Surprise, Ariz. ? Alfonso Soriano went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and started two double plays in the field in his Texas debut, and the Rangers beat Kansas City, 9-5, Thursday in the Cactus League opener for both teams.

Soriano, acquired from the New York Yankees last month in the trade for American League MVP Alex Rodriguez, started at second base. He remained at his desired position when Michael Young switched to shortstop this spring.

“I’m happy with my new team,” Soriano said. “I played for the New York Yankees, and I’m thinking how do I come here and play? But it’s the same emotion as in New York. This was a good start. It’s the same baseball.”

Soriano took a called third strike in the first, then had a single and stolen base in the fourth. His second strikeout came after Young’s RBI double in the fifth capped a three-run outburst that tied it at 3.

Jason Jones, a late lineup addition at designated hitter after Herbert Perry was scratched, had a tiebreaking RBI double in the sixth. The liner over the head of country singer Garth Brooks playing left field started a four-run outburst.

Hank Blalock homered to start the Texas fifth.

Angel Berroa led off the game with a homer off R.A. Dickey. He reached on an infield single to start the third and scored on Ken Harvey’s sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead.

Young, one of the league’s top-fielding second basemen before moving to replace A-Rod, had four chances without an error. First baseman Mark Teixeira made a nice pick on his short-hop throw for the final out in the first inning.

“This is only the beginning, but I got to take some game-speed ground balls,” Young said. “‘Sori’ and I work well together. We have a lot in common, the way we approach the game. It’s going to be a blast playing with him.”

Soriano’s first fielding attempt came in the third, when he fielded Joe Randa’s grounder, stepped on second base and threw to first. An inning later, he made a nice backhand snag of Aaron Guiel’s grounder, then flipped to Young to start another inning-ending double play.

Brooks, making his fourth spring training appearance for charity, struck out in his only at-bat.

Mike Sweeney was scratched from Kansas City’s lineup because of lower back stiffness.

Kansas City pitcher Brian Anderson winds up to pitch in the first inning against Texas. Anderson allowed just one hit in two innings, but the Rangers won, 9-5, Thursday in Surprise, Ariz.