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 Carmona wasn't the only sinkerballer at the top of his game. Joe Saunders kept his infield busy on the Metrodome turf in the Los Angeles Angels' 1-0 win over Minnesota, while in Seattle, Carlos Silva added a cutter and a change up to his repertoire to lead the Mariners to a 4-1 win over the Texas Rangers. Silva's win was saved by Mariners' No. 5 starter Miguel Batista.
Carmona, who won 19 games for the Indians last season, got 16 of his 21 outs on grounders, struck out four and kept Jim Thome in the park, something ace C.C. Sabathia couldn't do in the opener when Chicago DH homered twice.
"I threw the sinker for strikes. I threw the slider for strikes. I threw the change up for strikes," he said through an interpreter.
On a frigid night in Cleveland with temperatures dipping below freezing, Carmona (1-0) left his outfielders out in the cold. They didn't seem to mind.
"You just run around in circles," Grady Sizemore said. "Do jumping jacks, anything you can do to stay warm."
In Wednesday's other AL games, it was: Kansas City 4, Detroit 0; Boston 5, Oakland 0; Toronto 5, N.Y. Yankees 2; and Baltimore 9, Tampa Bay 6.
Inside the Metrodome, the Twins' bats were still ice-cold. Saunders struck out three and kept most of the balls that were hit bouncing, mirroring what Jon Garland did in the previous game. Over the past two nights, Minnesota has made 36 groundball outs.
Saunders threw eight shutout innings and Howie Kendrick came home on a wild pitch in the seventh to give the Angels the only run they needed with Saunders picking up a depleted starting staff.
Helping hold the rotation together with John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar stuck on the disabled list, the left-handed Saunders (1-0) sailed through his first 2008 appearance.
"There's a lot of players that have been in Joe's shoes," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "It's one thing to come to the big leagues. It's another to leave your footprints here. Joe, he's been making some footprints."
Francisco Rodriguez got his first save with a hitless ninth, extending the team's streak of wins when leading after eight innings to 159 games
-- the longest current run in the majors.
In his Seattle debut, Silva (1-0) allowed three hits and one run. The Mariners signed the 270-pound right-hander with a lineman's build to a $48 million, four-year contract to be their No. 3 starter. He looks worth it so far.
"Silva was spectacular," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "Another No. 1 pitcher for us. You can't pitch much better than that."
Silva showed off his usual sinkerball for which he is known for getting ground balls, a tricky changeup, plus a new cutter he learned from pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre a few weeks ago.
Those pitches all worked better in the colder, heavier air of Seattle than they did in the Arizona desert.
"It's hard to believe how weather can affect you. The ball was moving great," Silva said.
Jose Lopez hit a three-run homer for the Mariners before Batista got his first save in three years, filling in for All-Star closer J.J. Putz.
Batista saved 31 games for Toronto in 2005, but led Seattle with 16 wins as a starter last season.
When Sean Green walked Josh Hamilton on four pitches to begin the ninth, Batista was summoned. He quickly got Hank Blalock and Milton Bradley to fly out. Then Frank Catalanotto grounded out for Batista's first save since Sept. 27, 2005, at Boston.
"It's a little, not nerve-racking, but a concern to do it in a game with the heart of the lineup coming up," he said.
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"As a starter, you can pitch six or seven innings and pace. As a closer, you have to put everything you have into that one inning and challenge guys."
Royals 4, Tigers 0
Brian Bannister (1-0) combined with Leo Nunez and Joakim Soria on a three-hitter to make Kansas City 2-0 for the second time in 28 years.
The Royals won their first nine games in 2003 en route to their only winning season since 1993.
Detroit's heralded offense has scored four runs in 20 innings. The Tigers moved one runner into scoring position Wednesday and are hitting .191 with 19 strikeouts through two games.
Red Sox 5, Athletics 0
Jon Lester (1-1) pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning and David Ortiz broke open a scoreless game with a two-run homer to help the Red Sox win their opening series with the Athletics that began in Tokyo and came to Oakland a week later.
Kevin Youkilis had a double and a run-scoring single while setting the major league record for consecutive errorless games by a first baseman at 194, one more than Steve Garvey.
Blue Jays 5, Yankees 2
In New York, A.J. Burnett (1-0) overpowered the Yankees, allowing two runs in six innings, and Vernon Wells hit a two-run homer off Mike Mussina (0-1).
Alex Rodriguez hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that chased Burnett with none out in the seventh.
Orioles 9, Rays 6
Aubrey Huff drove in four runs to rally Baltimore past Tampa Bay in front of the smallest crowd in Camden Yards history.
Huff hit a two-run homer to pull the Orioles to 6-5 in the sixth inning, then doubled in two runs in the eighth to put Baltimore ahead for the first time.
Huff was jeered during the opener on Monday and again on Wednesday because of derogatory comments he made about the city of Baltimore on a syndicated radio show during the offseason. But the booing subsided after his home run, and the fans applauded after Huff's double in the eighth.
[Associated Press]
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