NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez's first hit at the new Yankee Stadium was a doozy.

Rodriguez belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to give New York a 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins yesterday.

Rodriguez hit a long drive off Craig Breslow (1-2) into the seats in left after Mark Teixeira led off with a walk. The jubilant slugger threw his arms up as he rounded first, then discarded his batting helmet as he made it to the plate and was mobbed by teammates.

"I was so tired," Rodriguez said with specks of a postgame shaving cream pie still on his right ear. "I haven't played a lot of baseball this year so I was exhausted. I was really just trying to put a good swing on the ball."

It was just the second game at the Yankees' $1.5 billion palace for A-Rod, who missed the first part of the season with a hip injury after admitting in spring training to using steroids when he played with the Texas Rangers.

Off to a slow start, the homer raised his batting average to .154 this season.

"For me, I gave you guys something to talk about and write about in the 11th inning and I didn't have to open my mouth," Rodriguez said as he addressed the media scrum after the game, "and that's kind of the way I want things, you know. Stay out of my own way."

Teixeira tied a career high with four hits and also had four RBIs for New York, which has won four straight.

"I was just getting good pitches to hit," Teixeira said. "I got four good pitches to hit and I didn't miss them."

Mariano Rivera pitched two scoreless innings to help set up A-Rod's second homer of the season. Minnesota put the first two batters on in the 10th but Rivera retired the next three to keep it tied.

RAYS 4, INDIANS 2:

B.J. Upton homered for the second consecutive day and Matt Garza (4-2) gave up two runs and five hits in six innings to lift host Tampa Bay. Gabe Gross and Akinori Iwamura pulled off a double steal in the fifth, giving the Rays at least one stolen base in 18 straight games, the longest stretch in the AL since the Yankees had a 19-game run in 1914.

BLUE JAYS, 2 WHITE SOX 1:

Jose Bautista drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Robert Ray (1-1) allowed one unearned run and three hits in a career-high eight innings as Toronto beat Chicago.

ORIOLES 3, ROYALS 2:

Rich Hill (1-0), who had been out with a strained left elbow, came off the disabled list to allow two runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings, and Alberto Callaspo had a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the fourth as Baltimore beat Kansas City.

TIGERS 9, ATHLETICS 1:

Miguel Cabrera drove in four runs, Ryan Raburn hit a three-run homer and Rick Porcello (4-3) allowed one run on three hits in six innings as host Detroit roughed up Oakland for the second straight night.

RANGERS 5, ANGELS 3:

Michael Young's RBI single broke a 3-all tie in the bottom of the eighth and Josh Hamilton followed with his second sacrifice fly of the game to make it 5-3 as Texas held off Los Angeles.

RED SOX 5, MARINERS 3:

Jason Bay slugged his 11th homer of the season in the first, Jason Varitek hit a two-run shot an inning later and Jeff Bailey also connected to account for all of visiting Boston's runs in a victory that snapped a three-game skid.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

METS 9, GIANTS 6:

Carlos Beltran hit a pair of doubles and drove in three runs, and David Wright had a two-run double and three RBIs as visiting New York kept Randy Johnson at 298 wins, pounding the left-hander for seven runs and 11 hits in four-plus innings.

CUBS 5, ASTROS 4:

Bobby Scales drew a leadoff walk against LaTroy Hawkins (1-1) in the bottom of the ninth inning, moved to second on Aaron Miles' sacrifice and scored on Alfonso Soriano's single as Chicago rallied to beat Houston after squandering a four-run lead.

BREWERS 1, CARDINALS 0:

Corey Hart hit his first homer in 27 games and Jeff Suppan (3-3) scattered six hits over seven innings for visiting Milwaukee. Four relievers followed Suppan and pitched hitless ball the rest of the way, capped by Trevor Hoffman's 1-2-3 ninth for his ninth save.

MARLINS 6, DODGERS 3:

Andrew Miller (1-1), sidelined four weeks with a strained oblique, allowed four hits and left after five innings with a 4-2 lead, and John Baker broke a 2-all tie in the fifth inning with a two-run homer as host Florida beat Los Angeles to end a five-game losing streak.

DIAMONDBACKS 12, BRAVES 0:

Max Scherzer (1-3) spaced four hits over six innings for his first major league win and Chris Snyder hit a grand slam in a six-run ninth as visiting Arizona routed Atlanta.

PHILLIES SWEEP NATIONALS:

Brett Myers (3-2) gave up two runs on three hits over five innings in the first game, and emergency callup Andrew Carpenter gave up five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings in the nightcap that was called in the sixth inning due to rain as visiting Philadelphia earned an 8-5 and 7-5 sweep of Washington.

PIRATES 7, ROCKIES 4:

Nate McLouth homered, Andy LaRoche and Delwyn Young each had two hits and two RBIs, and host Pittsburgh overcame a 1-hour, 47-minute rain delay in the second to beat Colorado for its third victory in five games.

PADRES 6, REDS 5:

Nick Hundley hit a solo homer with two outs in the bottom of the 16th inning to lift San Diego over Cincinnati in the longest game of the season which took 5 hours and 14 minutes to complete.