Ohtani wins 1st start, matching Ruthian feat

Shohei Ohtani — who won his major league pitching debut Sunday, throwing three-hit ball over six innings and leading the Los Angeles Angels past the Oakland A’s 7-4 — became the first player since Babe Ruth for the Boston Red Sox in 1919 to start on opening day in a non-pitching role, then also start on the mound in the initial 10 games. The two-way star from Japan took the mound three days after he was the designated hitter in the opener. Reaching the upper 90s mph with his fastball and showing a nifty splitter, Ohtani struck out six and retired 14 of his final 15 batters. He didn’t hit while pitching.

Mariners: Nelson Cruz twisted his right ankle Saturday slipping on the dugout steps after a home run. Cruz had an MRI Sunday. “We’ll have to wait and see what the results are,” manager Scott Servais said. “If it’s going to be longer than three or four days, we’ll have to make a roster decision.”

Astros: 1B Yuli Gurriel is expected to be in the lineup today, a day after another batting practice session at the Astros’ spring training facility. Gurriel started the season on the restricted list to serve his five-game suspension for an inappropriate gesture after homering against Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish of the Dodgers in Game 3 of the World Series. Gurriel had surgery for a broken bone in his left hand Feb. 28.

Rangers: RHP Bartolo Colon is scheduled to start Texas’ first road game in Oakland today. The 44-yearold is set to become the second-oldest player for Texas behind Nolan Ryan, who was 46 when he made the final start of his career in 1993.

Mets: New York will wear a patch on the right sleeves of its jerseys for the rest of the season in honor of former Met Rusty Staub, who died Thursday. Sunday would’ve been his 74th birthday.

Dodgers: Acquired infielder Breyvic Valera from the Cardinals for minor league outfielder Johan Mieses. Valera, 26, has a .303 career batting average in 800 minor league games over eight years. He has spent the majority of his career at second base, but has seen time at shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions.

White Sox-Royals game postponed: The seasonopening series finale between Kansas City and the Chicago White Sox was postponed Sunday with snow in the afternoon forecast and temperatures struggling to reach the freezing mark. The game will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on April 28.

Braves: Atlanta added catching depth by acquiring Carlos Perez from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for infielder Ryan Schimpf.

Marlins: Selected RHP Severino Gonzalez from Triple-A New Orleans, optioned outfielder Braxton Lee to New Orleans and designated right-hander Brian Ellington for assignment.