Javy Lopez homered on the first pitch he saw in a Baltimore uniform as the Orioles opened their American League season with a 7-2 home romp over Pedro Martinez and the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
The game was billed as "Opening Night" in major league baseball in the US, as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the New York Yankees have already started the regular season with a two-game series in Japan.
Lopez, who was signed as a free agent in the off-season from the Atlanta Braves, went 3-for-4 and scored three runs.
He homered off Martinez on the first pitch in the bottom of the second inning to key a three-run Baltimore rally off Martinez.
Those were the only runs Martinez would allow, as he settled down and pitched out of several early inning jams.
But it wasn't good enough on a bitterly cold night because Sidney Ponson more than matched him over 5 2/3 solid innings after returning to Baltimore as a free agent from a brief stint at the San Francisco Giants.
An Aruba native, Ponson allowed one run on seven hits, struck out three and walked three.
Rodrigo Lopez, Mike DeJean and B.J. Ryan finished up, with Ryan getting the last five outs to pick up the save, allowing two hits over 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Martinez lasted six innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits with five strikeouts and on walk.
Newcomers Miguel Tejada and Rafael Palmeiro also had good nights in their first games for Baltimore.
Tejada, who signed from the Oakland Athletics, had two hits and scored a run while Palmeiro, who also returned to the team as a free agent, had two hits, a run scored and an RBI.
Combined, Lopez, Tejada and Palmeiro went 7-for-11 with three runs scored and four RBI.
Bill Mueller and Gabe Kapler both had three hits for the Red Sox, who had 11 hits in the game.
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