ARLINGTON, Texas – Angels starter John Lackey was gone only two pitches into his season debut.

After Lackey’s first pitch sailed behind Ian Kinsler’s head and the next one hit Texas’ leadoff batter in the ribs, home plate umpire Bob Davidson immediately ejected the pitcher.

“It was interesting,” Kinsler said after the AL West-leading Rangers won 5-3 for their sixth straight victory Saturday.

“I haven’t pitched in six weeks. I was obviously trying to come in on him but there was no intention to hit him or to come in behind him,” Lackey said. “It was definitely surprising.”

Lackey, activated from the disabled list to make the start, had a 1-0 lead after Chone Figgins walked on four pitches to start the game and scored on a wild pitch by Vicente Padilla (3-2).

Kinsler jogged to first base without incident after getting plunked.

But Davidson tossed Lackey, who raised his arms and stood near the mound with a look of disbelief on his face. Manager Mike Scioscia argued at length with Davidson and crew chief Tim Tschida to no avail, though he wasn’t ejected.

ch, that was something else.”

Yankees 6, Twins 4

NEW YORK – Alex Rodriguez belted a game-ending, two-run homer in the 11th inning to give New York a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

Rodriguez hit a long drive off Craig Breslow (1-2) into the seats in left after Mark Teixeira led off with a walk. A jubilant Rodriguez threw his arms up as he rounded first, then discarded his batting helmet as he made it to the plate and was mobbed by teammates.

Teixeira tied a career high with four hits and also had four RBIs for New York, which has won four straight. Alfredo Aceves (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning to earn the victory.

Rays 4, Indians 2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – B.J. Upton homered for the second consecutive day and Matt Garza pitched six effective innings for Tampa Bay.

Gabe Gross and Akinori Iwamura pulled off a double steal in the fifth, giving Tampa Bay at least one stolen base in 18 straight games, which is the longest stretch in the AL since the New York Yankees had a 19-game run in 1914. Both scored on Jason Bartlett’s single to make it 3-0.

Garza (4-2) gave up two runs and five hits, and Joe Nelson earned his second save.

Blue Jays, 2 White Sox 1

TORONTO – Jose Bautista drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and the Blue Jays beat Chicago to give rookie right-hander Robert Ray his first major league win.

Ray (1-1) allowed one unearned run and three hits in a career-high eight innings. He walked one and struck out three, before Scott Downs closed it out for his fourth save.

Toronto trailed 1-0 to begin the eighth against Chicago reliever Scott Linebrink (1-2), before Vernon Wells hit a one-out single, stole second and came around on Adam Lind’s double into the right field corner.

Orioles 3, Royals 2

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Rich Hill came off the disabled list to pitch into the sixth inning, picking up his first victory in more than a year for the Orioles.

Hill, who had been out with a strained left elbow, limited the Royals to two runs on seven hits – six of them singles – and two runs in 5 2-3 innings.

Danys Baez, Jim Johnson and George Sherrill held the Royals hitless after Hill exited, with Sherrill working a flawless ninth to pick up his seventh save in nine opportunities.

Tigers 9, Athletics 1

DETROIT – Miguel Cabrera drove in four runs, Ryan Raburn hit a three-run homer and the Tigers roughed up the Athletics for the second straight night.

Raburn, who entered the series hitting .095, has two homers and eight RBIs as the Tigers have outscored Oakland 23-2 in the first two games of the weekend set.

Rick Porcello (4-3) allowed one run on three hits and two walks in six innings. The 20-year-old rookie is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA in three May starts.

National League

Mets 9, Giants 6

SAN FRANCISCO – Randy Johnson’s pursuit of 300 wins will take a little longer.

Johnson dug himself an early hole against New York and ace Johan Santana, and the potent Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 9-6 on Saturday.

Carlos Beltran hit a pair of doubles and drove in three runs, and David Wright had a two-run double and three RBIs for New York. Fill-in cleanup hitter Gary Sheffield added three hits as the Mets won their 11th in 13 games and improved to 12-3 in May.

Cubs 5, Astros 4

CHICAGO – Alfonso Soriano drove in Bobby Scales with the winning run in the ninth inning after the Cubs had squandered a four-run lead.

Scales drew a leadoff walk against LaTroy Hawkins in the ninth inning before Aaron Miles’ sacrifice moved him into scoring position. Soriano singled to right off Hawkins (1-1), and Hunter Pence’s throw to the plate was high, allowing Scales to score.

Brewers 1, Cardinals 0

ST. LOUIS – Jeff Suppan threw seven scoreless innings in his favorite stadium and Corey Hart hit his first homer in 27 games to lift Milwaukee over the Cardinals.

Suppan, who parlayed an 2006 NLCS MVP for the Cardinals into a free-agent contract with the Brewers, outdueled Adam Wainwright in the first of 18 matchups between teams who entered the day tied for the NL Central lead.

Suppan (3-3) is 131-126 for his career, but 9-2 with a 3.02 ERA in 20 starts in St. Louis and 7-2 with a 2.92 ERA in 12 starts against the Cardinals.

Phillies 8, Nationals 5

WASHINGTON – Brett Myers (3-2) cranked out seven innings, Raul Ibanez hit a pair of home runs, and the Phillies battered the National League’s worst pitching staff in the day-night doubleheader.

Ibanez finished with three hits, three runs and four RBIs, and Jayson Werth also homered for the Phillies, whose 10-4 road record is the best in the majors.

Marlins 6, Dodgers 3

MIAMI – There was a mess on the field, and for a change it wasn’t the Florida Marlins’ fault.

Countless silvery pompon strands blew onto the diamond Saturday on pompom giveaway night, but the Marlins emerged from the litter with a 6-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers to break a five-game losing streak.

D-backs 12, Braves 0

ATLANTA – Max Scherzer pitched six scoreless innings for his first major league win and Chris Snyder hit a grand slam in the ninth, capping the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 12-0 rout of the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.

Snyder matched his career high with five RBIs, including the grand slam off Buddy Carlyle in a six-run ninth. Rookie Gerardo Parra drove in three runs with three hits as Arizona ended a four-game losing streak.

Scherzer (1-3) gave up four hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Braves relievers walked eight batters in four innings. Jeff Bennett and Carlyle forced in runs with bases-loaded walks in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

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