The Tampa Bay Rays have officially made the best home start to a season in over 140 years after defeating the Houston Astros 8-3 on Monday.

With the win, the Rays extended their unbeaten home record to 14-0, breaking their tie with the 2009 Los Angeles Angels for the best start in modern history, while they are seven wins away from tying the 21-0 mark set by the 1880 Chicago White Stockings.

While one modern day record was born, another ended, as it was the first game this season that the Rays have not hit a home run. They had broken the record with a home run in each of their first 22 fixtures to start the campaign.

With no long-ball to lean on, the Rays piled up 14 hits, including a four-for-five day at the plate from 22-year-old franchise player Wander Franco.

Franco collected two singles and two doubles, and he also stole the show in the field, coming down with a remarkable over-the-shoulder, bare-handed catch in foul territory.

Rays left-fielder Randy Arozarena currently owns the sixth-best batting average in the majors (.353), and he improved on that figure by going two-for-three with a sacrifice-fly and a hit-by-pitch. 

He was one of five Rays with multiple hits, joining Franco, Yandy Diaz, Isaac Paredes and Cristian Bethancourt.

At 20-3, Tampa Bay are four games clear in the race for the best record in the majors.

Strider flirts with perfection

Atlanta Braves young ace Spencer Strider took a perfect game into the eighth inning of his side's 11-0 shutout against the visiting Miami Marlins.

Strider, 24, retired the first 22 batters he faced, before Jean Segura finally broke up the perfect game bid in the eighth frame. He ended up finishing eight innings in 101 pitches, striking out 13 batters while only allowing two hits and no walks.

Strider's 13.8 strikeouts per nine innings as a rookie would have led the majors had he pitched enough innings to qualify, and he does lead the MLB this year with a figure of 14.7.

Gray pitches a gem for the Twins

Veteran starting pitcher Sonny Gray was at his best as his Minnesota Twins defeated the visiting New York Yankees 6-1.

Gray, 33, came into the contest having not allowed more than one earned run in any of his four previous starts this season, and he pitched another seven scoreless frames, allowing three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts.

The performance lowered his ERA to a league-leading 0.62 – joining Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani (0.64) and Yankees ace Gerrit Cole (0.79) as the only players allowing fewer than one run per nine innings.

Randy Arozarena was the hero as the Tampa Bay Rays set a major league record for scoring homers in each of their first 21 games in a 4-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

Arozarena brought up the milestone with a two-run blast over left-center field in the first inning, before hitting a walkoff RBI single in the 10th.

The Rays, who started the season with 13 straight wins, improved their record to 18-3, marking the best start by any side in the majors since the New York Yankees in 2003.

Tampa Bay also broke the Seattle Mariners' 2019 record of homering in 20 straight games to start that season.

The game was in the balance after homers from Eloy Jimenez and Yasmani Grandal for the White Sox, before Arozarena singled to left for Diaz to score at the bottom of the fifth.

Gavin Sheets squared the game up with a homer to right field at the top of the eighth, before Arozarena settled the game.

Jimmy Lambert intentionally walked Wander Franco with two out and a runner on second, before Arozarena's first-pitch single to right field, driving in Vidal Brujan. Arozarena finished with four RBIs.

Shane McClanahan sent down 10 strikeouts across six innings, while White Sox starter Dylan Cease had five K's.

Garcia crushed three HRs in Rangers rout

Adolis Garcia blasted three home runs and eight RBIs in five innings as the Texas Rangers smoked the Oakland Athletics 18-3.

Garcia blasted a two-run 432-foot homer at the bottom of the first, repeating the dose in the third inning with a 419-foot bomb over center.

The Rangers outfielder made it 13-2 at the bottom of the fifth with 401-feet blast, before a two-run double in the seventh capped a remarkable showing, taking his season tally to seven homers and 28 RBIs.

Garcia went five-for-four, becoming the third player since 1901 with at least 16 total bases, three homers, eight RBIs and five runs in a single game.

Tatis homers for first time since 2021

Fernando Tatis Jr blasted his first home run since returning from an 80-game drug suspension as the San Diego Padres won 5-3 over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Tatis, in his third game back since the suspension elapsed, crushed a 374-foot homer over left field for his first blast since 2021. The Padres outfielder led the majors for homers in 2021, with 42.

Right-hander Joe Musgrove earned his first win of the season, following a toe injury sustained in the weight room during spring training, striking out six, giving up three runs on seven hits.

The Tampa Bay Rays tied the record for the most consecutive games with a home run to start a season as they went deep three times in Friday's 8-7 home win against the Chicago White Sox.

With the win, the Rays improved their MLB-leading record to 17-3, having hit at least one homer in each game to tie the 2019 Seattle Mariners for the record.

