He Needed the Right Ripken for the Job

Manager Davey Johnson was right: the Orioles might well be better off with Ripken at third base.

Bill Ripken, that is.

Ripken went three for four and hit a home run Wednesday night at Baltimore, and his brother, shortstop Cal, singled in the tie-breaking run in the eighth inning of a 6-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

It was the 18th loss in 19 games for the Tigers.

Two weeks ago, Johnson created a stir when he announced that he was considering moving Cal Ripken from shortstop to third base. Instead, he put Bill Ripken--a utility player, but a second baseman by trade--at third and kept Cal at shortstop.

Bill Ripken, subbing for the injured B.J. Surhoff, has gone 14 for 36 (.389) with eight runs scored and five RBIs in his last nine games.

“Billy’s showing what he can do,” Cal said. “In the years he hit really well, he was more patient at the plate and he had good pop in the bat. Right now he looks the same way as he did in those years.”

Johnson is being given credit for a move he didn’t make.

“Things always work out best, as my daddy would say,” Bill said. “For me, this seems to be a nice little non-move that really helped me out.”

Rafael Palmeiro opened the Baltimore eighth inning with a single off Mike Myers (0-3). After Bobby Bonilla lined out, Richie Lewis came in to face Cal Ripken. Palmeiro stole second base, and Ripken singled.

Two batters later, Bill Ripken hit an RBI single for a 6-4 lead.

John Flaherty had two hits and an RBI for the Tigers, who have lost 38 of 43.

Cleveland 13, Seattle 5--Albert Belle hit his major league-leading 23rd home run and drew a bases-loaded walk to score the go-ahead run at Cleveland, where the Indians beat the Mariners.

Cleveland scored seven runs in the seventh inning on four walks, three singles and a hit batsman.

Bob Milacki (1-3) came on to start the seventh and walked Kenny Lofton and Julio Franco. Milacki was replaced by Salomon Torres with a 2-1 count on Carlos Baerga, who lined Torres’ first pitch for a single, loading the bases. Belle’s walk scored Lofton.

Lee Guetterman got two outs, but Mike Jackson walked Manny Ramirez to force in a run, hit Sandy Alomar with a pitch to force in another, then yielded two-run singles to Omar Vizquel and Kenny Lofton.

Toronto 12, New York 7--Alex Gonzalez hit a two-run homer and Ed Sprague added a three-run shot for the Blue Jays, who stopped a 13-game losing streak against the Yankees with a win in New York.

Toronto scored four times in the first inning off Jimmy Key (2-6). After the Yankees closed within a run, Gonzalez homered in the fourth and the Blue Jays finished Key with a two-run fifth.

Chicago 8, Boston 6--Frank Thomas’ sacrifice fly at Boston broke a 12th-inning tie and led the White Sox to their sixth victory in a row.

Ozzie Guillen singled to lead off the 12th, moved to second when Tony Phillips walked and took third on a wild pitch by Heathcliff Slocumb (1-4). Thomas scored Guillen easily on a shallow fly.

Norberto Martin singled home Phillips to insure Chicago’s 15th victory in 17 games.

Milwaukee 6, Texas 4--Ben McDonald pitched six solid innings for his first victory in a month and Dave Nilsson drove in two runs for the Brewers in a victory in Milwaukee.

McDonald (5-3) gave up two runs on five hits in gaining his first victory in six starts.

Kansas City 5, Oakland 2--Chris Haney (4-5) pitched seven strong innings, shutting down the Athletics for the second time this season.

Haney, who is 4-1 in his last seven starts, gave up one run on five hits, struck out no one and benefited from three double plays. After giving up a leadoff triple by Ernie Young in the first, he did not allow another Oakland runner past second base.