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World 7, United States 0

Futures game premieres at Fenway

By Howard Ulman, Associated Press, 07/11/99

BOSTON - Alfonso Soriano is confident he can be a major-league star. The Yankees farmhand just has to find another position with Derek Jeter entrenched at shortstop in New York.

Soriano hit two homers and drove in five runs as the World team beat the United States 7-0 in a seven-inning game Sunday involving minor-league prospects.

The first All-Star Futures game was part of five days of All-Star events, starting last Friday with FanFest. A celebrity hitting challenge, featuring actors Matt Damon and Kevin Costner, also was held Sunday. The last event before Tuesday night's All-Star game is the home run derby on Monday night.

After staging his own home run derby, Soriano said, "Every time I walk out onto the field, I feel that I can be the best one in the game and that I can be a superstar.''

But Soriano, the most valuable player in Sunday's game, knows the position he plays with the Double-A Norwich Navigators probably won't be his position if he gets to the Yankees.

"Since Derek Jeter is there,'' he said, "it may be possible they move me to second base.''

Soriano, from the Dominican Republic, hit a three-run homer in the five-run third inning and a two-run shot in the fourth.

"He was their secret weapon,'' said U.S. manager Lou Brock.

The World team's other runs scored on Jorge Toca's two-run homer in the third. Both homers in the inning came off loser Mark Mulder, who was taken by Oakland with the second pick in the 1998 amateur draft.

"I'm told he had a great sinker ball and today, because of his excitement, I thought his pitching was quite high, so he paid the price for being excited,'' Brock said.

Soriano's three-run homer followed singles by Alex Sanchez and Rafael Furcal. Toca's shot came after a double by Erubiel Durazo. Toca plays in the New York Mets system. Sun-Woo Kim, who plays with Boston's Double-A team in Trenton, got the win.

Soriano's fourth-inning homer came against Ryan Anderson, who plays in the Seattle organization. It scored Cesar King, who had singled, one of 11 hits by the World team. The U.S. team had just three.

Soriano signed with the Yankees after playing in Japan in 1996 and 1997. In 88 games with Norwich of the Eastern League, he is hitting .302 with 15 homers and 68 RBIs.

On Sunday, he had two homers in a major-league ballpark.

"I can't imagine having a better afternoon,'' Soriano said.