Giants’ Win Begins New Era

Interleague

Thanks to a couple of former American Leaguers, a National League team won the first interleague game in baseball history Thursday night in Arlington.

Stan Javier homered and hit a tie-breaking double in the seventh inning, leading Mark Gardner and the San Francisco Giants past the Texas Rangers 4-3 before a sellout crowd of 46,507.

“If we’re going to be part of history, we might as well win it,” Giants manager Dusty Baker said.

Javier led off the third inning with his first home run since June 11, 1996, to tie the game at 1. In the seventh, Glenallen Hill - the first N.L. designated hitter and an A.L. player from 1989-93 - tied the game at 3 with a sacrifice fly. Javier followed with a double off the right-field wall that drove in Barry Bonds with the game-winning run.

“Before the game, I thought it might be nice for the guy who hit the first home run. I didn’t think it would be me,” said Javier, who added a ninth-inning single to go 3 for 4.

Gardner (7-2), who pitched for Kansas City in 1993, was lucky to get this win. Baker said if this had been a National League game, he might have pinch-hit when the No. 9 spot came up in the sixth inning. He also considered it in the seventh.

Instead, Gardner stuck around and picked up his first victory since May 22.

Athletics 5, Dodgers 4

Oakland, Calif.

A rivalry previously confined to the World Series unfolded for the first time in the regular season as Oakland, behind consecutive pinch hits by Patrick Lennon and George Williams, beat Los Angeles.

The Dodgers and A’s met for the first time since Los Angeles defeated Oakland in the 1988 World Series. The teams also played in the 1974 Series, with the A’s winning.

The game drew a crowd of 28,201, nearly double the Athletics’ average home attendance.

Angels 8, Padres 4

Anaheim, Calif.

Anaheim, welcoming San Diego to the offense-minded A.L. brand of baseball, rapped 16 hits for a win.

Tony Phillips, Dave Hollins and Darin Erstad hit solo homers for Anaheim. Every player in the Angels’ lineup had at least one hit.

Many of the visiting players - such as Tony Gwynn and former Angels star Wally Joyner - were cheered almost as much as the Anaheim players. Attendance was 22,164, the lowest at any of the four interleague games, but above the Anaheim Stadium season average of 19,857.

Clearing the bases

Right-hander Alan Mills, who has been out of action since suffering a pinched nerve in his neck, will join the Baltimore Orioles in Atlanta today and could be activated in time for the second game of the interleague series against the Braves, depending on how he throws in a workout at Turner Field. … The New York Mets lost their second shortstop in less than two weeks when they determined that Manny Alexander will need arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Starter Rey Ordonez broke his left hand diving for a ball June 1 against Philadelphia and is not expected to return until next month.

Houston Astros starting pitcher Shane Reynolds will undergo arthroscopic surgery today to repair torn cartilage and remove a cyst from his right knee. … Roger Salkeld allowed one run on four hits in five innings as the Indianapolis Indians beat their parent Cincinnati Reds 3-1 in an exhibition game in Indianapolis. … The Ottawa Lynx beat their parent Montreal Expos 5-2 in a rain-shortened game at Ottawa.