Derek Jeter stepped to the plate with the Yankees trailing in the eighth inning, having just watched Johnny Damon strike out on three pitches.
Jeter showed New York's latest star addition how things get done in the Bronx. His three-run homer soared into the left-field seats to cap a five-run rally, and New York beat the Kansas City Royals 9-7 Tuesday to win its club-record ninth straight home opener.
"He always had a flair for the dramatic," Bernie Williams said. "I would be surprised if he doesn't do anything."
PHOTO: EPA
Wang Chien-ming (王建民) wasted a 4-1 lead before the stirring comeback calmed what had been a disappointed sellout crowd of 54,698. It was the first game at Yankee Stadium since last October's playoff flop against the Los Angeles Angels, and New York went 2-4 on its season-opening West Coast trip.
Kansas City, which lost a major league-high 106 games last year, hasn't won at Yankee Stadium since August 2002. Jason Giambi hit an early three-run homer to help extend the Royals' losing streak in the Bronx to 12.
With the Royals ahead 7-4, Giambi fell behind 1-2 in the count against Andrew Sisco (0-1) leading off the eighth, then walked. Hideki Matsui singled and Jorge Posada got the Yankees' ninth walk of the game, loading the bases.
PHOTO: EPA
Robinson Cano hit an RBI groundout, beating the relay to first to avoid a double play. That brought up Williams, who received more standing ovations from Yankees fans who worried last fall that he wouldn't be re-signed.
He cost New York in the fourth when he was doubled up at second on a popup, but this time he punched a run-scoring single to left.
"I was hoping that I could do something to redeem myself," Williams said.
Ambiorix Burgos relieved to face Damon, playing his first game in pinstripes after spending four seasons with Boston. Damon slammed his bat in the dirt after swinging under a belt-high fastball, and Jeter came to the plate.
"It seems when something needs to happen, he seems to be at the start of it or the end of it," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.
Yet in previous home openers, Jeter had no homers and two RBIs in 34 at-bats. The Yankees' captain was looking for a fastball, but jumped on a splitter.
"They're all special," said Jeter, who refused to rank the great moments he's had in this ballpark. "It seems like the season hasn't really officially started until we play our home opener."
Scott Proctor (1-1) pitched one inning for the win, and Mariano Rivera finished for his first save.
Rivera had no doubt Jeter would come through.
"I've seen it for years," Rivera said. "That doesn't surprise me at all."
Rivera hit Mike Sweeney on the palm of his right hand with a pitch in the ninth, forcing the designated hitter from the game and putting two runners on with one out. But the closer struck out Reggie Sanders and caught Doug Mientkiewicz's soft looper for the final out.
Burgos said through a translator that his pitch to Jeter was "right down the middle." Sisco, whose ERA climbed to 21.00, called his own performance "unacceptable."
"It seems like we've seen this story in Yankee Stadium before," Sweeney said. "We showed a lot of character, never stopped fighting, we take the lead, and we lose. It happened a couple of years ago on opening day."
Sanders homered off Wang. After Angel Berroa's double-play grounder put the Royals ahead in the sixth, Shane Costa sent Tanyon Sturtze's first pitch into the first row of the right-field stands for a 6-4 lead in a two-run seventh.
Giambi connected in the first inning off struggling Joe Mays, and Damon jump-started New York's early offense with an opposite-field double and a walk in his first two plate appearances.
After that he sacrificed, grounded out and struck out. He was especially happy Jeter came through following his strikeout.
"I jumped high out of the dugout," Damon said. "The guy knows how to play."
Mays walked five in 2 2-3 innings, throwing 31 of 59 pitches for balls. After giving up a grand slam to Matsui in the Japanese outfielder's first home game with the Yankees in 2003, Mays walked him with the bases loaded in the third. Mike Wood came in and escaped further damage when Posada hit a squibber that the reliever picked up and threw to first.
Fans in the right-field bleachers chanted Damon's name during the first-inning roll call. Williams' turn expanded to a stadium-wide chant. But in his new role as a designated hitter, the longtime Yankees star was back in the clubhouse.
Torre said he tried to get another player to wave from dugout to fool the fans and end the chant. Pitcher Shawn Chacon went up the tunnel to retrieve Williams.
"By the time I went down," Williams said, "it was already calm."
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3
At Boston, Josh Beckett held Toronto to three hits in seven innings, Mike Lowell went 4-for-4 with three doubles and Boston beat Toronto in its home opener for its fifth consecutive win.
