The Giants and Yankees are first to the finish line as New York takes the game 5-0. Gerrit Cole strikes out eleven in six innings to set a Yankees opening day record for Ks. Aaron Judge with a home run and two RBI as he starts a run at a triple crown. Anthony Volpe walked and stole a base in his major league debut in his home town.
The Giants three walks and four hits, all of them singles.
The game took just 2:33, yet had plenty of excitement.
Aaron Judge hits the second pitch he sees in the 2023 season over the centerfield fence for a 1-0 Yankees lead over the Giants. It was a great way to celebrate his new contract and his first appearance as captain of the Yankees.
It’s also the first home run and run of the MLB season.
Ronald Acuna, Jr. of the Braves starts the 2023 baseball season with a single off Patrick Corbin of the Nationals. Baseball is back!
The 2023 baseball season gets underway at 1 PM EDT this afternoon. Whenever I can I take this day off to enjoy the games. There seem to be fewer day games this year; all the west coast games kick-off at night. With the pitch clock, however, you might be able to watch Shohei Ohtani take on the Oakland Athletics and still get to bed a bit after midnight!
If anyone attends a game in person, I would be curious to get your impression of the new rules. Feel free to write me at pinto@baseballmusings.com with the subject “Opening Day Impressions” and I may turn your observations into posts.
Aaron Boone explained why he started DJ LeMahieu at second base instead of Gleyber Torres:
“I want him in the middle of our lineup. Feel like he’s in a good place leaving spring training and heading into the season,” Boone said. “I feel that way, frankly, about Gleyber, too. And you’ll probably see Gleyber in there after today and maybe he has the most important at-bat of the game. Who knows, today, but probably in there the next three, four, five, six days in a row.”
MSN.com
LeMahieu walked and homered in the game. Torres came up to pinch hit in the bottom of the tenth inning and hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. The Yankees then won the game in the bottom of the eleventh on a Josh Donaldson single, 6-5.
The Tigers come back against the White Sox twice, winning the game 5-4 on an unusual play. Down 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run, two-out single to tie the game. Andrew Vaughn homered for the White Sox in the top of the ninth for a 4-3 lead, then Eric Haase answered that with a homer in the bottom of the inning. Then with two out, Austin Meadows tripled. Javier Baez followed, and drove a ball to the wall in rightfield. AJ Pollock had it hit the top of his glove, then made a reaching catch after the bobble. But Baez immediately yelled that the ball hit the wall, and on replay, the ball hit about six inches above Pollock’s glove. The Tigers beat the division favorites and make the home town fans estatic.
The second set of opening day games takes place on Friday, starting with the rained out Boston Red Sox visiting the New York Yankees. Nathan Eovaldi faces Gerrit Cole. Eovaldi pitched a strange 2021 season. His three-true outcomes were outstanding, but his ERA was not. There’s not a clear reason for that, but he did allow 16 RBI in 25 situations with a man on third and less than two out. Cole simply blew batters away in 2021, with 243 K in 181 1/3 innings. He is 23-11 since joining the Yankees at the start of 2020 season.
A few minutes later, the White Sox face the Tigers in Detroit with Lucas Giolito battling Eduardo Rodriguez. Giolito kicked up his strikeout game in 2019, and in the last three seasons ranks fourth in the majors in K per 9 IP behind Cole, Max Scherzer, and Robbie Ray. The top four are all in action on Friday. Rodriguez is a reverse lefty, where left-handed batters have better success against him than righties. The White Sox bat two switch hitters, so he may give them trouble.
The Mariners and Twins, also postponed from Thursday, finally get started in Minnesota. Ray takes the hill for Seattle against rookie Joe Ryan. The big debut for the Mariners will be Julio Rodriguez, seasonal age 21. He slashed .331/.412/.543 in three minor league seasons. The Mariners hope he will at least be their second best player who’s nickname sounds like A-Rod. Ryan is a more mature rookie, seasonal age 26. He posted three true outcomes in the minors of 0.8 HR/9, 2.1 BB/9, and 13.0 K per nine.
