Frank Thomas broke a fifth-inning tie with his 11th career grand slam, Vernon Wells added a two-run homer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 7-4 to sweep the World Series champions on Sunday.
Boston went 3-4 on its opening three-nation trip to Tokyo, Oakland and Toronto, a journey of nearly 26,000km, and is last in the American League East for the first time since April 2005.
PHOTO :EPA
Out since the middle of last month because of a strained lower back, Josh Beckett (0-1) was activated from the disabled list to face Roy Halladay (1-1). Beckett gave up five runs, three hits and four walks in 4 2-3 innings, striking out six.
Halladay allowed four runs and eight hits in eight innings.
Yankees 2, Rays 0
At New York, Wang Chien-ming (2-0) pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning, Hideki Matsui hit a two-run homer in the fourth off James Shields (1-1) and New Yorks manager Joe Girardi was back on the bench following an illness, Hitting 99 mph (159 kph), Joba Chamberlain tossed two scoreless innings to set up Mariano Rivera, who fanned two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save — a total he didn’t reach last year until May 3.
Orioles 3, Mariners 2
At Baltimore, Luis Hernandez singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth off Mark Lowe (0-1), who also threw a tying wild pitch. Nick Markakis led off the ninth with a double off Eric O’Flaherty and scored on a groundout by Aubrey Huff.
Seattle, without injured closer J.J. Putz, wasted an outstanding performance by Felix Hernandez, who allowed five hits in eight shutout innings as a replacement for former Oriole Erik Bedard, who had an injured hip.
Baltimore is 3-0 against the Mariners after going 2-7 against them last year.
Rangers 10, Angels 4
At Anaheim, California, Gerald Laird had four hits, homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs for Texas.
Laird hit a three-run homer in the fourth off Jon Garland (1-1), his first RBIs of the season, then added a RBI single in the seventh against Darren O’Day and a two-run homer in the ninth off Jason Bulger.
Ben Broussard hit a two-run homer for Texas, which took two of three from Los Angeles.
Vicente Padilla (1-0) gave up four runs — three earned — and nine hits in seven innings, allowing solo homers by Garret Anderson and Torii Hunter.
Royals 3, Twins 1
At Minneapolis, Brett Tomko (1-0) allowed six hits in five shutout innings, Alex Gordon hit a two-run single and scored after doubling in the seventh.
Kansas City finished its opening trip to Detroit and Minnesota 4-2, its best start since 2004. The Royals had only three winning trips last season, none until May 11-20.
Boof Bonser (0-2) gave up three runs and eight hits in seven innings.
In other games it was:
• Indians 2, Athletics 1
• White Sox 13, Tigers 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, CINCINNATI, OHIO
Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 594th career homer, a two-run shot that powered the Cincinnati Reds over the Philadelphia Phillies 8-2 in the National League on Sunday.
Griffey’s first homer of the season, a drive off Brett Myers (0-1), left him six shy of becoming the sixth player in major league history to reach 600 homers. He would join Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa.
Jeff Keppinger homered and drove in three runs for the Reds, and Edinson Volquez (1-0) struck out eight in 5 1-3 innings.
Brewers 7, Giants 0
At Milwaukee, Ben Sheets (1-0) struck out eight, walked none and pitched a five-hitter for his second career shutout, his first since a five-hitter against St. Louis on May 29, 2001. He retired his last 10 batters.
Ryan Braun fell a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Gabe Kapler homered for the second time in as many days as the Brewers scored in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings off Barry Zito (0-2), who allowed five runs — three earned — and eight hits in five innings. Zito has a 6.30 ERA.
Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 2
At Denver, Mark Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Manny Corpas and Stephen Drew hit a tiebreaking drive against Micah Bowie (0-1) leading off a three-run 10th as Arizona completed a three-game sweep against Colorado.
In other games it was:
• Braves 3, Mets 1
• Dodgers 3, Padres 2
• Cubs 3, Astros 2
• Cardinals 3, Nationals 0
• Pirates 9, Marlins 2
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