AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Baylor Manages to Get Brewers a Win, 4-3

Don Baylor has taken the lineup card to home plate before, but this time it was his.

Baylor, batting coach for the Milwaukee Brewers, was named interim manager with Tom Trebelhorn starting a five-game suspension, and called the shots Thursday in the Brewers’ 4-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

“It’s a big deal, there is no doubt about it,” Baylor said. “We have to win games. That was Treb’s parting words to me, ‘Just win a game,’ which we did.”

Trebelhorn was suspended for his role in a brawl at Seattle last weekend.

The Brewers have three players appealing suspensions after the incident, including Gary Sheffield and B.J Surhoff.

“When I went out to take the lineup card, the one thing the umpires were concerned about was who was going to be running the club and if Sheffield and Surhoff could play,” Baylor said.

“That’s what scared me the most. I said, ‘I can’t be without those guys my first day.’ That was the only suspense of the day. That and holding on in the ninth.”

Milwaukee, which had lost eight of nine, won two in a row from Oakland, beating Dave Stewart Wednesday night in his first start after pitching a no-hitter against Toronto, and ending Bob Welch’s 10-game winning streak Thursday.

Welch (13-3) left the game with a strained right hip after Greg Brock’s two-run homer in the fourth. It was his shortest outing in two seasons and his first defeat since May 5.

Sheffield homered in the first and singled home a run in the third. Brock homered in the fourth after Dave Parker’s single, giving the Brewers a 4-0 lead.

Teddy Higuera (6-2) gave up two hits in seven innings, striking out nine in his second start since coming off the disabled list. Dan Plesac retired the only batter he faced to get his 14th save.

The Athletics scored in the sixth on three errors and Rickey Henderson’s two-run homer.

Minnesota 7, Boston 4--Fred Manrique’s two-run double in the seventh inning rallied the Twins past the Red Sox at Minneapolis.

The Twins added two runs in the eighth when Kirby Puckett hit an RBI double for his third hit and scored on Moses’ single.

Tim Drummond (1-3) got his first major league victory and Rick Aguilera got his 20th save.

Rob Murphy (0-5) took the loss as the Twins beat the Red Sox for the seventh time in nine games.

Kansas City 15, Detroit 3--Bo Jackson and George Brett each homered and drove in four runs as the Royals hammered the Tigers at Detroit for their fourth consecutive victory.

Jackson singled, tripled and hit his 16th homer. Brett singled, doubled and hit his second homer.

Luis Aquino (3-0) replaced scheduled starter Storm Davis, who has a bruised knuckle on his pitching hand, giving up one run and five hits in six innings.

Mark Salas hit two solo homers for the Tigers.

Seattle 4, Cleveland 1--Omar Vizquel singled and hit his second major league home run in his first two at-bats of the season and Erik Hanson pitched a three-hitter over eight innings as the Mariners downed the Indians at Cleveland.

Hanson (9-6) struck out nine and walked three, helping Seattle win for the seventh time in eight games. Mike Schooler pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.

Vizquel, called up earlier in the day from triple-A Calgary, homered off Tom Candiotti (9-4) in the fifth to break a 1-1 tie.

Texas 3, Baltimore 2--Rafael Palmeiro’s solo homer in the sixth inning snapped a 1-1 tie and Mike Jeffcoat pitched a seven-hitter over 8 1/3 innings as the Rangers beat the Orioles at Arlington, Tex.

Baltimore’s Cal Ripken Jr. established a major league record for consecutive errorless chances by a shortstop when he handled a grounder in the first inning. Ripken’s 332 chances without an error broke the mark set by Detroit’s Eddie Brinkman in 1972.