Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., gestures as he rounds third base after hitting a solo home run during the Blue Jays’ 3-1 in over the Yankees on Sunday in New York. Kathy Willens/Associated Press
NEW YORK — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Randal Grichuk homered off Domingo Germán in the Yankee right-hander’s return from a domestic violence ban, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat New York 3-1 Sunday to win a season-opening series against their AL East rival.
A slimmed-down Guerrero – the 22-year-old claimed to lose 42 pounds in the offseason – had a hit in all three games in the series, including an opposite-field shot leading off the second inning against Germán. It was Guerrero’s first homer of the season after he underwhelmed in 2020, hitting .262 with nine homers in 60 games.
Grichuk wrapped a two-run drive around the left-field foul pole two batters after Guerrero, helping Toronto take two of three.
T.J. Zeuch pitched four scoreless innings for the Blue Jays, and left-hander Ryan Borucki got two outs to escape a jam in the sixth. Julian Merryweather got his second save with a perfect ninth.
INDIANS 9, TIGERS 3: Jordan Luplow hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run seventh inning, and Cleveland overcame a home run by Akil Baddoo on the first pitch of his major league career to win in Detroit.
Cleveland avoided a season-opening sweep in Detroit after falling behind 3-1 in the third inning. Yu Chang put the Indians up 4-3 with a two-run single off Daniel Norris (0-1) in the seventh, and Luplow added his home run one out later.
Franmil Reyes and Austin Hedges also homered for Cleveland.
PHILLIES 2, BRAVES 1: Alec Bohm hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, Zach Eflin gave Philadelphia another strong start and the Phillies completed a three-game sweep at home against the defending NL East champions.
REDS 12, CARDINALS 1: Nick Castellanos came out swinging with his bat a day after being ejected for inciting a bench-clearing melee, hitting a three-run homer and triple to lead Cincinnati to a win at home.
Tyler Naquin also a three-run shot.
TWINS 8, BREWERS 2: Miguel Sanó and Mitch Garver homered to back up Michael Pineda, and Minnesota won at Milwaukee.
Luis Arraez went 3 of 3 with a pair of walks as the Twins took two of three in the series. Max Kepler and Sanó each drove in three runs.
RANGERS 7, ROYALS 3: Nate Lowe hit a towering, three-run homer and visiting Texas avoided blowing a big lead for the third straight game, earning its first win of the season.
DODGERS 4, ROCKIES 2: Julio Urías got off to a strong start after a fine finish in last year’s World Series, pitching into the eighth inning as Los Angeles won at Denver.
Urias gave up one run and three hits in the longest start of his career.
CUBS 4, PIRATES 3: Zach Davies pitched into the sixth inning in his Chicago debut, and Ian Happ homered as host Chicago earned its second straight win.
ASTROS 9, ATHLETICS 2: Jason Castro homered in his first start back with Houston, and the Astros finished a four-game sweep in Oakland.
Kyle Tucker and Chas McCormick also homered for the Astros, off to their best start since 2001. Yuli Gurriel had three hits and two RBI.
DIAMONDBACKS 3, PADRES 1: Taylor Widener flustered San Diego’s potent offense for six scoreless innings to win his first big league start and David Peralta hit a two-run triple as Arizona avoid a four-game sweep in San Diego.
NOTES
NATIONALS: Washington won’t start its season Monday against Atlanta as it continues deal with a coronavirus outbreak, according to an ESPN report.
Four Nationals players have tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week and are isolating, and seven others are under quarantine because contact tracing determined they might have been exposed to the illness.
The status of Tuesday’s game has yet to be determined.
General Manager Mike Rizzo has not publicly identified any of the players involved or the two staff members who also have been placed under quarantine because of possible exposure.
DODGERS: Right-hander Tony Gonsolin was put on the 10-day injured list because of right shoulder inflammation, retroactive to Thursday.
Righty Dennis Santana was recalled from the alternate training site at Glendale, Arizona, to fill the roster spot.
Gonsolin, 26, made the Opening Day roster for the first time but has not pitched this season. He was 2-2 with a 2.31 ERA and 46 strikeouts in eight starts last year for the World Series champions.
PIRATES: Pittsburgh placed third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes on the 10-day injured list because of a strained left wrist.
Hayes, one of the preseason favorites for NL Rookie of the Year, got hurt on a swing during Saturday’s 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. He also used his left hand diving back to first on a pickoff attempt.
BREWERS: Assistant Athletic Trainer Dave Yeager spent Saturday night in a hospital after appearing to collapse while treating home plate umpire CB Bucknor during a game with the Minnesota Twins.
Brewers Manager Craig Counsell said he is hopeful Yeager will get released sometime Sunday. Counsell said that Yeager had been feeling dehydrated after the game but was doing better.
Copy the Story Link
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.