decided to ride the hot hand and pitch Andy," manager Joe Torre said. ... INF Clay Bellinger was sent down to Triple-A Columbus to make room for starter Ed Yarnall, who will likely be demoted to make room for Saturday's starter Dwight Gooden. ... OF Shane Spencer missed his second straight game with an injured right knee. ... Yankees starters have reached the seventh inning in only 16 of the team's last 42 games. ... The Yankees had hit back-to-back homers once all season before doing it in the second and fourth innings.

Red Sox vs. Twins
Boston: Manager Jimy Williams said SS Jose Offerman was given the day off Thursday in an attempt to give several Boston players a rest in games played on artificial turf. "We try to rotate them off this stuff," Williams said. Nomar Garciaparra and Ed Sprague have also been rested in the four-game series with the Twins. ... OF Bernard Gilkey, signed Tuesday, said he's looking forward to making his Red Sox debut in Fenway Park next Thursday against the New York Mets. "The stadium has so much originality to it, plus it has so much history," Gilkey said. Minnesota: Starter Brad Radke, who agreed to a four-year $36 million contract Monday, signed the contract Wednesday. The deal includes an opt-out clause which allows Radke to demand a trade after the 2001 season. Radke made his first start Thursday since reaching terms. ... The Twins signed 10th-round draft pick former Alabama C Kelly Gulledge. Gulledge, 21, was assigned to Class A Quad City. Minnesota has signed 24 of its 52 draft picks. ... Because Mike Lincoln, who started Monday and gave up six earned runs in three innings, pitched two innings in relief Wednesday, Eric Milton will start Saturday against the Pirates on three days rest.

Mariners vs. Angels
Seattle: CF Mike Cameron was a late scratch Thursday night because of stiffness in his right knee. ... Rickey Henderson, who has more leadoff homers and stolen bases than anyone in major league history, entered Thursday night's game needing one more walk to tie Ted Williams for second place on the career list at 2,019. Babe Ruth drew 43 more walks than Williams. ... When Gil Meche was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma on Wednesday, it was only to allow him to pitch his regular turn Sunday instead of having a long layoff during the All-Star break. Manager Lou Piniella is still high on the right-hander, despite the five runs and five hits he allowed Tuesday night in a no-decision against Anaheim. "Meche is a future No. 1 or No. 2 starter in this league, assuming he stays healthy," Piniella said. "He had that little bit of a tired arm syndrome, for whatever reason, and we've checked it out as thoroughly as we can. But we haven't been able to determine exactly why it happened. But he's got some guts, and he's got some darn good stuff to go along with it." Anaheim: Doctors still don't know what caused the cerebral hemorrhage that forced LHP Kent Mercker out of his May 11 start and landed him in the hospital for 12 days, but he has been back in the Angels clubhouse since last Friday and is anxiously awaiting his return. "I'm planning on pitching in July," said Mercker, who took his third angiogram last week and passed a stress test Wednesday. "In my mind, I'm done being monitored. I think I'm the one who's the least scared about me going out to pitch again. I think everyone else is more scared for me. But if they're leaving it up to me, I'm ready to go. I've been going crazy sitting around and not being able to do anything." ... Angels manager Mike Scioscia waxed nostalgic Thursday when learning of the retirement of longtime Dodgers batterymate Orel Hershiser. "I'm sure it was obviously a tough decision for him because, once you cross that line and say you're not going to compete anymore, there's no going back," Scioscia said. "I think he gave it every effort he could to be competitive for as long as he could. And coming back from the injury he had (in 1991), it shows what kind of makeup he had. He pitched for 10 more years when everybody thought he wouldn't throw 10 more pitches in the big leagues."

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Reds vs. Cardinals
Cincinnati: The Reds begin a three-game interleague and interstate series Friday at home against the Indians. Last year's three-game series in Cincinnati drew a total attendance of 141,325. Denny Neagle will be trying to win his third straight start in the opener. ... Ken Griffey Jr. has 23 home runs and 59 RBIs in his career in interleague play, most in the majors. ... The Reds haven't been 10 games out of first place since they ended the 1998 season 25 games behind the Astros. ... The Reds are the only team in the majors that has not been shut out. ... 3B Aaron Boone sat out the series finale against the Cardinals with a hyperextended knee suffered trying to avoid a collision with SS Barry Larkin in the second inning Wednesday. Manager Jack McKeon doesn't expect Boone to miss more than a game or two. St. Louis: The Cardinals juggled their rotation due to the illness of Garrett Stephenson, giving rookie Rick Ankiel the start in his place on Thursday. Darryl Kile was moved up to Friday with Stephenson, who was still feeling ill Thursday, scheduled to go Saturday. ... The Cardinals have had five no-walk games this season, the last on Wednesday. They hadn't walked one in 15 innings heading into Thursday's game. ... Kile, 11-5 and an All-Star for the third time, is getting the lowest run support in the rotation at 5.0 runs per game. Pat Hentgen (6.5) gets the highest support. ... J.D. Drew hit his 14th homer Wednesday night, exceeding his total of 13 in his rookie season. ... Jim Edmonds missed his second straight start due to illness, but was available for pinch-hit duty. ... Closer Dave Veres allowed only seven of 26 inherited runners to score.

