A-Rod ties Griffey, as Yankees romp in home opener

YANKEES 5

ANGELS 0

Does anyone remember when the Yankees were 0-3 anymore? Didn't think so. After the Yankees did away with their personal slapping boys the Baltimore Orioles, during the week to get back to .500, the Bronx Bombers flexed their muscles against an American League favorite, the L.A. Angels of Anaheim; Hiroki Kuroda settled down nicely as the Yankees number two starter, and Alex Rodriguez woke up from his week 1 doldrums.

The day began on a high note; Jorge Posada, who retired over the winter, threw out the first pitch to delight of the sell out crowd at Yankees Stadium. Then the Yankees went right to work. In the bottom of the first after an A-Rod single and walks to Robinson Cano and Mark Tiexiera, Nick Swisher cracked a pitch to deep center for a three run double to give the Bombers a quick 3-0 lead. WATCH VIDEOS!

With the big lead, Kuroda did the rest. He struck out Vernon Wells, and induced a ground ball double play in the second inning; then struck out Chris Iannetta and Peter Bourjos to get through the third. Kuroda was solid, pitching into the ninth inning, giving up five hits, while striking out six. He evens his record to 1-1 and drops his ERA to a respectable 2.63. The question throughout the day was how new Angel Albert Puljos would do in his new digs, and he didn't fare well. Puljos was 1-for-4 with a double play grounder in the ninth inning. Puljos has struggled since arriving in Anaheim, batting .222 with no homers. Think someone is feeling the heat after signing a $250 million deal?

Speaking of multimillionaires, Alex Rodriguez made a little history. In the third inning, Rodriguez cracked his first homer of the season to make it 4-0, but the significance of the blast was huge for Rodriguez, as it ties him for fifth all time on the all time home run list with his former Seattle Mariners' teammate Ken Griffey Jr. with 630 homeruns.

The Yankees and Angels will play game two on Saturday afternoon on FOX, and game three on Sunday night on ESPN.

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