MLB roundup: Rookie Pete Alonso hits first home run to rally Mets past Marlins
Rookie slugger Pete Alonso hit his first major league homer, a three-run shot to cap a four-run ninth inning, and New York overcame 16 strikeouts by its hitters to rally past Miami 7-3 on Monday in Miami.
Juan Lagares hit his first homer since Sept. 7, 2017 and sparked the ninth-inning rally when he was hit by a two-strike pitch trying to bunt.
Mets starter Steven Matz allowed three runs, one earned, in 5 1/3 innings. Three relievers blanked Miami over the final 3 2/3 innings, and Jeurys Familia (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth.
The Marlins loaded the bases with none out in the ninth against closer Edwin Diaz, who struck out the next three batters.
Starlin Castro hit a two-run homer for Miami, his first, and added an RBI single.
With the score 3-all, Mets pinch hitter Dominic Smith singled to start the ninth. Drew Steckenrider (0-1) then came inside on Lagares as he squared to bunt, hitting him on the right hand. Lagares missed most of last season due to a toe injury.
Yankees 3, Tigers 1: In New York, Domingo German overcame control problems on a chilly night to win for the first time since last June, Gary Sanchez and Brett Gardner homered and banged-up New York beat punchless Detroit.
Aaron Judge made a sprawling, backhand catch on Niko Goodrum’s hard-hit liner after Adam Ottavino walked the first two batters in the eighth inning, a drive that would have tied the score if it had gotten by the right fielder.
New York lost two more regulars to the 10-day injured list before the game after they got hurt a day earlier, outfielder Giancarlo Stanton with a strained left biceps and third baseman Miguel Andujar with a small labrum tear in his right shoulder.
German (1-0) pitched five scoreless innings, striking out seven and walking five. Aroldis Chapman got his first save.
Tyson Ross (0-1) allowed three runs, two earned, in five innings.
Orioles 6, Blue Jays 5: In Toronto, David Hess was pulled after 6 1/3 hitless innings, but Baltimore’s bullpen couldn’t see the bid through in a win over Toronto.
Hess struck out eight and walked one before first-year manager Brandon Hyde pulled him after 82 pitches. Reliever Pedro Araujo walked Justin Smoak, and then allowed a two-run homer to Randal Grichuk for Toronto’s first hit.
Jonathan Villar and Trey Mancini homered for Baltimore, which won its third straight, including the last two of its season-opening series against the New York Yankees. Left-hander Richard Bleier picked up his first save of the season.
It was the second time this season the Blue Jays have been no-hit into the seventh inning. Detroit right-hander Jordan Zimmermann retired 20 Toronto batters on opening day before Teoscar Hernandez singled to end his perfect game.
After a team-record 24 consecutive scoreless innings from the Blue Jays starters to begin the season, things unraveled early for Sean Reid-Foley (0-1). Recalled from Triple-A Buffalo to make his eighth career start, he endured a rough outing, giving up five hits and five runs, three earned, while walking two and striking out three in two innings.
Brewers 4, Reds 3: In Cincinnati, Christian Yelich failed to homer for the first time this season, ending his record-tying streak, but he doubled in the ninth and scored on Ryan Braun’s double as Milwaukee rallied for a victory before the smallest crowd in Great American Ball Park history.
Yelich had homered in each of Milwaukee’s first four games, tying the major league record shared by Willie Mays (1971), Mark McGwire (1998), Nelson Cruz (2011), Chris Davis (2013) and Trevor Story (2016). On Monday, his only hit set up the Brewers’ fourth win in five games.
The NL MVP doubled with two outs in the ninth off Raisel Iglesias (0-1) and came around on Braun’s second double of the game.
Alex Wilson (1-0) allowed one hit over 1 2/3 innings. Josh Hader gave up a double in the ninth before getting his third save in three chances.
Astros 2, Rangers 1: In Arlington, Texas, Brad Peacock allowed two hits while pitching into the seventh inning, Robinson Chirinos looped a go-ahead double in his first game against his former team and Houston beat Texas.
Houston’s George Springer connected for his 25th career leadoff homer against Drew Smyly, who was making his first major league start since the end of the 2016 season.
Peacock (1-0) pitched without a baserunner through six innings, allowing only Ronald Guzman’s first homer leading off the third. Rougned Odor reached on an infield single to start the seventh, but was thrown out trying to steal by Chirinos. Peacock struck out five in 6 2/3 innings.
Roberto Osuna pitching a perfect ninth for his first save. The Astros bounced back after the two-time defending AL West champions lost three of four at Tampa Bay to open the season.
Adrian Sampson (0-1) allowed four hits and a run over the final six innings for the Rangers.
Braves 8, Cubs 0: In Atlanta, Brian McCann made the most of his Atlanta homecoming by hitting a two-run single in a four-run first inning, and the Braves took advantage of six Chicago errors.
After being swept in their first series at Philadelphia, the Braves became the final major league team to win a game. Ender Inciarte and Ronald Acuna Jr. homered off Kyle Hendricks (0-1).
Hendricks gave up seven runs, two earned, on 10 hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander’s 2019 debut came after he agreed to a four-year extension last week that added $55.5 million to his contract through 2023.
Wes Parsons (1-1) threw one perfect inning in relief of Sean Newcomb for his first career win.
Cardinals 6, Pirates 5 (11): In Pittsburgh, Paul DeJong scored on a passed ball in the top of the 11th inning as St. Louis rallied past Pittsburgh to spoil the Pirates’ home opener.
