AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Indians’ Shortstop Endures a Long Day

Tricky winds. Bad hops. Tough chances. Omar Vizquel had any number of excuses at his disposal Saturday and chose to use none of them.

“I’ve made two errors in a game before, but never three,” Vizquel said after his three errors led to seven unearned runs in Kansas City’s 12-9 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland.

Vizquel was voted the American League’s best defensive shortstop a year ago for the Seattle Mariners. The Indians acquired him in an off-season trade for Felix Fermin and Reggie Jefferson.

“The guy’s a Gold Glove shortstop,” Indian Manager Mike Hargrove said. “I’d say it’s a fluke. I don’t think we’ll see that very often this summer.”

Bob Hamelin, a rookie from UCLA, drove in a career-high five runs for the Royals, three on a home run in the fifth.

Vizquel misplayed a pair of ground balls in the third inning, setting up four runs for the Royals. He then dropped a routine pop fly with the bases loaded in Kansas City’s four-run eighth.

Vizquel was booed heartily by the Jacobs Field crowd of 36,439 when he came to bat in the ninth.

“I’m sorry I screwed up today,” he said. “If you make an error, they’re going to boo you. They’re paying for tickets to see a good show. You have to be strong and keep going. I never dropped a fly ball before. I thought I had it, but I dropped it.”

Milwaukee 1, Seattle 0--Turner Ward scored the game’s only run on a solo homer and Cal Eldred gave up four hits in 7 1/3 innings for the Brewers at Seattle.

Eldred (1-1), who led the American League in innings pitched and had eight complete games last season, was relieved in the eighth by Graeme Lloyd, who gave up a leadoff double to Greg Pirkl in the ninth. Pinch-runner Darren Bragg advanced to third on a fly ball but was stranded as Mike Blowers grounded out and Dan Wilson struck out.

Ward opened the seventh inning with a homer to right-center, his first of the season.

Detroit 5, New York 4--Pinch-runner Juan Samuel scored from second base on Travis Fryman’s one-out single in the 11th inning at Detroit.

Cecil Fielder singled with one out in the 11th against Donn Pall (0-1), the Yankees’ fifth pitcher, and was replaced by Samuel. Samuel then stole second and was breaking for third on a 3-2 pitch when Fryman grounded to deep short.

Shortstop Randy Velarde was able to glove the ball in short left field, but his throw to the plate was too late to catch Samuel.

Oakland 8, Minnesota 3--Terry Steinbach hit two home runs and Bobby Witt pitched a three-hitter for the Athletics at Oakland.

Steinbach’s three-run homer capped a five-run first inning. He connected for a solo shot in the eighth, his fifth of the season. Mark McGwire added a two-run homer for the A’s.

Witt (1-1) struck out nine and walked three. He retired 13 of the first 14 batters and improved to 13-5 lifetime against the Twins.

Kirby Puckett hit a two-run homer in the ninth. He has hit safely in all 12 of the Twins’ games this season. Jeff Reboulet homered in the third.

Baltimore 6, Texas 4--Harold Baines, who had only two hits in 13 previous at-bats against Tom Henke, tripled with the bases loaded against him during a four-run eighth inning for the Orioles at Arlington, Tex.

Cal Ripken broke an 0-for-10 slump with a run-scoring single against Jay Howell for the tying run. After Chris Hoiles was intentionally walked to load the bases, Baines hit his first triple in 394 games, dating to April 24, 1991.

Ben McDonald (3-0) gave up seven hits in 7 2/3 innings. Lee Smith earned his fifth save.