The family of New York Yankees pitcher Jose Contreras resolved a paperwork issue and was preparing to leave South Florida.
Contreras' wife, Miriam Murillo, and the couple's two daughters, Naylan, 11, and Naylenis, 3, defected to the US from Cuba on Monday. The group was given immigration forms that should expire June 22, 2005, but a clerical error listed the expiration date as June 22, 2004, said the family's lawyer, Jaime Torres.
The matter was cleared up and new documents were issued late Wednesday afternoon, Torres said.
PHOTO: AP
"All the paperwork is done," said Torres, also Contreras' agent. "They're OK, they're excited and they're trying to get to New York as soon as possible."
The family also had to obtain photo identifications that would allow them to, among other things, meet federal requirements for boarding commercial airline flights.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Ana Santiago declined specific comment on the paperwork matter Wednesday. ICE is the federal bureau that processed the family's paperwork Tuesday.
Contreras, who is not scheduled to pitch again until Saturday at Yankee Stadium against the New York Mets, spent much of Wednesday at the Miami Beach hotel where his family stayed Tuesday night. Torres spent much of the day shuttling his wife and daughters to immigration offices.
"After I explained to them that everything was finalized and they were here legally, everyone was happy," Torres said.
Travel plans were not finalized, Torres said, but he expected the family to reach New York no later than Thursday.
Contreras' family was among a group of 21 Cubans that left Cuba on a boat Sunday evening, U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Robert Montemayor said.
The group was captured by US Border Patrol agents on Big Pine Key, about 108 miles southwest of Miami, at 5:15am Monday, Montemayor said, then transferred into ICE custody early Tuesday morning. Cubans who reach US shores are generally permitted to stay, while those caught at sea usually are taken back.
The family was released into Torres' custody Tuesday evening. Contreras flew to Miami on a commercial flight from Baltimore and was reunited with his family about four hours after their release.
Contreras, once was touted as Cuba's top baseball star, defected in October 2002. After he established residency in Nicaragua and became a free agent, the Yankees signed him to a US$32 million, four-year contract. The Cuban government denied his family permission to leave the island nation.
In Cuba, the government-controlled news media didn't carry any news of the defection.
Separation from his family was often cited as a possible reason for Contreras' bouts of inconsistency in New York. He is 4-3 with a 6.18 ERA in 11 starts this season.
"Hopefully, this will relax his mind a little bit," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said Wednesday before New York's game in Baltimore. "He didn't seem like we was depressed, but I'm sure he was affected by it. No one can really relate to his situation unless you've been in it."
Tampa Bay's team-record winning streak ended at 12 games when Reed Johnson hit a game-winning single in the 10th inning to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 2-1 victory Wednesday over the Devil Rays.
The Devil Rays had not lost since the San Francisco beat them 7-3 June 8. It was the longest winning streak in the majors since Arizona won 12 straight from June 18-30 last year.
"It should give us confidence for the rest of our schedule. We turned our season around," Tampa Bay manager Lou Piniella said despite the loss.
Toronto trailed 1-0, but tied the score in the eighth when Victor Zambrano bounced a wild pitch after Alex Rios singled, stole second and took third on a groundout.
In the 10th, Dave Berg hit a single off Jesus Colome (1-1), Frank Menechino walked and Howie Clark sacrificed before Johnson made a winner of reliever Jason Frasor (3-2).
"We knew we were going to lose sooner or later, but you hate to lose that one with the game being so close," said Tampa Bay outfielder Carl Crawford, who also thought his team proved something. "They are not going to take us lightly anymore."
Orioles 13, Yankees 2
In Baltimore, David Newhan set career highs of four hits and three RBIs as Baltimore emphatically ended a nine-game skid against New York with a 17-hit attack.
Eric Bedard (2-2) allowed seven hits and one earned run in five-plus innings. The Yankees had won nine in a row and were 19-3 this season against left-handed starters.
Jon Lieber (5-5) gave up seven runs in 3 2-3 innings.
Twins 4, Red Sox 2
In Boston, Torii Hunter had a home run and three RBIs to lead Minnesota over Boston.
