LDN - Sports

Baseball roundup: Morton, Astros roll in home opener

[April 03, 2018] Charlie Morton reprised his dominant pitching from last postseason, and the Houston Astros rode a balanced offensive attack to a 6-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday in the home opener at Minute Maid Park.

Morton (1-0) continued what has been a sterling start for Astros starters, twirling six scoreless innings while allowing three hits and two walks with six strikeouts. The Astros completed one turn through their rotation allowing six earned runs over 30 1/3 innings (1.78 ERA) with 36 strikeouts.

His effort dovetailed with the Astros unveiling their 2017 World Series banner during a pregame ceremony. Morton was the pitcher of record in both Game 7s that Houston won last postseason, shining as the starter against the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series before relieving against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

Marwin Gonzalez homered to help Houston jump out to a 6-0 lead and cruise to the win.

Diamondbacks 8, Dodgers 7 (15 innings)

Pinch hitter Jeff Mathis delivered the game-winning single with one out in the bottom of the 15th inning as Arizona rallied for a victory over visiting Los Angeles in the longest game in Chase Field history.

Mathis won the game by lining a 1-0 curveball from Wilmer Font (0-1) to center field, scoring Nick Ahmed. Two batters earlier, Ahmed delivered the game-tying double as Jake Lamb scored on a headfirst slide.

Mathis' hit occurred more than two hours after Chris Owings hit a three-run, game-tying homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth off Kenley Jansen.

Cardinals 8, Brewers 4

Miles Mikolas won his first major league start since 2014 and also cracked a tiebreaking two-run homer in the fifth inning to give St. Louis the lead for good in Milwaukee's home opener.

Mikolas (1-0) worked 5 2/3 innings, becoming the first St. Louis starter in four games to get an out in the sixth inning. He permitted seven hits and four runs, walking none and whiffing five.

He also provided a stunning boost with the bat, snapping a 2-2 deadlock in the fifth when he turned on a fastball right down the middle from Zach Davies (0-1) with Jedd Gyorko on base after Davies plunked him with two outs. Mikolas' first big-league hit traveled 407 feet into the seats in left-center.

Reds 1, Cubs 0

Raisel Iglesias struck out Anthony Rizzo with the bases-loaded to escape an eighth-inning jam as Cincinnati held on for a victory over visiting Chicago.

Cincinnati's Tyler Mahle (1-0) matched a career best by pitching six innings in his fifth career start. The only hit Mahle allowed was a two-out triple to Javier Baez in the second inning.

Eugenio Suarez scored the game's lone run when he tripled and came around on Adam Duvall's groundout in the fourth inning.

Pirates 5, Twins 4

Colin Moran hit his first career grand slam and Jameson Taillon struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings as Pittsburgh remained unbeaten with a victory over visiting Minnesota.

Gregory Polanco reached base five times on a double and four walks as the Pirates (4-0) prevailed in their home opener. Taillon (1-0) allowed two runs and four hits and didn't issue a walk in his first start of the season.

George Kontos worked a perfect ninth for his first save of the season after regular closer Felipe Rivero registered two saves in a doubleheader on Sunday.

Tigers 6, Royals 1

Francisco Liriano gave up just one run in his Detroit debut, Victor Martinez drove in three runs and the Tigers downed visiting Kansas City for their first victory of the season.

Liriano gave up four hits in 6 2/3 innings with two walks and three strikeouts. Nicholas Castellanos had two hits, two runs and an RBI while Miguel Cabrera scored and drove in a run for Detroit, which was swept in a three-game weekend series by Pittsburgh.

Leonys Martin added two hits and a run scored in Ron Gardenhire's first win as the Tigers manager. The teams were playing the opener of a three-game series.

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Blue Jays 4, White Sox 2

Russell Martin hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the seventh inning, and Toronto held on for a win over visiting Chicago.

Josh Donaldson and Aledmys Diaz also homered for Toronto, which improved to 3-2 on its opening homestand.

Welington Castillo homered twice in a losing effort as Chicago took its first loss in three games this season.

Red Sox 7, Marlins 3

Boston won its fourth consecutive game in Florida, beating Miami.

Christian Vazquez went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Red Sox. Hanley Ramirez had two hits and clubbed a two-run homer, Mookie Betts had two hits and a solo homer, and Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts added two hits apiece.

Boston left-hander Brian Johnson (1-0) scattered six hits and allowed one run in six innings.

Nationals 8, Braves 1

Bryce Harper hit a three-run home run as Washington won its fourth straight game to start the season, beating host Atlanta.

Tanner Roark allowed one run in seven innings for the victory, giving the Nationals their first 4-0 start to a season in franchise history.

Braves starter Sean Newcomb surrendered six runs, five earned, before exiting after 4 1/3 innings.

Indians 6, Angels 0

Mike Clevinger threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings and was supported by three home runs in Cleveland's road win over Los Angeles.

Edwin Encarnacion, Yonder Alonso and Tyler Naquin all connected off JC Ramirez (0-1) to spoil the Angels' home opener. Encarnacion did it the hard way, circling the bases at full speed for an inside-the-park homer.

Clevinger (1-0) gave up four hits, walked two and struck out five against an Angels offense that averaged 5.5 runs in the season's first four games.

A's 3, Rangers 1

Matt Chapman homered and Jed Lowrie broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run double, lifting Oakland to a victory over visiting Texas.

Andrew Triggs struck out seven in five innings for the A's before three relievers combined for shutout ball over the final four innings, allowing Oakland to snap a three-game losing streak.

Veteran Bartolo Colon also pitched well for the Rangers, giving up Chapman's third-inning home run but no other runs in his six innings.

Rockies 7, Padres 4

Ian Desmond hit an RBI double and a two-run homer, and Charlie Blackmon added two doubles, a solo homer and a runs-saving catch to lead Colorado to a victory at San Diego.

The loss was the fourth straight for the Padres, their longest losing streak to start a season since the 1994 edition also opened with four straight losses.

Chad Bettis (1-0) held San Diego to two runs on five hits and four walks over five innings. He struck out four.

Rays at Yankees, ppd.

The scheduled game between Tampa Bay and host New York was postponed due to snow. The clubs will play a makeup game Tuesday.

Phillies at Mets, ppd.

The scheduled game between Philadelphia and host New York was postponed due to snow. The contest will be made up on July 9 as part of a single-admission doubleheader.

--Field Level Media

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