Indians 8, Red Sox 4
CLEVELAND — Asdrubal Cabrera had four RBIs, Shin-Soo Choo hit a two-run homer and the Cleveland Indians kept the built-to-win Boston Red Sox winless on Wednesday night with an 8-4 victory that dropped one of baseball's big spenders to 0-5.
From Cambridge to Cape Cod, the panic buttons are glowing.
The Red Sox are off to their worst start in 15 years and look nothing like the team many forecast to be the last one standing in October. Boston hasn't started this poorly since 1996, and after finishing this series Thursday, the Sox head home to face the rival New York Yankees on Friday and what could be angry fans in Fenway Park.
Reliever Rafael Perez (1-0) worked 1 1-3 perfect innings for the Indians, who have won three straight.
Cabrera hit a three-run homer off reliever Dan Wheeler to cap a strange sixth inning, when mistakes on the mound and in the field cost the Red Sox four runs.
Matt LaPorta also homered for Cleveland.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-1) took the loss.
Angels 5, Rays 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The winless Tampa Bay Rays lost again when Dan Haren and the Los Angeles Angels shut down the AL East champions.
The Rays fell to 0-5. In four of those games, they finished with exactly one run and four hits.
Rookie Jeremy Hellickson (0-1) lost despite striking out 10 in 5 2-3 innings.
Tampa Bay designated hitter Manny Ramirez, who has one hit in 17 at-bats this season, was out of the starting lineup. He flied out as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and will miss Thursday's game at the Chicago White Sox while tending to a personal matter.
Rays left fielder Johnny Damon replaced Ramirez as the DH. Damon went 0 for 4 with a strikeout, and is 1 for 15 this year
Haren (1-0) scattered four hits over 7 2-3 innings and struck out six.
Rangers 7, Mariners 3
ARLINGTON, Texas — Mitch Moreland hit a tiebreaking double off Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez and Texas remained unbeaten.
The AL champion Rangers are 6-0 for the first time since 1996, when they set a team record by winning their first seven games.
Moreland's go-ahead hit in the seventh inning made a winner of C.J. Wilson (1-0).
Hernandez (1-1) allowed four runs, two of them unearned, in seven innings. He struck out six and walked three.
Tigers 7, Orioles 3
BALTIMORE — Alex Avila homered and had a career-high five RBIs to back an effective pitching performance by Justin Verlander, and the Detroit Tigers ended the Baltimore Orioles' unbeaten run.
Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez also connected for the Tigers, who became the first team this season to score more than one run against Baltimore.
Derrek Lee hit his first homer with the Orioles and Vladimir Guerrero got his first RBI. But Baltimore came up short in a bid to match the franchise-record 5-0 start of the 1970 squad that went on to win the World Series.
Verlander (1-0) gave up three runs and four hits in eight innings, striking out nine. He is 6-0 with a 2.64 ERA in eight career starts against Baltimore, including 4-0 at Camden Yards.
Brad Bergesen (0-1) allowed two earned runs and five hits in 3 2-3 innings.
Blue Jays 5, Athletics 3
TORONTO — Travis Snider hit a three-run home run, Yunel Escobar had three hits before leaving with an injury and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics.
Jesse Litsch (1-0) pitched 6 1-3 for his first win since July 20 and Jon Rauch got two outs for his first save as the Blue Jays won for the eighth time in 11 games against the Athletics.
Starting for the first time since Aug. 1, 2010, Litsch allowed three runs and six hits, walked two and struck out a career-high seven. Litsch missed the end of last season after undergoing hip surgery.
Toronto chased starter Dallas Braden (0-1) in the eighth.
