Red Sox rally past Jays for first win

Ryan Sweeney singled home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied to beat the Blue Jays, 4-2, last night, spoiling Toronto's home opener and avoiding the first back-to-back 0-4 starts in team history. Dustin Pedroia homered and scored the tying run as the Red Sox handed new Blue Jays closer Sergio Santos his second blown save in three appearances.

"What a great effort by a whole group of guys out there tonight," manager Bobby Valentine said.

Handed a 2-1 lead to start the ninth, Santos surrendered a leadoff double to Pedroia, who advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Adrian Gonzalez. "We had a couple of tough ones in Detroit but we're going to bounce back and play as hard as we can every single night," Pedroia said.

Rangers 11, Mariners 5: Yu Darvish overcame a rocky start and got a big boost from the powerful Texas lineup, winning his much-anticipated major-league debut for host Texas. After giving up four runs and throwing 42 pitches in the first inning, then allowing another run in the second, Darvish settled down and later retired 10 in a row. He pitched into the sixth. Nelson Cruz hit a three-run homer in the third for Texas to tie the game at 5, then Mitch Moreland and Josh Hamilton both went deep in the fourth to give Darvish an 8-5 lead. Ian Kinsler added a three-run blast in the eighth.

Angels 5, Twins 1: C.J. Wilson won his awaited Angels debut with seven smooth innings, giving visiting Los Angeles all the boost it needed to beat the Twins and spoil Minnesota's home opener. Albert Pujols didn't get a ball out of the infield in four at-bats, but he reached on a fielder's choice and scored the Angels' first run.

White Sox 4, Indians 2: Chris Sale won his first career start, limiting host Cleveland to one run in 62/3 innings. A.J. Pierzynski hit a two-run homer in the first, four batters after Alejandro De Aza homered leading off against Josh Tomlin (0-1).

Astros 8, Braves 3: Travis Buck drove in two runs, Justin Maxwell homered in his Houston debut and the Astros rebounded from an early deficit thanks to sloppy defensive play by visiting Atlanta. The loss drops Atlanta to 0-4.

Marlins 6, Phillies 2: Anibal Sanchez took a three-hitter into the seventh, Omar Infante hit a pair of solo homers and Miami spoiled Philadelphia's home opener. Sanchez allowed two runs and six hits in 61/3 innings, outpitching two-time All-Star Cole Hamels. Gaby Sanchez had two hits and two RBIs.Brewers 7, Cubs 5: Aramis Ramirez drove in two runs in his return to Wrigley Field. The Brewers were sailing along with a four-run lead going into the ninth when the Cubs scored two runs and loaded the bases before John Axford struck out Starlin Castro looking on three pitches to end the game.

Giants 7, Rockies 0: Barry Zito threw a four-hitter for his first shutout in nine years and Pablo Sandoval hit a two-run homer to lead visiting San Francisco. Brandon Crawford helped ruin the Rockies' home opener with a three-run double off reliever Matt Reynolds in the fifth that made it 7-0.

Cardinals 7, Reds 1: Matt Holliday, David Freese and Yadier Molina homered during visiting St. Louis' four-run first, and Jake Westbrook allowed one unearned run and three hits in seven innings.-- AP