AROUNDTHE HORN
Blue Jays, Rangers: Steven Matz struck out nine in his Blue Jays debut, Marcus Semien and Cavan Biggio hit back-to-back HRs and the Jays won 6-2 in the home opener for the Rangers on Monday before the largest MLB crowd since the pandemic. The Jays, 3-1 for the first time since 2015, went ahead 4-0 in the second after Biggio’s solo HR followed a two-out, two-run shot by Semien off Texas starter Mike Foltynewicz (0-1). The Rangers announced a sellout crowd of 38,283 for their 50th home opener in Texas, the second in the $1.2 billion retractable-roof stadium that has a listed capacity of 40,518 — the announced attendance doesn’t include complimentary tickets. They played all 30 home games in the stadium’s debut season without fans last summer. MLB allowed about 28% capacity for the NL Championship Series and World Series games that were played there exclusively in October, with the largest crowd being 11,472. The Rangers said last month they would allow full capacity after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s order that allowed business in the state to operate at 100% capacity. Matz (1-0) allowed one run and two hits over 6 innings, longer than any of his six starts last season while going 0-5 for the Mets, whotraded him to Jays in January. He threw 62 of 91 pitches for strikes, with one walk, one hit batter and four straight strikeouts to end his outing.
Re d s : OF Ni c k Castellanos was suspended for two games and fined for his role in an on-field brawl during the season’s opening weekend, the first discipline given by Michael Hill in his new role as MLB’s senior VP for on-field operations. Castellanos appealed the penalty to special assistant
John McHale Jr. and will not serve the suspension while the appeal is pending. He was disciplined for his actions in Saturday’s game against the Cardinals and was cited for “his aggressive actions and for instigating a benches-clearing incident.”
Twins: Nelson Cruz hit a grand slam after a near miss and added a solo HR and a double, Matt Shoemaker held the host Tigers hitless into the fifth and the Twins rolled to a 15-6 victory. Akil Baddoo hit a grand slam for the Tigers. He made his big league debut Sunday and homered on the first pitch thrown to him. Shoemaker (1-0), a Michigan native, held the Tigers without a hit until Wilson Ramos homered with two outs in the fifth. He allowed three hits in six innings with five strikeouts and earned his first victory since April 9, 2019, before he was beset by injuries.
Royals: Danny Duffy pitched six innings of two-hit ball and Whit Merrifield drove in all of the Royals’ runs with a HR and sac fly, leading the visitors to a 3-0 win over the Indians. Scott Barlow pitched two perfect innings and Jesse Hahn pitched the ninth.
Extra innings: Two-way player Shohei Ohtani exited Sunday night’s 7-4 win over the White Sox after taking a cleat to his left ankle in the fifth, but he later said his leg felt “fine.” He was scheduled to be re-evaluated. Ohtani — hitting on the same day of his start for the first time in his MLB career — went 1-for-3 with a solo HR while allowing two runs on three hits, striking out seven and walking five in 4 innings. ... Coors Field in Denver is expected to host this year’s All-Star Game, ESPNreported. MLB opted to move the game out of Atlanta due to voting laws passed in Georgia last month.