Cardinals take on Nationals.
Arkansas football team continues spring practice.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Daniel Murphy homered, doubled twice and tied career highs with five RBIs and four hits and the Washington Nationals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 8-3 on Tuesday night.
Matt Wieters and Jayson Werth also hit solo shots to help Washington earn a second home series victory.
Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez (1-0) allowed two runs — one earned — over seven innings. He allowed six hits before retiring his last 11 batters.
Lance Lynn (0-1) allowed six runs — four earned — and five hits and four walks over five innings.
Randal Grichuk and Aldemys Diaz homered for St. Louis.
Bryce Harper walked three times against Lynn to reach base in nine straight plate appearances going back to Monday, tying a career high set last season against the Chicago Cubs and manager Joe Maddon. He also doubled in the eighth.
Lynn hadn't allowed a hit when he walked Gonzalez on four pitches with one out in the third. After a fielding error and a walk to Harper loaded the bases, Murphy ripped a two out-single through the infield to give Washington a 2-1 lead.
Grichuk's homer tied it in the top of the fourth before Werth and Wieters went deep in the bottom of the inning. Then in the fifth, Lynn walked Harper for the third time before Murphy blasted a 1-2 changeup into the second deck in right to make it 6-2.
Murphy drove in Harper for a second time on an RBI double in the eighth.
BRYCE ON BASE
After going 4 for 4 with two walks in a 14-6 win Monday, Harper's three walks Tuesday helped him match a stretch from May 7 and 8 of last year. The Cubs and Maddon intentionally walked Harper four times in that stretch, three coming in Harper's six-walk game on May 8. Harper left the series at Wrigley Field hitting .265. By June 4, the 2015 NL MVP's average had dipped to .238.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: Left-handed hitting 1B Matt Carpenter was out of the starting lineup with back tightness against the lefty Gonzalez, but pinch hit in the ninth inning. "He was good to play today, but with the lefty matchup given the opportunity for Martinez to get in there and have a start," manager Mike Matheny said.
Nationals: 3B Anthony Rendon began the game on the bench after manager Dusty Baker said he wasn't sure "if his leg is right 100 percent." Rendon missed Opening Day with a bruised calf. He came on in the sixth inning to replace Stephen Drew at third.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Mike
Leake looks to build upon an eight-inning outing to open the season.
Nationals: Max Scherzer makes his first home start since the right-hander won the 2016 NL Cy Young Award.
METS 14, PHILLIES 4
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Yoenis Cespedes hit three of New York's seven homers to back Matt Harvey, and the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies.
Harvey (2-0) left with tightness in his left hamstring after allowing two runs and five hits and striking out six in 5 2/3 innings.
Phillies starter Clay Buchholz (0-1) also exited because of an injury, a strained right forearm. He gave up six runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings.
Lucas Duda hit two homers and Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis d'Arnaud also went deep for New York, which has 46 homers in its last 21 games at Citizens Bank Park.
Cespedes fell down on a wild swing on the first pitch he saw, then hit a three-run homer to straightaway center field off Buchholz in the first inning. He connected to deep left in the fourth off Adam Morgan and drove another one way out to left in the fifth against Morgan.
MARLINS 8, BRAVES 4
MIAMI (AP) — A gray cat went scrambling for cover in the Marlins Park outfield midway through Tuesday night's game, and no wonder, given the barrage off Marcell Ozuna's bat.
Ozuna homered twice and had a career-high six RBIs to help Miami win its home opener against the Atlanta Braves.
Announced attendance was 36,519, and that didn't include a cat that ran onto the field midway through the game. It scurried along the outfield warning track, ran away from right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, crawled up the center field wall and then appeared to get stuck in the animatronic home run sculpture.
Marlins president David Samson said if Ozuna had hit a third homer, the sculpture would not have been activated for fear of harming the cat.
Ozuna hit a sacrifice fly in the first inning, a three-run homer in the third and a two-run homer in the fifth, doubling his season RBI total and hiking his average to .423. The two-homer game was the second of his career.
ROCKIES 3, PADRES 2
DENVER (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh, Antonio Senzatela threw seven sharp innings for his first major league win and Colorado beat San Diego.
Arenado lined a fastball from reliever Miguel Diaz (1-1) to right for his third homer. Carlos Gonzalez and Charlie Blackmon also hit solo shots to help Colorado knot the three-game series with San Diego at a game apiece. The Rockies have a chance to win their third straight series to start the season, a feat only accomplished in team history by the 1995 squad.