The Dodgers make the climb to Colorado to face the Rockies, with Walker Buehler taking on Kyle Freeland. Buehler simply does everything well for a great team, leading to a career 40-13 record in 103 games and 94 starts. Freeland is coming off his second straight season with a 4.33 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP.
Finally, the revamped Rangers visit the powerhouse Blue Jays as opening day returns to Canada for the first time since 2019. Jon Gray faces Jose Berrios. Gray makes his first start away from the Rockies, where he 22-31 with a 4.65 ERA on the road, but 31-18 with a 4.54 ERA at home. We’ll see how he does pitching most of his games at lower altitudes. Berrios’s weakness is home runs allowed, but it’s not a fatal weakness. The Blue Jays should be able to generate more power than Berrios allows.
Enjoy!
The Astros and Angels engaged in a pitching duel, with the Astros power winning the day 3-1. Shohei Ohtani invoked the pitcher-DH rule as he started on the mound and led off for the Angles. LAnaheim put their three best hitters at the top of the order, but the Astros limited Ohtani, Mike Trout, and Anthony Rendon to a single and a walk.
Ohtani pitched better than he hit, striking out nine and walking one, but did allow a run in 4 2/3 innings.
The Astros made the most of their eight hits, as six of them went for extra-bases. They needed solo home runs by Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez to win however, as the pair went back-to-back in the eighth inning to seal the victory. Framber Valdez pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings for the win, walking one and striking out six.
To the east in Arizona, the Diamondbacks take their home opener over the Padres 4-2 in an exciting finish. Yu Darvish and the San Diego bullpen stymied the Diamondbacks for eight innings, taking a 2-0 lead to the bottom of the ninth. Darvish did not allow a hit in his six innings of work.
When it came to the save situation in the ninth inning, new manager Bob Melvin called on Robert Suarez to make his major league debut. A veteran of Mexican and Japanese leagues, the seasonal age 31 pitcher came in to face Christian Walker. He walked in what turned out to be an inning for aptly named hitters. Suarez walked the next batter and hit the third, bringing in Craig Stammen to pitch with the bases loaded. He uncorked a wild pitch with Seth Beer batting on National Beer day. With the score 2-1, Beer crafted a home run, and the Diamondbacks walked off to know doubt have some brews.
Adam Wainwright starts at home for the pitching depleted Cardinals and he pitches a gem against the Pirates. Wainwright goes six innings, allowing five hits and no walks as he strikes out six, and the Cardinals go on to a 9-0 rout of Pittsburgh.
Tyler O’Neill picked up where he left off last season, collecting two hits, including a home run, and driving in five runs.
Bobby Witt, Jr. makes a successful debut for the Royals as they defeat the newly named Guardians 3-1 on opening day in Kansas City. Witt was 0 for 3 when he game to bat in the eighth inning with the game tied at one with two out and a man on second. Witt delivered a double to left for the game winning RBI, and then score the insurance run on an Andrew Benintendi single.
Both starters, Shane Bieber for Cleveland and Zack Greinke for Kansas City, pitched well. Beiber seems to be back in form as he struck out four and walked one in 4 2/3 innings. Greinke lasted 5 1/3, with just one K and one BB as he let the Royals defense help him.
The Cubs beat the Brewers 5-4 at Wrigley Field for the first win of the 2022 MLB season. Ian Happ delivered two doubles and two RBI, including the final two runs that broke a 3-3 tie. Seiya Suzuki singled and walks twice in his MLB debut, and Clint Frazier made his first appearance for the Cubs, collecting a pinch-hit double and scoring a run.
Although the Brewers using PitchCom appeared to move the game along, it still took 3:18 minutes. There were a few mid-inning pitching changes, as most pitchers are working on a limited pitch count after a short spring training. That said, it was a well played, close game, with enough drama to keep the fans interested. A good start to the season.
Ian Happ of the Cubs drives a ball off the ivy in centerfield to drive in two runs and break a 3-3 tie with the Brewers. The Cubs take a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Happ hit 20 doubles and 25 home runs in 2021, but with a .226 BA he slugged just .434. With two doubles and a single today, his slugging is at 1.250.
Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs singles his second time up, after walking in his first MLB plate appearance. Jason Heyward moves him to third on a single, and Patrick Wisdom drives him home with a sacrifice fly. So the first run of the season for both teams come on outs.
Nico Hoerner follows with the first home run of the season, and the Cubs take a 3-1 lead over the Brewers in the top of the fifth inning.
The Brewers push the first run of the season across the plate in the top of the fourth inning. Andrew McCutchen singled to start the inning, then with one out, Hunter Renfroe singled to put men on first and second. Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs then hit Omar Narvaez, setting up an RBI ground out by Lorenzo Cain. It’s 1-0 Brewers in the middle of the fourth in a well pitched game so far.
National League DH Andrew McCutchen leads off the top of the second inning with a double against the Cubs just fair into the rightfield corner at Wrigley Field. It’s the first hit and first extra-base hit of the season.
Kolten Wong of the Brewers leads off against Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs. Wong swings at the first pitch, and third baseman Patrick Wisdom chases the windblown ball behind second base for the out.
Update: Hendricks gets all three Brewers out, and the MLB season is underway!
Update: Corbin Burnes walks Rafael Ortega, the first batter he faces in 2022. A very different start for Burnes compared to his walkless inning streak in 2021.
Update: Burnes recovers from his walk as he induces two fly outs before Ortega is caught stealing to end the inning. No score at the end of one inning.
Happy Opening Day! Hope you get to celebrate what should be a national holiday. Here’s wishing your favorite team wins the World Series.
John Means of the Orioles gave up a hit to Enrique Hernandez of the Red Sox leading off the bottom of the first. He doubled off that runner, then the only man to reach base for Boston through the seventh inning was on an error. Means leaves the game with a 3-0 lead. Tanner Scott comes on to start the bottom of the eighth and walks the first batter.
Means struck out five, and 65 of his 97 pitches went for strikes. It’s a nice start to the season for the Orioles ace.
Update: The Red Sox get a double in the ninth, but that’s it as the Orioles win the opener 3-0.
It literally turned out to be a bummer of a game for the White Sox as the Angels score two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning off reliever Aaron Bummer. A couple of errors and RBIs by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols gave the Angels a 4-3 comeback victory.
Houston at Oakland looked like a pitching duel through the first five innings as Zack Greinke and Chris Bassit rolled along, Houston leading 1-0 at the end of the fifth. The Astros offense came alive after that as Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman both doubled and homered in the game to lead the Astros to an easy 8-1 victory. Greinke pitched six shutout innings for the win.
The Giants and Seattle played the fourth extra-inning game of the day, Seattle taking the contest 8-7 as Jose Alvarez enters the game in the bottom of the then for the Giants with the score tied and a man on second, and walks all three batters he faces. Second baseman Dylan Moore gets credit for the walk-off walk as he drives in three runs in the game. The Giants hit four home runs in the game, all solo shots.
The Pirates beat the Cubs 5-3 on opening day in Chicago. The Pittsburgh bullpen stood out, as six reliever pitched one inning each, allowing one run on one hit and one walk while striking out eleven. They could afford a bullpen game as they take Friday off, so I would not expect this every day. Still, against a good Cubs team the Pirates showed some depth of pitching. If they can get their starters to last five or six innings, the pen might do a good job of shutting down opponents the rest of the way.
Sometimes a pitcher blows a save all on his own. Alex Colome came on for the Twins in the bottom of the ninth in Milwaukee to defend a three-run lead. With one out, he hit Kolten Wong. He then made a throwing error on a fielder’s choice to put runners on first and second. He then allowed a single to Christian Yelich for the first run, then with two out gave up a two-run double to Travis Shaw.
The Brewers score in the bottom of the tenth and take the contest 6-5 on a walk-off failed fielder’s choice. Colome should have had an easy save.
