By The Associated Press

HOUSTON – Roger Clemens was upstaged by a rookie almost half his age.

Francisco Liriano, Minnesota’s 22-year-old phenom, pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Twins to a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday night in Clemens’ much-anticipated debut.

Beginning his 23rd major league season, Clemens (0-1) was looking for his 342nd win. But instead it was Liriano, only 7 months old when Clemens started his big league career, that earned his eighth victory.

Devil Rays 4, Diamondbacks 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Scott Kazmir took a two-hitter into the eighth inning and Aubrey Huff homered and drove in three runs to lead the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a 4-1 victory over the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks.

Kazmir (9-4) limited the Diamondbacks to Conor Jackson’s second-inning double and Chad Tracy’s seventh-inning single before Johnny Estrada led off the eighth with his sixth homer of the season.

Rangers 5, Padres 3

ARLINGTON, Texas – Michael Young got the go-ahead hit and the Texas Rangers beat the San Diego Padres 5-3 to avoid a series sweep and a losing homestand.

Young’s two-run single in the fifth inning gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead before Hank Blalock’s two-run double, when Mark Teixeira scored the second run on a disputed call.

Royals 15, Pirates 7

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Emil Brown and Tony Graffanino drove in three runs apiece, sending the Kansas City Royals to a 15-7 victory and a three-game sweep of the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates.

In this interleague matchup between the two worst teams in the majors, the Royals seemed to establish themselves as the best of the worst.

White Sox 1, Cardinals 0

CHICAGO – Jim Thome homered in the seventh inning for the only hit off rookie Anthony Reyes, sending Freddy Garcia and the Chicago White Sox to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Reyes, recalled from Triple-A Memphis before the game, retired his first 13 batters against a team that had 33 runs and 40 hits in the first two games of the series.

Blue Jays 3, Braves 2

ATLANTA – Thanks to another bullpen meltdown, the Atlanta Braves have lost 10 consecutive games for the first time in 18 years.

Horacio Ramirez held Toronto to one run in 6 2-3 innings, but the bullpen blew an eighth-inning lead as Toronto rallied for a 3-2 win.

Marlins 8, Orioles 5

BALTIMORE – Refusing to be walked, Miguel Cabrera reached across the plate and hit an intentional ball from Todd Williams for a 10th-inning RBI single, helping the Florida Marlins rally past the Baltimore Orioles 8-5.

The Marlins trailed 5-1 in the ninth before coming back against Baltimore closer Chris Ray, who was 18-for-18 in save situations this season.

Then, with the score tied at 5 in the 10th, Hanley Ramirez led off with an infield hit against Williams (1-3). Ramirez took second on a groundout, bringing Cabrera to the plate.

Mets 6, Reds 2

NEW YORK – David Wright hit a pair of two-run homers and Pedro Martinez won for only the second time since April 28 as the New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-2.

The win gave New York a split of the four-game series and widened its lead in the NL East to 10 games over Philadelphia. Wright connected in the fourth and fifth innings against Eric Milton (4-4), keying a Mets comeback after the Reds took an early 2-0 lead.

Martinez (7-3) overcame some unusual wildness to throw six innings for the victory.

He allowed just two hits but walked five batters and struck out eight, including his final four batters.