Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Yankees 3, Tigers 1: Domingo German tamed the Tigers for five and the four horses of the Yankees bullpen — Green, Britton, Ottavino, and Chapman — each tossed a scoreless frame. Brett Gardner and Gary Sanchez each hit solo homers and the rest of the game’s runs scored on errors. Not that the game was the biggest news for the Yankees on a day when they lost Giancarlo Stanton for probably a month and may have lost Miguel Andujar for the season.
Indians 5, White Sox 3: Mike Clevinger had an outstanding start for Cleveland, tossing seven one-hit shutout innings with 12 strikeouts, but he got a no-decision because his offense could only manage one run. After he left the game the Chisox struck for three in the eighth only to see the Tribe bounce right back for four in their half of the eighth. It wasn’t exactly the most riveting rally ever — three of the four runs scored on an error and two bases-loaded walks — but I don’t guess it’s gonna take a lot of firepower to win games in the AL Central this year.
Mariners 6, Angels 3: If the season ended today, the Mariners would be the top seed in the American League with home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Though, I gotta tell ya, if the season ended today most of us would be so disoriented by losing the months between April and October that we’d care little about the playoffs and would be far more worried about the mystery of the time jump and what, exactly, happened during those lost six months. Six months that . . . changed everything. This fall on HBO.
Oh, there was a game: Seattle jumped on Chris Stratton for four runs in the first and Jay Bruce added a two-run homer late to make a close game not close. Tim Beckham knocked in two and now has a line of .423/.516/.885 on the season, so I imagine he’d be all for ending the campaign now. Felix Hernandez, who was apparently only mostly dead, allowed three runs, but only one earned, while pitching into the sixth.
Diamondbacks 10, Padres 3: Dbacks starter Merrill Kelley is 30 and he was making his first big appearance last night. That’s usually the sort of thing you see in the last couple of weeks of the season, not the spring, so maybe we did jump ahead six months. Gosh, I hope not. I have stuff I’m looking forward to this summer. Anyway, Kelly was pretty good, allowing three runs over six, and his mates on offense pounded Padres starter Matt Straham and a couple of relievers, staking Kelley to a 9-0 lead at one point. One of the relievers who followed Kelley was Jon Duplantier, who was also making his big league debut. The only good thing about rebuilds is you get to meet new people. Speaking of new people, Padres rookie shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first big league homer in a losing cause.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 5: The Buccos blew a 4-0 lead, with St. Louis tying it up in the eighth, and lost a 5-4 lead in the ninth to stumble into extras. The Cards won it on an 11th inning passed ball. Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer but the rest of the game was a slop-fest: It lasted four hours and 53 minutes and featured 16 pitchers, 16 walks, four hit batsmen and three errors. Even the home plate umpire got knocked out of this one, and Yadi Molina played third base. Was this the Pirates’ home opener or a late September tilt with open rosters and everyone looking ahead to hunting season? My God, we did jump forward in time.
Brewers 4, Reds 3: Milwaukee had a 3-2 lead in the sixth but allowed the Reds to tie things up when Mike Moustakas dropped the ball trying to transfer it to his throwing hand while turning what should’ve been a sure-thing inning-ending double play. That ended up not mattering when Ryan Braun doubled in Christian Yelich in the ninth to put the Brewers up 4-3 which was a lead they held. Still, fun things happen when you play guys out of position. Well, fun for some people. In other news, the announced crowd was 7,899, which is the lowest turnout in the history of the over 16-year-old stadium. In reality, there were far, far fewer people in attendance.
Orioles 6, Blue Jays 5: David Hess tossed no-hit ball into the seventh, but Brandon Hyde removed the rookie after 82 pitches because there was no way Hess was going the distance anyway so why bother taxing him. Of course, reliever Pedro Araujo promptly served up a two-run homer to Randal Grichuk, so that took some of the fun out of things, as did the Jays’ five-run rally over the final couple of frames to almost give young Mr. Hess a no-decision, but the O’s held on. Jonathan Villar and Trey Mancini each went deep. Chris Davis drew a bases loaded walk. The 10,460 in attendance who say the Jays go home losers was the smallest crowd at Rogers Centre since April 19, 2010.
Braves 8, Cubs 0: Atlanta felt much better at home than they did on the road, beating the Cubs in a laugher. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ender Inciarte each went deep for the first time this year. Brian McCann knocked in a couple and four Braves pitchers, led by an inefficient but effective Sean Newcomb, combined to shut out Chicago. On the bright side for the Cubs it was the starter, Kyle Hendricks, and not their bullpen who got shelled last night. Progress?
Rays 7, Rockies 1: The Rays continue their hot start with the opener, Ryne Stanek, giving way to Ryan Yarbrough and four more relievers to take this one 2018-style. Brandon Lowe and Kevin Kiermaier each went deep. Kieramaier’s was a three-run shot and he knocked in four in all. By the way, I wonder if Kiermaier and Clint Frazier are friends:
They totally should be.
Mets 7, Marlins 3: It was all tied up at three in the he top of the ninth inning when Amed Rosario put the Mets ahead with an RBI single, then rookie Pete Alonso came up with runners on the corners and deposited a Drew Steckenrider fastball 444 feet over the fence in straightaway center field for his first major league home run.
In other news, this is how the Mets celebrate a guy’s first big league homer:
Pete Alonso, their 230-pound rookie slugger, squeezed into a clubhouse cart as ordered by teammates for a postgame dousing that included every available substance. “A couple of eggs,” Alonso said. “Barbecue sauce. Mayonnaise. Beer. Shaving cream. Maybe ketchup and mustard. Maybe relish.”
That’s well and good, but how soon they forget that when the crew of Galactica celebrated Flat Top’s 1,000th Raptor landing in almost exactly the same way a loose missile killed thirteen pilots and injured seven more, severely imperiling the air defenses of the remaining colony ships. Makes you think.
Astros 2, Rangers 1: Brad Peacock allowed only one run in six and two-thirds. Houston’s offense came via a leadoff homer from George Springer and an RBI double from the Rangers’ old friend Robinson Chirinos in the sixth. The Astros have beaten the Rangers in Arlington nine straight times. When the Rangers move into their new park next year the Astros should have the old one air-lifted to Houston. It’s in perfectly good condition and they like it well enough.
Giants 4, Dodgers 2: Brandon Belt hit a solo homer off of new Dodger Joe Kelly in the sixth to bring the Giants to within one run and then hit a go-ahead, two-run double off Scott Alexander in the seventh inning, scoring two runners Kelly put on to start the inning. Kelly has made two appearances this year. In the first one he gave up a homer and two runs and blew a lead. In this one he gave up a homer and four runs and blew a lead. Bill Plaschke, though, loves it because Kelley is “more businesslike” and is a “gamer” and “grinder.”
How do you feel about it, Joe?
I’ll grant Plashcke this much: that’s a no-nonsense postgame assessment. Gotta like that.
Athletics 7, Red Sox 0: The A’s hit three home runs off David Price — Khris Davis, Ramon Larueano and Chad Pinder did that damage — and Matt Chapman added one off of Heath Hembree to smash the Sox and drop them to 1-4 with six games to go on their season-opening 11-game road trip. A’s starter Aaron Brooks had no such issues, tossing six shutout innings while four relievers finished it off. Davis has five homers in seven games played.