Gary Sheffield homered and drove in four runs, and Shawn Chacon overcame a shaky start to earn his first win of the season in the New York Yankees' 12-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.
Jason Giambi had a pair of RBI doubles, Derek Jeter scored three times and Sheffield finished with three hits as New York tagged Royals starter Jeremy Affeldt (0-1).
The Yankees have scored in double digits three times in eight games this year, plus a 9-7 win over Kansas City in their home opener on Tuesday.
PHOTO: AFP
Reggie Sanders homered for the second consecutive day for the Royals, who dropped their 13th straight game at Yankee Stadium -- a skid that dates to August 2002.
It is New York's longest home winning streak against any opponent since the Yankees won 19 in a row in the Bronx against the Cleveland Indians from 1960-62.
Chacon (1-1) allowed three runs in the first inning, then settled down. He gave up five runs and seven hits in six-plus innings, striking out five.
Sanders hit a two-run shot in the first, the first time the Royals scored first in seven games this season. Emil Brown added a two-out RBI double, twisting Johnny Damon around in deep center.
Chacon regrouped after that, retiring 11 of his next 12 hitters.
Jorge Posada and Damon also had two hits for the Yankees.
Affeldt gave up six runs, seven hits and four walks in 3 1-3 innings, leaving him with a 14.73 ERA after two outings.
White Sox 4, Tigers 3
At Detroit, Jim Thome homered for the second straight game and Jose Contreras tossed eight strong innings for the White Sox.
Contreras (1-0), who stretched his winning streak to nine games dating to last season, struck out two and allowed six hits and one walk.
Chris Shelton hit his major league-leading sixth homer of the season, a two-run shot, to pull the Tigers within one in the ninth. But Bobby Jenks recovered to get the next two outs for his third save.
Nate Robertson (1-1) allowed three earned runs and five hits in seven innings for Detroit. Craig Monroe also hit his third homer of the season.
Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 4
At Boston, Alexis Rios, Bengie Molina and Vernon Wells homered off David Wells in the left-hander's first start of the season, leading Toronto past Boston.
Wells (0-1), who requested a trade during the winter then rescinded that request in spring training, was booed early and often after giving up three runs in the first, two in the second and two in the sixth. He gave up seven runs, 10 hits, walked one and struck out one in four-plus innings.
Dustin Mohr had a two-run homer, and David Ortiz and Wily Mo Pena had solo shots for Boston. The loss spoiled Boston's chance to match its best start in 86 years, dropping its record to 6-2.
Mariners 11, Indians 9
At Cleveland, Richie Sexson's grand slam put Seattle comfortably ahead and the Mariners snapped a four-game slide and ended Cleveland's winning streak at six.
Sexson hit his 10th career slam in the sixth inning off reliever Danny Graves to make it 10-5 as the Mariners handed the Indians their first loss since opening day in Chicago.
Raul Ibanez went 4-for-4 with four RBIs, and Ichiro Suzuki snapped an 0-for-18 slump with three singles and scored four runs for Seattle, which knocked starter Paul Byrd (1-1) out in the fourth.
Casey Blake had four RBIs for Cleveland and Travis Hafner hit a two-run homer, moving into a tie for the major league lead with his sixth of the season.
Devil Rays 7, Orioles 4
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Jonny Gomes hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth inning, leading Tampa Bay Devil over Baltimore.
Tomas Perez opened the eighth with a single off Sendy Rleal (0-1) and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Joey Gathright. Damon Hollins' single put runners on first and third before Russell Branyan reached to load the bases when Rleal was charged with an error for misplaying his bunt.
Gomes then sent a 1-1 pitch into the left-field stands for his first career grand slam and a 7-3 lead.
Shawn Camp (1-0) pitched 1 1-3 innings, and Dan Miceli got the last two outs for his third save. Ty Wigginton homered for the second straight game, hitting a two-run shot off Orioles reliever John Halama to tie the score 3-all in the seventh.
Twins 6, Athletics 5
At Minneapolis, Justin Morneau hit his second homer in two nights and Torii Hunter had two hits and a home run to lead Minnesota over Oakland.
Tony Batista added three hits and an RBI for the Twins, who have bounced out of an offensive funk that led to a 1-5 start with two big nights in a row at home. Carlos Silva (1-1) worked seven innings to get the win. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth inning for his second save.
