NEW YORK – In his first season with the New York Yankees, Kevin Brown is off to his best start since 1990.

Brown held down Seattle for 7 2-3 innings, and John Flaherty hit his first homer since August to lead the Yankees over the Mariners 2-1 Sunday.

The 39-year-old right-hander, acquired from Los Angeles in December, is 5-0 for the first time since 1990, when he pitched for Texas. He’s also the first Yankees pitcher to open with five winning decisions since Roger Clemens in 1999.

Brown got out of a tough situation in the fourth, when Seattle loaded the bases on singles by Raul Ibanez and Jolbert Cabrera followed by John Olerud’s walk. Brown retired Rich Aurilia on a foul pop to the catcher, then got Pat Borders to hit into a routine force at third.

Tigers 3, Rangers 1

DETROIT – Jason Johnson pitched five strong innings before leaving with a blister, and three relievers combined to throw four shutout innings in the Detroit Tigers’ 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers.

Omar Infante homered and Alex Sanchez had three hits for the Tigers, who have won three of four.

Johnson (2-5) left after the fifth because of a blister on his pitching hand, a problem that has bothered the right-hander all season. He allowed one run on five hits, and struck out a season-best seven, one short of his career high.

Indians 10, Devil Rays 0

CLEVELAND – C.C. Sabathia pitched seven sharp innings and the Cleveland Indians defeated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 10-0 Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Sabathia (2-1) gave up five hits and struck out six, improving to 5-0 in five career starts against Tampa Bay. The left-hander, who has lost four potential wins this season when the Cleveland bullpen blew leads, walked two and lowered his ERA to 2.03.

Athletics 6, Royals 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bobby Crosby had a homer among his three hits and drove in two runs Sunday, leading the Oakland Athletics to a 6-2 win over the Kansas City Royals and their first series sweep of the season.

Crosby had a solo homer in the fifth inning and an RBI single in Oakland’s three-run seventh. He doubled and scored in the ninth.

White Sox 11, Twins 0

CHICAGO – Jose Valentin and Joe Crede homered to back Mark Buehrle’s solid pitching performance, and the Chicago White Sox avoided a three-game sweep with an 11-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Buehrle (3-1) allowed seven hits and struck out seven in 6 2-3 shutout innings to improve to 11-4 against the Twins. Unlike some of Chicago’s other starters, he hasn’t suffered from lack of run support. In Buehrle’s last two starts, the White Sox have scored 26 runs.

Orioles 4, Angels 0

BALTIMORE – Sidney Ponson pitched a five-hitter to end a run of four poor starts, and the Baltimore Orioles snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Anaheim Angels 4-0 Sunday night.

Jerry Hairston drove in two runs and Javy Lopez had three hits for the Orioles, who averted a three-game sweep and avoided falling to .500 for the first time since April 15.

Casey Kotchman had two hits for the Angels, who lost for only the third time in 13 games in May. It was only the second time this season that Anaheim was shut out.

Ponson (3-3) retired 19 of the final 21 batters. He struck out four and walked one in his second complete game of the season and 23rd of his career.

His third career shutout, the first since 2001, lowered his ERA from 6.80 to 5.69.

Signed as a free agent in January and assigned the role of ace of the staff, Ponson was 0-3 with a 10.29 ERA in his previous four starts. But the right-hander was overpowering in improving to 7-0 lifetime against the Angels.

Ponson was aided by two double plays and center fielder Luis Matos, who made a diving grab of a sinking liner by Jose Molina with a runner on first and two outs in the seventh.

Anaheim’s Kelvim Escobar (2-2) allowed only a single and a walk through the first four innings, but ran into trouble in the fifth when Baltimore used three hits, a walk and an error to take a 2-0 lead.

After Lopez and Jay Gibbons singled, Matos bunted. The throw from third baseman Shane Halter hit Matos, and Lopez scored on what was ruled a single and an error on the throw. Hairston followed with a sacrifice fly.

Baltimore added a run in the seventh when Matos hit a leadoff double and scored on a single by Hairston, who started the season on the disabled list and was 2-for-17 since his return Tuesday.

That chased Escobar, who allowed three runs and seven hits in losing for the first time in four starts since April 18.

Ponson retired 12 straight before Kotchman singled in the seventh, but Matos followed with his fine catch.

Baltimore scored an unearned run in the eighth off Kevin Gregg.

Notes: Angels C Bengie Molina left in the third inning with a tight right groin. He was replaced by Jose Molina. … Escobar fell to 10-3 lifetime against Baltimore.

AP-ES-05-16-04 2238EDT