CHICAGO – Jim Thome got to totally enjoy this opening-day home run.

Thome hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning, rallying the Chicago White Sox past the Kansas City Royals 4-2 Tuesday in a season opener delayed a day because of bad weather.

Chicago trailed 2-1 when Thome hit his 542nd career home run, connecting with two outs off Royals newcomer Kyle Farnsworth. Thome’s shot gave Chicago the win on a day when Mark Buehrle struggled, and it erased a solid outing by Kansas City’s Gil Meche. Meche pitched seven strong innings, Alex Gordon homered and the Royals were in line for the win until Farnsworth (0-1) came on.

Blue Jays 5, Tigers 4

TORONTO – Rod Barajas hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Scott Rolen hit a solo homer and Aaron Hill had a three-run drive for Toronto, which trailed 3-0 after seven innings.

B.J. Ryan (1-0) got the win despite allowing a tying homer to Brandon Inge in the ninth.

Twins 6, Mariners 5

MINNEAPOLIS -Alexi Casilla’s two-run single capped Minnesota’s three-run rally with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Twins beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5.

Minnesota trailed 5-3 with two outs and nobody on in the ninth before closer Brandon Morrow (0-1) walked the bases loaded. Miguel Batista relieved and Denard Span chopped an RBI infield single to third that made it 5-4. Casilla lined the next pitch from Batista up the middle, scoring Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher.

National League

Giants 10, Brewers 6

SAN FRANCISCO – Travis Ishikawa hit a three-run triple, Aaron Rowand had three RBIs and the San Francisco Giants overcame Tim Lincecum’s struggles for a 10-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in the majors’ final opener.

Rowand, Bengie Molina and Randy Winn homered for the Giants, whose 12-hit battering of Milwaukee’s pitching more than made up for the shortest start of Lincecum’s career. The NL Cy Young Award winner made it through just three innings, yielding three runs, four hits and three walks.

Braves 4, Phillies 0

PHILADELPHIA – Jair Jurrjens and four relievers combined on a six-hitter, Kelly Johnson and Chipper Jones hit solo homers and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0.

The defending World Series champions are off to an 0-2 start for the fourth straight year.

Marlins 8, Nationals 3

MIAMI – Josh Johnson pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning and the Florida Marlins got home runs from Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla in an 8-3 victory over the Washington Nationals.

Two-run shots by Cantu and Uggla spoiled the return of Scott Olsen, chased after three innings in his first regular-season game against the Marlins, who traded him in the offseason after drafting him in 2002.

Johnson (1-0) struck out eight and walked none.

Cardinals 9, Pirates 3

ST. LOUIS – Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer and reached base five times to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-3.

Pujols went 2-for-3 with two walks and also reached on an error after going 3-for-4 in Monday’s season-opening 6-4 loss against the Pirates.

Chris Duncan and Yadier Molina also had two-run homers for St. Louis.

Astros 3, Cubs 2

HOUSTON – Jeff Keppinger’s broken-bat single in the 10th inning off closer Kevin Gregg gave the Houston Astros a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

Hunter Pence homered and Michael Bourn had an RBI single for the Astros, who carried a 2-1 lead into the eighth before Alfonso Soriano hit a long home run off LaTroy Hawkins.

Ivan Rodriguez opened the bottom of the 10th with an infield single down the third-base line, his first hit with Houston after starting the season 0-for-7.

Lance Berkman followed with another single off Neal Cotts (0-1) before Cubs manager Lou Piniella brought in Gregg.

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