Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschman each hit two home runs and the visiting Baltimore Orioles trounced the Toronto Blue Jays 12-2 on Thursday afternoon in the season opener for both teams.
Mullins was 3-for-5, including a three-run homer and five RBIs as Baltimore outhit Toronto 14-4.
Tyler O’Neill also smashed a three-run blast in going 3-for-3 with two walks and Jordan Westburg added a solo homer for the Orioles. O’Neill has homered on Opening Day a record six consecutive seasons, adding to his major league record.
The six home runs were an Orioles’ record for Opening Day.
Orioles starter Zach Eflin (1-0) gave up two runs and two hits in six innings, allowing Andres Gimenez’s two-run homer. Toronto starter Jose Berrios (0-1) completed five innings, allowing six runs, nine hits and two walks.
Astros 3, Mets 1
Framber Valdez tossed seven shutout innings and Houston beat visiting New York.
Valdez scattered four hits, issued two walks and recorded four strikeouts. The Astros took a 3-0 lead in the third inning as Yainer Diaz hit an RBI single and Christian Walker scored on an error.
The Mets scored their run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Francisco Lindor. Juan Soto, the prized free-agent signing, went 1-for-3 with two walks in his Mets debut. Clay Holmes, a converted reliever making his first start since 2018, allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and four walks with four strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings.
Padres 7, Braves 4
Jackson Merrill knocked in four runs and Gavin Sheets homered to spark a four-run seventh inning that allowed San Diego to rally for a win over visiting Atlanta.
San Diego’s bullpen shouldered 6 1/3 innings of work after Michael King struggled in his 2 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and four walks. Wandy Peralta (1-0) got the last out of the top of the seventh to earn the win, and Robert Suarez closed it out in the ninth for the save.
Ozzie Albies drove in three runs, two on a home run, for Atlanta. Austin Riley also homered. Braves starter Chris Sale left with a 4-3 lead after yielding six hits, a walk and three runs in five innings, striking out seven.
White Sox 8, Angels 1
Rookie right-hander Sean Burke pitched six scoreless innings in his first Opening Day start and Austin Slater, Andrew Benintendi and Lenyn Sosa homered as host Chicago routed Los Angeles.
Burke (1-0) became the seventh pitcher since 1929 to make an Opening Day start with fewer than 20 career innings pitched. He retired the final 14 Angels he faced while giving up three hits and three walks and hitting one batter. Miguel Vargas hit a two-run double, Benintendi drove in three with his eighth-inning homer and Sosa hit a two-run shot in the eighth.
The Angels’ Yusei Kikuchi (0-1) scattered three runs and five hits with five strikeouts over six innings. Los Angeles avoided the shutout in the ninth on Logan O’Hoppe’s two-out, two-strike solo homer against Cam Booser.
Giants 6, Reds 4
Patrick Bailey singled home the tying run with two outs in the ninth inning and Wilmer Flores broke the tie one batter later with a three-run homer as San Francisco rallied to win a season opener in Cincinnati.
Heliot Ramos hit a two-run homer for the Giants. Starting pitcher Logan Webb was charged with three runs on six hits over five innings, striking out five and walking three.
Jeimer Candelario singled twice and drove three runs for the Reds. Starting pitcher Hunter Greene struck out eight in five innings. He allowed three hits and two runs, striking out eight and walking one on 84 pitches.
Yankees 4, Brewers 2
Carlos Rodon pitched effectively into the sixth inning and was backed by two early homers as host New York hung on for a victory over Milwaukee.
Austin Wells hit a leadoff homer three pitches into the home half of the first inning and Anthony Volpe connected in the second as the Yankees improved to 7-1 in season openers under manager Aaron Boone. Aaron Judge added an RBI double in the seventh and Cody Bellinger followed that at-bat with a sacrifice fly in his Yankees debut.
Vinny Capra, in his 21st career game, hit his first homer in the third. The Brewers, however, struck out 13 times. Leadoff batter Jackson Chourio struck out five times.
Red Sox 5, Rangers 2
Wilyer Abreu went 3-for-3 with two home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored as Boston earned a win over host Texas. The top slugger among American League rookies last season, Abreu homered in the fifth and ninth innings to lead the Red Sox to their second straight season-opening victory.
