Phillies pitchers dominate, sweep Braves on Bohm hit

Alec Bohm hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, Zach Eflin gave Philadelphia another strong start and the Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the defending NL East champion Atlanta Braves with a 2-1 win Sunday.

Philadelphia’s starting trio of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Eflin (1-0) surrendered three runs, 11 hits and one walk in 20 2/3 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 7 1/3 innings in the set.

Philadelphia regained the lead in the eighth as Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper and Bohm hit consecutive singles off Chris Martin (0-1).

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 off Carlos Martinez (0-1) and triple to finish the series 6 for 11 with five RBIs.

Tyler Naquin also a threerun shot for the Reds, who won two in a row to take the opening matchup of NL Central teams that earned wildcard spots last season.

INDIANS 9, TIGERS 3 » Jordan Luplow hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run seventh, and Cleveland overcame a home run by Akil Baddoo on the first pitch of his first major league at-bat.

Cleveland avoided a sweep in Detroit after falling behind 3-1 in the third. Yu Chang put the Indians up 4-3 with a two-run single off Daniel Norris (0-1) in the seventh, and Luplow added his homer one out later.

ORIOLES 11, RED SOX 3 » Boston dropped to 0-3 at Fenway Park for the first time since 1948 and the second time ever as Trey Mancini and Austin Hays hit two-run doubles during a seven-run third inning.

Cedric Mullins went 5 for 5 with three doubles and walk for the Orioles, collecting four of hits in the initial four innings. Maikel Franco added a first-inning, tworun double, helping Baltimore to its first three-game sweep at Fenway since Aug. 25-27, 2017.

BLUE JAYS 3, YANKEES 1 » Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Randal Grichuk homered off Domingo Germán (01). who allowed three runs over three innings in his first appearance since Sept. 18, 2019, after serving a suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy. Toronto won two of three.

CUBS 4, PIRATES 4 » Zach Davies (1-0) permitted two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings in his Chicago debut against short-handed Pittsburgh.

RANGERS 7, ROYALS 3 » Nate Lowe three-run homer in the third for Texas, which avoided a sweep, and a teamrecord nine RBIs in the first three games of the season, a Texas record.

TWINS 8, BREWERS 2 » Miguel Sanó and Mitch Garver homered to back up Michael Pineda (1-0), who gave up just one unearned run and four hits in five innings.

DODGERS 4, ROCKIES 2 » Julio Urías (1-0) gave up one run and three hits over sevenplus innings in the longest start of the 24-year-old lefthander’s major league career. He struck out six and walked one.

DIAMONDBACKS 3, PADRES 1 » Rookie Taylor Widener (1-0) held San Diego to three hits over six scoreless innings to win his first big league start and David Peralta hit a tworun triple as Arizona avoided a four-game sweep.