The San Francisco Giants locked up ace Logan Webb for the next five years, agreeing to a $90million extension with the right-hander on Friday that will keep him with the team through the 2028 season.

Webb struggled in his first two seasons with the Giants before he had a breakout campaign in 2021, going 11-3 with a 3.03 ERA in 27 appearances. He followed that up by compiling a 15-9 mark in 2022 with a 2.90 ERA and 163 strikeouts in 192 innings.

Webb, who grew up in nearby Rocklin, California, will earn $4.6m this season in his first year of arbitration eligibility, and would have been eligible for free agency after the 2025 season. He will receive an $8m salary next year, $12m in 2025, $23m each in 2026 and 2027 and $24m in 2028.

"It was just important for me to be able to say I can wear a Giants uniform for a long time," Webb said. "It's important for not only myself but my family and especially my community back home.

"I know they're very excited. There's a lot of diehard Giants fans in Rocklin, California. This is where I want to be – it's an honour."

Webb was the Giants' opening day starter this season, but has got off to a slow start with an 0-3 record and a 4.76 ERA in three starts.

"I've got to be a lot better, the team knows that, I know that and I'm excited to start showing that. I think I'm really close," Webb said. "It does show they have a lot of faith in me, and some of the stuff that's happened the first couple games is not going to happen hopefully very often.

"I don't think anybody, myself especially, thought I'd be 0-3 to start the season, but I'm excited to fix that, excited to get back to that winning baseball not only for myself but for our team."

Webb is 31-22 with a 3.59 ERA in five major league seasons.

Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux showered Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani in praise on Thursday, comparing him to legends Babe Ruth, Nolan Ryan and Barry Bonds.

Ohtani, 28, is the most unique talent in the sport today. A dominating starting pitcher who has also racked up 80 home runs over the past two seasons, he trails only New York Yankees star Aaron Judge for the MLB's most long-balls since the beginning of 2021.

As well as his terrific power hitting, Ohtani's six-foot-four frame also can produce fastballs eclipsing 101mp/h, and his 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings had him second in the majors among qualifying starters last season, only narrowly behind former San Francisco Giant Carlos Rodon (12.0).

Maddux himself has a remarkable resume, becoming the first player to ever win four Cy Young Awards in a row between 1992-95, and during an appearance on ESPN radio show 'Canty and Carlin' he shared his admiration for Ohtani.

"He's one of the top two or three pitchers in the game and he's one of the top two or three power hitters in the game," he said. "We've never seen a player like that before, and it's definitely fun to watch. 

"You can watch him throw a shutout one night and go deep the next night. It's kind of special to see a guy that good just dominate as much as he does.

"He kind of reminds you of Nolan Ryan, and then he reminds you of freaking Barry Bonds. He's both of those guys, I mean he's got great stuff and he can hit a home run with the best of anybody. 

"Nobody else has done it before, I mean the last guy was who, maybe Babe Ruth? Nobody's been able to do that."

Ohtani was named the 2021 AL MVP, and it took a historic season from Judge to deny him the award in 2022. After an MVP performance in March's World Baseball Classic, Ohtani is again the favourite to be crowned the AL's top talent.

Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash reflected on a "pretty amazing" achievement on Thursday after his side improved their perfect start to 13-0.

The Rays defeated the Boston Red Sox 9-3 to bring up their 13th consecutive win, tying the 1982 Atlanta Braves and the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers for the best start to a season in modern history.

Tampa Bay are seven games away from tying the overall record of 20-0, set 139 years ago by the St Louis Maroons back in 1884.

They did it with a fifth-inning surge, where they turned a 3-1 deficit into an 8-3 lead. A double and three singles brought in three Rays runs to jump ahead by one, and after Wander Franco was hit by a pitch, Manuel Margot surprised even his manager with his decision.

With bases loaded and two outs, Margot opted to drop a first-pitch bunt down the third-base line, safely reaching first, bringing another run in and keeping the inning alive.

Designated hitter Harold Ramirez took full advantage, following with a bases-clearing double to take the contest by the scruff of the neck.

Speaking after the win, Cash was asked what the most impressive aspect of their current run has been.

"Just the overall quality of our at-bats," he said. "I can't say that we foresaw that coming, but we've got a bunch of guys who are seeing the ball well right now.

