Anaheim, Calif. ? Alex Rodriguez was ready to pay big to get back the ball he hit for his historic 300th home run. He didn’t have to.

Rodriguez hit it into the right-field bleachers Wednesday at Edison Field — and a fan threw it back on the field.

“I had signed a jersey, a bat, a helmet and a baseball. We were going to start with the baseball, so it was going to be a long negotiation,” Rodriguez said. “We had a nice care package set for him. So I’m very thankful that man threw the ball back.”

Rodriguez became the youngest player to hit 300 homers, but the Rangers lost, 11-5, to the Anaheim Angels, who had home runs from Troy Glaus, Brad Fullmer and Darin Erstad.

Rodriguez, 27 years, 249 days old, hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning off Ramon Ortiz (1-0), his second of the season. The fastest to 300 had been Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx at 27 years, 328 days. Foxx finished his career with 534 homers.

Rodriguez led the majors last season with 57 home runs and 142 RBIs, both career highs for the six-time All-Star. He doesn’t rule out hitting 60 — especially if he recovers from the disc injury that sidelined him during spring training.

“The first thing I have to do is get back to 100 percent,” he said. “It’s going to be a grind the next two or three weeks, but once I do that, anything is possible because I’ve worked extremely hard.”

Bengie Molina had four RBIs, and Ortiz improved to 10-1 against Texas despite allowing four runs, seven hits and two homers over five innings. Ortiz allowed a major league-high 40 homers last season, seven to the Rangers, who led the majors with 230.

“I don’t know that he’s going to change his approach that much. He’s still going to be aggressive in the zone with his pitches,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “I think the byproduct of challenging hitters are going to be home runs. He proved last year that it’s not necessarily a curse.”

Texas Alex Rodriguez accepts congratulations from teammates after hitting his 300th career home run. Rodriguez is the youngest player to reach the 300-homer plateau. Despite the home run, the Rangers fell to the Angels, 11-5, Wednesday in Anaheim, Calif.

Angels rookie Francisco Rodriguez made his 2003 debut. The 21-year-old right-hander struck out Hank Blalock, Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez on 17 pitches during a 1-2-3 seventh, then yielded a leadoff homer in the eighth to Rafael Palmeiro — the first regular-season homer in the majors off K-Rod.

Rodriguez, who doesn’t have any major-league wins during the regular season, went 5-1 in the postseason last fall, a key to the Angels’ first World Series title.

“When he came in like that, and the fans started cheering, and everybody was on their feet, that was definitely a flashback to last year,” Angels shortstop David Eckstein said.

Athletics 8, Mariners 3

Oakland, Calif. — AL MVP Miguel Tejada hit a three-run homer and Cy Young winner Barry Zito pitched six solid innings as Oakland beat Seattle. Eric Chavez also homered for the defending AL West champions, who won easily again for rookie manager Ken Macha. Tim Hudson went eight innings in a 5-0 victory in the opener Tuesday night.

Red Sox 7, Devil Rays 5

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Jason Varitek hit a three-run homer and Derek Lowe shrugged off a shaky start to pitch six innings as Boston beat Tampa Bay. Lowe allowed five runs and six hits, struck one and walked four to improve to 6-2 against the Devil Rays, who wasted a 3-0 lead.

Varitek homered off one of the catwalks that support the roof at Tropicana Field, giving Boston a 7-3 lead in the fifth. The Red Sox also scored three in the third, when Kevin Millar and David Ortiz had doubles.

Yankees 9, Blue Jays 7

Toronto — Erick Almonte homered and had three RBIs in his first game as Derek Jeter’s replacement, and New York beat Toronto to complete an opening three-game sweep.

Almonte, recalled after Jeter dislocated his left shoulder in Monday’s opener, went 2-for-5 in his first major-league start.

On Monday night, he was unpacking in Columbus, Ohio, preparing for the start of the Triple-A season.

Twins 8, Tigers 1

Detroit — Jacque Jones hit a two-run homer and had four RBIs as Minnesota beat Detroit in the major-league debut of Jeremy Bonderman, the Tigers’ 20-year-old right-hander. Joe Mays didn’t have much trouble with the Tigers during his five-inning outing. Mays, who made just 17 starts last year due to injury, retired his first six batters before Eric Munson’s homer in the third cut Detroit’s deficit to 3-1.

Mays allowed just two hits and no walks while striking out four to improve to 8-0 in his last 10 starts against the Tigers. Detroit dropped to 0-2 under new manager Alan Trammell.

Indians 4, Orioles 2

Baltimore — Cleveland won its first game under new manager Eric Wedge, beating Baltimore behind a solid pitching performance by rookie Ricardo Rodriguez. Ellis Burks drove in two runs for the Indians, who rebounded from a 6-5, 13-inning loss to Baltimore Monday to give the 35-year-old Wedge his first victory as manager.