HOUSTON (AP) — Juan Soto hit his first homer with the New York Mets, helping his new team beat the Houston Astros 3-1 on Friday night.
With two out in the third inning, Soto drove a 1-2 pitch from Hunter Brown deep to right for a solo shot that lifted New York to a 3-0 lead.
Soto’s 390-foot shot came a day after he struck out on a full-count slider from closer Josh Hader with two on and two out in a 3-1 opening-day loss.
Before that, Soto singled and walked twice Thursday in his Mets debut. The slugger signed a record $765 million, 15-year contract as a free agent in December.
New York starter Tylor Megill (1-0) pitched five-plus innings of one-run ball. He allowed three hits, struck out six and walked one.
Edwin Díaz struck out one in a perfect ninth for his first save, finishing a three-hitter.
Brown (0-1) struck out seven in six innings. He allowed four hits and walked three.
RAYS 3, ROCKIES 2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Rookie Kameron Misner led off the ninth inning with his first major league home run, giving Tampa Bay a win over Colorado as they began their season of home games at Steinbrenner Field.
Misner, a 27-year-old rookie who debuted in August, entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth and became the first player in major league history to hit his first big league home run for a walk-off on opening day, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He drove a first-pitch fastball from Victor Vodnik (0-1) over the right-field wall for his second big league hit.
Pete Fairbanks (1-0) worked around two walks in the ninth for the win.
Tampa Bay is playing at the New York Yankees’ spring training home after Hurricane Milton destroyed the Tropicana Field roof on Oct. 9.
Kyle Freeland struck out seven in six scoreless innings for the Rockies, coming off their sixth straight losing season. Freeland threw 53 of 67 pitches for strikes, starting his first eight batters with strikes and 15 of 20 overall.
Tampa Bay tied the score in the seventh on Jonathan Aranda’s sacrifice fly and José Caballero’s RBI single against Tyler Kinley.
PIRATES 4, MARLINS 3
MIAMI (AP) — Oneil Cruz hit a two-run home run, Andrew McCutchen added an RBI double and Pittsburgh beat Miami.
Cruz walked to lead off the fourth inning, stole second base and advanced to third on an error. Joey Bart walked before Andrew McCutcheon hit a double to left, driving in Cruz. Bart scored on a sacrifice fly by Adam Frazier to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
David Bednar came on to pitch for the Pirates in the bottom of the ninth and walked Matt Mervis before Otto Lopez hit a two-run home run to make it a one-run game. Bednar got consecutive groundouts before striking out Hill to end it.
BLUE JAYS 8, ORIOLES 2
TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two hits and drove in a run, and Toronto beat Baltimore.
Bo Bichette had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run as Toronto bounced back from a 12-2 loss on Thursday on opening day. Kevin Gausman (1-0) pitched six innings of two-run ball.
Jackson Holliday hit a solo homer for Baltimore, but his one-out drive in the third inning was the Orioles’ only extra-base hit.
The Orioles hit a franchise-record six opening-day homers on Thursday. They finished with three total hits Friday.
Blue Jays left-hander Brendon Little exited after striking out a pair of batters in the eighth because of an apparent injury. Nick Sandlin finished for Toronto.
Right-hander Charlie Morton (0-1) lost his debut start with Baltimore, allowing four runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.
RANGERS 4, RED SOX 1
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jonah Heim hit two solo homers and rookie Jack Leiter allowed one run over five innings for his first big league win as Texas beat Boston.
Heim’s second homer was a 417-foot drive to right-center that put Texas up 2-1 in the fifth, after Leiter (1-0) had thrown the last of his 82 pitches. Heim led off the third pulling a pitch just over the right field wall against All-Star Tanner Houck (0-1), who gave up four runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Leiter struck out four with one walk while allowing five singles. The second overall pick in 2021 amateur draft, and the son of former big leaguer Al, made his big league debut last season going 0-3 with an 8.83 ERA in nine games (six starts).
Luke Jackson, the fifth Texas reliever, worked a perfect ninth for his first save.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, CUBS 1
PHOENIX (AP) — Eugenio Suárez hit a pair of two-run homers, Merrill Kelly threw 5 1/3 solid innings and Arizona beat Chicago.
Arizona’s Pavin Smith and Alek Thomas each had three hits, including two doubles apiece. Geraldo Perdomo and Josh Naylor hit RBI singles.
Suárez hit both of his homers off Cubs right-hander Jameson Tallion (0-1), who gave up six runs over 4 1/3 innings. The third baseman connected for a two-run shot in the second and again in the fourth, blasting both balls to roughly the same area of the left field stands.
He also had a solo homer on opening day Thursday.
Suárez nearly went deep again in the fifth, hitting a towering fly ball to the warning track that was caught by Ian Happ. He finished with four RBIs.
PADRES 4, BRAVES 3
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a leadoff homer and Jake Cronenworth hit a go-ahead shot leading off the eighth inning to give San Diego a win against Atlanta.
Cronenworth drove the second pitch from Dylan Lee (0-1) several rows into the right field seats.
Tatis, who has batted leadoff in the first two games, homered to left-center on Reynaldo López’s first pitch. It was Tatis’ 12th career leadoff homer, extending his club record.
Jarred Kelenic homered for the Braves in this rematch of last season’s wild-card playoff series won by the Padres in a two-game sweep.
The Padres went ahead twice and the Braves tied it each time.
Tatis’ homer and Martin Maldonado’s RBI single in the second gave them a 2-0 lead before Marcell Ozuna tied it with a two-out single to right in the third.
ATHLETICS 7, MARINERS 0
SEATTLE (AP) — Brent Rooker hit a two-run home run and Jeffrey Springs pitched six scoreless innings to help the Athletics beat Seattle.
Springs (1-0), acquired from Tampa Bay in December, made his debut for the A’s and allowed three hits and a walk with nine strikeouts.
JJ Bleday and Shea Langeliers hit back-to-back two-out RBI singles in the seventh inning, and Tyler Soderstrom’s ground-rule double scored Bleday to make it 5-0.
Randy Arozarena and Mitch Garver drew consecutive walks to lead off the bottom of the seventh but, after a groundout by Jorge Polanco, Donovan Solano and pinch-hitter Luke Raley struck out to end Seattle’s threat.
Max Muncy, a 22-year-old in his second game in the majors, had his first career hit in the eighth, a towering solo shot to left-center.
Luis Castillo (0-1) gave up two runs on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts over five innings for the Mariners.
DODGERS 8, TIGERS 5, 10 INNINGS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mookie Betts hit a game-winning, three-run homer in the 10th inning to lift Los Angeles to a win over Detroit.
The Dodgers are 4-0 to start the season for the first time since 1981, when they also won the World Series.
Betts went deep to left off Beau Brieske (0-1), scoring pinch-hitter Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani.
Betts hit a two-out solo shot that put the Dodgers ahead 3-2 in the eighth before Detroit tied it in the ninth on Manuel Margot’s RBI single.
Dillon Dingler homered and tripled in the 10th to give Detroit a 5-3 lead in the top of the 10th.
Tied at 3, left fielder Michael Conforto came up short trying to catch the ball hit by Dingler, allowing Riley Greene, who began the inning at second, and Zach McKinstry, who was intentionally walked by Luis Garcia (1-0), to score.
The Dodgers got a run back in the bottom of the 10th to trail 5-4 on Conforto’s ground-rule double before Betts’ heroics.
The Associated Press
