Sale sharp in debut, but Red Sox need 12 to beat Pirates
BOSTON >> Sandy Leon hit a threerun homer in the 12th inning — his third hit of the game — and Chris Sale pitched seven dominant innings in his Red Sox debut to lead Boston to a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Leon also doubled in the third inning but got thrown out at the plate after running through third base coach Brian Butterfield’s stop sign. It was scoreless into the bottom of the 12th, when Antonio Bastardo (0-1) walked Jackie Bradley Jr. and Pablo Sandoval with one out.
Leon followed with a drive over the Green Monster to end a cold night for the Red Sox, who also beat Pittsburgh in the season opener on Monday.
Joe Kelly (1-0), the sixth Red Sox pitcher, earned the victory with two innings of one-hit relief. ORIOLES 3, BLUE JAYS 1 >> Dylan Bundy struck out eight over seven impressive innings, and Baltimore used home runs by Adam Jones and Chris Davis to beat Toronto.
Making his 15th career start, Bundy (1-0) allowed one run and four hits. The 2011 first-round draft pick did not issue a walk and retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced.
Brad Brach pitched the eighth and Zach Britton got three outs to earn his first save and seal the two-game sweep. After Toronto loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, Britton got former Oriole Steve Pearce to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play.
Jones hit a two-run drive in the third inning and Davis added a solo shot in the fourth. Both homers were off J.A. Happ, who went 20-4 last year — including 2-0 against the Orioles.
Happ (0-1) struck out nine in seven innings. The left-hander gave up five hits and walked none. NATIONALS 6, MARLINS 4 >> Bryce Harper had two RBIs and a nice ninth-inning catch, Ryan Zimmerman homered and Tanner Roark recovered from a shaky start to go six innings, leading Washington past Miami.
Roark (1-0) allowed two runs in the first inning, then hit two men and threw a wild pitch in the second, but he wound up retiring 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.
The reliever who replaced him to begin the seventh, Enny Romero, plunked Derek Dietrich, which led to some jawing between the two and the ejection of Marlins manager Don Mattingly. Dietrich also was hit by Roark.
Blake Treinen pitched ninth for his second save.
Zimmerman’s opposite-field shot in the second off a high fastball from Dan Straily (0-1) put Washington on the board. RAYS 4, YANKEES 1 >> Corey Dickerson homered and drove in two runs to lead Tampa Bay over New York.
Alex Cobb (1-0) pitched into the sixth inning, continuing his comeback from Tommy John surgery that sidelined him most of the past two seasons. Building on five starts he made late last year, the right-hander allowed one run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings. Alex Colome allowed two hits but completed an inning for his second save.
Michael Pineda (0-1) the allowed four runs New York. TWINS 9, ROYALS 1 >> Eduardo Escobar homered and drove in four runs and Miguel Sano added a bases-loaded triple to lead Minnesota over Kansas City.
Hector Santiago (1-0) gave up one run and four hits and struck out four in five innings for the Twins. After starting last season 0-9 to set the stage for a miserable 103-loss season, the Twins are 2-0 for the first time since 2007.
Ian Kennedy (0-1) gave up three runs and three hits with five strikeouts and five walks in five innings for Kansas City. Paulo Orlando drove in the lone run for the Royals, who walked nine Twins batters on the day. BREWERS 6, ROCKIES 1 >> Eric Thames, Travis Shaw and Jonathan Villar each homered, Wily Peralta pitched five effective innings and Milwaukee beat Colorado.
Thames hit a 3-1 pitch 450 feet to deep center and Shaw teed off on a 1-0 pitch for a two-run homer job off Tyler Chatwood (0-1) in the bottom of the fourth.
Villar ended the Colorado bullpen’s scoreless streak at 9 1/3 innings this season with a two-run shot in the eighth.
Peralta (1-0) allowed three hits over five innings. He struck out five and walked one. He’s already off to a better start than a year ago when he lost his first three outings and struggled through 10 more before being demoted to Triple-A Colorado Springs. in 3 2/3 innings for