PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jesús Luzardo followed up his sensational Phillies’ debut with two-hit ball and eight strikeouts over seven shutout innings in Philadelphia’s 3-2 victory over Los Angeles on Friday night that ended the Dodgers’ undefeated start.
The World Series champion Dodgers won their first eight games and were just two wins shy of matching the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955 for the best start in franchise history.
Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer in the ninth with no outs against Phillies reliever Jordan Romano to make it 3-2. Romano escaped on a strike-him-out-throw-him out double play to end the game.
Luzardo struck out 11 batters against the Washington Nationals in his first regular-season appearance in 9 1/2 months. Luzardo was sidelined last season with a back injury. The Miami Marlins traded the left-hander in the offseason to the NL East champion Phillies for a pair of prospects.
With the Phillies up 1-0 in the seventh, Luzardo (2-0) ran into his only jam of the game when he had two runners on base with two outs. Luzardo, who had his fastball humming in the high 90s, got Kiké Hernández to strike out swinging on a slider to that had another sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park roaring in celebration.
Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-1) struck out five and allowed one unearned run in six innings. The unearned run came on his own error. Yamamoto threw the ball into foul territory trying to pick off Trea Tuner attempting to steal third in the first inning. The All-Star shortstop hustled home for a 1-0 lead.
GUARDIANS 8, ANGELS 6
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — José Ramírez hit three homers for the second time in his career, Brayan Rocchio drove in three runs and Cleveland snapped a three-game skid with a victory over Los Angeles.
Ramírez wrecked the Angels’ home opener with his 26th multi-homer game, tying the Cleveland franchise record held by Albert Belle and Jim Thome.
The veteran slugger hit a solo homer in the first inning, a two-run blast in the fifth and another solo shot in the ninth to match his only other three-homer game on June 8, 2023.
Mike Trout homered in his first at-bat at Angel Stadium in nearly a full year, but the Halos began their 60th season in the stadium with their fourth consecutive home opener defeat.
Logan O’Hoppe homered off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase after an 11-pitch at-bat in the ninth, and Jo Adell drove in his third run before Travis d’Arnaud grounded out to end it.
Los Angeles lost three players to injury. Luis Rengifo and Ryan Zeferjahn departed with hamstring problems before Yoán Moncada left with thumb irritation.
TIGERS 7, WHITE SOX 4
DETROIT (AP) — Kerry Carpenter hit a pair of solo home runs and Detroit beat Chicago for its 14th win in its last 17 home openers.
Carpenter’s third career multihomer game backed Jack Flaherty (1-0), who allowed one run and three hits while striking out seven over 5 2/3 innings in his first Comerica Park start since July 16. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 30, then returned to the Tigers as a free agent for a $35 million, two-year contract.
Riley Greene had three hits, including a solo homer. Greene’s sixth-inning homer had an exit velocity of 114.3 mph, the second hardest-hit ball of his big league career.
Zach McKinstry, Trey Sweeney, Spencer Torkelson and Dillon Dingler also drove in runs before a crowd of 44,735.
CUBS 3, PADRES 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Shota Imanaga pitched one-run ball into the eighth inning in Chicago’s home opener at Wrigley Field, and the Cubs handed San Diego its first loss.
Imanaga (2-0) allowed four hits in 7 1/3 innings in his second straight win. Picking up right where he left off in his impressive rookie season, the Japanese left-hander has permitted two runs and seven hits in 18 1/3 innings over his first three starts this year.
Ian Happ had two hits and scored two runs as Chicago improved to 6-2 since it dropped its first two games in Tokyo against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
San Diego had opened the season with seven consecutive victories for the best start in franchise history.
Martín Maldonado homered for the Padres in the third, tying it at 1. But the Cubs scored two runs in the fifth after Randy Vásquez (0-1) retired the first two batters.
