KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The reigning champion Kansas City Royals picked up where they left off in November, beating Matt Harvey and the New York Mets 4-3 on Sunday night in the first opening-day rematch of a World Series.

With runners at the corners in the ninth inning, All-Star closer Wade Davis struck out David Wright and Yoenis Cespedes for the save.

Edinson Volquez (1-0), who started the decisive Game 5 at Citi Field last fall, allowed two hits over six scoreless innings.

It wasn’t until Joakim Soria came on in the eighth that New York rallied, scoring three times on Lucas Duda’s two-run single and Neil Walker’s RBI groundout. Luke Hochevar struck out Asdrubal Cabrera to strand runners on first and second.

Harvey (0-1) allowed four runs — three earned — and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings.

Blue Jays 5, Rays 3

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Marcus Stroman outpitched Chris Archer in his first opening day start, helping the Toronto Blue Jays begin defense of their first AL East title in 22 years by beating Tampa Bay.

Stroman allowed three runs and six hits over eight-plus innings. Roberto Osuna got three outs for a save.

Archer struck out a Rays opening-day record 12 in five innings.

Troy Tulowitzki hit the first home run of the 2016 MLB season, a two-run shot for Toronto. Edwin Encarnacion had two hits and drove in two runs after not batting in a major league exhibition all spring training because of injuries.