Yelich’s 3 homers lift Brewers past Cardinals, 10-7
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit three homers, including a pair of three-run shots, and drove in a career-high seven runs to power the Milwaukee Brewers past the St. Louis Cardinals 10-7 on Monday night.
Yelich, the reigning NL MVP, hit his first three-run homer to cap a six-run second inning. After St. Louis tied it with three runs in the sixth, Yelich answered in the bottom half with a towering three-run blast to right off Mike Mayers (0-1).
Yelich capped his night with his eighth homer this season, going deep to lead off the eighth. He also lined out in the first and was walked intentionally in the fourth.
Junior Guerra (1-0) worked 1 2/3 innings for the victory. Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth after allowing Marcell Ozuna's sixth home run to open the inning.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joc Pederson hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Los Angeles a comeback victory over Cincinnati in Clayton Kershaw's season debut.
Raisel Iglesias (0-3) walked pinch-hitter David Freese leading off before Pederson homered to right field, pointing into the Dodgers dugout and thumping his chest as he left the box. The Reds had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the inning on former teammate Matt Kemp's RBI single.
Retired broadcaster Vin Scully got Dodger Stadium buzzing with a surprise pregame appearance to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day.
Kershaw then gave Los Angeles a lift, even though the three-time Cy Young Award winner didn't factor in the decision. Kershaw had been bothered by left shoulder inflammation in spring training. The left-hander allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked none.
Kenley Jansen (1-0) got the win.
Former Dodger Yasiel Puig made his presence felt immediately, hammering a two-run shot in the first off Kershaw. Puig received a mix of boos and cheers.
The Dodgers lost NL home run leader Cody Bellinger in the third when he got drilled on the right kneecap by a 95 mph pitch from Luis Castillo.
METS 7, PHILLIES 6, 11 INNINGS
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Juan Lagares scored from second base on Michael Conforto's hard grounder in the 11th inning and New York beat Philadelphia.
Lagares led off with an infield single against Pat Neshek (0-1), and Brandon Nimmo walked. Two outs later, Conforto hit a sharp grounder that first baseman Rhys Hoskins couldn't field for an error. The ball trickled to second baseman Cesar Hernandez and Lagares kept running, scoring easily because the throw was way off target.
Luis Avilan (1-0) pitched out of trouble in the 10th, stranding runners on second and third. Edwin Diaz struck out the side for his sixth save in six tries and his 16th in a row, dating to last season with Seattle.
Noah Syndergaard had a rough outing for the Mets, giving up five runs and nine hits in five innings while fanning nine. Phillies ace Aaron Nola allowed five runs in four innings.
MIAMI (AP) — Willson Contreras hit his sixth homer, drove in three and reached base four times, and Chicago thawed out to beat Miami.
The temperature in Chicago was 33 when the Cubs' game Sunday against the Angels was snowed out, and it was 84 with the retractable roof open for the first pitch at Marlins Park.
Yu Darvish (1-2) struck out eight in a season-high 5 2/3 innings. He allowed two runs, lowering his ERA to 6.11. Three relievers completed the six-hitter.
Chicago scored three times in the first, and Javier Baez drove in a run with a two-out bloop double in the fifth off Trevor Richards (0-2), who allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings.
BOSTON (AP) — Dwight Smith Jr. hooked a two-run homer into the first row of seats down the right field line and drove in four, leading Baltimore to victory in Boston's annual Patriots' Day game.
Baltimore salvaged a split of the four-game series. It had lost nine of its previous 11 games and was 4-21 in its last 25 against Boston. Chris Davis also hit a two-run homer — much further into the right field bleachers — and Renato Núñez had three hits with an RBI single.
Dan Straily (1-1) rebounded from a rough debut start with Baltimore, giving up a run on two hits in five innings. He was tagged for five runs and eight hits over 3 1/3 innings by Oakland last week.
