Ivan Rodriguez homered in his first game against his former team, helping the Detroit Tigers beat the Florida Marlins 8-4 Friday night.
Dmitri Young hit a three-run shot for his first homer of the year, and Carlos Guillen added a two-run drive for the Tigers.
Rodriguez, the star catcher who helped Florida to a surprising World Series title last October, went 2-for-4 with a single.
PHOTO: AFP
"This was a special night," Rodriguez said. "I had a lot of fun."
The 10-time All-Star signed a US$40 million, four-year contract with Detroit in the offseason.
Gary Knotts (4-1), another former Marlin, got the win. He allowed four runs on five hits and three walks in 6 1-3 innings.
"I was just trying to treat it as another game," Knotts said. "We've got a nice little run here and I just wanted to keep it going."
Former Tigers farmhand Tommy Phelps (1-1) took the loss, giving up six runs and six in three-plus innings.
Red Sox 2, Dodgers 1
In Boston, David Ortiz singled in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning after homering in the seventh for Boston in the Dodgers' first game ever at Fenway Park.
After left fielder Manny Ramirez's error gave the Dodgers an unearned run in the top of the ninth, Johnny Damon started the bottom of the inning by walking against Tom Martin (0-1).
Damon went to third on Mark Bellhorn's double to left, and scored on Ortiz's single just inside the right-field line.
Keith Foulke (2-0) got the win after Derek Lowe pitched seven scoreless innings and Mike Timlin also threw a shutout inning.
Odalis Perez pitched the first eight innings for Los Angeles, allowing one run on five hits with seven strikeouts and a walk.
Padres 10, Yankees 2
In New York, Adam Eaton pitched seven sharp innings, Phil Nevin hit a three-run homer and San Diego capitalized on Mike Mussina's early departure to beat the New York Yankees.
Mussina left after just three innings because of tightness in his right groin. He came out as a precaution, the Yankees said. His injury occurred just two days after teammate Kevin Brown left his start against Colorado with a strained back.
Nevin connected in the ninth inning, and Mark Loretta had two doubles, an RBI and three runs scored for the Padres, who jumped on reliever Felix Heredia (0-1) in the fourth to snap a 1-all tie. San Diego beat New York in its first game at Yankee Stadium since losing Game 2 of the 1998 World Series.
The Yankees lost their first interleague game since being no-hit by six Houston pitchers exactly a year ago. They had won 13 straight interleague matchups.
Eaton (3-6) has won consecutive starts after losing six straight decisions.
Diamondbacks 3, Blue Jays 2
In Toronto, Danny Bautista hit a go-ahead single in the ninth inning and Arizona rallied for a victory over Toronto.
With the Diamondbacks down 2-0 in the ninth, Chad Tracy doubled off rookie reliever Jason Frasor (2-2) before Alex Cintron hit an RBI double.
After Frasor struck out Doug DeVore for the first out, pinch-hitter Tim Olson singled to center for his first major league hit, tying it at 2 and ending a 0-for-15 slump.
One out later, Toronto reliever Terry Adams walked Steve Finley before Bautista singled to center, giving Arizona the lead.
Randy Choate (1-0) got two outs for the win. Jose Valverde got two outs for his seventh save.
Phillies 11, Twins 6
In Minneapolis, Ricky Ledee's three-run homer, his second of the night, capped a five-run ninth inning and helped Philadelphia end Minnesota's four-game winning streak.
Lew Ford's two-run homer in the seventh for the Twins tied it at 6, but Jim Thome gave the Phillies the lead back with a two-run double in the ninth against J.C. Romero.
Ledee tied a career high with five RBIs and Philadelphia scored 11 runs or more for the third straight time.
Romero relieved Terry Mulholland (0-2) with runners at the corners and loaded the bases with a walk to Bobby Abreu before Thome's big hit cleared a leaping Torii Hunter, and bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double.
Tim Worrell (2-2) pitched a scoreless inning.
Devil Rays 8, Rockies 7
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Rey Sanchez hit an inside-the-park homer in the 10th inning as Tampa Bay edged Colorado.
Sanchez hit a liner to right field off Shawn Chacon (0-3) that went all the way to the wall after Jeromy Burnitz missed a shoestring catch attempt. Center fielder Choo Freeman backed up the play and retrieved the ball, but Sanchez was already headed home with the winning run.
