ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Arenado hit three doubles and a single, Paul DeJong homered and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2. Cardinals rookie manager Oliver Marmol, a winner in his debut Thursday, was at Busch Stadium before the game and diagnosed with the flu. He tested negative for COVID-19 and left the ballpark. Bench coach Skip Schumaker filled in for Marmol. Arenado drove in three runs in his second four-hit game since being traded to St. Louis prior to the 2021 season.
CHICAGO (AP) — Seiya Suzuki drove in three runs for his first big league RBIs and the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-0 for a testy win in which five batters were hit by pitches and the benches cleared. The teams exchanged words but no punches in the eighth after Andrew McCutchen was hit by a pitch from Cubs reliever Keegan Thompson, who was ejected for the first time in his career. Suzuki, a Japanese outfielder who signed an $85 million, five-year contract as the Cubs’ biggest offseason acquisition, had a sacrifice fly, a bases-loaded walk, and a single. The Cubs began a season 2-0 for the first time since 2016 with another win over the NL Central champions.
Also around the majors:
— The New York Yankees have made it back-to-back wins over the Boston Red Sox to open the season. Giancarlo Stanton became the first player to homer against Boston in six straight games, hitting a tiebreaking, two-run drive in the sixth inning of the Bombers’ 4-2 victory in the Bronx. Anthony Rizzo homered for the second straight day to start New York’s comeback from an early deficit, a tying two-run drive in the fourth. Luis Severino made his first start for the Yankees since the 2019 AL Championship Series as the Yankees improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2018.
— Noah Syndergaard pitched 5 1-3 innings of two-hit ball to outduel Justin Verlander in the Angels’ 2-0 blanking of the Astros. Mike Trout and Jared Walsh homered to help Syndergaard win his first start since signing with Los Angeles.
— Francisco Mejía homered and drove in three runs, helping the Rays beat Baltimore 5-3 for their 14th straight win over the Orioles. The two-time defending AL East champions improved to 20-1 against the Orioles since the start of the 2021 season.
— Pinch-hitter Santiago Espinal doubled home the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and Bo Bichette (bih-SHEHT’) hit a solo home run to push the Blue Jays past the Rangers, 4-3. George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each had two hits, and Bichette scored twice as Toronto improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2016.
— The White Sox were 5-2 winners over the Tigers as Dylan Cease (sees) allowed one run and two hits in five-plus innings with eight strikeouts and three walks. Yasmani Grandal (yahs-MAH’-nee grahn-DAHL’) belted a two-run homer to help Cease improve to 9-0 in 10 career starts versus Detroit.
— Ty France had three hits and two RBIs, including a go-ahead single in the ninth inning of the Mariners’ 4-3 victory at Minnesota. Byron Buxton had given the Twins a 3-2 lead with a two-run blast in the eighth.
— The Royals pulled out a 1-0 win over the Guardians on Adalberto Mondesi’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th. Prized rookie Bobby Witt Jr. made a sensational play at third base to nail a runner at the plate in the top of the 10th.
— Connor Joe drove in two runs, including a go-ahead solo homer in the eighth inning of the Rockies’ 3-2 verdict over the Dodgers. Daniel Bard struck out the side in the ninth to help Colorado gain a split of the first two games.
— Eric Hosmer hit a go-ahead, RBI single while the Padres scored three times in the eighth to beat the Diamondbacks, 5-2. Manny Machado led off the eighth with a single and added an RBI double later in the inning.
— The Braves were 2-1 winners over the Reds as Kyle Wright tossed two-hit ball while fanning six over six shutout innings. Marcell Ozuna (oh-ZOO’-nah) furnished three of Atlanta’s eight hits and drove in the game’s first run in the opening inning.
— Pete Alonso’s first career grand slam opened the scoring in the fifth inning of the Mets’ 5-0 shutout of the Nationals. Chris Bassitt tossed three-hit ball while striking out eight over six innings of his Mets debut, helping New York improve to 3-0.
— Kyle Gibson struck out 10 and tossed two-hit ball over seven shutout innings to lead the Phillies to a 4-2 win over the Athletics. Nick Castellanos (kas-tee-AH’-nohs) hit his first home run for the Phils, who also received back-to-back homers by Rhys Hoskins and Jean Segura.
— Jesús Sánchez provided a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning to ruin Carlos Rodon’s performance in the Marlins’ 2-1 win over the Giants. The All-Star left-hander struck out 12 and allowed one run in five innings.
