Associated Press
TORONTO -- Rick Reed trusted the Minnesota bullpen enough to tell his manager he was tired.
David Ortiz and Torii Hunter hit consecutive homers in the first inning, and Reed combined with three relievers on a four-hitter Friday night to lead the Twins over the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3.
"I thought Rick Reed was fantastic, but he told us he was out of gas," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "One thing you want from a starting pitcher is for them to be honest to you when they are out of gas, and he told us he out of gas, so we went to our bullpen and they did a great job."
Reed (1-0) gave up a homer to Shannon Stewart on his first pitch but would up allowing just one more run -- Carlos Delgado's homer in the fourth.
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Reed allowed three hits in five innings. J.C Romero, Mike Jackson and Eddie Guardado finished, with Guardado getting his third save.
"The bullpen did an outstanding job," Reed said. "You couldn't ask for a better job than they did."
Reed said there's no reason to lie when your tired.
"I used to not say anything, but I got to the point where why lie," Reed said. "Why go out there and possibly blow the game for the team just because your ego gets in the way. I was totally honest, and I've been that way the last couple of years."
Guardado allowed a leadoff homer to pinch-hitter Dave Berg and walked Raul Mondesi, but Delgado hit into a double play and Jose Cruz Jr. flied to deep left.
Toronto drew 15,764, the lowest crowd at SkyDome since 15,078 came to a game against Tampa Bay last June 5.
"The game was close, but we just couldn't pull through against their bullpen," Toronto's Shannon Stewart said
Ortiz hit a two-run homer off Brandon Lyon (0-1) and Hunter's homer into the second deck in left made it 3-0.
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Minnesota made it 4-1 in the second after three errors. Tom Prince reached on third baseman Eric Hinske's throwing error, Jacque Jones singled to right and Mondesi bobbled the ball, allowing Prince to advance to third.
Hinske took Mondesi's throw, and threw to shortstop Felipe Lopez at second in an effort to get Jones out, but the ball deflected off Lopez's glove, allowing Prince to score. Hinske was charged with another error.
Lyon allowed four runs -- three earned -- and six hits in four innings.
Notes: The Blue Jays placed opening day starter Chris Carpenter on the 15-day DL with tendinitis in his pitching shoulder. ... Toronto reliever Corey Thurman made his major league debut, allowing two hits in 1 2-3 innings. ... Toronto manager Buck Martinez will be a guest conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on Saturday. Martinez will conduct the overture of Rossini's "William Tell." ... Reed went 3-0 against Toronto last season. ... Last season, the Blue Jays drew 18,071 fans to their second home game.
