Yankees’ Brown Struggles

Chris Young, not Kevin Brown, resembled a poised veteran.

While the big rookie kept the Yankees off balance, Brown was hit hard from the start. It took all of seven pitches for the Yankee Stadium crowd to start booing him Friday night, when the Texas Rangers beat up Brown and New York, 5-3.

“I didn’t get caught up in it,” Young said. “It’s another mound for me.”

Perplexing the Yankees with a 72-mph breaking ball, Young (2-1) prevented New York from extending its winning streak to three.

New York’s only run came on Hideki Matsui’s RBI double in the fourth. Young gave up four hits in 5 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Brown (0-2), who gave up four runs in the first inning against his former team, said the booing didn’t bother him.

“They’re not beating me up any more than what I’m saying to myself right now,” he said.

Chicago 8, Kansas City 2 -- Freddy Garcia pitched seven strong innings, Juan Uribe had three hits and the White Sox stretched their winning streak to five games at Kansas City, Mo.

Chicago’s 13-4 record matches the best start in team history set in 1912, 1919 and 1935. The White Sox are 7-2 on the road, their best road start since the 1982 club also went 7-2.

Detroit 5, Minnesota 4 -- Ivan Rodriguez homered leading off the 10th inning at Detroit to give the Tigers the victory.

Rodriguez lined a 2-1 pitch from Terry Mulholland (0-1) into the right-center stands to end Detroit’s three-game losing skid. Troy Percival (1-1) got the win.

Tampa Bay 5, Boston 4 -- Eduardo Perez led off the ninth inning with his seventh career pinch-hit homer to give the Devil Rays the victory at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Cleveland 6, Seattle 1 -- C.C. Sabathia pitched seven strong innings and Ronnie Belliard hit a three-run homer at Seattle, leading the Indians past the Mariners.

Baltimore 13, Toronto 5 -- Jay Gibbons homered and drove in five runs, and the Orioles bounced back from consecutive shutout losses with a victory at Toronto.