Brewers edge Cubs in 11 innings

Brewers edge Cubs in 11 innings
Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun (8) scores the winning run on a wild pitch as Chicago Cubs pitcher Mike Montgomery (38) drops the ball in the eleventh inning at Miller Park on Friday night. (USA TODAY Sports)
Updated 08 April 2017
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Brewers edge Cubs in 11 innings

Brewers edge Cubs in 11 innings

MILWAUKEE: Ryan Braun scored from third base on a wild pitch in the 11th inning to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 2-1 win over the Chicago Cubs in Major League Baseball on Friday night.
Reliever Mike Montgomery (0-2) worked a 0-2 count on Manny Pina with one out before throwing a changeup that bounced past catcher Willson Contreras to the backstop. Contreras’ throw home to Montgomery was late, and the Brewers celebrated by mobbing Braun at the plate.
Braun led off the inning with a single before moving to third after Jesus Aguilar walked and Jett Bandy was hit by a pitch.
Jared Hughes (1-0) pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. The right-hander got a 4-6-3 double play to end a threat in the 10th after the Cubs put runners at first and second with one out.
TIGERS 6, RED SOX 5: JaCoby Jones capped a wild eighth inning with a bases-loaded walk as the Detroit Tigers outlasted the flu-bitten Boston Red Sox 6-5 on Friday to win their ninth straight home opener.
Red Sox stars Hanley Ramirez and Mookie Betts were ill and out of the lineup. Boston also was without shortstop Xander Bogaerts and reliever Matt Barnes, who are on the bereavement list.
The Tigers blew a 4-0 lead in the eighth, when Pablo Sandoval gave the Red Sox the lead with a three-run homer off Francisco Rodriguez (1-0).
But what the Detroit bullpen had squandered, the Boston relievers quickly gave back.
Heath Hembree (0-1) walked two batters, and Mikie Mahtook followed with a tying double off Robby Scott. Joe Kelly then allowed walks to James McCann and Jones, forcing in the final run. The Red Sox put runners on second and third in the ninth against Rodriguez, but Chris Young popped out to end it.
PIRATES 5, BRAVES 4: David Freese and Francisco Cervelli hit back-to-back home runs as Pittsburgh won its home opener in snow flurries, beating Atlanta.
Freese and Cervelli went deep off reliever Josh Collmenter leading off the fifth inning. That gave Ivan Nova the cushion he would need at PNC Park, where the game time temperature was 37 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius).
Nova (1-0) allowed just an unearned run over six innings in his first start since signing a three-year deal in the offseason to stay with the Pirates, who acquired him from the New York Yankees last summer. Tony Watson worked the ninth for his first save. Mike Foltynewicz (0-1) walked three in 3 2/3 innings to end a five-game winning streak dating to last season.
PADRES 7, GIANTS 6: Rookie Manuel Margot hit his first two big league homers and Yangervis Solarte had a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh inning, helping San Diego beat San Francisco in the Padres’ home opener.
Solarte’s double to the gap in right-center gave the Padres the lead again after the Giants had gone up 5-4 on Brandon Belt’s first career grand slam with no outs in the sixth. Solarte had three hits and four RBIs.
San Francisco’s bullpen troubles continued when George Kontos (0-1) walked Travis Jankowski opening the seventh and allowed a single to Wil Myers before Solarte doubled them in. Solarte advanced on a fly out and scored on Austin Hedges’ sacrifice bunt to make it 7-5. That run came in handy because Belt homered again, off Ryan Buchter, to straightaway center with two outs in the eighth.
Jose Torres (1-0) pitched a perfect seventh for his first big league win. Brandon Maurer pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.
ORIOLES 6, YANKEES 5: Manny Machado and Seth Smith homered as the Baltimore Orioles rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the New York Yankees.
Machado hit a three-run drive in the fifth inning to make it 5-4, and Smith completed the comeback in the seventh with a two-run shot off Tyler Clippard (0-1).
Donnie Hart (1-0) earned his first major league victory by getting the final out in the New York seventh. Brad Brach struck out the side in the eighth and Zach Britton got three straight outs for his second save. After sweeping Toronto in their opening series, the Orioles are 3-0 and alone atop the AL East.
Matt Holliday homered and had three RBIs for New York, Gary Sanchez hit a two-run drive and Brett Gardner had three hits and scored three runs.
ROCKIES 2, DODGERS 1
DENVER: Kyle Freeland allowed one run in six solid innings in his major league debut, leading hometown Colorado past Los Angeles.
The Denver native became the first starting pitcher since 1966 to make his big league debut in his team’s home opener in the state in which he was born. Freeland (1-0) gave up four hits with a pair of walks and struck out six, including the first batter he faced, Logan Forsythe.
Colorado’s bullpen again performed well, as Carlos Estevez and Scott Oberg each threw a scoreless inning before Jake McGee struck out the side in the ninth for his first save of the season. South Korean Hyun-Jin Ryu (0-1) was the loser.
NATIONALS 7, PHILLIES 6: Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy and Jayson Werth hit homers to back Max Scherzer and Washington held on to spoil Philadelphia’s home opener.
Scherzer (1-0) allowed two runs and four hits, striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings. The NL Cy Young winner waited until the fourth game to pitch after a broken knuckle set him back in spring training.
Aaron Altherr hit a two-run homer off Sammy Solis in the seventh to get the Phillies to 7-4 and Freddy Galvis hit a two-run shot off Blake Treinen in the ninth. Vince Velasquez (0-1) struck out 10, but allowed four runs in four innings.
MARLINS 7, METS 2: Zack Wheeler lasted just four innings in his return from Tommy John surgery, giving up Derek Dietrich’s go-ahead, two-run triple and Christian Yelich’s two-run homer in the New York Mets’ loss to the Miami Marlins.
