Muncy, Dodgers rally to edge Cardinals
Phillies benefit from overturned call, beat Braves to avoid sweep
LOS ANGELES — Max Muncy hit a tworun homer to right field with one out in the eighth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Sunday.
Teoscar Hernández had two hits and drove in two runs as the Dodgers took 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 trailed 4-2 going into the bottom of the eighth before coming back. Hernández got the Dodgers within a run with his third homer of the season, a solo shot off to left-center off Andre Pallante.
Chris Taylor drew 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.
PHILLIES 5, BRAVES 4:-In Philadelphia, Trea Turner capitalized on a third out overturned on replay with a tying single, and Alec Bohm drove in the two runs in the seventh inning to rally the Phillies over Atlanta.
The win settled some nerves among the grumbling sports faithful in Philly after Atlanta decisively won the first two games.
Atlanta was on course for a three-game sweep until a replay review in the seventh denied the Braves a third out.
Leading 3-2 behind a strong outing from Chris Sale in his Braves’ debut, reliever Aaron Bummer (0-1) seemingly got Johan Rojas to ground into an inning-ending double play.
But a second look showed Rojas was safe and overturned the call by first base umpire Clint Vondrak, and the third straight sellout crowd roared in approval.
ANGELS 4, ORIOLES 1: In Baltimore, Reid Detmers gave the Angels some much-needed effectiveness on the mound, allowing one run in five innings to help Los Angeles avoid a season-opening sweep with a win 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.
BLUE JAYS 9, RAYS 2: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Justin Turner homered and drove in four runs as Toronto gained a spit of a fourgame series by beating 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 homered for the Rays. He also went deep in Saturday’s 5-1 win.
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 righthander threw 48 of 69 pitches for strikes.
BREWERS 4, NY METS 1: In New York, Jackson Chourio hit an RBI double for his career extra-base hit and helped Collin Rea (1-0) escape a bases-loaded jam as Milwaukee beat the winless New York Mets.
Brewers slugger Rhys Hoskins went 0 for 4 a day after Mets reliever Yohan Ramirez intentionally threw at him. Ramirez, who is appealing a three-game suspension, struck out Hoskins with the bases loaded in the fifth.
It is the first 0-3 start for New York since 2014.
Former Brewer Tyrone Taylor hit an RBI single for the Mets, who played without new manager Carlos Mendoza while he served a one-game suspension for Saturday’s incident with Ramirez and Hoskins.
ROYALS 11, TWINS 0: In Kansas City, Mo., Bobby Witt Jr. finished a double shy of the cycle, Kyle Isbel and Maikel Garcia hit backto-back home runs, and Kansas City routed Minnesota 11-0 to avoid a second straight season-opening sweep by the Twins.
Salvador Perez hit a three-run homer and finished with four RBIs, and Nelson Velázquez had the last of five homers for
Kansas City, which gave Brady Singer (1-0) plenty of run support on a day in which he hardly needed it.
Singer, trying to bounce back from a rough 2023, allowed only three hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out 10.
All of that Kansas City offense came after a club that lost 106 games last season managed two runs on 10 hits and four walks — while striking out 19 times — in dropping the first two games of the season to its AL Central rival.
REDS 6, NATIONALS 5: In Cincinnati, Will Benson and Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit back-to-back home runs with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting Cincinnati to a series-clinching win over Washington.
Cincinnati trailed 5-3 when Jonathan India hit a two-out double off Kyle Finnegan (0-1). Benson drove a first-pitch splitter to straightaway center. Encarnacion-Strand swung over a low splitter, then drove an up splitter 387 feet into the left-field seats ffor his first hit in 13 at-bats this season as the Reds streamed out of their dugout to celebrate.
Lucas Sims (1-0) retired three straight batters in the ninth.
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 allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings.
PIRATES 9, MARLINS 7, 10 INNINGS: In Miami, Oneil Cruz raced home on Jason Delay’s bunt in the 10th inning, and Pittsburgh beat Miami for a four-game sweep of their season-opening series.
Cruz opened the 10th on second as a pinch runner for Rowdy Tellez. He advanced to third when reliever Tanner Scott (0-1) committed an error on Alika Williams’ sacrifice attempt.
Delay then sent another bunt toward first and Cruz beat 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 lead with a bases-loaded walk.
Miami had runners on the corners with no outs in the bottom half. But Hunter Stratton retired Burger, Bryan De La Cruz and Jazz Chisholm Jr. for his first career save.
YANKEES 4, ASTROS 3: In Houston, Juan Soto had three hits capped by an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning that lifted the New York Yankees to a win that completed an opening four-game sweep of Houston.
With the score 3-3, Gleyber Torres singled off closer Josh Hader (0-1) with two outs in the ninth inning and stole second base. Soto then singled on a line drive to left field.
The Astros had a shot to tie it in the bottom of the inning against Clay Holmes. Jeremy Peña and pinch-hitter Victor Caratini singled and Jose Altuve hit a hard grounder that third baseman Jon Berti snagged with dive and scrambled to third for a forceout.
Yordan Alvarez hit a drive 2 inches foul of the left-field line and followed with a fly that advanced pinch-runner Mauricio Dubón to third. Alex Verdugo made a sliding catch in left field on a ball hit by Kyle Tucker to end it and give Holmes his third save.
TIGERS 3, WHITE SOX 2: In Chicago, Jack Flaherty pitched six effective innings in his Detroit debut and Andy Ibáñez snapped a tie with a pinch-hit single in the ninth, sending the Tigers to a 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.
CUBS 9, RANGERS 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 greeted Jacob Latz with a two-run single. Cody Bellinger singled in the final run.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, ROCKIES 1: In Phoenix, Christian Walker hit a two-run homer, Brandon Pfaadt pitched five solid innings and Arizona beat Colorado.
The D-backs won three of four games in the season-opening series for both teams.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit an RBI single and Walker ripped his two-run homer to left in the first, lifting the Diamondbacks to a 3-0 lead. Gurriel continued a torrid start to the season; he has three homers, two doubles and 10 RBIs over four games.
RED SOX 5, MARINERS 1: In Seattle, Enmanuel Valdez hit a three-run homer, Garrett Whitlock pitched five effective innings and Boston beat Seattle.
Valdez, a fill-in second baseman for the injured Vaughn Grissom, hit a drive to right in the fourth after starting the season 0 for 8.
Whitlock (1-0) helped Boston to a split of the four-game series after it dropped two straight one-run games. The big righthander allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked none.
ATHLETICS 4, GUARDIANS 3: In 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 beat Cleveland for their first win this season.
The A’s, who have announced plans to move 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.
PADRES 13, GIANTS 4: In San Diego, Luis Campusano and Ha-Seong Kim hit threerun homers, and San Diego routed San Francisco for an opening four-game split.
Patrick Bailey had a run-scoring passed ball and Manny Machado an RBI double in a five-run first inning. Campusano followed with a drive into the first-row seats near the right-field foul pole off Daulton Jeffries (0-1), who made his first big league start since 2022.