Yelich’s heroics carry Brewers over Cards
Christian Yelich led the way for the Milwaukee Brewers, from his first swing to the very last one for the game.
So it was a pretty typical day for the reigning NL MVP.
Yelich hit his fourth homer in the first inning and a two-run double in the ninth, lifting the host Brewers to a dramatic 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
“What we’re witnessing is greatness,” Milwaukee slugger Ryan Braun said. “It’s absolutely incredible.”
Ben Gamel led off the ninth with a pinch-hit double and advanced on Lorenzo Cain’s infield single off reliever Jordan Hicks’ glove. Yelich then hit a liner into the gap in leftcenter, driving in Gamel and Cain.
“We were just trying to find a way to push one across and tie the game,” Yelich said. “[Hicks] has great stuff. One snuck in the line, and Lo’s deflected off his glove and we were able to pull it off.”
The former Miami Marlin tipped his cap to Gamel.
“It’s really hard to pinchhit against a guy who throws that hard and has that good of stuff,” Yelich said. “(Gamel) was able to battle and sneak one in there. He got the whole thing started for us.”
Yelich tossed his helmet in the air in celebration as Cain slid face first across the plate, giving Milwaukee three wins its opening fourgame set against rival St. Louis. Yelich’s teammates rushed the field and doused the reigning NL MVP with Gatorade in a raucous celebration at second.
The 27-year-old Yelich hit .326 with 36 homers and 110 RBI last year, leading the Brewers to the NL Central title. He is 6 for 12 with six walks and eight RBI so far this season.
Nationals 6, Mets 5: Trea Turner homered twice, including a gameending solo shot in the ninth inning, and Washington beat New York for its first win of the season.
Turner earlier hit a threerun homer and also scored in the fifth to put Washington up 4-1.
The Nationals let a 5-2 lead evaporate in the eighth before Turner ended it with a drive off Justin Wilson (0-1) that landed in the second row of the left-field seats.
Pirates 5, Reds 0: Trevor Williams pitched six effective innings and drove in two runs, helping Pittsburgh win at Cincinnati. Williams picked up where he left off last season, when he was the only major leaguer to make 10 starts of at least six innings without allowing a run. The righthander gave up three hits, struck out six and walked one.
Padres 3, Giants 1: Manny Machado brought in the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded grounder in the seventh inning, Chris Paddack struck out seven in five impressive innings in his major league debut for host San Diego. Four pitchers combined on a twohitter for the Padres, who took three of four from the Giants.
Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 7: A.J. Pollock hit a key two-run double during an eighth-inning rally to help host Los Angeles beat Arizona.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Orioles 7, Yankees 5: Renato Nunez, Trey Mancini and Joey Rickard hit Baltimore’s first home runs of the year and the Orioles started strong at Yankee Stadium, beating New York in a game delayed more than three hours by rain.
Coming off a 115-loss season under Buck Showalter, the Orioles and new manager Brandon Hyde opened by taking two of three from the 100-win Yankees. Baltimore hadn’t won two in a row since August.
Rays 3, Astros 1: Yonny Chirinos covered splendidly for Tampa Bay’s taxed bullpen, Austin Meadows hit his second homer and the Rays took three of four games from visiting Houston.
The Rays had planned to use an opener for the first time this season, but manager Kevin Cash instead turned to the 25-year-old Chirinos rather than push his fatigued relievers. Chirinos pitched seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks while striking out six. The only run came on Jake Marisnick’s homer in the sixth.
Mariners 10, Red Sox 8: Omar Narvaez hit a three-run homer off Rick Porcello in Seattle’s sevenrun third inning, and the Mariners beat Boston.
Dee Gordon had two hits and three RBI as Seattle put together another impressive performance at the plate. The Mariners scored 34 times while taking three of four from the defending World Series champions in their first series at home.
Tigers 4, Blue Jays 3, (11): Nicholas Castellanos singled home the go-ahead run in the 11th inning, Jeimer Candelario had five hits and Detroit won at Toronto after blowing a late lead. Castellanos drove in Grayson Greiner, and the Tigers salvaged a split of the four-game series to open the season. The decisive hit came off left-hander Thomas Pannone (0-1), the eighth pitcher of the game for Toronto.
Twins 9, Indians 3: Nelson Cruz hit his first homer with Minnesota, Michael Pineda was stellar in his first pitching appearance since 2017 and the host Twins beat Cleveland. Pineda had Tommy John surgery after his previous start in July 5, 2017 while with the New York Yankees, and this was his first time back on a big league mound. Pineda pitched four scoreless innings, striking out five with one hit and one walk.
White Sox 6, Royals 3: Lucas Giolito took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning in his first start of the season, and the Chicago White Sox win at Kansas City Royals to avoid a three-game sweep in the season-opening series.
Giolito (1-0) walked Whit Merrifield on four pitches to begin the game, but then retired 19 straight before Alex Gordon’s single with one out in the seventh. Gordon fouled off four consecutive pitches before lining a curveball into center field.
Athletics 2, Angels 1: Khris Davis homered for the fourth time in six games, Frankie Montas pitched into the seventh inning and host Oakland beat Los Angeles.
INTERLEAGUE
Rangers 8, Cubs 6: Joey Gallo scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning and host Texas outlasted Chicago. Jose Leclerc stopped a Chicago rally and got the last four outs for Texas.