Paul Goldschmidt went 4-for-5 with three home runs and five RBIs to lead the visiting St. Louis Cardinals past the Milwaukee Brewers 9-5 on Friday night.
Mar 29, 2019; Milwaukee, WI, USA; St. Louis Cardinals infielder Paul Goldschmidt (46) runs the bases after hitting a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
The Cardinals evened the season-opening, four-game series at one victory apiece behind a 14-hit attack. Matt Carpenter and Paul DeJong both had two hits and an RBI for St. Louis.
Milwaukee got much of its production from the top of the order. Ryan Braun had two hits, including a three-run home run, Christian Yelich added a solo home run as part of a two-hit night, and Lorenzo Cain also had two hits.
St. Louis struck with three runs in the first inning, Goldschmidt’s two-run home run — his first as a Cardinal — punctuating the rally. On the 10th pitch of his at-bat against Brewers righty Freddy Peralta, Goldschmidt the ball into the left field seats, delighting several pockets of Cardinals fans in the Miller Park stands.
Red Sox 7, Mariners 6
Pinch hitter Mitch Moreland hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning as Boston rallied to win at Seattle.
The Red Sox trailed 6-1 through four innings before coming back to even the series at a game apiece.
Boston left-hander Brian Johnson (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning, striking out the side, to get the victory. Mariners right-hander Hunter Strickland (0-1), who got two saves as Seattle opened the season last week with a two-game series against Oakland in Japan, took over in the ninth with a chance for another save but lasted just one-third of an inning.
Padres 4, Giants 1
Left-hander Joey Lucchesi and two relievers ran the Padres’ scoreless innings streak to 17 to start the season, and Ian Kinsler hit his first home run as host San Diego defeated San Francisco.
The 17 scoreless innings were a Padres record to open a season. The record over the franchise’s first 50 seasons was 14 straight scoreless innings to open the 2008 season.
The bid for a second straight shutout ended when Evan Longoria opened the top of the ninth with a home run into the left field seats off right-handed reliever Phil Maton.
Angels 6, Athletics 2
Andrelton Simmons capped a four-run eighth inning against the Oakland bullpen with a two-run single, delivering a win for visiting Los Angeles on the second day of a four-game series.
The win allowed the Angels to even the American League West series at a game apiece after Oakland had returned from a winless trip to Japan with a 4-0 win in its California opener on Thursday.
After starters Marco Estrada of Oakland and Matt Harvey of Los Angeles had left a pitchers’ duel that had the A’s on top 2-0 through seven innings, the Angels jumped on Joakim Soria (0-1) in the eighth.
Rockies 6, Marlins 1
Charlie Blackmon hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning, and Colorado defeated host Miami. Blackmon, who won the National League batting title in 2017, went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and one steal.
The Rockies have taken the first two games of the season-opening series, holding Miami to a total of four runs on just six hits. The Marlins managed only two hits Friday, including Curtis Granderson’s fourth-inning homer.
German Marquez (1-0), who set the Rockies record last season with 230 strikeouts, gave up two hits and one run in six innings. He struck out seven and walked three.
Rays 4, Astros 2
Charlie Morton recorded eight strikeouts against his former club, and four relievers combined to work four scoreless innings as Tampa Bay evened its season-opening, four-game series with visiting Houston.
Morton (1-0) gave up two runs on three hits and two walks over five innings against the Astros, for whom he recorded the victory in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. Morton signed as a free agent with the Rays this offseason.
Houston’s Michael Brantley recorded a two-out, two-run double off Morton in the third inning. The Rays responded in the third with a run-scoring single by Tommy Pham and a two-run single by Ji-Man Choi. Yandy Diaz homered for Tampa Bay in the sixth.
Blue Jays 6, Tigers 0
Matt Shoemaker pitched seven two-hit innings, Freddy Galvis drove in two runs with a single in a four-run fourth inning, and Toronto defeated visiting Detroit for its first win of the season.
It was also the first major league win as manager for Charlie Montoyo.
Shoemaker (1-0), signed in the offseason after a forearm injury hampered him the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, was superb in his Blue Jays debut. The right-hander held the Tigers to a double and a triple by Nicholas Castellanos and two walks while striking out seven.
—Field Level Media