Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw returned to form as the World Series champions crushed the helpless Oakland Athletics 5-1 in MLB action on Tuesday.

Kershaw – a three-time Cy Young Award winner – struggled on Opening Day following a difficult Spring Training campaign for the Dodgers.

But Kershaw bounced back against the winless Athletics, striking out eight batters across seven solid innings in Oakland.

Kershaw allowed one run and four hits and did not walk a batter as the star pitcher retired 20 of 22 opponents for the Dodgers, who won their fifth consecutive game.

Dodgers team-mate Mookie Betts homered for the first time this season, while team-mates Max Muncy and Edwin Rios also went long for the visitors.

In New York, three-time All-Star Gerrit Cole impressed with a 13-strikeout gem – his most in a regular-season game since joining the franchise in 2020 – as the Yankees made light work of the Baltimore Orioles 7-2.

Yankees ace Cole allowed four hits without a walk over seven scoreless innings, while slugger Aaron Judge and Jay Bruce homered at Yankee Stadium.

Per Stats Perform, Cole already has 21 punchouts this season – tying Al Downing (1964) for the most by any Yankees pitcher in his first two starts of a season.

Reds flying after slow start

The Cincinnati Reds humbled the Pittsburgh Pirates 14-1. Cincinnati allowed 11 runs on Opening Day but have proceeded to score 40 runs over their next four games. According to Stats Perform, they are the first National League (NL) team to allow 10-plus runs in their first game and then tally 40-plus runs over the next four since the 1877 Louisville Grays (47 runs).

Juan Soto was the hero for the Washington Nationals, hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth inning in a 6-5 victory against the Atlanta Braves.

American League (AL) MVP Jose Abreu crushed his second grand slam of the season to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 10-4 success against the Seattle Mariners.

Roark rocked in Texas

Tanner Roark's first start of the season for the Toronto Blue Jays was a dismal one. The veteran pitcher gave up three homers – five runs – in three innings as the Blue Jays lost 7-4 to the Texas Rangers. He finished with a 15.00 ERA for the night.

The Baddoo legend grows

Akil Baddoo continued his amazing start to his MLB career. After homering on his very first pitch in the big leagues on Sunday, Baddoo hit a grand slam on Monday. Not satisfied with that, he hit a walk-off homer to lift the Detroit Tigers past the Minnesota Twins 4-3 – in just his third appearance.

Tuesday's results

Detroit Tigers 4-3 Minnesota Twins
Washington Nationals 6-5 Atlanta Braves
Houston Astros 4-2 Los Angeles Angels
New York Yankees 7-2 Baltimore Orioles
Cincinnati Reds 14-1 Pittsburgh Pirates
St Louis Cardinals 4-2 Miami Marlins
New York Mets 8-4 Philadelphia Phillies
Boston Red Sox 6-5 Tampa Bay Rays
Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 Chicago Cubs
Texas Rangers 7-4 Toronto Blue Jays
Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 Oakland Athletics
San Diego Padres 3-1 San Francisco Giants
Chicago White Sox 10-4 Seattle Mariners
Arizona Diamondbacks 10-8 Colorado Rockies

Braves at Nationals

After finally opening their season, the coronavirus-hit Nationals (1-0) will look to stay undefeated in a doubleheader against the winless Braves (0-4) on Wednesday. Erick Fedde will start game one for the Nationals against Atlanta's Max Fried, while ace Stephen Strasbourg takes to the mound in the second clash as the Braves counter with Huascar Ynoa.

Mike Trout delivered his first home run of the 2021 season as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Houston Astros 7-6 in MLB on Monday.

The 29-year-old three-time American League Most Valuable Player clubbed a towering shot from Luis Garcia to left field to earn the Angels their first run in the fourth inning when they were trailing 4-0.

However once again the Angels did most of their work late, with four runs in the eighth inning, meaning they have scored in either the eighth or ninth inning in all five of their games this season.

The win improves the Angels to 4-1 while the Astros, who were once again booed, suffer their first loss to move to 4-1.

The Los Angeles Dodgers triumphed 10-3 over the winless Oakland Athletics but they lost star man Cody Bellinger to injury.