Spot starter Hector Velázquez (0-1) gave up a run in three innings.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Joey Gallo homered and grounded a tiebreaking single to the vacant spot at shortstop against the shift, helping Texas beat Los Angeles in Mike Trout's return after missing three games with a groin injury.
Trout, the designated hitter while the club waits a little longer before putting the two-time AL MVP back in center field, went 0 for 2 with three walks.
Shin-Soo Choo, who had three hits, homered leading off the third for his first of the season. Asdrubal Cabrera matched Gallo for the team lead with his fifth homer , a two-run shot for an 11-4 lead in the sixth.
Reliever Kyle Dowdy (1-0) earned his first major league victory, giving up one run on one hit in 2 2/3 innings. Closer Jose Leclerc got his fourth save. Cam Bedrosian (1-1) allowed five of the seven hitters he faced to reach, starting with Elvis Andrus' leadoff double in the fifth.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Teoscar Hernandez hit the go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning, giving Toronto a badly needed offensive boost with three hits in a victory over Minnesota.
After Martin Perez finished six innings in his first start for the Twins with only one run allowed and Ryne Harper struck out two batters in a perfect seventh, left-hander Adalberto Mejia was summoned for the eighth with all righties due up for the Blue Jays. Freddy Galvis greeted Mejia with a single, Randal Grichuk doubled for his third hit of the game, and Justin Smoak hit an RBI single. Then Hernandez sent an 0-2 slider from Mejia (0-1) into the second deck for a 5-3 lead.
Sam Gaviglio (1-0) picked up the victory with a scoreless seventh. Joe Biagini pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.
CHICAGO (AP) — Welington Castillo atoned for an error with a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Chicago rallied to beat Kansas City.
Castillo's poor throw on Billy Hamilton's steal in the seventh helped set up Whit Merrifield's tiebreaking sacrifice fly. But Castillo came up big after Tim Anderson led off the eighth with a double against Brad Boxberger (0-3), sending an opposite-field drive to right for his first homer of the season.
Manny Bañuelos (1-0) pitched three hitless innings for his first win since 2015, and Alex Colomé worked the ninth for his fourth save in four chances and No. 100 for his career.
SEATTLE (AP) — Trevor Bauer allowed one run while pitching into the seventh inning, slumping Jose Ramirez hit his first homer of the season and Cleveland held on late to beat Seattle.
The Indians rebounded from being swept last weekend by Kansas City thanks to another strong outing from Bauer, a key out from reliever Adam Cimber and a couple of big hits off starter Yusei Kikuchi (0-1).
Bauer (2-1) struck out eight in 6 2/3 innings. Cimber, who went to high school in nearby Puyallup and played college ball at Washington, struck out Mitch Haniger with the bases loaded.
The Mariners rallied for three runs in the eighth on consecutive homers by Edwin Encarnacion and Omar Narvaez to extend Seattle's record streak to 19 games with a long ball to begin the season. Greg Allen made a tremendous diving catch in deep right-center field to end the inning.
Seattle gave away several critical runs in losing its fourth straight. A pair of two-out errors in the ninth by shortstop Tim Beckham helped Cleveland add an insurance run.
Brad Hand closed for his fifth save.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Ian Desmond homered, doubled and drove in three runs, and Nolan Arenado also went deep to back Antonio Senzatela in his season debut as Colorado topped San Diego.
The Padres came in with the NL's best record before losing their second straight game. The Rockies, who began the day tied with Miami for the league's worst record, won consecutive games for the second time this season.
Desmond, who came in hitting .140, had a two-run double in the second inning and homered in the seventh. Arenado connected in the sixth. Both long balls came off Joey Lucchesi (2-2), who pitched seven innings for the first time in his two-year career.
Senzatela (1-0) began the season on the injured list with an infected blister on his right heel. He held the Padres to one run in 6 2/3 innings. His only costly mistake was allowing Franmil Reyes' homer in the fourth. Wil Myers hit his 100th career homer leading off the ninth.
Wade Davis got one out for his first save. He struck out pinch-hitter Ian Kinsler with two on.