Expos vs. Braves
Montreal: The Expos won a series for the first time in eight tries. Their last series victory was a June 2-4 sweep of Baltimore. ... CF Peter Bergeron broke an 0-for-18 skid when he doubled in the third. The rookie singled in the fifth, but struck out three times. He entered Thursday with a .301 on-base percentage, third-worst among NL leadoff hitters. ... RHP Hideki Irabu, on the DL since undergoing arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee May 31, will make his first rehab start Friday night at Single-A Jupiter. He was sent to the Florida State League affiliate so his next start, set for Wednesday, would not be interrupted by a league All-Star break. ... The Montreal Gazette reported Wednesday that Irabu's interpreter, Go Ikeda, resigned last week. Assistant GM Larry Beinfest was unsure whether Irabu would hire a replacement. ... RHP Mike Thurman dropped to 0-2 in his second rehab start at Triple-A Ottawa on Wednesday night. On the DL since May 27 with elbow tendinitis, Thurman has an 8.60 ERA in 8 1-3 innings at Ottawa. His next start will be Monday for Double-A Harrisburg. ... Since beating the New York Yankees 6-4 on June 5, Montreal is 10-17. Atlanta: Through 84 games last year in San Diego, LF Reggie Sanders was hitting .310 with 14 homers and 31 RBIs. He entered Thursday with a .175 average, three homers and 11 RBIs. He went 2-for-4 with a double and triple but left runners stranded at second and third when he grounded out to shortstop to end a potential fourth-inning rally. ... 1B Wally Joyner's season continued its downward spiral. Starting in place of Andres Galarraga, Joyner went 0-for-4 by hitting lazy fly balls in each of his at-bats. Joyner's average dropped to .196. ... RHP Scott Kamieniecki, signed as a free agent Wednesday, made his Braves debut by pitching a scoreless eighth inning. The former Cleveland reliever gave up no hits or walks and struck out one. ... 3B Chipper Jones owned a .484 average with four homers and 10 RBI by hitting safely in eight of nine games. He went 0-for-3.

Phillies vs. Brewers
Philadelphia: The Phillies have won nine of their last 10 games decided by one run. ... Scott Rolen's 13-game hitting streak going into Thursday night's game is the club's longest this season. ... Reliever Wayne Gomes is 5-0 with five saves and a 3.00 ERA in 35 career games in July. Milwaukee: Manager Davey Lopes got some needed left-handed help for his bullpen. After Wednesday night's game, the club recalled LHP Ray King from Triple-A Indianapolis. He was 0-3 with a 3.51 ERA and one save in 29 relief appearances. Before the move, Lopes only had left-handed reliever Valerio De Los Santos (1-2) with a 5.91 ERA available to face left-handed batters. ... Tyler Houston is back in the starting lineup. He hadn't played since he fouled a pitch off his right foot last Friday against the Cubs. He's at first base for the 12th time this season. ... The Brewers joined forces with the Milwaukee Public Schools Recreation Department and hosted a carnival and baseball clinic for more than 2,500 youngsters Thursday morning at a local playground.

Rockies vs. Giants
Colorado: With his two-run double Thursday, Brent Mayne increased his RBIs total to 36 -- three short of his career high, set last season with the Giants. Mayne is hitting .370 (27-for-73) with men on base this season. ... The Rockies also were swept in a four-game series in San Francisco in September 1996, when the Giants did it at Candlestick Park. ... RHP Rolando Arrojo hit Felipe Crespo with a pitch in the fourth, giving Arrojo an NL-high 12 hit batsmen this year. San Francisco: Dusty Baker managed his 1,152nd game to tie Roger Craig's San Francisco record. Baker's record is 600-552. With eight more games, Baker will tie Leo Durocher for third place on the Giants' franchise list. ... OF Armando Rios, who bruised his left shoulder when he ran into the wall on Wednesday, walked as a pinch-hitter in the eighth but was too sore to throw. ... LF Barry Bonds, who has missed five straight games with a stress fracture in the tip of his right thumb, hit balls off a tee Thursday morning and experienced soreness in the finger. He is listed as day-to-day, but the Giants hope he'll be available for this weekend's series at St. Louis.

Diamondbacks vs. Astros
Arizona: OF Luis Gonzalez twice came close to getting his first career cycle before he finally got it. Earlier this season, he needed a triple in his final at-bat and had to settle for a double. When he played for the Astros, he needed a single in his final at-bat to complete the cycle against the Cubs. "This is exciting because for as long as the game has been played, only 200-something guys have done this," Gonzalez said. "Now I've done this to go along with the 30-game hitting streak." Gonzalez is the 10th player in major league history to have a 30-game hitting streak and hit for the cycle. Houston: Houston OF Richard Hidalgo had his All-Star hopes dashed this season when pitcher Shane Reynolds got the one spot available to the Astros. "I know there's a lot of outfielders having good years, but I still thought I had a chance," Hidalgo said. "But it's OK. I've got to keep going, keep working hard and try to make it next year. The numbers I've got right now, I thought I could have been in the All-Star Game, but that's OK." Hidalgo entered Thursday night's game hitting .287 with 23 home runs and 60 RBIs.

Dodgers vs. Padres
Los Angeles: Kevin Brown matched his career high by striking out 12 San Diego Padres in Thursday's 9-3 win. He also fanned 12 on May 25, 1999, at Cincinnati. When Brown was with San Diego in 1998, he struck out 16 in the first game of the divisional playoff series against Houston. ... With three more homers on Thursday, the Dodgers have hit 128 this season, second in the NL to St. Louis. San Diego: Including his solo homer Thursday, Wiki Gonzalez has hit four of his six career homers against the Dodgers. ... CF Ruben Rivera had his team-high fifth outfield assist when he doubled up Todd Hollandsworth in the first inning. The play was scored 8 2-3 after Rivera's throw to 1B went astray and C Gonzalez kept it from going into the dugout. Rivera has three OF assists in six games this month. ... With RF Kory DeHaan throwing out Adrian Beltre at the plate in the eighth, the Padres had two outfield assists for the second time this season. Al Martin and Ed Sprague each had an assist in a 10-4 loss at Oakland on June 6. ... The Padres have had at least a two-run lead in each of their four losses to the Dodgers.