AL Roundup: Rigdon makes memorable debut, Henderson homers again

Ben Walker

Monday, May 22, 2000 | 9:35 a.m.

Rookie Paul Rigdon got off to a great start. And once again, so did Rickey Henderson.

Making his major league debut, Rigdon shut out the New York Yankees on two hits for seven innings in pitching the Cleveland Indians to a 6-1 win Sunday at Jacobs Field.

"Unbelievable," Rigdon said. "This was better than I ever imagined. Before the game I tried to visualize what I would do, but this was better. Unbelievable."

At Safeco Field, Henderson hit another leadoff home run for Seattle in an 8-4 win over Tampa Bay.

Henderson has been in the starting lineup twice for the Mariners since being cut by the New York Mets, and he's homered in the first inning both times. His 77 leadoff home runs are a major league record.

"Ten years ago, I used to do that all the time," said Henderson, who later singled and scored. "Maybe it's now starting all over again."

In other AL games, Chicago got only one hit but topped Toronto 2-1, Texas beat Baltimore 6-5, Oakland downed Minnesota 13-4, Detroit beat Boston 7-5 and Kansas City defeated Anaheim 10-6.

Rigdon arrived in town Friday, called up from Triple-A Buffalo after the Indians put pitcher Jaret Wright, Charles Nagy and Ricardo Rincon on the disabled list.

The 24-year-old right-hander put on a quite show for a sellout crowd that included his parents, Larry and Penny, and his fiancee, Diane, all in from Jacksonville, Fla.

"It's awesome," said Rigdon's dad, standing near his son in the Indians' clubhouse. "I was a little apprehensive about him facing the Yankees."

Rigdon gave up a third-inning single to Chuck Knoblauch and a seventh-inning double to Jorge Posada. He walked four and struck out two.

"He pitched wonderfully," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "There's a lesson to be learned here by young pitchers - throw strike one."

Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez hit two-run homers off Orlando Hernandez (4-4). Enrique Wilson added an inside-the-park shot.

Hernandez lost his fourth straight decision. He is 0-4 in five career regular-season starts against the Indians, though he beat them in the 1998 playoffs.

Mariners 8, Devil Rays 4

Dan Wilson, Mike Cameron and Edgar Martinez homered and John Olerud went 4-for-4 for Seattle.

Gerald Williams hit a two-run double in the seventh that pulled Tampa Bay to 8-4. Arthur Rhodes, ejected after a bench-clearing brawl Saturday, relieved and, after walking Vinny Castilla to load the bases, struck out Greg Vaughn and Jose Canseco to end the inning.

Rangers 6, Orioles 5

Pinch-hitter Frank Catalanotto had a two-out RBI single in the eighth as Texas overcame a 5-0 deficit to extend its winning streak to a season-high six games.

Mike Venafro (1-0) pitched 2-3 of an inning for the victory and John Wetteland worked the ninth for his 10th save. Buddy Groom (2-2) took the loss, Baltimore's 15th in its last 17 games.

Rafael Palmeiro and Lamb homered for the Rangers, and Mike Bordick connected for the visiting Orioles.

White Sox 2, Blue Jays 1

Mark Johnson singled with two outs in the third inning for Chicago's lone hit at SkyDome. It turned out the White Sox didn't even need it, as they took advantage of Toronto's five errors.

The Blue Jays lost their fourth in a row despite Frank Castillo, Pedro Borbon and Billy Koch combining on a one-hitter.

Chicago scored two unearned runs in the seventh on errors by second baseman Homer Bush and third baseman Tony Batista.

Tigers 7, Red Sox 5

Hideo Nomo won for the first time since opening day, beating Boston at Comerica Park.

Gregg Jefferies hit a leadoff homer for Detroit. The Tigers have won five of six against the Red Sox and Yankees in the last 10 days.

Nomo gave up one run and five hits in 5 1-3 innings. Boston has lost two in a row for the first time since April 28-29.

Athletics 13, Twins 4

Jason Giambi hit his fifth career grand slam, highlighting an eight-run second inning at Oakland.

The Athletics ended their season-high five-game losing streak. Ryan Christenson hit an inside-the-park homer and Eric Chavez had a solo shot.

Tim Hudson pitched seven scoreless innings and won his fourth straight decision.

Royals 10, Angels 6

Joe Randa, David McCarty and Carlos Beltran homered and Kansas City finished 6-6 on its longest road trip of the season.