Baltimore ? The fans at Camden Yards cheered Cal Ripken, the Maryland Terrapins and Johnny Oates. As an unexpected bonus, they got to watch their Baltimore Orioles chase Roger Clemens to start the post-Ripken era.

Clemens was cruising, and opening day seemed headed for a predictable finish between the four-time defending AL champions and a team given little hope this season, until the Rocket tried to bare-hand a grounder.

Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi stretches for a ground ball hit by Baltimore's Chris Singleton. Giambi went 1-for-4 with a walk in his first regular-season game with New York. The Yankees fell to the Orioles, 10-3, Monday in Baltimore.

Clemens stayed in the game but wasn’t the same. Two walks and a wild pitch later, he was jolted for a grand slam by Tony Batista in the Orioles’ 10-3 victory over the New York Yankees on Monday.

“I saw he was walking guys I decided I was going to hit the first pitch, whether it was a sinker or a fastball,” Batista said. “I never hit a home run off Clemens before. We have a better team than people might think if we all do our jobs. I did my job today.”

Clemens, coming off his record sixth Cy Young Award, allowed eight runs, walked five and threw two wild pitches all after he tried to field David Segui’s grounder with one out in the fourth. Clemens deflected the ball, then snatched his hand away and leaned forward with both hands on his knees as Segui beat out the infield hit.

Clemens threw a couple of warmups before resuming, but his control was gone. He walked Jeff Conine and Jay Gibbons before Batista sent a drive a few feet beyond the 410-foot mark in left-center field for his fifth career slam.

“I think when he initially reached out he knew it was the wrong thing to do,” New York manager Joe Torre said. “It’s something he’s been doing his whole career. But, yeah, it scares the hell out of you. I think he was just trying to overthrow after that.”

Clemens was taken to the hospital for X-rays, which were negative. He has some swelling in his hand and is listed as day-to-day.

Even with the Orioles’ win, opening day had to settle for second billing in the state of Maryland. A few hours later, Maryland played Indiana for the NCAA men’s basketball championship, and one of the biggest cheers from the crowd of 48,058 an opening-day record for Camden Yards came when Terrapins coach Gary Williams was shown on the scoreboard, wishing the Orioles luck in a taped message.

During the game, a fan ran along the concourse with a large Maryland flag. The Orioles’ mascot waved the flag on the pitcher’s mound after the final out, and “Go Terps” were the last words on the scoreboard before it went dark.

The retired Ripken, who played 21 seasons for the Orioles, also drew an ovation when he was shown on the scoreboard late in the game as he watched from a luxury suite. He visited with his former teammates before the game.

“It was really good to see him. It felt right,” Baltimore manager Mike Hargrove said. “I don’t think we ever want to shake Cal’s shadow.”

The longest cheer during the pregame ceremony was reserved for Oates, the former Orioles manager undergoing treatment for a brain tumor.

Oates threw out the ceremonial first pitch as the crowd, the Orioles and the Yankees cheered. Oates stood a few feet in front of the mound and delivered his pitch about a foot wide to bullpen coach Elrod Hendricks.

Blue Jays 12, Red Sox 11

Boston Darrin Fletcher hit a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning off loser Ugueth Urbina as Toronto rallied after taking a 7-1 lead against Pedro Martinez only to fall behind 11-8.

Jose Offerman, Trot Nixon, Jason Varitek and Tony Clark homered for Boston in the first game since John Henry’s group bought the team, fired general manager Dan Duquette and replaced manager Joe Kerrigan with Grady Little.

Martinez, who went 7-3 and didn’t win after last May because of shoulder problems, struggled with his control and allowed seven earned runs for only the fourth time in his career. Martinez lasted three-plus innings, allowing eight runs overall and nine hits.

White Sox 6, Mariners 5

Seattle Seattle will not go wire-to-wire in the AL West this season. The Mariners, who led the entire way en route to a major league record-tying 116 wins last season, fell short in their opener when Mike Cameron flied out with the bases loaded to end a loss to Chicago. Seattle rallied for four runs in the eighth to make it 6-5, then threatened in the ninth against Keith Foulke.

Athletics 8, Rangers 3

Oakland, Calif. Mark Mulder pitched the power right out of the Texas Rangers’ hard-hitting lineup. Mulder worked into the ninth inning and struck out eight on opening night as Oakland beat Chan Ho Park and the Rangers. Mulder, who won 21 games last year with a 3.45 ERA, did not walk a batter in his first opening-day start.

The game took on a somber tone when between the sixth and seventh innings the clock struck 9:11 p.m. A moment of silence was recognized for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.