Guardians cruise to first win
The Cleveland Guardians won for the first time with their new name as rookie Steven Kwan went 5-for-5 on Sunday in a 17-3 romp over the host Kansas City Royals.
Oscar Mercado hit a grand slam during a five-RBI performance and Owen Miller drove in a career-high four runs. Cleveland had lost its first two games since changing this season to the Guardians from the Indians, its name since 1915.
Kwan had four singles and a double, was hit by a pitch and scored four runs. The 24-yearold outfielder made his majorleague debut on opening day and is 8-for-10 in three games, reaching base in 12 of 14 plate appearances.
Reds 6, Braves 3: Hunter Greene won his major-league debut, reaching 100 mph with 20 of 92 pitches and topping out at 101.6 mph for visiting Cincinnati. The 22-year-old right-hander, the second overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft, allowed three runs, four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in five innings.
Kyle Farmer hit a two-run single in a five-run third. Rays 8, Orioles 0: Two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber allowed three hits in 42⁄3 innings on his 36th birthday as host Tampa Bay completed an opening threegame sweep and improved to 21-1 against Baltimore since the beginning of last year.
Brandon Lowe hit a two-run homer off Tyler Wells, while Wander Franco had his second three-hit game in three days and drove in a pair of runs as the Rays beat the Orioles for the 15th straight time.
Rangers 12, Blue Jays 6:
Corey Seager capped a six-run fourth inning with a go-ahead single, and visiting Texas rallied from a 6-1 deficit and overcame Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 467-foot home run, the longest of his career.
Brad Miller had four RBIs to key the Rangers.
Nationals 4, Mets 2: Nelson Cruz hit his 450th home run and added a tie-breaking tworun single in a three-run eighth inning, preventing visiting New York from an opening four-game sweep.
Cruz, who put the Nationals ahead in the first inning with his first home run for Washington, grounded a fastball up the middle and just past shortstop Francisco Lindor.
Twins 10, Mariners 4: Gary Sanchez hit a grand slam into the third deck and Byron Buxton had two of Minnesota’s six home runs in the host Twins’ first victory this season.
Carlos Correa launched his first homer for Minnesota, a 458-foot drive, and Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco also went deep. Sanchez added an RBI double to give him five RBIs for the Twins, who totaled eight hits over 2-1 and 4-3 defeats on Friday and Saturday.
White Sox 10, Tigers 1: Tim Anderson had two doubles and a single for visiting Chicago in his first game following a two-game suspension for bumping umpire Tim Timmons last Sept. 27.
Andrew Vaughn homered and drove in four runs for the White Sox, who won twice in the opening three-game series.
Pirates 9, Cardinals 4: Michael Chavis hit a go-ahead grand slam as visiting Pittsburgh overcame a three-run, third-inning deficit.
Chavis made his first start of the season and homered off left-hander Steven Matz, who allowed seven runs and nine hits over three innings in his first start since signing a $44 million, four-year contract.
Brewers 5, Cubs 4: Mike Brosseau’s first career pinchhit homer snapped a seventhinning tie against Daniel Norris (0-1), and Willy Adames and Rowdy Tellez also went deep as visiting Milwaukee won its first game.
Seiya Suzuki hit his first major-league homer for Chicago, and Marcus Stroman allowed one run and two hits in five innings in his Cubs debut.
Rockies 9, Dodgers 4: Host Colorado’s C.J. Cron hit a tworun homer on an afternoon when a whipping wind with 40 mph gusts made flyballs an adventure, and Bud Black earned his 1,000th win as a major-league manager.
Black improved to 351-360 with Colorado after going 649-713 with the Padres from 2007-15.
Astros 4, Angels 1: Alex Bregman put host Houston ahead with a two-run single in the fifth, and Jose Urquidy yielded four hits over five innings. Chas McCormick had an RBI single, and rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña delivered three hits as the defending AL champions took three of four.
Urquidy built on his solid 2021 with five resourceful innings, walking one and striking out two. Ryan Pressly pitched the ninth for his second save.
Jose Suarez pitched two-hit ball into the fifth inning for Los Angeles, but yielded four walks and two runs before the Halos’ bullpen had another inconsistent afternoon.
Padres 10, Diamondbacks 5:
Jurickson Profar hit a grand slam off Caleb Smith, Jorge Alfaro followed with another homer in a five-run second inning and visiting San Diego won its third straight after losing the opener.
Right-hander Nabil Crismatt was the emergency starting pitcher for the Padres after Blake Snell was scratched just before the first pitch because of left adductor tightness.