ARLINGTON, Texas: Francisco Lindor hit a go-ahead grand slam off closer Sam Dyson in the ninth inning as the defending AL champion Cleveland Indians completed a season-opening sweep with a 9-6 victory over the Texas Rangers in Major League Baseball on Wednesday night.
Lindor's first career slam and second homer of the game came after he put the Rangers ahead in the fifth when the shortstop misjudged Joey Gallo's speed, could not beat the slugger to second base on an attempted two-out force play and allowed two runs to score on a throwing error.
Dyson (0-2) loaded the bases and walked in a run before Lindor's homer down the right field line during a five-run Cleveland ninth. Dyson blew his first save after giving up three runs in a tie game in an 8-5 loss on opening day. He has allowed eight runs in one inning for the defending AL West champs.
The switch-hitting Lindor homered from both sides and had a career-high five RBIs.
Shawn Armstrong (1-0) struck out the only hitter he faced, Jonathan Lucroy, for his first major league win. Bryan Shaw pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.
Astros 5 Mariners 3, 13 innings: In Houston, George Springer hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 13th inning to cap a five-RBI game, lifting Houston over Seattle.
Springer's shot off Chase De Jong (0-1), who started the inning to make his major league debut, landed in the first row of the left field Crawford Boxes. Evan Gattis drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on Norichika Aoki's single with two outs.
Houston reliever Jandel Gustave walked Mitch Haniger, Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz to load the bases to start the 13th. He was replaced by Brad Peacock (1-0), who walked Kyle Seager on five pitches to bring in the go-ahead run before getting the next three hitters.
The Astros improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2001, while dropping the Mariners to their first 0-3 start since 2011.
Red Sox 3 Pirates 0, 12 innings: In Boston, Sandy Leon hit a three-run homer in the 12th inning — his third hit of the game — and Chris Sale pitched seven dominant innings in his Boston debut.
Leon also doubled in the third inning but got thrown out at the plate after running through third base coach Brian Butterfield's stop sign. It was scoreless into the bottom of the 12th, when Antonio Bastardo (0-1) walked Jackie Bradley Jr. and Pablo Sandoval with one out.
Leon followed with a drive over the Green Monster to end a cold night for the Red Sox, who also beat Pittsburgh in the season opener on Monday.
Braves 3 Mets 1, 12 innings: In New York, Bartolo Colon drew all sorts of nods, taps and tributes in his return to Citi Field during a sharp debut for Atlanta, as Matt Kemp's third double of the game in the 12th inning led the Braves over New York.
Kemp's two-out, bases-loaded liner off Rafael Montero (0-1) gave Atlanta its first win of the season after losing on opening day. Jim Johnson (1-0) worked two scoreless innings.
Pitching a day after the 20th anniversary of his major league debut, and now just more than a month shy of turning 44, Colon was as nifty as ever. He tossed two-hit ball — including a home run by Jay Bruce — for six innings, striking out six and walking one.
Orioles 3 Blue Jays 1: In Baltimore, Dylan Bundy struck out eight over seven impressive innings as Baltimore used home runs by Adam Jones and Chris Davis to beat Toronto.
Making his 15th career start, Bundy (1-0) allowed one run and four hits. The 2011 first-round draft pick did not issue a walk and retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced.
Brad Brach pitched the eighth and Zach Britton got three outs to earn his first save and seal the two-game sweep. After Toronto loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, Britton got former Oriole Steve Pearce to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play.
Dodgers 3 Padres 1: In Los Angeles, Rich Hill pitched five innings of two-hit ball, Yasiel Puig hit his first home run of the season and Los Angeles beat San Diego.
Hill (1-0) struck out five, walked three and allowed Hunter Renfroe's homer in his first start since signing a $48 million, three-year free agent contract in the offseason. Relievers Sergio Romo, Alex Wood and Kenley Jansen shut the Padres down the rest of the way, and Jansen pitched the ninth inning for his first save of the season.
The left-handed Hill was hit by a pitch in his right hand while batting in the second inning. After a short delay, he remained in the game.
Nationals 6 Marlins 4: In Washington, Bryce Harper had two RBIs and a nice ninth-inning catch, Ryan Zimmerman homered and Tanner Roark recovered from a shaky start to go six innings, leading Washington past Miami.
