KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ken Griffey Jr. hadn't eaten in about a day. He was jittery a couple of hours before the game. Even in the seventh inning, when new teammate Jermaine Dye asked how he was doing, Griffey still felt it.

He was nervous.

The Kid might not be a kid anymore, but he sure felt like it in his return to the American League.

Griffey drove in two runs and nearly hit a homer in his debut with Chicago, Javier Vazquez won for the first time in seven starts, and the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-2, last night.

"I'm all right now, but we'll find out tomorrow morning," Griffey said of his nerves.

Clinging to a half-game lead over Minnesota in the AL Central after losing four of five, the White Sox could have used an extra arm at the trade deadline with a pitching staff that had a 6.20 ERA in its previous 16 games.

Instead, Chicago traded for Griffey, a 38-year-old slugger who's battled injuries and struggled most of this season. The White Sox dealt reliever Nick Masset and minor leaguer Danny Richar to Cincinnati to get him, hoping the 13-time All-Star could find some of the brilliance that shot him up the career home run list early in his career.

Griffey delivered, driving in half of Chicago's runs in a tight game before coming out for a pinch runner in the eighth inning.

"He did just what he always does," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "It didn't surprise me at all what he did."

RED SOX 2, ATHLETICS 1

Jason Bay made a smashing debut with Boston, tripling and scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning as the Red Sox began the post-Manny Ramirez era with a victory over Oakland.

Bay was obtained from Pittsburgh on Thursday in the three-team deal that sent Ramirez to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

ANGELS 1, YANKEES 0

Torii Hunter hit an RBI single off Mariano Rivera in the top of the ninth, and Ervin Santana (12-5) scattered five hits over eight innings as Los Angeles beat New York for its fifth straight victory.

Rivera gave up a run for the third straight time when no save was involved, and fourth in the last six. Rivera is 26 of 26 in save chances.

RAYS 5, TIGERS 2

Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria hit solo homers and Tampa Bay's bullpen limited visiting Detroit to one hit over the last 4 1/3 innings.

Pena's homer off Zach Miner (5-4), which snapped a 2-2 tie in the sixth, was his 19th. Longoria, leading all major league rookies in home runs, hit No. 20 off Joel Zumaya to make it 5-2 in the seventh.

TWINS 4, INDIANS 1

Joe Mauer's two-run homer in the seventh broke a 1-1 tie and Brendan Harris added an RBI double to back Nick Blackburn (8-6), who gave up one run and six hits in seven innings to lead host Minnesota over Cleveland.

Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 30th save as the Twins won for the sixth time in seven games.

RANGERS 9, BLUE JAYS 8

David Murphy's two-run single with one out in the bottom of the ninth capped Texas' three-run rally.

C.J. Wilson (2-2) picked up the win despite allowing two runs in the ninth, which gave Toronto an 8-6 lead.

ORIOLES 10, MARINERS 5

Garrett Olson (8-5) threw eight scoreless innings before running into trouble in the ninth and visiting Baltimore scored six early runs off Jarrod Washburn (5-10) to beat Seattle.

Olson was working on an eight-hitter before the Mariners chased him during a five-run ninth inning. He pitched 8 1/3 innings, and was charged with three runs and 11 hits.