CLEVELAND – The Kansas City Royals lost for the first time this season, ending baseball’s best start in 13 years, as Ricardo Rodriguez pitched the Cleveland Indians to a 6-1 win Sunday.

The Royals were the first club to start 9-0 since the 1990 Cincinnati Reds. Kansas City was bidding to become the eighth team in history to open at 10-0, and first since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers started with 13 straight wins.

Milton Bradley had four hits, including his second homer for Cleveland.

Rodriguez (2-0) was more upsetting to the Royals. The rookie right-hander allowed one run and eight hits in seven innings, and infuriated Kansas City players with flamboyant gestures.

Rodriguez hit Carlos Febles in the left arm with a pitch in the second inning and Mike DiFelice followed with a single to load the bases. Then Rodriguez struck out Michael Tucker to end the threat – and fuel the Royals’ ire as he pumped his fist wildly in celebration.

Devil Rays 2, Yankees 1

NEW YORK – Toby Hall delivered a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, lifting Tampa Bay to a 2-1 victory over New York on Sunday and preventing the Yankees from achieving the best start in the 100-year history of the franchise.

After Bernie Williams made it 1-all with an RBI single in the eighth, Marion Anderson opened the ninth with a single against reliever Juan Acevedo (0-1).

Damion Easley bunted and both runners were safe when catcher Jorge Posada mishandled the ball. After a wild pitch advanced the runners, Hall delivered the sacrifice fly.

New York’s Roger Clemens was bidding for his 296th career win. He allowed a run in the third inning when Easley opened with a double and scored on a single by Rey Ordonez.

White Sox 3, Tigers 2

DETROIT – Bartolo Colon won for the first time with his new team and the Chicago White Sox sent the Detroit Tigers to their 10th loss in 11 games this season, 3-2 Sunday.

The White Sox have won seven of nine, including five victories over Detroit. The Tigers, who started 0-11 in 2002, beat Chicago 4-3 Saturday for their only win of the season.

Colon (1-0) struck out a season-high nine in seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks. Damaso Marte and Billy Koch each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, with Koch earning his second save.

Angels 8, Athletics 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Anaheim Angels snapped Barry Zito’s 10-game winning streak in convincing fashion Sunday, scoring in each of the first four innings and getting home runs from Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus in an 8-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

Eric Owens drove in two runs with his second tiebreaking, bases-loaded single in two days, helping the defending World Series champions win their fifth straight.

Shawn Wooten also homered as the Angels finished a three-game sweep against the team that beat them out for the AL West title last year.

Twins 9, Blue Jays 3

TORONTO – Matthew LeCroy hit a three-run homer and Michael Cuddyer had a solo shot as the Minnesota Twins completed a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 9-3 victory Sunday.

The Twins gained a measure of revenge against the Blue Jays, who sent them reeling toward a six-game losing streak with a three-game sweep at the Metrodome last weekend.

Cristian Guzman went 3-for-4 and scored three times for the Twins, who had 24 runs in the series.

They were held to 10 during their six-game slide.

Mariners 4, Rangers 3

SEATTLE – Bret Boone hit his second homer of the game in the 13th inning to give the Seattle Mariners a 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

Alex Rodriguez had his fifth home run for the Rangers, and Todd Greene’s solo shot tied it at 3 in the eighth.

Boone connected on a 2-0 pitch from reliever R.A. Dickey (0-1), bringing Seattle fans who stayed to watch the extra four innings to their feet. Boone also hit a solo shot in the seventh for his 15th career two-homer game.

John Mabry had a solo homer in the seventh as well to help the Mariners rally for a 3-2 lead.

Kazuhiro Sasaki (1-0) pitched the 13th for the victory.

Rodriguez drove a 2-1 pitch from Mariners starter Jamie Moyer for a 356-foot solo home run over the scoreboard in left field to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead in the third. Rodriguez shares the AL home run lead with Anaheim’s Tim Salmon.

Each team wasted solid chances to win late in the ballgame.

Dickey, who flew in from Albuquerque on Sunday after the Rangers called him up from Triple-A Oklahoma, came in with the bases loaded and one out in the 11th. Making his first appearance in the majors since May 7, 2001, Dickey calmly struck out Mike Cameron and Mark McLemore.

Shigetoshi Hasegawa struck out Juan Gonzalez with two on to end the top of the ninth.

After walking 31 batters in the last three games, the Texas staff finally threw strikes. This time, no Mariners hitter faced a third ball until Cameron in the seventh, and nobody walked until Francisco Cordero put Edgar Martinez on in the 11th.

Rangers starter John Thomson kept the Mariners off balance with six strong innings, but Boone and Mabry took advantage when he tired in the seventh.

Boone tied it at 2 leading off the seventh, going deep to center field on a 2-1 pitch for his second homer of the season. After Cameron struck out, Mabry hit the next pitch 378 feet into the right-field stands for a 3-2 lead.

Greene tied it with a 421-foot shot to center field off reliever Jeff Nelson. Greene learned earlier Sunday that his wife’s cousin was among seven American POWs released by Iraqi forces.

Notes: Martinez returned from a one-week absence with a strained left hamstring. … The Safeco Field roof was closed all morning but opened just before the first pitch. It was closed again as showers began in the top of the fourth. … Seattle won the series 2-1. The Mariners are 20-8 all-time against Texas at Safeco and the Rangers have never won a series in nine visits. … Rodriguez is 8-for-15 over his last four games, boosting his average from .214 to .326.

AP-ES-04-13-03 2036EDT