The two home runs by Jeffrey Hammonds sure helped. So did the solo shots by Cal Ripken and Chris Hoiles.
The player who really gave Jimmy Key room to finish his first shutout in four seasons, however, was pitcher Scott Erickson.Erickson was sitting on the Baltimore bench, charting pitches. And when Orioles manager Davey Johnson asked how many Key had thrown through eight innings, he was told 97.
Trouble was, Erickson forgot to count 10 or so.
Johnson let Key continue, and the left-hander wrapped up a 9-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday at Camden Yards for his first shutout since May 28, 1993.
Key finished with 122 pitches. Johnson said that if he'd known the true count through eight innings, he might have gone to the bullpen.
Key (2-0) pitched a six-hitter, struck out seven and lowered his ERA to 1.29 in three starts. He allowed only one runner past first base, and that came in the eighth inning.
It was the first complete game since May 6, 1994, for a pitcher who had surgery on his rotator cuff two years ago. Key, who won the clinching Game 6 of the World Series last October for the New York Yankees, signed with Baltimore as a free agent.
"This should quiet all the critics about my arm," Key said.
White Sox 11, Tigers 8, 12 innings
Tigers 4, White Sox 2, 2nd game
Travis Fryman, who nearly won the opener with an extra-inning homer, won the second game with a three-run shot in the bottom of the ninth at Tiger Stadium.
Chicago overcame a 7-0 lead in the first game, tying it with a three-run rally in the ninth capped by Tony Phillips' RBI single with two outs. In the 11th, Fryman made it 8-all with a home run, connecting one pitch after Roberto Hernandez picked Vince Coleman off first base.
In the second game, the White Sox took a 2-1 lead in the ninth on Darren Lewis' squeeze bunt. But in the bottom half, Detroit put two runners on base and, after Jody Reed popped out on a bunt, Fryman again homered off Hernandez.
Yankees 3, Athletics 2, 1st game
Athletics 7, Yankees 4, 2nd game
Andy Pettitte won the opener for New York, then Oakland came back to salvage a doubleheader split at Yankee Stadium.
Pettitte (3-0) joined Waite Hoyt as the only pitchers to win three times in the Yankees' first 10 games of the season. He allowed four hits in seven innings.
Scott Brosius' two-run single helped the A's take a 5-0 lead in the third inning of the second game. Ramiro Mendoza (0-1) lost in his first start since being called up from the minors when Dwight Gooden was put on the disabled list because of a hernia.
Angels 8, Indians 3
Eddie Murray hit the 502nd home run of his career and Anaheim again roughed up Jack McDowell.
Red Sox 7, Mariners 1
Tim Naehring hit a grand slam over the left-field wall and Wil Cordero homered off the Coke bottles above the Green Monster at Fenway Park.
Brewers 3, Blue Jays 2
Playing for the first time after a pair of snowouts at County Stadium, Milwaukee won when Fernando Vina singled home the winning run with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Royals 6, Twins 1
David Howard and Johnny Damon, the eighth- and ninth-place hitters in the lineup, each drove in three runs as Kansas City won at home.