The two-time All Star was removed with a reported foot injury during a close play at first base where he was stepped on.

Rangers crowd silenced, Stanton slam leads Yankees

Full crowds were back in Dallas but the Texas Rangers did not give them much to cheer as the Toronto Blue Jays won 6-2.

Marcus Semien hit his second home run of the new season early, before Cavan Biggio went back-to-back in the second inning too, opening up a 4-0 lead.

The return of bumper crowds was a different dynamic as noted by Rangers shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa who said it "nerve wracking" and that it felt "like my debut all over again".

The New York Yankees cruised to a 7-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles with Giancarlo Stanton hitting a monster 471-foot home run in the fifth with bases loaded.

The Philadelphia Phillies maintained their perfect record with a 5-3 win over the New York Mets, although they left it late, with five runs at the bottom of the eighth.

Tatis injures shoulder in strike-out

The San Diego Padres lost talented 22-year-old shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr to a shoulder subluxation as he swung at an Anthony DeSclafani curveball in their 3-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants. Tatis looked in considerable pain and was escorted off the field.

Debutant Dustin on fire

Rookie pitcher Dustin May produced a sizzling display for the Dodgers in their win over the As, with eight strike-outs and six scoreless innings.

Monday's results

Minnesota Twins 15-6 Detroit Tigers
Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 Texas Rangers
Kansas City Royals 3-0 Cleveland Indians
New York Yankees 7-0 Baltimore Orioles
St Louis Cardinals 4-1 Miami Marlins
Cincinnati Reds 5-3 Pittsburgh Pirates
Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 New York Mets
Boston Red Sox 11-2 Tampa Bay Rays
Chicago Cubs 5-3 Milwaukee Brewers
Los Angeles Angels 7-6 Houston Astros
Los Angeles Dodgers 10-3 Oakland Athletics
San Francisco Giants 3-2 San Diego Padres
Chicago White Sox 6-0 Seattle Mariners

Astros at Angels

The Los Angeles Angels (4-1) take on the Houston Astros (4-1) once again.

Shohei Ohtani enjoyed an historic night as the two-way Los Angeles Angels star fuelled his team to a 7-4 walk-off win against the Chicago White Sox.

Ohtani made MLB history by starting and serving as the designated hitter, while he put on a show with bat and ball in stunning opening inning on Sunday.

The 26-year-old Japanese sensation, who became the first pitcher to bat second in a game since 1903, produced a scoreless first inning as his fastball reached 100mph (the fastest in MLB so far in 2021) three times.

After starring on the mound, Ohtani hit a crushing solo homer in the bottom of the inning – his projected 451-foot shot reaching 115.2mph – the hardest homer by an Angels player since 2015, eclipsing team-mate Mike Trout (115mph in 2018).

Hampered by injuries since entering the majors in 2018, Ohtani, who exited in the fifth inning after a collision at the plate, also became the first Angels pitcher to record a hit in an American League (AL) game since Clyde Wright in 1972.

Jared Walsh called game with the contest tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, launching a walk-off homer – his second of the night – to lift the Angels.

Astros blitz Athletics

The Houston Astros are 4-0 for the first time since 2001 after a 9-2 victory away to the Oakland Athletics. Kyle Tucker, Jason Castro and rookie Chas McCormick hit home runs for the Astros, who outscored the A's 35-9 across the four games. Houston are the fourth team in MLB history to tally at least eight runs in their first four games, following in the footsteps of the New York Yankees (2003), Red Sox (1995) and Milwaukee Brewers (1978).

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Randal Grichuk homered as the Toronto Blue Jays beat AL East rivals the Yankees 3-1 to claim the season-opening series. Bo Bichette became the fastest Blue Jays player to reach 100 career hits, achieving the feat with a first-inning double in his 78th game.

World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Colorado Rockies 4-2 behind Julio Urias. He pitched a career-high seven innings to inspire the Dodgers, tallying six strikeouts while giving up three hits and one walk.

Red Sox make slow start

The Boston Red Sox's winless start to the season continued, swept by the Baltimore Orioles following an 11-3 defeat. Boston have now fallen to their second-ever 0-3 start at Fenway Park and first since 1948. The Red Sox are coming off a 24-36 record in last year's coronavirus-shortened season – their lowest winning percentage since 1965.

