Edwin Rios slugged a two-run homer leading off the top of the 13th inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers outlasted the host Houston Astros 4-2 Wednesday night to sweep a two-game interleague series.
Rios, who struck out as a pinch hitter leading off the 11th, drilled a 2-2 cutter from Astros reliever Cy Sneed (0-1) 368 feet into the seats in right field. Enrique Hernandez, who opened the frame on second base per rules enacted for the 2020 season, scored on the Rios blast — the first two-run home run to lead off an inning in MLB history, per MLB.com.
Dennis Santana (1-0), the ninth pitcher of the game for the Dodgers, earned the win after starting the game by striking out George Springer with the potential winning run on third in the 11th.
Astros rookie right-hander Cristian Javier dazzled in his first career start, limiting the Dodgers to one run on two hits and one walk with eight strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
Yankees 9, Orioles 3
DJ LeMahieu led off the game with a home run, and Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks also blasted long balls as visiting New York defeated Baltimore. The game was Baltimore’s home opener, and the visitor was supposed to be Miami, but the Marlins had a COVID-19 outbreak this week, prompting a schedule change.
Yankees starter Gerrit Cole improved to 2-0 through two starts for his new team, going 6 2/3 innings and giving up three runs on four hits. He fanned seven while walking two. Cole has won 18 decisions in a row dating back to last season.
Home runs and victories were prevalent for New York against Baltimore last year. The Yankees won 17 of 19 and crushed 61 homers. They added three homers in the first 2020 meeting between the teams and now have beaten the Orioles 17 consecutive times.
Giants 7, Padres 6
Mike Yastrzemski led off the bottom of the ninth inning with his second home run of the game, giving host San Francisco a come-from-behind, walk-off victory over San Diego.
One inning after Donovan Solano’s three-run homer had completed a Giants comeback from a 6-2 deficit, Yastrzemski bombed a Matt Strahm pitch just inside the right field foul pole and into the San Francisco Bay — known as a “Splash Hit” at Oracle Park.
Tyler Rogers (1-1) was credited with the win after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth. Strahm (0-1), who had entered the game to get the final out of the Giants’ three-run eighth, took the loss.
Twins 3, Cardinals 0
Rich Hill pitched five shutout innings in his Minnesota debut, and Eddie Rosario homered as the Twins completed a two-game sweep of St. Louis in Minneapolis.
Hill (1-0), pitching for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery in October, allowed just two singles and a walk while striking out two. He didn’t permit a runner to reach second base before turning the game over to the bullpen.
St. Louis’ Daniel Ponce de Leon (0-1) gave up three runs on two hits and three walks over 3 2/3 innings. Ponce de Leon, a substitute starter for Miles Mikolas, who was scratched Tuesday with a season-ending flexor tendon injury in his right arm that will require surgery, struck out eight and also hit a batter.
Braves 7, Rays 4
Freddie Freeman emerged from his slow start to go 4-for-5 with a home run, helping Atlanta end Tampa Bay’s four-game winning streak in the Braves’ home opener.
Freeman entered the game hitting only .143 with one RBI, and he was coming off a four-strikeout outing. He responded with the 14th four-hit game of his career and first since March 30, 2019, at Philadelphia. Freeman added three RBIs.
Darren O’Day (1-0) was credited with the win despite being charged with a blown save after giving up a run on two hits in two-thirds of an inning. Mark Melancon worked a perfect ninth to pick up a save in his season debut. The losing pitcher was Oliver Drake (0-1), who allowed one run on two hits and one walk with one strikeout in two-thirds of an inning.
Mariners 10, Angels 7
Dylan Moore hit a three-run home run and Kyle Seager drove in the eventual game-winning run with a sacrifice fly as Seattle rallied twice to defeat Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Moore’s home run capped a five-run sixth inning that gave the Mariners a 6-4 lead. Seager broke a 7-7 tie in the seventh inning with his third RBI of the night.
Mariners reliever Bryan Shaw (1-0) got the victory despite giving up three runs in one inning, and fellow right-hander Dan Altavilla earned the save. Shohei Ohtani, Brian Goodwin and Justin Upton homered for the Angels. Upton’s homer was the 300th of his major league career.
Nationals 4, Blue Jays 0 (10 innings)
Adam Eaton hit an infield single to score the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning, and Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a three-run triple as Washington, playing as the visitor at its home field, topped Toronto.
The game was played at Nationals Park but with Toronto designated as the home team as the Blue Jays await their temporary home field in Buffalo to be upgraded and be game-ready.
With pinch runner Emilio Bonifacio placed at second to open the 10th, right-hander Shun Yamaguchi (0-2) walked Carter Kieboom and Andrew Stevenson to load the bases before Victor Robles and Trea Turner struck out. Stevenson then beat a diving Cavan Biggio on a close play at second when Eaton’s grounder was deflected by Yamaguchi to the second baseman. Cabrera followed with a triple.
