NEW YORK (AP) - Curtis Granderson hit a go-ahead homer leading off the seventh inning and Mark Teixeira had a three-run shot off Justin Verlander, lifting New York over the Detroit Tigers 6-3 Thursday in the first regular-season game played in the Bronx in March.
CC Sabathia pitched six workmanlike innings, Derek Jeter added a sacrifice fly in the seventh using his new stride-less swing and Mariano Rivera, wearing his socks high for perhaps the first time, earned his first save and No. 560 for his career.
Newcomers Russell Martin and Rafael Soriano did their part as the Yankees got off to a quick start on a gray, blustery, 42-degree day.
Granderson made two spectacular catches against his former team and homered for the third straight opener - off a left-hander, no less. He connected against former Yankee Phil Coke (0-1) as New York embarked on its first full season without George Steinbrenner as owner since 1973.
Miguel Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta and Brandon Inge each drove in a run for Detroit. Verlander struck out eight in six innings, allowing three runs and three hits.
Joba Chamberlain (1-0), Soriano and Rivera pitched perfect innings and the Yankees retired the last 10 overall.
Angels 4, Royals 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Torii Hunter and Jeff Mathis homered, helping Jered Weaver and the Angels get the win in a chilly season opener.
Weaver (1-0) allowed two harmless singles to Melky Cabrera over 6 1-3 innings, improving to 3-0 in his last four starts against Kansas City. The 2010 major league strikeout leader fanned six and walked two as the Angels won their opener for the seventh time in the last eight years.
Hunter and Mathis, on his 28th birthday, hit solo shots off Luke Hochevar (0-1), who pitched 5 2-3 innings and gave up four runs in his first opening-day start.
Kansas City had a chance to go in front in the eighth and ninth, but the Angels got out of it both times.
With runners at the corners and two out in the ninth, Alex Gordon barely missed a home run before Fernando Rodney struck him out for the save.
Jeff Francoeur and Mike Aviles homered for the Royals.