Mookie Betts led off with a club-record home run and Teoscar Hernandez added two home runs of his own as the Los Angeles Dodgers earned a 6-3 victory Friday over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.
Betts not only set the Dodgers’ record for leadoff home runs with 29 — breaking a tie with Davey Lopes — he moved past Ian Kinsler and into sole possession of fifth place on MLB’s all-time list with 49 in 11 seasons. Miguel Rojas added a homer for Los Angeles.
Right-hander Bobby Miller (1-0) had a career-best 11 strikeouts over six innings. He gave up two hits with one walk. Evan Phillips pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his second save.
Nolan Gorman drove in two runs, while left-hander Zack Thompson gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Cardinals, who are 0-2 after going 71-91 last season for their worst record in a 162-game season since 1990.
Freddy Peralta and a trio of relievers combined on a one-hitter and Christian Yelich had three hits, including a solo homer, as Milwaukee beat host New York in the season opener for both teams.
Yelich homered in the fourth inning for the Brewers to tie the game at 1-1. Milwaukee added runs on William Contreras’ tie-breaking sacrifice fly in the fifth and rookie Jackson Chourio RBI fielder’s choice in the seventh. Chourio, who is 20 years and 18 days old, batted leadoff and went 1-for-3 with a single, a walk and a stolen base.
Peralta (1-0) went six innings, giving up only Starling Marte’s line-drive homer in the second inning. He walked one and struck out eight. Jose Quintana (0-1) allowed two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four over 4 2/3 innings.
Braves 9, Phillies 3
Matt Olson had three doubles and three RBIs, Michael Harris II added three hits and an RBI and Atlanta defeated host Philadelphia on Opening Day for both teams.
Orlando Arcia compiled three hits, Ronald Acuna Jr. added two hits and an RBI and Adam Duvall produced a two-run, pinch-hit double. Braves starter Spencer Strider allowed three hits and two runs with eight strikeouts and two walks in five innings. Pierce Johnson (1-0) earned the win in relief.
Brandon Marsh hit a two-run home run and Alec Bohm had two hits for the Phillies. Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler tossed six scoreless innings and gave up five hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Jose Alvarado (0-1) allowed five runs on three hits and two walks in just two-thirds of an inning.
Mariners 1, Red Sox 0
George Kirby allowed just two hits over 6 2/3 scoreless innings and J.P. Crawford homered as Seattle edged visiting Boston.
Kirby (1-0), a right-hander, walked two and struck out eight. Reliever Andres Munoz got the final four outs for his first save, striking out the side in the ninth. Crawford went deep off Red Sox starter Pivetta (0-1) with one out in the bottom of the sixth, hitting a cut fastball on an 0-1 count just inside the right-field foul pole.
It was the third and final hit Pivetta allowed in his six innings, following a two-out single by Ty France in the second and a leadoff single by Julio Rodriguez in the fourth. Pivetta didn’t walk a batter and struck out 10.
Guardians 6, Athletics 4
Andres Gimenez had three hits and scored two runs for visiting Cleveland in a win against Oakland in the second game of their four-game series.
Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer, Steven Kwan had two hits and two runs scored and Josh Naylor had two hits and a run for the Guardians, who won the season opener 8-0 on Thursday. Cleveland starter Logan Allen (1-0) allowed three runs and six hits in five-plus innings.
J.D. Davis homered twice and Shea Langeliers and Nick Allen had two hits each for the A’s. Oakland starter Ross Stripling (0-1) allowed five runs (four earned) and seven hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked two.
Rays 8, Blue Jays 2
Brandon Lowe socked his fourth career grand slam and Tampa Bay won for the first time in 2024, routing Toronto in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Lowe, who went 2-for-5, belted the blast in the third inning. The Rays’ Yandy Diaz was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs, and Aaron Civale (1-0) allowed a run and four hits in six innings.
George Springer hit a solo homer for the second straight night and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. singled twice and walked for the Blue Jays. Chris Bassitt (0-1) yielded five runs (four earned) on six hits in five innings.
Giants 8, Padres 3
Matt Chapman homered twice and knocked in five runs while Kyle Harrison pitched six effective innings as San Francisco stopped host San Diego.
Harrison (1-0) allowed six hits and two runs, walking none and fanning five as he handed Bob Melvin his first win as San Francisco manager. Chapman belted a two-run shot off Joe Musgrove (0-1) to center field in the first, then capped the scoring in the ninth by blasting another two-run homer off Pedro Avila.
Fernando Tatis Jr. cracked two solo homers and Manny Machado also clubbed a solo shot for San Diego, which was coming off a 6-4 win in its home opener on Thursday.
Diamondbacks 7, Rockies 3
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Christian Walker smacked back-to-back homers and Alek Thomas added a three-run blast to help Arizona top Colorado in Phoenix.
Joc Pederson went 4-for-4 with an RBI in his Arizona debut. Merrill Kelly (1-0) pitched 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball as the Diamondbacks defeated the Rockies for the second straight night and picked up their 2,000th win as a franchise.
Elias Diaz homered for the Rockies, and Charlie Blackmon delivered an RBI triple. Cal Quantrill (0-1) gave up five runs and nine hits in five innings in his Colorado debut. He
Pirates 7, Marlins 2
Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits, scored twice and drove in two runs as visiting Pittsburgh capitalized on A.J. Puk’s control problems in a win over Miami.
Oneil Cruz and Connor Joe each had two hits and drove in a run for Pittsburgh, which drew seven walks and improved to 2-0. Ryder Ryan (1-0) threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Josh Fleming gave up one run over three innings for the save.
Puk (0-1) issued a career-high six walks and gave up four runs on three hits with one strikeout over two-plus innings in his first career start. Jake Burger, Tim Anderson and Bryan De La Cruz each had two hits for Miami.
Yankees 7, Astros 1
Oswaldo Cabrera went 4-for-5 with three RBIs as New York followed a two-run seventh inning with a four-run eighth to top host Houston.
New York’s Juan Soto went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Giancarlo Stanton hit a 419-foot homer to left-center in the ninth. The win went to Luke Weaver (1-0), the third of six New York pitchers. He retired all four batters he faced in 1 1/3 innings.
Cabrera delivered an RBI single off Astros reliever Tayler Scott (0-1) with one out in the seventh that knotted the score at 1-1, two batters before Soto greeted Houston right-hander Rafael Montero with a bases-loaded walk that forced home Austin Wells.
