Cone Injured as Yankees Win

David Cone rolled in agony on the field where he first hit the big leagues, scant yards from the mound where he once won a Cy Young Award.

His first thought: pain.

His second: that here, in his hometown of Kansas City, Mo., his long major league career might finally have been done in by his own hustle.

The New York Yankees right-hander separated his left shoulder in the third inning of Tuesday night’s 10-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals, when he landed wrong after making a diving catch on Rey Sanchez’s bunt.

After having the shoulder popped back in, and after an X-ray didn’t show any damage, Cone was already speculating about a possible return.

“Maybe I can still come back,” he said. “Maybe there’s a chance I can still get something done this year. I really can’t tell at this point.”

Cone, a Kansas City native who won the 1994 AL Cy Young during his second stint with the Royals, was scheduled for an MRI exam today.

New York maintained its six-game lead over Boston in the AL East.

Cone went down too early in Tuesday’s game to get the win, but reliever Dwight Gooden (6-4) never lost the Yankees’ early lead.

No. 9 hitter Jose Vizcaino went four for five and Scott Brosius hit an eighth-inning grand slam for the Yankees.

Texas 2, Chicago 1--Chad Curtis hit a two-out RBI single in the ninth inning as the Rangers pushed across an unearned run to win at Chicago.

Chicago’s second consecutive loss to the Rangers dropped the White Sox’s lead over Cleveland to 6 1/2 games, their smallest lead in the AL Central since June 21.

Cleveland 7, Tampa Bay 4--Kenny Lofton hit a tiebreaking two-run single during a four-run sixth inning as the Indians rallied from a four-run deficit to win at Cleveland.

Cleveland maintained a two-game lead over Boston in the AL wild-card race as Jason Bere (11-9) overcame early inconsistency to improve to 5-2 since the Indians acquired him from Milwaukee on July 28.

Boston 10, Oakland 3--Manny Alexander hit his first career grand slam during a seven-run first inning at Boston as Pete Schourek (3-9) won for the first time since going on the disabled list July 21.

Red Sox reliever Hipolito Pichardo left with a sore right forearm after relieving Schourek in the seventh.

Seattle 4, Toronto 3--Mike Cameron hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly off Kelvim Escobar (9-14) in the eighth at Toronto following a costly error by first baseman Carlos Delgado as the Mariners won for only the sixth time in 22 games.

Baltimore 6, Minnesota 5--Mike Mussina pitched six innings to win for only the second time in seven starts as the Orioles held on at Minneapolis.