"If you're going to break records you might as well do it on Opening Day," Perez said. "No position player wants to be out there for 16 innings on opening day. I feel terrible. "Everybody did their job today except me."
Jack Hannahan hit a three-run homer in the second to give Cleveland a 4-0 lead against Ricky Romero. But the Indians didn't score again, going 14 innings without pushing a run across and disappointing a crowd of 43,190 that thinned to just a few thousand die-hard fans by the end.
Cleveland starter Justin Masterson allowed only two hits and struck out 10 in eight dominant innings. But the Blue Jays rallied in the ninth off Perez.
Before Arencibia's heroics, the teams had a mild dustup.
Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo walked with two outs in the 15th, a few pitches after he took exception to an inside fastball from Luis Perez that whizzed past his head. Choo scrambled to his feet and started toward the mound as both benches and bullpens emptied. There were no punches or further incidents.
In another game *
At Detroit, Austin Jackson hit a bases-loaded single in the ninth inning and the Tigers overcame Jose Valverde's first blown save in 52 chances to beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2. Prince Fielder singled his first time up for the AL Central-champion Tigers and added a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Noteworthy *
The Texas Rangers unveiled a statue of the fan who died after falling over an outfield railing at a game last summer. The life-size bronze statue depicts Shannon Stone, 39, and his son, 6. Stone was a firefighter who fell in July while reaching for a ball while at the ballpark with his son.
