AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Fielder Shows He Can Hit Changeups Too

Baltimore Oriole pitchers have tried everything against Cecil Fielder, and not much has worked, so Jamie Moyer had an idea Wednesday in Detroit.

Forget fastballs. Slow it down.

“The times I’ve faced Cecil, I’ve had some success getting him out with my changeup,” Moyer said.

Not anymore.

Fielder went four for four, including one of three Tiger homers, and John Doherty pitched seven strong innings of a 6-3 victory over the Orioles.

“Today, his base hit to center field was a changeup off the end of the bat,” Moyer said. “And his home run was a changeup that he was out in front of. The guy’s a great hitter, and I have to go after him with what’s worked in the past.”

So much for the past. Fielder doesn’t need a pitcher’s fastball to help generate power.

“Cecil is going to win a lot of games for you, just because he is a big, strong guy,” Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson said. “Cecil doesn’t hit any cheapies.”

Oriole Manager John Oates can attest to that.

“Cecil didn’t need to show us how strong he is,” Oates said. “We’ve known that since he hit the ball on the roof against us last year.”

Tony Phillips and Eric Davis homered in the seventh inning for the Tigers, helping Anderson earn his 100th victory against the Orioles.

Doherty (1-1) held the Orioles to two runs and eight hits in seven innings, getting 16 outs on ground balls, five back to the mound.

Minnesota 9, Seattle 6--Dave Winfield had two hits to move into 16th place on baseball’s all-time list, and the Twins got five runs in the sixth inning en route to ending a five-game losing streak.

Winfield’s two singles give him 3,024 hits, moving him past Lou Brock’s 3,023. Rod Carew is next in view with 3,053.

Pat Mahomes (1-0) gave up a home run to Eric Anthony, his fourth of the season, and to Reggie Jefferson, but the Twins battered Greg Hibbard (0-1) for seven runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Kansas City 2, Boston 1--Rookie Bob Hamelin, who has replaced George Bett as the Royals’ designated hitter, hit a two-run home run with one out in the ninth inning to beat the Red Sox.

Kansas City had not gotten a runner past first base before Hamelin homered into the right-field bullpen off reliever Jeff Russell (0-1). Dave Henderson reached on a throwing error by shortstop John Valentin, setting the stage for Hamelin’s heroics.

Chicago 5, New York 0--Jason Bere (1-0) scattered four hits in seven innings and Julio Franco homered for the White Sox, who won at Chicago to stretch their winning streak to four.

Jim Abbott (1-1) gave up four runs--three earned--and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings in the Yankees’ fourth consecutive loss.

Texas 4, Milwaukee 3--Esteban Beltre singled home the winning run through a drawn-in infield in the 10th inning, giving the Rangers their first victory in their new ballpark.

Chris James led off the 10th with a pinch-single off Bob Scanlan (0-1) and took third on Ivan Rodriguez’s single. Beltre, in his first at-bat with the Rangers after a spring training trade from the White Sox, singled to right.

Tom Henke (1-0) blew a 3-2 lead and save opportunity in the ninth inning, allowing a one-out triple to Alex Diaz and a game-tying single to Matt Mieske.

Oakland 8, Toronto 7--Mike Bordick’s single bounced off relief pitcher Greg Cadaret, scoring Troy Neel from second base in the 12th inning at Oakland.