Minneapolis ? Orlando Cabrera made a big impression on his first day in a Red Sox uniform — both good and bad.

Boston’s new shortstop homered in his first at-bat, but his error in the eighth inning allowed the go-ahead run to score, and the Minnesota Twins edged the Red Sox, 4-3, Sunday.

Cabrera was acquired from Montreal in a four-team deal that sent Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs just before baseball’s trade deadline Saturday.

Johan Santana outpitched Pedro Martinez in a matchup of strikeout artists. Santana (10-6) fanned 12, one more than Martinez, who left after seven innings with a 3-2 lead.

“They were making some balls do a lot of funny things up there,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “You’d see hitters looking away and rolling their eyes — that’s what pitching’s all about.”

The Twins rallied for two runs against Boston’s bullpen in the eighth. Cristian Guzman and Lew Ford singled off reliever Mike Timlin (4-4), then advanced on a double steal with Justin Morneau at the plate.

Morneau hit a 3-2 pitch from Alan Embree to deep center field, where Gabe Kapler hauled it in on the warning track. Guzman easily scored the tying run on the sacrifice fly, and Ford scampered home when Cabrera kicked Kapler’s relay throw across the infield for an error.

Kapler actually overthrew his first relay man, second baseman Mark Bellhorn, but Cabrera — who joined the team during batting practice Sunday morning — didn’t realize that a secondary cutoff man was in line to retrieve the errant throw.

“I was thinking (Ford) was trying to score,” Cabrera said. “We missed the cut, and I saw the play as a loose ball. I went after it and didn’t see (first baseman David McCarty) behind me. I kicked it with my left foot, and it got away.”

Boston manager Terry Francona wrote off the mistake as a communication breakdown that happens when players join new teams.

“It could have been played better, but we’re dealing with a guy who’s been here for an hour,” Francona said. “It’s impossible to go over everything in an hour.”

Yankees 9, Orioles 7

New York — Alex Rodriguez homered for the third straight day, and Hideki Matsui keyed a five-run fourth with a two-run double for New York. Tony Clark hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Rodrigo Lopez (8-7), and Kenny Lofton also connected as the Yankees won for the 11th time in 13 games over Baltimore this season despite being outhit 14-9. New York took three of four in the weekend series. Orlando Hernandez (3-0) allowed nine hits and struck out nine in five innings, and Mariano Rivera got three outs for his major-league-leading 37th save in 40 chances.

Athletics 4, Rangers 1

Arlington, Texas — Mark Redman pitched seven strong innings, Eric Chavez homered, and Oakland increased its AL West lead over slumping Texas. Mark Kotsay homered, and Adam Melhuse drove in two runs for the A’s, who took three out of four in the series to take a 11/2-game lead over the Rangers. The A’s have won eight of their last nine to improve from 41/2 games behind the Rangers on July 23. Redman (8-8) gave up one run and six hits.

White Sox 6, Tigers 4

Detroit — Ben Davis and Aaron Rowand homered, and Freddy Garcia pitched into the eighth inning to help Chicago snap its season-high seven-game losing streak. Garcia (9-9) allowed four runs and five hits in 71/3 innings and struck out eight and walked one. Shingo Takatsu pitched the ninth for his ninth save in nine opportunities.

Devil Rays 5, Blue Jays 3

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Dewon Brazelton gave up one run and three hits in 62/3 innings, and Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer. Tampa Bay got off to a good start on its season-high 13-game homestand by winning five of six, including two of three against the Devil Rays.

Angels 3, Mariners 2

Anaheim, Calif. — Bartolo Colon won his fifth straight start, and Robb Quinlan homered and doubled in the go-ahead run for the Angels. Colon (10-8) allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings, keeping the Angels 21/2 games behind Oakland in the AL West and sending the Mariners to their 18th loss in 19 road games.