Red Sox drop Tigers to 0-7
The Red Sox trotted out the champions of Boston's past to celebrate their latest World Series win, with Hall of Famers Bobby Orr and Bill Russell among those carrying their sports' trophies onto the Fenway field to join the two won by the Red Sox.
Daisuke Matsuzaka was too busy warming up to see much.
"I did feel a little jealous," Matsuzaka said after the Red Sox ended their three-country, 16,000-mile odyssey with a 5-0 victory over the winless Detroit Tigers in their home opener Tuesday. "The ring had been put in my locker at some point during the game. I tried it on, and I must say it looked pretty good."
In an hourlong pregame ceremony the Red Sox received their World Series rings and raised a championship banner above center field. Then, they began to focus on the work of repeating.
"We needed to get through this day," said Boston manager Terry Francona, who took his team to Japan, California and Canada before opening up at home. "Now we can go about the business of playing baseball and seeing how good we can be."
Youkilis had 3 hits and 2 RBI for the Red Sox, who began the day last in the AL East following a trip to Tokyo (where they went 1-1), Oakland (2-0) and Toronto (0-3). But they responded well in their return to Fenway, where they were 51-30 during the regular season last year and 6-1 in the postseason.
Matsuzaka (2-0) allowed 4 hits in 6¿ innings with 7 strikeouts and 4 walks. Detroit, the only winless team in the majors despite the big leagues' second-highest payroll, is 0-7 for the first time since dropping its first nine games in 2003 en route to an AL record 119 losses.
"You get angry if people are going through the motions and if they're not trying," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "But that's not what's happening."
Kenny Rogers (0-2) allowed 3 runs -- 2 earned -- 8 hits and 3 walks in 4¿ innings. The Tigers are batting just .235 and have scored 15 runs this year, ahead of only Colorado (12) entering play Tuesday night.
Royals 5, Yankees 2: Brian Bannister and the Kansas City Royals got the best of Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod struck out four times in a game for only the fourth time in his major-league career, and the Royals won their home opener, beating New York. The Yankees opened a stretch that has them playing 18 of 20 games on the road.
Orioles 8, Rangers 1: Scott Moore and Luke Scott hit early home runs, and Baltimore ruined Texas' home opener. The Orioles (6-1) have the American League's best record and a six-game winning streak, already matching their longest of last season. Moore led off the second with a homer, and Scott followed an inning later with a 2-run shot that made it 4-0 off Jason Jennings (0-2).
Mariners 6, Rays 5: Erik Bedard struggled through 6 innings but got enough support from the Seattle's sputtering offense to ruin Tampa Bay's home opener. Bedard (1-0) allowed 5 runs and 5 hits while improving to 11-3 in 19 career starts against Tampa Bay. The other 10 victories came while he was with the Orioles, who dealt him to Seattle just before the start of spring training.
Athletics 9, Blue Jays 8: Ryan Sweeney hit a tiebreaking triple in the ninth inning, and Oakland ended host Toronto's three-game winning streak. Kurt Suzuki singled up the middle off right-hander Jeremy Accardo (0-1) with two outs in the ninth. Sweeney then hit a triple to right. He finished 2-for-5 with 2 RBI. Alan Embree (1-1) got the win despite allowing a 2-run homer to Frank Thomas in the eighth to make it 8-8. The homer was Thomas' third in three games.
National League
Phillies 5, Mets 2: Jamie Moyer (1-0) allowed 2 runs and 4 hits in 6 innings, Jayson Werth hit a tiebreaking single, and Philadelphia rallied past host New York. The Phillies, who took advantage of the Mets' epic collapse last September to win the division title, have won nine in a row against New York. Chase Utley tied a major-league record by getting hit by a pitch three times for the Phillies.
Rockies 4, Braves 3: Right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez overcame a shaky start, and Matt Holliday hit 2 run-scoring singles in host Colorado's win over Atlanta. Each of the Braves' five losses have come by one run. The Rockies still haven't broken out of their offensive funk, but they finally topped the 3-run mark in a game. Coming in, they had scored just 12 times in their first seven games, the lowest run production in the majors.
Cardinals 5, Astros 3: Troy Glaus hit a 2-run double in the eighth inning to propel St. Louis to a win over host Houston. Glaus' hit, off Geoff Geary (0-1), bounced off the lower portion of the bullpen wall in right-center field and scored Chris Duncan and Albert Pujols. Anthony Reyes (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings of one-hit ball, and Jason Isringhausen worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save.