Apr 4, 2018 4 min read

Giancarlo Stanton turned on a high slider from Blake Snell, and the cracking sound in Yankee Stadium was exceptional.

The newest slugger in New York’s lineup watched the drive head deep into the left-field seats at 117.9 mph, the hardest-hit ball in the major leagues so far this young season.

Even before the ball landed 458 feet from home plate, Stanton flipped his bat with gusto toward New York’s dugout and headed on a trot around the bases with his first Yankees home run in pinstripes.

Fans cheered, those career-high five strikeouts from the home opener a distant memory, along with the boos.

“It was loud,” Aaron Judge marveled. “It was impressive.”

Stanton hit an emphatic go-ahead drive in the first inning , and Judge and Gary Sanchez also hit two-run homers. The Bronx Bombers lived up to their nickname with a 7-2 win over the already reeling Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday that completed a two-game sweep.

Luis Severino (2-0) allowed two runs and five hits with seven strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings , the longest outing by a New York starter this year. The Yankees improved to 4-2 under new manager Aaron Boone and won their 11th straight home series against the Rays.

Houston 3, Baltimore 2: On a day that Dallas Keuchel didn’t have his best stuff, a number of other Astros stepped up to help Houston to another win.

Josh Reddick had three hits and Alex Bregman’s tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning lifted the Astros to the 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles to complete a three-game sweep.

The win improves the Astros to 6-1, which ties the best start in franchise history which they also accomplished in 1987 and 1988.

L.A. Angels 3, Cleveland 2: Shohei Ohtani hit his second homer in two games at Angel Stadium in the fifth inning, and Zack Cozart had walk-off homer in the 13th inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ 3-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

One day after Ohtani hit an electrifying three-run homer in his first home plate appearance, the Japanese two-way rookie connected for a tying two-run homer off AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber in his second game at the Big A.

Neither team scored again after Ohtani’s blast until Cozart, the Angels’ new infielder, connected for his first career walk-off homer against Zach McAllister (0-1).

National League

Arizona 3, L.A. Dodgers 0: Patrick Corbin shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers on one hit over 7 1/3 innings, striking out a career-high 12 in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 3-0 victory.

The Diamondbacks swept the three-game series and won their ninth straight regular-season game against the Dodgers, going back to a pair of three-game series sweeps last season.

Corbin (2-0) retired 14 batters in a row to start the game, eight on strikeouts. The Dodgers struggled to make solid contact, and it took Matt Kemp’s bloop double with two outs in the fifth to break up Corbin’s no-hit bid. Kemp had the Dodgers’ only hit of the game.

N.Y. Mets 4, Phialdelphia 2: Yoenis Cespedes homered, Amed Rosario hit a two-run triple and the Mets’ bullpen faced the minimum batters over five scoreless innings as New York downed the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2.

Atlanta 7, Washington 1: Mike Foltynewicz outpitched Max Scherzer, Preston Tucker hit a three-run homer and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 7-1.

Foltynewicz (1-0) allowed four hits, one run and two walks with eight strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. He snapped an eight-start skid during which he went 0-7 with a 7.34 ERA, ending the major leagues’ second-longest active losing streak.

Scherzer (1-1) gave up six hits, two walks and five runs – two earned – in five innings. The three-time Cy Young Award winner struck out seven.