American LeagueFrom the moment he stepped on the field at Fenway Park, A-Rod became a lightning rod.
Boos, taunts, singsong chants, echoing around every crooked corner of the old ballyard. And that was just fine by Alex Rodriguez.
PHOTO: AFP
"Anytime you have this much interest, it tells you the game is at its pinnacle," he said Friday night.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The All-Star who nearly wound up playing shortstop for the Boston Red Sox stepped smack into baseball's biggest rivalry for the first time, joining Derek Jeter on the New York Yankees' side.
"Public enemy No. 1 and No. 2 now," Rodriguez said.
A husky man standing in a third-base box made him feel welcome during batting practice.
"Hey, A-Rod! What's it like to be Jeter's backup?" the guy shouted.
The Fenway faithful had a field day as Rodriguez went 1-for-4 and made a baserunning blunder in the Yankees' 6-2 loss.
Fans spent all winter revving up following a flurry of major offseason moves by both teams, sniping over the Rodriguez trade and a bit of name-calling between owners George Steinbrenner and John Henry.
"It's the Evil Empire from the Bronx, right?" said Eric Wellmann, one of the Red Sox rooters perched in the seats atop the Green Monster. "I think it's all goodhearted. It's more mean-spirited down at Yankee Stadium, I think."
Yawkey Way was packed several hours before the start of baseball's most-hyped April series in recent memory, the scent of grilled sausages wafting outside the third-base grandstand.
Inside, the park was jammed to see the teams pick up where they left off last October. The Yankees added to 80-plus years of Boston misery with a thrilling Game 7 win in the American League championship series, a playoff that included Pedro Martinez throwing down Don Zimmer and a bullpen fracas involving Jeff Nelson and Karim Garcia.
In the Hub, this four-game series was the talk of the city. News about the Celtics' and Bruins' playoff series, the Boston Marathon and the upcoming draft by the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots hardly drew a mention.
AL batting champion Bill Mueller of Boston tried to low-key the whole thing.
"I think it's good for the sport, that it's on national television and everyone gets to see it," he said. "For us, it's a divisional game. We play them 19 times. You try not to get too high for any game."
Maybe, but he sure seemed pretty excited after hitting a two-run homer in the bottom of the first off Javier Vazquez.
Fittingly, Tim Wakefield threw the first pitch of the night. He threw the final one the last time they played -- Aaron Boone homered on a knuckleball in the 11th inning to win Game 7.
The matchup drew attention nearly 4,800km away, too.
Many Los Angeles players took a break from their preparations for the West Coast's best baseball rivalry to gather around clubhouse televisions in San Francisco to watch the start. Several Dodgers could be heard hooting and hollering as the Red Sox broke out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning.
At Tropicana Field, former Yankees first baseman Tino Martinez tuned in after Tampa Bay beat Chicago 3-0.
"Everybody likes to watch it," Martinez said.
Cars with license plates from Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine poured into the Fenway parking lots.
On board an Amtrak train as it cut through Rhode Island, a conductor politely asked two men -- one in a Red Sox jersey, the other in a Yankees hat -- to move out of the "quiet car" because they were bantering too loudly.
There were no big brawls in the bleachers. Perhaps temperatures around 5 degrees Celsius helped cool off any tension.
The Red Sox tried to get luck on their side.
Former Boston stars Bobby Doerr and Johnny Pesky helped unveil a statue of Ted Williams outside Fenway in the afternoon. There were no such tributes to Babe Ruth -- he was traded from Boston to the Yankees in 1920, starting the supposed "Curse of the Bambino."
Hours later, several Yankees crowded around a television in the cramped visitor's clubhouse, watching highlights of last year's ALCS.
"This can't be bigger than last year. You can't force it," pitcher Mike Mussina said.
Try telling that to the Red Sox folks. Yankees reliever Paul Quantrill understands their frustration, having once pitched for Boston.
