Rodriguez singles, Yankees lose to White Sox

CHICAGO: Alex Rodriguez blooped a single into left field in his first at-bat of the season, hours after being hit with a long suspension.
It was a nice start for the embattled slugger, but that was it. The finish belonged to the Chicago White Sox.
Rodriguez went 1 for 4 in his first game for New York, but the White Sox beat the struggling Yankees 8-1 on Monday night to snap a 10-game losing streak.
Rodriguez was suspended through 2014 by Major League Baseball in the Biogenesis case, a punishment he is appealing.
That clearly was the biggest story on a day when New York’s Derek Jeter went back on the disabled list because of a strained right calf and Andy Pettitte (7-9) got knocked out early. Alex Rios drove in four runs, Alexei Ramirez added four hits and Jose Quintana (6-3) pitched into the seventh for the White Sox.
Tigers 4 Indians 2: In Cleveland, Alex Avila’s three-run homer in the ninth inning off closer Chris Perez rallied Detroit to its ninth straight win.
The Tigers were three outs away from having their lead in the AL Central cut to two games before their comeback against Perez (4-2), who had converted 11 consecutive save opportunities.
After Victor Martinez’s RBI single made it 2-1, Perez walked Andy Dirks before Avila drove a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left-center for his ninth homer, stunning a Cleveland crowd ready to celebrate the team’s biggest win this season.
Manager Terry Francona had no choice but to relieve the controversial Perez, who sullenly walked to the dugout after not retiring a batter and heard only boos from Indians fans.
Al Alburquerque (2-2) got one in the eighth and Joaquin Benoit worked the ninth for his 13th save.
Rangers 5 Angels 2: In Anaheim, California, Adrian Beltre homered, Martin Perez pitched into the seventh inning, and Texas beat Los Angeles after losing All-Star outfielder Nelson Cruz to a 50-game suspension.
Jurickson Profar had a run-scoring hit for Texas, which has won seven of eight to move within two games of AL West leader Oakland.
After Cruz spoke about his doping suspension in a pregame meeting, the Rangers uniformly stood behind their longtime teammate. David Murphy took over in right field for Cruz, scoring two runs but also misplaying two balls.
Elvis Andrus got credit for a two-run triple in the fifth inning when Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick hyperextended his left knee while failing to catch Andrus’ popup to the outfield.
Royals 13 Twins 0: In Kansas City, Missouri, Jeremy Guthrie pitched a four-hitter and Eric Hosmer drove in a career-high five runs to help Kansas City rout Minnesota.
The Royals, who have won 12 of their past 13 games, scored a season-high 13 runs.
Guthrie (12-7) won his fourth straight start to log his 12th victory, which is a career high. It was his second career shutout and he lowered his ERA to 3.94.
Astros 2 Red Sox 0: In Houston, Brett Oberholtzer threw seven shutout innings, and L.J. Hoes scored twice to lead Houston over Boston.
Oberholtzer (2-0) allowed four hits while walking two and striking out two. In his first two career starts, Oberholtzer has thrown 14 scoreless innings, allowing seven hits.
Hoes and Jonathan Villar each had two hits for the Astros, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Red Sox, who lost for the second time in their past seven games, put runners on the corners with two outs in the eighth after a David Ortiz bloop single off Wesley Wright advanced Jacoby Ellsbury to third, but Josh Fields struck out Mike Napoli to end the inning.