Credit the Texas Rangers' potent lineup with a save for their beleaguered bullpen.
Hank Blalock and Richard Hidalgo each hit two-run homers off Eddie Guardado in the ninth inning Saturday to salvage a 7-6 victory over the Mariners in Seattle.
The Rangers went into the eighth leading 3-2 behind Pedro Astacio's strong debut, but the bullpen gave up four runs and wasted its third straight save opportunity and fourth of the season.
"Fortunately, guys came up with big hits in the ninth inning," said Michael Young, who singled and scored on Hidalgo's go-ahead homer.
With one out in the ninth, Alfonso Soriano reached on a fielding error by Bret Boone and Blalock followed with his homer. Young then singled, and after an out, Hidalgo homered to give Texas a 7-6 lead.
"I'm glad we took advantage of the situation. It might be the only time in the rest of his career that we see Bret Boone make an error like that," Young said. "He's the best defensive second baseman in the game."
Only one of the four runs allowed by Guardado (0-1) was earned.
"Everybody is going to have outings that aren't as good as others," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. "He hung a split to hidalgo that he hit out. Those things happen and it's never fun when it does happen."
Guardado agreed.
"Basically, I got rocked. Plain and simple" Guardado said. "I let the team down. They battled back and I didn't do my job."
Francisco Cordero earned his first save of the season but it wasn't easy. He struck out the first two batters before walking Ichiro Suzuki. Jeremy Reed followed with a single to make it first and third for Adrian Beltre, who had three hits and two RBIs.
But Cordero got Beltre to fly out to center on the first pitch.
Astacio shut down Seattle for seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits. Rangers reliever Brian Shouse couldn't hold the lead, though.
Wilson Valdez led off the eighth inning with a single and Suzuki followed with a hit. Reed then attempted to sacrifice the runners over. Shouse fielded the bunt and threw to first, but the throw to Soriano, who was covering, was in the baseline and was knocked loose when he and Reed collided. Valdez scored to tie it 3-all.
Beltre then singled through a drawn-in infield to make it 4-3, and Boone added a two-run single.
"We dug ourselves out of a hole with a big ninth inning," said Rangers manager Buck Showalter. "We weren't down. He had to keep grinding. We've been in all our games and we're confident we can come through in the end."
Doug Brocail (1-0) pitched an inning for the win.
"This lineup can give you some runs in a hurry," Brocail said. "They've done it so many times."
YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 5: At New York, Ruben Sierra snapped a seventh-inning tie with a three-run homer, and the New York Yankees rallied from four runs down to get Randy Johnson off the hook. Mariano Rivera earned the save after blowing his first two chances this season against Boston, and Jason Giambi hit his first homer since Sept. 21. Making his second start in pinstripes, Johnson gave up five runs — four earned — and eight hits in six innings.
BLUE JAYS 12, RED SOX 5: At Toronto, Gregg Zaun hit a grand slam to spark a six-run eighth inning, and Vernon Wells, Corey Koskie and Shea Hillenbrand hit consecutive homers for Toronto. Wells, Koskie and Hillenbrand each homered to left off David Wells for Toronto's first back-to-back-to-back homers since 2001.
TIGERS 11, INDIANS 1: At Detroit, Marcus Thames hit a grand slam and Brandon Inge finished a homer short of the cycle, leading the Tigers in a rout. Carlos Pena also homered for the Tigers, who had 11 hits and took advantage of three Cleveland errors. Inge had a triple, double and single in his first three at-bats but flew out in the seventh.
DEVIL RAYS 11, ATHLETICS 2: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Josh Phelps and Aubrey Huff both hit three-run homers and Tampa Bay roughed up Oakland starter Barry Zito. Hideo Nomo (1-0) won his Devil Rays debut, giving up one run and one hit in six innings. He struck out four and walked two. Phelps and Huff homered during a seven-run second that put Tampa Bay ahead 7-0.
WHITE SOX 8, TWINS 5: At Minneapolis, Carl Everett, Timo Perez and Paul Konerko each homered in support of starter Jon Garland to lead the White Sox to an AL-best 4-1 start. Perez's upper-deck shot off Brad Radke (0-2) in the seventh inning snapped a 3-all tie for Chicago. Shannon Stewart hit a three-run homer and Torii Hunter added a solo home run for the Twins, who stranded seven runners in scoring position.