Marlins fill in a blank
There are only 158 games to go, and the Miami Marlins know that absolutely nothing is expected of them this season.
The doubters might be helping.
Dillon Peters threw six sharp innings, Brian Anderson hit a three-run double to highlight a fiverun fifth and the Marlins beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0 yesterday in Miami to split their opening four-game series against a team that is a championship contender.
“We did a nice job this series,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “It’s early, we’re excited, and that’s going to have to continue. But that’s what we want to build.”
Chad Wallach — who started the season 0-for11 — had two hits for the Marlins, who were hitless in their first four innings before getting the offense going. Peters (1-0) helped out a well-worked bullpen in a big way, allowing six hits, striking out two and walking only one as the Marlins shut out the Cubs for only the second time in the teams’ last 72 meetings.
Wallach’s RBI single — the first run driven in of his career — got the Marlins on the board in the fifth, and they were off and running.
Nationals 6, Reds 5 — Bryce Harper hit two home runs, leadoff man Adam Eaton capped his big opening series with a two-run drive and visiting Washington beat Cincinnati for a three-game sweep under new manager Dave Martinez.
Cardinals 5, Mets 1 — Paul DeJong had the first multihomer game of his big league career, Luke Weaver held host New York to one run in five innings and St. Louis won to avoid an opening threegame sweep.
Interleague
Pirates sweep Tigers — Josh Harrison, Starling Marte and David Freese homered for Pittsburgh to complege a doubleheader sweep of host Detroit with an 8-6 victory last night.
Earlier in the day, Pittsburgh won 1-0 behind six no-hit innings from Trevor Williams, then took control of the second game with five runs in the fifth.
American League
Twins 7, Orioles 0 — Jose Berrios pitched a threehitter for his first career complete game, and Minnesota got two home runs from Brian Dozier in a rout of host Baltimore.
Blue Jays 7, Yankees 4 — Justin Smoak hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning and a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth to rally Toronto past visiting New York. Smoak went 3-for4 with a walk and six RBI as the Jays gained a series split by winning the final two games.
Mariners 5, Indians 4 — Dee Gordon and Mitch Haniger homered, Mike Leake pitched seven strong innings and host Seattle beat Cleveland. Edwin Encarnacion went deep twice for the Indians.
Angels 7, Athletics 4 — Shohei Ohtani won his major league pitching debut, throwing three-hit ball over six innings and leading Los Angeles to victory in Oakland, Calif. Reaching the upper 90s with his fastball and showing a nifty splitter, Ohtani struck out six and retired 14 of his final 15 batters.
Astros 8, Rangers 2 — Gerrit Cole struck out 11 over seven innings in his Houston debut, and the defending World Series champions finished a solid opening weekend with a victory over Texas in Arlington, Texas.
White Sox-Royals, ppd. — The series finale between host Kansas City and Chicago was postponed with snow in the forecast and temperatures near the freezing mark. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on April 28.