LDN - Sports

MLB roundup: Reds rookie Garrett stellar in debut

[April 08, 2017] The Sports Xchange

ST. LOUIS -- In his major-league debut, Cincinnati's Amir Garrett checked St. Louis on two hits and struck out four in six shutout innings as the Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 on Friday night.

The 6-foot-5 Garrett, a four-star basketball recruit out of high school who played two years at St. John's before switching to baseball, looked poised throughout his outing. He threw three pitches for strikes with consistency and needed just 78 pitches to obtain his 18 outs.

Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias worked three perfect innings in relief of Garrett, with Iglesias pitching the last two for his second save as the Reds won their third straight game.

Pirates 5, Braves 4

PITTSBURGH -- David Freese and Francicso Cervelli hit home runs in the fifth inning as Pittsburgh found its offense against Atlanta in its home opener at PNC Park.

The Pirates, who built a 5-1 lead and hung on, had 11 hits against five Braves pitchers. That came after they totaled 13 hits and three runs in their first two games against Boston.

Ivan Nova was strong in his season debut. He allowed one unearned run and six hits with four strikeouts in six innings. Tony Watson pitched the ninth for his first save, hitting a batter before getting two grounders and a flyout.

Tigers 6, Red Sox 5

DETROIT -- Rookie JaCoby Jones walked on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth inning to force in the go-ahead run that made Detroit's home opener a success.

Joe Kelly walked James McCann to load the bases before losing Jones on a full-count pitch. McCann's two-run homer in the seventh had given the Tigers a 4-0 lead.

Detroit's Michael Fulmer, making his first start since being named the 2016 American League Rookie of the Year, blanked Boston on four hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out four.

Nationals 7, Phillies 6

PHILADELPHIA -- Reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer threw 6 2/3 strong innings in his 2017 debut and Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy each belted a two-run homer as Washington spoiled Philadelphia's home opener.

Scherzer, who wasn't starting on Opening Day for the first time in the last three years due to a finger injury, looked like he hadn't missed a beat from 2016, which saw him win 20 games and his second career Cy Young Award.

The 32-year-old right-hander didn't allow a runner until Howie Kendrick's double with one out in the fourth inning. Scherzer was pulled with two outs in the seventh after throwing 98 pitches, allowing two runs and four hits while striking out seven and walking two to pick up the win.

Rockies 2, Dodgers 1

DENVER -- Kyle Freeland, making his major-league debut, overcame a shaky start to the first inning and held Los Angeles to one run and four hits in six innings.

Nolan Arenado doubled home a run in the first inning for the Rockies and Dustin Garneau put them ahead when he hit his first homer in the fifth.

Freeland retired the first two batters he faced but ended up throwing 26 pitches in the first and just 12 for strikes before escaping unscathed. He loaded the bases with two walks after Justin Turner's single but got Yasmani Grandal to hit into a force play.

Padres 7, Giants 6

SAN DIEGO -- Yangervis Solarte's four RBIs and rookie Manuel Margot's two homers lifted San Diego past San Francisco.

Brandon Belt, who had five RBIs, hit his second home run of the game in the eighth, a solo shot pulling the Giants to within 7-6. He smacked his first career grand slam in the sixth, momentarily giving the Giants a 5-4 edge.

Jose Torres worked a clean seventh for his first career win. Brandon Maurer pitched the ninth for his first save.

Twins 3, White Sox 1

CHICAGO -- Phil Hughes was sharp through six innings in his first start in nearly a year, Miguel Sano doubled in the tie-breaking run in sixth and the Minnesota defeated Chicago.

Chris Gimenez, making his first start for Minnesota, drove in an insurance run with a double in the seventh and singled. Robbie Grossman also doubled and singled for the Twins, who are off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1987 when they went on to win the first of two World Series championships in Minnesota.

Despite walking two with two outs in the ninth, Brandon Kintzler posted his second save in two nights. Tyler Duffey held Chicago in check in the seventh and eighth as Minnesota's bullpen extended its scoreless run to 13 innings to start the season.

Rangers 10, Athletics 5

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Nomar Mazara set a career high with six RBIs as Texas picked up its first win of the season.

