MIAMI — Oneil Cruz hurried home on Jason Delay’s bunt in the 10th inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates triumphed over the Miami Marlins 9-8 on Sunday to complete a four-game sweep of their season-opening series.
Cruz began the 10th on second base as a substitute runner for Rowdy Tellez. He moved to third when reliever Tanner Scott (0-1) made a mistake on Alika Williams’ sacrifice attempt.
Delay then directed another bunt towards first and Cruz outran first baseman Jake Burger’s throw to the plate. Ke’Bryan Hayes reached on a two-out infield single and Michael A. Taylor gave Pittsburgh a 9-7 advantage with a bases-loaded walk.
Burger hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom half, but Hunter Stratton struck out Bryan De La Cruz and Jazz Chisholm Jr. for his first save.
Miami was behind 7-6 before Nick Gordon connected for a pinch-hit home run against Pirates closer David Bednar (1-0) in the ninth inning.
Tellez hit a three-run home run for the Pirates, who last began the season with a four-game sweep on the road in 1903.
PHILLIES 5, BRAVES 4
ANGELS 4, ORIOLES 1
BALTIMORE — Reid Detmers provided the Angels with much-needed effectiveness on the mound, allowing one run in five innings to help Los Angeles avoid a season-opening sweep with a victory over Baltimore.
The Angels were outscored 24-7 in their first two games against Baltimore, which prompted a team meeting after Saturday’s 13-4 loss. Then Detmers (1-0) took the mound and quieted the Orioles, and Los Angeles scored two runs in each of the first two innings.
Taylor Ward hit a two-run home run to start the scoring, and although Tyler Wells (0-1) made it through six innings — and did not allow a baserunner after the second — the damage was done.
BLUE JAYS 9, RAYS 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Justin Turner hit a home run and drove in four runs as Toronto split a four-game series by defeating Tampa Bay.
After winning the opener 8-1 on Thursday, the Blue Jays were outscored 13-3 in losing the next two games. Toronto is 20-35 in road games against Tampa Bay since the start of the 2018 season.
Randy Arozarena hit a home run for the Rays. He also homered in Saturday’s 5-1 victory.
Toronto ace Kevin Gausman, on a pitch count after not making his spring training debut until March 25 because of shoulder fatigue, allowed one run, two hits and struck out six in 4 ⅓ innings. The right-hander threw 48 of 69 pitches for strikes.
Nate Pearson finished the fifth and Mitch White (1-0) followed with three hitless innings. Chad Green allowed Isaac Paredes’ home run in the ninth, then completed a three-hitter before a crowd of just 14,875.
ROYALS 11, TWINS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bobby Witt Jr. nearly hit for the cycle, Kyle Isbel and Maikel Garcia hit consecutive home runs, and Kansas City dominated Minnesota 11-0 to avoid a second straight season-opening sweep by the Twins.
Salvador Perez hit a three-run home run and ended with four RBIs, and Nelson Velázquez had the last of five home runs for Kansas City, which provided Brady Singer (1-0) with plenty of run support on a day in which he hardly needed it.
Singer, attempting to bounce back from a tough 2023, allowed only three hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out 10.
Bailey Ober (0-1) only retired four batters for Minnesota, giving up eight runs on nine hits and a walk. Kody Funderburk did not perform much better, allowing two more runs on three hits and a walk while retiring five.
All of the Kansas City offense came after a team that lost 106 games last season scored two runs on 10 hits and four walks, and struck out 19 times. This came as they dropped the first two games of the season to their AL Central rival.
REDS won against NATIONALS with a score of 6-5.
In Cincinnati, Will Benson and Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit consecutive home runs with two outs in the ninth inning, helping Cincinnati win the series against Washington.
Cincinnati was behind 5-3 when Jonathan India hit a double off Kyle Finnegan (0-1). Benson hit a first-pitch splitter to straightaway center. Encarnacion-Strand missed a low splitter, but then hit a high splitter 387 feet into the left-field seats for his first hit in 13 at-bats this season.
Lucas Sims (1-0) retired three consecutive batters in the ninth inning.
Trey Lipscomb hit his first major league homer in the seventh inning for the Nationals. CJ Abrams hit a solo homer in the third inning and added an eighth-inning sacrifice fly, and Lane Thomas had a two-run single in the fifth.
Nationals starter Jake Irvin gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings.
In his Reds debut, Nick Martinez allowed three runs and six hits in five innings.
Jake Fraley got three hits for the Reds, who won on opening day and lost Saturday.
YANKEES
TIGERS defeated WHITE SOX with a score of 3-2.
In Chicago, Jack Flaherty pitched six effective innings in his Detroit debut, and Andy Ibáñez broke a tie with a pinch-hit single in the ninth, leading the Tigers to victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Kerry Carpenter and Jake Rogers homered for the Tigers, who are 3-0 for the first time since 2016. Each of their wins in their season-opening series at Chicago was decided by one run.
Paul DeJong and Korey Lee hit home runs for the White Sox.
Tyler Holton (1-0) secured the win by striking out four in 1 1/3 innings. Jason Foley got Andrew Vaughn and Braden Shewmake to ground out to earn his second save.
Detroit manager A.J. Hinch sent Ibáñez to bat for Parker Meadows with runners on first and second and two outs. He responded with a single to left against left-hander Tim Hill, driving in pinch-runner Matt Vierling for a 3-2 lead.
Steven Wilson (0-1) was charged with the loss after he allowed a hit and a walk while recording two outs.
CUBS won against RANGERS with a score of 9-5.
In Arlington, Texas, Ian Happ tied his career high with four hits and drew a tiebreaking bases-loaded walk from José Leclerc in a four-run ninth inning, helping the Chicago Cubs beat Texas to salvage the finale of their opening three-game series.
