NEW YORK: Feted by fans and celebrated by team-mates throughout his final opening day in the Bronx, Derek Jeter hardly felt as if he was starting his 20th big league season at home.
Jeter gave Yangervis Solarte some assistance with Yankee Stadium tradition, then the rookie helped make the captain a winner yesterday as New York beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-2 in their Major League Baseball games.
Missing from the win was new Yankees closer David Robertson. He strained his groin and will be placed on the 15-day disabled list.
Jeter doubled high off the left-field wall, nearly getting thrown out at second after he started out in a home run trot before turning up the speed, and scored on Jacoby Ellsbury’s first hit in pinstripes in the fifth. Hiroki Kuroda (1-1) pitched 6 1-3 sharp innings in the Yankees’ 112th opener in New York. Behind the strong pitching of John Lackey and a pair of RBI singles from young outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr., the Red Sox ended a three-game losing streak with a victory over the Texas Rangers.
Lackey (2-0) turned in his second consecutive strong start of the young season, working seven innings and yielding a run (unearned) on five hits. A passed ball helped set up Texas’ lone run.
Bradley, a center fielder playing right field with Shane Victorino on the disabled list, had three hits and delivered his run-scoring singles in the second and fourth innings against right-hander Tanner Scheppers (0-1). The Red Sox and Rangers are both 3-4 on the season.
Left-hander Jason Vargas allowed one run on four hits over eight innings as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Tampa Bay Rays. Vargas lost his shutout bid in the ninth, when second baseman Ben Zobrist led off the inning with a home run. Greg Holland replaced Vargas after the homer and yielded another run before getting the three outs in the ninth.
Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar drove in three runs, matching his career best, with a bases-clearing double in the sixth.
Left-hander C J Wilson carried a shutout into the eighth inning and the Angels provided early run support in a win that clinched the four-game series for Los Angeles.
Raul Ibanez had three RBIs to lead the Angels (3-4) who built an 8-0 advantage over Houston (3-4) en route to victory.
Michael Wacha tossed six strong innings, allowing just one run, to lead the St. Louis Cardinals over the Cincinnati Reds. Yadier Molina hit a three-run home run in the first inning and the Cardinals (4-3) built a 5-1 lead and held on in the ninth where the Reds (2-5) scored twice. The Oakland Athletics pounded out early runs to blow by the Minnesota Twins for a victory.
Yoenis Cespedes had an RBI double in the second inning, and Alberto Callaspo added one in the third where Oakland (4-3) took a 5-1 lead and held on the rest of the way. Scott Kazmir tossed six innings and allowed three runs to improve to 2-0 on the season.
The Rockies beat the Chicago White Sox as Jordan Lyles allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings.
Agencies
