Morton helps Astros rout Orioles in home opener
Jansen blows save, D-backs edge Dodgers 8-7
HOUSTON, April 3, (AP): Charlie Morton pitched six scoreless innings, Marwin Gonzalez homered and the Houston Astros unveiled their World Series banner before defeating the Baltimore Orioles 6-1 on Monday night in their home opener.
Morton (1-0) allowed three hits and struck out six. The right-hander picked up where he left off after getting the final 12 outs in Game 7 against the Dodgers to help secure Houston’s first championship.
Brad Peacock pitched a perfect seventh and Will Harris allowed one hit in the eighth before Collin McHugh took over. The starter-turned-reliever allowed a homer to Trey Mancini and a double to Colby Rasmus before retiring the last three batters.
Baltimore has dropped three straight after winning its opener. Orioles starter Chris Tillman (0-1) was tagged for seven hits and four runs in four-plus innings. Diamondbacks 8, Dodgers 7,
15 Innings In Phoenix, Chris Owings hit a threerun homer off All-Star closer Kenley Jansen with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings, and Arizona scored twice in the 15th to rally past Los Angeles.
The first matchup between the teams since the NL champion Dodgers swept their Division Series last October became the longest game in Chase Field history at 5 hours, 45 minutes.
Chase Utley’s RBI single shortly after midnight put the Dodgers up 7-6 in the 15th, but Nick Ahmed’s run-scoring double tied it in the bottom half and pinch-hitter Jeff Mathis singled home Ahmed with the game-winner.
Both teams used all their available relievers. Wilmer Font (0-1) threw four scoreless innings before giving up two runs in the 15th. Fernando Salas (1-1) went three innings for the win.
Red Sox 7, Marlins 3 In Miami, Brian Johnson gave the Red Sox their fifth solid start in five games, allowing one run in six innings.
All five Boston starters have allowed less than two runs, a franchise first to begin a season.
Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts each hit his first home run of the season for the Red Sox. Johnson (1-0) gave up rookie Brian Anderson’s first career homer but stranded six runners.
Trevor Richards (0-1), the Marlins’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2017, retired the first seven batters in his major league debut but then allowed five runs in 4-1/3 innings.
Nationals 8, Braves 1
In Atlanta, Bryce Harper hit a threerun homer, helping the Nationals to the first 4-0 start in their Washington history.
Harper’s second-inning shot off Sean Newcomb (0-1) gave the Nationals a 5-0 lead. He also walked four times and scored three runs.
Washington’s Tanner Roark (1-0) pitched seven innings of one-run ball.
Newcomb allowed six runs, five earned, and five hits in 4-1/3 innings.
Braves right-hander Anibal Sanchez, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game, pitched three scoreless innings in relief to strengthen his bid for a spot in the rotation.
Tigers 6, Twins 1
In Detroit, Francisco Liriano pitched into the seventh inning and Victor Martinez drove in three runs to hand Ron Gardenhire his first win with the Tigers.
Gardenhire won 1,068 games as Minnesota’s manager from 2002-14. This is his first year at the helm in Detroit.
The temperature was in the mid-30s at Comerica Park for a matchup between the last two winless teams in the American League.
Blue Jays 4, White Sox 2
In Toronto, Russell Martin, Josh Donaldson and Aledmys Diaz connected, powering Toronto to its third straight victory. All six runs in the game came on homers.
Welington Castillo went deep twice for the White Sox for his sixth career multihomer game and third straight against Toronto. Castillo hit five home runs against the Blue Jays in 2017, his highest total against any opponent.
Martin erased a 2-1 deficit with a tworun drive off Danny Farquhar (1-1) with two out in the seventh.
Pirates 5, Twins 4
In Pittsburgh, Colin Moran hit a firstinning grand slam in his debut at PNC Park, Jameson Taillon tied a career high with nine strikeouts and Pittsburgh held on for the win in its home opener.
Moran, part of a trade that sent Gerrit Cole to Houston in January, sent a fullcount fastball from Lance Lynn into the seats above the Clemente Wall in right field to stake the Pirates to an early lead they nursed to just their third 4-0 start in 35 years.
Cardinals 8, Brewers 4
In Milwaukee, Pitcher Miles Mikolas hit a home run and got the win in his return from a three-year stint in Japan, and the Cardinals spoiled the Brewers’ home opener.
St Louis shortstop Paul DeJong connected for the second straight game, hitting his third homer this season. Milwaukee had opened the season with a three-game sweep at San Diego.
Mikolas (1-0) gave up four runs in 5-2/3 innings in his first big league start since Aug 25, 2014, when he pitched eight innings for Texas in a 2-0 win over Seattle. He also got his first major league hit in the fifth a two-run homer off Zach Davies (0-1) that broke a 2-2 tie.
Reds 1, Cubs 0
In Cincinnati, Rookie Tyler Mahle pitched one-hit ball for six innings, Raisel Iglesias struck out Anthony Rizzo with the bases loaded to end the eighth, and the Reds edged the Cubs for their first win of the season.
Eugenio Suarez tripled in the fourth and scored on Adam Duvall’s groundout for the game’s only run.
Cincinnati was swept at home by Washington, falling to 0-3 for the first time since 2003. It also trailed in all 27 innings, the Nationals scored in the first inning each time.
Athletics 3, Rangers 1
In Oakland, California, Jed Lowrie hit a two-out, two-run double in the seventh inning and Oakland spoiled Bartolo Colon’s debut with Texas.
Matt Chapman homered for the second time in two days for Oakland. The A’s had lost three straight since beating the Angels on opening day.
Joey Gallo singled in a run for Texas. The Rangers have dropped six consecutive road openers and nine straight games at the Coliseum.
Indians 6, Angels 0
In Anaheim, California, Edwin Encarnacion hit the second inside-the-park home run of his career, and Tyler Naquin and Yonder Alonso cleared the fences to help Cleveland ruin Los Angeles’ home opener and snap its three-game win streak.
Mike Clevinger (1-0), a former Angels farmhand, scattered four hits and struck out five in 5-1/3 innings in his season debut.
Rockies 7, Padres 4
In San Diego, Ian Desmond, Charlie Blackmon and DJ LeMahieu homered to power Colorado past winless San Diego.
Chad Bettis (1-0) pitched five effective innings and Desmond drove in three runs as the Rockies improved to 2-2.