"We've come up with some timely hitting – [tonight] might have been the mostly timely to-date. But we got momentum, and it just seemed like it was going to continue to roll.

"Manny's at-bat, the bases-loaded bunt – it certainly shocked me – and then Harold comes up and hits a double down the line to open up the game.

"I think we were all pretty shocked [by the bunt]... but it worked."

Touching on their 13-0 record after series sweeps against the Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Oakland Athletics and now the Red Sox, Cash said it is rare to have everything clicking like this.

"Pretty amazing," he said. "Congrats to all of our guys, and I'm glad that we did it at home, because we had tremendous fan support throughout this entire home stand. They really got loud when we needed them to, and it seemed like our guys were energised by that.

"When you do something like that you're playing really well. There's not one part of our game right now that we don't feel good about.

"We want to be really good with our roster from 14-15 throughout 40, and we feel like we are. We've got many guys who are going to contribute during the season, and many guys that have already contributed.

"To go on a run like this everything's got to be clicking, and you've got to get contributions from all parts of your roster."

Tampa Bay's 13-game winning streak also sets a new franchise record for longest winning streak at any point of a season, eclipsing their 12 wins in a row during the 2004 campaign.

The Tampa Bay Rays tied the record for the best start to an MLB season since 1884 after defeating the Boston Red Sox 9-3 on Thursday to improve to 13-0.

To reach 13-0, the Rays completed their fourth consecutive series sweep to begin the campaign. They began their season at home with a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers, before a three-game sweep at the Washington Nationals, followed by a three-game sweep of the visiting Oakland Athletics.

Thursday's victory polished off a four-game series against the Red Sox, and while the whole team is in great touch, nobody is swinging a hotter bat than second-baseman Brandon Lowe.

Lowe, 28, hit a solo home run in the seventh inning, marking his fifth game with a home run from his past six starts. He has made the most of his extra-base hits, with only one double and no triples, as five of his 11 total hits this season have cleared the wall.

Tampa Bay ended up scoring the last eight runs of the contest, as the Red Sox opened up a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning thanks to a home run from Rob Refsnyder and RBIs to Enrique Hernandez and Justin Turner.

But a seven-run explosion from the Rays at the bottom of the fifth turned the tide, highlighted by a bases-clearing double from designated hitter Harold Ramirez as one of his three hits on the day.

Tampa Bay starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs was forced to leave earlier than planned in the fourth innings due to inflammation in his elbow, but that only put a slight damper on the evening as they joined the 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1987 Milwaukee Brewers as the only teams since 1884 to reach 13-0.

One more win on the road against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday would give the Rays the best post-1900 start to a season, with 20-0 the overall record set by the 1884 St Louis Maroons.

Rutschman nails walk-off homer for Baltimore

Elite young catcher Adley Rutschman was the hero as he connected on a walk-off home run to give the Baltimore Orioles an 8-7 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

In a back-and-forth contest where the teams combined for 21 hits, Rutschman himself was hit-less from four at-bats when he stepped up for a fifth time to lead off the bottom of the ninth.

He saw two fastballs, and connected on the second, sending it 405 feet to right-center field and ending the game.

Orioles shortstop Jorge Mateo collected his league-leading seventh stolen base, while team-mate Cedric Mullins stole his sixth to sit in a tie for second.

Twins hammer Yankees rookie

It was a day to forget for New York Yankees rookie starting pitcher Jhony Brito as he was only able to secure two outs before being pulled in his side's 11-2 home loss to the Minnesota Twins.

Brito gave up six hits and a walk, punctuated by a two-run Michael Taylor homer to put the Twins up 7-0 in the first inning. Brito was pulled, but his replacement Colten Brewer gave up two more solo homers before the end of the first.

Taylor ended up hitting his second two-run homer of the game in the third inning, before Anthony Rizzo added a pair of consolation solo home runs to put the Yankees on the board.

The Tampa Bay Rays claimed a franchise record and moved a step closer to an MLB record with Wednesday's 9-7 win over the Boston Red Sox that extended their season-opening streak to 12 wins.

The Rays improved to 12-0 with the win that included only one home run this time, coming from Randy Arozarena's first-inning opposite field three-run blast.

