Cruz powers up as Twins rout Tigers
DETROIT >> Nelson Cruz hit a grand slam after a near miss and added a solo homer and a double, Matt Shoemaker held Detroit hitless into the fifth inning and the Minnesota Twins rolled past the Tigers 15- 6 on Monday.
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.
Cruz came up with the bases loaded in the second and the Twins already up 2- 0. He sent a drive down the line in right field that went foul — but was close enough for a replay review. That call was upheld, but then Cruz hit the very next pitch over the fence in left.
The Twins scored five runs in the second and Cruz homered again in a five-run fifth.
Limited to pinch-hitting duty in Minnesota’s opening series at Milwaukee, Cruz was back in his normal role with the return of the designated hitter to the Twins’ lineup. After hitting his two homers, he doubled and scored in the sixth.
CUBS 5, BREWERS 3 >> Willson Contreras, Javier Báez and David Bote homered during a four-run fourth inning to lift Chicago over Milwaukee.
Trevor Williams pitched perfectly until Omar Narváez’s leadoff single in the sixth — Narváez also broke up a no-hit bid in the eighth inning Saturday against Minnesota. Narváez added a threerun homer in the seventh.
RED SOX 11, RAYS 2 >> Xander Bogaerts had four hits, including a Little League home run — a double, with two ill- advised throws that allowed him to score — and Boston got on the board with 16 hits and their first win of the season, over Tampa Bay.
After being swept by Baltimore in the opening series, never leading in any of the three games and yet to post a multi-run inning, the Red Sox went ahead 1- 0 in the second, added two in the fourth and two in the fifth, when the Rays threw the ball around until Bogaerts sauntered home.
PHILLIES 5, METS 3 >> A throwing error by Mets third baseman Luis Guillorme allowed the goahead runs to score, and Philadelphia used a fiverun eighth inning to rally for a win over New York after Jacob deGrom had shut them down through six.
Francisco Lindor was 1 for 4 with a single and a walk in his debut with the Mets, which was delayed after a three-game series against Washington got wiped out because of a coronavirus outbreak among the Nationals.
CARDINALS 4, MARLINS 1 >> Yadier Molina hit a basesloaded double during a three- run first inning, Daniel Ponce de Leon and the St. Louis bullpen protected the lead, and the Cardinals beat Miami.
Molina drove in two runs with his 382nd double, moving past Johnny Bench for eighth place on the career list among catchers.
REDS 5, PIRATES 3 >> Nick Castellanos hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning hours after deciding to appeal a two-game suspension for his part in a brawl, and Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh.
Jose De Leon tied a career high with nine strikeouts and allowed two runs, three hits and two walks over five innings to help the Reds secure a third straight win.
YANKEES 7, ORIOLES 0 >> Giancarlo Stanton hit a grand slam over the visitors’ bullpen that landed in the left-bleachers 471 feet from home plate, leading New York over Baltimore, handing the Orioles their first loss this season.
New York was ahead 1- 0 on Aaron Judge’s fourthinning homer when starter Jorge López (0-1) walked the bases loaded in the fifth inning and Shawn Armstrong forced in a run with a walk to slumping Aaron Hicks.
ROYALS 3, INDIANS 0 >> Danny Duffy pitched six innings of two-hit ball to beat a longtime nemesis and Whit Merrifield drove in all of Kansas City’s runs with a homer and sacrifice fly, leading the Royals over Cleveland.
BLUE JAYS 6, RANGERS 2 >> Steven Matz struck out nine in his Toronto debut, Marcus Semien and Cavan Biggio hit back- to- back homers and the Blue Jays won in the home opener for the Texas Rangers before the largest MLB crowd since the pandemic.
Toronto, 3-1 for the first time since 2015, went ahead 4- 0 in the second after Biggio’s solo homer followed a two- out, two-run shot by Semien.