FORMER ROCKIES OF COLE SENTENCED

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Former Colorado Rockies outfielder Alex Cole has been
sentenced to 18 months in prison on federal drug charges.

Cole, who played for five major league teams, pleaded guilty in June to
conspiring to possess with intent to distribute heroin.

He was a member of the Bridgeport Bluefish, an independent team in the
Atlantic League, when federal agents arrested him Aug. 9, 2001, as part of
a drug sting.

Cole, of St. Petersburg, Fla., played with Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Colorado,
Minnesota and the Boston Red Sox. A left-handed hitter, Cole had a career
average of .280 with 148 stolen bases in seven seasons.

Cole started in center field for the Twins in the strike-shortened 1994
season, batting .296 with 68 runs scored and 29 stolen bases.

THE OTHER GIANTS: Free agent-to-be Hideki Matsui had three hits and drove
in three runs Sunday to help the Yomiuri Giants beat the Seibu Lions 9-4
and take a 2-0 lead in the Japan Series.

Several major league teams, including the New York Yankees, are interested
in Matsui, a 28-year-old outfielder. He had a pair of doubles and a single
Sunday.

"It felt good to contribute," Matsui said. "I didn't get much to hit
(Saturday), and hopefully I can keep this going for the next game."

He drove in a run in the bottom of the seventh with a double off the wall
in center and then scored from third on Daisuke Motoki's sacrifice fly to
right to give the Giants a 9-1 lead.

Seibu's Alex Cabrera hit a two-run homer off Yomiuri reliever Hideki
Okajima in the top of the eighth for his second homer of the best-of-seven
series.

Cabrera, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks, also drove in Seibu's first
run of the game on a grounder to second in the sixth.

HOMEWARD BOUND: Baseball Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner returned to his native
Silver City, N.M., to celebrate his 80th birthday.

Kiner, a six-time All-Star with the Pittsburgh Pirates, was invited to
return to Silver City for his birthday by Susan Berry, the director of the
Silver City Museum.

Kiner went from the small copper-mining town to Cooperstown following a
career that included two 50-plus homer seasons. In each of his first seven
seasons in the major leagues, he led the National League in homers.

After retiring as a player, Kiner worked as a broadcaster and baseball
executive. He still broadcasts 45 games a year for the Mets.

"I've been very fortunate to be in baseball all the time," he said.