"It's tougher when you're on the losing end," he said. "I'll bet they're not watching this over there on the other side."
He was right. In the Boston clubhouse, three TVs were tuned to the Reds-Cubs game.
Orioles 11, Blue Jays 2
In Toronto, Javy Lopez homered to spark a six-run second inning, and Matt Riley pitched one-hit ball for seven innings as Baltimore thrashed Toronto.
Toronto managed just two hits in all, and Miguel Batista (0-2) had poor command throughout his four-plus innings.
Rafael Palmeiro also homered off Batista, who gave up seven runs, seven hits and three walks. Jay Gibbons added a three-run shot in the eighth off Aquilino Lopez.
Riley (1-0) kept the Blue Jays' offense down, allowing only Josh Phelps' homer in the second and three walks. He struck out a career-high seven.
Devil Rays 3, White Sox 0
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Paul Abbott allowed four hits in seven innings as Tampa Bay got home runs from Carl Crawford and Julio Lugo to blank Chicago.
Abbott (1-1) struck out five and walked two. Trever Miller, Chad Gaudin and Danys Baez completed the four-hitter. Baez pitched the ninth for his first save for Tampa Bay (5-4), which matched its best start to a season through nine games.
Dan Wright (0-2) went 4 2-3 innings for the White Sox, who came up short in a bid for their first 7-3 start since 1991. Chicago reliever Shingo Takatsu, the career saves leader in Japan, retired all five batters he faced in his second major league appearance.
Indians 10, Tigers 3
In Cleveland, Jody Gerut went 5-for-5 with three RBIs to help C.C. Sabathia get his first win this season, as Cleveland finished with a season-high 19 hits to down Detroit.
Gerut homered, doubled three times and singled as Cleveland battered Nate Cornejo (1-1), who was tagged for career highs in runs (eight) and hits (14) in five-plus innings. The Indians also hit reliever Ugueth Urbina, who gave up one run and two hits in his first appearance since last year's World Series for Florida.
Sabathia (1-0) allowed four hits in six innings to improve to 7-2 in 12 career starts against Detroit.
Twins 9, Royals 7
In Minneapolis, Lew Ford went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a clutch RBI triple, helping Minnesota hand Kansas City its fourth straight loss.
Carlos Beltran capped a Royals rally with a three-run homer that tied it at 7 in the seventh, but Kansas City reliever Jason Grimsley gave up an RBI single to Jacque Jones in the bottom of the inning before Ford drove him in with a triple.
Athletics 3, Angels 0
In Anaheim, California, Tim Hudson outpitched Bartolo Colon as Oakland hit three home runs in a win over Anaheim.
Adam Melhuse, Eric Byrnes and Jermaine Dye each homered off Colon (2-1) to back Hudson (2-0).
Hudson allowed six hits, struck out seven and walked none in 7 1-3 innings. The victory improved his record against the Angels to 13-5.
Rangers 5, Mariners 0
In Seattle, Park Chan-ho pitched seven scoreless innings, and Hank Blalock and Laynce Nix each homered, doubled and drove in two runs to lead Texas over Seattle.
Blalock hit a solo homer in the first and an RBI double in the second, when the Rangers roughed up Mariners starter Gil Meche (0-2) for four runs. Nix's two-run homer in the second was a 417-foot shot to center.
National League
Sammy Sosa homered to tie the game in the ninth and Moises Alou immediately followed with the game-winner to give the Chicago Cubs a wacky 11-10 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday.
The teams combined for eight home runs, but that wasn't the only thing leaving Wrigley Field on a day that the wind was blowing out.
"They kept scoring, we kept coming back. They kept scoring, we kept coming back. To finally win, that was awesome," Alou said, a wide grin on his face. "I don't really show too many emotions, but I just couldn't control it."
Both managers were ejected. Cincinnati's Dave Miley was tossed for arguing a strike call on Sean Casey. Later, Dusty Baker was thrown out after Ramon Martinez was called out for batting out of order.
