Yankees Win Coin Flip for Tiebreaker

If the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles finish in a regular-season tie for the American League East title, the game would be played at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 30.

That was the result of a coin flip held in the office of AL President Gene Budig on Thursday. The division tiebreaking game would not be played, however, if the loser would automatically become the AL wild-card team.

Ten other coin flips were made for the possibility of ties for the wild-card position only. Any game would be played Sept. 30.

If any playoff positions have to be settled by the rained-out Cleveland-Seattle game on Sept. 7, that game would be rescheduled for Sept. 30.

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Management negotiator Randy Levine met with union head Donald Fehr for about 15 minutes Thursday and said he hoped to be ready soon to conclude negotiations.

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The Kansas City Royals signed Tim Belcher to a two-year contract. . . . Livan Hernandez, the Cuban right-hander who signed a four-year, $4.5-million contract with the Florida Marlins earlier this year, was called up from the minor leagues. . . . Seattle Mariner ace Randy Johnson is expected to make a full recovery after undergoing surgery for a protruded disk. “We didn’t find anything that would lead me to think he’ll have any future problems,” said Dr. Robert Watkins, who added that Johnson should be fully recovered within three months if there are no complications. . . . The Arizona Diamondbacks expanded their farm system to include the High Desert Mavericks of the Class-A California League.