Pitching dominated during opening day in South Florida. The Rays beat the Marlins in Miami 1-0 as Tyler Glasnow and Sandy Alcantara match goose eggs as they both last six innings. Glasnow pitched a bit better, allowing one hit and now walks to Alcantara’s two and two. The only run of the game came off a home run by Austin Meadows off Yimi Garcia. The game featured just eight hits, four walks, and 21 strikeouts.
Miguel Cabrera‘s home run earlier in the day was hit in a snow storm. Great video at the link. The Tigers lead the Indians 3-2 in the top of the 9th inning.
Update: Detroit wins 3-2 for a nice start to the 2021 season. Shane Bieber of the Indians struck out 12 batters in six innings but allowed three runs. Matt Boyd struck out just two, but pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings.
Ke’Bryan Hayes follows an Adam Frazier walk with a two-run homer to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead over the Cubs in the middle of the first inning. Hayes slugged .682 in 85 at bats in 2020, and now has six home runs and 15 extra-base hits in 86 MLB at bats.
Gary Sanchez takes a ball deep to leftfield in his first plate appearance of the 2021 season. The two-run homer gives the Yankees a 2-1 lead over the Blue Jays, and there was no doubt about the ball being gone.
If Sanchez and play decent defense and hit home runs with this team, the Yankees will be fine. Any other offense from the catcher will just be a bonus.
Gerrit Cole induces Marcus Semien to ground out to shortstop to start the 2021 season. Baseball is back!
Update: Cesar Hernandez of the Indians gets the first hit of the season, a one-out double against Matt Boyd of the Tigers in the top of the first inning in Detroit.
Update: The Blue Jays score the first run of the season as the 4-5-6 hitters in the lineup collect three consecutive singles against Gerrit Cole to start the second inning. Toronto leads New York 1-0.
Update: At about the same time, Miguel Cabrera delivers a two-run homer to put the Tigers up 2-0 over the Indians. Cabrera is now 12 home runs short of 500 for his career.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred pens an open letter to baseball fans welcoming them to the 2021 season.
Welcome back baseball with fans in the stands and and a 162 game schedule! The ball won’t travel as far, and pitchers may not be able to spin the ball as much as before as baseball tries to add more balls in play to the mix.
Things kick off at 1 PM EDT with the Blue Jays at the Yankees and the Indians at the Tigers. The twelve hours of games end with three west coast games as the White Sox face the Angels, the Astros visit Oakland, and the Giants take on the Mariners.
Opening day featured four shutouts, including two 1-0 games. Four shutouts in a day is not unusual, but there were only thirty three 1-0 games in all of 2019. One of the one-run games came at the new park in Texas, where batters collected just six hits and struck out 20 times. I tried to watch that game, but the stream kept freezing. It looked like a nice park, but I wonder if the batters are seeing the ball well. Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs actually completed his shutout of the Brewers, throwing 103 pitches. He is sometimes compared to Greg Maddux, and that was certainly a Maddux like game as he gives up three hits, and no walks.
It was not a big home run day, as games averaged 1.93 home runs. There were only seven days of at least ten games under 2.0 HR/G in 2019. It was a good day to be named Max, however, as Max Kepler and Max Muncy both hit two home runs in a game.
The extra inning rule was put to the test in the game between the Angels and Athletics in Oakland. In the top of the tenth, a fielder’s choice erases the runner placement, giving the Angels a man on first with one out. That’s followed by a single, a pop out, and a two out walk to load the bases. Andrelton Simmons grounds out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the tenth, the Athletics load the bases on a hit by pitch, strikeout, wild pitch and a walk. Matt Olson then hits a grand slam to win the game 7-4. I wonder of the hit by pitch was semi-intentional. Walking the first batter in the bottom of an extra inning seems like a good strategy to set up the double play. If the score is tied, that run doesn’t matter.
Max Kepler leads off to start the Twins game against the White Sox, and hits the first pitch to the season for a home run to rightfield. Reminds me of the time Dwight Evans took Jack Morris deep on the first pitch to start the season.
That turned out to be a good year for the Red Sox.
The Twins lead the White Sox 1-0.