"All the anticipation went out the window because nobody looked at that. Unless you pitch, nothing really matters," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
"Everything sort of takes a backseat to how you control the game. A game like tonight, we couldn't control."
Nick Green had a two-run single, and Travis Phelps and Aubrey Huff also drove in two runs apiece against Brown (0-4), who allowed eight runs and matched a career high by yielding 13 hits in five innings.
The Devil Rays never gave the Yankees a chance to see whether their revamped lineup works. Eight of the first nine batters had hits off Brown, and the early deficit was too much for New York's sputtering offense to overcome against Doug Waechter (1-1).
"It feels good to win a ballgame. It's been awhile," Tamp Bay manager Lou Piniella said.
Tino Martinez and Jorge Posada hit solo homers for New York.
Torre unveiled a new lineup with Hideki Matsui in center field, Tony Womack in left and minor league prospect Robinson Cano making his major league debut at second base -- a series of moves that bumped Bernie Williams, the regular center fielder since 1993, into a designated hitter's role. Cano went 0-for-3.
Red Sox 5, Tigers 3
In Detroit, Doug Mirabelli hit his third career grand slam and John Halama allowed two runs and four hits in five innings against Detroit in his first start of the year for Boston.
Halama (1-0) won for the first time since last October.
Detroit starter Mike Maroth (2-2) allowed five runs on five hits in six innings.
Ivan Rodriguez also homered for Detroit.
Saburo Omura went 2-for-5 and drove in four runs Wednesday as the Pacific League-leading Chiba Lotte Marines defeated the Rakuten Golden Eagles 10-0 for their 12th straight win.
Omura doubled in the seventh inning at Chiba Marine Stadium when the Marines scored five runs to put the game out of reach. Bobby Valentine's team scored four more runs in the eighth to complete the lopsided win and improve to 24-7 on the season.
Lotte starter Yasutomo Kubo picked up the win after holding the Eagles to five hits over 5-2/3 scoreless innings.
At Invoice Seibu Dome, Jose Fernandez hit a three-run homer in the first inning when the Seibu Lions scored nine runs on their way to a 12-3 rout of the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Seibu starter Koji Onuma picked up the win after holding the Fighters to three runs on six hits over the distance.
At Osaka Dome, Nobuhiko Matsunaka drove in the winning run with a single in the top of the 10th inning to lift the Softbank Hawks to a 4-3 win over the Orix Buffaloes.
Closer Koji Mise picked up the win after holding the Buffaloes to one run over the final two innings.
Tony Batista hit a two-run homer and Jolbert Cabrera added a solo shot for Sadaharu Oh's Hawks, who won their second straight game over the Buffaloes.
In the Central League, Makoto Imaoka drove in four runs to lead the Hanshin Tigers to a 6-1 win over the Hiroshima Carp.
Hanshin starter Jamie Brown picked up his first win in Japan after holding the Carp to one run on three hits over five innings at Koshien Stadium. The Tigers snapped a five-game losing streak.
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