PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ozzie Albies, Matt Olson, Marcell Ozuna and Michael Harris II all homered and an expected battle of aces fizzled early in the Atlanta Braves’ 12-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
A 14-game winner in 2021 and 2022, Atlanta’s Max Fried lasted only seven batters, walked three and got just two outs before he was chased in the first inning trailing 3-2.
No worries for the Braves.
Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola was even worse.
In the right-hander’s first regular-season start since he signed a seven-year, $172 million deal to stay with the Phillies, Nola (0-1) had one of the worst outings of his career. He surrendered homers to Albies and Olson as part of the 12 hits he gave up in just 4 1/3 innings. Nola allowed seven runs on another blustery day in front of 44,068 fans expecting a pitchers’ duel.
The Braves battered Nola — who had made six straight opening-day starts — and five more Phillies pitchers for 19 hits a day after the NL East champs scored seven runs in the eighth inning of a 9-3 win in the season opener.
Nola held his glove in hand, his head down, as he sauntered off the mound in the fifth.
It’s only two games, but in Philly there’s already boos at the ballpark, social media malaise and concern over the state of the pitching staff.
YANKEES 5, ASTROS 3
HOUSTON (AP) — Oswaldo Cabrera hit a tying two-run homer in the seventh, Juan Soto had a go-ahead drive for his first Yankees homer and New York rallied for the third straight game in a win over Houston.
Anthony Volpe gave the Yankees some insurance with a home run with two outs in the eighth as they improved to 3-0 for the first time since opening the 2003 season with four wins.
Houston, which reached its seventh straight AL Championship Series last season, dropped to 0-3 for the first time since losing five straight to start the 2011 season.
Marcus Stroman (1-0) allowed four hits and three unearned runs in six innings to get the win in his Yankees’ debut. Stroman, who was born and raised on Long Island, signed a $37 million, two-year contract to join the Yankees this offseason after spending the previous two seasons with the Cubs.
Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save. New York’s bullpen has allowed no runs while Houston’s has given up 13.
RANGERS 11, CUBS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jared Walsh homered in his first at-bat for Texas after watching his new teammates get their World Series rings, and the Rangers beat the Chicago Cubs.
Adolis García matched Walsh’s two-run homer in the second inning with a go-ahead shot in the third, and Corey Seager had four singles and two RBIs to help the defending champs to a 2-0 start.
All three of Chicago’s hits off left-hander Cody Bradford came in the second, including Dansby Swanson’s two-run homer.
Bradford (1-0) finished the second with two of his six strikeouts over five innings and faced the minimum over his final three frames.
Four Texas relievers pitched a scoreless inning apiece in a five-hitter, capped by Brock Burke after the Rangers blew open the game with a six-run eighth.
Seager, last year’s World Series MVP, finished his 12th four-hit game as one of five consecutive batters to drive in a run in the eighth against right-hander Ben Brown, who made his major league debut.
GIANTS 9, PADRES 6
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Michael Conforto hit a grand slam, rookie Jung Hoo Lee hit his first big league home run and Jordan Hicks won his San Francisco debut as they beat Dylan Cease and San Diego.
The Giants led 3-1 on just two hits going into the eighth before taking a 9-1 lead. Lee, who signed with the Giants after playing seven seasons in South Korea, homered to right-center with one out. The next six Giants batters reached base, with Wilmer Flores hitting an RBI single before Conforto sent his second career grand slam sailing over right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr.’s head and into the seats. All the damage was off lefty Tom Cosgrove. The Giants finished with nine hits.
San Diego closed the gap in the ninth on a two-run homer by Eguy Rosario and a three-run shot by rookie Graham Pauley for his first big league hit.
Hicks (1-0), who signed as a free agent on Jan. 18, was so effective that Cease (0-1) received no run support in going 4 2/3 innings in his Padres debut. He was acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox on March 13.
The three hits Hicks allowed were all singles to load the bases with one out in the fourth. Hicks then struck out Tyler Wade before rookie Jackson Merrill lined out to shortstop Nick Ahmed to end the threat.
Hicks struck out six and walked one.
RAYS 5, BLUE JAYS 1
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Randy Arozarena homered and drove in two runs, celebrating his solo shot by signing autographs for fans after returning to the dugout, to lead Tampa Bay Rays to a victory over Toronto.
Right-hander Zack Littell (1-0) allowed four singles over six scoreless innings for the Rays, who’ve won two straight after losing by six runs to their AL East rivals on opening day.
Arozarena, a first-time All-Star a year ago, had a RBI single off Yusei Kikuchi (0-1) in the third inning, then went deep against the Toronto starter in the fifth.
Littell walked two and struck out six while only allowing just one runner past second base in a 90-pitch outing.
The game was delayed briefly when benches cleared at the end of the seventh inning, after Blue Jays reliever Génesis Cabrera exchanged words with Tampa Bay’s José Caballero and shoved the shortstop, who had been tagged out at third base to end the inning.
ORIOLES 13, ANGELS 4
BALTIMORE (AP) — Gunnar Henderson homered leading off the bottom of the first inning, then added a two-run triple in Baltimore’s nine-run sixth as they pounded the Los Angeles Angels for a second straight game.
After winning 11-3 on opening day, Baltimore jumped ahead quickly in this one when Henderson hit a drive to right-center. The reigning American League Rookie of the Year had three hits and ended up a double shy of the cycle.
Anthony Santander hit a three-run homer in the sixth for the Orioles. The first nine Baltimore batters that inning — an entire trip through the batting order — had come in to score by the time the Angels got an out.