With the score 4-4, Leclerc (0-1) walked Michael Busch with one out, allowed Nico Hoerner’s swinging-bunt single down the third-base line, and walked Mike Tauchman.
Miles Mastrobuoni grounded into a forceout at the plate, Happ walked on a full-count fastball that sailed wide, and Seiya Suzuki welcomed Jacob Latz with a two-run single. Cody Bellinger singled in the final run.
Héctor Neris (1-0) threw a one-hit eighth inning.
Texas pitchers issued nine walks while giving up eight hits.
Christopher Morel hit a three-run home run in the first inning off Jon Gray, who allowed five runs—four of them earned—seven hits, and three walks in 3 2/3 innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, ROCKIES 1
PHOENIX — Christian Walker hit a two-run home run, Brandon Pfaadt pitched five solid innings, and Arizona defeated Colorado.
The D-backs won three out of four games in the season-opening series for both teams.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit an RBI single, and Walker smashed his two-run home run to left in the first, giving the Diamondbacks a 3-0 lead. Gurriel continued a strong start to the season with three home runs, two doubles, and 10 RBIs in four games.
The D-backs extended their lead to 5-1 with two runs in the fifth inning after Colorado’s Nolan Jones made a costly mistake that led to two unearned runs. With two outs, Ketel Marte hit a routine fly ball to left, but Jones simply dropped it, allowing Tucker Barnhart to score.
Marte scored on Gurriel’s double.
Pfaadt (1-0) was a standout performer in last year’s postseason run to the World Series and continued that success on Sunday. He had an up-and-down rookie year in 2023 but performed well once October arrived, finishing with a 3.27 ERA in 22 innings, providing the team with a much-needed third starting pitcher.
The right-hander gave up one run and five hits against the Rockies while striking out six.
RED SOX 5, MARINERS 1
SEATTLE — Enmanuel Valdez hit a three-run home run, Garrett Whitlock pitched five effective innings, and Boston defeated Seattle.
Valdez, filling in for the injured Vaughn Grissom at second base, hit a drive to right in the fourth after starting the season 0 for 8.
Tyler O’Neill hit a solo home run in the second against Seattle’s Bryce Miller (0-1), who gave up four runs and six hits in five innings.
Whitlock (1-0) helped Boston to a split of the four-game series after losing two straight one-run games. The big right-hander allowed three hits, struck out eight, and did not issue any walks.
Seattle scored its only run when Mitch Haniger doubled and scored on Josh Rojas’ two-out single in the second.
Justin Slaten pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings for his first career save in his second major league appearance.
ATHLETICS 4, GUARDIANS 3
OAKLAND, Calif. — Pinch-hitter Abraham Toro forced in the game-ending run when he drew a four-pitch bases-loaded walk from Eli Morgan, and Oakland defeated Cleveland for their first win this season.
The A’s, who have announced plans to relocate to Las Vegas in 2028, drew just 4,118 at the Coliseum on a sunny afternoon. Attendance for the opening four-game series totaled 26,902.
Oakland and manager Mark Kotsay lost three out of four to the Guardians. The A’s went 60-102 in Kotsay’s first season in 2022, then 50-112 last year.
Carlos Carrasco returned to Cleveland’s rotation after three seasons with the New York Mets, allowing three runs and six hits in five innings. The 37-year-old right-hander was 88-73 for Cleveland from 2009-20.
Oakland’s Paul Blackburn allowed three hits in shutout innings, and Cleveland tied the score on Josh Naylor’s RBI single that capped a three-run eighth inning. Two runs were unearned because of shortstop Nick Allen’s error.
Scott Barlow (0-1) allowed Ryan Noda to walk at the beginning of the ninth inning, and Shea Langeliers got on base with an infield hit after a video review overturned Marvin Hudson's decision. It was ruled that Langeliers beat the throw from second baseman Andrés Giménez.
PADRES 13, GIANTS 4
SAN DIEGO — Luis Campusano and Ha-Seong Kim hit three-run homers, and San Diego beat San Francisco in an opening four-game split.
Patrick Bailey caused a run to score with a passed ball, and Manny Machado hit an RBI double in a five-run first inning. Campusano then hit a home run into the first-row seats near the right-field foul pole off Daulton Jeffries (0-1), who was making his first big league start since 2022.
Campusano also hit a run-scoring single for his fourth RBI, and Machado brought in three runs. Wearing camouflage uniforms on the season's first Military Sunday, the Padres out-hit the Giants 16-5.
Kim hit a home run into the second deck of the Western Metal Supply Co. building beyond the left-field wall, giving the team a 9-0 lead in the second inning.
Four of the runs in the first inning were unearned due to a misplay by shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald on Xander Bogaerts' leadoff grounder, leading to an error.
Pedro Avila (1-0) allowed two runs and one hit in three innings to secure a win in relief of Michael King, who gave up two runs and two hits in four innings with seven walks — two more than his previous career high.
DODGERS 5 CARDINALS 4
LOS ANGELES — Max Muncy hit a two-run homer to right field with one out in the eighth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers came from behind to beat St. Louis despite being down by four runs.
Teoscar Hernández had two hits and drove in two runs as the Dodgers won three of four in the series.
St. Louis rookie Victor Scott II reached base three times and scored two runs while Paul Goldschmidt and Brendan Donovan both had two RBIs.
Los Angeles was trailing 4-2 going into the bottom of the eighth before making a comeback. Hernández brought the Dodgers within a run with his third homer of the season, a solo shot to left-center off Andre Pallante.
Chris Taylor received a walk before John King came in to replace Pallante. Muncy then hit a slider over the wall in right-center off King (0-1), who was called up from Triple A Memphis on Sunday morning.
Nabil Crismatt (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win, and Daniel Hudson retired the Cardinals in order in the ninth for his first save.