A year after an epic ceremony to celebrate their first World Series title in 86 years, the Red Sox held a more downscale event. In addition to the usual fighter jet flyover and ceremonial first pitch, the team asked for a moment of silence in memory of longtime broadcaster Curt Gowdy.
Beckett (2-0) settled down after walking in a run in the first inning, and David Ortiz homered in the seventh. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
Josh Towers (0-2) gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings. Frank Catalanotto hit a two-run shot off Keith Foulke for the Blue Jays.
Red Sox right fielder Trot Nixon left after three innings with a mild left groin strain and said he would be out five to seven days.
Indians 9, Mariners 5
At Cleveland, Jhonny Peralta and Travis Hafner hit consecutive homers in the fifth inning to back Cliff Lee, and Cleveland won its sixth straight by beating Seattle.
At 6-1, the Indians are off to their best start since opening 11-1 in 2002. It's also the first time they've been in first place in the AL Central since April 18, 2002, a season they finished 74-88.
Peralta's two-run homer and Hafner's solo shot off Jarrod Washburn (1-1) gave the Indians a 6-0 lead and provided Lee (1-0) with all the cushion he would need.
The left-hander, who improved to 5-0 in six career starts against Seattle, allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.
Jose Lopez hit a two-run homer for the Mariners, who have lost four in a row.
Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki went 0-for-4 and is 0-for-17 in his last four games -- the first time he has gone that long without a hit since Aug. 2-5, 2005.
Orioles 8, Devil Rays 4
St. Petersburg, Florida, Kris Benson took a four-hitter into the eighth inning for his first win with Baltimore and Melvin Mora homered in a victory over Tampa Bay.
Benson (1-1) gave up two runs and five hits in seven-plus innings. The right-hander, acquired from the Mets in January for pitchers Jorge Julio and John Maine, lost his first start last Thursday despite yielding only two runs over seven innings in a 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay.
Chris Ray struck out pinch-hitter Jorge Cantu with two on for his third save.
David Newhan, Miguel Tejada and Brian Roberts had two RBIs each for Baltimore, which has won two in a row after a four-game skid.
The Devil Rays got a home run from Ty Wigginton. Tampa Bay starter Jason Hammel (0-1) gave up seven runs and eight hits in 3 1-3 innings in his major league debut.
Devil Rays third baseman Aubrey Huff left in the fourth with a left knee strain.
Twins 7, Athletics 6
At Minneapolis, Tony Batista woke up Minnesota's offense with a three-run homer, and the Twins started the season's second week in better fashion than the first by beating Oakland in their home opener.
Eric Chavez hit a two-run shot, his second homer of the game and fifth of the year, in the eighth inning against Jesse Crain to pull the Athletics within one. Joe Nathan pitched a hitless ninth for his first save.
Bobby Crosby also homered for the A's, who saw their run of strong starting pitching end with a bad night for Dan Haren (0-1).
Brad Radke (2-0), who started his team-record ninth home opener, has been on the mound the only two times the Twins have hit much this year -- and the only two times they've won.
Overcoming a 4-0 deficit, Radke gave up six hits and four runs in seven innings. Justin Morneau also homered and Joe Mauer had two RBIs for Minnesota, which scored six times in the third against Haren.
Angels 5, Rangers 4
At Anaheim, California, Adam Kennedy's one-out double in the ninth inning drove in Darin Erstad with the tying run, and pinch-runner Maicer Izturis scored the winner on the botched relay from the outfield to rally Los Angeles past Texas.
Rangers closer Francisco Cordero (0-1) nicked Erstad with a 3-2 pitch leading off the ninth and Casey Kotchman followed with an opposite-field single. One out later, Kennedy lined a hit into the right field corner as Erstad scored. First-year third base coach Dino Ebel held up Izturis at third, then waved him home when second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez mishandled the relay from Adrian Brown for an error.
J.C. Romero (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the win.
Hank Blalock homered twice and drove in three runs, and Michael Young had a sacrifice fly for the Rangers.
Brian Bannister shut down Washington again for his first major league victory and Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer off the facing of the upper deck, leading the New York Mets to a 7-1 victory in the Nationals' home opener.
There were no brawls, beanballs or even brushbacks after a testy series at Shea Stadium last week that included seven batters hit by pitches -- six by Mets hurlers -- and a near fight. Baseball told the umpires for this three-game set to look out for trouble.
