BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJORS : It’s a Walk for the Umpires

Eleven umpires in uniform walked a picket line outside the stadium at West Palm Beach, Fla., where the Montreal Expos beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-1.

Replacement umpires worked the game for the locked-out major league umpires.

Umpires also picketed in Phoenix, where the Chicago Cubs got a three-run home run from rookie Matt Franco in a 9-4 victory over Oakland.

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After sitting out the replacement exhibition season, the Baltimore Orioles finally played a game, which meant that new Manager Phil Regan finally could carry a lineup card to home plate and Cal Ripken, a large reason for the Oriole boycott of replacement games, could hit.

Regan is 1-0 as a manager after a 6-5 victory in 10 innings over the Texas Rangers at Port Charlotte, and Ripken went two for two, both singles, and knocked in a run.

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Movement at the union’s free agent camp in Homestead, Fla., slowed considerably as only two players--Howard Johnson and Mariano Duncan--left to sign contracts and 30 players remained.

Johnson agreed to a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs, and Duncan accepted a minor league deal with Philadelphia, his 1994 team, worth $350,000 if he makes the major league roster.

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Jose Canseco and Mark Whiten, both new to the Red Sox, hit home runs in a 9-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Ft. Myers, Fla. . . . Ken Hill, recently traded back to St. Louis after three seasons with Montreal, pitched two innings, allowing one hit and no runs in a 2-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds before about 7,100 fans lured by free tickets to St. Petersburg, Fla. . . . Ken Griffey Jr. homered off Andy Benes in the Seattle Mariners’ 7-4 victory over San Diego at Peoria, Ariz.