Roark (1-0) allowed two runs in the first inning, then hit two men and threw a wild pitch in the second, but he wound up retiring 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.
The reliever who replaced him to begin the seventh, Enny Romero, hit Derek Dietrich, which led to terse words between the two and the ejection of Marlins manager Don Mattingly. Dietrich also was hit by Roark.
Blake Treinen pitched the ninth for his second save.
Reds 2 Phillies 0: In Cincinnati, Brandon Finnegan allowed only one hit in seven innings, retiring the last 19 batters he faced, and Joey Votto homered for his first hit of the season, lifting Cincinnati over Philadelphia.
The start of the game was delayed 50 minutes because of storms. The middle innings were played through a steady rain that worked to the pitchers' favor.
Finnegan (1-0) allowed a walk in the first inning and Maikel Franco's single to center. He then retired 19 straight, fanning nine of them, and threw 88 pitches in all.
Diamondbacks 8 Giants 6: In Phoenix, Chris Owings reached safely four times and stole two bases, and Arizona scored seven consecutive runs in coming back from a three-run deficit to beat San Francisco.
A.J. Pollock went 3 for 5 with an RBI and Yasmany Tomas had two hits and an RBI to help starting pitcher Taijuan Walker win his Diamondbacks debut despite allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings.
Walker (1-0) struck out seven before the Diamondbacks turned the game over to their bullpen. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his first save with Arizona.
Angels 5 Athletics 0: In Oakland, California (AP) — Garrett Richards pitched beautifully while making his first appearance in 11 months after an elbow injury cut short his 2016 season, but left abruptly in the fifth inning with biceps cramping before Los Angeles beat Oakland.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia and the training staff rushed to the mound after Richards threw a 94 mph called strike to Matt Joyce with two outs in the fifth. Richards was removed from the game, one out shy of being eligible for the win, and slugger Albert Pujols put an arm around the pitcher in the dugout.
The team announced he came out for precautionary reasons.
Richards struck out four and walked one, allowing three hits in 4 2/3 innings. JC Ramirez (1-0) worked 2 2/3 innings for the victory.
Jharel Cotton (0-1) allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Lindor's first career slam and second homer of the game came after he put the Rangers ahead in the fifth when the shortstop misjudged Joey Gallo's speed, could not beat the slugger to second base on an attempted two-out force play and allowed two runs to score on a throwing error.
Dyson (0-2) loaded the bases and walked in a run before Lindor's homer down the right field line during a five-run Cleveland ninth. Dyson blew his first save after giving up three runs in a tie game in an 8-5 loss on opening day. He has allowed eight runs in one inning for the defending AL West champs.
The switch-hitting Lindor homered from both sides and had a career-high five RBIs.
Shawn Armstrong (1-0) struck out the only hitter he faced, Jonathan Lucroy, for his first major league win. Bryan Shaw pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.
Astros 5 Mariners 3, 13 innings: In Houston, George Springer hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 13th inning to cap a five-RBI game, lifting Houston over Seattle.
Springer's shot off Chase De Jong (0-1), who started the inning to make his major league debut, landed in the first row of the left field Crawford Boxes. Evan Gattis drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on Norichika Aoki's single with two outs.
Houston reliever Jandel Gustave walked Mitch Haniger, Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz to load the bases to start the 13th. He was replaced by Brad Peacock (1-0), who walked Kyle Seager on five pitches to bring in the go-ahead run before getting the next three hitters.
The Astros improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2001, while dropping the Mariners to their first 0-3 start since 2011.
Red Sox 3 Pirates 0, 12 innings: In Boston, Sandy Leon hit a three-run homer in the 12th inning — his third hit of the game — and Chris Sale pitched seven dominant innings in his Boston debut.
Leon also doubled in the third inning but got thrown out at the plate after running through third base coach Brian Butterfield's stop sign. It was scoreless into the bottom of the 12th, when Antonio Bastardo (0-1) walked Jackie Bradley Jr. and Pablo Sandoval with one out.
Leon followed with a drive over the Green Monster to end a cold night for the Red Sox, who also beat Pittsburgh in the season opener on Monday.