There was no sellout and no bouncing stands, either, at Washington's home opener, which was much more low key in just about every way than last season, when big league baseball returned after a 34-year absence to plenty of fanfare.
Bannister (1-0) allowed three hits over seven innings. The lone run he gave up came on Alfonso Soriano's homer in the seventh. The rookie held the Nationals hitless for 5 1-3 innings in his big league debut last Wednesday.
Washington starter Ramon Ortiz (0-2) gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings. Even Bannister got his first major league hit -- two, in fact. Jose Reyes had two RBIs and Paul Lo Duca got three hits.
Reds 9, Cubs 2
At Chicago, Bronson Arroyo hit his second homer in six days off Glendon Rusch and pitched seven shutout innings, and Edwin Encarnacion's grand slam was one of six homers Cincinnati hit against Chicago.
With the wind blowing out of Wrigley Field at 17 mph, Adam Dunn hit a pair of solo shots and Ken Griffey Jr. and Arroyo had one each off Rusch. Encarnacion hit his first career slam and Austin Kearns followed with another homer, both off Will Ohman in the sixth.
Arroyo, who hit his first homer since high school off Rusch (0-2) last Wednesday at Great American Ball Park, sent a drive over the left-field bleachers that landed on Waveland Avenue. Arroyo's homer last week was his first hit since 2001.
Acquired in a March 20 trade from the Red Sox, Arroyo (2-0) also pitched well, an outing made easier by all the run support. He shut down the Cubs and ended their three-game winning streak, allowing six hits.
Padres 9, Marlins 3
At Miami, Khalil Greene drove in four runs with two homers to help San Diego shake a slump, and the Padres spoiled Florida's home opener.
The Padres, who scored a major league-low 19 runs in the first week of the season, snapped a four-game losing streak.
Greene hit a two-out solo homer in the second and a three-run shot in the sixth. He has four of the Padres' six home runs after hitting 15 each of the past two seasons.
Woody Williams (1-0) won in his first start as a replacement for Shawn Estes, sidelined by a strained elbow. Williams allowed three runs in five-plus innings.
Three relievers shut out Florida the rest of the way.
Sergio Mitre (1-1) gave up five runs in six innings for the Marlins, who started six rookies in their first home game since an offseason payroll purge. The game drew a crowd of 31,308, a sharp decline from last year's attendance of 57,405 for the home opener.
Pirates 7, Dodgers 6
At Pittsburgh, Ryan Doumit hit one of Pittsburgh's four homers and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning to help the Pirates rally past Los Angeles.
Jeromy Burnitz added a two-run homer, and Craig Wilson and Doumit each hit a solo shot as the Pirates came back from deficits of 3-0, 5-2 and 6-3 to avoid their first 1-8 start in 51 years.
Bill Mueller hit two solo homers for Los Angeles during first career four-hit game. Ricky Ledee also connected, but Jae Seo repeatedly couldn't hold leads in his first Dodgers start, giving up five runs and seven hits in five innings.
Craig Wilson, starting only because Sean Casey was a late scratch with a bruised rib cage, hit a tying homer in the sixth against Lance Carter (0-1) -- the Pirates' third homer in a span of seven batters.
Salomon Torres (1-1) followed Ian Snell's ineffective start -- six runs and 10 hits in five innings -- with two shutout innings for the win. Mike Gonzalez got his first save.
Rockies 6, Diamondbacks 5
At Phoenix, Brad Hawpe fell a single short of hitting for the cycle and drove in four runs, and Colorado beat Arizona for its fourth straight win -- all on the road.
Hawpe homered to lead off the second, doubled in the fourth and drove in two with a triple in the fifth. He had an RBI grounder in the seventh, and was on deck in the ninth when Matt Holliday grounded out to end the inning.
Shawn Green, 2-for-19 to start the season, hit a 431-foot home run off closer Brian Fuentes to lead off the ninth. One out later, Orlando Hudson reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Fuentes got Clark to strike out swinging and Craig Counsell hit a fly ball to right field, breaking the club record with his 18th consecutive save -- first this season.
Aaron Cook (1-1) allowed four runs on six hits in six innings to beat the Diamondbacks after losing to them in Colorado 4-2 last week. Hernandez (1-1) threw 108 pitches in 4 2-3 innings. He gave up five runs on six hits, struck out six, walked two and hit two.
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