Mazara, who went 3-for-5, hit his first career grand slam and also had an RBI single and a fielder's choice. He's only the second Texas player to have at least six RBIs in a game since the start of 2013. J.P. Arencibia had seven RBIs on July 29, 2014.

[to top of second column]

The Rangers built an 8-0 lead by beating up A's starter Raul Alcantara for the eight runs in just two innings. Texas scored three times in the first, with second baseman Rougned Odor crushing his third homer of the season.

Orioles 6, Yankees 5

BALTIMORE -- Seth Smith hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning as Baltimore came back from a four-run deficit.

The Yankees had taken a 5-1 lead thanks to early two-run homers from Matt Holliday and Gary Sanchez off Ubaldo Jimenez. But Manny Machado sliced the lead to one with a three-run shot in the fifth against New York starter Luis Severino.

Baltimore capitalized on Chase Headley's throwing error -- his second of the game -- that allowed Jonathan Schoop to reach starting the seventh. Two batters later, Smith homered off Tyler Clippard to put the Orioles on top for good.

Marlins 7, Mets 2

NEW YORK -- Derek Dietrich collected three RBIs and Christian Yelich hit a two-run homer as Miami ruined the major league return of New York right-hander Zack Wheeler.

Wheeler gave up five runs, six hits and one walk while striking out four in four innings in his first major league start since Sept. 25, 2014.

Dietrich opened Miami's scoring off Wheeler with a two-run triple in the second inning. Yelich hit a two-run homer in the third, and Marcell Ozuna (3-for-4) and Dietrich produced consecutive RBI singles in the fifth.

Rays 10, Blue Jays 8

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Tampa Bay scored five times in the first inning, managed to lose that lead, then rallied for a wild win over Toronto.

Steven Souza's two-run double put the Rays back ahead in the sixth, and five Tampa Bay relievers held off Toronto, whose pitchers gave up 13 hits and seven walks, their bullpen strained after starter Francisco Liriano lasted only one out.

Fitting for a rough night on the mound, the win went to reliever Xavier Cedeno, who issued two bases-loaded walks to put Toronto ahead and then retired a single batter before the Rays rallied in the sixth.

Royals 5, Astros 1

HOUSTON -- Alex Gordon's two-run double in the eighth inning broke open a tight game and propelled Kansas City to its first victory of the season.

Gordon's double off reliever Jandel Gustave brought home Brandon Moss and Alcides Escobar and followed a bases-loaded passed ball by Astros catcher Evan Gattis that allowed Salvador Perez to score.

Jason Vargas picked up the win for Kansas City. Making his fourth start since returning in September from Tommy John surgery, Vargas allowed one run and six hits in six-plus innings while striking out six and walking one.

Brewers 2, Cubs 1 (11 innings)

MILWAUKEE -- Mike Montgomery's wild pitch with one out and the bases loaded in the 11th inning was the difference in Milwaukee's win over Chicago.

Pitching in his third inning of work, Montgomery loaded the bases by hitting pinch-hitter Jett Bandy.

The Cubs moved six players to the infield and kept left field open for Manny Pina, but Montgomery's 0-2 offering skipped past home plate to allow Braun to score the winning run.

Angels 5, Mariners 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jesse Chavez gave up just four hits in 5 2/3 innings, Cameron Maybin and Kole Calhoun hit home runs and Los Angeles won its home opener at Angel Stadium.

For Chavez, the start was his first as an Angel and his first in the majors since Sept. 11, 2015, when he was a member of the Oakland A's. He pitched all of last season out of the bullpen for the Blue Jays and Dodgers.

He shut out the Mariners through five innings, then got help from the Angels bullpen -- Jose Alvarez, Bud Norris, Andrew Bailey and Blake Parker -- who combined to shut down Seattle for the final 3 1/3 innings and finish it off.

Diamondbacks 7, Indians 3

PHOENIX -- Paul Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead double in a five-run fifth inning and Yasmany Tomas and Brandon Drury drove in two runs apiece in Arizona's win over Cleveland.

Goldschmidt's double off Josh Tomlin gave Arizona a 4-3 lead, and Jake Lamb, Tomas and Drury followed with run-scoring hits in the inning.

Shelby Miller gave up three runs in 5 1-3 innings for his first home victory in his second season with the Diamondbacks

Back to top