ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jered Weaver struck out eight in a strong season debut and the grief-stricken Los Angeles Angels, still mourning the shocking death of rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart, beat the Boston Red Sox 6-3 on Friday night.

It was the Angels’ ninth consecutive regular-season victory against the Red Sox, but the joy over this one was muted by prevailing sadness.

The 22-year-old Adenhart and two of his friends were killed when their car was broadsided early Thursday in a crash caused by a suspected drunk driver who was charged with three counts of murder Friday.

“Everyone has a heavy heart,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said before the game. “We’ve really just started a process that we’re going to take a while to walk through.”

The Angels honored Adenhart, Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson with a moment of silence before the game as the team returned to baseball after postponing Thursday’s scheduled game against Oakland.

Weaver reached down with his finger and sketched Adenhart’s initials in the dirt on the mound, then allowed only an unearned run and walked two in 6 2-3 innings. The right-hander tipped his cap as he left to a standing ovation after facing two batters in the seventh.

Nearing the dugout, he pointed his right index finger to the sky.

Adenhart’s presence was felt all around Angel Stadium. A growing collection of flowers, candles, Rally Monkeys, baseballs and handwritten messages were piled on the replica pitcher’s mound outside the gates.

The rookie’s No. 34 was painted in red on the back slope of the pitcher’s mound. A black-and-white photo of him in mid-toss was on the center-field wall next to his name and number in a black circle.

During the pregame tribute, Torii Hunter and John Lackey held Adenhart’s jersey on the mound with their heads bowed in silence. Lackey carried the jersey back to the dugout, where it was hung on the back wall next to the shelves of batting helmets.

The Angels wore No. 34 patches, which will remain on their home and road jerseys throughout the season.

“There’s no doubt about where our hearts lie right now, with the Adenhart family,” Scioscia said. “As tough as we feel as an organization, it pales in comparison to when you lose a son.”

For 21⁄2 hours, though, everything seemed routine again. Music blared and fans cheered the action on the field while scarfing down food and drinks.

“The easiest time for these guys is going to be between the lines when they’re playing the game,” Scioscia said. “I don’t think any of us slept last night. It was tough coming to the ballpark today.”

Boston knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (0-1) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings, while walking five and striking out four.

Chone Figgins’s RBI single and a two-run single by Howie Kendrick gave the Angels a 3-0 lead in the second.

They extended the lead to 6-1 in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Hunter and Jeff Mathis’ two-run single.

Scot Shields got four outs to earn his first save of the season.

Yankees 4, Royals 1: Andy Pettitte gave up three hits in seven strong innings and Jorge Posada hit a two-run single, carrying the New York Yankees over the Royals 4-1 Friday in the opener of Kansas City’s renovated Kauffman Stadium.

Pettitte (1-0) struck out six and walked one while allowing one run against a team he has long dominated. The left-hander beat the Royals for the 13th time in 16 career decisions and improved to 8-0 against Kansas City in his last 12 starts.

Tigers 15, Rangers 2: Miguel Cabrera hit a grand slam and matched his career high with six RBIs, leading Armando Galarraga and the Tigers over the Rangers.

Texas had started 3-0 for the first time since 1996 and led the majors in runs before the Tigers roughed Kris Benson (0-1) in his return to the majors. Benson allowed seven earned runs and 10 hits in five innings, in his first game since Sept. 27, 2006.

Orioles 5, Rays 4: Melvin Mora drove in three runs, Mark Hendrickson won in his Baltimore debut and the Orioles ended a run of 12 straight losses to Tampa Bay.

Evan Longoria hit two homers and drove in three runs for the Rays. The 2008 AL Rookie of the Year has four home runs and at least one RBI in all four games this season.

Twins 12, White Sox 5: Joe Crede homered against his former team, Justin Morneau also went deep and Minnesota spoiled Jose Contreras’ comeback from a season-ending Achilles’ injury in 2008.

Minnesota was leading 4-3 when Morneau homered off Clayton Richard to start a seven-run seventh, sending the Twins to a lopsided win in the teams’ first meeting since Chicago’s 1-0 victory last year in a tiebreaker for the AL Central title.

Blue Jays 13, Indians 7: Marco Scutaro’s bloop RBI single brought home the go-ahead run in Toronto’s six-run eighth inning against Cleveland.

The Blue Jays overcame a bullpen meltdown following a nearly four-hour rain delay, leaving the Indians 0-4 for the first time since 1985.

Mariners 5, Athletics 4: Endy Chavez had three hits and drove in two runs, and the Seattle Mariners ended a four-game losing streak in Oakland with a 5-4 victory over the Athletics on Friday.

Yuniesky Betancourt also drove in two runs for the Mariners, who won their second straight by scoring all five of their runs in the second inning against A’s starter Brett Anderson in his major-league debut.

Orlando Cabrera had three hits and drove in a run for the A’s, who were playing for the first time since the death of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart.

Chris Jakubauskas pitched two innings in relief of Ryan Rowland-Smith to earn his first major-league victory. David Aardsma got the final six outs for the save in his first opportunity.