BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AMERICAN LEAGUE : Alomar Has Real Home-Field Advantage

Second baseman Roberto Alomar says the Blue Jays hold the playoff advantage with three games at home. And no one has a greater advantage than Alomar.

In his first season with the Blue Jays, he has lived in the SkyDome hotel. His room isn’t one of the 70 that face the field, but he said it takes him only two or three minutes to reach the Toronto clubhouse.

“I just take the elevator down a few floors,” he said. “Very convenient. Maid service every day. Everything I need right out the door. I don’t even have a car because I don’t need one.”

Alomar’s team was 46-35 at home and 45-36 on the road. As a table-setter who bats behind Devon White and ahead of Joe Carter, Alomar said the quick-strike potential of the top of the lineup was displayed in the Game 2 victory.

“We’re not a home run team,” he said. “We have to create runs, and we have the guys who can do it. That’s on (the Twins’) minds now. I think they’re more worried about (keeping White and Alomar off base) than our other players and that’s a mistake because they should be worried about our whole lineup.”

Toronto relief ace Tom Henke said Thursday that he wasn’t angry at being used in a setup role, with Duane Ward getting the save in Game 2, and did not have a recurrence of his recent shoulder problems while retiring the four batters he faced.

He said he refused to speak with reporters after the game because his wife had flown in and he hadn’t seen her in about a month.

Sources close to the Toronto team, however, insist that Henke is never totally happy when Ward gets the save opportunity--even if an injury makes it necessary, creating a change in roles.

Manager Cito Gaston, blessed with two proven closers and a deep bullpen, reiterated Thursday that he may flip-flop Henke and Ward before the series is over, depending on Henke’s shoulder.

The two Toronto closers converted 55 of 60 save chances this year.

Blue Jay batting instructor Gene Tenace, who led the team to a 19-14 record when Gaston was sidelined by a herniated disk, is favored to replace Tom Trebelhorn as the Milwaukee Brewers’ manager now that Sal Bando, Tenace’s former Oakland A’s teammate, is running the Brewers.