ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jered Weaver reached down to the mound with his finger and etched Nick Adenhart's initials in the dirt.

Then it was time to pitch.

So Weaver did the best he could to gather his emotions, striking out eight in a strong season debut that served as a tribute to his friend and rookie teammate.

Weaver and the grief-stricken Los Angeles Angels, still mourning Adenhart's shocking death, returned to baseball last night with a 6-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

"It was one of the toughest I've had to get through," said Weaver, who allowed only an unearned run in 6 2/3 innings. "It still really hasn't hit home yet. I shed a couple tears before I went over there."

Weaver usually traces his grandparents' initials on the mound before every start. This time, he honored Adenhart.

"He's never going to be forgotten," Weaver said.

It was the Angels' ninth consecutive regular-season victory against the Red Sox — the longest in franchise history — but the joy over this one was muted by prevailing sadness.

The 22-year-old Adenhart and two of his friends were killed when their car was broadsided early Thursday in a crash caused by a suspected drunk driver who was charged with three counts of murder yesterday.

"We're happy to get a win," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "It doesn't do much for what happened the last couple of days, but we're playing baseball. When the game's over and you start to think about it, it doesn't ease the pain."

YANKEES 4, ROYALS 1

Andy Pettitte (1-0) gave up a run and three hits in seven innings, Jorge Posada hit a two-run single, and Mariano Rivera struck out two around an infield hit for his first save to lift New York in the opener of Kansas City's renovated Kauffman Stadium.

TIGERS 15, RANGERS 2

Miguel Cabrera hit a grand slam and had six RBIs, Armando Galarraga (1-0) gave up a run and five hits in seven innings, and host Detroit roughed up Texas and Kris Benson, who allowed eight runs and 10 hits in five innings, in his first game since Sept. 27, 2006.

ORIOLES 5, RAYS 4

Melvin Mora drove in three runs, Mark Hendrickson (1-0) gave up one run and six hits in 5 1/3 innings and host Baltimore ended a run of 12 straight losses to Tampa Bay, which got two homers and three RBIs from Evan Longoria.

BLUE JAYS 13, INDIANS 7

Marco Scutaro's bloop RBI single brought home the go-ahead run in a six-run top of the eighth inning and Saint Louis School alum Brandon League (1-0) got the win for Toronto, which beat Cleveland, which is 0-4 for the first time since 1985.

TWINS 12, WHITE SOX 5

Joe Crede homered against his former team, Justin Morneau also went deep and visiting Minnesota used a seven-run seventh to beat Chicago, spoiling the comeback of Jose Contreras, who suffered a season-ending Achilles' injury Aug. 9 against Boston.

MARINERS 5, ATHLETICS 4

Endy Chavez had three hits and drove in two runs,Yuniesky Betancourt also drove in two runs, and David Aardsma got the final six outs for the save as Seattle ended a four-game losing streak in Oakland.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

MARLINS 5, METS 4

Jorge Cantu singled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Emilio Bonifacio from second base as Florida remained unbeaten after four games by defeating New York, which left 14 runners on base, stranding at least one in every inning.

CARDINALS 5, ASTROS 3

Ryan Ludwick homered and drove in two runs, Skip Schumaker had three hits and Joel Pineiro (1-0) allowed two runs and eight hits over 6 2/3 innings as host St. Louis survived another shaky ninth inning to beat Houston.

BREWERS 4, CUBS 3

Ryan Braun's grounder to shortstop scored Rickie Weeks on a close play at the plate, and Milwaukee rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning against new Chicago closer Kevin Gregg to capture its home opener.

ROCKIES 10, PHILLIES 3

Cole Hamels (0-1) was roughed up for seven runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings, and Jason Marquis (1-0) allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings as host Colorado pounded Philadelphia.

DIAMONDBACKS 9, DODGERS 4

Chris Young went 3-for-3 with a home run and Jon Garland (1-0), who spent the previous eight seasons in the American League, allowed three runs on five hits in seven innings in his NL debut to help host Arizona beat Los Angeles.

BRAVES 6, NATIONALS 5

Kelly Johnson singled home Jordan Schaffer from second base in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift Atlanta over Washington, which tied the game in the ninth on Lasting Milledge's bases-loaded, run-scoring infield hit.

PADRES 7, GIANTS 3

Scott Hairston hit a three-run homer, Brian Giles drove in two runs and host San Diego jumped on Barry Zito (0-1) for four runs and seven hits in four innings to beat San Francisco in a game delayed 51 minutes in the sixth because of rain.

NOTES

Dodgers: Los Angeles placed opening-day starter Hiroki Kuroda on the 15-day disabled list with a mild strain in a muscle near his left ribs. The move was made before last night's game against Arizona and is retroactive to Tuesday. Kuroda beat San Diego, 4-1, in the season opener Monday.

Giants: San Francisco pitcher Joe Martinez has a concussion and three small fractures in his head after being hit by a line drive in Thursday night's win over Milwaukee. The Giants said he was expected to make a full recovery. Martinez will remain hospitalized for observation over the next four days.