Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Tigers 2, Twins 1: James McCann hit a two-run homer in the fifth for all the scoring Detroit would need. Starter Matt Boyd tossed six scoreless and for the second straight day the Tigers pen did not implode. Well, K-Rod gave up a ninth inning homer RBI to Jason Castro, but that was it.
Indians 2, White Sox 1: Michael Brantley doubled in Francisco Lindor in the bottom of the 10th for a walkoff win. Not figuring in the decision was Carlos Carrasco, who tossed seven strong innings and James Shields of all people who gave up only one run on two hits while pitching into the sixth. The White Sox are rebuilding, but there is still at least one compelling storyline for them: will someone, once again, foolishly trade anything of value for James Freakin’ Shields at the deadline?
Nationals 8, Cardinals 3: Daniel Murphy drove in five via a homer and two doubles. After the game starter Gio Gonzalez said of Murphy, “Is he really surprising you? He’s unreal. Right now he’s a human torch. You can’t touch him.” Murphy certainly has become a seemingly different player than he was earlier in his career. If this happened in 2002, someone would yell about PEDs. I’m with Gonzalez here, though, and his Human Torch comment. Murphy, quite clearly, was on a spacecraft bombarded by cosmic rays sometime between the 2013 and 2015 or so. Flame on!
Mets 14, Phillies 4: Three homers for Yoenis Cespedes, two homers for Lucas Duda and seven in all for Mets batters once you added in shots by Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis d’Arnaud. Cespedes doubled too. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin doesn’t like bat-flipping, but I bet he’d take one or two flipped bats following bombs over seven businesslike homers against his club any day of the week.
Reds 6, Pirates 2: Scooter Gennett homered for the second straight night, doubled and had three hits in all. Three dingers on the young season for the guy. Not bad for a late spring training waiver pickup. Billy Hamilton hit an RBI single with two outs in the seventh to snap a 2-2 tie and the Reds added on from there. The Pirates are 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position the past two games. Last night Clint Hurdle said that his guys weren’t trying to do too much, but that they were just “trying to move the chains.” There is speculation Hurdle could be fired this season. If so, it should not be for his managing results. It should be for being the latest person to attempt to introduce dumb football terminology into a sport that does not want it.
Brewers 4, Blue Jays 3: Keon Broxton and Domingo Santana hit solo home runs while Wily Peralta allowed three runs and five hits while striking out seven in six innings. The Jays have lost six straight home openers. That probably doesn’t concern them as much as the fact that they have lost six of their seven games on the season. Three of the six losses have been by one run, so some of this is just a matter of bad breaks, but it’s an ugly start all the same. Worst in franchise history, in fact.
Red Sox 8, Orioles 1: Dustin Pedroia drove in four as Boston wins in a laugher. Drew Pomeranz came off the DL and made his season debut, striking out six and allowing just one run in six innings. Christian Vazquez went a 4-for-4 with a two-run triple.
Marlins 8, Braves 4: Marcell Ozuna hit two homers, but the big story here was about the cat:
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Climbing the wall like Otis Nixon in 1992. Also: someone probably reported him missing, even if he seems OK now. After the game, Ozuna was asked if the cat brought him good luck. “I detest cats,” he said. Which means that, from here on out, this website is gonna do nothing but rip Ozuna for the rest of his career. We have our biases like anyone else. OK, maybe not like everyone else, but at least we know we’re weird, OK?
Rockies 3, Padres 2: Five runs in the game, four of which came on solo homers. Three of those came off Rockies bats, so that’s why they won. Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado did the honors. Antonio Senzatela got the win, having allowed only two runs over seven. We poke a lot of fun at Jered Weaver around here, but he was solid for six innings himself, allowing two runs on three hits over six.
Angels 6, Rangers 5: The Angels were down 5-0 after three innings and then chipped back, tying things up with a three-run ninth inning led by big guns Danny Espinosa, Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. It was a little gun that won in the 10th, however: catcher Carlos Perez won it with a squeeze bunt in the 10th:
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It would’ve been a tough play for Napoli to make at home, so I get him waiting to see if it’d go foul, but oof, that’s a hard way to lose.
Astros 7, Mariners 5: The Astros have played nine games. George Springer has led them all off. He has led off four of those games with a homer. Note: stop pitching to Spring in the first. He’s obviously a fresh horse right out of the paddock. Houston rallied for four in the sixth inning thanks in part to Seattle outfielder Mitch Haniger diving for an Evan Gattis fly, missing, and allowing three runs to score.
Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3: Robbie Ray pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning despite being shaky. Fernando Rodney got the save despite being shaky. The Dbacks will take shaky. They’re off to a 7-2 start.
