NEW YORK (AP) — Andy Pettitte pitched the Yankees to their first win of the season and Mariano Rivera made a successful return to the mound in New York's 4-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox in the American League on Thursday.
Brett Gardner and Francisco Cervelli homered for the Yankees, providing some unexpected power to a depleted lineup missing the "sore four" — Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson. The All-Stars are on the disabled list, and without them New York dropped its first two games at home to the rival Red Sox.
Lyle Overbay had a two-run single off Ryan Dempster (0-1), who struck out eight in his Boston debut but needed 101 pitches to get through five innings.
Pettitte (1-0) tossed eight sharp innings before Rivera entered to a standing ovation. Major League baseball's career saves leader, set to retire after this season, missed most of last year after tearing a knee ligament.
Baltimore's Chris Davis homered for the third straight day and drove in four runs to lead the Orioles past the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3.
Davis went 7 of 11 with three homers, three doubles and a MLB-leading 11 RBIs in helping the Orioles win two of three games in the season-opening series. He hit a two-run homer in the second inning and a two-run double that broke a 2-2 tie against Roberto Hernandez (0-1) in the sixth.
Miguel Gonzalez (1-0) allowed two runs and four hits over 6 1/3 innings.
The Minnesota Twins took their season-opening series against the Detroit Tigers with an 8-2 win.
Mike Pelfrey (1-0) pitched into the sixth inning in his Minnesota debut and Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe hit home runs for the Twins.
Four relievers kept the Twins in front for four innings, until they broke the game open with a five-run eighth against Brayan Villarreal. The Tigers' relievers gave up 10 runs over 10 innings in three games against the Twins.
In Chicago, Jeremy Guthrie struck out nine and gave up one run in six innings as the Kansas City Royals ended a two-game losing streak, beating the White Sox 3-1.
Guthrie (1-0) scattered five hits and walked one for Kansas City, which took its first lead of the season with three runs in the fifth inning.
Oakland's Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes gave Seattle's Brandon Maurer (0-1) a rude welcome to the Major Leagues by hitting two-run homers off the Mariners' rookie en route to an 8-2 victory.
A.J. Griffin (1-0) allowed two runs in six innings and John Jaso drove in a run against his former team as the Athletics won back-to-back games to earn a split of the season-opening series.
At Toronto, J.P. Arencibia hit two solo homers and Edwin Encarnacion added a three-run shot as the Blue Jays beat the Cleveland Indians 10-8, avoiding their first 0-3 start since 2004.
In National League games, Travis Wood allowed one hit over six innings as the Chicago Cubs held off the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2.
Wood struck out four and walked two as the Cubs won a season-opening series for the first time in four years. He also scored the game's first run, racing home on Starlin Castro's single in the third.
Nate Schierholtz smacked a two-run homer in the ninth to give the Cubs some breathing room.
At New York, Jedd Gyorko doubled in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning for his first Major League RBI as the San Diego Padres beat the Mets 2-1 for their first win of the season.
Eric Stults (1-0) and five relievers combined on a five-hitter and struck out 14 for the Padres, who had not led in their first two games.
Mets starter Dillon Gee (0-1) was nearly as sharp, opening with a walk and then retiring 10 in a row. He gave up three hits in 6 1/3 innings.
The Washington Nationals completed a season-opening sweep of the Miami Marlins with a 6-1 win at home.
Jordan Zimmermann worked around eight hits over six innings and Ryan Zimmerman had three hits, including a two-run double, for the Nationals. Jayson Werth tacked on a three-run homer in the seventh.
Miami finally ended a 19-inning run drought in the second inning on Justin Ruggiano's homer to right off Zimmermann (1-0).
In Atlanta, Cliff Lee allowed two hits in eight scoreless innings as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Braves 2-0 in their first game of the season.
Lee (1-0) didn't win his first game last year until July 4, but the former Cy Young Award winner outpitched Kris Medlen (0-1) in chilly temperatures.
In an interleague game, Shin-Soo Choo homered on Joe Blanton's first pitch of the game as the Cincinnati Reds pulled away to beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-4.
Chris Heisey scored a two-run shot and Todd Frazier also had a solo homer off Blanton (0-1), who gave up five runs and seven hits in five innings.