RED SOX 13, CARDINALS 9
BOSTON (AP) — Rafael Devers reached base four times in his return to Boston after a season-opening slump and Alex Bregman had two hits in his first home game at Fenway Park to help the Red Sox beat St. Louis.
Boston began its 125th home opener by scoring five runs in the first inning, including back-to-back homers by Trevor Story and Wilyer Abreu. The Cardinals cut it to 6-5 in the fifth, but the Red Sox pulled away again, with Devers’ RBI single capping a three-run seventh that made it 11-6.
Walker Buehler (1-1) allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings to help Boston earn its third straight victory.
Brendan Donovan, Alec Burleson and Iván Herrera had three hits apiece for the Cardinals, who have lost three of their last four. Erick Fedde (1-1) lasted three innings, allowing six runs on five hits and four walks while striking out one.
St. Louis scored three in the ninth on three hits and two errors before Aroldis Chapman came in with two on and one out. He walked the bases full before inducing a double play from Iván Herrera to earn his second save.
METS 5, BLUE JAYS 0
NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit an early two-run homer, Juan Soto added an RBI double in his home debut at Citi Field and New York beat Toronto.
Tylor Megill (2-0) pitched two-hit ball over 5 1/3 innings and New York’s bullpen, off to a terrific start, took it from there as the Mets ended Toronto’s four-game winning streak.
Soto and Brandon Nimmo each had an RBI double off rookie left-handed reliever Mason Fluharty in a three-run sixth. Starling Marte provided a sacrifice fly, and before a sellout crowd of 43,945 the Mets improved to 42-22 in home openers.
ATHLETICS 6, ROCKIES 3, 11 INNINGS
DENVER (AP) — Jacob Wilson hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the 11th inning for his third RBI, and the Athletics beat Colorado in a snowy home opener at Coors Field.
Flurries fell throughout the game and the temperature at first pitch was 37 degrees, tying for the second-coldest home opener in Rockies history.
After getting swept by the Chicago Cubs in the first three games at their temporary home in West Sacramento, California, the A’s improved to 3-2 on the road and stopped a four-game losing streak overall.
Colorado went 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners. The Rockies have scored a major league-low 14 runs through seven games.
Noah Murdock (1-0), who debuted last weekend, pitched two hitless innings with three strikeouts and two walks for his first major league win, and Mason Miller earned his second save of the season. Angel Chivilli (0-1) was the loser.
YANKEES 9, PIRATES 4
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Judge marked his 1,000th game by hitting his sixth homer of the season and New York beat Pittsburgh in the Pirates’ home opener.
Judge’s shot to the seats in right-center in the seventh off Tim Mayza — who surrendered Judge’s 61st home run during Judge’s record-breaking 2022 season — boosted his career total to 321, the most by a player through his first 1,000 games. Those 321 homers also matched the number hit by Babe Ruth during his first 1,000 games with the Yankees.
Coming off his second AL MVP award, Judge has 17 RBIs in seven games.
Oswaldo Cabrera went 3 for 4 with four RBIs for New York. Anthony Volpe added three hits as the Yankees gave Max Fried (1-0) more than enough run support for the left-hander to collect his first Yankees win in pinstripes. Fried allowed one run and six hits with a walk and six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.
Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller (1-1) didn’t make it out of the fourth inning on his 29th birthday. Six days removed from relatively smooth sailing against Miami, Keller didn’t fare so well against the torpedo-bat-wielding Yankees.
GIANTS 10, MARINERS 9, 11 INNINGS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Willy Adames hit a winning two-run single with two outs in the 11th inning, sending San Francisco over Seattle in its home opener to extend its winning streak to five.
Luke Raley had given Seattle a 9-8 lead when he scored on Spencer Bivens’ wild pitch with two outs in the top half. Miles Mastrobuoni hit a one-out single against Bivens (1-1) that moved Raley to third after he began as the runner on second base.
