Yankees Hold Off Astros

Robinson Cano homered and Eduardo Nunez scored the tiebreaking run after a sixth-inning double to send the New York Yankees past the Houston Astros 5-4 Wednesday night.

Ben Francisco hit his first home run for New York and three relievers supplied spotless work after fill-in starter David Phelps wasted a four-run lead. Ichiro Suzuki's double-play grounder put the Yankees ahead and they held on to take two of three games in a series between the teams with the highest and lowest payrolls in the majors.

The active roster New York took into opening day added up to $233 million in salaries, dwarfing a $22 million total for the rebuilding Astros.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)