Home fans did not have to wait long for the action to heat up, as Josh Lowe connected on a two-run double in the first inning, before Harold Ramirez followed him with a two-run homer as the very next batter to take a 4-0 lead.

The White Sox came storming back with three runs in the second inning – from three RBI singles – and another three runs in the third, courtesy of two bases-loaded walks and a wild pitch.

An Eloy Jimenez solo home run put Chicago up 7-4 in the fourth inning, and while the Rays got one run back in the bottom of the fourth, they left their comeback until the very end.

Christian Bethancourt's lead-off home run in the bottom of the ninth cut the margin to 7-6, and after a Yandy Diaz single, Brandon Lowe stepped up and hit a walk-off home run.

It was the second blown save of the season for Reynaldo Lopez, failing to get a single out in the ninth, while Diaz, Lowe, Ramirez and Bethancourt all finished with two hits each for the Rays.

Smyly finishes six outs from perfection

Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Drew Smyly pitched seven perfect innings before allowing his first baserunner in a 13-0 domination of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Smyly dismissed the first 21 Dodgers batters in order, before his bid for a perfect game was broken up in the eighth inning when Smyly tried to field a ball dribbling down the third-base line, but his catcher Yan Gomes crashed into him in his own effort to field it.

He ended up striking out 10 in his seven-and-two-thirds innings, allowing one run and no walks, while Nico Hoerner starred at the plate with four RBIs to go with his four-for-five day. 

Patrick Wisdom was one of five Cubs with multiple hits, including his ninth home run of the season to draw level with New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso for the league's most.

Ohtani dominates the Royals

Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani put together his best pitching performance of the season as he struck out 11 batters in a 2-0 win over the visiting Kansas City Royals.

With three-time AL MVP Mike Trout not suiting up, the Angels knew they had to keep the Royals' scoring down, and the combination of Ohtani (seven innings, two hits, two walks), Carlos Estevez (one inning) and closer Jose Quijada (one inning) restricted Kansas City to three hits for the game.

The only runs of the contest were produced by veteran catcher Chad Wallach in his first game of the season, connecting on a two-run homer with his first at-bat of 2023.

The win pulls the Angels' record even at 10-10, while Ohtani lowered his ERA to 0.64 from his 28 innings, and the Royals fell to an equal MLB-worst 4-16.

Aaron Judge robbed Shohei Ohtani of a homer before delivering a blast of his own as the New York Yankees downed the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on Wednesday.

Gleyber Torres hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, after the Angels had squared the game up following Judge's first-inning two-run shot.

Judge was at the heart of everything early, robbing Ohtani of a first-inning homer with a leaping ricochet catch on the wall at center field after the ball hit the heel of his glove and bobbled into his throwing hand.

The reigning AL MVP then launched a two-run blast into the left-center bullpen at the bottom of the first to open up a 2-0 lead. It was Judge's sixth homer of the 2023 season.

Judge produced another moment of magic in the field in the eighth inning with a diving one-handed grab at right-center field to save a go-ahead run from Brandon Drury.

Ohtani had a frustrating game, going none-for-four and stranding three runners with inning-ending strikeouts in the fifth and seventh innings.

The Angels reeled in the Yankees' early lead with Taylor Ward's fifth-inning RBI, before Gio Urshela's two-out RBI single in the eighth.

In the 10th, Urshela lined out to right with Mike Trout stranded on third with two-out, before Torres' walk-off sac fly to center-right field with bases loaded, driving in Isiah Kiner-Falefa.

Soto shines as Braves' run ended

Juan Soto continued to emerge from his early-season slump with a 431-foot blast to right-center field in the San Diego Padres' 1-0 win over the Atlanta Braves.

The result snapped the Braves' eight-game winning streak, with the Padres improving to a 9-11 record with Fernando Tatis Jr set to return from a long-term suspension on Thursday. Joe Musgrove's return from injury is close too.

Soto, who was hitting .175 with three home runs from 19 games coming in, delivered the decisive blast the fourth inning while Nick Martinez threw six strikeouts across seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits.

More milestones for free-wheeling Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays' outstanding early season form continued with an 8-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds setting more records, having started the year with a 13-game winning streak.

The Rays blasted six first-inning runs with Yandy Diaz setting the tone with a lead-off homer, setting a modern era record for differential after 19 games (+83), having scored 133 runs and allowed 50, beating the previous mark held by the 1905 New York Giants (+79).

Tampa Bay also became the first team n the modern era to have four shutouts of eight-plus runs in their first 19 games of the season, as Drew Rasmussen had seven K's across five scoreless innings. It was the team's sixth shutout in 19 games.

Shohei Ohtani helped his Los Angeles Angels snap a three-game losing streak on Sunday, igniting a 5-4 road win against the Boston Red Sox.

Ohtani started on the mound at Fenway Park, giving up one run while striking out three batters across the opening two innings. 

