New York ? Roger Clemens set down Toronto in order in the top of the first and Alfonso Soriano homered leading off the bottom half. For the New York Yankees, it was a perfect start.

After winning once in his first four games, Clemens showed there’s still a lot of life in his 39-year-old arm, taking a one-hit shutout into the eighth inning Sunday to lead the Yankees over the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-2.

Soriano hit his second leadoff homer in five days, singled and doubled, raising his average to .395.

“Right now, Sori’s dangerous,” Clemens said. “He’s a special player. The sky’s the limit for him.”

After going 20-3 last year and winning his record sixth Cy Young Award, Clemens (2-2) has struggled this season. Following Shannon Stewart’s two-out single in the third, Clemens didn’t allow another hit until the eighth, when Toronto scored on doubles by Felipe Lopez and Stewart.

Clemens allowed two runs and three hits in 7 1/3 innings, struck out eight and walked three. He got his 282nd win, lowered his ERA from 6.46 to 5.52 and improved to 22-11 against the Blue Jays, including 7-1 since they traded him to the Yankees three years ago.

His key point came in the third inning, when he struck out Raul Mondesi on a split-finger fastball to leave the bases loaded.

“I did feel a little more comfortable out there today,” Clemens said. “I felt I was able to get the ball where I wanted to.”

Soriano homered on a high slider from Chris Carpenter (0-1) in the first, singled in the second and doubled in the sixth, giving him three or more hits in five of the Yankees’ 20 games and eight multihit games in his last 11. He also stole third base in the sixth, creating a run when Bernie Williams followed with a sacrifice fly.

“I feel comfortable now leading off,” Soriano said with a big smile. “I’m happy.”

With a chance to hit for the cycle, he flied out with the bases loaded in the seventh. Soriano, who has a 10-game hitting streak, has led off 17 times, becoming a force at the top of New York’s batting order.

“He pretty much made himself the leadoff hitter the way he played in spring training,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “He’s opened our eyes.”

The home run was huge for the Yankees, coming off Saturday’s 5-4, 10-inning loss, in which they wasted a three-run, ninth-inning comeback. Soriano is concentrating especially hard on getting on in the first inning, trying to getting a good whack on the first or second pitch.

“I don’t know how high his ceiling is offensively,” Torre said.

Soriano also drew praise from Jason Giambi, who hit his fourth homer of the season, a solo shot in the eighth.

“He’s going to do some special things in this game,” Giambi said. “He’s going to be like A-Rod or Jeter.”

Devil Rays 2, Orioles 1

St. Petersburg, Fla. Ben Grieve hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning to lead Tampa Bay over Baltimore. Jason Tyner hit a two-out single off Sidney Ponson, who had retired his previous nine batters, and went to second on Randy Winn’s single. Grieve drove in Tyner with a single off Erik Bedard.

Twins 4, Indians 2

Minneapolis Rick Reed had his most effective outing of the season, helping Minnesota complete a three-game sweep of Cleveland. The Twins finished an 8-1 homestand while the Indians ended up 0-6 on their road trip.

White Sox 11, Tigers 8

Chicago Jose Valentin homered during an eight-run burst in the first, and pinch-hitter Ray Durham delivered a tiebreaking single in the seventh for Chicago. The White Sox led 8-3 after the first, and it was tied at 8 after the fourth. Bobby Higginson homered, doubled and drove in four runs for Detroit, which dropped to 1-8 on the road. The White Sox won for the 10th time in 12 games.

Mariners 5, Rangers 3

Seattle Ichiro Suzuki tripled twice and scored two runs as Seattle overcame two home runs by Alex Rodriguez in his former ballpark to defeat Texas. Rodriguez homered twice in a game for the 22nd time in his career, and the second time against Seattle. But Rodriguez’s offense wasn’t enough, as the Rangers dropped to 5-13 for the team’s worst start.

Athletics 6, Angels 5

Oakland, Calif. Pinch-hitter Greg Myers hit a three-run homer off Troy Percival in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Oakland a victory over Anaheim. Percival (0-1), making his second appearance since coming off the disabled list Thursday, entered to start the ninth and gave up consecutive singles to Miguel Tejada and Terrence Long. Myers, batting for Ramon Hernandez, then drove a 2-0 pitch over the scoreboard in right field to win it. It was Percival’s first blown save in three chances this season.