AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Kansas City Gets First Victory

The music blared for the first time this season in the Kansas City clubhouse and all it took was a longball from a rookie.

Phil Hiatt hit his first major league home run with the bases empty in the seventh inning to give the Royals their first win after five losses, 2-1, over the Minnesota Twins Sunday at Kansas City.

“Look around. You can tell everybody’s attitude has picked up,” Hiatt said after his home run against Kevin Tapani (0-2).

“It was my first home run and my first win as a Royal,” said Hiatt, who leads the team with six RBIs after being called up when third baseman Keith Miller was hurt opening day.

Jeff Montgomery pitched two innings of relief for his first save as the Royals became the last team in the majors to win this season.

“I’ll be honest, I felt a lot of pressure out there,” said Montgomery, who saved 39 games last year. “This is a real big relief. Now we can come to the ballpark comfortable. We’re not coming to the ballpark thinking we have got to make ourselves win.”

The Twins got only five hits against starter Hipiloto Pichardo, Tom Gordon and Montgomery. Gordon (1-0) pitched two innings of two-hit relief for the win.

Cleveland 10, Toronto 6--The Indians continue to pound the ball and Jack Morris continues to struggle.

Thomas Howard had four singles and three RBIs, and Carlos Baerga hit a three-run homer as Cleveland won at Toronto.

Morris (0-2) lasted only 2 2/3 innings, matching his shortest outing since coming to the Blue Jays last season. He gave up seven runs and eight hits, including Baerga’s third homer of the season in the first.

The Indians got 16 hits against four Toronto pitchers, giving them 41 hits in the three-game series.

Chicago 6, New York 4--Joey Cora hit a two-run triple in the sixth inning as the White Sox avoided a three-game sweep at Chicago.

New York outscored Chicago, 23-6, in winning the first two games of the series.

Jack McDowell (2-0) got the win despite giving up 12 hits and four earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. Roberto Hernandez got the final out, striking out Danny Tartabull for his first save.

Texas 4, Boston 1--Kevin Brown came off the disabled list and held the Red Sox to five hits over 7 2/3 innings at Arlington, Tex.

Brown walked one and struck out four in his first appearance since March 16. Mo Vaughn’s fourth-inning homer was the only run against Brown.

Brown, who tied Toronto’s Jack Morris for the major league lead with 21 victories last season, missed his opening day start with a rib fracture. He went on the disabled list for the first time in his career and was activated shortly before the game.

Oakland 8, Milwaukee 2--Shawn Hillegas pitched six shutout innings and Dave Henderson hit his first homer since 1991, leading the Athletics at Oakland.

Hillegas (1-0), signed by the A’s as a free agent for last year’s pennant drive, struck out six and walked three before getting relief from Joe Boever and Rick Honeycutt.

Oakland’s Rickey Henderson hit his 200th homer in the eighth, a two-run shot against Graeme Lloyd.

Dave Henderson led off the fifth with a homer to give Oakland a 2-0 lead. Henderson, who spent most of last season on the disabled list, had not homered since Sept. 26, 1991--against Texas at Oakland Coliseum.

Seattle 7, Baltimore 6--Jay Buhner’s two-out, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 12th inning scored Fernando Vina with the winning run, lifting the Mariners at Seattle.

Vina started the 12th with his first major league hit, a double against of Mark Williamson (0-1). Two walks loaded the bases before Buhner’s game winner.

Russ Swan (1-0) retired the only batter he faced to get the victory.

Baltimore broke a 5-5 tie on Brady Anderson’s solo home run in the top of the ninth, but Seattle tied it in the bottom of the inning against Oriole closer Gregg Olson.