Baddoo homers on first career pitch

It was a memorable outing for Detroit Tigers outfielder Akil Baddoo, who homered in his opening MLB at-bat – the very first pitch. The 22-year-old Baddoo – making his first appearance above Class A – drove to left field in the bottom of the third inning. Detroit, though, lost 9-3 to the Cleveland Indians.

"I was actually waiting for the silent treatment, but everyone was just full of energy -- just so happy for me," Baddoo said. "So I loved every second of it."

Sunday's results

Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 Atlanta Braves
Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 New York Yankees
Baltimore Orioles 11-3 Boston Red Sox
Cleveland Indians 9-3 Detroit Tigers
Cincinnati Reds 12-1 St Louis Cardinals
Minnesota Twins 8-2 Milwaukee Brewers
Texas Rangers 7-3 Kansas City Royals
Chicago Bulls 4-3 Pittsburgh Pirates
Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 Colorado Rockies
Houston Astros 9-2 Oakland Athletics
Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 San Diego Padres
Los Angeles Angels 7-4 Chicago White Sox
New York Mets-Washington Nationals (postponed)

Astros at Angels

The Astros (4-0) will put their perfect record on the line in the opening game of their series with the Angels (3-1) on Monday.

Yermin Mercedes entered MLB's history books after maintaining his red-hot start to the season, despite the Chicago White Sox losing 5-3 to the Los Angeles Angels.

White Sox rookie Mercedes set a league mark on Saturday after he made it eight-for-eight hits in 2021.

Mercedes – who also hit a solo homer in the second inning against the Angels – surpassed Chris Stynes for the longest streak of hits to start a season in the modern era (since 1900).

After a groundball single in the seventh inning and a double in the eighth, the 28-year-old's streak came to an end in his ninth at-bat.

Mercedes finished with three hits and a run, to go with two RBIs as a designated hitter for the White Sox, who dropped to 1-2.

The Angels trailed 3-2 heading into the eighth but capped a three-run rally via Justin Upton's two-run homer.

Dominant Musgrove leads Padres

Joe Musgrove enjoyed a memorable debut for the San Diego Padres. He struck out eight batters in six innings to lead the unbeaten Padres to a 7-0 shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks and 3-0 start to the season. Musgrove held the Diamondbacks to three hits, while walking none.

An inside-the-park home run from Zach McKinstry lifted World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers past the Colorado Rockies 6-5. McKinstry hit the go-ahead score in the eighth inning after connecting on a fastball from Mychal Givens for his first major league homer. It was the first inside-the-park homer by a Dodgers player since 2017.

Jose Berrios struck out 12 batters in six hitless innings as the Minnesota Twins took down the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0. He combined with three relievers on a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts. Berrios and Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes became the first pair of opposing starters to have 10-plus strikeouts and one or fewer hits allowed in the same game in the modern era, per Stats Perform.

The Houston Astros maintained their 100 per cent record thanks to Yordan Alvarez's three-run homer in the 9-1 rout of the Oakland Athletics.

Hill humbled in Miami

Rich Hill struggled in the Tampa Bay Rays' 12-7 loss to the Miami Marlins. The 41-year-old gave up four earned runs in four innings in his first start with the Rays. He also walked two. Chris Archer took the loss after giving up four runs in two innings of relief.

Haniger completes comeback

It was a special day for Mitch Haniger. After three surgeries and nearly two years of recovery, the 30-year-old hit his first home run since 2019 as the Seattle Mariners blanked the San Francisco Giants 4-0.

Saturday's results

Houston Astros 9-1 Oakland Athletics
Cincinnati Reds 9-6 St Louis Cardinals
Miami Marlins 12-7 Tampa Bay Rays
New York Yankees 5-3 Toronto Blue Jays
Baltimore Orioles 4-2 Boston Red Sox
Detroit Tigers 5-2 Cleveland Indians
Kansas City Royals 11-4 Texas Rangers
Chicago Cubs 5-1 Pittsburgh Pirates
Philadelphia Phillies 4-0 Atlanta Braves
Minnesota Twins 2-0 Milwaukee Brewers
Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 Colorado Rockies
San Diego Padres 7-0 Arizona Diamondbacks
Los Angeles Angels 5-3 Chicago White Sox
Seattle Mariners 4-0 San Francisco Giants
New York Mets-Washington Nationals (postponed)

Blue Jays at Yankees

The Blue Jays (1-1) and Yankees (1-1) will look to settle their three-game series in New York on Sunday.

