Indians down Royals, 3-2
CLEVELAND—Michael Brantley singled home two runs in his first at-bat this season and Carlos Carrasco worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 3-2 win in their chilly home opener over the Kansas City Royals on Friday. Brantley missed Cleveland’s first six games while on the disabled list recovering from offseason ankle surgery. But just hours after being activated, the two-time All-Star delivered in the first inning against Danny Duffy (0-2), who managed to hang around until the sixth. Following devastating finishes in the past two postseasons, the Indians are hoping this is the year they end their 70-year World Series title drought, baseball’s longest. Brantley is a major part of their plans, but he needs to stay healthy after being limited to 101 games the past two seasons due to injuries. Carrasco (2-0) gave up two runs in the first inning, but settled in. The right-hander retired 13 straight before running into trouble in the sixth, when the Royals loaded the bases on two singles and a one-out intentional walk. But Carrasco struck out Lucas Duda looking at a 3-2 pitch and retired Cheslor Cuthbert on a liner to left. Nick Goody worked the seventh, Andrew Miller put on two runners then struck out the side in the eighth, and Cody Allen pitched the ninth for his second save. The Indians, who didn’t hit while blowing a 2-0 lead to New York in the AL Division Series last October, came in batting a league-low .161. They only got four hits, but that was enough thanks to Carrasco and their top-flight bullpen. The 3-16 in Royals dropped to Cleveland since May 8, 2016. Down 2-0 in the first, the Indians benefited from Duffy’s early wildness to score three times. The left-hander, possibly bothered by the bitter, blustery weather conditions, walked Francisco Lindor and Jason Kipnis before Jose Ramirez dribbled an RBI single through the middle. After Duffy’s third walk of the inning, this one to slugger Edwin Encarnacion, Brantley dropped a two-run single into right, a satisfying moment for the 30-year-old who has spent the past two seasons battling back from shoulder and ankle injuries. The Royals scored twice in the first on an RBI groundout by Mike Moustakas and Duda’s broken-bat RBI single, which came after he inadvertently flung another bat into the netting behind home plate.
Braves 8, Rockies 3
DENVER—Brandon McCarthy pitched six solid innings and delivered a two-run double that chased German Marquez in the fifth inning of the Atlanta Braves’ 8-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on a frigid Friday that marked the second-coldest game in Coors Field history. It was 27 degrees when the Rockies’ home opener began after an hourlong delay caused by sleet and snow. That was just 4 degrees warmer than when these teams met in Denver on April 23, 2013, in the coldest firstpitch temperature in major league history. McCarthy (2-0) allowed three runs and five hits, more than enough for the hot-hitting Braves, who lead the majors with a franchise-best 56 runs through seven games. Marquez (0-1) gave up seven, seven hits and six walks in 4 2/3 innings. He allowed a solo homer to Ozzie Albies in the first and walked two batters before Preston Tucker’s sacrifice fly and Dansby Swanson’s tworun triple made it 4-0. Colorado got a run back in the bottom half when Carlos Gonzalez lined a run-scoring triple to right-center. Gonzalez added a solo homer in the fourth, a 445-foot shot into the right field bleachers, and two batters later Trevor Story also went deep for the first time this season with a 442-footer. McCarthy, the first Braves pitcher to last six innings so far, followed Swanson’s two-out RBI triple in the fifth with a two-run double that made it 7-3 and chased Marquez. Peter Moylan, Jose Ramirez and Shane Carle combined to throw three scoreless innings for Atlanta. Swanson, who singled in the third, came close to hitting for the cycle — he drove a pitch to the track in right field in the seventh. In the ninth, he lined out to shallow right.