Orioles Look Same to Hargrove

Having Mike Hargrove in the dugout on opening day didn’t produce a discernible change in the Baltimore Orioles, who experienced the same problems they encountered last year.

And it didn’t change the Cleveland Indians, who looked very much like the same team that won five consecutive AL Central titles with Hargrove as manager.

Baltimore ace Mike Mussina retired 23 of his first 25 batters, but Travis Fryman and Kenny Lofton hit solo homers to lead the Indians to a 4-1 victory Monday.

During his 8 1/2-year run in Cleveland, Hargrove built the Indians into an offense-oriented unit that relied heavily on the long ball. He was fired in October, but that philosophy remains under Charlie Manuel, who won his debut as a major league manager.

“It doesn’t really matter who we play as long as we win,” Manuel said. “Beating Mike doesn’t play a big part in it. We beat the Baltimore Orioles. That’s the way I look at it.”

That’s what he told reporters, anyway.

“Charlie was all excited, saying, ‘Thanks, man. Thanks, man,’ ” Lofton said. “I said, ‘Charlie, it’s only the first game.’ ”

Lofton, who tore a rotator cuff in the playoffs last year, initially was expected to be out until the All-Star break. His homer in the sixth broke a 1-1 tie, and he drove in a run in the eighth when the Indians pulled away by scoring two runs on four consecutive two-out singles.

The view from the other dugout was rather routine for Hargrove, who is trying to turn things around for a franchise coming off two straight losing seasons.

“It was normal. Everything I saw them do, I’ve seen them do for the last eight years so it didn’t surprise me,” Hargrove said. “The only un-normal thing about it was that we didn’t win.”

Baltimore’s Cal Ripken, who entered the game needing nine hits to reach 3,000 for his career, hit a bloop double in the second inning and went one for four. His hit total, posted in large block numerals on the warehouse beyond the right-field wall, stands at 2,992.