AMERICAN LEAGUE : Boston Rookie Gets a Big-League Lesson

On Sunday, Jeff Suppan was a 20-year-old pitcher with double-A Trenton in the Eastern League and doing quite well.

On Monday, he was starting against the Kansas City Royals for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.

The first batter, Keith Lockhart, was also a rookie, though 30 years old. Lockhart led off the game with the second homer of his career, sending the Kansas City Royals to a 4-3 victory.

“I guess,” Lockhart laughed, “I’m a more experienced rookie.”

And Suppan’s eyes are a bit less wide now. He lasted 5 2/3 innings as the 23rd pitcher the Red Sox have used this season, and gave up three runs, nine hits and two walks. And he learned.

“I tried to stay focused, not to get rattled,” Suppan said. “I said to myself, ‘This is real, not something you dream about.’ I’m not afraid of anything. I’m confident.”

He might have avoided being the losing pitcher had Kansas City shortstop Greg Gagne not made two outstanding plays to end innings.

With Red Sox at first and second bases and the Royals leading, 3-2, in the sixth inning, he went far behind second base to field Mark Whiten’s grounder and throw Whiten out. In the eighth, with runners at second and third and the score 4-3, Gagne backhanded the ball deep in the hole and threw out Tim Naehring, despite a headfirst slide.

“He was [the hero] in my book,” Royal Manager Bob Boone said. “Both those plays were tremendous. You don’t see that last one too often.”

Only two batters reached base against Mark Gubicza (7-7) in the first five innings, but he left with two outs in the sixth after giving up two runs. Jeff Montgomery pitched 1 1/3 innings for his 16th save.

Lockhart also singled and scored the Royals’ second run of the game in the third inning. He went two for four and is batting .414 in his last 21 games.

Seattle 10, Detroit 6--Tino Martinez hit a grand slam to center field with two out in the 10th inning to give the Mariners a victory at Seattle.

The home run, off Buddy Groom, was Martinez’s 19th of the season and scored Rich Amaral, Joey Cora and Edgar Martinez and made a winner out of Bobby Ayala (3-2), Seattle’s fourth pitcher.

Toronto 6, Minnesota 3--Shawn Green hit a two-run homer to help Al Leiter get his first victory in more than a month as the Blue Jays remained hot on the road.

Leiter (6-5) had lost his last three starts and not won in five appearances since beating Boston on June 14. He pitched five scoreless innings before giving up three runs in the sixth, when Toronto fielders lost two popups in the Metrodome’s Teflon ceiling.

It was the Blue Jays’ seventh victory in their last 10 games, all on the road. Before the streak, Toronto had lost 15 of 18 games away from SkyDome.

Milwaukee 13, Oakland 4--Dave Nilsson homered and drove in five runs and Dave Stewart was rocked again as the Brewers won at home.

Oakland suffered a two-pronged problem. First baseman Mark McGwire left the lineup because of a sprained toe on his left foot, sustained while running to double off a runner in the fifth inning.

And Stewart (3-7), who has won only once in his last 13 outings, gave up three homers and eight earned runs in two innings.

Nilsson had a three-run homer in the first inning, an RBI single in the fourth and a sacrifice fly in the fifth as the Brewers won their fifth in a row and handed the Athletics their fifth consecutive loss.

Baltimore 3, Texas 2--Rafael Palmeiro homered into the upper deck in right field in the top of the 13th inning at Arlington, Tex., giving the Orioles a victory.

The 418-foot shot off Dennis Cook (0-1) was only the third ball hit into the upper deck at the Ballpark this season.

Six Baltimore relievers held Texas without a hit over the final eight innings.

New York 1, Chicago 1--Wilson Alvarez held the Yankees to one hit over six innings, a homer by Mike Stanley, and Andy Pettite gave up nine hits and four walks over seven innings, but stranded nine White Sox runners in a game called because of rain in the seventh inning in New York.

It will be made up as part of a twi-night doubleheader tonight.