Taj Bradley fanned eight batters across five innings on his majors debut, allowing five hits, one walk and three runs, before Rafael Devers tightened up the scoreline with a three-run homer in the seventh inning.

But Arozarena's eighth-inning sacrifice fly meant Tampa Bay had done enough to extend their winning streak, meaning they are one short of matching the 13-0 starts by the Milwaukee Brewers (1987) and the Atlanta Braves (1982) which are the longest ever in MLB history.

The Rays matched a franchise record for a winning streak, previously 12 in a row from June 2004.

Tampa Bay have outscored their opponents 92-27 through the first dozen games, blasting 30 homers, which is only bettered by the 2019 Seattle Mariners (32) and the 2000 St Louis Cardinals (31).

Arozarena was struck out twice had four RBIs while Wander Franco went three-for-five with two RBIs and two runs.

Franco's fourth-inning two-run double opened up a 6-1 lead but the Red Sox did well to rally after reliever Zack Kelly left in the fifth with right elbow pain, while Devers snapped a run of 10 hitless at-bats.

The Rays can match the MLB record 13-0 season-opening start when they face the Red Sox again on Thursday.

Yankees win after Boone tossed & ump hospitalised

Aaron Boone was ejected early and Franchy Cordero homered for the fourth time this season as the New York Yankees rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-3.

Yankees manager Boone was tossed in the first inning following a confusing play, while second base umpire Larry Vanover was taken to hospital during the fifth after being struck in the face by a relay throw.

Vanover was struck in a bizarre sequence from Kyle Higashiakoa's RBI single, with the incident allowing Isiah Kiner-Falefa to score after Oswaldo Cabrera had plated.

Cordero tied the game with a 439-feet seventh-inning blast, before Cabrera's ninth-inning go-ahead single. Closer Clay Holmes was nervy, loading the bases on a hit batter, but finished the job.

Bregman finds form as Astros triumph

Alex Bregman homered for the second straight game as the inconsistent Houston Astros thrashed the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-0.

Bregman's three-run blast in the seventh inning opened up a 5-0 lead, after rookie outfielder Corey Julks crushed his maiden homer into left field in the fourth inning.

The Astros rode the pitching of Jose Urquidy who allowed only two hits – both singles - and three walks across six scoreless innings, striking out two.

The Tampa Bay Rays extended their season-opening winning streak to 11 games with Brandon Lowe homering for the fourth straight game in a 7-2 triumph over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

The relentless Rays moved closer to history with the win where starter Shane McClanahan put in a strong display fanning nine batters across five innings allowing two hits and one run.

Tampa Bay are within reach of matching the best-ever MLB start since 1900, which is 13 wins held by the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers and the 1982 Atlanta Braves.

The Rays continued their dominant ways, after Monday's 1-0 win over the Red Sox, with an 83-20 run differential across those 11 games.

Brandon Lowe, Yandy Diaz, Isaac Paredes and Josh Lowe all homered for the Rays, who were 5-0 up after five innings.

Diaz and Brandon Lowe hit back-to-back solo homers with two out in the fifth inning to open up the 5-0 lead.

Tampa Bay have 29 homers across 11 games, which is a joint majors record through 11 games alongside the 2000 St Louis Cardinals.

Mountcastle rips franchise record in O's rally

Ryan Mountcastle hit a grand slam and a three-run homer to tie a franchise record nine RBIs to fire the Baltimore Orioles to a 12-8 win over the Oakland Athletics.

The A's led 7-3 in the fifth inning before Mountcastle led the rally with a three-run blast at the bottom of the same inning to bring it back to a one-run game.

Mountcastle produced his grand slam in the seventh with a 456-foot homer to left field, after Austin Hays, who had four hits, singled to drive in Gunnar Henderson.

The O's first baseman went three-for-four with two runs and nine RBIs, while Grayson Rodriguez sent down six strikeouts but allowed six hits, four walks and five runs in his home debut.

Cordero and Cole star in Yankees triumph

Franchy Cordero blasted a three-run homer and Gerrit Cole rallied after the Cleveland Guardians' fast start as the New York Yankees prevailed 11-2 to improve their record to 7-4.