Nick Swisher went 3-for-4 with two home runs and tied a career high with four RBIs for the A's, who are now guaranteed of losing their first series of the season.
Rangers 11, Angels 3
At Anaheim, California, Mark Teixeira and Gerald Laird hit their first home runs of the season, Gary Matthews Jr had a bases-loaded triple in his first game off the disabled list, and Texas beat Los Angeles.
The Rangers had lost eight straight against the two-time defending American League West champions, 13 of 15, and each of the previous nine meetings in Anaheim -- tying a franchise record for most consecutive losses in one opponent's ballpark.
A classic performance by Greg Maddux two days before his 40th birthday carried the Chicago Cubs to a 4-1 victory over the sloppy-fielding Cincinnati Reds.
Working quickly and using an assortment of pitches and speeds, Maddux (2-0) allowed three hits and a run in six innings on Wednesday to get his 320th career win.
One day after hitting six homers, the Reds had five errors -- three by third baseman Edwin Encarnacion -- to help Chicago build a 3-0 lead.
Cincinnati has another concern. Center fielder Ken Griffey Jr left the game in the fourth inning with stiffness in the back of his right knee. He walked in the first and struck out in the top of the fourth before Ryan Freel replaced him in center in the bottom of the inning.
Maddux didn't surrender a hit until Encarnacion hit an RBI double after a two-out walk to Adam Dunn in the fourth. The Reds threatened in the sixth after two singles, but Maddux fanned Dunn and got Encarnacion on a fly ball to end the inning. Maddux finished with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Padres 7, Marlins 2
At Miami, Florida, Adrian Gonzalez went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and Chris Young allowed one hit in six innings to lead San Diego to its second straight win.
Vinny Castilla also hit a two-run homer for the Padres.
Miguel Cabrera hit his second homer of the season for Florida, which lost its fifth game in a row and is off to a 1-6 start. The Marlins have the youngest team and lowest payroll in the major leagues.
Young (1-0) left with a 7-0 lead after throwing 101 pitches. The only hit off him was a high-hopper down the third-base line by Hanley Ramirez that rolled into the outfield for a double.
Florida finished with six hits.
Mets 3, Nationals 1
Pedro Martinez escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam and finished with seven strong innings in New York's victory over Washington for the Mets' fifth straight win.
After the Nationals loaded the bases in the sixth, Martinez (2-0) struck out Jose Vidro for the first out and got Jose Guillen to hit into a double play, neatly turned by second baseman Anderson Hernandez, whose throw beat just beat Guillen.
Except for that one inning, Martinez was impeccable, allowing only three hits and walking one.
Pirates 9, Dodgers 5
At Pittsburgh, Craig Wilson hit a pair of two-run homers, including a go-ahead drive in the seventh inning, and Pittsburgh rallied for a victory over Los Angeles.
The Pirates rallied from three runs down against the Dodgers for the second night in a row -- they won 7-6 on Tuesday -- and did it again with home runs. Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez also homered. The Pirates have eight homers in the last two games.
Phillies 7, Braves 5
At Atlanta, Aaron Rowand hit a two-run homer, Pat Burrell also homered and Philadelphia won for only the second time this season.
The Phillies, who lost six of their first seven games, jumped ahead 4-0 in the second inning and held on at end. Wilson Betemit, filling in for injured third baseman Chipper Jones, hit a two-out, two-run double in the eighth that brought the tying run to the plate. But Arthur Rhodes struck out pinch-hitter Matt Diaz to end the threat.
Cardinals 8, Brewers 3
At St. Louis, Jim Edmonds hit a three-run double and scored on a pair of errors during a pivotal at-bat in the fifth inning, helping St. Louis beat Milwaukee.
Jason Marquis (2-0) worked around a three-run homer by Carlos Lee in an otherwise solid six-inning stint, and Scott Rolen had two RBIs to take the team lead with 11 for the Cardinals. St. Louis is 2-0 at new Busch Stadium after going 50-31 both on the road and at old Busch last season.
Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 4
At Phoenix, Luis Gonzalez drove in the go-ahead run with his 499th career double and Arizona rallied to snap Colorado's four-game winning streak in front 18,664 -- the smallest home crowd in the Diamondbacks' nine-year history.
Brad Hawpe misjudged Gonzalez's liner in the seventh inning and it sailed over the right fielder's head to bring home Chad Tracy from second. Conor Jackson tried to score from first but was thrown out at the plate.
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