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Monday, August 18, 1997

Yankees 8, Rangers 0

NEW YORK (AP) - Four straight balls to Juan Gonzalez told David Cone something was wrong with his right shoulder.

Cone, who missed most of last season after surgery to repair an aneurysm in the same shoulder, removed himself after throwing 21 pitches Sunday in the New York Yankees' 8-0 win over the Texas Rangers.

After Cone left, Ramiro Mendoza (5-5) pitched six innings of two-hit relief and Kenny Rogers struck out five in two innings as the Yankees won for the seventh time in nine games.

Mendoza was the loser in Saturday's game and Rogers had left his last start on Aug. 10 after three innings with a tight upper back.

Cone made several warmup tosses before the second but stopped and walked into the Yankees' dugout.

He was taken to Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center where preliminary evaluation indicated muscle tightness and tendinitis in the shoulder, but nothing relating to the right-hander's surgery.

"He won't make his next start, that we know for sure," New York manager Joe Torre said. "... I think it's more caution than anything else. Even if we have to disable him."

Cone didn't seemed overly concerned about the soreness.

"I felt a little touch of maybe bicep tendinitis. I've worked through it before," Cone said. "It sort of cramped up on me."

Torre, too, downplayed his ace's latest shoulder problem.

"As far as alarming, I think that's a bit strong," Torre said. "Where the pain seems to be, the circulation, the tests don't indicate that it has anything to do with the surgery. I know that it bothered him a bit, but I was a little surprised when he just walked off the mound."

Rogers was equally surprised to make an appearance. The enigmatic left-hander had tested his injury by throwing on the side before the game.

"They came in the second or third and asked if I could throw," he said. "I said sure. The big thing was Ramiro going six solid innings."

Rogers and Mendoza may make starts on the Yankees' upcoming eight-game West Coast road trip.

Tim Raines went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Paul O'Neill drove in three runs with a sacrifice fly and a two-run homer as the Yankees won for the eventh time in nine games.

Bobby Witt (11-9) allowed all eight Yankees runs.

O'Neill's sacrifice fly in the Yankees' two-run fifth came after Tino Martinez hit an RBI single to raise his league-leading total to 116.

Tim Raines hit a run-scoring single in the first inning and doubled home two more in New York's three-run third.

Witt allowed 12 hits and in 6 1-3 innings. Notes: Rangers pitchers have allowed 24 runs in their last 35 innings over four games. ... Rusty Greer had two of the Rangers three hits and is now 13-for-34 in his last nine games. ... New York right-hander Brian Boehringer threw 60 pitches in a four-inning rehabilitation start at Tampa Sunday, allowing two hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Boehringer is coming back from elbow surgery. ... A crowd of 42,002 raised the Yankees season attendance to 2,038,371, the 16th time in 22 seasons since the renovated Yankee Stadium opened that the team has drawn over two million. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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