The Cardinals came back twice against Pittsburgh’s erratic bullpen, tying it in the eighth and again in the ninth.
DeJong put St. Louis in front for the first time when he singled off Steven Brault (0-1) with two outs in the 11th, moved to third after a hit by pitch and a walk and then raced home when Nick Kingham’s fastball squirted past Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli.
Jordan Hicks (1-1) worked two scoreless innings. John Gant picked up the save despite issuing a one-out walk to finish a sloppy 4-hour, 53-minute marathon that featured 16 pitchers, 16 walks, four hit batters, three errors and two home plate umpires. Crew chief Jerry Layne left in the seventh after taking a ball off the mask and was replaced by Vic Carapazza.
Indians 5, White Sox 3: In Cleveland, Roberto Perez drew a bases-loaded walk on four pitches from Dylan Covey in the eighth inning as Cleveland rallied for a chilly win in its home opener.
The Indians scored four runs in the eighth after nearly wasting starter Mike Clevinger’s dominant performance. Clevinger allowed one hit in seven innings, striking out 12.
After the dreadful outing by Covey (0-1), Caleb Frare came in and walked pinch-hitter Greg Allen on five pitches to force in another run and give the Indians a 5-3 lead.
Cleveland’s Jon Edwards (2-0) picked up the win despite giving up a two-run homer to White Sox rookie Ryan Cordell in the eighth. Brad Hand worked the ninth for his second save.
Rays 7, Rockies 1: In St. Petersburg, Florida, Brandon Lowe and Kevin Kiermaier homered to back a strong performance by Tampa Bay’s bullpen.
Employing the opener strategy for the first time this season, the Rays won for the fourth straight time since a season-opening loss to Houston – matching the best five-game start in franchise history.
Opener Ryne Stanek got it started before a crowd of 10,860, with Ryan Yarbrough (1-0) following and allowing one run and three hits over 4 2/3 innings. Relievers Wilmer Font, Jalen Beeks, Jose Alvarado and Diego Castillo finished up.
Lowe hit a two-run homer in the fourth and Kiermaier added a three-run shot in the sixth to inflict most of the damage against Colorado starter Chad Bettis (0-1), who allowed six runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Diamondbacks 10, Padres 3: In San Diego, Merrill Kelly won his big league debut at age 30 by throwing six strong innings and benefiting from an offensive outburst started by Adam Jones’ leadoff homer to lead Arizona over San Diego Padres.
Padres rookie shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first big league homer, a two-run shot in the sixth that landed at the base of the Western Metal Supply Co. building in left field.
Kelly (1-0), who grew up in Arizona, joined the Diamondbacks on a two-year contract in December after spending four seasons with the SK Wyverns in Korea. That followed five seasons in the Tampa Bay organization. He became the first player with no big league experience to play in Korea and return directly to the majors.
Kelly held San Diego to three runs and five hits while striking out three and walking two.
Giants 4, Dodgers 2: In Los Angeles, Brandon Belt hit a go-ahead, two-run double off Scott Alexander in the seventh inning, and San Francisco rallied to beat Los Angeles.
Belt homered on the first pitch from struggling reliever Joe Kelly leading off the sixth that left the Giants trailing 2-1.
Pinch-hitter Yangervis Solarte reached on an infield single to third leading off the seventh. Two outs later, Solarte scored on Pablo Sandoval’s single that took one bounce off the mound and sailed into center field. Fans lustily booed Kelly (0-1).
Steven Duggar followed with a double to center, and boos again rang in Kelly’s ears as he walked to the dugout after being removed.
Athletics 7, Red Sox 0: In Oakland, California, Khris Davis hit his fifth home run over Oakland’s first seven games, Ramon Laureano connected and also saved a run with a perfect throw home from center field, and Oakland scored its first five runs via homer to beat struggling Boston.
Davis led the majors with 48 homers last season, and he went deep again leading off the second against David Price (0-1), who then struck out three straight before giving up Laureano’s leadoff drive the next inning.
Chad Pinder added a two-run homer in the sixth for the A’s to back Aaron Brooks (1-0). The right-hander tossed six scoreless innings with six strikeouts and a walk to continue a stretch of stellar outings by A’s starters. They have given up just one run over 30 innings the past five games since the team returned from an 0-2 trip to Tokyo, all allowing three hits or fewer. There has been a pair of shutouts, too.
Mariners 6, Angels 3: In Seattle, Felix Hernandez allowed one earned run and pitched into the sixth inning for his first victory since last June, and Seattle beat Los Angeles.
Demoted to the No. 5 spot in Seattle’s rotation after a career-worst season in 2018, Hernandez overcame shoddy defense to give the Mariners the kind of start they need from the nearly 33-year-old former ace.
With the King’s Court fan section at his back, Hernandez (1-0) allowed seven hits and overcame four errors by his defense. He struck out four and didn’t issue a walk in earning his first victory since June 30, 2018. Hernandez went his final 11 starts of last season without a win. He was charged with two unearned runs.
Seattle’s bullpen was also solid, throwing 3 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing only two baserunners – including an intentional walk to Mike Trout. Roenis Elias pitched the ninth for his first save.
Jay Bruce homered for the third straight game, hitting a two-run shot in the seventh inning. Seattle has 16 home runs and has scored at least five runs in all seven games.