AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : On the Road, Brewers Like New Texas Home

One of the quirks of The Ballpark in Arlington, the Rangers’ new home, is a 349-foot fence in right field, called the Home Run Porch.

Milwaukee’s Dave Nilsson christened it at the park’s unveiling Monday, and the run was the difference in the Brewers’ 4-3 victory over Texas.

The park blends old-fashioned design and modern luxuries, with the porch and tight foul lines homing in from the past.

The foul lines also played Milwaukee’s way, Kevin Seitzer hitting a triple in the sixth that was misplayed by right fielder Rob Ducey as the Brewers took a 2-0 lead.

“We didn’t use our ballpark to our advantage today,” Ranger Manager Kevin Kennedy said.

Nilsson’s homer in the fifth gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead. Then in the sixth, Ducey charged Seitzer’s sinking liner but missed. The ball caromed off a side wall and rattled into the corner, allowing Darryl Hamilton to score for a 2-0 lead.

“Kevin wants us to play aggressively and that’s what I did,” Ducey said. “The only way you can play it right is to wait until the ball stops rolling, then pick it up.”

The Brewers’ Jaime Navarro (1-0) retired 17 Rangers in a row at one point and allowed five hits and three runs in seven innings.

Texas starter Kenny Rogers (0-2), rocked in his first appearance of the season against New York, gave up eight hits in 7 2/3 innings.

Toronto 14, Oakland 5--Rookie Carlos Delgado drove in five runs with his fourth and fifth homers, and John Olerud and Paul Molitor added four RBIs apiece to lead the Blue Jays at Oakland.

Olerud, last year’s batting champion, also homered twice. He and Molitor each went four for five for the World Series champions, who have lost only once.

Seattle 9, Minnesota 8--In the Mariners’ home opener, Mike Blowers singled in Felix Fermin from second base with two out in the 10th inning to give Seattle its first victory of the season.

Bobby Ayala (1-0) got the victory with three innings of relief, although he gave up a game-tying single to Matt Walbeck in the eighth. The Twins, who have lost four in a row, left 15 runners on base, at least one in every inning.

The Twins tied the score, 8-8, with four runs off four Seattle relievers in the eighth.

Baltimore 7, Detroit 4--The Orioles, who hit at least two homers in each of their first five games, got none at Detroit but did have seven shutout innings from Ben McDonald and a two-run triple by Cal Ripken.

McDonald (2-0) carried a one-hitter into the eighth inning before giving up two runs. He gave up three hits in 7 2/3 innings.

Detroit starter Tim Belcher (0-2) gave up seven runs and seven walks in 5 1/3 innings. In his two starts, Belcher has given up 15 hits and 10 walks in only 8 2/3 innings.

Belcher’s earned run average is 8.31 and Manager Sparky Anderson already is putting as much distance as possible between himself and the right-hander he claims he never really wanted.

“I don’t know Belcher from Belcher,” Anderson said in his best Sparky-speak. “I never saw him pitch before. I honestly don’t know what to expect.”

Boston 8, Kansas City 5--Otis Nixon tripled leading off the 10th inning and scored the lead run on Billy Hatcher’s sacrifice fly, and Tim Naehring added a two-run triple as the Red Sox won at Kansas City.

Paul Quantrill (1-0), Boston’s sixth pitcher, went 1 1/3 innings and got the victory after blowing a save chance in the ninth inning.