Devil Rays Defeat A’s Behind Nomo

Josh Phelps and Aubrey Huff hit three-run homers, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays roughed up Barry Zito in an 11-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday night at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Former Dodger Hideo Nomo (1-0) won his Tampa Bay debut, giving up one run and one hit in six innings.

“He was just awesome,” Devil Ray catcher Toby Hall said. “It was fun to catch him.”

Phelps and Huff homered during a seven-run second. The Devil Rays started the inning with five consecutive hits off Zito (0-2), who gave up a career-high 11 runs in 3 1/3 innings.

Zito, who yielded seven hits and walked three, continued his April struggles. Despite a career record of 72-42, he is 10-11 in the first month of the season. In his first two starts this season, the left-hander has given up 15 runs and 13 hits in 9 1/3 innings.

Nomo was 4-11 with an 8.25 earned-run average in 18 starts for the Dodgers last season, and was on the disabled list twice because of finger and shoulder injuries. Tampa Bay signed the right-hander as a free agent in January.

The Devil Rays limited the Athletics to three hits -- including two home runs. Mark Kotsay hit a solo shot off Nomo in the third, and Keith Ginter hit one off reliever Lance Carter in the eighth.

Detroit 11, Cleveland 1 -- Marcus Thames, recalled from triple-A Toledo earlier in the day, hit a grand slam to help the Tigers rout the Indians at Detroit.

Thames, who replaced injured Ramon Martinez on the roster, was the last cut in spring training, when Detroit Manager Alan Trammell chose to keep Bobby Higginson.

Toronto 12, Boston 5 -- Gregg Zaun hit a grand slam to spark a six-run eighth inning, and Vernon Wells, Corey Koskie and Shea Hillenbrand hit consecutive homers in the third to lead the Blue Jays at Toronto.

Wells, Koskie and Hillenbrand each homered to left off David Wells for Toronto’s first back-to-back-to-back homers since 2001. Wells (0-1) gave up six runs in 6 1/3 innings.

New York 8, Baltimore 5 -- Ruben Sierra broke a seventh-inning tie with a three-run homer, and the Yankees rallied from four runs down to get Randy Johnson off the hook at Yankee Stadium.

Johnson gave up five runs -- four earned -- and eight hits in six innings, six days after beating Boston, 9-2, in the season opener.

Mariano Rivera earned the save after blowing his first two chances this season against Boston.

Texas 7, Seattle 6 -- Hank Blalock and Richard Hidalgo each hit two-run homers in the top of the ninth inning to lift the Rangers over the Mariners. The Mariners scored four runs in the eighth to take a 6-3 lead, but Eddie Guardado (0-1) failed to close out the Rangers in the ninth.

Chicago 8, Minnesota 5 -- Carl Everett, Timo Perez and Paul Konerko each homered in support of starter Jon Garland at Minneapolis, and the White Sox beat the Twins. Perez’s upper-deck shot in the seventh inning broke a 3-3 tie.