Cole gave up two runs and three hits in the first inning but responded with six scoreless innings, finishing with three strikeouts, allowing only five hits.

Cordero's 368-feet blast opened up a 6-2 lead as the Yankees piled on five runs in the third inning, with Anthony Rizzo going two-for-three for two RBIs while Aaron Judge went two-for-five with one run.

New York Yankees offseason acquisition Carlos Rodon is dealing with back tightness along with a left forearm injury further delaying his return.

The 30-year-old left-hander joined the Yankees from the San Francisco Giants in December on a six-year, $162 million contract.

But Rodon is yet to debut for the Yankees due to a forearm injury which he suffered in spring training, remaining on the injured list.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed on Tuesday prior to their 11-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians that Rodon also had another issue holding him back.

"Rodon has back tightness. It's kind of delayed his next live [session] which was supposed to be yesterday/today," Boone told Talkin' Yanks.

"So it's probably going to be a few days. ... Elbow-wise, he's doing great. We'll see how the next couple days are there. But we're getting there."

Rodon was an All-Star in 2021 with the Chicago White Sox and in 2022 with the Giants, coming sixth in NL Cy Young Award voting last season.

Brandon Lowe urged the Tampa Bay Rays to "keep it rolling" after they continued their dream start to the season by beating the Boston Red Sox 1-0 on Monday.

Lowe's home run in the eighth inning was enough for the Rams to become the first team since the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987 to begin their MLB campaign with 10 consecutive victories.

It was a third home run in as many games for Lowe, who has nine RBIs in his past three appearances.

He said: "It's great to come out on top. Let's keep it rolling."

Rays manager Kevin Cash was impressed with the manner in which Lowe bided his time before making a decisive impact.

He said: "Brandon had a really good at-bat. Hung in there on some pitches, and then he got a fastball that he could get the barrel to.

"And we know that he can knock it out of the ballpark when he connects."

The Atlanta Braves won a 5-4 extra-innings thriller against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday thanks to a walk-off home run from catcher Sean Murphy.

Despite the teams eventually combining for nine runs, the contest was scoreless through five innings.

The tie was eventually broken in the sixth as Murphy connected on an RBI double to put the Braves up 1-0, and Orlando Arcia made it 2-0 in the seventh frame when he came home on a wild pitch.

Jake Fraley brought the Reds back into it with an RBI single to cut the lead to one run in the eighth inning, but Arcia's RBI single later in the frame put Atlanta up 3-1 and meant Cincinnati would need to produce something special in the last.

After Wil Myers started the top of the ninth with a lead-off single, pinch-hitter Stuart Fairchild flipped the game on its head with an RBI triple, leaving the tying run on third base with no outs.

When Spencer Steer followed that at-bat with an RBI single, the Reds would have felt they were in position to run over the top and steal the win, but Braves closer A.J. Minter was able to get a crucial double-play to send things to extra innings despite registering his first blown save of the season.

A Jonathan India RBI single in the top of the 10th meant the Braves would have to come from behind to get the victory, but home fans would not have to wait long, as Murphy connected with the walk-off home run on relief pitcher Derek Law's very first pitch.

The win snaps the Braves' (7-4) three-game losing streak at the hands of the San Diego Padres, while the Reds will be content with their 4-5 start.

Rays become first team since 1987 to start 10-0

The Tampa Bay Rays are the first team since the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers to start a season with 10 consecutive wins after a hard-fought 1-0 home triumph against the Boston Red Sox.

In a game with only two total extra-base hits, the Rays finally made the breakthrough in the eighth inning as Brandon Lowe sent a Chris Martin fastball 404 feet over the left-field wall.

It was the third game in a row that Lowe has hit a home run, and with it he kept the Rays' chances alive of tying or beating the all-time best start of 13-0, held by the 1987 Brewers and the 1982 Braves.

Tampa Bay fell one game short of becoming the first team since the 1939 New York Yankees to win 10 games in a row by at least four runs each.

Phillies beat up Alcantara

Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara had a miserable day on the mound as his Miami Marlins were hammered 15-3 by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Alcantara, who gave up just 58 earned runs in 32 starts in 2022, allowed the Phillies to rack up 10 hits and a walk, resulting in nine earned runs through four innings.

