Baseball-Highlights of Monday's MLB games

(Adds late games) March 31 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Monday's Major League Baseball games. - - - Orioles 2, Red Sox 1 Nelson Cruz homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie and give the Baltimore Orioles a victory over the Boston Red Sox. Cruz sent a Jon Lester fastball into the left-field seats to beat the defending World Series Champions and Lester, who struck out eight in seven innings. Baltimore starter Chris Tillman allowed one run over five innings before reliever Zach Britton blanked the Red Sox in the sixth and seventh to earn the win. Grady Sizemore homered for Boston in his debut with the Red Sox and first action since 2011. - - - Phillies 14, Rangers 10 Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins hit a grand slam and center fielder Ben Revere went 3-for-6 and had three RBIs as Philadelphia racked up 17 hits and three home runs to win a slug-fest. Philadelphia starter Cliff Lee returned to Arlington for the first time since helping lead the Rangers to the 2010 World Series, and won despite allowing eight runs in five innings. - - - Cardinals 1, Reds 0 Catcher Yadier Molina hit a solo home run and right-hander Adam Wainwright pitched seven scoreless innings, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Wainwright (1-0) earned his 100th career victory by allowing just three hits and striking out nine. Reds right-hander Johnny Cueto (0-1) allowed just three hits and struck out eight in seven innings, but also gave up Molina's homer. - - - Tigers 4, Royals 3 New shortstop Alex Gonzalez lined a sharp single past a drawn in infield with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Detroit Tigers an Opening Day victory over the Royals. Two-time American League MVP Miguel Cabrera, fresh off signing a new $292 million contract, went 1-for-3 for the Tigers while Salvador Perez was a perfect 4-for-4 for Kansas City. - - - Rays 9, Blue Jays 2 David Price took a shutout into the eighth inning, and the Tampa Bay Rays came through with clutch two-out hitting, cruising to a win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Rays scored in four of the first five innings, benefiting from six walks issued by Toronto starter R.A. Dickey, who like Price won a Cy Young Award in 2012. Matt Joyce finished with three RBIs and Wil Myers added three hits for the Rays. - - - Pirates 1, Cubs 0 (10 innings) Neil Walker led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a home run to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a victory over the Chicago Cubs. The loss spoiled the major league managerial debut of Rick Renteria. Left-hander Francisco Liriano struck out 10 batters and combined with four relievers on a six-hit shutout. Right-hander Bryan Morris pitched the 10th for the win. - - - Brewers 2, Braves 0 Third baseman Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run double in the fourth, providing plenty of support for Yovani Gallardo, who threw six scoreless innings as the Brewers beat the Braves. Ryan Braun returned to the field for Milwaukee for the first time since accepting a 65-game suspension last July for using PEDs, and received a loud ovation while going 1-for-4. - - - White Sox 5, Twins 3 Alejandro De Aza clubbed two home runs, and rookie first baseman Jose Abreu went 2-for-4 with an RBI in his major league debut, as the Chicago White Sox earned a victory over the Minnesota Twins. Left-hander Chris Sale claimed his second consecutive Opening Day win. He scattered five hits, struck out eight and allowed three runs in 7 1/3 innings. - - - Marlins 10, Rockies 1 Reigning National League Rookie of the Year Jose Fernandez opened his second Major League season with a stellar outing and Miami scored a five-run fifth inning to dominate Colorado. Fernandez struck out nine batters and allowed one run in six innings, while Casey McGehee finished with four RBIs to lead the offense. - - - Nationals 9, Mets 7 (10 innings) Shortstop Ian Desmond's sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th inning gave the Washington Nationals their first lead of the game and lifted them to a wild comeback win over the New York Mets. The Nationals fell behind 3-0 in the first, 4-2 in the second and 5-4 in the eighth before center fielder Denard Span's two-out double in the ninth inning forced extras. - - - Mariners 10, Angels 3 Justin Smoak's three-run homer and Dustin Ackley's three-run triple in the ninth helped Seattle pull away from Anaheim and made a winner of Robinson Cano in his debut with the Mariners. Cano, who signed a $240 million dollar contract to join Seattle in the off-season, went 2-for-4 and watched his team tally six runs in the ninth. Mariners ace Felix Hernandez struck out 11 batters in six innings of a no-decision, while Anaheim's Jered Weaver allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings to take the loss. - - - Indians 2, Athletics 0 Right-hander Justin Masterson pitched seven shutout innings, and the Cleveland Indians scored twice in the top of the ninth inning to beat the Oakland Athletics. Nyjer Morgan hit a sacrifice-fly to put Cleveland ahead and Nick Swisher followed with an RBI single. - - - Giants 9, Diamondbacks 8 Catcher Buster Posey hit a tiebreaking, two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning, and the San Francisco Giants overcame a four-run deficit for a victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. San Francisco trailed 7-3 before scoring four times in the seventh to tie the game. Mark Trumbo had three singles, drove in two runs and scored twice in his first game at Chase Field for the D-backs (0-3), who lost two games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Australia on March 22-23. (Editing by Peter Rutherford/Sudipto Ganguly)