Rockies 5, Athletics 1
German Marquez struck out eight in six solid innings, Charlie Blackmon and Ryan McMahon had two hits each, and Colorado swept a two-game series at Oakland.
Trevor Story had a hit and a walk, scored two runs and stole a base for Colorado, which has won four straight. Matt Chapman homered and Robbie Grossman had two hits for the A’s, who had won three of four in their opening series against the Los Angeles Angels before the Rockies came to town.
After giving up Chapman’s first-inning homer, Marquez (1-1) settled down, finishing with just four hits and one walk allowed. A’s starter Frankie Montas (0-1) gave up two runs on five hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out three.
Brewers 3, Pirates 0
Brandon Woodruff pitched 6 1/3 nearly perfect innings as Milwaukee one-hit host Pittsburgh to take two of three in the series.
Woodruff (1-1) allowed one hit — a bunt single in the first — and one walk while striking out 10. David Phelps recorded two outs, Devin Williams pitched one inning, and Josh Hader handled the ninth to preserve the shutout, with Hader picking up his first save.
The Brewers got a two-run homer from Ben Gamel and a solo shot from Keston Hiura, which proved to be enough against Pirates starter Joe Musgrove (0-2). The right-hander gave up three runs on the homers among four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked three, and his eight strikeouts were one shy of his career high.
Rangers 7, Diamondbacks 4
Elvis Andrus ripped a two-run single to highlight a five-run eighth inning and propel Texas past Arizona at Arlington, Texas.
After the Diamondbacks scored two in the top of the eighth, the Rangers tied it in the bottom half of the inning on Joey Gallo’s two-run home run to left-center field off Arizona reliever Andrew Chafin (0-1). Texas then loaded the bases with two outs before Andrus’ game-winning hit off Hector Rondon and eventually sent 11 batters to the plate after Nick Solak added an RBI single.
Jonathan Hernandez (1-0), the third of four Texas pitchers, earned the win despite giving up two runs in his only inning. Nick Goody hurled a perfect ninth inning for the first save of his career.
Reds 12, Cubs 7
Sonny Gray struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, and Nick Castellanos’ grand slam highlighted a seven-run barrage in the fifth as Cincinnati snapped a four-game slide with a rout of visiting Chicago.
Mike Moustakas clubbed a deep, two-run homer to right field in the fourth, and Nick Senzel added a solo shot in the breakout fifth inning for the Reds, who had struggled since a 7-1 season-opening win over Detroit. Gray (2-0) yielded just one hit before being lifted after 92 pitches with two outs in seventh. He was charged with two unearned runs.
The Cubs turned a triple play with the bases loaded to end Cincinnati’s three-run seventh. Kris Bryant stabbed a Shogo Akiyama liner at third base, though replays showed the ball actually bounced, then stepped on third to double off the runner and threw to first for the final out.
White Sox 4, Indians 0
Luis Robert’s two-run single capped a four-run uprising in the ninth inning as visiting Chicago averted a three-game sweep with a shutout victory over Cleveland.
Yasmani Grandal and Eloy Jimenez each added a sacrifice fly in the inning to help the White Sox halt their three-game skid and end the Indians’ three-game win streak.
Cleveland’s Zach Plesac was saddled with a hard-luck no-decision in his season debut despite recording a career-high 11 strikeouts while scattering three hits over eight scoreless innings. Aaron Bummer (1-0) got the victory while Brad Hand (0-1) started the ninth inning for Cleveland and was handed the loss.
Red Sox 6, Mets 5
Mitch Moreland’s eighth-inning infield RBI single snapped a tie and jump-started a three-run outburst for Boston, which hung on to win at New York.
The result snapped a four-game losing streak for the Red Sox, who dropped both games of a two-game set against the Mets in Boston on Monday and Tuesday.
Heath Hembree (1-0) earned the win. Mets starter Jacob deGrom, the reigning two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, had his scoreless innings streak halted at 31 innings, 1 2/3 innings shy of the team record held by R.A. Dickey.
Tigers 5, Royals 4
JaCoby Jones ripped three-extra base hits, including a go-ahead homer, and Detroit rallied from a four-run deficit to top visiting Kansas City.
One night after getting hit in the head by a pitch, Jones supplied two doubles and his third homer of the season. Jonathan Schoop also homered and drove in three runs for Detroit, which has won two of three in a four-game series that wraps up on Thursday.
Maikel Franco had three hits and drove in two runs for Kansas City while Whit Merrifield added two hits and scored twice. Merrifield has at least one hit against the Tigers in 16 consecutive games.
–Field Level Media
