Orlando Arcia singled in the winning run in the ninth inning for his third hit and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 7-6 on Thursday night in their home opener.
Arcia hit a third-inning homer and also had a double.
With two outs in the ninth, pinch-hitter Eddie Rosario doubled to the right-field corner off right-hander Nabil Crismatt (0-1). Arcia followed with the single to center field that drove in Rosario to set off an on-field celebration.
The Padres took a 6-4 lead in the eighth. Xander Bogaerts raced home from third base on a wild pitch from Kirby Yates. José Azocar followed with a bunt that Yates fielded before throwing wide of first base for an error. Cronenworth scored as Azocar raced to third base.
The Braves pulled even in the bottom of the eighth. Arcia doubled and scored on Olson´s single off Tim Hill. Travis d´Arnaud´s single to right field drove in Olson for a 6-6 tie. Juan Soto’s diving catch of Ozzie Albies’ pop fly to shallow left field ended the inning.
Orlando Arcia (center) hit a walk-off RBI single to win the game against the San Diego Padres
It was an excellent day for Arcia at the plate – where he hit a solo home run earlier in the day
Matt Carpenter hit a three-run homer and Jake Cronenworth added a solo shot for the Padres.
With the game tied at 4, Bogaerts and Cronenworth opened the eighth with walks from Yates before advancing on Carpenter’s fly ball to center field. With two outs, Bogaerts scored on a head-first slide across the plate following Yates’ wild pitch that bounced away from catcher Sean Murphy.
Arcia’s second homer of the season, a line-drive shot off Blake Snell caught by a fan with a baseball glove on the front row of the left-field seats, gave Atlanta a 2-0 lead.
Carpenter pulled a low inside pitch from Spencer Strider over the right-field wall for a three-run homer to give the Padres a 3-2 lead in the fourth.
Snell issued four walks, including three in the fourth. Snell’s bases-loaded walk to Matt Olson forced in a run to give Atlanta a 4-3 lead. Domingo Tapia struck out Austin Riley to end the inning. Snell allowed four runs in 3 2/3 innings, leaving his ERA at 7.88 after two starts.
Cronenworth tied the game with a homer off Braves left-hander Lucas Luetge to open the sixth.
Bogaerts delivered a defensive highlight in the third after the Braves had runners on first and second with one out. Travis d’Arnaud hit a sharp grounder to Bogaerts’ right. Bogaerts made a diving stop before throwing from his knees to Ha-Seong Kim at second base to start a double play.
Strider recorded nine strikeouts in five innings but gave up three runs on four hits and three walks.
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider works in the first inning
San Francisco Giants 16, Chicago White Sox 6
J.D. Davis hit a grand slam in the ninth off mop-up reliever Hanser Alberto for his third hit, Michael Conforto cracked a three-run homer among three hits and the San Francisco Giants powered past the Chicago White Sox 16-6 on Thursday.
Mike Yastrzemski and Wilmer Flores each launched a two-run shot in San Francisco’s five-homer, 20-hit attack. Rookie catcher Blake Sabol hit the first home run of his career and added two singles to give him four hits in his first six games.
Hanser, who started at third base, served up Davis’ second career grand slam after giving up two singles and a walk. Davis finished with five RBIs and Joc Pederson drove in two runs as San Francisco finished a season-opening road trip at 3-3.
Tim Anderson had two RBIs for Chicago.
Guaranteed Rate Field is considered a longball-friendly park in warm weather, but the Giants teed off despite a 46-degree game-time temperature.
‘I think even when it’s cold, it can still play hitter-friendly,’ San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler said.
San Francisco Giants’ Mike Yastrzemski hits a two-run home run during the fifth inning
‘These guys have power and can hit the ball in the air and this is the type of stadium that´s going to reward them for taking good swings.’
The Giants launched 13 home runs in the three-game series on Chicago´s South Side, starting with seven in a 12-3 win on Monday.
That tied a team record for a three-game series, set in 1961 against the Milwaukee Braves.
The Giants have 15 homers overall, the most in franchise history through their first six games since the team started keeping records in 1901.
Toronto Blue Jays 6, Kansas City Royals 3
Kevin Gausman pitched six scoreless innings, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio hit home runs and the Toronto Blue Jays won their third straight game, 6-3, over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday to take the four-game series.
Gausman (1-1) gave up just four hits to the struggling Royals, striking out seven and walking two. Kansas City did not have a runner reach second base until the sixth inning.
‘I felt pretty good with the split today,’ Gausman said. ‘I felt like I had good command that got better as the game went on. It’s a good pitch for me.’
The Royals scored three runs in the eighth to avoid their fourth shutout of the season.
Toronto Blue Jays P Kevin Gausman throws to a Kansas City Royals batter in the first inning
Boston Red Sox 6, Detroit Tigers 3
Adam Duvall hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Boston Red Sox went on to beat the Detroit Tigers 6-3 Thursday.
Miguel Cabrera hit a two-out RBI single in the third inning of his final home opener to put Detroit up 3-1.
Boston, swept at home earlier in the week by Pittsburgh, bounced back with a run in the third and fourth before surging into the lead with a four-run sixth.
Chris Sale (1-0) gave up four hits and three runs and three walks while striking out seven in five innings. John Schreiber, Chris Martin, Ryan Brasier and combined to throw three innings of scoreless relief and Kenley Jansen pitched the ninth for his first save with Boston.
Boston Red Sox’s Adam Duvall scores on his three-run home run during the sixth inning
Colorado Rockies 1, Washington Nationals 0
Denver native Kyle Freeland pitched four-hit ball over 6 2/3 innings, Pierce Johnson threw a perfect ninth and the Colorado Rockies won their home opener 1-0 over the Washington Nationals on Thursday.
‘That was so cool,’ said Johnson, who earned his second save. ‘Being able to do it in a place where I used to come and watch games growing up, and all my family and friends were here, I can´t even put it into words.’
Kris Bryant drove in the only run with a single in the fifth. It was the 12th 1-0 game in Denver – the 11th at Coors Field – and first since July 4, 2018, when Colorado beat San Francisco.
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland works against the Washington Nationals
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