Alec Bohm led the way for Philadelphia with six RBIs as he went three-for-five with a home run, while Brandon Marsh and Jake Cave also went deep.

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced Monday that shortstop Oneil Cruz underwent successful surgery to repair a fractured left ankle and is expected to miss around four months.

Cruz, who hit 17 home runs in just 87 games during a highly promising rookie season in 2022, was injured sliding into home plate during the Pirates’ 1-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

The 24-year-old was later taken to Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Hospital for a procedure that stabilized his fibula and addressed an injury to the syndesmosis, a fibrous joint located near the ankle.

The six-foot-seven Cruz, who has had his throws across the diamond clocked at around 100mp/h, has served as the Pirates' leadoff hitter this season and had posted a .375 on-base percentage with seven runs scored during the team’s surprising 6-3 start.

"My solace is in the fact he's OK," Pirates manager Derek Shelton told reporters Monday. "We’re talking about a 24-year-old kid here. My concern is more about the kid than worrying about a timetable or what’s going on."

Shelton said Rodolfo Castro will see the majority of time at shortstop until Cruz comes back, likely sometime in August. Castro, a switch-hitter, had been splitting time with the left-handed hitting Bae Ji-hwan at second base, but made 17 starts at shortstop in 2022.

"Obviously, losing Oneil is a blow because he’s a big part of what we do on both sides of the ball," Shelton said after Sunday’s game. "The flip side of that, because of the depth we’ve created over the last couple of years, we're probably in a better spot to handle it than we have been previously."

Cruz added 54 RBIs and 10 stolen bases while batting .233 last season, and hit .250 with one home run, four RBIs and three steals through the first nine games of 2023

The Tampa Bay Rays' remarkable start to the 2023 season continued as they extended their winning run to nine games with an 11-0 rout of the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

The Rays improved to 9-0, becoming the first team since the Kansas City Royals in 2003 to win their first nine games. The longest opening run of wins in MLB history is 13, held by the Atlanta Braves (1982) and the Milwaukee Brewers (1987).

Tampa Bay have won all nine by four or more runs, outscoring their opponents 75-18, which is the most runs scored and least runs allowed in the majors this season.

The record streak for winning games by at least four runs is more than a century old, held by the St Louis Maroons from 1884, when they won 13 in a row.

The Rays swept their third series of the year in the process, blasting three homers on Sunday for an MLB-best 24 this season.

All that came amid pitcher Drew Rasmussen's combined one-hitter with Brandon Lowe's blasting a fourth-inning grand slam. Rasmussen had eight strikeouts and walked none.

Wander Franco homered in the first inning to put the Rays into the lead, before Lowe sent his shot 386 feet over left feld. Harold Ramirez added a two-run blast in the fifth as well.

Judge launches two blasts in Yankees win

Aaron Judge crushed two home runs as the New York Yankees downed the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 to claim the series win.

Judge hit solo blasts in the third and eighth innings, bringing up his 28th multi-homer career game and first of the 2023 season. The outfielder also scored in the first from a Giancarlo Stanton single.

Franchy Cordero hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to open up a 4-0 lead, before the O's offered some resistance led by Adley Rutschman who went four-for-four with a homer and two runs.

Kiermaier gets Blue Jays home in slugfest

Kevin Kiermaier came to the Toronto Blue Jays' rescue after Matt Chapman's grand slam as they rallied back from 6-0 down to win 12-11 over the Los Angeles Angels in 10 innings.

Kiermaier, who went three-for-five with five RBIs, blasted a two-run triple after Chapman's grand slam as part of a six-run sixth-inning rally. Kiermaier's two-run single made it 10-6 in the next inning, before his ground rule double drove in Cavan Biggio, before scoring himself in the 10th inning.

Jays pitcher Tim Mayza retired Shohei Ohtani with bases loaded for the final out, after the Japanese had launched a two-run blast in the third inning. Ohtani's homer was one of four for the Angels.

The Tampa Bay Rays claimed an eighth straight win to start the new season, extending the best MLB start in the past 20 years with an 11-0 rout of the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.

The last team to start 8-0 where the Kansas City Royals in 2003, who won their first nine games. The Rays, however, have won all eight games by four or more runs and outscored their opponents 64-18.

