Verlander, Sale have classic duel
DETROIT — Justin Verlander and Chris Sale dominated in a matchup of ace pitchers before Nicholas Castellanos singled in the go-ahead run off Sale in the eighth inning, lifting the Detroit Tigers over the Boston Red Sox 2-1 on Monday.
Verlander gave up an unearned run, three hits and two walks while striking out four over seven innings. Justin Wilson (1-0) struck out one and walked one in the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez struck out two and allowed a hit in the ninth, earning his second save in three chances.
Sale (0-1) struck out 10 and gave up two runs and five hits over 7 innings.
Ian Kinsler homered off Sale in the sixth.
The Red Sox scored their only run in the second inning after Castellanos’ fielding error loaded the bases with no outs.
Giants catcher Buster Posey was doing well after being struck in the helmet by a 94 mph fastball in the first inning and forced out of the game, a frightening moment in San Francisco’s victory Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks in its home opener. Posey will be re-evaluated Tuesday but, “He’s doing good, he’s doing fine,” manager Bruce Bochy said. Posey is likely to sit out Tuesday’s game. Michael Pineda retired his first 20 batters before Evan Longoria lined a double down the leftfield line, and he wound up pitching two-hit ball over 7 2/3 innings in New York’s home opener. Pineda (1-1) dominated like the pitcher the Yankees have always hoped he would become. He struck out 11, walked none and threw 67 of 93 pitches for strikes. Tampa Bay’s Logan Morrison homered with one out in the eighth, a ball that hit off the top of the wall in right-center and deflected off a fan before bouncing back onto the field. A video review was needed to determine it was a home run. James Paxton shut down Houston for the second time in a week, pitching seven innings of four-hit ball and leading Seattle to a win in its home opener. The Mariners rebounded nicely from Sunday’s ugly ninth-inning meltdown against the Angels when they gave up seven runs and lost 10-9. Paxton (1-0) was a big reason why, keeping Houston’s offense silent long enough for Seattle’s bats to wake up and finally convert with runners in scoring position. Paxton struck out eight and walked two while pitching in Seattle’s home opener for the second time in his career. Khris Davis hit a two-run homer, Jharel Cotton shut down Kansas City’s anemic offense and Oakland held on to spoil the Royals’ home opener. Cotton (1-1) gave up a single in the first and another in the sixth, but otherwise befuddled a Royals lineup that hasn’t shown much punch. He walked three and struck out six over seven innings. Sean Doolittle ran into trouble in the ninth, putting runners on the corners with two outs. He bounced back to strike out Brandon Moss for his first save, helping the A’s beat the Royals for the seventh consecutive time.