NEW YORK — Michael Pineda retired his first 20 batters before Evan Longoria lined a double down the left-field line, and he wound up pitching two-hit ball over 72/3 innings Monday in the New York Yankees’ home opener, an 8-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Pineda (1-1) dominated like the pitcher the Yankees have always hoped he would become. He struck out 11, walked none and threw 67 of 93 pitches for strikes. Tampa Bay’s Logan Morrison homered with one out in the eighth, a ball that hit off the top of the wall in right-center and deflected off a fan before bouncing back onto the field. A video review was needed to determine it was a home run.
Alex Cobb (1-1) allowed five runs in 71/3 innings.
ATHLETICS 2, ROYALS 0: Khris Davis hit a two-run homer, Jharel Cotton shut down Kansas City’s anemic offense and Oakland held on to spoil the Royals’ home opener.
Cotton (1-1) gave up a single in the first and another in the sixth, but otherwise befuddled the Royals. He walked three and struck out six over seven innings.
Davis provided all the offense Oakland needed when he followed a leadoff single by Ryon Healy with his fourth homer of the year.
MARINERS 6, ASTROS 0: James Paxton shut down Houston for the second time in a week, pitching seven innings of four-hit ball and leading Seattle to a win in its home opener.
Paxton (1-0) struck out eight and walked two.
Nelson Cruz broke through with a two-run single in the fifth inning to give Seattle the lead and Mitch Haniger followed an inning later with a two-out RBI single.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
GIANTS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 1: Giants catcher Buster Posey was doing well after being struck in the helmet by a 94 mph fastball in the first inning and forced out of the game, a frightening moment in San Francisco’s victory in its home opener.
Posey will be re-evaluated Tuesday.
Matt Moore (1-1) struck out five in eight impressive innings for the Giants. Mark Melancon got his second save.
REDS 7, PIRATES 1: Eugenio Suarez and Scooter Gennett hit solo home runs and Cincinnati pounced on a wild Tyler Glasnow in a win at Pittsburgh.
Glasnow (0-1), making his season debut after locking down the fifth starting spot in spring training, failed to make it out of the second inning as he battled control issues. The right-hander walked five, including four straight in the first.
METS 4, PHILLIES 3: Jay Bruce homered twice, including the tiebreaking shot in a testy eighth inning to lead New York at Philadelphia.
Tempers flared two batters earlier when Phillies reliever Edubray Ramos threw a first-pitch fastball over Asdrubal Cabrera’s head – perhaps seeking revenge for Cabrera’s two-handed bat flip after hitting a game-winning homer against Ramos last Sept. 22.
NATIONALS 14, CARDINALS 6: Bryce Harper tied a career high with four hits and reached base in all six plate appearances as host Washington routed St. Louis.
Harper drove in three runs during his first four-hit game since April 17, 2013.
Stephen Drew, Adam Eaton and Ryan Zimmerman each had three of the Nationals’ 19 hits.
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