Mar 28, 2019 5 min read

Joc Pederson and Enrique Hernandez each hit two of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ eight home runs, which set a major league record for opening day and tied the franchise record for any game, during a 12-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Hernandez, Austin Barnes and Corey Seager all homered in the fourth inning to chase Arizona ace Zack Greinke.

Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger and Hernandez then homered in the seventh for the power-packed Dodgers, whose pursuit of a third straight NL pennant got off to a thrilling start.

Colorado 6, Miami 3: Kyle Freeland allowed two hits and one run in seven innings in his first opening day start, and the Colorado Rockies beat the sloppy Miami Marlins, 6-3.

Freeland (1-0), who had a breakout 17-win season in 2018, retired his first 11 batters before Starlin Castro lined a single. The only other hit the left-hander allowed was a pinch-hit home run by J.T Riddle leading off the sixth inning.

Neil Walker also hit a pinch-hit homer in his first at-bat for Miami. Teammate Jorge Alfaro homered with two out in the ninth.

San Diego 2, San Francisco 0: Manny Machado went hitless in his first game with the San Diego Padres and Fernando Tatis Jr. singled twice in his big league debut, a 2-0 opening win over the San Francisco Giants.

Philadelphia 10, Atlanta 4: Bryce Harper struck out twice in green Phanatic cleats in his $330 million debut and bowed to thousands of fans in No. 3 jerseys who gave him rousing standing ovations in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 10-4 win over the Atlanta Braves.

Harper had the city electric in anticipation for his first game in Philly since he signed a $330 million, 13-year deal that was briefly the richest in baseball.

Milwaukee 5, St. Louis 4: Milwaukee center fielder Lorenzo Cain soared above the wall to rob Jose Martinez of a tying home run for the final out, lifting Christian Yelich and the Brewers over the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4.

N.Y. Mets 2, Washington 0: Robinson Cano homered in his debut at-bat for the Mets then added a late RBI single, Jacob deGrom outpitched Max Scherzer as each struck out at least 10 in a sterling matchup between the winners of the past three NL Cy Young Awards, and New York edged the Bryce Harper-less Washington Nationals, 2-0.

American League

Detroit 2, Toronto 0: Jordan Zimmermann took a perfect game into the seventh inning, Christian Stewart hit a two-run homer in the 10th and the Detroit Tigers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-0.

Zimmermann, who pitched a no-hitter for Washington on the final day of the 2014 season, came close to bookending it – Hall of Famer Bob Feller threw the only no-hitter on opening day, for Cleveland in 1940.

This bid ended when Teoscar Hernandez reached on a two-out infield single. Hernandez grounded a 1-2 pitch to the shortstop side of second base. Josh Harrison made a sliding play, but his throw to first was late and wide.

That was the only hit Zimmerman allowed in seven sparkling innings. He struck out four and threw only 70 pitches.

Houston 5, Tampa Bay 1: Justin Verlander outpitched Blake Snell in a rare opening-day matchup between a reigning Cy Young Award winner and runner-up, helping the Houston Astros begin the season with a 5-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

George Springer homered on opening day for the third straight year. Michael Brantley and Jose Altuve also went deep for the Astros against Snell, the AL Cy Young recipient who won 21 games and led the American League in ERA in 2018.

Minnesota 2, Cleveland 0: Minnesota newcomer Marwin Gonzalez hit a two-run double in the seventh inning, Jose Berrios outdueled Corey Kluber and the Twins gave manager Rocco Baldelli a win in his debut, starting the season by beating the Cleveland Indians, 2-0.

Oakland 4, L.A. Angels 0: Reigning homer run champion Khris Davis went deep for the second time this season, Marcus Semien added a solo shot and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 for their first win after a pair of losses to Seattle last week in Japan.

N.Y. Yankees 7, Baltimore 2: Luke Voit hit a first-inning homer, Masahiro Tanaka finally got an opening day victory in his fourth try and the New York Yankees started the season with a 7-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Voit launched a three-run drive off Andrew Cashner (0-1), and Greg Bird added a solo homer in the eighth, the first big flies for New York a year after hitting a record 267 en route to 100 wins. Of course, that wasn’t enough to catch the rival Boston Red Sox, who won 108 games and a World Series championship.