UNDATED (AP) — The Major League Baseball season began this afternoon in the Bronx as the New York Yankees welcomed fans into their ballpark for the first time since the 2019 playoffs.
The Yanks dropped their season opener as Randal Grichuk led off the 10th inning with an RBI double to give the Toronto Blue Jays a 3-2 victory. The Yankees had a chance to win it in the ninth after pinch-runner Michael Tauchman stole two bases, but he was thrown out at the plate by third baseman Cavan Biggio before Aaron Judge struck out to end the threat.
Teoscar Hernández hit a tying homer in the sixth off Gerrit Cole as Toronto improved to 23-22 in openers.
Meanwhile, the defending World Series champs were beaten on the road.
The Rockies posted an 8-5 win over the Dodgers as Colorado scored runs courtesy of a squeeze play, two wild pitches, a groundout, an error and three RBI singles.
Cody Bellinger had a home run negated when he passed Justin Turner on the base paths after Turner thought the ball had been caught.
This was a rare rocky season opener for Clayton Kershaw, who was tagged for five earned runs and 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings. In his previous eight opening day starts, Kershaw’s 1.05 ERA was the lowest of any pitcher with at least 40 innings since 1913.
Elsewhere in the MLB on Thursday:
— The Nationals-Mets opener in Washington had to be postponed after at least three of the 2019 World Series champions’ players tested positive for COVID-19. Nats general manager Mike Rizzo said one of the players testing positive had a fever, while the others were not displaying COVID-19 symptoms. Contact tracing was continuing to see who else might have been exposed.
— The Padres gave up four long balls in the fifth inning to blow a five-run lead before beating the Diamondbacks, 8-7. Eric Hosmer had a homer among his three hits and drove in three runs, newcomer Victor Caratini also had three RBIs. Jake Cronenworth hit a leadoff triple in the seventh before scoring the tiebreaking run on a sacrifice fly after Ketel Marte Asdrubal Cabrera, pinch-hitter Tim Locastro and Stephen Vogt went deep for Arizona in the fifth.
— Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a two-run homer and the Pirates’ bullpen dominated in a two-hitter in a 5-3 downing of the Cubs in Chicago. Relievers combined for six innings of one-run ball, with Richard Rodríguez notching the save. Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks lasted just three innings in his second straight opening-day start, issuing three walks while allowing three runs and four hits after he walked eight in 81 1/3 innings last season.
— Paul Goldschmidt and newcomer Nolan Arenado combined for six hits and the Cardinals roughed up Luis Castillo for six runs in the first inning an 11-6 thumping of the Reds. Dylan Carlson hit a three-run homer and Tyler O’Neill connected for a two-run shot. Castillo surrendered 10 runs, eight earned and eight hits over 3 1/3 innings.
— Zack Greinke pitched six shutout innings and the Astros hushed an unwelcoming crowd in beating the reigning AL West-champion Athletics, 8-1. It was Houston’s first game in Oakland with fans in the stands since the Astros were proven to have stolen signs during their World Series run. Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman homered back-to-back in the eighth to put it out of reach after Greinke limited the A’s to three hits.
— The Mariners rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the Giants, 8-7 on Jake Fraley’s walk with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th. Seattle scored six runs in the eighth inning to take a 7-6 lead, but pinch-hitter Alex Dickerson extended the game with a solo homer in the ninth. Evan Longoria and Buster Posey homered in the second off Seattle starter Marco Gonzales, who tied a career high with three home runs allowed.
— Austin Meadows’ home run with two outs in the eighth inning was all the Rays needed as the reigning AL champions started their season with a 1-0 win over the Marlins. Meadows connected off Miami reliever Yimi Garcia on a drive that cleared the 387-foot sign in left-center with ease. Jesus Aguilar had two of Miami’s three hits.
— The Phillies pulled out a 3-2 win over the Braves on Jean Segura’s RBI single with two out in the bottom of the 10th. Phillies ace Aaron Nola was one strike away from tossing seven scoreless innings before pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval ripped an 0-2 pitch into the second deck in right field to tie it at 2. Philadelphia received 3 1/3 scoreless innings from four relievers, with Connor Brogdon working the 10th.
— Mike Trout delivered the tying single and Shohei Ohtani scored the go-ahead run on an Albert Pujols grounder in the eighth inning, leading the Angels’ rally to a 4-3 victory over the White Sox. Max Stassi homered and Justin Upton had an RBI single as Los Angeles spoiled the second debut of Chicago manager Tony La Russa. Adam Eaton hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in his first game back with the White Sox.
— Lorenzo Cain beat a throw to the plate in the 10th inning to complete the Milwaukee Brewers’ rally in a 6-5 victory over Minnesota. The Brewers tied it by scoring three runs in the ninth, capped by Travis Shaw’s two-out, two-run double off closer Alex Colomé in his Twins debut. The Twins took a 5-2 lead into the ninth on Byron Buxton’s two-run homer in the seventh and Max Kepler’s three hits.
— Miguel Cabrera homered in his first at-bat of the season and added a sparkling play at first base to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians. Matthew Boyd allowed three hits and four walks with two strikeouts in 5 2/3 scoreless innings despite a light snowfall and gametime temperature at 32 degrees. Shane Bieber allowed three runs over the first two innings before the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner finished with 12 strikeouts over six frames.
— Center fielder Michael A. Taylor homered, drove in three runs and threw out two players at the plate in leading the Royals past the Rangers 14-10. Each team scored five times in the first inning of a game that took 4 hours, 26 minutes. Kyle Isbel had three hits and two RBIs in his first major league game as Kansas City broke its record for runs in an opener.
— The Red Sox and Orioles were postponed by weather in Boston.
