Tigers Keep Record Perfect

Chris Shelton has five homers in his first four games, a pace he knows he won’t be able to maintain over the long haul.

For now, he’s just trying to keep it going for as long as possible.

Shelton had a two-run homer, and the Detroit Tigers remained the AL’s only unbeaten team with a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night at Arlington, Texas.

“It’s a little overwhelming,” Shelton said.

Last season it took Shelton 26 games to reach five homers en route to his career high of 18.

“It’s strange for me, power-wise,” Shelton said. “It’s not something I’m accustomed to. I’m not going up trying to hit home runs. I’m just trying to get good pitches to hit and they’re going out of the park. It’s surprising.”

Tiger starter Mike Maroth (1-0) gave up one run and eight hits with one walk in 5 1/3 innings. Relievers Jason Grilli, Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney combined to give up one run and three hits over the last 3 2/3 innings. Rodney worked the ninth for his second save.

Maroth had been 0-3 against Texas with a 10.35 earned-run average in four appearances.

Marcus Thames matched a career high with three hits for Detroit.

The Tigers have won their first four games and are off to their best start since 2004. They lead the majors with 16 homers.

“You’re happy to be 4-0, but I won’t get too excited about it,” Tiger Manager Jim Leyland said. “In our first four games, our starting pitchers got wins. That’s very unlikely, but in this case, we did. We’re pitching and playing defense very well.”

Michael Young homered for the Rangers, who have dropped four of five to begin the season.

John Koronka (0-1) gave up four runs and six hits over five innings in his Ranger debut. He struck out one and didn’t issue a walk in a 71-pitch outing.

Kansas City 11, Chicago 7 -- Doug Mientkiewicz, Angel Berroa and John Buck had two runs batted in apiece, and the Royals made up a six-run deficit to win at Kansas City, Mo.

The first five White Sox batters scored against Jeremy Affeldt. But Jon Garland (0-1), who is coming off an 18-win season and was 11-4 lifetime against the Royals, gave up 10 hits and nine runs in 5 1/3 innings.

The loss ended an 11-game road winning streak for White Sox.

Boston 14, Baltimore 8 -- Daniel Cabrera walked six batters in the first inning, and the Red Sox got 16 hits to back an efficient pitching performance by Matt Clement in a victory over the Orioles at Baltimore.

Trot Nixon homered and drove in four runs for the Red Sox, who led 11-0 before the Orioles finally got a runner past first base in the seventh inning.

Boston received 14 walks and had two hit batsmen.

Oakland 5, Seattle 0 -- Joe Blanton outpitched Felix Hernandez and overshadowed the 2006 debut of Seattle’s young phenom, throwing eight sharp innings of two-hit ball to lead the Athletics over the Mariners at Seattle.

While Hernandez, who turns 20 today, struggled, Blanton (1-0) was outstanding. He gave up only a ground single by Jeremy Reed in the third and an infield hit by Raul Ibanez in the fourth. The right-hander struck out six, walked one and did not allow a runner to reach second.

Tampa Bay 9, Toronto 8 -- Jonny Gomes hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning, and the Devil Rays rallied from a six-run deficit to beat the Blue Jays at Toronto.

Toronto’s Reed Johnson tied a major league record by getting hit by a pitch three times. Gomes was the last big leaguer to get hit three times, on Aug. 15 against the New York Yankees.

Cleveland 11, Minnesota 6 -- Casey Blake hit a two-out grand slam, and Travis Hafner homered twice to help the Indians roll over the Twins in their home opener.

Blake connected against Kyle Lohse (0-1) in the fifth inning when the Indians scored five runs to open a 9-3 lead. Hafner went four for four with four runs.