ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Marcus Semien led off with a homer, Mitch Garver hit two and the Texas Rangers overpowered the Philadelphia Phillies 16-3 Saturday to become the seventh team since 1900 to start a season by scoring 10 or more runs in consecutive games.
Garver ripped a three-run shot off Phillies reliever Yunior Marte to extend the lead to 7-3 in the fifth inning. Garver then sparked a six-run seventh with another three-run shot, this time off Seranthony Dominguez.
The Rangers followed their 11-7 victory in the season opener by tying three other teams with 27 runs in two games, second-most since 1900. The 1951 White Sox scored 30.
Nathan Eovaldi (1-0) won his Texas debut, beating Zack Wheeler (0-1).
BREWERS 3, CUBS 1
CHICAGO (AP) — William Contreras hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in Milwaukee’s three-run eighth inning, and the Brewers beat Chicago for their first win of the season.
Brandon Woodruff pitched six sharp innings for Milwaukee, and Devin Williams worked a rocky ninth for the save. Peter Strzelecki (1-0) threw a hitless inning.
Dansby Swanson had three more hits for the Cubs, and Ian Happ homered. Justin Steele struck out eight over six innings in cold, windy conditions at Wrigley Field. Javier Assad (0-1) took the loss.
RAYS 12, TIGERS 2
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Zach Eflin got off to a nice start after signing the largest free-agent contract in Tampa Bay history, pitching five strong innings in a 12-2 rout of Detroit.
Yandy Díaz and Wander Franco each had three hits and three RBIs for the Rays, who scored seven times in the third to ruin Spencer Turnbull’s first outing for the Tigers since June 4, 2021.
Jose Siri and Josh Lowe each contributed a two-run double in the third off Turnbull (0-1), who allowed seven runs and eight hits over 2 1/3 innings in his return from Tommy John surgery.
Eflin (1-0) allowed one run and three hits after leaving NL champion Philadelphia for a $40 million, three-year deal with the Rays. He yielded an RBI single to Miguel Cabrera, who moved ahead of Ichiro Suzuki for sole possession of 23rd place on the career hits list with 3,090.
BRAVES 7, NATIONALS 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — Matt Olson hit two of Atlanta’s four homers, and Spencer Strider struck out nine in six scoreless innings against Washington.
Ronald Acuña Jr. and Olson began the game with back-to-back home runs, and Marcell Ozuna connected later off Josiah Gray (0-1), who allowed the most homers in the majors last season.
The Nationals managed just three hits off Strider (1-0), runner-up for NL Rookie of the Year last season.
TWINS 2, ROYALS 0
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Sonny Gray and four relievers combined on a four-hitter, and Minnesota blanked Kansas City to open with consecutive shutouts for the first time in franchise history.
Jose Miranda had an RBI single, and pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer added a sacrifice fly. Byron Buxton scored twice.
Gray (1-0) allowed three hits before Jorge Alcalá, Griffin Jax, Caleb Thielbar and Jorge López also held the Royals scoreless. López got his first save of the year.
Kansas City is 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position during its first two games.
In his Royals debut, Jordan Lyles (0-1) threw 5 1/3 innings and gave up two runs — one earned.
ANGELS 13, ATHLETICS 1
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Taylor Ward homered and drove in four runs, and Los Angeles scored 11 times in the third inning against Oakland to spoil Shintaro Fujinami’s major league debut.
Shohei Ohtani had two hits and two RBIs. Gio Urshela, Jake Lamb and rookie catcher Logan O’Hoppe drove in two runs apiece to help the Angels avoid an 0-2 start for the second consecutive season.
Los Angeles starter Patrick Sandoval (1-0) gave up a home run to Ramón Laureano, but that was it. Tucker Davidson pitched four scoreless innings for his first big league save.
Fujinami (0-1) breezed through the first two innings, then fell apart. He gave up eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings.
ASTROS 6, WHITE SOX 4
HOUSTON (AP) — Kyle Tucker hit a pair of run-scoring singles and Yordan Alvarez had three hits to lead Houston over Chicago.
Seby Zavala launched a two-run homer for the White Sox.
With the score 3-all in the seventh, Alvarez and José Abreu hit consecutive two-out singles off Joe Kelly (0-1) before Tucker greeted José Ruiz with a go-ahead single.
Ryne Stanek (1-0) worked 1 2/3 innings and Héctor Neris got four outs for his first save.
Alvarez and Abreu hit consecutive RBI singles for a 6-3 lead in the eighth.
REDS 6, PIRATES 2
CINCINNATI (AP) — Jake Fraley came off the bench to hit a three-run homer, Kevin Newman had a two-run shot against his former team and Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh.
Jonathan India added a solo homer and Nick Lodolo overcame a challenging first inning as the Reds snapped an eight-losing streak to the Pirates that dated to last season, when both teams lost 100 games.
Fraley’s second career pinch-hit homer came in the sixth off Chase De Jong.
Lodolo (1-0) needed 109 pitches to navigate five innings. He permitted two runs and finished with nine strikeouts.
Rich Hill (0-1), who turned 43 in March, began his 19th season with his 12th major league team. He allowed three runs and three hits with seven strikeouts in five innings.
CARDINALS 4, BLUE JAYS 1
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jack Flaherty overcame a career-high seven walks and a hit batter in throwing five no-hit innings, and St. Louis scored three unearned runs in the third on the way to beating Toronto for its first win this season.
Flaherty (1-0), bothered by shoulder issues that sidelined him most of last year, had only one clean inning but it was his final one. Ryan Helsley got five outs for his first save.
The Blue Jays finished with three hits after getting 16 singles among 19 hits, an opening-day club record, on Thursday.
A two-out throwing error by third baseman Matt Chapman led to the three unearned Cardinals runs in the third. Nolan Gorman had a two-run single.
Kevin Gausman (0-1) went six innings without allowing an earned run.