Tampa Bay's margin of victory is arguably most impressive, with the 1939 New York Yankees marking the last time any team has won eight games by four or more runs at any point of any season, managing that in 10 straight games.

Saturday's win came after a scoreless first three innings, before Isaac Paredes' two-run single. Randy Arozarena repeated that feat in the fifth, before another Paredes' RBI to open up a 5-0 lead.

Homers to Manuel Margot, Josh Lowe and Arozarena rounded out an emphatic victory for the Rays.

Jeffrey Springs threw seven strikeouts across seven scoreless innings on the mound, allowing three hits and three walks.

Stott walk-off caps Phillies' rally

Bryson Stott capped the Philadelphia Phillies' three-run ninth inning rally with a walk-off RBI single to secure a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds went 2-0 at the top of the ninth inning from Jake Fraley's sacrifice fly, before the Phillies rallied with Brandon Marsh and Edmundo Sosa driving in runs to square it up.

Stott stepped up and singled to right field, driving in Marsh, who had stolen to second base, as outfielder Wil Myers bobbled the grounded ball.

It was Stott's second career walk-off hit and helped the Phillies secure back-to-back wins and improve to 3-5 after their 0-4 start.

Stanton blasts big in Yankees triumph

The New York Yankees piled on three fifth-inning runs including a Giancarlo Stanton home run in their 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles to improve to a 5-3 record.

The O's led early from Anthony Santander's first-inning sacrifice fly to drive in Cedric Mullins, but the Yankees squared it in the fourth from Aaron Hicks' single before their fifth-inning three-run salvo.

Rookie Anthony Volpe tripled before scoring from D.J. LeMahieu's double, with Aaron Judge driving in the latter with a sacrifice fly. Stanton blasted a 436-feet homer to left center with 116.3 mph exit velocity.

Pittsburgh Pirates left-fielder Bryan Reynolds showed why he is one of the hottest hitters in baseball as he batted in six runs during his side's 13-9 home win against the Chicago White Sox on Friday.

Reynolds came into the game batting .417 with an OPS (on-base plus slugging) of 1.444. He improved both those figures against Chicago as he went three-for-five at the plate with a single, a triple and a home run.

The 28-year-old had four home runs in his first six games this campaign, and he connected on his league-leading fifth with a three-run shot in the fourth inning. His triple came an inning later, when he also came around to score on the hit after a fielding error.

With his performance, Reynolds improved his batting average to .448 (fourth-best in the majors) and his OPS to 1.572 (third-highest).

It was part of an action-packed contest where the two teams combined for 30 hits, including six home runs. 

Exciting 25-year-old White Sox center-fielder Luis Robert Jr blasted two homers – doubling his tally for the season – while going three-for-five with five RBIs.

Pittsburgh right-fielder Connor Joe was the one of two players to record four hits, with three doubles and a single, and he was joined by Chicago lead-off hitter Tim Anderson (four-for-five with two doubles and four runs).

The win improves the Pirates' record to 5-2 as they seek their first playoff berth since 2015.

Trout blasts his first pitch at Angel Stadium this season

Mike Trout could not have made a better start to the Los Angeles Angels' home opener as he crushed the very first pitch he saw for a home run.

The Angels went on to lose to the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 thanks to a big three-run homer from Bo Bichette in the seventh inning, but Los Angeles' three-time AL MVP still gave the home fans something to cheer for.

After Taylor Ward was issued a lead-off walk in the first inning, Trout stepped up second and sent a first-pitch fastball 441 feet over the wall at left-center. It was Trout's second homer of the season, and he is slashing .348/.531/.696 in a hot start.

Rays remain MLB's only unbeaten team

The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Oakland Athletics 9-5 to extend their perfect start to the season to 7-0.

After back-to-back series sweeps against the Detroit Tigers and Washington Nationals to open their campaign, the Rays made a winning start against Oakland thanks to more power hitting.

Tampa Bay hit five home runs in the contest, highlighted by an Isaac Paredes grand slam in the second inning. Harold Ramirez (second inning), Manuel Margot (third inning), Christian Bethancourt (third inning) and Wander Franco (eighth inning) also sent a ball each over the fence.

The Boston Red Sox came from behind on the back of power hitting from Adam Duvall and Rafael Devers to defeat the Detroit Tigers 6-3 away from home on Thursday.

