BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJORS : ‘Ice-Cream Men’ Change Their Hats

Changing hats may have helped the Cincinnati Reds change their losing ways, at least for the moment.

Kevin Mitchell drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning Sunday as the Reds beat the New York Mets, 3-2, to end a five-game losing streak.

Before the game, relief pitcher Rob Dibble persuaded his teammates to wear their all-red caps rather than the red-and-white pinstripe caps they had been wearing at home this season. The Reds used to wear the all-red caps exclusively, but are wearing them only on the road this season because they have switched to pinstripe, traditional uniforms.

“We looked like ice cream men out there,” Dibble said. “I’ve been pitching in a red hat for six years. I like it.”

The players discussed the topic in a players-only pregame meeting, in which the theme was to relax and have fun. The players asked General Manager Jim Bowden if they could switch to the all-red caps for the home game.

“I wanted to get the win,” Bowden said. “I said, ‘I don’t care if you wear silk boxers.’ ”

Ewing Kauffman, the 76-year-old owner of the Kansas City Royals, announced a plan to keep the franchise in Kansas City after his death, saying that making such arrangements “doesn’t bother me at all.”

Kauffman has searched unsuccessfully for years for someone to buy the team with an eye to keeping the Royals in Kansas City, where they started in 1969 as an expansion franchise.

“We’re Kansas Citians,” Kauffman said, seated next to his wife, Muriel, during a news conference announcing the plan. “We love it. We think it deserves to keep a major league team, and this is one thing we can do to perpetuate that.”

Under the plan, a group of civic leaders selected by Kauffman would take ownership of the team upon his death.

Baltimore Oriole owner Eli Jacobs filed for personal bankruptcy after a group of international banks filed an involuntary Chapter 11 petition against him.

The filing is not expected to interfere with Jacobs’ plan to sell the team to Cincinnati businessman William DeWitt Jr., said Stephen Shimshak, an attorney representing Jacobs.

Shimshak would not confirm that Jacobs is negotiating to sell the team for $145 million after paying $70 million for the Orioles in 1989.

Starting tonight in Detroit, in the first swinging series of the young season, it will be Jose Canseco, Juan Gonzalez, Dean Palmer and the Texas Rangers taking on Cecil Fielder, Rob Deer, Mickey Tettleton, Travis Fryman and the Tigers.

The Tigers lead the majors in scoring with 90 runs in 12 games. Twice in the last week they scored 20 in a single game.

Texas has 17 home runs, second to Cleveland in the majors. The AL West-leading Rangers have scored 21 runs in their last two games.

“I’m just glad I’m not pitching,” Texas’ Charlie Leibrandt said.

The Florida Marlins put second baseman Bret Barberie on the 15-day disabled list because of a sprained left elbow. He was hurt while diving for a ball in the fourth inning of Saturday’s game at the Astrodome. . . . Boston Red Sox second baseman Scott Fletcher pulled his right hamstring Monday while chasing a popup in the second inning of Boston’s 6-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox. He is expected to be out for several games.