BALTIMORE (AP) – Barry Zito quickly found out just how much better the Baltimore Orioles are with Sammy Sosa in the lineup.

Sosa got two hits, Luis Matos homered, and the Orioles beat Zito and the Oakland Athletics 4-0 Monday.

Making his Baltimore debut after being traded from the Cubs in February, Sosa singled in his first two at-bats and went 2-for-4. He didn’t score or drive in a run, but his presence delighted the crowd of 48,271 – largest on opening day in the 13-year history of Camden Yards.

Sosa is trying to bounce back from a bitter season in Chicago, where he slumped to .253 with 35 homers and fell out of favor with the organization and fans.

He helped the Orioles beat Zito, who came in 2-1 with a 0.63 ERA in four career starts in Baltimore. Making his first opening day start, the left-hander allowed four runs and six hits in six innings.

Zito was moved to the No. 1 spot in the rotation after Oakland traded Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder during the offseason.

Rodrigo Lopez scattered seven hits over six innings to help Baltimore beat the A’s for the first time since 2003. Oakland was 7-0 against the Orioles last season.

Sosa received a warm ovation from the fans in the bleachers when he sprinted to right field in the top of the first, and almost everyone cheered in the bottom half when he lined a single to left-center in his first at-bat with Baltimore.

The hit put runners on the corners with two outs before Zito retired Rafael Palmeiro on a fly ball.

Matos put the Orioles up 2-0 in the second, driving a 1-2 curveball over the center-field wall after Jay Gibbons walked. Matos was 1-for-14 lifetime against Zito before connecting.

In the third, Miguel Tejada drew a one-out walk, went to third on a single by Sosa and scored on a sacrifice fly by Palmeiro. The inning ended when Sosa was thrown out at home by shortstop Bobby Crosby, who recovered nicely after bobbling a grounder.

A two-out RBI double by Melvin Mora made it 4-0 in the fourth. That was enough to send the Orioles to their fifth straight opening-day win.

Oakland put two runners on in the second through fifth innings and Marco Scutaro hit a one-out double in the sixth, but Lopez worked out of trouble on each occasion.

Steve Kline gave up one hit in the seventh, Jorge Julio worked a perfect eighth and B.J. Ryan got the final three outs.

Notes: Crosby was 0-for-23 lifetime against Baltimore before getting an infield hit in the second. He left with upper back pain in the fifth and was replaced by Scutaro. … Baltimore C Javy Lopez was replaced in the seventh after experiencing back pain. … Oakland had won three straight openers and seven of eight.

AP-ES-04-04-05 1758EDT