Abreu’s second round-tripper broke a 2-2 tie in the ninth, coming after Trevor Story drew a one-out walk and stole second before highly rated prospect Kristian Campbell recorded his first MLB hit on a line single to third base. David Hamilton pinch ran for Campbell before the deciding swing.
Josh Jung and Kevin Pillar each had multiple hits for Texas, while the Red Sox won late after recording two runs on three hits and striking out nine times across Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi’s six-inning start.
Phillies 7, Nationals 3 (10 innings)
Alec Bohm smacked a tiebreaking two-run double in the top of the 10th inning and the visiting Philadelphia went on to beat Washington on Opening Day.
With two outs in the 10th inning of a 3-3 game, runner Bryson Stott stole third and Bryce Harper walked against Colin Poche (0-1). Bohm then lined a double into the gap in left-center to score both runners, and JT Realmuto added a two-run triple to make it 7-3.
Harper and Kyle Schwarber hit seventh-inning solo home runs for the Phillies. Keibert Ruiz had two hits, including a homer, for the Nationals. Zack Wheeler allowed a run on two hits over six innings, striking out eight and walking two. MacKenzie Gore tossed six innings of one-hit ball and struck out 13 for a new Nationals Opening Day record.
Guardians 7, Royals 4 (10 innings)
Kyle Manzardo was 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs for Cleveland, which overcame a blown save by All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase to beat host Kansas City in an Opening Day clash.
Steven Kwan led off the 10th with the tiebreaking RBI double for the Guardians, who also got a two-run double in the inning from Manzardo. Manzardo began the comeback from a 3-0 deficit in the fourth, when he tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jhonkensy Noel.
Vinnie Pasquantino hit a three-run homer in the third before he began the Royals’ comeback by lacing a leadoff double against Clase (1-0) in the ninth. Salvador Perez followed with a single to send pinch runner Freddy Fermin to third before Fermin trotted home on Michael Massey’s sacrifice fly.
Marlins 5, Pirates 4
Catcher Nick Fortes tripled to lead off the bottom of the ninth, and Kyle Stowers drilled a no-out, line-drive single down the right-field line as host Miami rallied for a walk-off win over Pittsburgh in the opener for both squads.
It was Miami’s first walk-off victory on Opening Day. After Fortes’ first triple since 2022, Stowers then hit the winner off closer David Bednar (0-1). Marlins reliever Jesus Tinoco (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless top of the ninth. Sandy Alcantara, who missed the 2024 season, allowed two hits, two runs and four walks in 4 2/3 innings, striking out seven.
Pittsburgh’s biggest offensive plays were Bryan Reynolds’ two-run single in the fifth and Nick Gonzales’ two-run homer in the sixth. Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, allowed three hits, two walks and two runs and struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings.
Dodgers 5, Tigers 4
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman hit home runs, Blake Snell went five strong innings and defending champion Los Angeles capped a day of celebration with a victory over visiting Detroit.
In his Dodgers debut, the free-agent addition Snell (1-0) gave up two runs on five hits over five innings with two strikeouts. The two-time Cy Young Award winner was able to work around four walks. Blake Treinen pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save.
In his first start since winning the American League Cy Young Award last season, Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal (0-1) gave up four runs on six hits over five innings with a walk and two strikeouts. Spencer Torkelson hit a home run with four walks for Detroit, while Manuel Margot had a sacrifice fly in his Detroit debut.
Cardinals 5, Twins 3
Lars Nootbaar hit a two-run homer and scored twice to lead St. Louis to a season-opening victory over visiting Minnesota.
Nolan Arenado hit a solo homer and Brendan Donovan went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI for the Cardinals. Starter Sonny Gray (1-0) allowed two runs on four hits in five innings to earn the victory. Ryan Helsley, the sixth St. Louis pitcher, earned the save.
Minnesota starting pitcher Pablo Lopez (0-1) allowed four runs, two earned, on eight hits in five innings. Harrison Bader hit a two-run homer and Willi Castro hit an RBI double for the Twins.
–Field Level Media
Comments