Adames, playing his first home game after joining the Giants with a $182 million, seven-year contract, hit a slider to the opposite field in right off Carlos Vargas (0-1). Luis Matos scored the tying run and as Victor Robles bobbled the ball slightly, Tyler Fitzgerald — who had walked and stole second — ran through third baseman Matt Williams’ stop sign and slid to slap a hand across the plate.
Julio Rodríguez homered in the first inning off Justin Verlander, who retired just seven batters in his home debut after the 42-year-old signed a $15 million, one-year contract in January to pitch a 20th major league season.
Seattle went ahead 8-6 in the sixth when Fitzgerald misplayed Cal Raleigh’s grounder to second Matt Chapman omered in the bottom half to get the Giants within 8-7 after his RBI single in the first delighted the sellout crowd of 40,865.
Patrick Bailey’s groundout in the sixth tied it at 8. LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a pair of doubles, a triple and drove in two runs.
BRAVES 10, MARLINS 0
ATLANTA (AP) — Spencer Schwellenbach carried a perfect game into the fifth inning, Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson hit back-to-back homers and Atlanta beat Miami for its long-awaited first win.
Ozuna drove in three runs with three hits. Olson drove in three runs with two hits.
The Braves won their home opener to end a seven-game winless drought, their worst start since losing their first nine in 2016.
Atlanta became the last team in the majors to win its first game. No team has made the playoffs following an 0-7 start.
Schwellenbach (1-0) retired Miami’s first 14 batters before Liam Hicks hit a bloop single to left field with two outs in the fifth. The right-hander allowed only two hits with no walks and 10 strikeouts in eight innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 6, NATIONALS 4
WASHINGTON (AP) — Corbin Carroll homered twice, pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning, and Arizona beat Washington.
Grichuk doubled off the wall in center against Jose Ferrer (0-2) — with Jacob Young nearly making the catch — to score pinch-runner Garrett Hampson and Geraldo Perdomo for a 6-4 lead.
Carroll trimmed Arizona’s deficit to 3-2 on a home run in the third, and his two-run homer in the fifth made it 4-3.
Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt (1-1) went six innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs while striking out four. Justin Martinez worked the ninth for his first save.
The Nationals hit three homers. CJ Abrams had a leadoff homer to tie it at 1-all in the first and Luis García Jr. added a two-run homer later in the inning. Nathaniel Lowe tied the game in the sixth with his third homer of the year.
Washington catcher Keibert Ruiz, who had hit safely in all six games to start the season and in 10 straight since the end of 2024, went 0 for 4.
ROYALS 8, ORIOLES 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino each had three RBIs to help Kansas City beat Baltimore.
The Royals broke it open in eighth inning, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five times.
Garcia ripped a double down the left-field line to score Mark Canha and give Kansas City a 4-2 lead. Kyle Isbel followed with a bunt to first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who underhanded it to the plate, but Garcia beat the throw to make it 5-2.
Pasquantino gave the Royals a six-run lead on a bloop single that cleared the bases.
Kansas City starter Seth Lugo (1-0) went six innings, allowing two runs (one earned).
Dean Kremer (1-1) went 4 1/3 innings in the start for Baltimore, allowing eight hits and three runs (two earned).
BREWERS 3, REDS 2
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brice Turang hit a two-run homer, Tyler Alexander struck out six in 5 2/3 hitless innings for his first victory of the season and Milwaukee beat Cincinnati.
Milwaukee has won four straight following an 0-4 start — the first team to do so since the 2021 Atlanta Braves.
The Reds played without first-year manager Terry Francona and several players who were sent back to the team hotel sick, although most key players were in the lineup. Bench coach Freddie Benavides took over managing duties.
Turang’s second homer of the season came in the fifth inning for a 3-0 lead. It gave him a career-best eight-game hitting streak — and an 11-game stretch dating to last season.
Cincinnati ended a 35-inning scoreless streak when Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to drive in TJ Friedl. Jeimer Candelario followed with an RBI double.
Trevor Megill got Friedl to fly out for his first save.
The Associated Press
