AL roundup: Yankees drop Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) " Andy Pettitte gave up three hits in seven strong innings and Jorge Posada hit a two-run single, carrying the New York Yankees over the Royals 4-1 Friday in the opener of Kansas City's renovated Kauffman Stadium.

Pettitte (1-0) struck out six and walked one while allowing one run against a team he has long dominated. The left-hander beat the Royals for the 13th time in 16 career decisions and improved to 8-0 against Kansas City in his last 12 starts.

Brian Bruney pitched a hitless eighth, and Mariano Rivera struck out two in around an infield hit for his first save of the year.

Sidney Ponson (0-1), who made 15 starts for New York last year, gave up four runs and six hits in his Royals' debut. He was signed by Kansas City on March 17.

Tigers 15, Rangers 2

DETROIT (AP) " Miguel Cabrera hit a grand slam and matched his career high with six RBIs, leading Armando Galarraga and the Tigers over the Rangers.

Texas had started 3-0 for the first time since 1996 and led the majors in runs before the Tigers roughed Kris Benson (0-1) in his return to the majors. Benson allowed seven earned runs and 10 hits in five innings, in his first game since Sept. 27, 2006.

Galarraga (1-0) struck out a career-high eight against the team that traded him to Detroit in February 2008. He gave up a run and five hits in seven innings.

Orioles 5, Rays 4

BALTIMORE (AP) " Melvin Mora drove in three runs, Mark Hendrickson won in his Baltimore debut and the Orioles ended a run of 12 straight losses to Tampa Bay.

Evan Longoria hit two homers and drove in three runs for the Rays. The 2008 AL Rookie of the Year has four home runs and at least one RBI in all four games this season.

Adam Jones had two hits and scored twice for the Orioles, who went 3-15 against the Rays last year. After opening the season by winning two of three from the New York Yankees, Baltimore used an 11-hit attack to beat the defending AL champions.

Signed as a free agent during the offseason, Hendrickson (1-0) gave up one run and six hits in 5 1-3 innings. The left-hander, who pitched for Tampa Bay from 2004-06, struck out two and walked two.

George Sherrill, the third Baltimore reliever, earned his second save despite giving up a solo homer to Dioner Navarro, who ended an 0-for-11 skid to start the season.

Andy Sonnanstine (0-1) allowed five runs and eight hits in 4 2-3 innings.

Twins 12, White Sox 5

CHICAGO (AP) " Joe Crede homered against his former team, Justin Morneau also went deep and Minnesota spoiled Jose Contreras' comeback from a season-ending Achilles' injury.

Minnesota was leading 4-3 when Morneau homered off Clayton Richard to start a seven-run seventh, sending the Twins to a lopsided win in the teams' first meeting since Chicago's 1-0 victory last year in a tiebreaker for the AL Central title.

Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin homered for the White Sox, but Contreras (0-1) struggled in his first start since he tore his left Achilles' tendon covering first against Boston on Aug. 9.

Chicago lost its third straight.

Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (1-0) was shaky but got the win, allowing three runs in five innings.

Blue Jays 13, Indians 7

CLEVELAND (AP) " Marco Scutaro's bloop RBI single brought home the go-ahead run in Toronto's six-run eighth inning against Cleveland.

The Blue Jays overcame a bullpen meltdown following a nearly four-hour rain delay, leaving the Indians 0-4 for the first time since 1985.

Alex Rios and Adam Lind had four RBIs apiece for the Blue Jays. Brandon League (1-0) got the win despite giving up the tying run in the seventh.

Rafael Perez (0-1) took the loss.

Travis Hafner hit his second homer in two days and drove in three runs, and Victor Martinez and Shin-Soo Choo also homered for Cleveland, the AL's only winless team. Swept in a three-game series to start the season at Texas, the Indians have given up 42 runs in four games and done little well.

A sellout crowd of 42,473, which enjoyed the usual pomp and festivities of opening day under a gray sky, was reduced to about 500 for the final out, which was recorded 7 hours, 12 minutes after Indians rookie starter Scott Lewis threw his first pitch.