SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Alex Rodriguez got off to a perfect start for the Texas Rangers.

The $252-million man had the first major league hit of 2001. Moments later, he scored the first run.

Then came trouble.

He made a throwing error. He fell while turning a double play, which prompted him to change from plastic spikes to metal ones. That didn't help any when he stepped on his loose left shoelace and went down on the turf again.

"I've never had that happen once," Rodriguez said, "and it happened twice in a matter of a few innings."

Rodriguez wasn't the only Rangers player who struggled Sunday in an 8-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. But he is the highest paid, and that makes him the most scrutinized.

"You have to start somewhere," said Rodriguez, who went 2-for-4. "There was a little bit of everything: an error, a slip, hits. But it's only one game. There's 161 more. You just move on."

"We have to write this one off," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said.

Toronto, meanwhile, will surely savor the first game marking the 100th anniversary of the American League.

Esteban Loaiza (1-0) rewarded rookie manager Buck Martinez for making him the opening-day starter by throwing six shutout innings after giving up Rafael Palmeiro's RBI double in the first.

Loaiza, who has a 49-52 career record and lost rotation spots in Pittsburgh and Texas, allowed eight hits in seven innings. He struck out nine, the most ever by a Blue Jays pitcher on opening day.

"I was throwing all my pitches for strikes," he said. "I had a couple of strikeouts in big situations."

After the last out, Loaiza and Billy Koch presented Martinez with the game ball, which he in turn gave to his wife, along with the lineup card.

"I feel like I'm back where I belong, on a baseball field," said Martinez, a broadcaster since retiring from the Blue Jays in 1986.

Shannon Stewart went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and an RBI double and scored twice, and Tony Batista hit a two-run homer on a fly that took advantage of the short dimensions at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. It's 313 down the line in right and 315 in left, where Batista's ball went.

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Other than A-Rod's odyssey, the game lacked the salsa many of the local fans hoped for, especially those who began waiting in line at 5 a.m. — 11 hours before the first pitch.

The crowd of 19,891 was treated to nearly an hourlong pregame show that included music, dancing, costumed figures, three national anthems and the unveiling of signs honoring Roberto Clemente and Orlando Cepeda, the only Puerto Ricans in the Hall of Fame.

Yet the lack of early scoring seemed to lull them to sleep. They might've been expecting more action after seeing eight homers in the first four innings of a 14-8 exhibition game Saturday night.

Drum beats and the chant "Ole! Ole, ole, ole! Ole!" finally erupted in the bottom of the sixth. Flashbulbs popped when Puerto Rico natives Ivan Rodriguez and Carlos Delgado batted in the late innings, after night fell.

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