Roberts Endures 14-Minute At-Bat

In an amazing at-bat, Bip Roberts spent 14 minutes at the plate in the first inning of Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers. He lasted for 18 pitches--fouling off 14--and stood around while Detroit pitcher Felipe Lira made nine pickoff throws to first base.

“It wore me out,” Roberts said. “I was so lazy the rest of the day. I was just trying to put the ball in play, but they kept going foul.”

Roberts hit 13 fouls with two strikes. Finally, he grounded out on a 2-2 pitch.

“I kept throwing all my pitches and he kept fouling them off. He hit a changeup to second.” Lira said.

Tiger Manager Buddy Bell said, “I’ve never seen anything like it. It seemed like everything he hit was in the same spot.”

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Texas Ranger third baseman Dean Palmer left Sunday’s game against the New York Yankees with a bruised left thumb after fielding a sharp grounder in the second inning.

Palmer initially bobbled Mark Whiten’s grounder before recovering and throwing him out. He was replaced in the third inning by Bill Ripken.

Precautionary X-rays on Palmer’s thumb were negative. His status is day-to-day.

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Dwight Gooden, his fastball reaching 90 mph for the first time since undergoing hernia surgery April 14, pitched five innings and was the winner as the Yankees’ double-A Norwich (Conn.) team beat New Haven, 7-5. He is expected to make at least two more starts before the Yankees decide whether to call him up.