GIANT LEAP
The Giants cool off the Dodgers behind Hunter Pence and Joe Panik.
SAN FRANCISCO — Hunter Pence hit a grand slam in the eighth, Joe Panik drove in three runs and keyed San Francisco’s comeback, and the Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 12-6 in their home opener Thursday.
The Dodgers pitchers’ 31-inning scoreless streak to start the season ended in the fifth, one inning shy of the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals’ record to begin a year.
Chris Heston (1-0) worked the sixth in relief of Jake Peavy for the victory as San Francisco erased a 4-0 deficit to the delight of a sellout crowd announced at 41,940.
Bruce Bochy bested his former outfielder and now-Dodgers manager Dave Roberts in their first matchup.
In the fifth, Los Angeles finally gave up its first runs of 2016 and got to Alex Wood (0-1). Brandon Crawford drew a leadoff walk from Wood, pinch hitter Kelby Tomlinson singled and Denard Span drove in a run on an RBI groundout before Panik’s RBI triple. Buster Posey also doubled in a run.
Joc Pederson hit a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw from Sergio Romo in the eighth, then Pence connected off Pedro Baez for his sixth career grand slam and first homer of 2016. Los Angeles’ ERA jumped from 0.00 after four innings to 3.09.
YANKEES 8, ASTROS 5: In New York, Mark Teixeira sliced a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning and Starlin Castro connected again, sending the Yankees past Houston.
The Yankees took two of three in the season-opening series against the team that beat them in the AL wild-card game last October. The game began 12 minutes late because of rain, and Yankee Stadium was far less than half-filled.
Castro kept up his torrid start with a solo home run and a single off the wall, making him 7 for 12. The former Cubs infielder has eight RBIs, the most by any player in his first three games for the Yankees since the stat became
official in 1920, STATS said.
Brian McCann also homered for the Yankees and Jacoby Ellsbury doubled twice.
Tyler White hit his first homer in the majors, drove in four runs and got three hits for the Astros. He’s 6 for 9 since making his big league debut this week.
CUBS 14, DIAMONDBACKS
6: In Phoenix, Anthony Rizzo matched his career high with six RBIs and Chicago beat Arizona but lost Kyle Schwarber with a sprained ankle in an outfield collision.
Schwarber was hurt in the second inning when he collided with Dexter Fowler, a play that resulted in an inside-the-park home run for Arizona’s Jean Segura.
Segura also started the game with a homer. He is the eighth player in major league history to lead off with a home run and hit an inside-the-park homer in the same game.
John Lackey (1-0) gave up six runs on eight hits over six innings in his Cubs debut, but got the win thanks to a five-run Chicago fourth inning.
With two outs in the second, Segura hit one to deep left-center, Schwarber converging on it on the run from left field and Fowler from center. They came together on the warning track, in front of the 413-foot sign, their legs tangled as the ball rolled away. Schwarber stayed on the ground for several minutes before being helped to his feet and taken from the field in a cart.
The Cubs said X-rays were negative for any fracture but an MRI was scheduled for today.
WHITE SOX 6, ATHLETICS 1: In Oakland, Calif., Mat Latos gave up one hit over six shutout innings for his first win since last July, Jose Abreu hit a two-run
homer and the White Sox beat the Athletics to give manager Robin Ventura his 300th career win.
A free agent who struggled this spring after signing with Chicago in the offseason, Latos (1-0) was stellar in his White Sox debut while striking out two and walking one.
He retired 13 of the first 14 batters and didn’t allow a baserunner until Chris Coghlan’s one-out single in the fifth — one pitch after left fielder J.B. Shuck dropped Coghlan’s foul ball.
Abreu homered on a 1-1 pitch from Oakland starter Kendall Graveman in the sixth. The White Sox slugger added a sacrifice fly during Chicago’s four-run ninth.
It’s been a good start to the season for the White Sox, who outscored the A’s 16-10 while taking three of four in the series.
ANGELS 4, RANGERS 3: In Anaheim, Calif., Albert Pujols singled with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give Los Angeles a win over Texas.
Yunel Escobar homered and drove in two runs for the Angels.
REDS 10, PHILLIES 6: In Cincinnati, Jay Bruce homered twice and matched a career high with five RBIs, and the Reds made a winner of top pitching prospect Robert Stephenson in his major league debut.
Eugenio Suarez hit his first career grand slam and Bruce connected for a three-run shot as the Reds scored eight times in the fourth inning, ruining the big league debut of reliever Daniel Stumpf. Bruce capped the 13-batter outburst with an RBI single.
MARLINS 6, NATIONALS 4: In Washington, Miami reliever David Phelps entered after a rain delay and shut out Washington for four innings while delivering his first career RBI at the plate, and the Marlins won to spoil the Nationals’ sloppy home opener in front of a dwindling crowd.
Bryce Harper was presented with his 2015 NL MVP and Silver Slugger trophies during pregame festivities and hit his second homer of 2016 in the seventh.
RED SOX-INDIANS: The scheduled game between Boston and the Indians in Cleveland was postponed because of inclement weather. No makeup date was immediately announced.