The Associated Press

The Japanese fans missed quite a show when the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners played Tuesday. Instead of opening the season in Tokyo, the two teams slugged it out in an exhibition game in Arizona, with the A's beating the Mariners 25-10.

Eric Chavez hit one of Oakland's seven home runs and the Athletics had 31 hits.

The teams originally were scheduled to play their season opener at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday, but the trip was called off because of the war in Iraq. The result would likely have been very different if this game had counted.

Instead of a matchup of aces, the A's sent Ted Lilly out to face Gil Meche.

"I think the lineups would have been a little different," A's manager Ken Macha said.

Frank Menechino, Mark Ellis, Ramon Hernandez, Billy McMillon, Adam Piatt and David McCarty homered for the A's, who had their highest-scoring game in spring training since at least 1986 - as far back as the team's records go.

"We hit some balls hard," Macha said. "It was just one of those days. That's baseball. We've got Randy Johnson pitching tomorrow. That's baseball, too."

Elsewhere, Kenny Rogers held Cincinnati's slumping offense to two hits in five innings in his debut for Minnesota, leading the Twins to a 2-1 victory over the Reds.

Rogers signed a $2 million, one-year contract on March 13 and had a spot in the rotation reserved. The left-hander pitched in two minor league games before appearing with the Twins for the first time Tuesday.

"I know that was something that was needed," he said. "Not that the other work is not quality, but it's not the same. When you get into a 'A' game, you get the extra adrenaline and nervousness."

Rogers held Cincinnati to a pair of singles and two walks in five innings, striking out two.

"We were real excited to see what we did today," pitching coach Rick Anderson said.

Also Tuesday, the New York Yankees said they expected closer Mariano Rivera to start the season on the disabled list while Texas' Alex Rodriguez took a big step to returning to the Rangers' lineup.

Rodriguez has a small disc herniation in his neck, but reported no pain after playing seven innings at shortstop in a minor league game. He batted each inning, going 2-for-8 with a two-run homer, single and three RBIs.

"I'm right on schedule," Rodriguez said. "My timing was a little off, but it was really good to get out there. I got in eight solid at-bats. It was good to be able to see some live pitching."

Rivera felt discomfort while making his final pitch in the ninth inning Monday against Detroit.

"Unfortunately I think he'll have to be disabled," Yankees GM Brian Cashman said. "If we play this thing wrong, we have more than a short period of time that we can damage here. We could jeopardize a much longer period of time, so we'll take the safe approach."

Rivera went on the disabled list last June with a groin strain in the same area.

"I've been treating it," Rivera said. "That's all they're going to do. It's a little sore. It's better than last night."

Juan Acevedo, the Tigers' closer last season, will get the majority of the save situations.

In other games:

Giants 10, Brewers 6

At Phoenix, Barry Bonds hit two more homers, giving him nine for the spring, to lead San Francisco. Bonds is batting .410 (16-for-39) with 18 RBIs this spring.

Angels 5, Rockies 5, 11 innings

At Tucson, Ariz., Jarrod Washburn threw five solid innings in his second spring start as Anaheim tied Colorado. Washburn, who won 18 games for the World Series champions last season, probably won't pitch until Anaheim's fifth game after spraining his left shoulder during a drill on March 3.

Expos 2, Marlins 1

At Jupiter, Fla., Tomo Ohka gave up three hits in five innings in his first impressive start of the spring. Florida starter Carl Pavano, who experienced tightness in his arm in his last start, allowed two runs and four hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Tigers 3, Braves 3, 10 innings

At Lakeland, Fla., Hiram Bocachica went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs as Detroit tied Atlanta.

Pirates 3, Red Sox 0

At Bradenton, Fla., Jack Wilson scored from second base on Pokey Reese's infield single in the fifth inning and Jeff Suppan pitched six shutout innings for Pittsburgh.

Astros 7, Indians 6

At Winter Haven, Fla., Jeff Kent had an RBI single, a fielding error and nearly a throwing miscue in his return to the lineup and Craig Biggio homered to lead Houston.

Cardinals 5, Orioles 0

At Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Brett Tomko pitched six innings of five-hit ball and Miguel Cairo hit two run-scoring triples to lead St. Louis.

Diamondbacks 7, Rangers 4

At Tucson, Ariz., rookie John Patterson boosted his chances of making Arizona's starting rotation by allowing one run in six innings.

Royals 2, White Sox 1

At Surprise, Ariz., Chris George and three Kansas City relievers limited Chicago to six hits and the Royals rallied for two runs in the ninth. Dodgers 3, Mets 2

At Port St. Lucie, Fla., David Cone pitched one-hit ball over five scoreless innings for New York. He retired the final 11 batters.

Yankees 5, Phillies 0

At Tampa, Fla., David Wells tried to put aside concerns that he's become distracted by off-the-field issues, pitching six scoreless innings for New York. Wells has been the center of attention this spring because of his autobiography and his absence in a magazine photo shoot.

Jeff Weaver will be the Yankees' fifth starter, manager Joe Torre announced.

Blue Jays 9, Devil Rays 5

At Dunedin, Fla., Shannon Stewart went 3-for-3 and Toronto took advantage of four errors by Tampa Bay shortstop Hector Luna.

Cubs 4, Padres 2

At Peoria, Ariz., Moises Alou homered and doubled to lead Chicago.