Texas starter Matt Harrison (0-1) had a shutout through seven innings before Asdrubal Cabrera reached on an error by third baseman Michael Young to start the eighth. Grady Sizemore followed with a ground ball to second, but the runners were safe when shortstop Elvis Andrus dropped the throw for his second error of the game.
Choo then homered into the seats in right-center, the big hit in what had been a pitcher’s duel between a pair of young left-handers.
Huff (1-1) was perfect the first time through the lineup until Andrus singled to open the fourth. Young followed with a homer for a 2-0 lead.
It was the only mistake Huff made. He allowed four hits, struck out three and retired 10 straight before Young’s one-out single in the ninth.
Twins 8 Red Sox 0: In Minneapolis, Francisco Liriano threw seven shutout innings for Minnesota, and the Twins took the first series at Target Field with a victory over the sloppy Boston Red Sox.
Every Twins starter had a hit except batting champ Joe Mauer. Denard Span turned two of Tim Wakefield’s knuckleballs into RBI doubles and Michael Cuddyer homered and drove in three runs.
Liriano (1-0) scattered four hits and walked two while striking out eight, after a so-so performance in his first start.
Wakefield (0-1) is 14-6 lifetime against the Twins, including a 7-4 mark at the Metrodome, where the float on his knuckler often proved more baffling than usual. He didn’t fool very many batters in this one, giving up 10 hits and six runs in 5 1-3 innings.
Yankees 6 Angels 2: In New York, Curtis Granderson hit two triples and threw Hideki Matsui out at the plate and Robinson Cano homered twice, leading the New York Yankees over the Los Angeles Angels.
Derek Jeter homered and had an RBI double for the Yankees. The World Series champions have opened the season by winning a series against three potent rivals — Boston, Tampa Bay and the Angels.
Phil Hughes (1-0) labored through five-plus innings. The Angels dropped to 3-7 for their worst start since 2002, the year they won their only championship.
After helping present a bouquet of flowers to Jackie Robinson’s widow, Rachel, during a ceremony commemorating the 63rd anniversary of the Brooklyn Hall of Famer breaking baseball’s color barrier, Cano also delivered at the plate.
Cano connected twice off Scott Kazmir (0-1), activated from the disabled list before the game to make his first appearance of the season.
Matsui homered in the second. A fan favorite in his seven years in the Bronx, last year’s World Series MVP got a rare—if not unheard of—salute from the crowd of 44,722: a standing ovation for a visiting home run.
Blue Jays 7 White Sox 3: In Toronto, Dana Eveland pitched six innings, Travis Snider homered and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox.
Alex Gonzalez matched a career high with four hits and had three RBIs as the Blue Jays improved to 7-3.
One night after a stadium-low crowd of 10,610 watched an 11-1 loss, attendance rose slightly to 10,744 for the series finale.
Eveland (2-0), who pitched 7 1-3 scoreless innings against Baltimore on April 10, followed that with a solid outing against the White Sox, allowing two runs and three hits in six-plus innings.
Freddy Garcia (0-2) allowed seven runs and eight hits in three-plus innings.
Athletics 6 Orioles 2: In Oakland, Calif., Ben Sheets pounded the strike zone like his old aggressive self and finally commanded his fastball, winning for the first time since September 2008.
Sheets (1-0), who missed all of 2009 recovering from elbow surgery, pitched six scoreless innings and made good for the first time on general manager Billy Beane’s bold offseason move of giving him $10 million for a year to be the A’s new ace. Beane believed Sheets could return to the form that has made him a four-time All-Star.
The 31-year-old right-hander gave up five hits, struck out four and walked three to win for the first time since a five-hit shutout of San Diego on Sept. 6, 2008, while with Milwaukee.
