Yankees, Phillies win series openers

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui supplied the punch that supported pitcher CC Sabathia in the New York Yankees' 7-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the opening game of their AL Division series Wednesday.

In the late game, Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer in the first inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers applied pressure on opposing ace Chris Carpenter to triumph 5-3 over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game One of the NL Division series.

The other NLDS opener featured World Series champions Philadelphia, who made a confident start to the postseason with Cliff Lee throwing a six-hitter in a 5-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

The Twins, who arrived in New York at 3 a.m. (0700 GMT) after their thrilling 12-inning win over the Detroit Tigers for the AL Central title Tuesday night, struck first with two runs in the third inning but crashed after.

Yankees captain Jeter wiped out the deficit in the bottom of the third, smacking a hanging curve from Twins rookie starter Brian Duensing down the left-field line to score Melky Cabrera with the first postseason homer in the new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium.

"That's Derek Jeter this time of the year," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of the shortstop, whose round-tripper was the 18th of his career in postseason play.

Nick Swisher doubled in a run in the fourth, and Alex Rodriguez stroked an RBI single in the fifth just before Matsui's towering homer rattled around in Monument Park behind the wall in dead center to put the game out of reach.

Sabathia went six and two-thirds innings, giving up eight hits and striking out eight with no walks. One of the two runs he yielded was unearned, scoring on a passed ball charged to catcher Jorge Posada.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said his team ran into some double-trouble -- Sabathia's pitching and the Yankee lineup.

"Everyone is a stinking All-Star," moaned Gardenhire about New York's star-studded batting order.

The best-of-five series resumes Friday in the Bronx, where New York, whose 103-59 regular season mark was the best in the major leagues, will be trying to extend their record this year against Minnesota to 9-0.

LEE OMINOUS

Philadelphia used a one-two punch in the middle of their game to claim victory, breaking a scoreless tie with two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth.

The fifth-inning damage came on Raul Ibanez's RBI-double and a run-scoring single by Carlos Ruiz off Colorado starter Ubaldo Jimenez.

In the next frame, Ryan Howard stroked a run-scoring double, Jayson Werth belted an RBI triple, and a single from Ibanez made it 5-0 -- a daunting lead given Lee's ominous form on the mound.

Colorado finally scored in the ninth, but Lee took the applause with a complete game win in his first playoff start.

The left-hander struck out five, issued no walks and retired 16 successive batters at one point.

"We hit the ball very good and Cliff pitched a hell of a game," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.