Making his first big league appearance in three years, the 26-year-old right-hander started strongly and was given a lead when Curtis Granderson singled in a run in the first against Wei-Yin Chen. Then, Wheeler’s adrenaline appeared to dissipate on a raw night with the temperature in the 40s. The Marlins took a 3-1 lead in the second, and Yelich broke open the game in the third when he drove a pitch off the right-field foul pole, his fourth straight game at Citi Field with a home run.
Chen (1-0) reached on an infield single in the fourth, ending an 0-for-51 slump at the start of his career, the fourth-longest for players who debuted in 1900 or later, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Wheeler (0-1) allowed five runs, six hits and one walk with four strikeouts, throwing 54 of 80 pitches for strikes.
RAYS 10, BLUE JAYS 8: Evan Longoria homered during a five-run first inning against wild Francisco Liriano and the Tampa Bay Rays went on to outscore the Toronto Blue Jays.
Liriano faced only eight batters, walking four and giving up three hits before getting pulled. The Blue Jays rallied for a 7-6 lead, but Tampa Bay overtook them by scoring three times in the sixth inning, two on a double by Steven Souza Jr. Brad Miller and Derek Norris also drove in two runs each for the Rays.
Xavier Cedeno (1-0) won despite giving up a bases-loaded walk to Troy Tulowitzki that put the Blue Jays ahead in the sixth. Alex Colome got four outs to earn his third save
J.P. Howell (0-1) took the loss.
RANGERS 10, ATHLETICS 5: Nomar Mazara hit his first grand slam and had a career-high six RBIs to lead the Texas Rangers over the Oakland Athletics for their first victory of the season.
Mazara is hitting .588 through four games, including 3 for 5 in this one. Rougned Odor hit his third homer of the season and had two hits. Texas was swept by Cleveland in its three-game opening series, also at home.
Alex Claudio (1-0) replaced starter A.J. Griffin in the fourth inning and held the A’s to one hit over 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Griffin left with scrapes on his pitching palm and both knees after he slid on the warning track near the Oakland dugout trying to field an overthrow by Mazara from right field.
Raul Alcantara (0-1) allowed eight runs and four hits — including both homers — over two innings. He also hit a batter in his sixth big league start.
ROYALS 5, ASTROS 1: Jason Vargas got his first win in nearly two years as the Kansas City Royals beat the Houston Astros.
Kansas City got its first victory of the season after being swept at Minnesota in its first three games.
Vargas (1-0) returned from Tommy John surgery last September and earned his first victory Friday since June 8, 2015. He held Houston to a run and six hits and struck out six over six innings. The Royals entered 1 for 14 on the season with runners in scoring position then went 3 for 15 Friday, stranding 10 runners.
Mike Fiers (0-1) allowed two runs in six innings.
TWINS 3, WHITE SOX 1: Phil Hughes pitched six strong innings for his first win in almost a year as the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox for their first 4-0 start since 1987.
Miguel Sano hit a go-ahead RBI double in the sixth, and Chris Gimenez added an RBI double in the seventh for the Twins, who led the majors with 103 losses last season after opening 0-9.
Hughes (1-0) made his first start since June 9, 2016, and allowed one run and five hits. The right-hander’s season was cut short last year after he suffered a broken bone above his left knee and underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. Hughes last won in a rain-shortened game on April 18, 2016, against Milwaukee.
Tyler Duffey pitched two scoreless innings of relief, and Brandon Kintzler pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.
Derek Holland (0-1) took the loss in his White Sox debut.
REDS 2, CARDINALS 0: Amir Garrett pitched two-hit ball for six innings to win his major league debut, a sharp start for the former St. John’s basketball player as the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals.
Garrett struck out four, walked two and needed only 78 pitches to record 18 outs. The 6-foot-5 lefty played two seasons of hoops for St. John’s while already a Reds minor leaguer.
Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias combined for three innings of hitless relief. Iglesias went two innings to earn his second save.
Joey Votto hit an RBI double off Mike Leake (0-1), who went eight innings. Scott Schebler homered in the ninth.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, INDIANS 3: Paul Goldschmidt doubled in two during a five-run fifth inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied from three down to beat the Cleveland Indians.
The Diamondbacks have come from behind in each of their four victories this season, three of those comebacks from three runs down. The Indians lost their first game after a three-game sweep at Texas earlier in the week.
Arizona got four runs in the fifth off Josh Tomlin (0-1) after a single and hit batter. Tomlin struck out the next two batters, but Goldschmidt lined a double into left-center field to give the Diamondbacks a 4-3 lead over the defending AL champions. Jake Lamb, who had two hits and scored twice, delivered an RBI single, ending Tomlin’s night, and Yasmany Tomas greeted reliever Dan Otero with a double down the left-field line.
Shelby Miller (1-0) allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings.
ANGELS 5, MARINERS 1: Cameron Maybin and Kole Calhoun homered, and Jesse Chavez (1-0) pitched five-hit ball into the sixth inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ victory over the Seattle Mariners.
Mike Trout drove in the first run amid numerous “M-V-P!” chants as the Angels snapped a four-game skid in home openers.
Nelson Cruz drove in the only run for the Mariners, who dropped to 1-4 on their season-opening road trip. Yovani Gallardo (0-1) yielded eight hits and three runs over five innings in his debut for Seattle.