CHICAGO – Keeping Joe Crede has paid off for the Chicago White Sox.

Crede hit a tiebreaking grand slam to cap a five-run seventh inning, and Chicago won its home opener 7-4 Monday over the Minnesota Twins.

Coming off a weekend sweep at Detroit, Chicago has won five straight for the first time since Aug. 10-14, 2006. The White Sox have won six of their last seven home openers.

Crede is batting .393 with 10 RBIs. Last year, limited to 47 games because of a back injury, he hit .216 with 22 RBIs. With Josh Fields also available to play third, Chicago explored trade opportunities for Crede during much of the offseason.

Jermaine Dye tied the score at 3 with a one-out RBI single off Pat Neshek, who had just relieved Matt Guerrier (0-1). A.J. Pierzynski struck out, and Carlos Quentin loaded the bases with a single.

Crede drove a 1-0 pitch to the bullpen in left for the fifth slam, his first since June 24, 2006, against Houston.

Chicago’s Javier Vazquez (1-1) struggled early before settling into a rhythm, and allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking one. Bobby Jenks pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save in as many chances.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was ejected after plate umpire Phil Cuzzi called a second strike against Paul Konerko during the third inning. Guillen went nose-to-nose with the umpire for several minutes as the crowd chanted “Ozzie! Ozzie!” The ejection was Guillen’s 13th since becoming Chicago’s manager in 2004.

Orioles 5, Mariners 4

BALTIMORE – Aubrey Huff homered to break an eighth-inning tie, and the surprising Baltimore Orioles completed their first four-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners since 1999 with a 5-4 victory.

Melvin Mora also homered, and Brian Roberts had three hits for the Orioles, an AL-best 5-1. The Mariners, last in the AL West, fell to 2-5.

If the city is excited over Baltimore’s fast start, it wasn’t reflected in the attendance. The second-smallest crowd in the 17-year history of Camden Yards, 10,774, came out on a chilly afternoon.

Huff connected off Eric Flaherty (0-1), whose performance was typical of the Mariners bullpen throughout series. Pitching without injured closer J.J. Putz, Seattle relievers gave up six runs over 7 2-3 innings.

The offense wasn’t much better. Seattle went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position Monday and was 3-for-19 in the series.

Ichiro Suzuki opened the game with his 26th career leadoff homer and singled in the seventh for his 1,600th hit. Raul Ibanez homered and drove in two runs, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Orioles’ surprisingly robust attack.

Dennis Sarfate (2-0) retired all four batters he faced and George Sherrill, who pitched for Seattle last year, worked the ninth for his fourth save – his third in the series.

Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera overcame a shaky start to pitch six innings of five-hit ball. He allowed four runs, walked four and struck out five before leaving with the score tied at 4. Carlos Silva went seven innings for Seattle, giving up four runs and nine hits.

Yankees 6, Rays 1

NEW YORK – Mike Mussina tied Bob Gibson on the career wins list by pitching six sharp innings, Bobby Abreu hit a two-run homer and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1.

Abreu went 3-for-3 with a walk and Hideki Matsui drove in two runs for the Yankees, who lost Derek Jeter after two innings but salvaged a split of the four-game series before they headed west to start a difficult stretch. New York, which scored just 17 runs in its first six games, finished with season highs for runs and hits with 11.

Mussina earned win No. 251 and is tied with Gibson for 42nd place. He struck out three to equal Yankees TV broadcaster David Cone for 21st place with 2,668 Ks. Jonny Gomes homered for the Rays, who are 3-3 heading into their home opener against Seattle on Tuesday. Tampa Bay has never finished with a winning record on its first road trip of the year.

The Yankees went 4-3 on their season-opening homestand and play 18 of their next 20 on the road. They were scheduled to fly to Kansas City after the game for the Royals’ home opener Tuesday afternoon.

Joe Girardi may have a thin bench to work with as he starts his first trip as Yankees manager.New York was without two regulars against the Rays and Jeter left before the third with a strained left quadriceps.

First baseman Jason Giambi missed his second straight game with a sore left groin and catcher Jorge Posada got the day off.