Alford has 3 steals as Blue Jays top Yankees
Blue Jays 2, Yankees 1: Anthony Alford singled and stole three bases, including home plate in the seventh inning, for Toronto. Trent Thornton, vying for a rotation spot, allowed a walk in two scoreless innings.
J.A. Happ started for New York, pitching two perfect innings and striking out three. The Yankees’ run came in the ninth inning on a solo homer from Chris Gittens.
Braves 5, Orioles 0: Atlanta got two shutout innings from Félix Hernández in a 5-0 victory over Baltimore.
Hernández , who spent his first 15 seasons with the Mariners before signing a minor league deal with the Braves in the offseason, allowed only a walk and struck out two.
Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled and scored a run for the Braves. Ozzie Albies singled and walked, scoring twice, while Adam Duvall doubled in a run. Baltimore managed just four singles. Cardinals 2, Mets (SS) 0: Jack Flaherty was named St. Louis’ opening day starter, then tossed two shutout innings, allowing two hits while striking out three, against a New York split squad. Tyler O’Neill hit a solo home run off Mets starter Marcus Stroman in the second inning.
Stroman gave up one run, three hits and a walk, striking out two while retiring four batters. J.D. Davis had a double for the Mets.
Marlins 5, Mets (SS) 3: Jordan Yamamoto surrendered three runs, two earned, on three hits, pitching two innings for Miami against a New York split squad. Harold Ramirez hit a solo home run for Miami.
Rick Porcello, who signed with the Mets after five seasons in Boston, gave up a run on two hits in one inning of work. Wilson Ramos had a two-run double in New York’s three-run first inning.
Red Sox 4, Rays 3: Andrew Benintendi had one of Boston’s seven hits and the Red Sox used a three-run eighth inning to win their opener.
Ryan LaMarre had an RBI single in Tampa Bay’s three-run ninth.
Twins 2, Pirates 1: Willians Astudillo and Jake Cave had RBI singles in the third inning for Minnesota.
Mitch Keller, the Pirates’ top pitching prospect who is expected to break camp in the starting rotation, surrendered two hits in two scoreless innings.
Tigers 8, Phillies 8: Jonathan Schoop, Christin Stewart and JaCoby Jones all had RBI singles in the second inning as Detroit took an early lead. Jordan Zimmermann allowed a hit and three walks, pitching two scoreless innings in a start.
Philadelphia’s top prospect Alec Bohm had two hits, including a run-scoring single that ignited a six-run eighth inning. Newcomer C.J. Cron doubled and scored.
Cactus League cancellations: Six games scheduled for the Cactus League were wiped out by heavy rain in Arizona. Flash flood watches were issued for the area, leading to opening day postponements or cancellations for Royals-Angels, Angels-White Sox, Reds-Indians, Brewers-Rangers, Diamondbacks-Rockies and Mariners-Padres.