Bumgarner goes deep twice, but Giants lose

Chris Owings singled home the winning run and the Arizona Diamondbacks scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off new San Francisco closer Mark Melancon to beat the Giants, 6-5, in a wild season opener Sunday.

Derailed by a dreadful bullpen last year, the Giants started this season the same way — even after trying to fix the problem by bringing in Melancon on a $62 million, four-year contract. They wasted a record-breaking performance by ace Madison Bumgarner, who retired his first 16 batters and became the first pitcher to hit two home runs on opening day.

Arizona got a double and three singles after Melancon (0-1) retired his first two batters in the ninth. A.J. Pollock singled in the tying run and Owings dumped a base hit into right field to end it.

The Giants had 32 blown saves last season, including nine in September. RAYS DEFEAT YANKEES » Pitch by pitch, Chris Archer set the tone for what he and the Tampa Bay Rays hope will be a bounce-back year.

Not such a good start for Masahiro Tanaka and the New York Yankees.

Archer pitched seven solid innings, and the Rays roughed up Tanaka on the way to beating New York, 7-3, in the first game of the new Major League Baseball season Sunday.

“We didn’t play perfect, but we played well enough to win,” Archer said. “We scored a lot of runs and made some nice defensive plays. It’s all about winning, and we did that.”

Hockey

CAPS HOLD OFF BLUE JACKETS » Braden Holtby stopped 35 shots, Andre Burakovsky had a goal and an assist and the Washington Capitals held on for a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

T.J. Oshie and Matt Niskanen also scored for the Capitals, who improved to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. Washington, with a league-best 112 points, leads Pittsburgh by five points in the Metropolitan Division. The Blue Jackets are another point back in third.

Holtby’s 41st win of the season also tied him with his Blue Jackets counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky for best in the league. MONSTERS SHUT OUT IOWA » The visiting Monsters shut out Iowa, 4-0, behind goalie Brad Thiessen’s 19 saves. Scoring goals for the Monsters were Zac Delpe, T.j. Tynen, Justin Scott and Nick Moutry.

Tennis

FEDERER BESTS NADAL » Weary from three months of winning, Roger Federer hit one last shot, whacking a celebratory forehand into the stands to punctuate his victory over Rafael Nadal in the Miami Open final.

Now comes a well-deserved two-month break.

“I’m not 24 anymore,” Federer said. “I need a rest. My body needs healing.”

He’s not complaining. At 35, Federer is playing some of the best tennis of his career — so good he’s even dominating his longtime nemesis. Federer beat Nadal for the third time this year, 6-3, 6-4, to become the oldest men’s champion in the 33-year history of the tournament.

Federer also defeated Nadal in the Australian Open final in January, and two weeks ago en route to the Indian Wells title.

He’s the first threetime champion this year on the men’s tour — and ready for a break.

Golf

HENLEY GETS MASTERS INVITE » Russell Henley no longer gets to take a week off, and he couldn’t be happier.

He’s going to the Masters.

Henley overcame a four-shot deficit Sunday in the Houston by closing with a 7-under 65 for a three-shot victory, one of the most important final rounds of his career. Only later did he realize it might have his best.

He made 10 birdies. He never went more than two holes without a birdie.

Henley ran off five of them in the opening eight holes to briefly catch up to Sung Kang, only to make a double bogey from the bunker on the par-3 ninth.

The decisive stretch came on the par-5 13th, where Henley and Kang were tied for the lead. Henley pitched to 3 feet for birdie, while Kang missed from 15 feet.