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• Padres, Cronenworth agree seven-year, $80m extension

  All-Star infielder Jake Cronenworth has agreed to a seven-year extension worth $80million with the San Diego Padres, according to multiple reports.

  Cronenworth's new contract is scheduled to begin in 2024 and serves as a reward for his impressive consistency for the Padres.

  According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the deal buys out five free agent seasons and marks the biggest ever for a 29-year-old with under four years of service in the majors.

  Cronenworth did not make his MLB debut until 26 but has emerged as a key contributor for San Diego.

  Last season, he had a batting average of .239, an on-base percentage of .332 and a slugging percentage of .390, hitting 17 home runs and 88 RBI as he was named to the NL All-Star team for the second successive campaign.

  The Padres have made an 0-2 start to the season following successive defeats to the Colorado Rockies.

• Yordan Alvarez clears the bases in Astros comeback, Chisholm goes deep against the Mets

  World Series hero Yordan Alvarez came to the Houston Astros' rescue again on Friday with a bases-clearing double to ignite a 6-3 comeback win against the Chicago White Sox.

  Alvarez, who hit the go-ahead home run in the clinching Game 6 of the World Series in November, was 0-2 with a walk when he stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning with two outs and the bases loaded.

  He got on a hanging sinker and drove it to deep left-centre, cannoning off the wall for a three-run double to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 5-3 lead.

  It comes after Alvarez connected on an Opening Day home run in Thursday's loss, as he continues to make his case as arguably the best left-handed hitter in the sport.

  While Alvarez got the Astros over the line, it was Kyle Tucker initially sparking the comeback, finally getting Houston on the board with a two-run homer in the sixth inning.

  White Sox third-baseman Yoan Moncada was the only player to record three hits in the game – including a ground-rule double to bring in Chicago's third run – but the road team could not get anything going after Astros starter Cristian Javier was taken out of the game.

  The Astros bullpen – with an inning each from Phil Maton, Seth Martinez, Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero – combined for four scoreless frames, with five strikeouts, three hits and no walks.

  Soler, Chisholm and Luzardo get the Marlins back on track

  After dropping their home opener with reigning Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara on the mound, the Miami Marlins rode a strong start from Jesus Luzardo to a 2-1 triumph against the New York Mets.

  Luzardo pitched five-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless action, striking out five while walking four and allowing just two hits. 

  He was given an early lead to work with after Jorge Soler's second-inning solo home run, and rising star Jazz Chisholm Jr doubled the advantage with another solo shot in the eighth.

  New York's top hitter Pete Alonso made it a contest again with his first home run of the year off Marlins closer A.J. Puk in the ninth, but Puk was able to finish off the save.

  Padres fall to surprise 0-2 start

  The Colorado Rockies have handed the San Diego Padres a rocky start to their season after sealing at least a road series split with a 4-1 victory.

  The Rockies came into San Diego and upset the Padres on Opening Day with a 7-2 result, and despite being one of the World Series favourites, the home side's offense failed to fire yet again in a poor display.

  Kim Ha-seong finished with three of the Padres' five total hits, while Yonathan Daza, Elehuris Montero and Charlie Blackmon all collected multiple hits for the Rockies, highlighted by Blackmon's two-run homer in the fifth inning.

  The Padres will hope to right the ship in the third of their four-game series on Saturday.

• Ohtani calls own pitches, beats clock, Ks 10, allows no runs... and loses

  Los Angeles Angels reliever Aaron Loup was embarrassed to inflict an unwanted MLB first on team-mate Shohei Ohtani despite his latest superstar showing.

  The Angels lost 2-1 to the Oakland Athletics on Opening Day, but they had led 1-0 through Ohtani's six innings, in which he sent down 10 strikeouts.

  Loup then came in for what he described as "probably the most embarrassing outing of my career".

  It was the first time since at least 1901 a pitcher's team had lost on Opening Day after he had 10 Ks and no runs allowed. They had previously been 25-0 in such circumstances.

  Ohtani's performance was all the more remarkable as he called his own pitches, using the recently approved PitchCom, in response to the introduction of the pitch clock.

  An early mix-up required catcher Logan O'Hoppe to ask Ohtani to re-enter the code in the device, which was soon ditched for the remainder of the first inning.

  All went smoothly thereafter, though, and O'Hoppe said: "He probably could have been more unhittable if we had PitchCom in the first inning."

  So quickly did the two-way sensation master the new process, Ohtani was regularly keying in his pitch before the pitch clock had even begun.

  He explained the nature of a visit from home-plate umpire Adrian Johnson at the end of the fifth inning, saying: "He told me I was pitching a little early – before the batter was in the box."

  The A's scarcely threatened to disrupt Ohtani's shutout, and he had the answer when they did.

  With only one out and runners on second and third in the fourth inning, he struck out Jesus Aguilar and Ramon Laureano in quick succession.

  Mike Trout reflected: "That sequence right there... he went from dominant to unhittable."

  Ultimately, however, it was not enough, with Ohtani himself restricted to only one hit as a batter, a single in the same fourth inning.

  "We got a lot of guys on base, got a few guys in scoring position, but we just lacked that one big hit," Ohtani said. "Obviously we want to score more."

  Manager Phil Nevin added: "We're going to score more runs, I'm not worried about that. It's just opening night. Baseball gets weird sometimes."