WASHINGTON — Juan Soto drove in the winning run with a single on a 3-0 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday, lifting the coronavirus-depleted Washington Nationals to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Atlanta Braves after waiting five days to start their season.
Lefty reliever Will Smith (0-1) entered for the ninth and promptly gave up a single to new leadoff hitter Victor Robles, and then hit Trea Turner with a pitch. That brought up Soto, the 2020 NL batting champion, and he delivered a line drive to center field.
Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson homered against Washington ace Max Scherzer. Acuña drove Scherzer’s first pitch of the game deep to left-center, and led off the third with his second homer.
Because of a COVID-19 outbreak — four players tested positive; seven were forced into quarantine after potentially being exposed — Washington’s first four scheduled games were scrapped.
DODGERS 5, ATHLETICS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. — Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw struck out eight in seven smooth innings to send the Athletics to their worst start in more than a century.
Mookie Betts homered for the first time this season, a towering solo shot to left-center in the ninth. Max Muncy and Edwin Rios also went deep for the World Series champion Dodgers (5-1).
At 0-6, the A’s have matched the poorest start in franchise history. The 1916 Philadelphia Athletics also began the season with six consecutive losses.
Kershaw (1-1) permitted one run and four hits.
YANKEES 7, ORIOLES 2
NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole struck out 13 and walked none over seven scoreless innings in his most dominant start since joining the Yankees.
Cole (1-0) allowed four hits, three of them singles, in the type of the performance that showed why the Yankees made him baseball’s highest-paid pitcher in December 2019 with a $324 million, nine-year contract.
Jay Bruce backed him with his first Yankees home run, a solo shot in the second off Dean Kremer (0-1), and Aaron Judge added a three-run homer in the eighth.
New York has won a team-record 12 straight home games against the Orioles since May 2019, outscoring Baltimore 76-28. It moved above .500 for first time this year at 3-2.
Rio Ruiz hit a two-run homer for Baltimore with two out in the ninth.
RED SOX 6, RAYS 5, 12 INNINGS
BOSTON — Randy Arozarena got twisted around on J.D. Martinez’s two-run double with two outs in the 12th inning, lifting Boston to the victory.
The Rays were in line for the win before Christian Vázquez belted Diego Castillo’s 0-2 pitch over the Green Monster for a tying homer leading off the ninth.
Martinez had an RBI double in the eighth for the Red Sox, who won their second straight after an 0-3 start.
METS 8, PHILLIES 4
PHILADELPHIA — Marcus Stroman tossed six sharp innings in his first start since 2019, sending New York to the win.
Dominic Smith and Pete Alonso each hit a two-run homer for the Mets.
Didi Gregorius hit a solo homer for Philadelphia, which sought its first 5-0 start since 1915.
After sitting out last year due to COVID-19 concerns, Stroman (1-0) didn’t miss a step. He allowed one run and three hits.
PADRES 3, GIANTS 1
SAN DIEGO — Victor Caratini hit a tiebreaking two-run homer for San Diego, and Yu Darvish pitched six strong innings.
The Padres won a few hours after getting the news that star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. is expected to avoid surgery for now for a partially dislocated left shoulder. Tatis was placed on the 10-day injured list and the Padres didn’t set a timeline for his return.
Caratini’s first homer with San Diego was a two-run shot to right field off Matt Wisler (0-1) with one out in the seventh.
Keone Kela (1-0) pitched a perfect seventh for the win, and Mark Melancon worked a perfect ninth for his third save.
ASTROS 4, ANGELS 2
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Carlos Correa hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning, lifting Houston to the victory.
Kyle Tucker and Aledmys Díaz hit back-to-back homers in the second inning for the Astros, who went an impressive 5-1 on their six-game road trip to start the season amid the incessant booing and jeering they’ll hear indefinitely as fans react to their sign-stealing scandal in the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
Mike Trout hit a 464-foot homer in the first inning, but the Angels dropped to 4-2 and failed to match the best six-game start in franchise history. Raisel Iglesias (1-1) got the loss.
Ryan Pressly (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for Houston, getting Justin Upton to ground into a game-ending double play.
REDS 14, PIRATES 1
CINCINNATI — Tyler Naquin homered twice and drove in a career-high seven runs, leading Cincinnati to its fourth straight victory.
Rookie Jonathan India had three hits and four RBIs in Cincinnati’s latest offensive outburst. Tucker Barnhart and Nick Senzel also had three hits apiece.
The Reds set a franchise record with 46 runs in their first five games. The 1895 and 1976 teams scored 44 runs through five games.
BREWERS 4, CUBS 0
CHICAGO — Freddy Peralta pitched five sharp innings, Travis Shaw hit a three-run homer and Milwaukee stopped a three-game slide.
Peralta (1-0) struck out eight and walked four. Kris Bryant doubled in the fourth for Chicago’s only hit of the game.
Shaw connected in the first against Adbert Alzolay (0-1), sending an opposite-field drive deep to left-center. Omar Narvaez added a solo drive in the fourth.
Both benches emptied when Brewers reliever Brad Boxberger hit Willson Contreras with a pitch to lead off the Cubs’ half of the ninth. Contreras, who was beaned in the helmet on Monday, started yelling and walking toward the mound, but was steered to first base by teammates.
RANGERS 7, BLUE JAYS 4
ARLINGTON, Texas — Nate Lowe homered twice for Texas and padded his franchise record for RBIs to start the season with four more.
Lowe was the first Texas player to go deep in front of the home fans at Globe Life Field, lining a two-run shot into the Toronto bullpen in left-center field for a 2-1 lead in the first inning.
Ronald Guzman and Jonah Heim also went deep for the Rangers in their first four-homer game in their year-old ballpark. It was also the first six-homer game in the regular season, with Toronto’s Bo Bichette connecting twice.
TIGERS 4, TWINS 3, 10 INNINGS
DETROIT — Akil Baddoo added another big hit in this charmed start to his big league career, lining an RBI single in the 10th inning for Detroit.
Baddoo made his debut Sunday and homered on the first pitch thrown to him. Then he hit a grand slam in a 15-6 loss to the Twins on Monday. The rookie entered Tuesday’s game as a pinch runner, stayed in to the play the outfield and ended it with a hit to right off Hansel Robles (0-1).
Nelson Cruz and Byron Buxton homered for the Twins, who rallied from a 3-1 deficit..
