CINCINNATI — Nick Castellanos stood over, flexed and jawed at St. Louis pitcher Jake Woodford after scoring, setting off a series of scuffles that included relievers shoving in the outfield as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Cardinals 9-6 Saturday.
St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright was knocked around for six runs and chased in the third. The next inning, the teams started tagging each other.
Castellanos, who homered on opening day and hopped out of the box before tossing his bat, was plunked by Woodford with two outs and none on in the fourth. Castellanos retrieved the ball and offered to toss it back to Woodford before flipping it out of play.
A wild pitch soon sent Castellanos scampering home from third and he scored with a headfirst slide for a 7-2 lead as he bumped into Woodford, who took the throw from catcher Yadier Molina at the plate.
As Castellanos began walking away, Molina rushed up and tapped him from behind, and the benches and bullpens emptied in a wild scene.
There was more pushing and shoving before order seemed to be restored. But as relief pitchers for both teams were heading back to their bullpens, they tangled in the outfield.
TWINS 2, BREWERS 0
MILWAUKEE — José Berríos and three Minnesota relievers combined on a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts to outduel Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes.
The Twins held Milwaukee hitless until Omar Narváez delivered a one-out single off reliever Tyler Duffey in the eighth inning. Neither team had a hit or walk until Minnesota’s Byron Buxton led off the seventh with a homer against Burnes (0-1).
Buxton’s homer came on the 87th and final pitch from Burnes, who had 11 strikeouts. Berríos (1-0) struck out 12, hit a batter and didn’t walk anybody in six innings but left after 84 pitches.
ASTROS 9, ATHLETICS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. — Yordan Álvarez hit a three-run homer and Houston kept thriving through all the boos, slugging its way to a third straight win over Oakland.
Houston has outscored Oakland 26-7 in three games against the defending AL West champion A’s, who were eliminated by the Astros in a four-game AL Division Series last fall.
PHILLIES 4, BRAVES 0
PHILADELPHIA — Zack Wheeler allowed only one hit and struck out 10 in seven innings and had two hits and two RBIs at the plate to lead Philadelphia over Atlanta.
Wheeler retired the final 17 Atlanta hitters he faced after a one-out single by Travis d’Arnaud in the second.
Archie Bradley and Hector Neris retired all six hitters in the final two innings. Overall, the Braves struck out 14 times out of 28 at-bats.
Wheeler put the Phillies ahead to stay with his run-scoring single in the fifth against Charlie Morton (0-1). Rhys Hoskins made it 3-0 with a two-run double.
PADRES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 0
SAN DIEGO — Joe Musgrove was brilliant in his debut for his hometown Padres, Manny Machado homered for his first hit of 2021 and Wil Myers drove in three runs on two doubles as San Diego beat Arizona.
With his parents and other family members in the stands, Musgrove (1-0) held the Diamondbacks to three hits in six innings while striking out eight and walking none. After allowing a one-out single in the first, he retired 11 straight, seven by strikeout.
Padres rookie Ryan Weathers, who made his big league debut in Game 1 of the NL Division Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, finished the combined four-hitter with three strikeouts in three innings for his first save.
DODGERS 6, ROCKIES 5
DENVER — Zach McKinstry hustled for a go-ahead, inside-the-park homer in the eighth inning when left fielder Raimel Tapia reached over the fence to bring the ball back, only to have it bounce out of his glove and roll away, helping Los Angeles beat Colorado.
McKinstry lined a fastball from Mychal Givens (0-1) that resulted in his first major league homer. It was the first inside-the-park homer by a Dodgers player since Chris Taylor on Sept. 18, 2017, at Philadelphia.
ANGELS 5, WHITE SOX 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Justin Upton’s homer capped a three-run rally in the eighth inning and Los Angeles, helped by a flyball that bounced off the head of White Sox center fielder Luis Robert, beat hot-hitting Yermín Mercedes and Chicago.
Mercedes homered, doubled and singled to become the first player since at least 1900 to begin a season with eight straight hits. The 28-year-old rookie flied out in his final at-bat, ending the streak.
The Angels trailed 3-2 going into the eighth. Anthony Rendon singled and scored the tying run on Jared Walsh’s triple. Upton connected off Evan Marshall (0-1).
MARINERS 4, GIANTS 0
SEATTLE — Chris Flexen returned to the majors with a win after a year in South Korea, and Seattle got home runs from Mitch Haniger and Ty France while shutting out San Francisco.
Flexen (1-0) struck out six and allowed four hits in five sharp innings to help the Mariners take their first series of the year. The 26-year-old right-hander spent 2020 with the Doosan Bears of the Korea Baseball Organization.