Dave Stieb allowed just 4 hits and a run, a solo home run to Cal Ripken Jr., while striking out 6 as the Detroit Rockets topped the New York Swats 3-1 in their 1st game without Ichiro Suzuki. Suzuki was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and left the team to join the Boston Splinters. Despite the great pitching by Stieb, Detroit still needed some help to win. With two outs in the 3rd inning, Álex Rodríguez hit a liner to center that Ty Cobb misjudged, allowing 2 runs to score. Miguel Cabrera followed with an RBI single to give Detroit another run. Swats starter Mike Mussina allowed just 5 hits and struck out 7 in 8 innings, with those three unearned runs making the difference. The Rockets win keeps pressure on Boston, as Detroit has cut the Splinters lead to 1 1/2 games. Shoeless Joe Jackson struggled in his 1st game in the league, going 0 for 4 with a strikeout in place of Suzuki. Tom Henke recover from his blown save yesterday, pitching a scoreless 9th.