Pirates prevail over Tigers despite wacky stuff
DETROIT — Nicholas Castellanos slid across home plate, Pittsburgh catcher Francisco Cervelli lunged at him — and for a few fleeting moments, the Detroit Tigers rushed on to the field to celebrate a victory on opening day.
All while the Pirates waited for a possible reprieve.
“We thought we had a shot, a legitimate shot, at getting the play our way. The play went our way because we made a good enough throw and good enough tag to get him before he touched the plate,” Pittsburgh Manager Clint Hurdle said.
Sure enough, the call was overturned and Castellanos was ruled out — a replay reversal that left the Tigers miffed over an hour later, after Gregory Polanco’s three-run home run in the 13th inning gave Pittsburgh a 13-10 victory Friday.
Castellanos was initially called safe with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th, but as the review dragged on, the jubilation died down a bit, and the Detroit players waited patiently in front of their dugout for word from the umpires.
Once it came, Tigers Manager Ron Gardenhire wasn’t so calm. In his first game since 2014, he got ejected after the call was flipped. Then the teams played on. Polanco’s drive to right-center on a 3-0 pitch from Alex Wilson (0-1) finally gave the Pirates a comfortable lead — or as comfortable as could be on a wacky day in which both teams scored four runs in the ninth.
Detroit put two men on base in the 13th, but Steven Brault (1-0) was able to hold on and finish his third scoreless inning of relief.
By the time the 5-hour, 27-minute game was over, there was only one manager and three umpires left. Plate umpire Mike Everitt exited in the eighth with a concussion after being hit in the mask by a pitch.
Detroit’s franchise-record streak of six consecutive victories in season openers was snapped.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
MARLINS 2, CUBS 1 (17) Miguel Rojas drove in Brian Anderson (Arkansas Razorbacks) with a single to center in the 17th inning, and Miami topped visiting Chicago.
NATIONALS 2, REDS 0 Max Scherzer struck out 10 in six innings and Washington, in its first game with Dave Martinez as a major league manager, beat host Cincinnati to begin defense of its NL East title. Nationals star Bryce Harper got two hits, but his string of five consecutive opening days with a home run came to an end.
PHILLIES 5, BRAVES 4 (11) Carlos Santana drove in J.P. Crawford with a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, and first-year Philadelphia Manager Gabe Kapler went through nine pitchers for his first victory as the visiting Phillies beat Atlanta. Kapler, who was criticized for pulling Aaron Nola with a 5-0 lead after Nola threw only 68 pitches in the Braves’ 8-5 victory Thursday night, used eight relievers after Nick Pivetta lasted only four innings.
GIANTS 1, DODGERS 0 Joe Panik homered for the second consecutive game off closer Kenley Jansen, and San Francisco beat error-prone host Los Angeles. This time, Panik went deep to the right field pavilion leading off the ninth against Jansen (0-1), making Giants skipper Bruce Bochy the first visiting manager ever to amass 100 victories at Dodger Stadium.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RED SOX 1, RAYS 0 David Price was solid in his return to the Red Sox rotation, allowing 4 singles over 7 scoreless innings of Boston’s 1-0 victory over host Tampa Bay. Rafael Devers snapped a scoreless tie with a single up the middle that drove in Xander Bogaerts.
YANKEES 4, BLUE JAYS 2 Masahiro Tanaka pitched six sharp innings and visiting New York beat Toronto without any pop from its sluggers. Giancarlo Stanton, who homered twice and doubled a day earlier in the opener, went 0 for 4. So did big hitters Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.
RANGERS 5, ASTROS 1 Doug Fister mostly silenced the powerful Houston lineup for five innings in his Texas debut, Nomar Mazara homered for an early lead and the host Rangers beat the Astros.