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Rodriguez homers, Yanks win 10th straight home opener

Apr 2, 2007 - 10:21 PM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Alex Rodriguez turned cheers to jeers and back to cheers again. Mariano Rivera ended it in predictable fashion.

After committing an error and starting 0-for-3, Rodriguez singled, scored the go-ahead run and added a two-run homer as the New York Yankees posted their 10th consecutive win in a home opener with a 9-5 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Rivera, who has been at each of the 10 home openers, struck out the side in the ninth.

Nicknamed "A-Rod," Rodriguez has been a lightning rod for controversy in his three seasons with the Yankees. His lack of clutch hitting in the postseason has especially drawn criticism from the fans and media.

The start of the fourth season in New York began in shaky fashion for Rodriguez, who misjudged a foul ball in the first inning and struck out with two runners on base in the bottom of the inning.

"It's good to get opening day out of the way," Rodriguez said. "I started out like a moron there. I felt goofy about it."

"The foul pop was unfortunate because that's a catcher's ball," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "The ball came back and (Jorge Posada) gave up on it a little too soon and Alex was playing back."

Before Rodriguez stepped to the plate for the first time, he was given a standing ovation despite the error. Those cheers turned to jeers when he struck out swinging as Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu executed a double steal. Jason Giambi then delivered a two-run single.

But New York's Carl Pavano, who was making his first start in a regular season game since June 27, 2005, was unable to hold a 3-1 lead. He exited to a smattering of boos in the fifth inning, when the Devil Rays scored four runs to take a 5-3 lead.

Rookie Elijah Dukes started the comeback with a solo home run over the center field wall for his first major league hit.

"We won," said Pavano, who allowed five runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings. "It's all about the team. We came away with a win. That's the most important (thing)"

Pavano missed all of last season with elbow and shoulder injuries, but got the Opening Day nod because of injuries to Chien-Ming Wang (hamstring) and Andy Pettitte (back).

"I thought he threw well," Torre said of Pavano. "I thought he threw a lot of strikes. I look forward to next time."

Derek Jeter delivered a bases-loaded, two-run single off reliever Shawn Camp in the sixth inning to tie the game. Jeter hit .455 with the bases loaded last season.

Rodriguez heard his share of boos from the crowd leading off the seventh, but turned those to cheers with a single to left-center off rookie Brian Stokes (0-1). He then stole second and scored on a single to right field by Giambi.

"Stokes threw the ball hard," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "Location-wise, he probably would have liked to have thrown the ball a little bit better."

Abreu hit an RBI single in the eighth inning and Rodriguez electrified the crowd with a two-run homer off Juan Salas.

It was the 465th career home run for Rodriguez, who tied former Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield for 28th on the all-time list. Afterwards, he received a curtain call from the same fans that booed him earlier.

"I don't notice, it changes so much in five at-bats," Rodriguez said. "It's like the stock market. But I'll tell you what, that curtain call made me feel really good."

"He swung the bat great at the end of spring (training)," Giambi said of Rodriguez. "He started out a little tough but like I said earlier, that's the great thing about baseball, you can take some great at-bats at the beginning of the game and have a great day. So I guess the exciting part of this game is you can go (from) zero to hero real quick in this game"

Luis Vizcaino (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. New York relievers combined to allow just two hits over the final 4 2/3 innings.

"It's good to see," Yankees catcher Jorge Posada. "We're pretty happy with the bullpen."

Posada hit a solo homer in the fourth inning off Devil Rays ace Scott Kazmir, who lasted five-plus innings and allowed five runs and six hits.

"If not for the first inning, I can drag it into the seventh or eighth," Kazmir said. "It's just something that if you take that away it's a whole different ballgame."