He also collected a base hit in the first frame, and followed it with another single in the second, before rain arrived and forced a weather delay.

With his arm cooling down during the lengthy break, Ohtani was replaced by Tucker Davidson upon resumption, but the five runs the Angels put up in the first two innings proved to be enough.

The catalyst for their bright offensive start was Hunter Renfroe, connecting on a three-run homer with the game's fourth at-bat. Renfroe then added his fourth RBI of the contest an inning later with a ground-out.

Red Sox star Rafael Devers tried to ignite a late comeback in the bottom of the ninth, with his RBI single bridging the gap to 5-4 while runners remained on first and second base with one out, but Rob Refsnyder and Masataka Yoshida could not muster a hit from either of the final two at-bats.

After the win, Angels manager Phil Nevin said the team would discuss moving up Ohtani's next start due to his limited workload this time out.

Rangers pitch combined one-hitter 

There was an injury scare for Texas Rangers ace Jacob deGrom, but it could not sour their terrific 4-0 shutout of the Kansas City Royals.

DeGrom was withdrawn after four innings of work with what the team called a precaution due to wrist soreness, but he held the Royals hit-less during those four innings, and the bullpen only allowed one hit the rest of the way.

Dane Dunning came in and tossed four innings in relief, allowing one hit and one walk in a great showing, while the bulk of the offensive damage was done by a three-run homer from Josh Jung in the first inning.

It was Jung's third home run of the season, and team-mate Marcus Semien joined him with three for the campaign after a solo homer of his own.

Rays keep home run streak alive in loss

The Tampa Bay Rays suffered a disappointing 8-1 road defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds, but not before keeping their historic home run streak alive.

The Rays were down 8-0 in the last inning when Josh Lowe hit a consolation home run, but with it, he marked the 17th consecutive game Tampa have hit a home run in to start the season.

Tampa Bay slipped to a still league-leading 14-3 record with the loss, but they are now just three games with a home run away from tying the 2019 Seattle Mariners for the longest streak to start a season in MLB history.

The Minnesota Twins came back from the worst possible start to earn a 4-3 road win against the New York Yankees on Friday.

In a stunning first inning in front of their home fans, the Yankees led 2-0 after two at-bats. Rookie Anthony Volpe connected on a 394-foot shot to left-center field for his first career home run, and he was followed by reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge, who sent his solo home run 404 feet for his fifth dinger of the season.

Judge's five home runs this season trails only Baltimore Orioles slugger Ryan Mountcastle and New York Mets star Pete Alonso for the league's most, both with six.

But those two runs would be the only scores until the sixth inning, when Carlos Correa put the Twins on the board with a solo home run of his own, barely scraping over the short-porch at right-field with a distance of 331 feet.

Giancarlo Stanton answered for the Yankees in the bottom of the sixth, cancelling out Correa's blast with another solo home run, before Kyle Garlick smacked the game's fifth solo homer to cut the New York lead to 3-2.

But after Michael Taylor and Byron Buxton both got on base to lead off the eighth frame, Correa came through again with a two-run double to give the Twins their first lead, setting up Jhoan Duran to come in and pick up the save – his fourth of the season.

The win was the Twins' fourth in a row, improving their AL Central-leading record to 10-4, while the Yankees slipped to 8-6.

Jays end the Rays' historic start

The Tampa Bay Rays have had their perfect start to the season snapped at 13 wins after the Toronto Blue Jays defeated them 6-3 at home.

George Springer gave the Blue Jays an early lead when he sent the second pitch from Rays starter Drew Rasmussen 440 feet for a lead-off home run, before team-mate Bo Bichette doubled their lead with a ground-rule double in the second inning.

Bichette went on to collect five hits from his five at-bats – three singles and two doubles – but it was loose pitching from Tampa Bay that doomed them to defeat.

Trailing just 2-1 in the sixth inning, the Rays issued two bases-loaded walks, and then allowed two more runs to score on an error.

Tampa Bay tied the 1982 Atlanta Braves and the 1987 Milwaukee Brewers for the best start to a season (13-0) since the 1884 St Louis Maroons (20-0).

Ohtani and Trout both hit, walk in Angels loss

The Los Angeles Angels went down 5-3 on the road against the Boston Red Sox, despite their two former AL MVPs both finishing with a hit and a walk.

Shohei Ohtani went one-for-four with a walk, while Mike Trout also went one-for-four with a walk, although his hit went for a double down the left-field line.

The production from the Angels' stars was not enough to overcome three fielding errors as a team, including two costly errors from third-baseman Anthony Rendon to allow three runs, and a fourth run scored on a passed ball from catcher Logan O'Hoppe.

Boston's top bat Rafael Devers was the highlight for the home side, connecting on his equal league-leading sixth homer.

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.

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 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.