Around the Horn - 4/1

The Yankees may have been rained out yesterday, but plenty of other teams did get their seasons under way.

American League

Wild one in Cleveland, that saw the Indians blow a 7-2 lead against the Chicago White Sox before winning 10-8. Mark Buehrle lasted on 1.2 innings and allowed 7 runs as the Tribe hammered him. The bad news for Cleveland- catcher Victor Martinez injured his hamstring and was sent for an MRI. So far he's listed as day-to-day. White Sox slugger Jim Thome homered twice.

It only took Miguel Cabrera two at-bats to his first AL home run, but Justin Verlander blew a 3-0 lead and the Detroit Tigers lost to the Kansas City Royals 4-3 in 11 innings. The victory made it a successful debut for new manager Trey Hillman. But Hillman lost spark plug David DeJesus to an ankle injury.

The Tampa Bay Rays have a modified name and are hoping to reach .500 for the first time. They got off to a good start yesterday with a 6-2 win against the hapless Baltimore Orioles.

Former Oriole Erik Bedard gave up just 1 run in his Seattle Mariners debut. But the left-hander issued 4 walks in 5 innings. Seattle pulled out a 5-2 win over the Texas Rangers.

The Twins ruined Torii Hunter's homecoming with a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels. New Twin Livan Hernandez went 7 strong innings and Hunter went 0-4 in his return to the homer dome.

National League

Johan Santana's NL debut was a successful one. The much sought after left-hander allowed just 3 hits and struck out 8 in 7 innings. David Wright drove in 3 runs at the Mets rolled over the Florida Marlins 7-2.

Jake Peavy matched up against Roy Oswalt last night as the San Diego Padres and the Houston Astros met. Peavy allowed just 3 hits in 7 innings and the Padres blanked the 'stros 4-0.

Break up the Nationals. The Washingtonians improved to 2-0 with an 11-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. One night after christening their new ball park with a Ryan Zimmerman walk-off win, the Nats scored 5 runs in the top of the 9th with the help of 4 doubles.

Brandon Webb picked up his first win as the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-2. The Dbacks slugged 3 home runs.

Great starting pitching and bad closing marked the Chicago Cubs-Milwaukee Brewers game. Carlos Zambrano and Ben Sheets put up goose eggs in front of the Wrigley faithful into the 7th inning. The Brewers finally got to Kerry Wood in the 9th for 3 runs, but Kosuke Fukudome gain instant fan favorite status with a game tying 3-run HR off of Eric Gagne. The Brewers got Gagne off the hook in the 10th the game winning run.

Joe Torre's LA debut was a triumphant one as the Dodgers thumped Barry Zito and the San Francisco Giants, 5-0. Zito once again proved what a mistake the Giants made signing him by giving up 4 runs in 5 innings.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves played the first ugly contest of the season, a 12-11 non-pitcher's duel. The Braves blew 3-0 and 4-1 leads and the Pirates squandered an 8-4 advantage. Finally the Braves blew a 9-8 lead in the 9th before their 2-run rally in the bottom of the 9th fell just short. Tom Glavine had a semi-successful return to Atlanta with 5 innings of 2 run (1 earned) ball. Xavier Nady smacked 2 HRs for the Pirates.

Albert Pujols overcame his elbow problems to slug his 1st home run, but the St. Louis Cardinals couldn't fight off the rain too. The Cards 5-1 lead over the Colorado Rockies was washed out by heavy rains. Jeff Francis must be grinning from ear to ear today. He allowed all 5 runs in 1+ innings.