Shorthanded Yankees flail and fail
A-Rod whiffs four times in loss to KC
For only the fourth time in his career, Alex Rodriguez struck out four times, and the Royals beat the banged-up New York Yankees, 5-2, yesterday before a sellout crowd in Kansas City's home opener.
Royals pitchers recorded 11 strikeouts, including three by Wilson Betemit, who was subbing for hobbled All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter. Jeter will be out at least three games with a strained left quadriceps.
Brian Bannister survived a shaky second and went five innings for the victory, just the Royals' fourth in their last 23 meetings with New York. Yankees starter Phil Hughes (0-1) lasted just three innings plus two batters.
Rodriguez, who homered twice off Bannister last year, had not struck out four times in a game since Aug. 25, 2006. The three-time MVP took called third strikes in the second, third, and fifth innings and struck out swinging against Ramon Ramirez in the seventh.
"That's a first, I think. Someone said, 'Go out and go 4 for 4,' and I did," Rodriguez quipped. "He made some great pitches . . . Give him a lot of credit."
Bannister (2-0) allowed two runs and five hits with four walks and six strikeouts. In his first game this season, he threw seven shutout innings against Detroit.
The Yankees, who are beginning a stretch of 18 of 20 games on the road, could be without two of their best players. Catcher Jorge Posada, who allowed five steals (three by Joey Gathright), left in the sixth with a "dead arm," and said he would undergo an MRI.
Ross Gload drove in two runs for the Royals, who are 5-2 under new manager Trey Hillman. It's the best start for Kansas City since it opened 2003 with nine straight wins.
Indians 4, Angels 3 - Travis Hafner hit a two-run homer off emergency closer Justin Speier with two outs in the top of the ninth, Jake Westbrook (1-1) earned his first complete game since 2006, and Cleveland snapped Los Angeles's streak of victories in games in which it led after eight innings at 163.
With Francisco Rodriguez unavailable with a sore right ankle, the Angels trusted Speier to earn his first save since 2004. He got the last out in the eighth and retired the first two in the ninth before walking Asdrubal Cabrera. Hafner sent Speier's next pitch far over the right-field fence.
Orioles 8, Rangers 1 - Baltimore won its sixth in a row - matching its longest winning streak last season - as Aubrey Huff matched a career high with four hits and drove in four runs after Scott Moore and Luke Scott hit early home runs in the Orioles' first road game.
Athletics 9, Blue Jays 8 - Ryan Sweeney hit an RBI triple in the top of the ninth, and Oakland ended Toronto's three-game winning streak after blowing a two-run lead in the eighth.
Mariners 6, Rays 5 - Erik Bedard (1-0) struggled through six innings but got enough support from the Mariners' sputtering offense to win his first game with Seattle and spoil Tampa Bay's home opener.
Phillies 5, Mets 2 - New York took a 2-0 lead into the seventh in its final home opener at Shea Stadium, but Jayson Werth hit a tiebreaking single and first baseman Carlos Delgado made a key error that helped Philadelphia rally.
Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino singled off Scott Schoeneweis (0-1) with one out in the seventh before Chase Utley was hit by a pitch for the third time, tying a major league record. That loaded the bases for Ryan Howard, who hit a grounder to Delgado at first base.
Delgado tried for a double play, but his throw to second deflected off Utley and rolled toward center field for an error that allowed the tying run to score. Werth put the Phillies ahead with an RBI single off Jorge Sosa.
Diamondbacks 10, Dodgers 5 - Doug Davis (1-1), pitching two days before his scheduled surgery for thyroid cancer, allowed two runs in six innings, and host Arizona rolled to its fifth straight victory.
Brewers 3, Reds 2 - Rickie Weeks singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th for Milwaukee after closer Eric Gagné gave up Corey Patterson's tying solo homer with two outs in the top of the ninth.
Giants 3, Padres 2 - Bengie Molina's second solo homer of the game for host San Francisco was a walkoff blast with one out in the 11th off San Diego's Cla Meredith (0-1).
Rockies 4, Braves 3 - Ubaldo Jimenez (1-1) overcame a shaky start and Matt Holliday hit two run-scoring singles as Colorado dealt visiting Atlanta its fifth one-run loss of the season.
Cardinals 5, Astros 3 - Troy Glaus's two-run double in the eighth propelled St. Louis at Houston. 