Mixed Red Sox Debut for Cabrera

Orlando Cabrera made a big impression on his first day in a Boston Red Sox uniform -- good and bad.

Boston’s new shortstop homered in his first at-bat, but his error in the eighth inning allowed the go-ahead run to score and the Minnesota Twins beat the Red Sox, 4-3, Sunday at Minneapolis.

Cabrera, replacing perennial All-Star Nomar Garciaparra at shortstop, was acquired from Montreal in a four-team deal that sent Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs just before the trading deadline Saturday.

Johan Santana outpitched Pedro Martinez in a matchup of strikeout artists. Santana (10-6) struck out 12, one more than Martinez, who left after seven innings with a 3-2 lead.

Martinez gave up seven hits and tied Roger Clemens’ club record with his 68th game with 10 strikeouts or more.

He threw 101 pitches and was not disappointed that Manager Terry Francona removed him.

“Our plan was for me to pitch 100 or 110 pitches, and that’s where I ended up,” Martinez said.

“I could’ve gone nine, but I didn’t want to push it, go nine, and lose my next outing.”

The Twins rallied for two runs in the eighth. Cristian Guzman and Lew Ford singled against Mike Timlin (4-4) and advanced on a double steal with Justin Morneau at the plate.

Morneau hit a 3-and-2 pitch from Alan Embree to deep center field, where Gabe Kapler hauled it in on the warning track. Guzman scored the tying run and Ford scampered home when Cabrera kicked Kapler’s relay throw across the infield for an error.

Kapler overthrew his first relay man, second baseman Mark Bellhorn, but Cabrera -- who joined the team during batting practice Sunday morning -- didn’t realize that a secondary cutoff man was in line to retrieve the errant throw.

“I was thinking [Ford] was trying to score,” Cabrera said. “We missed the cut, and I saw the play as a loose ball. I went after it, and didn’t see [first baseman David McCarty] behind me. I kicked it with my left foot and it got away.”

Manny Ramirez homered for the Red Sox, who fell 9 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East. The AL Central-leading Twins won for the 10th time in 12 games.

Santana gave up two hits and walked one in eight innings. He has struck out at least 10 seven times in his last nine starts. He’s 4-0 with a 1.24 earned-run average since the All-Star break.

New York 9, Baltimore 7 -- Alex Rodriguez homered for the third consecutive game, and Hideki Matsui keyed a five-run fourth inning with a two-run double to spark the Yankees at New York.

It was the 11th victory in 13 games for the Yankees against the Orioles this season.

Oakland 4, Texas 1 -- Mark Redman (8-8) gave up one run and six hits in seven innings at Arlington, Texas, Eric Chavez homered and the Athletics increased their lead in the AL West over the Rangers to 1 1/2 games.

The A’s have won eight of their last nine to improve from 4 1/2 games behind the Rangers on July 23.

Chicago 6, Detroit 4 -- Ben Davis and Aaron Rowand homered, and Freddy Garcia (9-9) pitched into the eighth inning at Detroit to help the White Sox end a season-high seven-game losing streak.

Tiger starter Jeremy Bonderman (6-8) left in the second inning when he suffered a bruised left shin after being hit by Jose Valentin’s line drive.

Kansas City 8, Cleveland 7 -- John Buck’s three-run homer capped a four-run fourth inning for the host Royals.

Ken Harvey hit two run-scoring doubles, and Abraham Nunez, obtained Saturday in a trade with Florida, had two runs batted in for the Royals.

Tampa Bay 5, Toronto 3 -- Dewon Brazelton (4-3) gave up one run and three hits in 6 2/3 innings, and Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer to help lift the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.