Braves 3 Mets 1, 12 innings: In New York, Bartolo Colon drew all sorts of nods, taps and tributes in his return to Citi Field during a sharp debut for Atlanta, as Matt Kemp's third double of the game in the 12th inning led the Braves over New York.
Kemp's two-out, bases-loaded liner off Rafael Montero (0-1) gave Atlanta its first win of the season after losing on opening day. Jim Johnson (1-0) worked two scoreless innings.
Pitching a day after the 20th anniversary of his major league debut, and now just more than a month shy of turning 44, Colon was as nifty as ever. He tossed two-hit ball — including a home run by Jay Bruce — for six innings, striking out six and walking one.
Orioles 3 Blue Jays 1: In Baltimore, Dylan Bundy struck out eight over seven impressive innings as Baltimore used home runs by Adam Jones and Chris Davis to beat Toronto.
Making his 15th career start, Bundy (1-0) allowed one run and four hits. The 2011 first-round draft pick did not issue a walk and retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced.
Brad Brach pitched the eighth and Zach Britton got three outs to earn his first save and seal the two-game sweep. After Toronto loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, Britton got former Oriole Steve Pearce to bounce into a 6-4-3 double play.
Dodgers 3 Padres 1: In Los Angeles, Rich Hill pitched five innings of two-hit ball, Yasiel Puig hit his first home run of the season and Los Angeles beat San Diego.
Hill (1-0) struck out five, walked three and allowed Hunter Renfroe's homer in his first start since signing a $48 million, three-year free agent contract in the offseason. Relievers Sergio Romo, Alex Wood and Kenley Jansen shut the Padres down the rest of the way, and Jansen pitched the ninth inning for his first save of the season.
The left-handed Hill was hit by a pitch in his right hand while batting in the second inning. After a short delay, he remained in the game.
Nationals 6 Marlins 4: In Washington, Bryce Harper had two RBIs and a nice ninth-inning catch, Ryan Zimmerman homered and Tanner Roark recovered from a shaky start to go six innings, leading Washington past Miami.
Roark (1-0) allowed two runs in the first inning, then hit two men and threw a wild pitch in the second, but he wound up retiring 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.
The reliever who replaced him to begin the seventh, Enny Romero, hit Derek Dietrich, which led to terse words between the two and the ejection of Marlins manager Don Mattingly. Dietrich also was hit by Roark.
Blake Treinen pitched the ninth for his second save.
Reds 2 Phillies 0: In Cincinnati, Brandon Finnegan allowed only one hit in seven innings, retiring the last 19 batters he faced, and Joey Votto homered for his first hit of the season, lifting Cincinnati over Philadelphia.
The start of the game was delayed 50 minutes because of storms. The middle innings were played through a steady rain that worked to the pitchers' favor.
Finnegan (1-0) allowed a walk in the first inning and Maikel Franco's single to center. He then retired 19 straight, fanning nine of them, and threw 88 pitches in all.
Diamondbacks 8 Giants 6: In Phoenix, Chris Owings reached safely four times and stole two bases, and Arizona scored seven consecutive runs in coming back from a three-run deficit to beat San Francisco.
A.J. Pollock went 3 for 5 with an RBI and Yasmany Tomas had two hits and an RBI to help starting pitcher Taijuan Walker win his Diamondbacks debut despite allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings.
Walker (1-0) struck out seven before the Diamondbacks turned the game over to their bullpen. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his first save with Arizona.
Angels 5 Athletics 0: In Oakland, California (AP) — Garrett Richards pitched beautifully while making his first appearance in 11 months after an elbow injury cut short his 2016 season, but left abruptly in the fifth inning with biceps cramping before Los Angeles beat Oakland.
Angels manager Mike Scioscia and the training staff rushed to the mound after Richards threw a 94 mph called strike to Matt Joyce with two outs in the fifth. Richards was removed from the game, one out shy of being eligible for the win, and slugger Albert Pujols put an arm around the pitcher in the dugout.
The team announced he came out for precautionary reasons.
Richards struck out four and walked one, allowing three hits in 4 2/3 innings. JC Ramirez (1-0) worked 2 2/3 innings for the victory.
Jharel Cotton (0-1) allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings.
