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MLB roundup: Dodgers hit eight homers in historic win

[March 29, 2019] An Opening Day without Clayton Kershaw worked out just fine for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who crushed eight home runs and received six strong innings from fill-in starter Hyun-Jin Ryu in a 12-5 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Joc Pederson and Enrique Hernandez each hit two home runs as the Dodgers set a major league record for homers in a season opener and matched the club's mark for any game. Los Angeles hit three home runs in the fourth inning and three more in the seventh.

Arizona starter Zack Greinke (0-1) took the brunt of the damage, giving up four home runs in 3 2/3 innings. He yielded seven runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Christian Walker hit a home run for the Diamondbacks and drove in two runs.

Greinke, the former Dodgers co-ace, has now given up 14 home runs in 34 innings at Dodger Stadium since joining the Diamondbacks before the start of the 2016 season.

Padres 2, Giants 0

Left-hander Eric Lauer and four relievers combined on a five-hit shutout and left fielder Wil Myers drove in both San Diego runs with a 456-foot homer and a single in a win over visiting San Francisco and Madison Bumgarner.

The win ended a run of four straight season-opening losses and put the Padres above .500 for the first time since June 9, 2015, when they were 30-29. Third baseman Manny Machado, signed to a 10-year, $300 million contract in the offseason, went hitless in three at-bats for the Padres.

The game also marked the major league debut of shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who at 20 years and 85 days, is the youngest Padres player to start on Opening Day and the youngest major leaguer to debut on Opening Day since Adrian Beltre in 1999. Tatis was 2-for-3 in his debut, including a bunt single.

Rockies 6, Marlins 3

David Dahl went 3-for-4 and Trevor Story homered as visiting Colorado opened the season with a win at Miami.

Left-hander Kyle Freeland (1-0), who went 17-7 last season and finished fourth in the National League Cy Young race, earned the win in his first Opening Day start. He allowed just two hits, one walk and one run in seven innings, striking out five.

Dahl's hit bounced off pitcher Jose Urena's left leg in the second inning, but the Marlins pitcher (0-1) stayed in the game and allowed nine hits and six runs (four earned) in 4 2/3 innings.

Mets 2, Nationals 0

New York right-hander Jacob deGrom pitched six scoreless innings and Robinson Cano had a solo homer in the first inning and an RBI single in the eighth in a win over Washington in the season opener before a sellout crowd of 42,263 in Washington, D.C.

The reigning Cy Young winner, deGrom (1-0) was lifted after allowing five hits and one walk with 10 strikeouts. He threw 93 pitches, 59 for strikes.

The Nationals' Max Scherzer (0-1) was lifted with two outs in the eighth in favor of Justin Miller, who came on with a runner on first and gave up a single to Mets rookie Pete Alonso, who got his first big-league hit. Scherzer gave up two runs on two hits with 12 strikeouts.

Brewers 5, Cardinals 4

Christian Yelich belted a three-run homer and Lorenzo Cain made a leaping catch for the final out as host Milwaukee defeated St. Louis in their season opener.

Mike Moustakas launched a solo homer and starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin (1-0) did the same to highlight his two-hit performance. Chacin overcame surrendering back-to-back homers by Kolten Wong and Harrison Bader in the second to toss 5 1/3 strong innings. Wong also homered to lead off the seventh, joining Albert Pujols as the lone Cardinals players to record a multi-homer performance on Opening Day.

Josh Hader struck out the side in the eighth on 11 pitches and fanned Dexter Fowler in the ninth before Jose Martinez's towering shot to center field was caught as Cain extended his glove over the wall. Hader notched his first save.

Reds 5, Pirates 3

Derek Dietrich's pinch-hit three-run homer in his first at-bat with Cincinnati helped open the season with a win over visiting Pittsburgh.

Reds starter Luis Castillo, leaning heavily on an effective changeup, pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up one run and two hits, with three walks and eight strikeouts. Zach Duke (1-0) pitched two-thirds of an inning.

Pittsburgh starter Jameson Taillon (0-1) lasted six-plus innings. He allowed four runs and six hits, with two walks and four strikeouts.

Phillies 10, Braves 4

Rhys Hoskins hit a grand slam, Maikel Franco homered and had three RBIs and host Philadelphia cruised to a win over Atlanta.

Andrew McCutchen opened the scoring with a solo home run for the Phillies. Prized free agent Bryce Harper, who signed a 13-year, $330 million contract, went 0-for-3 with an intentional walk.

Phillies starter Aaron Nola (1-0) allowed two hits and one run in six innings. He had some control issues as he struck out eight and walked five. Braves starter Julio Teheran (0-1) lasted five innings and gave up four hits and three runs while striking out seven before being lifted.

Mariners 12, Red Sox 4

Tim Beckham hit two of Seattle's five home runs in a home victory over visiting Boston.

