Baseball

Through Sunday, Boston had won eight games in which it allowed five or more runs. Last season the Red Sox went three months before winning eight such games....

Funny, isn't it, that the Padres still flash GUESS THE ATTENDANCE on their scoreboard at every home game? Someone could have counted the crowd of 7,095 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on April 20 before the answer was revealed....

The A's are concerned that Todd Van Poppel, their No. 1 pick in the '90 draft, is pitching scared and that his velocity is down (to the upper 80's) since he had serious shoulder trouble in '92. His outing against the Yankees last Saturday could hardly have gone worse: He faced nine batters, walked six (including the first four hitters of the game), got one to line into a double play, gave up a single and served up a grand slam to Paul O'Neill, who smacked the ball into the upper deck in right at Yankee Stadium.