AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : It’s Early, but Not in Minds of the Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles still have 158 games left, so it’s a little too early for them to get excited about their best start in seven years.

Then again. . . .

“It’s important to get off to a great start,” said Mike Devereaux, who had a three-run home run Saturday in the Orioles’ 7-5 victory over Texas at Baltimore. “We came back from a bad start last year, but you think about what could have happened if we started playing well early.”

The Orioles opened the 1993 season with 13 losses in their first 18 games, but rebounded to get back in the pennant race.

“For our sanity, it’s good for us to get off to a good start, considering all the expectations surrounding this team,” Manager Johnny Oates said.

Chris Hoiles also homered for the Orioles, who improved to 3-1 for the first time since 1987. Baltimore has hit two homers in each of its four games.

“They’re very balanced. They’ve got power all the way through the lineup,” Texas’ Will Clark said.

So do the Rangers, who got homers from Doug Strange and Juan Gonzalez.

Gonzalez hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to bring the Rangers within a run. But a sacrifice fly by Jeffrey Hammonds in the bottom of the inning gave the Orioles a 7-5 lead, and Lee Smith got the final three outs for his third save.

With the Orioles leading, 3-2, in the sixth inning, Alan Mills relieved starter Mike Mussina (2-0) with runners on second and third and none out. Mills struck out Gonzalez, Jose Canseco and Dean Palmer to end the threat.

“I told him, ‘All you’ve got to do is strike out three in a row.’ ” Oates said. “He listens very well.”

“We all got pitches to hit,” Canseco said. “We just fouled them back.”

Canseco singled off Mark Eichhorn in the seventh inning to end an 0-for-13 start.

Toronto 8, Seattle 6--The Blue Jays, who had trailed, 5-0, got a two-run home run by Joe Carter off Bobby Thigpen in the ninth inning to win at Toronto.

Carter, who had broken his thumb in spring training and was expected to miss the first month of the season, had three hits, including his third homer. He raised his RBI total to 1,001 for his career.

The winning home run followed Paul Molitor’s 2,500th hit.

Ken Griffey Jr. had his first two homers of the season for the Mariners, who are 0-4.

Detroit 5, New York 2--Mike Moore was hit hard on opening day in Boston, but he settled down in New York, giving up three hits in seven innings as the Tigers won for the first time after four losses.

Mickey Tettleton hit a three-run homer for the Tigers, who handed Jimmy Key (1-1) his first April loss in four years. Key gave up three hits in six innings, but he walked four.

Chicago 6, Boston 5--The White Sox got run-scoring hits from Julio Franco and Robin Ventura in the seventh inning and Jack McDowell outpitched Roger Clemens in what wasn’t much of a pitchers’ battle in Chicago.

Franco tied the score with a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning and Ventura followed with the go-ahead single.

McDowell, who gave up four runs and eight hits in seven innings with four strikeouts, was followed by Roberto Hernandez, who earned his first save.

Clemens gave up four runs and eight hits in six-plus innings after a disastrous opener against Detroit in which he gave up eight earned runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Oakland 14, Minnesota 0--The Athletics hit four homers for the second consecutive game and Steve Karsay pitched seven shutout innings at Minneapolis.

Terry Steinbach and Ruben Sierra homered for the second consecutive night as the A’s spoiled the major league debut of Carlos Pulido (0-1). Geronimo Berroa and Stan Javier also homered for Oakland, which had 18 hits.

Javier and Berroa each had three hits; Sierra, Steinbach and Scott Brosius drove in three runs apiece. The A’s, who had nine runs in their first two games of the season, have scored 24 in their two against the Twins.