Carlos Silva (8-4) held the Red Sox scoreless until Mark Bellhorn's eighth homer made it 4-1 leading off the sixth inning. Derek Lowe (6-6) took the loss after coming in without allowing an earned run in 18 innings. He gave up two in the first.
Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 21 tries.
Indians 9, White Sox 5
In Chicago, pinch-hitter Ben Broussard had a grand slam in the eighth inning and Ronnie Belliard homered in his third straight game as Cleveland downed Chicago.
Casey Blake and Lou Merloni also homered for the Indians. Paul Konerko hit two and Aaron Rowand one for Chicago.
Cliff Lee, appealing a six-game suspension for throwing behind Ken Griffey Jr.'s head on June 13, pitched six solid innings. Lee (7-1) beat Mark Buehrle (7-2).
Jim Thome hit his major league-leading 24th home run and Kevin Millwood won for the first time in eight starts, leading the Philadelphia Phillies to a 5-2 victory over the Montreal Expos on Wednesday.
Thome homered off Sun-woo Kim (3-3) to lead off the second. Mike Lieberthal and David Bell also had solo shots for Philadelphia.
"We didn't have a whole lot of guys on base but it was one of those games where you have to give Millwood credit," Thome said. "He really pitched a nice game for us."
Millwood (5-5) pitched 6 1-3 effective innings for his first win since May 11. He allowed two runs and five hits, including Orlando Cabrera's RBI single in the first and Jose Vidro's solo homer in the sixth.
"Millwood pitched a great game. We really needed that," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said.
Billy Wagner pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save.
Marlins 6, Braves 0
In Miami, Brad Penny pitched six innings and Jeff Conine homered for the first time in more than a month and Florida beat slumping Atlanta.
The Braves have lost six of their last seven games to fall six games under .500 for the first time since 1990.
Penny (7-5) allowed four hits and struck out seven to win for the first time in five starts, and Conine had a three-run homer in the fourth inning. Juan Pierre and Hee Seop Choi also had homers against John Thomson (5-6).
Cardinals 10, Cubs 9
In St. Louis, So Taguchi scored the go-ahead run on Paul Bako's passed ball in the eighth inning as St. Louis edged Chicago.
The Cardinals improved to 28-8 at home against the Cubs since the start of the 2000 season. Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer for the Cardinals, his 20th.
Steve Kline (2-1) retired the last five batters to beat Mike Remlinger (0-1).
Reds 6, Mets 4, 12 innings
In New York, Cincinnati's Sean Casey hit his second two-run homer, in the 12th inning, and finished with five hits to lead Cincinnati over New York.
Wily Mo Pena and D'Angelo Jimenez also connected for the Reds, who snapped New York's season-high five-game winning streak. Mike Matthews (2-1) pitched a hitless 11th, and Danny Graves got three outs for his 28th save.
With two outs in the 12th, Juan Castro doubled off John Franco (1-4) before Casey hit his 100th career homer.
Giants 3, Dodgers 2
In San Francisco, Ray Durham hit a bases-loaded triple and Jerome Williams pitched six strong innings as San Francisco beat Los Angeles for its fifth straight victory.
The Giants increased their National League West lead to 1 1/2 games with their third straight win over their fiercest rivals.
Durham has missed half the season with several injuries, but the Giants' leadoff hitter cleared the bases in the second inning with a triple to the gap in right-center field. Durham then stood on the base and applauded his sixth hit in 11 at-bats against the Dodgers during the series.
Both benches cleared in the fifth inning when Dodgers pitcher Jeff Weaver collided with Michael Tucker while applying a tag in front of first base.
Yankees manager Joe Torre and Marlins manager Jack McKeon filled out their coaching staffs Wednesday for next month's Major League Baseball All-Star game in Houston.
Torre selected Royals manager Tony Pena and Blue Jays manager Carlos Tosca as the two American League coaches. McKeon picked manager Jimy Williams of the host Astros and Rockies manager Clint Hurdle for the National League team.
Torre also invited Yankees coaches Don Mattingly, Rich Monteleone, Willie Randolph, Luis Sojo, Mel Stottlemyre and Roy White.
McKeon also invited Marlins coaches Jeff Cox, Doug Davis, Perry Hill, Bill Robinson, Wayne Rosenthal and Pierre Arsenault.
The 75th annual All-Star game is July 13.
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