Soto’s bat, arm ignite Yankees’ win at Houston
Long lauded for his prowess at the plate, Juan Soto wowed on defense Thursday in his New
York Yankees debut.
Soto threw out the potential tying run at the plate in the ninth inning after starting New York’s comeback from a four-run deficit with an RBI single in a season-opening 5-4 win over host Houston.
“That was a Yankee classic right there,” New York captain Aaron Judge said. “Juan’s debut … Come up, get his first hit, first at-bat, he takes a walk. Then come up there and, biggest moment of the game and just be cool, calm and collected and deliver a strike home.”
Oswaldo Cabrera homered in the sixth for the Yankees, and Judge doubled and scored the goahead run in the seventh.
Mauricio Dubon and Yordan Alvarez singled off Clay Holmes to give the Astros two on with one out in the ninth.
Kyle Tucker lined a single to right, and Soto — a three-time All-star acquired from San Diego in a December trade — made a one-hop 87.6 mph throw slightly up the third-base line. Catcher
Jose Trevino made a sweep tag and caught Dubon’s left arm just before the runner’s finger touched the plate.
Alex Bregman grounded into a forceout as Holmes got the save.
Joe Espada, in his first game since replacing Dusty Baker as Astros manager, tapped former closer Ryan Pressly to pitch the seventh in the reliever’s first appearance in that inning since the 2021 World Series.
■ Diamondbacks 16, Rockies 1: At Phoenix, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had five RBIS and three hits, including a two-run homer, and Arizona scored a franchise-record 14 runs in the third — the most in an inning on opening day for any team since 1900.
■ Orioles 11, Angels 3: At Baltimore, Anthony Santander hit a two-run homer and totaled four RBIS to back Corbin Burnes (1-0), who allowed one baserunner — on Mike Trout’s first-inning solo homer — while striking out 11 in six innings.
■ Tigers 1, White Sox 0: At Chicago, Tarik Skubal (1-0) struck out six in six shutout innings to outduel Garret Crochet (0-1), who allowed one run while striking out eight over six innings in his first professional start. Neither issued a walk.
■ Twins 4, Royals 1: At Kansas City, Mo., Royce Lewis went 2-for-2 with a homer before exiting with a right quadriceps injury, backing Pablo Lopez (1-0), who allowed one run — on Maikel Garcia’s leadoff homer — in seven innings.
■ Reds 8, Nationals 2: At Cincinnati, Nick Martini hit a two-run homer in the second and a three-run shot in the third to back Frankie Montas (1-0), who pitched six shutout innings in his Cincinnati debut.
■ Red Sox 6, Mariners 4: At Seattle, Tyler O’neill homered in his fifth straight opening day game to set a major league record, this time against the organization that drafted him, to power Boston.
■ Pirates 6, Marlins 5: At Miami, Jared
Triolo hit a go-ahead RBI single in the 12th for Pittsburgh, and six Pirates relievers combined to allow one hit in 6⅓ shutout innings.
■ Blue Jays 8, Rays 2: At St. Petersburg,
Fla., George Springer, Cavan Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered to back Jose Berrios (1-0), who allowed two runs in six innings.
■ Rangers 4, Cubs 3: At Arlington, Texas, Jonah Heim hit a walk-off RBI single with two outs in the 10th after Travis Jankowski had a tying pinch homer in the Texas ninth.
■ Padres 6, Giants 4: At San Diego, Xander Bogaerts hit a go-ahead RBI single and Jake Cronenworth a two-run double in San Diego’s four-run seventh.
■ Guardians 8, Athletics 0: At Oakland,
Calif., David Fry had three hits and an RBI to back Shane Bieber (1-0), who struck out 11 in six shutout innings.