Phils rally past Houston
PHILADELPHIA — Pinch-hitter John Mayberry Jr. lined an RBI single off closer Brandon Lyon that capped a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros 5-4.
Trailing 4-2 to start the ninth, the Phillies got going when Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard started with singles off Lyon (0-1). After Raul Ibanez popped up, Rollins stole third and Ben Francisco lined an RBI single. Carlos Ruiz followed with a single and Wilson Valdez hit a tying single that kept the bases loaded with one out.
Mayberry then sent a shot over drawn-in center fielder Michael Bourn, kicking off a celebration after he touched first base.
Ryan Madson (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless inning in relief.
Dodgers 4, Giants 3Rafael Furcal singled in the go-ahead run to highlight a three-run sixth inning and lift the Dodgers over San Francisco.The defending World Series champions remained winless after losing 2-1 in the teams’ season opener a night earlier. New manager Don Mattingly matched the 2-0 start of mentor and retired Dodgers skipper Joe Torre in 2008.
Marlins 6, Mets 2Josh Johnson took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, John Buck hit a grand slam in his Florida debut and the Marlins beat the Mets.Logan Morrison also homered and Gaby Sanchez added an RBI single for the Marlins, who played their 19th and final opener at Sun Life Stadium. The team moves into a new ballpark in 2012.
D’Backs 7, Rockies 6Matt Lindstrom’s wild pitch with one out in the top of the 11th allowed Gerardo Parra to score from third base, sending Arizona to a wild win over Colorado.Parra singled off Matt Reynolds (0-1) to start the 11th, and Lindstrom came in and struck out a pinch hitter before Willie Bloomquist singled to right, putting runners at the corners for Kelly Johnson, who was at the plate when Lindstrom threw the wild pitch.
Rangers 9, Red Sox 5Pinch-hitter David Murphy delivered a tiebreaking, two-run double in the eighth inning and the Texas Rangers rallied for a 9-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday after raising their American League championship flag.Murphy’s slicing liner off Daniel Bard (0-1) kicked up chalk when it landed on the left-field line. That sent Rangers newcomers Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba home to break a 5-all tie. Murphy scored on a double by Elvis Andrus before another double by AL MVP Josh Hamilton.
Mariners 6, Athletics 2Felix Hernandez found his Cy Young form in a hurry, pitching a five-hitter for his 14th career complete game and the first in the majors this year as Seattle beat Oakland.Chone Figgins hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning off Craig Breslow (0-1). Ichiro Suzuki drove in a run and stole two bases as the Mariners won their opener under new manager Eric Wedge to end a five-game skid in Oakland. Suzuki moved within one hit of tying Edgar Martinez’s franchise record of 2,247.
Wh. Sox 15, Indians 10Carlos Quentin homered and drove in five runs, Adam Dunn homered and had four RBIs in his debut for Chicago and the go-for-broke White Sox built a huge lead and held off Cleveland’s scrappy comeback in their season opener.The White Sox splurged during the offseason in an attempt to win the AL Central after finishing second to Minnesota in 2010, and the club’s $125 million payroll looks like money well spent — so far.
Royals 2, Angels 1Kila Ka’aihue hit Michael Kohn’s second pitch of the ninth inning for a game-ending home run, lifting Kansas City over Los Angeles.Kohn (0-1) relieved Jordan Walden to start the ninth and was ahead 0-1 in the count when Ka’aihue, who had struck out twice, slammed the ball 393 feet to right.
Blue Jays 13, Twins 3J.P. Arencibia homered twice and drove in five runs, Jose Bautista and Adam Lind also went deep and Toronto handed Minnesota its third straight season-opening loss.Arencibia, who also hit two homers in his major league debut last August, tripled home two runs in the fifth.Bautista, baseball’s reigning home run king, went back-to-back with Lind in the fifth as the Blue Jays, who led the majors with 257 home runs last season, wasted no time in resuming their power-packed attack, much to the delight of a sellout crowd of 47,984.
Orioles 4, Rays 1Jeremy Guthrie allowed three hits in eight shutout innings while outpitching David Price, and Baltimore opened the season with a victory over Tampa Bay.Taking up where they left off during a nice two-month stretch to end last season under manager Buck Showalter, the Orioles ruined a festive evening in which the defending AL East champions hoisted their latest division title banner at Tropicana Field.
