Phillies complete sweep of Braves
PHILADELPHIA — Alec Bohm hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, righthander Zach Eflin gave Philadelphia seven strong innings, and the Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the defending NL East champion Atlanta Braves with a 2-1 win Sunday.
Philadelphia’s pitching staff was the story of the season-opening series as the starting trio of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Eflin surrendered only three runs, 11 hits and one walk in 202⁄3 innings against an Atlanta lineup that led the majors in 2020 with 556 hits.
The Phillies’ bullpen, which posted a 7.06 ERA in 2020, didn’t yield a run in 71⁄3 innings in the set.
TWINS 8, BREWERS 2: Miguel Sano and Mitch Garver homered to back up Michael Pineda, and host Minnesota beat Milwaukee to win the season-opening series. Luis Arraez went 3-of-3 with a pair of walks as the Twins took two of three. Max Kepler and Sano each drove in three runs.
ANGELS 7, WHITE SOX 4: Shohei Ohtani hit a 451foot homer and pitched two-hit ball into the fifth inning in a historic two-way performance, and Jared Walsh hit a walkoff homer in Los Angeles’ win over visiting Chicago.
RANGERS 7, ROYALS 3: Nate Lowe hit a towering, three-run homer, Texas beat host Kansas City for its first win of the season. He has nine RBIs in the first three games of the season, a Texas record.
DODGERS 4, ROCKIES 2: Julio Urias got off to a strong start after a fine finish in last year’s World Series, pitching into the eighth inning as defending champion Los Angeles beat host Colorado to take the last three games in a four-game series.
BLUE JAYS 3, YANKEES 1: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Randal Grichuk homered off Domingo German in the Yankee righthander’s return from a domestic violence ban, and Toronto beat New York at Yankee Stadium to win a season-opening series against its AL East rival.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, PADRES 1: Rookie Taylor Widener flustered San Diego’s potent offense for six scoreless innings to win his first big league start, and David Peralta hit a two-run triple for Arizona, who beat the host Padres to avoid a four-game sweep.
INDIANS 9, TIGERS 3: Jordan Luplow hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run seventh inning, and Cleveland overcame a home run by Akil Baddoo on the first pitch of his first major league at-bat to win at Detroit.
ORIOLES 11, RED SOX 3: Boston fell to its first 0-3 start at Fenway Park since 1948 and its second ever as Trey Mancini and Austin Hays hit two-run doubles during a seven-run third inning that carried Baltimore to a win over the Red Sox.
REDS 12, CARDINALS 1: Nick Castellanos came out swinging with his bat a day after being ejected for inciting a bench-clearing melee, hitting a three-run homer and triple to lead Cincinnati to a rout over visiting St. Louis.
CUBS 4, PIRATES 3: Zach Davies pitched into the sixth inning in his Chicago debut, leading his new team to a victory over Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field.