MLB World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers broke their slump with a 16-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Dodgers arrested a three-game skid and avoided a series sweep at the hands of the Brewers thanks to Sunday's onslaught.
A.J. Pollock and Matt Beaty fuelled the Dodgers with grand slams off Brewers rookie Alec Bettinger in each of the first two innings.
Pollock had two home runs and eight RBI, while Beaty contributed four hits and seven RBI against the Brewers as they became the first Dodger duo in history to record seven-plus RBI in the same game.
Elsewhere, the Cincinnati Reds topped the Chicago Cubs 13-12 in a wild walk-off win.
Nick Castellanos – who also clubbed two home runs – hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning to lead the Reds past the Cubs in an epic encounter.
"It felt like a playoff game, to be honest with you," Cubs manager David Ross said. "Back and forth. Heavyweight fight. Wind blowing out in Cincinnati. And we just came up on the short end."
Scherzer sizzles as Kluber celebrates 100th win
Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer dominated in a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins. Scherzer – who carried a shutout into the ninth inning – pitched a five-hitter, finishing with nine strikeouts, five hits and no walks before hurrying to the hospital for the birth of his third child.
Corey Kluber earned his 100th career victory as the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0. A two-time Cy Young Award winner, Kluber gave up two hits in eight innings, walking one and striking out 10 batters – his first 10-strikeout game since September 2018. He became the 17th active pitcher in the majors to reach 100 wins.
Andrelton Simmons and Mitch Garver homered in a seven-run third inning to inspire the Minnesota Twins' 13-4 rout of the Kansas City Royals.
Marcus Semien homered and drove in four runs as the Toronto Blue Jays swept the Atlanta Braves with a 7-2 triumph. Toronto's Bo Bichette carried an historic start into the game, with a franchise record 124 hits, 69 runs, 32 doubles, 23 homers and 56 extra-base hits through his first 100 career games.
Bettinger schooled on debut
It was a forgettable first MLB appearance for Milwaukee's Bettinger. Having never pitched above Double-A previously, debutant Bettinger gave up 11 runs against the Dodgers. He allowed 11 hits and two walks in four innings, while hitting a batter and striking out none.
Tatis homer!
The San Diego Padres lost 7-1 to rivals the San Francisco Giants but Fernando Tatis Jr. stayed hot. Tatis homered for the eighth time this season as he became the first player to record 40-plus home runs and 30-plus stolen bases in his first 162 career games.
Sunday's results
New York Yankees 2-0 Detroit Tigers
Washington Nationals 3-1 Miami Marlins
St Louis Cardinals 3-0 Pittsburgh Pirates
Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds 13-12 Chicago Cubs
Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 Houston Astros
Cleveland Indians 5-0 Chicago White Sox
Minnesota Twins 13-4 Kansas City Royals
Los Angeles Dodgers 16-4 Milwaukee Brewers
Texas Rangers 5-3 Boston Red Sox
Oakland Athletics 7-5 Baltimore Orioles
Seattle Mariners 2-0 Los Angeles Angels
Arizona Diamondbacks 8-4 Colorado Rockies
San Francisco Giants 7-1 San Diego Padres
New York Mets 8-7 Philadelphia Phillies
Rays at Angels
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani will take to the mound for the Angels (13-13), who host the Rays (14-15) on Monday.
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."
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