Ramírez slam powers Guardians
José Ramírez hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, remarkable rookie Steven Kwan reached base three
more times and the Cleveland Guardians spoiled Cincinnati’s home opener by beating the Reds 10-5 Tuesday.
Andrés Giménez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning off Hunter Strickland. Ramírez, who tripled and singled earlier, capped a six-run burst with his third career slam, connecting against Daniel Duarte for a 10-4 lead.
Cardinals 6, Royals 5 — Albert Pujols homered for the first time since returning to St. Louis and Andrew Knizner hit a three-run shot as the Cardinals defeated Kansas City.
Nolan Arenado also went deep for St. Louis, which has won 20 of 27 interleague games against the in-state Royals since 2017.
Brewers 5. Orioles 4 — Andrew McCutchen hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning, Devin Williams pitched out of his own jam in the eighth, and Milwaukee Brewers held on for a victory over Baltimore
Cedric Mullins hit a grand slam for Baltimore.
National League
Cubs 2, Pirates 1 — Seiya Suzuki homered twice, Drew Smyly pitched five scoreless innings and the Cubs spoiled the Pirates’ home opener.
Suzuki connected for leadoff shots in the fifth and seventh. One of the top players in Japan, Suzuki signed an $85 million, five-year contract with the Cubs last month.
Smyly permitted three hits and walked none in his Cubs debut. The left-hander agreed to a one-year contract last month.
Mets 2, Phillies 0 — Tylor Megill delivered his second straight scoreless start for the Mets, Brandon Nimmo homered and New York beat Philadelphia.
Francisco Lindor had an RBI single for the Mets, who recovered from blowing a four-run lead in the eighth inning against Philadelphia on Monday night to snap a two-game skid.
Megill, who got a spot in the rotation only when twotime NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom was sidelined by a shoulder problem in spring training, again looked like an ace for 5 1/3 innings.
American League
Yankees 4, Blue Jays 0 — Aaron Hicks hit a go-ahead two-run homer and made jumping catch in his first leftfield start in four years, leading New York over Toronto.
Nestor Cortes and four relievers combined on a fivehitter, quieting a Blue Jays’ offense that produced 23 runs and 38 hits in the first four games.
Rays 9, Athletics 8 — Manuel Margot hit a game-ending single during Tampa Bay’s two-run 10th inning, and the Rays beat Oakland.
Wander Franco started the Tampa Bay 10th with an RBI double off Lou Trivino. Josh Lowe was walked intentionally with two out, and Margot then lined his clutch hit down the left-field line.
White Sox 3, Mariners 2 — Luis Robert hit his first homer of the season, a tiebreaking drive in the sixth inning that led the White Sox to their third consecutive victory.