Jose Cruz Jr. and Robert Fick homered for the Devil Rays, who are 14-6 in their last 20 games -- the best stretch in team history.
Danys Baez (3-1) won.
Braves 6, White Sox 4
In Chicago, Jaret Wright pitched two-hit ball for seven scoreless innings and Eli Marrero hit a three-run double to lead Atlanta over the Chicago White Sox.
The White Sox rallied for four runs against John Smoltz in the ninth on Carlos Lee's RBI double and Jose Valentin's three-run homer. But Smoltz struck out pinch-hitter Timo Perez with a runner on to end it.
Wright (5-5) won his third straight decision and struck out a season-high eight.
Scott Schoeneweis (5-4) went six innings and gave up five runs on eight hits and two walks.
Indians 6, Reds 5, 11 innings
In Cleveland, Pinch-hitter Lou Merloni drew a bases-loaded walk in the 11th inning.
Merloni's stroll to first after facing Phil Norton (0-1) came on a night 27,308 were hoping to see Ken Griffey Jr. make a home run trot or two.
However, Griffey remained stuck with 498 career homers. He's seeking to become the 20th player to reach the 500 plateau.
David Riske (3-2) stuck out five in two innings as the Indians won the opener of the three-game interleague series against their National League rivals.
Cardinals 12, Rangers 7
In Arlington, Texas, Albert Pujols returned from a hamstring injury and drove in a run, and John Mabry homered and had five RBIs to lead St. Louis past Texas.
Reggie Sanders homered had three hits for the Cardinals, who have a major league-best 22-11 record on the road.
Jeff Suppan (6-5) gave up four runs, two earned, in six innings to improve to 5-0 lifetime against Texas.
Brad Fullmer, Laynce Nix and Alfonso Soriano hit solo homers for Texas, whose three-game winning streak ended.
Texas starter Juan Dominguez (1-2) gave up five runs -- four earned -- in 3 1-3 innings.
Royals 7, Mets 5
In Kansas City, Missouri, Matt Stairs doubled and tripled to help Darrell May avoid becoming the majors' first nine-game loser as Kansas City edged the New York Mets.
In their first appearance in Kauffman Stadium, the Mets lost their fourth successive game and their sixth in seven.
May (3-8) allowed 11 hits and five runs in six innings, with five strikeouts. Jeremy Affeldt got the final four outs for his eighth straight save. New York loaded the bases with three singles in the ninth before Affeldt got Karim Garcia on a bouncer to first to end it.
Jae Seo (3-5) gave up eight hits and six runs in 4 2-3 innings.
Angels 3, Cubs 2
In Anaheim, California, John Lackey outpitched Greg Maddux as Anaheim beat Chicago in their first interleague matchup.
Lackey (4-7) held the Cubs to two runs in seven innings to win for the first time in five decisions. With closer Troy Percival on the disabled list, Francisco Rodriguez pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save and second in two nights.
Maddux (5-5) gave up three runs in seven innings, remaining at 294 career wins.
Down 2-1, the Angels scored twice to go ahead in the fourth. Vladimir Guerrero singled, stole second and scored on Jose Guillen's two-out triple to center. Casey Kotchman followed with an RBI single.
Mariners 1, Expos 0
In Seattle, Pat Borders his a bases-loaded single off Livan Hernandez with two outs in the ninth inning to give Seattle a win over Montreal to end a 29-inning scoreless drought.
Seattle hadn't scored since Scott Spiezio homered in the fifth inning of a 5-0 win over Houston on Monday night. The Astros shut out the Mariners 3-0 Tuesday night and 1-0 Wednesday night.
Ryan Franklin allowed five hits in eight scoreless innings for Seattle, and Eddie Guardado (2-0) worked a hitless ninth for the win.
Hernandez (3-6) gave up 10 hits in his 34th career complete game and third this season.
Athletics 6, Pirates 1
In Oakland, California, Tim Hudson allowed one run in seven innings to lead Oakland past Pittsburgh for its season-high sixth straight win.
Damian Miller and Marco Scutaro each drove in two runs for the Athletics, who sent the Pirates to their sixth consecutive defeat.
Hudson (7-2) allowed five hits, walked two and struck out five. He also hit three batters with pitches, tying an Oakland record. He has hit 45 batters in his career, also matching Mike Norris for the most by an Oakland pitcher.
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