Pavlik Walks Into Record Book

American League

Roger Pavlik of the Rangers became the first A.L. pitcher ever to walk the first four batters of the game, and the Toronto Blue Jays went on to beat Texas 6-5 Friday night in Arlington, Texas.

Pavlik (1-2) walked Otis Nixon, Carlos Garcia, Orlando Merced and Joe Carter on just 19 pitches, and two of those were bunt attempts Garcia fouled off. Pavlik broke the A.L. record of three. The N.L. record for walks at the start of a game is five, set by Cincinnati’s Johnny Vander Meer (4) and Gene Thompson (1) against the New York Giants on June 16, 1941.

Pavlik, who walked 81 in 201 innings last year, lasted just one-third of an inning. After the walks, he gave up a two-run double to Ed Sprague, an RBI groundout to Carlos Delgado and an RBI single to Charlie O’Brien.

Brewers 10, Indians 2 Cleveland

Fernando Vina hit his first grand slam in the majors and drove in a career-high five runs for Milwaukee.

The Brewers battered Jack McDowell (0-2) for seven runs on seven hits and four walks in four innings. The right-hander’s ERA rose to 12.51.

Yankees 10, White Sox 4 Chicago

Bernie Williams drove in four runs and New York scored five times in the first inning, beating Chicago to end a five-game losing streak.

The White Sox suffered their 11th loss in 15 games.

Athletics 9, Tigers 5 Detroit

Oakland snapped a four-game losing streak when Dave Magadan’s pinch-hit RBI single and two bases-loaded walks keyed a six-run eighth inning.

The loss was the third straight for Detroit, which led 4-0 after two innings. Detroit has also blown 7-0 and 3-0 leads since Sunday.

Red Sox-Orioles, ppd.

The Boston-Baltimore game was rained out in Boston. The game will be made up June 12.

Clearing the bases

Paul O’Neill, who was in the Yankees original starting lineup, was a late scratch because he’s still bothered by a groin strain. He missed Thursday’s game in Milwaukee. … Albert Belle went 1 for 5 and is in a 5-for-40 slump for Chicago.