Phils unable to spell relief

Yankees win on glorious day; McGriff erupts Cooper, traded to St. Louis from Boston earlier this month, singled home the tying and winning runs in the ninth inning as the Cardinals rallied from five runs down for an opening-night 7-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies last night. Cooper, a lifelong St. Louis resident, finished with three hits and four RBIs in his first game for the Cardinals. He left 40 passes for family and friends. ''I've probably dreamed up 50,000 different scenarios for how this game would go,'' Cooper said. ''But I probably couldn't have written it any better. ''Really, I can't describe how I feel. It's tough. I've got to thank the Red Sox for trading me.'' St. Louis victimized Norm Charlton (0-1), who missed all of last season after undergoing elbow surgery. Bernard Gilkey led off the ninth with a single, and Charlton walked Ozzie Smith and Ray Lankford on four pitches each. Cooper followed with a single on a 2-1 pitch, and Smith scored the winning run from second on a close play, making a winner of reliever Rene Arocha. Charlton had no excuses. He said nerves weren't a problem, even though he hadn't pitched in a year. ''Those kinds of things happen,'' Charlton said. ''It's not my first blown save and it's not going to be my last.'' · Yankees 8, Rangers 6 NEW YORK -- A smaller-than-usual crowd and a replacement umpire with an unusual chest protector watched the New York Yankees do what they usually do on opening day -- win with Jimmy Key on the mound. Key won his third straight opening day start for New York and improved his career record in openers to 6-0 as the Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 8-6 yesterday. Danny Tartabull homered and drove in three runs, Bernie Williams hit a solo homer and Pat Kelly went 3 for 4 for New York, the favorite to win the tough AL East. A crowd of 50,245, about 6,500 fewer than last year's record attendance figure, watched the game on a warm spring afternoon. · Braves 12, Giants 5 ATLANTA -- Fred McGriff was disappointed in only one aspect of the best season-opening start he's ever had. ''I was expecting a few more fans,'' McGriff said after he homered twice and drove in five runs Wednesday, leading Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves over San Francisco 12-5 before a crowd of only 24,091. ''It wasn't the 50,000 like I usually see here,'' McGriff said. ''But the ones that were here cheered for us.'' There were 32,045 tickets sold, but there were thousands of no-shows. The Braves, who averaged 47,000 per game last season, drew their smallest opening-day crowd since 11,082 watched in 1990, when the first game was pushed back because of rain. McGriff was a little surprised that he turned in a 4-for-5 day, helping Maddux pick up the victory. McGriff combined with David Justice for consecutive home runs in the eighth inning. The Braves finished with 17 hits, including six in a row to start the game against losing pitcher Terry Mulholland. Senators 5, Flyers 2 Steve Larouche, Sylvain Turgeon and Alexei Yashin each had a goal and an assist last night at the Spectrum as the Ottawa Senators surprised the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2, Ottawa had just one victory in its previous 10 games (1-8-1), while the loss was Philadelphia's second in 11 games (9-2-0). The Senators completed their season series 2-1 against the Flyers and it was Ottawa's first win in five games at the Spectrum. Ottawa took a 1-0 lead at 16:11 of the first period on Daniel Laperriere's first goal of the season. His wrist shot on a power play hit the left arm of goalie Ron Hextall. As the goaltender reached back to snare it, he knocked the puck into the net. Ottawa has scored the first goal of the game in its last seven contests.