MLB ROUNDUP Monday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Royals 5, Tigers 4, 11 innings

DETROIT — The $138 million Tigers opened with a thud. Tony Pena Jr. hit a two-out, tie-breaking single in the 11th inning and Kansas City held on to beat Detroit. The Tigers had a shot at a dramatic win with Clete Thomas on third base with only one out, but Edgar Renteria struck out and the game ended when third baseman Alex Gordon snared Placido Polanco’s grounder in the hole and threw him out. Miguel Cabrera hit a homer in his Detroit debut, helping the Tigers go ahead 3-0 through five innings, but Justin Verlander had a lackluster start. Leo Nunez (1-0) threw two hitless innings and Joakim Soria pitched the 11th for the save.

Rays 6, Orioles 2

BALTIMORE — A whirlwind offseason of change carried over into opening day for Tampa Bay, when the Rays reversed an annoying trend at the expense of the Orioles. James Shields pitched seven innings of five-hit ball and Eric Hinske homered. Since its inception in 1998, Tampa Bay was 1-9 in road openers, including a seven-game skid that was the longest active run in the big leagues.

Twins 3, Angels 2

MINNEAPOLIS — With Torii Hunter watching from the other side, Carlos Gomez made a strong first impression in Minnesota. Gomez formally replaced Hunter as the center fielder and raced around the bases, giving Livan Hernandez and the Twins enough offense to beat Los Angeles with a snowstorm swirling outside the Metrodome.

Mariners 5, Rangers 2

SEATTLE — After Erik Bedard left his Mariners’ debut, the Seattle offense woke up. Adrian Beltre hit a go-ahead groundout in the sixth inning, Jose Lopez had a two-run double in the seventh as the Mariners beat Texas.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Diamondbacks 4, Reds 2

CINCINNATI — The defending NL West champions opened the season the way they spent much of the last one: winning a close one. Brandon Webb pitched six innings and the light-hitting Diamondbacks piled up three solo homers in a victory that dampened Dusty Baker’s debut as Cincinnati’s manager. Webb (1-0) allowed three hits and a pair of runs in six innings for a breakthrough victory. The right-hander had 34 wins the last two seasons — tied with Carlos Zambrano for most in the NL — but hadn’t gotten a victory in two opening day starts. Pitching against the team he followed as a youth, the northern Kentucky native finally won an opener with a six-strikeout performance. A new-look bullpen held onto this one. Brandon Lyon, assuming the role of traded closer Jose Valverde, pitched a perfect ninth for the save, closing out a combined three-hitter. Chris Young and Eric Byrnes homered off Aaron Harang (0-1), and Jeff Salazar added his third career pinch-hit homer off Jared Burton in a rare show of power by the Diamondbacks’ lineup. Ken Griffey Jr. made no progress in pursuit of his 600th career homer. He remained seven shy after going 0-for-3 with a walk. Griffey is second all-time in opening day homers with seven — one behind Frank Robinson — but hasn’t hit one since 1999.

Mets 7, Marlins 2

MIAMI — Johan Santana and one big inning were all the Mets needed. Santana struck out eight in seven dominant innings, David Wright hit a three-run double and New York opened its season with a win over Florida. If only the Mets had Santana last September, when they blew a seven-game lead in the NL East with 17 games left. The collapse became complete when the Marlins scored seven times off Tom Glavine in the first inning on the season’s final day. Santana — who was traded to the Mets from Minnesota this winter and wound up signing a $137.5 million, six-year contract with New York — didn’t need much help in his anticipated debut. The two-time Cy Young winner struck out Hanley Ramirez to begin the game and Matt Treanor to end his outing. Santana (1-0) allowed three hits. Wright and Carlos Beltran each doubled twice for the Mets. Jose Reyes added two hits for New York, which has now won 30 of its last 39 openers. The Mets took command with their biggest inning on an opening day, scoring six runs in the fourth against Mark Hendrickson (0-1).

Dodgers 5, Giants 0

LOS ANGELES — Joe Torre was victorious in his debut as manager of Los Angeles. Brad Penny allowed four hits over 62‚Ñ3 innings in his first opening-day start, Jeff Kent hit a two-run homer off Barry Zito and the Dodgers beat San Francisco. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers’ move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, Don Newcombe, Maury Wills, Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Ron Cey and Tom Lasorda were among those took the field before the game wearing the uniforms of their era. Sandy Koufax and Fernando Valenzuela appeared in street clothes. The game was the Giants’ first without Barry Bonds on their roster since 1992. They decided late last season they wouldn’t bring the 43-year-old slugger back for another year. Baseball’s season and career home run leader still hasn’t landed another job.

Nationals 11, Phillies 6

PHILADELPHIA — The Washington Nationals took their late-inning act on the road.

Nick Johnson’s tiebreaking RBI double off Tom Gordon highlighted a five-run ninth inning and the Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 11-6 Monday.

Brewers 4, Cubs 3, 10 innings

CHICAGO — The start of the Cubs’ 100th season since winning the World Series ended like so many seasons at Wrigley Field — with a loss. Tony Gwynn hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning for Milwaukee. Kosuke Fukudome went 3-for-3, hitting a tying, three-run homer in the ninth off Eric Gagne (1-0), but it wasn’t enough for the Cubs, who haven’t even reached the World Series since 1945.

Associated Press