George Springer hit his first home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays, who rallied to a 6-5 walk-off win against the Atlanta Braves.
Springer was lured to Toronto on a six-year, $150million contract from the Houston Astros via free agency – the largest deal in Blue Jays history – ahead of the 2021 MLB season and only made his long-awaited debut against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday due to injuries.
The prized recruit – still playing as a designated hitter – fuelled the Blue Jays with a pair of homers against the Braves on Saturday.
Toronto trailed 4-0 and 5-2 but Springer, who hit a two-run home run in the third inning and a 470-foot shot in the seventh to level the game at 5-5, helped the Blue Jays rally.
Randal Grichuk completed the comeback against the visiting Braves with an RBI single in the 10th inning.
There was also a walk-off win in Milwaukee, where the Brewers took down struggling World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5.
Travis Shaw homered and hit a game-winning single for the Brewers, who scored three runs in the 11th inning to beat the Dodgers for a third consecutive game.
Taillon celebrates first win in two years
It was a game to remember for Jameson Taillon. For the first time in two years, Taillon earned his first victory after the New York Yankees outlasted the Detroit Tigers 6-4. Taillon allowed one run, three hits and struck out eight batters over five innings.
The Colorado Rockies crushed the Arizona Diamondbacks 14-6 behind Dom Nunez's grand slam and a two-run homer via Trevor Story.
Blake Snell – a World Series participant with the Tampa Bay Rays and 2018 American League (AL) Cy Young Award winner – registered his first win for the San Diego Padres since arriving in the offseason. Snell gave up one earned run and five hits across five innings, striking out six as the Padres beat the San Francisco Giants 6-2. Manny Machado added a three-run homer.
Tim Anderson's grand slam – second of his career – guided the Chicago White Sox to a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Cahill's costly start
While Trevor Cahill regained his composure and control, it was too late for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were beaten 12-5 by the St Louis Cardinals. Cahill gave up four runs in the opening inning and the Pirates never recovered. Cahill allowed seven hits, five runs and a homer in just over five innings.
Trout loves Seattle
Mike Trout hit his seventh home run of the season to see the Los Angeles Angels past the Seattle Mariners 10-5. Trout clubbed his 28th homer in Seattle – his 10th career first-inning home run away to the Mariners. The Angels star is the only Mariners opponent with more than 20 homers in Seattle.
Saturday's results
New York Yankees 6-4 Detroit Tigers
Washington Nationals 7-2 Miami Marlins
Kansas City Royals 11-3 Minnesota Twins
Chicago White Sox 7-3 Cleveland Indians
Baltimore Orioles 8-4 Oakland Athletics
Chicago Cubs 3-2 Cincinnati Reds
Houston Astros 3-1 Tampa Bay Rays
New York Mets 5-4 Philadelphia Phillies
St Louis Cardinals 12-5 Pittsburgh Pirates
Texas Rangers 8-6 Boston Red Sox
Milwaukee Brewers 6-5 Los Angeles Dodgers
Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 Atlanta Braves
Colorado Rockies 14-6 Arizona Diamondbacks
San Diego Padres 6-2 San Francisco Giants
Los Angeles Angels 10-5 Seattle Mariners
Dodgers at Brewers
The Dodgers (16-12) will be looking to avoid a four-game sweep when their series against the Brewers (17-10) concludes on Sunday.
Diamondbacks acquire slugger Suarez from Mariners
The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired third baseman Eugenio Suarez from the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday in an attempt to bolster a position that lacked power during the team’s run to the World Series last season.
Arizona finished tied for 28th in Major League Baseball in 2023 with only 10 total home runs by its third baseman. Suarez, meanwhile, hit 22 homers of his own for Seattle.
“It adds a little bit of stability at that spot,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said. “He’s a guy we’ve liked for a long time.”
Suarez, 32, was a 2018 All-Star for the Cincinnati Reds, who traded him to the Mariners in March 2022.
He’s hit .248 with 246 home runs and 730 RBIs in 1,313 career games for Detroit, Cincinnati and Seattle.
The Mariners acquired reliever Carlos Vargas and catcher Seby Zavala from Arizona, which lost in five games to the Texas Rangers in the World Series after going 84-78 during the regular season.
Aaron Nola staying with Phillies on 7-year contract
Starting pitcher Aaron Nola has agreed to a seven-year contract to remain with the Philadelphia Phillies, multiple media outlets reported Sunday.
The deal is worth a reported $172million, as the Phillies keep a cornerstone piece in their rotation.
Nola, 30, is the first major free agent to come off the board in a class that is headlined by two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani and includes fellow hurlers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery.
Nola has spent his entire MLB career in Philadelphia and has finished in the top five of Cy Young award voting twice.
The right-hander saw his numbers slip a bit in 2023 with a 4.46 ERA but rebounded in the post-season with three quality starts and an ERA of 2.35 over 23 innings.
Nola and Zack Wheeler make up one of the best and most reliable rotation duos in baseball.
Since 2018, Nola has thrown 1,065 1/3 innings, the second most in the majors over that span. Wheeler is fourth on that list with 1,007 innings pitched.
Nola is one of five pitchers with at least 200 strikeouts in each of the last three seasons.
Nola was the priority in a vital offseason for the Phillies after making it to the World Series in 2022 and the NLCS last season but falling short of a title.
In 235 career starts, Nola has a 3.72 ERA and has 1,582 strikeouts in 1,422 innings pitched.
NHL: Rangers beat Devils to extend point streak to 11
Artemi Panarin and Jimmy Vesey each scored twice and the New York Rangers defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-3 on Saturday to extend their point streak to 11 games.
Panarin scored a first-period power-play goal and his second goal midway through the third forged a 3-3 tie.
He set a franchise record by running his season-opening point streak to a career-high 15 games, breaking the mark he shared with Rod Gilbert.
The 15-game point streak is the longest by a Ranger since Wayne Gretzky in 1996-97.
Igor Shesterkin returned after missing four games with an undisclosed injury and stopped 30 shots as the Rangers improved to 10-0-1 in their last 11 contests.
Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist in his return after missing five games with an upper-body injury, but New Jersey lost for the fourth time in five games.
Avalanche score 6 straight to beat Stars
Valeri Nichushkin ignited a four-goal third period and the Colorado Avalanche scored six unanswered goals in a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars.
Colorado’s Cale Makar became the fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 200 career assists with three in his 254th game.
Tyler Seguin’s second goal of the game early in the second period gave Dallas a 3-0 lead, but Colorado responded with goals by Miles Wood and Ryan Johansen to make it a one-goal game.
Nichushkin’s unassisted goal tied it at 4:19 of the third, Mikko Rantanan put the Avs on top with 5:28 remaining and Andrew Cogliano’s goal just 21 seconds later extended the advantage.
The Stars had a four-game winning streak snapped, while Colorado won its third in a row.
Ovechkin scores 827th as Capitals stay hot
Alex Ovechkin scored the 827th goal of his career to lead the surging Washington Capitals to a 4-3 win over the reeling Columbus Blue Jackets.
Hendrix Lapierre had a goal and two assists and Sonny Milano added a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won four straight and eight of 10.
Johnny Gaudreau, Justin Danforth and Ivan Provorov scored as Columbus dropped its eighth in a row (0-6-2).
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