World Series champions Los Angeles Dodgers were humbled on the Opening Day of the new Major League Baseball season 8-5 by the Colorado Rockies on Thursday.

The Dodgers had 14 stranded runners throughout the game while Cody Bellinger hit a ball into the stands which did not count as a home run on a strange afternoon.

With crowds returning to MLB, the Dodgers were unable to get off to a flying start.

"Honestly, we just didn’t play a good baseball game," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "All the way around, we didn’t play well."

In the Houston Astros' first game back playing in front of crowds since their cheating scandal emerged they were jeered and boed in an 8-1 win on the road against the Oakland Athletics.

Back-to-back home runs from Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman in the eighth put the Astros out of sight and silenced the crowd.

Trout lifts Angels, Mariners mighty comeback

Mike Trout flexed his muscle as the Los Angeles Angels rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3. At the bottom of the eighth, a visibly pumped Trout's hit gave him an RBI and tied the game. Shohei Ohtani then got on the board after an error by second baseman Nick Madrigal.

The Seattle Mariners trailed 6-1 in the eighth inning against the San Francisco Giants before mounting a remarkable fightback and eventually prevail 8-7. The winning run came when Jake Fraley walked with the bases loaded.

The New York Yankees' bats let them down as they were beaten 3-2 by the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Tampa Day Rays shut out the Miami Marlins in a 1-0 win earned by Austin Meadows' solo home run in the ninth.

Bellinger denied by mix-up

Bellinger was denied his first homer of the new season in a moment of confusion, when team-mate Justin Turner, who was on first base, thought Bellinger had been caught in the outfield and ran back. Bellinger's hit was actually fumbled by Raimel Tapia over the fence so when Turner reversed and passed by the left-hander that made him out and resulted in only an RBI single.

First homer of season

Detroit Tigers hitter Miguel Cabrera claimed the maiden homer of the new season in driving snow, which left him confused, sliding into base just in case it had not cleared the fence.

Thursday's results

Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 New York Yankees
Detroit Tigers 3-2 Cleveland Indians
Milwaukee Brewers 6-5 Minnesota Twins
Pittsburgh Pirates 5-3 Chicago Cubs
Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 Atlanta Braves
Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 Miami Marlins
St Louis Cardinals 11-6 Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies 8-5 Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres 8-7 Arizona Diamondbacks
Kansas City Royals 14-10 Texas Rangers
Los Angeles Angels 4-3 Chicago White Sox
Houston Astros 8-1 Oakland Athletics 
Seattle Mariners 8-7 San Fransisco Giants 

Dodgers to bounce back

The Dodgers will look to bounce back from their opening day loss on Friday on the road again versus the Colorado Rockies.

Minnesota Twins bench coach Mike Bell, the brother of Cincinnati Reds manager David, has died following a short battle with cancer.

The Twins announced Bell's passing aged 46 in a statement on Friday.

Bell, who was appointed to Minnesota's coaching staff prior to the 2020 season, had missed spring training after being diagnosed with kidney cancer earlier this year.

"The Minnesota Twins are devastated by the loss of Mike Bell," a team statement read.

"In his short time with our club, Mike had an indelibly positive impact - not only on the quality of our team on the field, but most importantly upon everyone whom he met.

"Widely respected in our game, all who knew Mike, on and off the field, are better for the experience."

The Twins said "at the request of the Bell family" they would fulfil Friday's preseason game against the Atlanta Braves "in honour of Mike".

As well as being the brother of Reds manager David, Bell was the son of five-time All-Star Buddy and grandson of four-time All-Star Gus.

Bell had a short playing career in Cincinnati before a 13-year association with the Arizona Diamondbacks in a variety of roles.