Isbel excels in debut as Royals slug past Texas
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — UNLV product Kyle Isbel went 3-for-5 with two RBI singles in his major league debut for Kansas City as the Royals outslugged the Texas Rangers 14-10 in a wild season opener Thursday.
ROUNDUP
Isbel, 24, who batted .322 for the Rebels from 2016 to 2018, hadn’t played above the High-a level in the Kansas City system until Thursday. He roped an RBI single to right on a 1-and-2 pitch from Kyle Gibson in his first major league plate appearance — part of a five-run first inning by the Royals that answered Texas’ five-run first.
Kansas City set a club record for runs on opening day, surpassing its previous high of 11 in 1979. The 4-hour, 26-minute game was the longest nine-inning affair in Royals history. The teams combined for 30 hits, 17 walks, 14 pitchers, 26 runners left on and 402 pitches.
Michael A. Taylor homered, drove in three runs and threw out two players at the plate from center field for Kansas City, which led 10-8 after four innings.
■ Rockies 8, Dodgers 5: At Denver, Colorado scored on a squeeze play, two wild pitches, a groundout, an error and three RBI singles. Cody Bellinger had a homer negated by a Los Angeles baserunning miscue.
■ Pirates 5, Cubs 3: At
Chicago, Ke’bryan Hayes hit a two-run homer in the first for Pittsburgh, and six Pirates relievers allowed one run on one hit and struck out 11 in six innings.
■ Padres 8, Diamondbacks 7: At San Diego, Eric Hosmer had a homer among his three hits and drove in three runs for San Diego, which overcame Arizona’s four fifth-inning homers.
■ Blue Jays 3, Yankees 2: At New York, Randal Grichuk led off the 10th with an RBI double, and New York lost for the first time in four openers under manager Aaron Boone.
■ Tigers 3, Indians 2: At Detroit, Miguel Cabrera hit a tworun homer through the snow in his first at-bat of the season and had a stellar play at first base for Detroit.
■ Brewers 6, Twins 5: At Milwaukee, Lorenzo Cain scored the winning run on a grounder in the 10th after Milwaukee scored three unearned runs in the ninth to tie it.
■ Rays 1, Marlins 0: At Miami, Austin Meadows homered with two outs in the eighth. Starters Tyler Glasnow and Sandy Alcantara each pitched six shutout innings.
■ Cardinals 11, Reds 6: At Cincinnati, Paul Goldschmidt had four hits and scored three runs for St. Louis, which scored six firstinning runs off Luis Castillo (0-1).
■ Astros 8, Athletics 1: At Oakland, Calif., Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run double in the sixth to back Zack Greinke (1-0), who pitched six shutout innings.
■ Angels 4, White Sox 3: At Anaheim, Calif., Mike Trout hit a tying RBI single in Los Angeles’ two-run eighth off reliever Aaron Bummer (0-1).
■ Phillies 3, Braves 2: At Philadelphia, Jean Segura hit a walkoff single to drive in Bryce Harper from third with two outs in the 10th. From staff and wire reports