Verlander wins battle of aces, Tigers beat Red Sox

Justin Verlander and Chris Sale dominated in a matchup of ace pitchers before Nicholas Castellanos singled in the go-ahead run off Sale in the eighth inning, lifting Detroit over Boston, 21.

Verlander gave up an unearned run, three hits and two walks while striking out four over seven innings. Justin Wilson (1-0) struck out one and walked one in the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez struck out two and allowed a hit in the ninth, earning his second save in three chances.

• Yankees 8, Rays 1 — At New York: Michael Pineda retired his first 20 batters before Evan Longoria lined a double down the left-field line, and he wound up pitching two-hit ball over 7 2/3 innings in New York’s home opener.

Pineda (1-1) dominated like the pitcher the Yankees have always hoped he would become. He struck out 11, walked none and threw 67 of 93 pitches for strikes. Tampa Bay’s Logan Morrison homered with one out in the eighth, a ball that hit off the top of the wall in right-center and deflected off a fan before bouncing back onto the field.

• Mariners 6, Astros 0 — At Seattle: James Paxton shut down Houston for the second time in a week, pitching seven innings of four-hit ball and leading Seattle to a win in its home opener.

The Mariners rebounded nicely from Sunday’s ugly ninth-inning meltdown against the Angels when they gave up seven runs and lost 10-9. Paxton (1-0) was a big reason why, keeping Houston’s offense silent long enough for Seattle’s bats to wake up and finally convert with runners in scoring position.

• Padres 5, Rockies 3 — At Denver: Wil Myers hit a leadoff triple in the eighth inning to complete the first cycle of his career and send San Diego past Colorado.

Myers singled in the first, doubled in the third and homered in the sixth to help the Padres win for the third time in four games. Matt Kemp had the only other cycle in San Diego history on Aug. 14, 2015, also at Coors Field.

• Nationals 14, Cardinals 6 — At Washington: Bryce Harper tied a career high with four hits and reached base in all six plate appearances as Washington routed St. Louis.

Harper drove in three runs during his first four-hit game since April 17, 2013.

• Mets 4, Phillies 3 — At Philadelphia: Jay Bruce homered twice, including the tiebreaking shot in a testy eighth inning to lead New York over Philadelphia.

Recently bumped up to the cleanup spot, Bruce put the Mets in front 4-2 with a towering, two-run drive off his own digital image on the videoboard in right field.• Reds 7, Pirates 1 — At Pittsburgh: Eugenio Suarez and Scooter Gennett homered, and Cincinnati took advantage of wild Pittsburgh starter Tyler Glasnow.