AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Indians Wow Fans in Opener

Nearly nine months later, the Cleveland Indians and their fans picked up right where they left off.

Before the 29th consecutive sellout at Jacobs Field, the Indians won their belated home opener, 5-1, Friday night as Charles Nagy, celebrating his 28th birthday, held Minnesota to four hits in seven innings. Albert Belle hit two RBI doubles.

The crowd of 41,434 was almost identical in size and enthusiasm to the crowd of 41,459 that saw the Indians beat Seattle in extra innings in the ballpark’s debut last year.

The Indians were in second place in the AL Central and in position for a wild-card spot in the playoffs when the strike began Aug. 12, ending their most promising season since the 1950s.

“We had hoped the fans would come out,” said Nagy. “With everything that happened, the players in this room felt the worst for the fans here, because they deserved better. Now that we’re back, we want to give them better.”

Eddie Murray drove in two runs for the Indians, winners of four of their last five games. Paul Sorrento doubled home the other Cleveland run.

Nagy gave up one run and four hits in his second start, striking out four and walking two.

Julian Tavarez pitched a scoreless eighth, then gave way to Jose Mesa with two on and none out in the ninth. Mesa struck out Kirby Puckett and got Matt Merullo to ground into a double play for his first save.

Loser Scott Erickson retired Cleveland’s first 10 hitters then faded quickly, yielding five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Boston 10, Detroit 7--John Valentin homered and doubled twice, and Mo Vaughn and Mark Whiten also homered, helping the Red Sox overcome Travis Fryman’s grand slam in a victory at Detroit.

Fryman’s first-inning grand slam helped Detroit to a 7-2 lead after four innings.

Jose Canseco, back in the lineup for the first time since straining his right groin on Tuesday night, went one for four for Boston. He left in the ninth for a pinch-runner.

Derek Lilliquist was the winner, and Ken Ryan retired Cecil Fielder to earn his first save.

Baltimore 9, Toronto 2--Kevin Brown pitched seven solid innings to earn his second victory with Baltimore and Rafael Palmeiro had three hits as the Orioles won at Baltimore.

Palmeiro and Brady Anderson homered for the Orioles and Cal Ripken drove in two runs.

Joe Carter homered for the Blue Jays, playing their first road game after opening the season with an eight-game homestand.

Brown gave up two runs and six hits. Al Leiter was the loser.

New York 6, Milwaukee 4--Paul O’Neill and Mike Stanley hit home runs and Scott Bankhead pitched four strong innings of emergency relief as the Yankees won at New York.

New York starter Scott Kamieniecki left the game because of a strained right elbow after throwing two pitches in the second inning. The Yankees also lost Don Mattingly when he pulled a hamstring running out a double in the same inning. Both players will be re-examined today.

Bankhead gave up one run on three hits. John Wetteland pitched the ninth for his fifth save. Bill Wegman was the loser.

Texas 9, Oakland 4--Bob Tewksbury won for the first time with the Rangers, and Mickey Tettleton and Benji Gil homered for the Rangers at Oakland.

The Athletics, offering children’s tickets for $1 all season, drew 35,132 to their home opener, the first game at the Coliseum since Aug. 11. Last season’s home opener drew 40,551.

Tewksbury yielded six hits and two runs--one earned--in seven innings while walking none and striking out one.

Steve Ontiveros, last year’s AL ERA leader, was tagged for seven runs on 11 hits in four-plus innings in the loss.

Kansas City 3, Chicago 1--Felix Jose and Greg Gagne drove in runs during the 12th inning, lifting the Royals to victory at Chicago.

Wally Joyner opened the 12th with a single off loser Kirk McCaskill. After Keith Miller bunted into a force out, Gary Gaetti and Jose followed with singles for a 2-1 lead. Gagne added a run-scoring double.

Rusty Meacham pitched the 11th for the victory and Jeff Montgomery worked the 12th for his second save.