Mookie Betts hit two home runs, including a game-ending, three-run blast in the 10th inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for an 8-5 victory over the visiting Detroit Tigers on Friday.
Freddie Freeman also homered for Los Angeles, while Michael Conforto and Will Smith had run-scoring hits in a five-run 10th to win it for the Dodgers. Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a career-best 10 strikeouts over five innings while allowing two runs.
Dodgers right-hander Luis Garcia (1-0) gave up two runs (one earned) in the top of the 10th but still earned the win. The Dodgers opened the season 4-0 for the first time since 1981 — a year in which they won a World Series title.
Dillon Dingler had a homer and a two-run triple for Detroit, and Gleyber Torres also homered as the Tigers dropped their second straight despite holding leads in each game. Beau Brieske (0-1) gave up five runs (four earned) while recording just one out in the 10th.
Rays 3, Rockies 2
Kameron Misner slugged a walk-off homer on the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning, and Tampa Bay won its first outing in its new Tampa home on Opening Day by edging Colorado.
Playing at Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field instead of St. Petersburg’s hurricane-ravaged Tropicana Field dome, the lefty-swinging Misner lined a 97 mph fastball from Victor Vodnik (0-1) out to right for his first big-league homer. Pete Fairbanks (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth.
The Rockies wasted a brilliant start by Kyle Freeland, who faced just 20 batters over six scoreless frames and 67 pitches. He allowed two hits, struck out seven and did not have a single three-ball count. Colorado’s Ryan McMahon was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk. Ezequiel Tovar went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Blue Jays 8, Orioles 2
Kevin Gausman allowed two runs in six innings and was supported by 14 hits as Toronto defeated visiting Baltimore.
Gausman (1-0) yielded three hits and one walk while striking out four to help give Toronto a split of the first two contests of a four-game series. Down 2-0 early, the Blue Jays scored five runs in the fourth inning to pull away for good. Ernie Clement added a two-run double in the seventh.
Jackson Holliday hit a solo home run and Tyler O’Neill had a sacrifice fly for Baltimore. Orioles starter Charlie Morton (0-1) was charged with four runs on seven hits and a walk in 3 1/3 innings.
Mets 3, Astros 1
Juan Soto blasted a solo home run and Tylor Megill pitched effectively into the sixth inning as New York topped Houston to knot the three-game interleague series.
Soto walloped a 1-2 cutter from Astros right-hander Hunter Brown with two outs in the top of the third inning off the facing of the second deck in right field. The blast provided Megill (1-0) some extra cushion, although he didn’t need it. Megill allowed one run on three hits and one walk with six strikeouts over five-plus innings.
Megill retired the first nine batters he faced and didn’t allow a baserunner until Jose Altuve led off the bottom of the fourth with a single to center. Altuve later scored on a sacrifice fly by Yordan Alvarez. Brown (0-1) allowed three runs (two earned) and fanned seven over six innings.
Rangers 4, Red Sox 1
Jonah Heim slugged two homers and right-hander Jack Leiter picked up his first major league victory as host Texas recorded a victory over Boston in Arlington.
Jake Burger and Josh Jung also had run-scoring hits as the Rangers evened the four-game series at one game apiece. Leiter (1-0) gave up one run and five hits over five innings, with one walk and four strikeouts. Five relievers protected the lead, with Luke Jackson working a perfect ninth for his first save.
Boston’s Tanner Houck (0-1) gave up four runs and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. Wilyer Abreu drove in the lone Red Sox run and has five RBIs in two games. Abreu, Jarren Duran and Kristian Campbell had two hits apiece.
Pirates 4, Marlins 3
Oneil Cruz slugged a two-run home run, stole a base and scored twice, leading Pittsburgh past host Miami.
Pirates closer David Bednar, who took the walk-off loss on Opening Day, gave up a two-run shot to Otto Lopez in the ninth inning Friday but retired the next three batters to earn the save.
Pirates starter Mitch Keller (1-0) gave up one run in six innings. In his first career start, Marlins right-hander Connor Gillispie (0-1) allowed four runs (three earned) in five innings.
Diamondbacks 8, Cubs 1
Eugenio Suarez hit a pair of two-run homers, Pavin Smith and Alek Thomas had three hits apiece and Arizona beat Chicago in Phoenix for its first victory of the season.
Suarez hit a 436-foot blast in the second inning and a 418-foot shot in the fourth, each to left-center field and each after Smith opened the inning with a hit. Suarez homered in three of his first six plate appearances this season. Merrill Kelly (1-0) gave up one run on three hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Cubs starter Jameson Taillon (0-1) gave up nine hits and six runs, including both Suarez homers, in 4 1/3 innings. Pete Crow-Armstrong hit an RBI double, one of only three Chicago hits.
Padres 4, Braves 3
Jake Cronenworth belted a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning as San Diego edged visiting Atlanta.
Leading off the inning, Cronenworth picked on a hanging slider from Dylan Lee (0-1) and ripped it an estimated 381 feet for his first homer, sending San Diego to its second straight win to open the season.
Jason Adam (1-0) worked around a two-out walk in the Atlanta half of the eighth to get the win, and Robert Suarez induced the final three outs for his second save in as many games. The Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Braves’ Jarred Kelenic hit solo homers.
Athletics 7, Mariners 0
Brent Rooker hit a two-run homer, Jeffrey Springs pitched six scoreless innings and JJ Bleday made a pair of sterling defensive plays as the Athletics defeated host Seattle.
Max Muncy homered in the eighth inning for his first major league hit, and former Mariners player Luis Urias went deep in a pinch-hitting appearance in the ninth as the A’s evened the season-opening, four-game series at one victory apiece.
Springs, making his A’s debut after being acquired in an offseason trade with Tampa Bay, gave up three hits, walked one and fanned nine. The Mariners’ Luis M. Castillo (0-1) permitted two runs on three hits over five innings.
–Field Level Media
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