"That was one of the weirdest, coolest, craziest games that I've ever been a part of, I'll tell you that," Sean Casey said. "That was an unbelievably weird game."
Sosa's home run was his 512th with the Cubs, tying Ernie Banks' club record. Aramis Ramirez homered for a third straight day and finished with five RBIs, one shy of his career high. Alou had four hits and three RBIs.
Ken Griffey Jr. hit his third homer of the year for the Reds.
Astros 2, Brewers 0
In Houston, Roy Oswalt pitched a three-hitter and struck out 10 in his second career shutout to give Houston the win over Milwaukie.
Oswalt (2-0) retired 17 of his final 18 batters and threw just 94 pitches. He walked none and matched a career low for hits allowed, accomplished twice before.
The right-hander's other shutout was Sept. 9, 2001, also against Milwaukee. This was his fourth career complete game.
Richard Hidalgo hit an RBI single. He also tripled and scored on Lance Berkman's sacrifice fly.
Braves 5, Marlins 4
In Atlanta, Eli Marrero and Chipper Jones each hit a two-run homer, and Julio Franco knocked in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in a three-run sixth, helping Atlanta end Florida's seven-game winning streak.
The Braves also ended the Marlins' team-record scoreless string at 31 innings when Marrero hit a two-run homer off Darren Oliver (1-1) after a single by Johnny Estrada to tie it at 2.
The five runs allowed by Florida were the most allowed in a game this season. The Marlins shut out Montreal in three straight games before facing the Braves.
Pirates 7, Mets 6
In New York, Jack Wilson had a go-ahead RBI single in a seven-run eighth inning, and Pittsburgh -- limited to one hit over the first seven innings by Tom Glavine -- held on to beat New York.
The Pirates roughed up three New York relievers in the top of the eighth, then the Mets rallied against Pittsburgh's bullpen in the bottom half, scoring four runs.
Glavine was taken out with a tight shoulder after throwing 78 pitches through seven innings of one-hit ball. Orber Moreno (0-1) started the eighth for New York and gave up hits to the only three Pirates he faced, Craig Wilson, Abraham Nunez and Jose Castillo.
Cardinals 13, Rockies 5
In St. Louis, Tony Womack and Reggie Sanders hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning and Sanders added another for his second two-homer game of the season, helping St. Louis halt an early slump at home.
Womack added a double and single, and Marlon Anderson also homered and had three hits for the Cardinals, who opened the season 1-6 at Busch Stadium for the first time since 1973.
Matt Morris (2-1) worked around homers by Todd Helton, Vinny Castilla and Kit Pellow, allowing four runs on five hits in seven innings. He struck out four, walked three and added an RBI single in the sixth, his third of the year.
Phillies 4, Expos 2
In Philadelphia, Jim Thome went 4-for-4 with a home run, and Pat Burrell also homered to lead Philadelphia over Montreal in the first night game at Citizens Bank Park.
Eric Milton (1-0) allowed two runs over six innings for Philadelphia, which has won two straight for the first time this season.
Dodgers 3, Giants 2
In San Francisco, Barry Bonds hit a two-run homer off Eric Gagne in the ninth inning, but Odalis Perez's eight scoreless innings led Los Angeles over San Francisco.
Perez (1-1) allowed two hits and struck out 10 to outpitch a sharp Jason Schmidt (0-1), who took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning in his first appearance since offseason elbow surgery.
Milton Bradley drove in Dave Roberts three times with groundouts for the Dodgers.
Diamondbacks 5, Padres 0
In San Diego, Randy Johnson pitched a two-hitter for his first win of the season and added a two-run double to lead Arizona past San Diego.
Johnson had eight strikeouts and one walk in recording his 36th career shutout. He allowed only one runner to reach second base and set down his last 16 batters after allowing a two-out single to Ramon Hernandez in the fourth inning.
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