Surprising Orioles complete sweep of Red Sox
ORIOLES 11, RED SOX 3
BOSTON — The early returns certainly look good for the Baltimore Orioles.
For the Boston Red Sox, it looks a lot like last season.
Boston fell to its first 0-3 start at Fenway Park since 1948 and the second ever for the Red Sox as Trey Mancini and Austin Hays hit two-run doubles during a seven-run third inning that carried the Orioles over Boston 11-3 Sunday.
Cedric Mullins went 5 for 5 with three doubles and a walk for the Orioles. Maikel Franco added a first-inning, two-run double, helping Baltimore to its first three-game sweep at Fenway since Aug. 25-27, 2017.
“I think the synergy we have is really strong,” Mullins said. “Guys have been playing with each other for a few years now.”
In last year’s pandemic-shortened season, the Orioles finished fourth in the AL East with a 25-35 record, coming off 108 losses in 2019 and a club-record high 115 the previous year.
Boston is coming off a 24-36 re- cord last year, that was its worst winning percentage since 1965.
“We got beat in every aspect of the game,” Boston Manager Alex Cora said. “We’re off to a rough start.”
The Red Sox lost their first four home games in 1948, rebounded to tie Cleveland at 96-58 after the scheduled 154-game regular season and lost a tiebreaker playoff 8-3 at Fenway.
Making just his third major league appearance, Baltimore left-hander Bruce Zimmerman (1-0) gave up 3 runs and 4 hits in 6 innings with 5 strikeouts and 1 walk for his first win.
ASTROS 9, ATHLETICS 2 Jason Castro homered in his first start with Houston since as a free agent following the 2016 season, helping complete a four-game sweep. Dusty Baker tied Bill McKechnie for 14th among managers with 1,896 wins.
BLUE JAYS 3, YANKEES 1 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Randal Grichuk homered off Domingo German (0-1). who allowed three runs over three innings in his first appearance since Sept. 18, 2019, after serving a suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy.
INDIANS 9, TIGERS 3 Jordan Luplow hit a two-run home run to cap a four-run seventh for Cleveland, which avoided a sweep in Detroit.
RANGERS 7, ROYALS 3 Nate Lowe hit a three-run home run for Texas, which avoided a sweep.
ANGELS 7, WHITE SOX 4 Shohei Ohtani hit a 451-foot home run and pitched two-hit ball into the fifth inning in a historic two-way performance, and Jared Walsh hit a walkoff home run for Los Angeles. Walsh hit two home runs, including a three-run shot off Matt Foster. Ohtani reached another milestone in his unique career when he took the mound and occupied the No. 2 slot in the batting order for the Angels. He was just the third pitcher in 45 seasons to hit for himself in a game with the designated hitter available, and the first to bat second since Jack Dunleavy did it for the Cardinals in 1903. In the first inning alone, Ohtani both threw the hardest pitch by any starting pitcher in baseball this season and produced the hardest hit by any batter this season. Ohtani touched 101 mph with a fastball, and his first-pitch home run off Chicago’s Dylan Cease left his bat at 115 mph.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CUBS 4, PIRATES 4 Zach Davies (1-0) permitted two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings in his Chicago debut against Pittsburgh.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, PADRES 1 Taylor Widener held San Diego to three hits over six innings as Arizona avoided a four-game sweep.
DODGERS 4, ROCKIES 2 Julio Urias (1-0) gave up 1 run and 3 hits over 7-plus innings in the longest start of the left-hander’s career.
PHILLIES 2, BRAVES 1 Alec Bohm hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and Philadelphia completed a three-game sweep of Atlanta.
REDS 12, CARDINALS 1 Nick Castellanos hit a three-run home run to help Cincinnati take two out of three from St. Louis.
INTERLEAGUE
TWINS 8, BREWERS 2 Miguel Sano and Mitch Garver homered to back up Michael Pineda, who gave up 1 unearned run and 4 hits in 5 innings.