Blue Jays 13, Twins 3
Catcher J.P. Arencibia kicked off his Rookie of the Year campaign with two home runs and five RBIs as the Toronto Blue Jays pounded the visiting Minnesota Twins 13-3 in the season opener on Friday.
Adam Lind and Jose Bautista each added solo homers, and Ricky Romero pitched 6 1/3 strong innings for the Blue Jays, who led the majors in home runs last season with an average of 1.59 per game.
Toronto wasted no time getting to Twins starter Carl Pavano (0-1) as the first four batters reached base. The Blue Jays would put four runs on the board in the first inning on a hit-by-pitch, two sacrifice flies and a fielding error.
Arencibia struck in the fourth when he lifted a two-run blast to center, and Bautista and Lind led off the fifth with back-to-back homers to chase Pavano. Jeff Manship came on in relief and got two quick outs before walking two and yielding Arencibia’s two-run triple to make it 10-0.
That would be plenty for Romero (1-0), who breezed through the first six innings and was pulled in the seventh after allowing three runs (two earned). He struck out seven.
Arencibia added a solo homer in the eighth.