AMERICAN LEAGUE : Toronto Wins Home Opener, 13-10

The Toronto Blue Jays’ home opener wasn’t pretty, but it did provide the defending champions with a victory and Ed Sprague with some confidence.

Devon White’s two-out, two-run triple capped a four-run seventh inning rally as the Blue Jays won their 13th home opener in 17 tries with a 13-10 win over the Cleveland Indians on Friday.

Before the game, the Blue Jays were presented with their World Series rings and given a long standing ovation by the capacity crowd of 50,533 at the SkyDome.

Sprague, who is taking over at third base for Kelly Gruber, went four for five with four RBIs. He hit a two-run double in the eighth to give Toronto a 13-9 lead.

“We always thought he has the ability to move up in the order,” Manager Cito Gaston said. “This guy should hit 20 to 25 homers, or maybe more.”

On the negative side, Sprague made a fielding error in the sixth.

“You have to separate the two no matter what,” said Sprague, who hit a pinch homer in the World Series at Atlanta. “I probably should have moved back on that one. But I still think I’m improving defensively. That kind of mistake should disappear over time.”

With the Indians leading 9-7, Joe Carter started the seventh with a leadoff walk off reliever Tom Kramer and John Olerud greeted Kevin Wickander with a single. Darrin Jackson advanced both runners with a sacrifice off loser Ted Power (0-1), and Sprague, who hit his first home run of the season in the second, scored Carter with a grounder to short.

Pat Borders walked and Dick Schofield singled home Olerud before White tripled over right fielder Glenallen Hill’s head.

Power gave up four runs on four hits and two walks in two innings.

“It was just one of those games when the pitchers couldn’t get anybody out,” he said. “Maybe we got too pumped up and we were trying to throw the ball by everybody.”

Mark Eichhorn (1-0) got the victory in relief and Duane Ward got the last out for his second save.

Albert Belle had two hits, including a homer, and drove in three runs for the Indians, who beat the New York Yankees, 15-5, at Cleveland on Thursday.

Paul Sorrento sparked the Indians’ six-run sixth with a two-run homer off the left-field foul pole, as the Cleveland sent 11 batters to the plate to take a 9-7 lead.

After Sorrento’s homer, Hill struck out, Reggie Jefferson singled and Sandy Alomar reached on Sprague’s fielding error before Kenny Lofton greeted Eichhorn with a bases-loaded single. Felix Fermin walked to force home Jefferson and Carlos Baerga reached on a run-scoring infield single before Belle capped the inning with a sacrifice fly.

Belle hit his second home run of the season, taking Juan Guzman’s 1-1 pitch to left for a 2-0 Indians’ lead in the first.

The Blue Jays scored three runs in the third on Carter’s run-scoring groundout and RBI singles by Jackson and Borders for a 6-2 lead, chasing Jose Mesa.

Roberto Alomar’s run-scoring single put the Blue Jays up 7-2 in the fourth, and the Indians pulled to 7-3 on Lofton’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Notes

The Blue Jays received their world championship rings in a ceremony before the game. . . . Every Indians starter had at least one hit Friday. Reggie Jefferson led the way with three singles. . . . The 23 runs scored is the second highest ever for a Blue Jays home opener and the most since the Blue Jays beat the Yankees, 17-9, in 1988. . . . Roberto Alomar was forced to leave the game in the ninth inning Friday with a slight muscle pull on the left side of his middle back. The club said it isn’t serious. . . . The seven earned runs allowed by Juan Guzman tied his career high, set on June 3, 1992. The 10 hits is the most he has ever given up.