NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge followed his record-setting 2022 by homering on his first swing as Yankees captain, starting New York to a 5-0 opening day win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.
Gerrit Cole (1-0) struck out 11 in six scoreless innings, a Yankees record for an opener. Judge also had an RBI single and Gleyber Torres added a two-run homer.
Logan Webb (0-1) struck out 12, the most for the Giants in an opener.
On the first day of the pitch clock, there was just one violation, on J.D. Davis at the plate in the ninth inning. The game was played in a brisk 2 hours, 33 minutes before a sellout crowd of 46,172 on a sunny, 39-degree afternoon.
Judge hit 62 home runs last year to break the American League record of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961.
ORIOLES 10, RED SOX 9
BOSTON (AP) — Adley Rutschman became the first catcher in major league history with five hits on opening day, and Baltimore survived a wild ninth inning to beat Boston.
Rutschman homered in his first at-bat and finished 5-for-5 with a career-best four RBIs and a walk on a chilly day at Fenway Park. Ramon Urias hit a two-run homer for Baltimore, which finished with 15 hits, nine walks and five stolen bases.
Kyle Gibson (1-0) allowed four runs and six hits over five-plus innings.
Leading off the eighth, Boston’s Rafael Devers became the first player in major league history to be called out on a pitch clock violation. Orioles reliever Bryan Baker still allowed three runs in the eighth and closer Félix Bautista gave up two more — one unearned — in the ninth before he struck out Adam Duvall to earn the save.
Corey Kluber (0-1) struggled in his Fenway debut, surrendering five runs on six hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings.
BLUE JAYS 10, CARDINALS 9
ST. LOUIS (AP) — George Springer had five hits and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in three runs as Toronto won its fourth straight opener despite the Cardinals’ Tyler O’Neill tying a major league record by homering on opening day for the fourth straight season.
Making his Cardinals debut, catcher Willson Contreras left after the eighth inning because of an injured knee sustained when he was hit by a 102.7 mph Jordan Hicks pitch.
Springer combined with Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman to become the first pair of players with five hits each on opening day since at least 1901.
Bo Bichette had four hits and Matt Chapman three for the Blue Jays, who outhit the Cardinals 19-15 and set a team record for hits in an opener.
Toronto overcame a 9-8 deficit in the ninth against Ryan Helsley (0-1). Springer tied the score with an RBI single and Guerrero followed with a sacrifice fly.
Yimi García (1-0) won and Jordan Romano struck out two in a perfect ninth for the save.
CUBS 4, BREWERS 0
CHICAGO (AP) — Dansby Swanson had three hits in his Chicago debut and Marcus Stroman worked six scoreless innings, breezing past baseball’s first pitch-clock violation.
Swanson’s first hit with his new team was an RBI single that sparked a four-run third. He tacked on two more singles and played his usual solid defense at shortstop.
Swanson signed a $177 million, seven-year contract with Chicago in free agency, leaving the Atlanta Braves after seven seasons.
Stroman (1-0) struck out eight and walked three. Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes (0-1) gave up four runs on four hits and three walks in five innings.
RANGERS 11, PHILLIES 7
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Robbie Grossman and Brad Miller homered in a big comeback after Jacob deGrom struggled in his debut, and Texas beat Philadelphia.
Grossman hit a three-run homer that tied the game at 5-5 in the middle of a nine-run outburst in the fourth inning. An inning later, Miller became the first Rangers player in 11 years to homer in consecutive season openers. His two-run shot made it 11-6.
While deGrom struck out seven without a walk, the two-time National League Cy Young Award winner allowed five runs on six extra-base hits in his 3 2/3 innings.
The Phillies’ Aaron Nola also allowed five runs in 3 2/3 innings. Cole Ragans (1-0) faced three batters, allowing a walk and an RBI single, but got the win. Gregory Soto (0-1) took the loss.
METS 5, MARLINS 3
MIAMI (AP) — Brandon Nimmo broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run double, sending Max Scherzer and New York past Miami.
Scherzer (1-0) coughed up a three-run lead but threw six solid innings in a matchup with NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara. New York improved to 41-21 on opening day — the best record in baseball.
Garrett Cooper tied it 3-all in the sixth with a two-run homer off Scherzer. Marlins newcomer Luis Arraez hit an RBI double.
Nimmo had three RBIs from the leadoff spot after re-signing with the Mets in the offseason for $162 million over eight years. His double off reliever Tanner Scott (0-1) put the Mets ahead 5-3 in the seventh, propelling them to their 41st win in the past 53 openers.
David Robertson, filling in for injured closer Edwin Díaz, got three outs for the save.
WHITE SOX 3, ASTROS 2
HOUSTON (AP) — Andrew Vaughn’s tiebreaking, two-run double in the ninth inning lifted Chicago over defending World Series champion Houston.
Yasmani Grandal hit a tying homer for the White Sox in the eighth. Ryan Pressly (0-1) walked Tim Anderson in the ninth before Luis Robert Jr. singled.
Pedro Grifol won his managerial debut after spending the last 10 seasons as a coach in the Royals organization. It snapped a streak of 10 straight wins for the Astros in openers.
White Sox ace Dylan Cease allowed two hits with 10 strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings in his first opening-day start. Kendall Graveman (1-0) worked a scoreless eighth.
Reynaldo Lopez gave up a solo homer to Yordan Alvarez in the ninth but finished for the save.
BRAVES 7, NATIONALS 2
WASHINGTON (AP) — Travis d’Arnaud had four hits and Atlanta beat error-prone Washington.
Braves starter Max Fried departed in the fourth inning with left hamstring discomfort. He gave up one run in 3 1/3 innings. Lucas Luetge (1-0), one of five Braves relievers, was credited with the win.
Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams made three errors.
Washington lefty Patrick Corbin (0-1) picked up right where he left off the past two seasons, lasting just one batter into the fourth and departing with a 6.00 ERA after giving up four runs, two earned.
TWINS 2, ROYALS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Pablo Lopez and four Minnesota relievers combined on a two-hitter to beat Kansas City at breezy Kauffman Stadium.
Trevor Larnach and pinch-hitter Donovan Solano each drove in a run. Lopez (1-0) allowed both Royals hits while striking out eight in 5 1/3 innings, outpitching former Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke (0-1).
Jhoan Duran worked the ninth for a save.
RAYS 4, TIGERS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Shane McClanahan pitched six sharp innings, Jose Siri and Wander Franco homered and Tampa Bay opened its silver anniversary season with a win.
Miguel Cabrera, beginning what he has said will be his last season, had a double for Detroit that moved him into a tie with Ichiro Suzuki for 23rd on the all-time hit list with 3,089.
McClanahan (1-0) gave up four hits, struck out six and walked one.
Randy Arozarena and Luke Raley drove in runs charged to Eduardo Rodriguez (0-1).
PIRATES 4, REDS 3
CINCINNATI (AP) — Oneil Cruz homered shortly after a pitch clock violation helped him and later hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning for Pittsburgh.
There were two pitch-clock violations, committed by Reds starter Hunter Greene in the third and Pirates starter Mitch Keller in the fourth. Both at-bats ended with home runs.
Greene committed the Reds’ first clock violation, turning an 0-2 count to 1-2 against Cruz leading off the third. Cruz hit a tying, solo homer on a 3-2 pitch.
Rob Zastryzny (1-0) was the winner and David Bednar got the save. Buck Farmer (0-1) took the loss.
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