UNDATED (AP) — Jorge Polanco and Kyle Garlick hit early two-run homers over the Green Monster to back Dylan Bundy, carrying the Minnesota Twins past the Red Sox 8-3 in Boston’s annual Patriots’ Day game.
The game started at 11:11 a.m. EDT, played in conjunction with the 126th Boston Marathon, which ended about one mile from Fenway Park. Polanco added a two-run single in a four-run eighth and Gio Urshela had three singles for the Twins, who won the final two games of the series for a four-game split. Christian Vázquez hit a solo homer and Xander Bogaerts had three hits with an RBI.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Frankie Montas allowed two hits over six innings, the Athletics threw out two runners at the plate and Oakland held on and beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 in its home opener. A crowd of 17,503 weathered chilly temperatures to view a matchup between the teams with the two lowest payrolls in the major leagues. Attendance was the A’s lowest for a home opener without COVID restrictions in at least 30 years. Montas struck out five and walked two for his second straight win. He retired 12 of his first 13 batters and did not allow a hit until the fifth.
— Freddie Freeman slugged his first home run in a Dodgers uniform and Los Angeles beat the Atlanta Braves 7-4 for its seventh consecutive victory. Freeman didn’t wait to tee off against his old team. He homered in the first inning off Huascar Ynoa. The sellout crowd of 52,052 saluted Freeman with chants of “Freddie! Freddie!” Before the game, an emotional Freeman spent time in the Braves clubhouse, reliving memories of delivering Atlanta’s first World Series title since 1995 last year. Guillermo Heredia and Ozzie Albies had solo shots for the Braves off Clayton Kershaw.
— Manny Machado had a two-run homer among his three hits and Sean Manaea pitched six strong innings for the San Diego Padres, who won 4-1 to hand the Cincinnati Reds their seventh straight loss. The Padres extended their major league record with 12 straight errorless games to open a season. The Reds took a rare lead when Tommy Pham, who played with the Padres the last two seasons before leaving as a free agent, hit a solo homer with two outs in the first. It was his first of the season and doubled his hit total. Pham finished with three hits.
— Yordan Alvarez homered twice with four RBIs in his return after missing five games because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols to lead the Houston Astros to an 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels in their home opener. The Astros lost Jose Altuve in the eighth inning with an apparent injury.
— Christian Yelich belted a grand slam for his first homer of the season and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1. The 429-foot blast was Yelich’s fourth career grand slam.
— Rookie Seiya Suzuki extended his hitting streak to nine games, tying Akinori Iwamura for the longest by a Japanese-born player at the start of a major league career, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on a cold night.
— Chad Kuhl pitched six scoreless innings during his home debut with the Rockies before leaving with what appeared to be a cut near the middle finger of his pitching hand, and Charlie Blackmon hit a go-ahead home run to lead Colorado over the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1.
— The New York Mets postponed their game against the San Francisco Giants scheduled for Monday night due to forecasted rain and rescheduled it as part of a doubleheader Tuesday. The Mets announced the postponement about three hours before first pitch Monday, with 1-2 inches of rain expected.
— The game between the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians scheduled for Monday night has been postponed by bad weather. The game was called about five hours before the scheduled 6:10 p.m. first pitch after rain and snow showers fell most of the day and temperatures dropped into the 30s. The teams will play a split doubleheader on July 12.
— The Arizona Diamondbacks’ game at the Washington Nationals has been postponed because of rain. The game was supposed to begin Monday night. It will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader today.
