BASEBALL NOTES

Citing the lingering discontent of owner Peter Angelos, Baltimore Oriole General Manager Pat Gillick said Wednesday night he believes there is only a 50-50 chance Davey Johnson will return to manage the team next season.

Though Angelos said Oct. 5 that Johnson would be allowed to serve the final year of a three-year, $2.25-million contract, he since has been noncommittal.

Angelos is known to be disturbed by the team’s six-game loss to the Cleveland Indians in the American League championship series.

*

Dennis Eckersley, 43, the premier closer of the last decade, reportedly will return to the Boston Red Sox as a free agent sometime after the expansion draft.

WBZ Radio in Boston is reporting that Eckersley, the active leader in saves and second only to Lee Smith on the all-time list, will leave the St. Louis Cardinals and sign with the Red Sox after the Nov. 18 draft.

*

The owner of the Houston Astros predicts baseball would approve the sale of the Minnesota Twins to North Carolina businessman Don Beaver if the Twins fail to win financing for a new stadium.

“We can’t have teams losing money,” Drayton McLane told the News & Record of Greensboro.

If no stadium deal is approved by Nov. 30, Beaver has a conditional agreement with Twin owner Carl Pohlad to purchase the team.

*

A judge ordered former San Francisco Giant scout Luis Rosa to stand trial on charges he sexually molested young players at his Dominican Republic training camp.

*

Atsuya Furuta doubled home two runs and Dwayne Hosey drove in two with a single as the Yakult Swallows beat the Seibu Lions, 7-1, at Tokyo, taking a 3-1 lead in the Japan Series.