Pujols returns to Cardinals
Adam Wainwright pitched six scoreless innings, Tyler O’Neill hit a three-run homer and drove in five, and the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated Albert Pujols’ return with a 9-0 season-opening win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
Yadier Molina threw out a runner trying to steal second in the first game of his final big league season, and Nolan Arenado and Tommy Edman also homered for the Cardinals, who won the managerial debut of 35-year-old Oliver Marmol. Paul Goldschmidt drew four staight walks, the first player to do that on opening day since Manny Ramírez in 2002.
Fans stood and cheered Pujols for nearly a full minute prior to his first at-bat, a flyout to left in the first inning. Pujols, who signed a one-year deal with St. Louis last month, was 0-for-5.
Cubs 5, Brewers 4 — Ian Happ had three hits, including a tiebreaking two-run double in the seventh inning, and Chicago beat Milwaukee.
Nico Hoerner hit the majors’ first homer of 2022 and Kyle Hendricks pitched neatly into the sixth, leading Chicago to the victory on a chilly, overcast afternoon at Wrigley Field. Japanese outfielder Seiya Suzuki reached three times and scored in his first big league game.
On a day stuffed full of firsts and debuts, Milwaukee ace Corbin Burnes and catcher Omar Narváez became the first battery to use baseball’s new electronic pitch-calling system in a regular-season game. The 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner allowed three runs and four hits in five innings.
Reds 6, Braves 3 — Tyler Mahle allowed only an unearned run in five innings to outpitch Max Fried, Brandon Drury hit a three-run homer and Cincinnati beat Atlanta to spoil the Braves’ World Series celebration.
Fried allowed five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. He left the game with two runners on base before Drury’s homer off Collin McHugh, making his Braves debut, landed in the Reds’ bullpen behind the left field wall.
Austin Riley hit a two-run homer for Atlanta off righthander Dauri Moreta in the eighth.
American League
Royals 3, Guardians 1 — Bobby Witt Jr. capped his highly anticipated big league debut with his first hit, a go-ahead double with two outs in the eighth inning, sending Kansas City over rechristened Cleveland.
Andrew Benintendi drove in Witt after his clutch hit, giving Royals reliever Scott Barlow a cushion. After a perfect eighth, Barlow struck out Myles Straw with runners on the corners in the ninth to end it.
In a matchup of former Cy Young Award winners, Cleveland ace Shane Bieber and erstwhile Royals star Zach Greinke dueled to a 1-all stalemate before turning the game over to the bullpens on a cold day at Kauffman Stadium.
It remained tied until the eighth, when the Royals’ Michael Taylor worked a walk off Triston McKenzie and then took second on Nicky Lopez’s sacrifice bunt. McKenzie struck out Whit Merrifield before Witt roped a double to give Kansas City its first lead.