Grayson Rodriguez (1-0) allowed a run and four hits in six innings and struck out nine.
BREWERS 7, METS 6
NEW YORK (AP) — Rhys Hoskins drove in four runs, a day after his hard slide into Jeff McNeil caused dugouts to empty, and Yohan Ramírez was ejected for throwing behind the Milwaukee designated hitter’s back in the Brewers’ victory over the New York Mets.
Hoskins hit a two-run single in a three-run first inning, followed with a two-run homer in the third and singled and scored on a balk in the fifth by Luis Severino (0-1), who gave up a career-high 12 hits in his Mets debut.
Ramírez’s first pitch to Hoskins in the seventh sailed well behind the right-handed hitter, who dropped his bat and glared at Ramírez as the reliever raced to pick up the ball, which caromed off the backstop. Ramírez was ejected by plate umpire Lance Barrett and given a standing ovation by fans. Hoskins walked against Jorge López.
PIRATES 9, MARLINS 3
MIAMI (AP) — Jared Jones struck out 10 over 5 2/3 innings to win his major league debut and lead Pittsburgh over Miami.
A 22-year-old right-hander taken by Pittsburgh with the 44th pick in the 2020 amateur draft, Jones allowed three runs, three hits and two walks. He threw 62 of 89 pitches for strikes, including 22 swings and misses. His fastball topped at 99.9 mph and averaged 97.1 mph.
Jones (1-0) made the opening-day roster after throwing 16 1/3 scoreless innings in six spring training outings. He kept Miami hitless until Jake Burger’s two-out RBI double in the fourth.
Connor Joe doubled twice, singled and drove in two runs for the Pirates, who had 16 hits against starter Ryan Weathers (0-1) and four relievers.
Miami’s Luis Arraez singled in the seventh, ending an 0-for-13 start for the defending NL batting champion.
TWINS 5, ROYALS 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Byron Buxton drove in the tying run in the eighth inning, Christian Vázquez drove in the go-ahead run to start off a four-run ninth, and Minnesota rallied for a victory over Kansas City.
Griffin Jax (1-0), who earned the save on opening day, picked up the win with a scoreless eighth inning for Minnesota. Brock Stewart handled the ninth this time, working around a single by MJ Melendez to put the Twins on the brink of a second straight season-opening sweep of their AL Central rivals.
Will Smith (0-1), whom the Royals signed to a $5 million deal to close out games, had a debut to forget. He hit Ryan Jeffers with one out in the ninth, walked Willi Castro on a full-count pitch, then watched Vázquez drive in the go-ahead run.
Alex Kirilloff added a sacrifice fly and Buxton a two-run double later in the ninth.
TIGERS 7, WHITE SOX 6, 10 INNINGS
CHICAGO (AP) — Carson Kelly hit run-scoring singles in the seventh inning and 10th innings, helping the Detroit Tigers rally for a victory over Luis Robert Jr. and the Chicago White Sox.
Mark Canha and Riley Greene homered for the Tigers, who beat Chicago 1-0 on opening day Thursday. Parker Meadows reached three times from the leadoff spot and robbed Martín Maldonado of a home run with a leaping grab in center.
Canha was the automatic runner on second in the 10th when Kelly hit a grounder back up the middle against Deivi García (0-1), putting Detroit ahead to stay. Kelly also drove in Canha with a two-out single in the seventh, tying it at 6.
Shelby Miller (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win.
Robert hit a pair of two-run homers and Braden Shewmake also connected for Chicago, which managed just three singles in the opener. Michael Soroka pitched five innings of four-run ball in his White Sox debut.
NATIONALS 7, REDS 6
CINCINNATI (AP) — Eddie Rosario capped a three-run ninth inning off All-Star closer Alexis Díaz with a tiebreaking sacrifice fly, and Washington beat Cincinnati.
Pinch-hitter Nick Martini gave the Reds a 6-4 lead with a two-run double in the eighth against Hunter Harvey (1-0).
Díaz, who had 37 saves in 40 chances last year, walked CJ Abrams on four pitches leading off the ninth, gave up a one-out RBI single to Jesse Winker and then allowed Joey Meneses’ single and a walk to Joey Gallo.
Díaz forced in the tying run when he hit Keibert Ruiz with a fastball. Pinch-runner Nasim Nuñez scored standing up on Rosario’s opposite-field fly to left.
Kyle Finnegan pitched around a walk in the bottom half for the save as the Nationals rebounded from an opening 8-2 loss on Thursday.
Nationals third baseman Trey Lipscomb went 1 for 4 in his big league debut.
GUARDIANS 12, ATHLETICS 3
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Bay area native Steven Kwan homered and reached base four times, and Cleveland had 15 hits in a rout of Oakland Athletics before a crowd of just 5,425.
Six Cleveland players stole bases off Kyle McCann, a 26-year-old catcher making his major league debut.
Cleveland’s Stephen Vogt tied Al Lopez in 1951 as the only managers to start their Cleveland careers 3-0. Oakland dropped to 0-3 for the second time in 28 years.
The A’s, who have announced plans to move to Las Vegas for the 2028 season, have drawn 22,784 in their first three home games for an average of 7,595.
Cleveland trailed 3-2 before scoring three runs in the fourth, two each in the fifth and sixth, and then one in the sixth to burst ahead 8-3.
Nick Sandlin (1-0) struck out two in a hitless fifth in relief of Tanner Bibee, who allowed three runs, six hits in four innings. Bibee matched his career high with five walks.