Senzatela (1-0) and his blazing fastball made things difficult for the Padres. He allowed two runs while striking out five. The Rockies' reliable bullpen took it from there, with Adam Ottavino striking out the side in the eighth and Greg Holland working his way around a leadoff walk in the ninth to earn his fifth save.
REDS 6, PIRATES 2
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Scooter Gennett homered for the second straight night and finished with three hits, helping the Cincinnati Reds overcome the early departure of injured starter Rookie Davis to beat the Pirates for their sixth win in seven games.
Gennett capped the scoring with a three-run drive into the right field bleachers in the eighth inning off Trevor Williams.
Davis, a rookie right-hander, left in the fifth inning with a bruised right forearm after being struck by a pitch from Pittsburgh's Jameson Taillon. He worked four innings in his second major league start, allowing a run, two hits and four walks while striking out three.
Drew Storen (1-0) pitched the sixth for the win and Raisel Iglesias closed up shop for his third save. Juan Nicasio (0-1) allowed a run in the seventh for Pittsburgh.
RED SOX 8, ORIOLES 1
BOSTON (AP) — Drew Pomeranz struck out six in his season debut and Dustin Pedroia drove in four runs and the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles.
Christian Vazquez added a two-run triple in the eighth, capping off a 4-for-4 game, as the Red Sox tagged Baltimore pitchers for 15 hits and had back-to-back three-run innings in the seventh and eighth to blow the game open.
Pomeranz, who opened the season on the disabled list with a strained left forearm, took a shutout into the seventh inning. He held Baltimore to four hits and one run in six innings and picked up his first win at Fenway Park.
Pablo Sandoval had a sacrifice fly in the second and Pedroia had one in the fifth off Dylan Bundy (1-1), who was strong through the first six innings. Bundy pitched 6 1-3 innings, allowing three runs and seven hits.
INDIANS 2, WHITE SOX 1, 10 INNINGS
CLEVELAND (AP) — Michael Brantley doubled home Francisco Lindor with two outs in the 10th inning as the Indians celebrated their 2016 AL championship and then beat the White Sox in their home opener.
Brantley could only watch and cheer for his teammates last October during their postseason run after undergoing two surgeries on his right shoulder. But he's healthy now, and after playing in just 11 games last season, Brantley made the most of his first home game since May 10 with his game-winning hit.
Lindor walked with two outs off Tommy Kahnle (0-1) before Brantley sliced a 3-2 pitch down the left-field line. Lindor was running on the pitch and scored easily while Brantley danced around second base before being mobbed by his teammates.
Bryan Shaw (1-0), who took the loss when the Cubs won their first title in 108 years, got the win.
TIGERS 2, TWINS 1
DETROIT (AP) — Matthew Boyd allowed one hit in six outstanding innings and James McCann homered in the fifth to lift Detroit over Minnesota.
Boyd (1-1) took a no-hitter into the sixth before Robbie Grossman broke it up by lining a clean single to left field with two out. The Detroit left-hander struck out six and walked two before turning the game over to the bullpen.
Francisco Rodriguez allowed a run in the ninth but recovered for his third save in four chances. Pinch-hitter Max Kepler hit a popup with two on to end it.
Hector Santiago (1-1) allowed only three hits in 6 1/3 innings, but one of them was a two-run shot by McCann.
BREWERS 4, BLUE JAYS 3
TORONTO (AP) — Keon Broxton and Domingo Santana hit solo home runs, Wily Peralta pitched six innings for his second victory in two starts and the Milwaukee Brewers beat Toronto, handing the slumping Blue Jays their sixth straight home opening loss.
Troy Tulowitzki went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs but the last-place Blue Jays fell to 1-6, the worst start in franchise history. Three of Toronto's six losses have been one-run decisions.
The Blue Jays have not won a home opener since beating Minnesota in 2011.
Toronto's misfiring offense was without one of its biggest threats in third baseman Josh Donaldson, who was held out of the starting lineup with a sore right calf. The 2015 AL MVP, who left Sunday's loss at Tampa Bay, came on as a pinch hitter in the ninth and struck out on a 3-2 pitch for the second out.
Peralta (2-0) allowed three runs and five hits. He walked four and struck out seven.