Twins fly high like an eagle
Mitch Garver hit the goahead home run in the seventh for Minnesota, one inning after Miguel Sano tied the game with a two-run shot as the Twins powered their way past the Seattle Mariners for a 4-2 victory yesterday in their chilly home opener in Minneapolis.
Eddie Rosario went deep in the eighth to pad the lead, and Fernando Rodney worked the ninth for his first save with the Twins.
Zach Duke (1-0) picked up the victory, and Addison Reed struck out two in a perfect eighth.
James Paxton started strong for the Mariners with five scoreless innings after a first-pitch temperature of 38 degrees and a startling moment during the pregame ceremony. The bald eagle that was supposed to fly to the mound before the national anthem instead circled Paxton, where he was standing alone in left field on a break from his warmup throws.
The confused bird wound up landing its large talons on the lefty’s right shoulder, before being lured away by the handler.
Orioles 5, Yankees 2 — Adam Jones hit a go-ahead home run, Andrew Cashner pitched six strong innings and Baltimore snapped a five-game losing streak, beating host New York.
Jones’ third homer of the season was a two-run drive off Masahiro Tanaka in a five-run seventh inning.
Cashner (1-1) held the Yankees to just one hit before serving up Aaron Judge’s second home run of the season. The righty allowed two hits and struck out five as Baltimore bounced back from a threegame sweep at Houston.
Tigers 9, White Sox 7 — Niko Goodrum hit a tworun homer after replacing the injured Miguel Cabrera, and Detroit rallied to beat host Chicago in 10 innings.
Shane Greene escaped a jam in the 10th to earn his first save by striking out Yoan Moncada with two runners on base to end it.
Nicholas Castellanos and Victor Martinez each had three hits for the Tigers. Goodrum had two after replacing Cabrera, who fell when his foot hit the first bag awkwardly as he rounded first on a single.
Rangers 6, Athletics 3 — Martin Perez pitched into the sixth inning of his first start of the season and Texas held on to beat host Oakland.
The crowd of 10,132 was the largest of the series, which attracted 34,613 total for the four games.
Perez (1-0) was activated before the game and allowed three runs and 10 hits over 51⁄3 innings.
Mets 8, Nationals 2 —
Michael Conforto came off the disabled list to hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Stephen Strasburg, Yoenis Cespedes also went deep against the ace, and Jay Bruce tacked on an insurance grand slam, leading New York over host Washington.
Jacob deGrom (2-0) wiggled out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam to finish his sixinning outing.
The Mets improved to an NL East-leading 5-1, while the two-time reigning division champion Nationals have lost three in a row after a 4-0 start under rookie manager Dave Martinez.
Phillies 5, Marlins 0 —
Philadelphia manager Gabe Kapler got booed in the home opener when he pulled Nick Pivetta in the sixth inning with a shutout intact, but the move worked out in a win over Miami. Kapler, in his first year as a big league manager, had several questionable decisions involving the pitching staff during a 1-4 trip to start the season.
Rockies 3, Padres 1 — Ryan McMahon drew a bases-loaded walk off AllStar closer Brad Hand to break a scoreless tie in the ninth inning and DJ LeMahieu added a two-run single as Colorado beat host San Diego in a game in which it had four hits.
Pirates 5, Reds 2 — Gregory Polanco hit a two-run home run during a four-run fifth inning to lift host Pittsburgh over Cincinnati, as Steven Brault (2-0) pitched one-run ball over five innings. The left-hander allowed three hits, struck out four and walked four.
Diamondbacks 3, Cardinals 1 — Robbie Ray overcame five walks in six innings and the bullpen closed out a two-hitter, helping Arizona spoil St. Louis’ home opener while improving to 6-1 for the second straight season.