NEW YORK (AP) – Giancarlo Stanton hit a grand slam over the visitors’ bullpen that landed in the left-bleachers 471 feet from home plate, helping New York hand Baltimore its first loss this season. New York was ahead 1-0 on Aaron Judge’s fourth-inning homer when starter Jorge López (0-1) walked the bases loaded in the fifth, and Shawn Armstrong forced in a run with a walk to slumping Aaron Hicks. Stanton sent a 92 mph fastball soaring for the longest home run of the young major league season and his eighth career slam. New York improved to 8-0 when Judge and Stanton homer in the same game, including three postseason wins. Left-hander Jordan Montgomery (1-0) allowed four hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. BLUE JAYS 6, RANGERS 2 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Steven Matz struck out nine in his Toronto debut, Marcus Semien and Cavan Biggio hit back-to-back homers and the Blue Jays spoiled Texas’ home opener before the largest MLB crowd since the pandemic. Toronto, 3-1 for the first time since 2015, went ahead 4-0 in the second after Biggio’s solo homer followed a two-out, two-run shot by Semien off Texas starter Mike Foltynewicz (0-1). The Rangers announced a sellout crowd of 38,283 for their 50th home opener in Texas, the second in the $1.2 billion retractable-roof stadium that has a listed capacity of 40,518 – the announced attendance doesn’t include complimentary tickets. They played all 30 home games in the stadium’s debut season without fans last summer. Matz (1-0) allowed one run and two hits over 6 1/3 innings. CUBS 5, BREWERS 3 CHICAGO (AP) – Willson Contreras, Javier Báez and David Bote homered during a four-run fourth inning to lift Chicago over Milwaukee. Trevor Williams pitched perfectly until Omar Narváez’s leadoff single in the sixth – Narváez also broke up a no-hit bid in the eighth inning Saturday against Minnesota. Narváez added a three-run homer in the seventh. Williams (1-0) was making his Cubs debut after five seasons with Pittsburgh. He pitched into the seventh, allowing two runs, two hits and two walks while striking out six. Alec Mills, who no-hit Milwaukee as a starter last September, pitched the ninth for his first save. Brett Anderson (0-1) allowed all of Chicago’s homers, giving up four runs and four hits over five innings while striking out four. PHILLIES 5, METS 3 PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A throwing error by New York third baseman Luis Guillorme allowed the go-ahead runs to score, and Philadelphia used a five-run eighth inning to rally past New York after Jacob deGrom dominated through six. Francisco Lindor was 1 for 4 with a single and a walk in his debut with the Mets, which was delayed after a three-game series against Washington got wiped out because of a coronavirus outbreak among the Nationals. DeGrom was spectacular, striking out seven and allowing three hits. Miguel Castro pitched the seventh for the Mets but newcomer Trevor May (0-1) only got one out in the eighth, when Guillorme’s errant throw helped Philly take a 5-2 lead. Connor Brogdon (2-0) worked the eighth for the win and Jose Alvarado pitched out of trouble in the ninth for his first save. REDS 5, PIRATES 3 CINCINNATI (AP) – Nick Castellanos hit a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning hours after deciding to appeal a two-game suspension for his part in a brawl, and Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh. Mike Moustakas tied it at 2 in the fifth with his first home run of the season, a solo shot to right field off Luis Oviedo. Moustakas also doubled and scored in the eighth. Sean Doolittle (1-0) struck out two in a perfect seventh, and Amir Garrett allowed a run but completed his first save.
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