ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Alex Rodriguez hit his first home run for the New York Yankees, but Mike Mussina couldn’t hold an early four-run lead and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays rallied for a 9-4 victory on Tuesday night.

Victor Zambrano gave up the first-inning home run to Rodriguez and another to Gary Sheffield, then found a way to keep the rest of the Yankees’ powerful lineup quiet, beating the defending AL champions for the second time this season.

Julio Lugo hit a two-run homer and Jose Cruz, Jr. went 4-for-5 with an RBI to deny Mussina in his fourth bid to become the 100th pitcher in major league history with 200 career victories.

Mussina (0-2) lost last week’s season opener to Zambrano in Japan, where the Devil Rays and Yankees split a pair of games before returning to Florida to resume their spring training schedule.

Zambrano (2-0) fell behind 4-0 on two-run homers by Rodriguez and Sheffield. A-Rod went the other way with his, barely clearing the right-field wall.

But the Yankees didn’t get another hit until Jason Giambi singled off reliever Chad Gaudin with two outs in the seventh.

Rockies 6, D-Backs 2

PHOENIX – Randy Johnson was good, but Shawn Estes was much better, leading the Colorado Rockies to a 6-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Estes allowed two hits in seven innings, Charles Johnson hit a two-run homer off The Big Unit and the Rockies won on opening day for the first time in three years.

Johnson hit 97 mph on the radar gun, but threw 114 pitches in six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out six, walked three and hit a batter.

Marlins 4, Expos 3

MIAMI – With help from newcomer Hee Seop Choi, the Florida Marlins picked up right where they left off.

Choi homered and tied a career high with three RBIs, driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to lead the World Series champions over the Montreal Expos 4-3 Tuesday in their season opener.

Matt Perisho earned the victory by retiring Brian Schneider with the bases loaded to end the eighth, and Armando Benitez survived a home run and double in the ninth for the save. Both are new to Florida’s revamped bullpen.

Tigers 7, Blue Jays 3

TORONTO – The Detroit Tigers lost slugger Dmitri Young to a broken right leg, but they beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3 Tuesday night to open 2-0 for the first time since 1986.

Mike Maroth won his first start of the season in the same ballpark where he lost his 20th game last year, and Ivan Rodriguez hit a two-run double. Carlos Guillen homered and drove in two runs.

Young, however, is expected to miss up to six weeks.

The designated hitter fractured a bone in his lower leg when he dropped to the field in a failed effort to avoid a tag by second baseman Orlando Hudson in the first inning.

The team initially announced he had a sprained ankle, but updated his status after he underwent X-rays. His leg was placed in a removable splint.

Mets 7, Braves 2

ATLANTA – Kaz Matsui homered on the first major league pitch he saw and Tom Glavine beat his former team for the first time, leading the New York Mets over the Atlanta Braves 7-2 in their season opener Tuesday night.

Mike Piazza hit a long home run off losing pitcher Russ Ortiz for the Mets, coming off consecutive last-place finishes.

But Matsui has already made a big difference from the leadoff spot. The rookie shortstop from Japan had a huge game in his big league debut, going 3-for-3 with two doubles, two walks and three RBIs.

Brewers 7, Cardinals 5

ST. LOUIS – The Milwaukee Brewers got home runs from newcomers Craig Counsell, Lyle Overbay and Chad Moeller on Tuesday night in a 7-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Winning pitcher Doug Davis worked into the seventh inning and the Brewers battered St. Louis pitching for the second straight day. Milwaukee moved to 2-0 for the first time since 1995, when it won its first three games.

The Brewers, who were 68-94 last year and 3-13 against the Cardinals, also got a franchise-record-tying two triples from Geoff Jenkins to move two games above .500 for the first time since June 26, 2001.

Giants 7, Astros 5

HOUSTON – Andy Pettitte had Barry Bonds all figured out in his National League debut. If only the left-hander could have solved Neifi Perez.

Pettitte, making his first start for the Houston Astros, didn’t let Bonds tie Willie Mays on the career homer list but did give up a three-run double to the light-hitting Perez in the San Francisco Giants’ 7-5 victory Tuesday night.

With the Giants up 4-3 in the sixth, Perez hit another RBI double to deep center and scored on a pinch-hit single by Pedro Feliz.

Perez finished 4-for-4 with four RBIs.

That was it for Pettitte (0-1), who left to a warm ovation despite the rocky outing in which he yielded six runs on 11 hits and two walks in 5 1-3 innings.

The near-capacity crowd stayed behind Pettitte from beginning to end, including the two times he struck out with the bases loaded. Several spectators sported Pettitte or Clemens jerseys, some with Astros pinstripes, others with Yankees pinstripes.

Brett Tomko gave up three runs and seven hits in four-plus innings in his debut with the Giants after signing as a free agent in January. David Aardsma, the Giants’ 2003 first-round draft pick whose family lives in suburban Houston, earned the win in his major league debut with two scoreless innings.

Aardsma’s father, mother and sister were in the third-base seats, part of a 45-person rooting section.

“Seeing him so calm out there helped settle me down,” said Aardsma’s dad, David. “This is so unbelievable, more than I could have imagined.”

Aardsma’s mother, Deborah, recalled her son wearing No. 21 on a Little League team called the Red Sox because it was Clemens’ number.

“And now he’s pitching against his team. Can you believe it?” she said.

Sister Amanda, an actress who lives in Los Angeles and appears in the upcoming “Spider-Man 2” movie, flew into town earlier in the day.

“I was really afraid he was going to pitch yesterday and that I would miss it,” she said. “But I made it.”

Matt Herges, filling in for injured Robb Nen as San Francisco’s closer, got four outs for his second consecutive save. Herges retired Jeff Bagwell with two on to end it.

The Astros rallied in the eighth when Richard Hidalgo drove in Adam Everett and Bagwell with a bases-loaded single off Herges. But Herges rebounded, getting Mike Lamb to ground into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.

Notes: Aardsma, who played his college ball at nearby Rice and was the 22nd overall selection in the amateur draft, officially jumped to the top of the all-time major league alphabetical roster, supplanting Hank Aaron. … Astros manager Jimy Williams started Lamb at third, although he cautioned that he just wanted to give his newest player some playing time and was not planning to platoon starter Morgan Ensberg. “Don’t read anything into it,” Williams said. … Jeff Kent went 3-for-5 with an RBI for the Astros. … Houston tied a club record for a nine-inning game by stranding 16 runners.

AP-ES-04-06-04 2357EDT