Padres have a blast, top Giants in Mexico City
Rays ouburst keeps White Sox reeling
MEXICO CITY — By the time Manny Machado put San Diego ahead for good, hitting home runs in Mexico City’s thin air was old hat.
Machado overcame a seventhinning deficit with his second homer, the 11th of the night, and the Padres outslugged the San Francisco Giants 16-11 Saturday in Major League Baseball’s first regular-season game in the Mexican capital.
Nelson Cruz, Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis and Xander Bogaerts also went deep for the Padres, who outhomered the Giants 6-5 and outhit them 17-13 in the thin air of Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú.
After each home run, the Padres topped the triumphant hitter with a mariachi sombrero in the dugout. Machado said Tatis bought the green, red, white and black hat Friday night at the team hotel and the group weighed using it to celebrate or a mask wrestler Rey Mysterio gave to Machado.
“If we can keep hitting like that, maybe we´ll bring the mask and the sombrero to San Diego,” Machado said. “We are going to use them tomorrow for sure.”
A crowd of 19,611 filled the ballpark, which opened in 2019, for a game that stretched to 3 hours, 44 minutes. At 7,349 feet above sea level, this two-game series is the highest elevation ever for big league games. MLB’s previous regular-season trips to Mexico were for games in Monterrey in 2016, ’18 and ’19.
“For moments it felt like more than just a game, it felt more like a parade,” Padres manager, Bob Melvin said of the electric atmosphere.
San Francisco’s Brandon Crawford and Lamonte Wade Jr. hit consecutive homers in the fourth off Joe Musgrove, with Crawford’s going 482 feet and Wade’s 474.
Mitch Haniger went deep against Musgrove in the fifth with his first home run for San Francisco, and the Giants went ahead 11-10 with consecutive long balls in the seventh against Steven Wilson. Blake Sabol hit a two-run homer and David Villar connected five pitches later.
That lead didn’t last long against the Padres, who were the home team and scored in seven of eight innings in which they batted.
DODGERS 1, CARDINALS 0:
In Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw continued his dominant start to the season with seven sharp innings. He didn’t allow a baserunner until Dylan Carlson’s one-out single in the fifth. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner gave up two hits, struck out nine and walked none, throwing 88 pitches.
Back for his 16th season on a one-year deal, the 35-year-old Kershaw (5-1) won his fourth consecutive start. His ERA dropped to 1.89.
Austin Barnes had an RBI single in the second inning for Los Angeles, which will try for its first three-game series sweep Sunday
PIRATES 6-16, NATIONALS 3-1: In Washington, Drew Maggi got his first two hits, three days after making his big league debut with the Pittsburgh following 13 years in the minors, and the Pirates routed the Nationals in game two to complete a day-night doubleheader sweep.
The 34-year-old lined a 2-2 splitter from Hobie Harris into center field for an RBI single as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning, boosting the Pirates’ lead to 13-0 in the second game.
“Who knows where it goes from here. Maybe I never get back up here and that was it,” said Maggi, who was optioned to Double-A Altoona on Saturday morning and was appointed Pittsburgh’s 27th man for the doubleheader, necessitated by Friday’s rainout.
Miguel Andujar homered in his season debut as the Pirates won the opener.
D-BACKS 11, ROCKIES 4:
In Denver, Geraldo Perdomo homered among his three hits and drove in four runs, Christian Walker also homered among his three hits and Arizona sent Colorado to a seventh consecutive home loss.
Corbin Carroll had an RBI single in the first to extend his careerbest hitting streak to eight games, but was forced to leave the game in the bottom of the sixth with an apparent left leg injury after hitting the left field wall and falling awkwardly to the ground in an attempt to catch Ryan McMahon’s RBI double.
PHILLIES 6, ASTROS 1: In Houston, Zack Wheeler threw six shutout innings, Kody Clemens hit a two-run homer and Philadelphia earned its fourth straight win.
Wheeler (3-1) allowed three hits, struck out seven and walked one in his third straight win.
Clemens greeted Phil Maton with his second homer in the sixth. The son of former Astros pitcher Roger Clemens — who was on hand for the homer — graduated from Memorial High School in Houston.
RANGERS 2, YANKEES 0:
In Arlington, Texas, Nathan Eovaldi pitched a three-hitter for his first big league nine-inning shutout, Ezequiel Duran hit a two-run homer in the fifth and Texas handed New York its fifth loss in seven games.
RAYS 12, WHITE SOX 3: In Chicago, Wander Franco homered leading off the seventh inning to end Lance Lynn’s no-hit bid, and Tampa Bay rallied for 10 runs in the inning.
Randy Arozarena added two homers, one in the seventh and another in the ninth for the Rays, who are a major league-best 23-5. The White Sox have lost 10 straight.
DETROIT 7-4, BALTIMORE 4-6:
In Detroit, Baltimore’s Grayson Rodriguez pitched five shutout innings with nine strikeouts for his first major league win, and the Orioles beat the Tigers to split a doubleheader.
Matt Vierling had three hits and four RBIs as the Tigers won the opener.
REDS 3, ATHLETICS 2: In Oakland, Calif., Jeurys Familia gave up a one-run lead in the ninth, Cincinnati’s Jake Fraley hit a broken-bat double and the Athletics set a major-league record of 28 games to begin a season without a win by the starting pitcher in a loss to the Reds.
RED SOX 8, GUARDIANS 7 (10): In Boston, Alex Verdugo drove in the winning run to cap a two-run 10th inning for Boston, which rallied for a win over Cleveland despite blowing the lead an inning earlier.
BLUE JAYS 1, MARINERS 0 (10): In Toronto, Daulton Varsho singled with the bases loaded in the 10th and Toronto beat Seattle for its sixth straight victory after Mariners pitcher Easton McGee took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of his first major league start.
ROYALS 3, TWINS 2: In Minneapolis, Jhoan Duran’s wild pitch allowed Edward Olivares to score the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning, and Kansas City ended a nine-game losing streak at Target Field.
MARLINS 7, CUBS 6: In Miami, Jesús Sánchez hit a two-run double in the Marlins’ five-run first inning, and Miami held on.
BREWERS 7, ANGELS 5: In Milwaukee, Corbin Burnes pitched six sparkling innings, and the Brewers earned their third straight win. Mike Trout homered twice and drove in five runs for Los Angeles.
POSTPONED: The game between the Atlanta Braves and host New York Mets was postponed because of rain.