Making their first appearance in the league might have caused some nerves for Joe Mauer and Miguel Cabrera. But neither one showed it, and both made an immediate impact in the home opener between the New York Swats and the defending champion Detroit Rockets. Down 3-0 against Roger Clemens, Joe Mauer hit a solo home run to put New York on the board. Dick Allen’s 2-run homer in the 7th off Bob Feller gave Detroit a 5-2 lead. A 2-out. 2 run double by Joe DiMaggio cut the Rockets lead to 5-4. Tom Henke came in to close in the 9th, but Mauer hit his 2nd solo shot of the game to blow the save and tie things up, leading to extra innings. It was the bottom of the 11th when Cabrera came up with 2 outs and Álex Rodríguez on 2nd. Facing Bullet Rogan, Cabrera drilled one down the line for the walk-off 6-5 win. With the win, the Rockets pick up where they left off, as heavy favorites to repeat with a team of non-Hall of Famers.