Minneapolis ? As Eddie Guardado closed out the Minnesota Twins’ first home-opening sellout in a decade, the loud Metrodome crowd was a little overwhelming for rookie manager Ron Gardenhire.

Brad Radke pitched into the seventh inning and Guardado got his fifth save in five chances, sending the winless Detroit Tigers to their ninth straight defeat, 4-2 on Friday night.

“My blood was pumping,” Gardenhire said. “I almost had to leave. That’s too much for a young manager.”

Guardado, the Twins’ longest-tenured player, struck out the side in the ninth and got Oscar Salazar swinging to end the game as the crowd of 48,244 chanted his name.

“Oh, I heard it,” Guardado said with a grin. “It was so loud, I felt a little vibration on the mound.”

Detroit is off to its worst start since going 0-13 in 1920 and the worst start in the majors since the Chicago Cubs’ 0-14 in 1997, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Tigers’ skid is their longest at any point since losing nine straight in 1999.

“We’re not looking at 0-8 or 0-9,” said Detroit manager Luis Pujols, who replaced Phil Garner on Monday after six games. “We’re looking at the way we play and we think we’re making progress. If we play good baseball, we’re going to win some games.”

Minnesota used a four-run second inning to end a four-game losing streak all against Cleveland.

“We understood we weren’t going to come out of the gates (18-6) like we were last year, but this is the most complete game we’ve played to date,” first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz said. “We’ve won some games, but we haven’t played well yet.”

The fans who showed up at the Metrodome on Friday were just happy to see a team there, regardless of how they were playing. They gave the Twins a rousing ovation as they gathered behind the mound before the game. Utility man Denny Hocking thanked the crowd for their attendance.

Radke (2-0), who has rebounded from a rocky outing on opening day in Kansas City with two straight quality starts, gave up two runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

“I was drained after two innings, with all the stuff going on,” Radke said. “We gotta play the best ball we can when the fans come out like that.”

Red Sox 3, Yankees 2

Boston Darren Oliver (1-0) once again stymied the Yankees as the Boston overcame Jason Giambi’s four hits to send New York to its third straight loss. The Yankees beat the Red Sox in 10 of their last 11 meetings last year.

Oliver improved to 6-1 in his career against New York, allowing five hits in 5 2/3 scoreless innings for his first win since last Aug. 28.

White Sox 5, Orioles 2

Chicago Mark Buehrle (3-0) allowed two hits in seven innings to win his third straight start and Jose Valentin, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Ray Durham homered off Josh Towers (0-2) in Chicago’s home opener.

Before a crowd of 41,128, about 4,000 short of a sellout, Buehrle gave up a solo homer in the seventh to Marty Cordova, activated from the disabled list earlier in the day, and a single to David Segui.

Blue Jays 14,

Devil Rays 7

St. Petersburg, Fla. Carlos Delgado’s three-run homer off Ryan Rupe (1-1) capped a seven-run third inning, and Felipe Lopez and Raul Mondesi also drove in three runs apiece for Toronto, which scored four times in the seventh after Tampa Bay closed to 8-7.

Ben Grieve hit a pair of solo homers for Tampa Bay.

Mariners 7, Rangers 3

Arlington, Texas Ruben Sierra, the four-time All-Star who resurrected his career in Texas last year, hit a grand slam in his first at-bat against his former team to give Seattle a 5-0 lead in the first.

Jamie Moyer (1-1), pulled after a leadoff walk in the sixth, allowed two runs and four hits.

Athletics 5, Angels 1

Anaheim, Calif. Tim Hudson shut down Anaheim again, and Miguel Tejada hit a two-run homer to lead Oakland. Hudson (2-0) held the Angels to one run in seven innings, sending them to their fifth straight defeat. He allowed nine hits, one walk and struck out five to improve to 9-1 career against Anaheim. Helped by three double plays, Hudson stranded six runners. Tejada finished 3-for-4.