Royals on Cloud Nine After a 5-2 Victory

The Kansas City Royals extended baseball’s best start in 13 years Saturday as Raul Ibanez and Michael Tucker hit two-run homers at Kansas City, giving them a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

At 9-0, the Royals are the majors’ only undefeated team and are the first club since the 1990 Cincinnati Reds to win its first nine games. Those Reds went on to win the World Series.

It would be hard to imagine the small-market Royals duplicating that, but no one predicted their fast start -- especially after they went 62-100 last season.

“I know we’ve surprised a lot of people,” Manager Tony Pena said. “But we worked so hard this spring. I’m probably the only one not surprised.”

With a win today, Kansas City would be the seventh team to start 10-0 and the first since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers. In any case, the Royals are the American League’s first 9-0 team since the 1984 Detroit Tigers.

Ibanez’s homer in the sixth inning off C.C. Sabathia (0-2) gave the Royals a 3-2 lead. Tucker his in the seventh off David Riske to make it 5-2.

Baltimore 13, Boston 6 -- The Red Sox needed three tries to play their home opener, and when it was done they wished they hadn’t.

The home opener was originally scheduled for Friday but delayed to Saturday afternoon because of rain and then postponed to Aug. 8.

Pedro Martinez had the worst outing of his career in a game delayed twice by frightening situations.

Red Sox third base coach Mike Cubbage collapsed on the field in a diabetic seizure and plate umpire Jerry Layne was injured when he was hit in the facemask by a pitch from Martinez.

Cubbage responded to treatment and was hospitalized as a precaution. Layne left the game with pain in his spine.

Martinez (0-1) gave up a career-high 10 runs, nine hits and walked four in 4 1/3 innings.

He struck out five but was charged with seven runs in the fifth -- the most runs the three-time Cy Young winner has yielded in one inning in his career.

Jason Johnson (1-0) gave up three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. B.J. Surhoff and Deivi Cruz drove in two runs apiece in the seven-run fifth inning to chase Martinez and turn a 3-2 Orioles lead into a blowout.

New York 5, Tampa Bay 4 -- Hideki Matsui made the most of his second chance, hitting a bases-loaded single with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Yankees (9-1) are off to their best start since winning nine of 10 to open the 1988 season.

Matsui, hitless in four at-bats going into the ninth, had a chance to give the Yankees the lead in the seventh, but he hit into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.

Rookie Rocco Baldelli had three hits in four at-bats and an RBI for the Devil Rays. He has hit safely in all 11 games this season.

Only two players since 1990 have started their careers with longer hitting streaks than Baldelli’s. Ryan McGuire hit in 12 straight in 1997 for Montreal and Juan Pierre hit in 16 consecutive games for Colorado in 2000.

Minnesota 9, Toronto 6 -- Blue Jay closer Kelvim Escobar (0-1) entered the top of the ninth with the score 4-4, but he yielded five runs without recording an out and his earned-run average went up to 27.00.

Luis Rivas and Jacque Jones singled before Escobar walked Denny Hocking.

Corey Koskie followed with a grounder to first baseman Carlos Delgado, whose throw to the plate didn’t beat the sliding Rivas.

Torii Hunter followed with a two-run single off Escobar and Doug Mientkiewicz hit a two-run single off Doug Linton, giving the Twins a 9-4 lead.

Seattle 13, Texas 4 -- Gil Meche won for the first time in almost three years and Jeff Cirillo had four hits in four at-bats with two RBIs yo lead the Mariners at Seattle.

After scoring only three runs in their previous 30 innings, the Mariners got six in the first against Ryan Drese (0-1), who threw 38 pitches and got only one out.

Meche (1-1) had not won since beating Baltimore 8-3 on June 23, 2000. His season ended later that year due to shoulder surgery, and he sat out all of 2001.

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Alan Embree’s season took a bad turn when the Boston Red Sox put the left-handed reliever on the 15-day disabled list -- retroactive to Wednesday -- with a shoulder injury.

Team physician Dr. Bill Morgan said Embree has tendinitis in the rotator cuff and biceps of his left arm but no structural damage.

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For Starters ...

Baseball’s best undefeated starts:

*--* 13-0 Milwaukee Brewers 1987 13-0 *Atlanta Braves 1982 11-0 *Oakland A’s 1981 10-0 Cleveland Indians 1966 10-0 Pittsburgh Pirates 1962 10-0 ***Brooklyn Dodgers 1955 9-0 Kansas City Royals 2003 9-0 ***Cincinnati Reds 1990 9-0 ***Detroit Tigers 1984 9-0 **St. Louis Browns 1944 9-0 Brooklyn Dodgers 1940 9-0 New York Giants 1918

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* won division ** won pennant *** won World Series