It was the Tigers taking the early lead through a big two-run homer from Jake Rogers in the second inning, and after Enrique Hernandez pulled one run back for the Sox in the third frame with a fielder's choice groundout, legendary Detroit designated hitter Miguel Cabrera came through with an RBI single later in the third to restore a 3-1 advantage.

But the Boston bullpen would shut things down the rest of the way, holding Detroit scoreless for the final six innings.

Red Sox franchise centrepiece Rafael Devers trimmed the margin to one run when he blasted a solo home run in the fourth inning, and he delivered again in the sixth inning with an RBI double to tie the contest at 3-3.

While Devers is the future of the team, there is no Red Sox player hotter than Adam Duvall to start this season.

Through his first five games, the 34-year-old Duvall combined for 10 hits, including three doubles, two home runs and a triple.

He added another home run on Thursday – a three-run bomb later in the sixth inning – to give the Red Sox a winning break, and with it he climbed up to second on the early OPS leaderboard with an on-base plus slugging figure of 1.577. For reference, that is nearly double the best season-long OPS of his career, which was .882 through 41 games in 2019.

It was also the third multi-hit game of the season for 29-year-old AL Rookie of the Year hopeful Masataka Yoshida, with an infield single and a double for the man who signed a five-year, $90million free agent deal out of the Japanese league in the offseason.

Arcia walks it off for Atlanta

Atlanta Braves shortstop Orlando Arcia came up big with a walk-off base hit to defeat the San Diego Padres 7-6 at home.

Arcia, batting last in the Braves' line-up, made some noise early when he got hold of a 400-foot solo home run in the third inning, and he ignited his side's comeback with a double in the eighth inning, later coming around to score as Atlanta turned a 6-4 deficit into a 6-6 tie heading into the last.

The contest looked destined for extra innings until Amed Rosario's two-out double in the bottom of the ninth, with Arcia stepping up next for the game-winning base hit.

It was a great showing for last season's NL Rookie of the Year runner-up Spencer Strider, who followed his nine-strikeout opening performance with another nine strikeouts against the Padres in five innings. 

His 18 strikeouts through two starts is tied for the second-most, trailing only New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (19).

Giants pile on 16 runs in Chicago

The San Francisco Giants put up the equal-biggest score of the season so far in a 16-6 drubbing of the Chicago White Sox away from home.

Blake Sabol, Wilmer Flores, Michael Conforto, J.D. Davis and Mike Yastrzemski all hit home runs for the Giants, and while Davis and Conforto both finished with three hits each, Davis led the way with a game-high five RBIs.

All nine Giants starters ended up with at least one hit as they racked up 20 knocks as a team, and the victory clinched their high-scoring three-game series against the White Sox after also taking the opener 12-3.

Justin Verlander could be making his New York Mets debut sooner than later after an MRI revealed reduced inflammation in the right throwing shoulder of the prized free agent acquisition.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner is cleared to continue throwing and the Mets said Wednesday that a timeline for him joining the starting rotation will be established as he progresses.

The Mets surprisingly placed Verlander on the injured list with a low-grade teres major strain on Opening Day last Thursday – two days before he was slated to make his New York debut.

Verlander helped the Houston Astros to the 2022 World Series title and agreed to two-year, $86million contract with New York in December.

Verlander turned 40 years old in February but is still one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball.

Despite missing the entire 2021 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, Verlander was the unanimous winner of his third Cy Young Award in 2022 after leading the majors with a 1.75 ERA and 0.83 WHIP, while going 18-4 with 185 strikeouts to 29 walks in 28 starts.

A nine-time All-Star, Verlander captured his first Cy Young Award in 2011 – a season in which he also won the AL MVP. He also won the 2019 AL Cy Young Award, as well as the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year Award.

For his career, Verlander is 244-133 with 3,198 strike outs, ranking first in both wins and strikeouts among active pitchers.

He is historically fared well against NL East opponents, which bodes well for the Mets, as he is posted a 2.14 ERA against those teams in his career – his lowest ERA against any division. His career ERA is 3.24.

In four starts against NL East clubs last season, he went 4-0 without giving up a run over 25 innings, while striking out 26.