Monday, March 31, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
SUN WIRE REPORTS
Instead of being with the Cleveland Indians for opening day, relief pitcher Jose Mesa is in court facing a rape charge.
Mesa and his wife, Mirla, arrived at court early today with jury selection set to begin.
Mesa is charged with rape, gross sexual imposition and felonious assault. The Indians will begin the season Wednesday at Oakland without their star reliever, who has 85 saves in the past two seasons.
Mesa, who has a wife and five children, faces three to 10 years in prison if convicted of rape and two to eight years if convicted of assault.
The charges are related to a complaint by two 26-year-old women who alleged that Mesa and a friend fondled them at a motel in suburban Lakewood after meeting them in a downtown nightclub Dec. 22.
Major League Baseball has given the Indians permission to place Mesa on the restricted list indefinitely.
Mesa has gone through a terrible spring on the field. In his last outing before being placed on the restricted list, he gave up a long home run to the Chicago Cubs' Tyler Houston of Las Vegas in the ninth inning of a 6-3 victory Saturday.
* INDIANS 6, GIANTS 4: At San Francisco, Matt Williams faced his former team for the first time since being traded to Cleveland and J.T. Snow played for the first time since a March 11 beaning. The game was called in the sixth inning because of rain. Snow entered the game in the fifth inning a pinch-hitter and had an RBI single. Williams went 0-for-4.
* BLUE JAYS 12, PHILLIES 4: At Dunedin, Fla., Benito Santiago homered twice and Shannon Stewart hit a grand slam as Toronto beat Philadelphia. Juan Samuel also hit a two-run homer for the Blue Jays.
* TWINS 8, CUBS 7: At Fort Myers, Fla., Greg Myers hit a three-run homer off Mel Rojas in the eighth inning as Minnesota beat Chicago. Matt Lawton hit his seventh spring homer for the Twins and Ryne Sandburg homered for the Cubs.
* YANKEES 5, BRAVES 3: At Atlanta, Derek Jeter, Charlie Hayes and Bernie Williams had two hits apiece for New York. The Braves and Yankees split a two-game series that opened Turner Field and was a rematch of the 1996 World Series.
* CARDINALS 11, ORIOLES 4: At Baltimore, Gary Gaetti, Delino DeShields, John Mabry and Dmitri Young homered as St. Louis finished the exhibition season with 21 wins, tying the club record set in 1956.
* REDS 3, TIGERS 1: At Richmond, Va., Eddie Taubensee and Lenny Harris homered as Cincinnati defeated Detroit.
* ASTROS 8, RANGERS 4: At Arlington, Texas, Tony Eusebio drove in four runs for Houston against Texas.
* ANGELS 2, DODGERS 0: At Anaheim, Calif., Allen Watson pitched six scoreless innings and Luis Alicea homered.
* ROCKIES 12, ROYALS 3: At Denver, Jamey Wright pitched six strong innings and Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla and Walt Weiss homered for Colorado.
* BREWERS 9, PIRATES 6: At El Paso, Texas, Chuckie Carr broke an eighth-inning tie with a two-run triple as Milwaukee downed Pittsburgh.
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