In a rematch of Major League Baseball's World Series last year, the Detroit Tigers crushed the champion St. Louis Cardinals, 14-4.
The host Tigers scored nine runs in the fifth inning Friday, on the way to amassing three more runs in one game than they did in the entire five-game World Series.
Detroit pitcher Andrew Miller tossed six scoreless innings in his first major league start. Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez hit homers early in the game against the Cardinals.
In other key interleague matchups, the New York Mets edged the cross-town rival Yankees, 3-2, while the Cubs doubled the White Sox, 6-3, in a battle of Chicago teams.
Another winner on the first day of interleague play this season was Florida. The Marlins used a grand slam by Aaron Boone to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 8-4. The Cleveland Indians eased by the Cincinnati Reds, 9-4. The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-3. The Baltimore Orioles snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over the Washington Nationals.
The Minnesota Twin thumped the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-1, boosted by Torii Hunter's second grand slam of the season. The Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros, 7-4. The Kansas City Royals downed the Colorado Rockies, 5-2. The San Diego Padres defeated the Seattle Mariners, 8-1. The Oakland Athletics obliterated the San Francisco Giants, 15-3. And the Los Angeles Angels downed the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-1.
The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 11-5, in a National League matchup.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
