Wild Rocker Disappoints Indians

John Rocker couldn’t throw a strike--not to home, not to first base.

In an alarming outing, the Cleveland Indians’ struggling closer hit a batter, walked a batter and made a wild throw to first on a bunt in the 13th inning Saturday, enabling the Cincinnati Reds to rally for a 6-5 victory at Cincinnati.

Since he came to the Indians in a June 22 trade with the Atlanta Braves, Rocker (2-3) has lost velocity and now his control too.

“He’s having trouble throwing strikes with his fastball and his breaking ball. I’m concerned,” Indian Manager Charlie Manuel said. “At the same time, we’ve just got to work through it. We’ve got to get him where he was before.”

Rocker was off from the moment he ran to the mound amid a cascade of boos from a capacity crowd of 40,794 that was divided among Red and Indian fans.

He escaped a bases-loaded threat in the 12th, when right fielder Juan Gonzalez threw Pokey Reese out at the plate as he tagged on a shallow fly.

In the 13th, there was no defense for his wildness.

Rocker hit Jason LaRue to open the inning, then threw off-target to first on Kelly Stinnett’s bunt, leaving both runners safe. Rocker walked Juan Castro, a .204 hitter, on four pitches, then gave up a game-ending sacrifice fly to Ruben Rivera.

Rocker declined to talk to reporters after the game.

Baltimore 4, Atlanta 1--Cal Ripken hit two home runs for the Orioles in his final game at Atlanta, getting a standing ovation each time.

Ripken hit a two-run homer in the sixth against fellow all-star John Burkett, breaking a 1-1 tie and extending Ripken’s hitting streak to 15 games, his longest since a 17-game streak in 1992.

Leading off the eighth, Ripken homered again on a 1-and-2 pitch from Steve Reed, the ball landing in nearly the same spot in the left-field seats.

New York Yankees 5, Florida 4--Pinch-hitter Chuck Knoblauch’s run-scoring single broke a tie in the 10th inning at Miami and the Yankees averted a series sweep.

Knoblauch came through in his first appearance since being hit on the left elbow by a pitch Thursday. His one-out single scored pinch-runner Clay Bellinger, who beat center fielder Ryan Thompson’s throw.

New York Mets 2, Boston 0--Glendon Rusch pitched one-hit ball for eight innings at New York to help Met Manager Bobby Valentine to his 1,000th major league victory.

Rusch (5-5) gave up only a first-inning infield hit to Trot Nixon, who beat out a drag bunt to first when Lenny Harris’ flip went past second baseman Edgardo Alfonzo, who was covering the bag.

Rusch struck out 10, matching the career high he set in a loss to the Yankees on July 8, 2000.

Minnesota 5, Milwaukee 3--Corey Koskie hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Twins rallied at Milwaukee.

Koskie’s 425-foot shot against David Weathers (2-3) gave the American League Central-leading Twins their 15th victory in 18 games.

Bob Wells (8-3) got the victory despite giving up a seventh-inning go-ahead run-scoring double to Ronnie Belliard, who drove in all three Brewer runs.

Toronto 4, Philadelphia 2--Joey Hamilton gave up one run in 5 1/3 innings and had a go-ahead run-scoring double for the Blue Jays at Philadelphia.

Kansas City 7, Pittsburgh 4--Carlos Beltran hit a home run and drove in four runs at Pittsburgh and the Royals, scoring for the first time since the All-Star break, ended a nine-game losing streak.

Beltran had a three-run homer in the third inning, the Royals’ first extra-base hit in the series.

Montreal 10, Tampa Bay 2--Jose Vidro and Vladimir Guerrero hit home runs in consecutive at-bats for the second straight game and Geoff Blum had four runs batted in to lead the Expos at Montreal.

With Montreal ahead, 3-0, Vidro hit his 13th homer on a 2-and-0 pitch from Bryan Rekar (1-11) leading off the sixth. Guerrero hit Rekar’s next pitch over the left-field wall for his team-leading 23rd homer.

Colorado 11, Texas 2--Shawn Chacon gave up two runs in eight-plus innings and Larry Walker had three doubles at Arlington, Texas, to help the Rockies end a five-game losing streak.

Chicago White Sox 3, Chicago Cubs 1--Sean Lowe gave up three hits in seven innings and Carlos Lee homered for the White Sox at Wrigley Field.