American League

Tigers 10, A's 9

LAS VEGAS - Melvin Nieves' RBI bloop single in the 15th inning gave the Detroit Tigers, who earlier blew a seven-run lead, a 10-9 win Thursday over the winless Oakland Athletics in a homer-filled game.

Travis Fryman of the Tigers and Scott Brosius of the A's each homered twice. Bobby Higginson also connected for Detroit in a game that lasted 4 hours, 47 minutes.

The five homers brought the total to 13 in three games so far at Cashman Field, a minor-league park hosting the A's this week because of $100 million in renovations at the Oakland Coliseum.

The A's, who have been outscored 29-19 in their three losses this season, have three more games in Las Vegas this weekend against Detroit.

Orioles 5, Royals 3

BALTIMORE - Pinch-hitter Tony Tarasco drove in the go-ahead run on a fielder's choice in a five-run eighth inning as the Orioles completed a three-game sweep.

Kansas City starter Chris Haney, seeking his first victory since last June 13, took a five-hit shutout into the eighth before the Orioles rallied to complete their first three-game sweep of the Royals since 1992.

The Orioles began their comeback against Hipolito Pichardo (0-1), who threw a wild pitch and gave up Bobby Bonilla's sacrifice fly and Cal Ripken's double to tie the score.

B.J. Surhoff was walked and Chris Hoiles followed with an infield single to load the bases. Terry Clark relieved and got Tarasco to hit a grounder to second, but the relay throw was too late at first. Jeffrey Hammonds capped the inning with an RBI single.

Arthur Rhodes (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings and Randy Myers worked the ninth for his second save.

Indians, Yankees rained out

CLEVELAND- The Yankees and Indians were postponed for the second time in four days.

It was not immediately rescheduled.

The postponement, which came after the start was delayed more than two hours, was the second of the three-game, season-opening series at Jacobs Field. Monday's opener was snowed out but was played Tuesday.

The Yankees won both games that were played, beating Cleveland 7-1 Tuesday and 5-1 Wednesday.

National League

Cubs 9, Dodgers 4

CHICAGO - Ryne Sandberg homered for the first hit of his comeback and Sammy Sosa's two-run shot capped a seven-run fourth inning as the Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-4 in wintry conditions Thursday.

On a miserable day for baseball, only a couple of thousand fans braved the elements at Wrigley Field as workers salted stadium aisles to keep people from slipping.

Rain mixed with snow as the game-time temperature of 34 degrees combined with a 19-mph wind made it feel like minus-12 degrees.

Sandberg, who'd been 0-for-9, hit his first homer since June 1, 1994, a two-run drive that cleared the right center field wall. Sandberg's shot brought the Cubs to within 3-2 in the third inning.

The Cubs then scored seven in the fourth inning.

Expos 10, Reds 2

CINCINNATI - Moises Alou, Henry Rodriguez and Darrin Fletcher homered as the Expos continued to pound Cincinnati relievers, giving pitcher Jose Paniagua a win in his major-league debut.

The Expos scored 18 runs on 29 hits to win the last two games of the series.

Alou's two-run homer in the first off loser Dave Burba put the Expos ahead to stay, and Rodriguez hit a three-run homer in a five-run sixth as Montreal pulled away.

Paniagua, 22, was called up from the minors before the game and went five innings, allowing just four hits and one run.

Marlins 6, Pirates 2

MIAMI - Gary Sheffield and Greg Colbrunn homered, jolting Florida's sluggish offense as the Marlins claimed their first victory of 1996.

Al Leiter (1-0), making his National League debut after 113 games in the American League, earned the victory despite shaky control. The left-hander walked four in seven innings, but allowed just four hits and one run.

The Marlins, who scored just one run in their first two games, took a 2-0 lead in the third against John Ericks (0-1).

Pittsburgh pinch hitter John Wehner hit his first major-league homer in the seventh.

Mets 10, Cards 9

NEW YORK - Brent Mayne's two-out, ninth-inning pinch single drove in Chris Jones with the winning run after New York had blown a seven-run lead.

St. Louis went ahead 9-8 on Willie McGee's RBI single in the top of the ninth inning after the Cardinals had tied the score with five runs in the eighth.

John Franco (1-0) was the winner despite allowing McGee's single and Dennis Eckersley (0-1), the fifth Cardinals pitcher, was the loser, allowing two hits and two unearned runs in the ninth.

Jones reached second when his grounder went through third baseman Gary Gaetti's legs with two out in the ninth, scoring Edgardo Alfonzo to tie the score.

Both teams committed four errors in the game and combined for a total of 10 unearned runs.