Boston allowed the most runs ever by a defending World Series champion in its season opener, according to ESPN, as Edwin Encarnacion, Ryon Healy and Domingo Santana also homered for Seattle, which improved to 3-0 after sweeping a two-game series against Oakland in Tokyo last week.

Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales (2-0) got the win despite allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four and issued one walk. Red Sox lefty Chris Sale (0-1) yielded seven runs on six hits in three innings. The seven runs matched the most Sale has allowed since joining Boston in a December 2016 trade from the Chicago White Sox.

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Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Joc Pederson (31) follows through on a swing for a two-run home run during the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Astros 5, Rays 1

Justin Verlander pitched seven strong innings, George Springer hit a three-run homer and visiting Houston opened the season with a win against Tampa Bay.

Michael Brantley and Jose Altuve each had two hits including a home run for the defending American League West champion Astros.

Verlander, the 2018 American League Cy Young Award runner-up, outpitched defending Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell. In his 11th Opening Day start, Verlander (1-0) allowed a run on three hits with nine strikeouts and a walk over 102 pitches. Snell (0-1) lasted six innings, allowing five runs on six hits -- three of them home runs.

Tigers 2, Blue Jays 0

Christin Stewart hit a two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning, Jordan Zimmermann allowed only a single in seven superb innings and visiting Detroit defeated Toronto.

Niko Goodrum led off the 10th with a double against Toronto reliever Daniel Hudson (0-1), the first extra-base hit of the game. Stewart followed with a home run on an 0-2 pitch, the fourth hit by the Tigers and only the sixth hit combined by both teams.

Victor Alcantara (1-0) allowed only a one-out single to Brandon Drury in the bottom of the ninth, his only inning.

Yankees 7, Orioles 2

Luke Voit hit a three-run homer and tied a career high with four RBIs while Masahiro Tanaka pitched effectively into the sixth inning as New York recorded a victory in its season opener over visiting Baltimore.

After homering 14 times in 132 at-bats last summer following a trade from St. Louis, Voit homered on the fifth pitch he saw from Andrew Cashner (0-1). Voit hit New York's first homer of the season when he lifted a 3-1 slider 428 feet to straightaway center field on to the netting above Monument Park.

Tanaka (1-0) came into the game 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA in three Opening Day starts but encountered few difficulties, allowing two runs (one earned) and six hits. He struck out five, walked none and threw 56 of 83 pitches for strikes.

Royals 5, White Sox 3

Brad Keller made sure his selection as the Opening Day starter was rewarded, as he helped host Kansas City defeat Chicago. The start of the game was delayed by an hour and 46 minutes because of rain.

Keller (1-0) was almost untouchable. He pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and walking just one and striking out five.

Carlos Rodon (0-1) was nearly as good as Keller before he appeared to run out of gas in the sixth. He pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on just three hits. He walked one and struck out six.

Twins 2, Indians 0

Right-hander Jose Berrios allowed two hits over 7 2/3 innings and Marwin Gonzalez had a two-run double as Minnesota presented Rocco Baldelli a victory in Minneapolis over defending American League Central-champion Cleveland in his major league managerial debut.

Berrios, making his first career Opening Day start, walked one and struck out 10. The 10 strikeouts were an Opening Day record for the Twins.

Corey Kluber, tying the franchise record set by Stan Coveleski (1917-21) with his fifth consecutive Opening Day start for the Indians, no-hit the Twins for 5 1/3 innings before giving up a line double to Byron Buxton that one-hopped the fence in left. Buxton went to third on long fly out by Max Kepler but was stranded when Jorge Polanco popped to third.

A's 4, Angels 0

Right-hander Mike Fiers allowed just one hit in six shutout innings and was supported by a two-home run attack as Oakland celebrated its Opening Day on U.S. soil with a victory over visiting Los Angeles.

Fiers (1-1), who was roughed up for five runs in three innings when the A's opened with a 9-7 loss to Seattle in Japan last week, took a no-hitter one out into the fifth inning before Tommy La Stella crushed a double to center field.

Right-hander Trevor Cahill (0-1) took the loss, allowing all four Oakland runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one, facing the team that employed him last season.

Cubs 12, Rangers 4

Javier Baez hit two homers and drove in four runs to lead Chicago to a season-opening win against Texas in Arlington, Texas.

Baez became the first Cubs player with a multi-homer game in the season opener since Corey Patterson in 2003. David Bote, Jason Heyward and Albert Almora Jr. also had two hits each, and Kris Bryant drove in two of his three runs with an eighth-inning homer for Chicago.

Cubs left-hander Jon Lester (1-0) went six innings, allowing two runs and four hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Texas left-hander Mike Minor (0-1) pitched 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs and five hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

--Field Level Media

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