Deep home runs give Pirates victory over Braves
PITTSBURGH — David Freese and Francisco Cervelli hit back-to-back home runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates won their home opener in snow flurries, beating the Atlanta Braves 5-4 on Friday.
Freese and Cervelli went deep off reliever Josh Collmenter leading off the fifth inning. That gave Ivan Nova the cushion he would need at PNC Park, where the game time temperature was 37 degrees.
Nova (1-0) allowed just an unearned run over six innings in his first start since signing a three-year deal in the offseason to stay with the Pirates, who acquired him from the New York Yankees last summer. Tony Watson worked the ninth for his first save. Mike Foltynewicz (0-1) walked three in 3 2/3 innings to end a five-game winning streak dating to last season.
• Tigers 6, Red Sox 5 — At Detroit: JaCoby Jones capped a wild eighth inning with a bases-loaded walk, and the Detroit Tigers outlasted the flu-bitten Boston Red Sox to win their ninth straight home opener.
Red Sox stars Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts were ill and out of the lineup. Boston also was without shortstop Xander Bogaerts and reliever Matt Barnes, who are on the bereavement list.
• Orioles 6, Yankees 5 — At Baltimore: Manny Machado and Seth Smith homered, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the New York Yankees.
Machado hit a three-run drive in the fifth inning to make it 5-4, and Smith completed the comeback in the seventh with a two-run shot off Tyler Clippard (0-1).
• Rockies 2, Dodgers 1 — At Denver: Kyle Freeland allowed one run in six solid innings in his major league debut, leading hometown Colorado past Los Angeles.
The Denver native became the first starting pitcher to make his big league debut in his team’s home opener in the state in which he was born since 1966. Freeland (1-0) gave up four hits with a pair of walks and struck out six, including the first batter he faced, Logan Forsythe.
• Nationals 7, Phillies 6 — At Philadelphia: Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy and Jayson Werth hit homers to back Max Scherzer and Washington held on to spoil Philadelphia’s home opener.
Scherzer (1-0) allowed two runs and four hits, striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings. The NL Cy Young winner waited until the fourth game to pitch after a broken knuckle set him back in spring training.
• Marlins 7, Mets 2 — At New York: Zack Wheeler lasted just four innings in his return from Tommy John surgery, giving up Derek Dietrich’s go-ahead, two-run triple and Christian Yelich’s two-run homer in the New York Mets’ loss to the Miami Marlins.
• Rays 10, Blue Jays 8 — At St. Petersburg, Fla.: Evan Longoria homered during a five-run first inning against wild Francisco Liriano and the Tampa Bay Rays went on to outscore the Toronto Blue Jays.
Liriano faced only eight batters, walking four and giving up three hits before getting pulled. The Blue Jays rallied for a 7-6 lead, but Tampa Bay overtook them by scoring three times in the sixth inning, two on a double by Steven Souza Jr. Brad Miller and Derek Norris also drove in two runs each for the Rays.
• Royals 5, Astros 1 — At Houston: Jason Vargas got his first win in nearly two years and the Kansas City Royals beat the Houston Astros.
Kansas City got its first victory of the season after being swept at Minnesota in its first three games.
• Twins 3, White Sox 1 — At Chicago: Phil Hughes pitched six strong innings for his first win in almost a year and the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox for their first 4-0 start since 1987.
• Reds 2, Cardinals 0 — At St. Louis: Amir Garrett pitched two-hit ball for six innings to win his major league debut, a sharp start for the former St. John’s basketball player as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals.
• Diamondbacks 7, Indians 3 — At Phoenix: Paul Goldschmidt doubled in two during a five-run fifth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied from three down to beat the Cleveland Indians.
The Diamondbacks have come from behind in each of their four victories this season, three of those comebacks from three runs down. The Indians lost their first game after a three-game sweep at Texas earlier in the week.
• Angels 5, Mariners 1 — At Anaheim: Cameron Maybin and Kole Calhoun homered, and Jesse Chavez (1-0) pitched five-hit ball into the sixth inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ victory over the Seattle Mariners.
Mike Trout drove in the first run amid numerous “M-V-P!” chants as the Angels snapped a four-game skid in home openers.