Feisty Reds beat Cards after scrum
CINCINNATI >> Nick Castellanos stood over, flexed and jawed at St. Louis pitcher Jake Woodford after scoring, setting off a series of scuffles that included relievers shoving in the outfield as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Cardinals 9-6 Saturday.
St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright was knocked around for six runs and chased in the third. The next inning, the teams started tagging each other.
Castellanos, who homered on opening day and hopped out of the box before tossing his bat, was plunked by Woodford with two outs and none on in the fourth. Castellanos retrieved the ball and offered to toss it back to Woodford before flipping it out of play.
A wild pitch soon sent Castellanos scampering home from third and he scored with a headfirst slide for a 7-2 lead as he bumped into Woodford, who took the throw from catcher Yadier Molina at the plate.
As Castellanos began walking away, Molina rushed up and tapped him from behind, and the benches and bullpens emptied in a wild scene.
There was more pushing and shoving before order seemed to be restored. But as relief pitchers for both teams were heading back to their bullpens, they tangled in the outfield.
Castellanos was the only player ejected.
TWINS 2, BREWERS 0 >> José Berríos and three relievers combined on a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts to outduel Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes.
The Twins held Milwaukee hitless until Omar Narváez delivered a oneout single to right off Tyler Duffey in the eighth. Neither team had a hit or walk until Minnesota’s Byron Buxton led off the seventh with a homer off Burnes (0-1).
YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 3 >> Gary Sánchez joined Elston Howard in 1963 as the only Yankees catchers to homer in each of the first two games and Jay Bruce blooped a two-run single in the seventh for his first hit with his new team in New York’s win Toronto.
Two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber,
limited by injuries to one inning in the previous two seasons, pitched around control problems to allow one earned run over four innings in his Yankees debut.
ORIOLES 4, RED SOX 2 >> Maikel Franco drove in two runs after a Boston error, Pedro Severino had his second two-hit game in a row and Matt Harvey made his Orioles debut in a win over the Red Sox.
Franco’s single came after Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers made a diving stop on Austin Hays’ grounder but sailed the throw to second. The Orioles also took advantage of a Boston error for a two-run inning in Friday’s opener, a 3-0 win.
TIGERS 5, INDIANS 2 >> Julio Teheran pitched through trouble in his Detroit debut, leading the Tigers to a win over Cleveland.
For a second straight game, Detroit scored two runs in the first and led the rest of the way. Willi Castro hit an RBI triple off Zach Plesac (0-1).
ROYALS 11, RANGERS 4 >> Michael A. Taylor homered and drove in three for the second straight game, leading Kansas City over Texas.
CUBS 5, PIRATES 1 >> Jake Arrieta pitched six solid innings in a triumphant return to the Cubs, Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward homered, and Chicago beat Pittsburgh.
PHILLIES 4, BRAVES 0 >> Zack Wheeler allowed only one hit and struck out 10 in seven innings and had two hits and two RBIs at the plate to lead Philadelphia over Atlanta.
MARLINS 12, RAYS 7 >> Miami beat Tampa Bay for the first time in three years after rallying in the late innings.
PADRES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 0 >> Joe Musgrove was brilliant in his debut for his hometown Padres, Manny Machado homered for his first hit of 2021 and Wil Myers drove in three runs on two doubles as San Diego beat Arizona to open the season 3-0.
DODGERS 6, ROCKIES 5 >> Zach McKinstry hustled for a go-ahead, inside-thepark homer in the eighth inning when left fielder Raimel Tapia reached over the fence to bring the ball back, only to have it bounce out of his glove and roll away as Los Angeles beat Colorado.