DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera reached another milestone in powerful fashion: a four-hit day highlighted by a home run for his 2,000th hit. ADVERTISING DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera reached another milestone in powerful fashion: a four-hit day highlighted by a home
DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera reached another milestone in powerful fashion: a four-hit day highlighted by a home run for his 2,000th hit.
DETROIT — Miguel Cabrera reached another milestone in powerful fashion: a four-hit day highlighted by a home run for his 2,000th hit.
“I never expected I was going to hit 1,000 hits,” the 30-year-old slugger said after the game. “I never expect something personal. I expect to go out there and … try to find a way to help my teammates.”
Cabrera capped his big day with an eighth-inning homer, and the Detroit Tigers rolled to a 10-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday. Cabrera’s two-run drive made him the ninth player to reach 2,000 hits before turning 31.
“Miguel and I have combined for over 3,000,” said Brad Ausmus, the former catcher who is now Detroit’s manager. “We’re a Hall of Famer, combined.”
Rajai Davis and Torii Hunter also homered for the Tigers. Drew Smyly (1-0) relieved Anibal Sanchez after a fourth-inning rain delay and pitched three scoreless innings.
Miguel Gonzalez (0-1) allowed seven runs and nine hits in 3 1-3 innings.
Baltimore arrived in Detroit in the wee hours of the morning after a night game at home Thursday. The Orioles looked fine while scoring two runs in the first against Sanchez, but Gonzalez couldn’t hold the lead for long.
“Obviously, we were facing a lot of challenges today, including a few that I hope we don’t have to face very often,” Showalter said. “When you are playing on 3½ hours of sleep, it makes it tough, but that’s what happens when you are playing so many day games at this time of the year.”
Gonzalez allowed two doubles, a single and a walk and hit two batters in the second, allowing Detroit to score three runs. Rookie Nick Castellanos hit an RBI double and, after a run-scoring single by Ian Kinsler tied the game, the Tigers went ahead when Davis scored on a wild pitch.
After singles by Castellanos and Andrew Romine to start the Detroit fourth, the game was delayed by rain with Davis batting. When play resumed, the Orioles left Gonzalez in, and Davis made it 6-2 with a three-run homer.
More known for his speed than his power, Davis had a chance to trot around the bases slowly this time.
“That actually felt comfortable,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind getting used to that.”
Gonzalez allowed a solo shot to Hunter later that inning and was pulled.
Cabrera’s RBI single in the sixth added another Detroit run, and his first homer of the season made it 10-2.
YANKEES 7
BLUE JAYS 3
TORONTO — Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven innings to win his major league debut, Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits and the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-3.
Staked to a 2-0 lead before taking the mound, Tanaka (1-0) got a startling welcome to the major leagues when the Japanese right-hander surrendered a home run to Toronto’s Melky Cabrera on his third pitch. It was Cabrera’s first homer of the season and the second leadoff shot of his career.
Tanaka settled down to retire the next three batters, catching Jose Bautista looking at a curveball and getting Edwin Encarnacion to miss on a slider.
Tanaka looked comfortable the rest of the way, facing just one batter over the minimum in his final five innings.
Tanaka allowed three runs, two earned, and six hits, walked none and struck out eight. He threw 97 pitches, 65 strikes.
GIANTS 8, DODGERS 4
LOS ANGELES — Michael Morse keyed a six-run first inning with a two-run single, and San Francisco spoiled a Dodgers’ home opener played nearly two weeks after they began the season in Australia.
David Huff (1-0) got the victory, allowing two hits in 1 2-3 innings of relief while striking out three.
After retiring the first two batters, Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-1) got pummeled for six runs while giving up six hits, including four in a row as the Giants batted around. They finished Ryu with two more runs in the second, extending their lead to 8-0.
PIRATES 12, CARDINALS 2
PITTSBURGH — Pedro Alvarez homered twice and scored three runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-2.
Alvarez hit long solo shots in the second and fourth off Shelby Miller (0-1) and broke open a close game with a rare stolen base he converted into a run that broke open a close game.
Travis Ishikawa added his first major league home run in nearly two years for Pittsburgh. Gerrit Cole (1-0) gave up two runs in seven innings in his first start since losing the deciding Game 5 of the NL division series to St. Louis last October.
Miller struggled in his 2014 debut. He tied a career high by giving up five earned runs in 5 1-3 innings, including the three home runs. Matt Carpenter hit a two-run homer for the Cardinals.
St. Louis second baseman Kolten Wong went 1 for 4 and is batting .308 on the season.
Brewers 6, Red Sox 2
BOSTON — Lyle Overbay hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the ninth inning off Edward Mujica, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Red Sox 6-2 in Boston’s first game at Fenway Park since winning the World Series last October.
During a nearly hour-long pregame ceremony, Red Sox players received their rings for winning Boston’s third title in 10 years. But then the Brewers ended Boston’s streak of wins in nine straight home openers.
PHILLIES 7, CUBS 2
CHICAGO — Chase Utley hit a two-run homer and an RBI single, helping Philadelphia win the opener of Wrigley Field’s 100th anniversary season.
John Mayberry Jr. also had a two-run drive for his fourth career pinch-hit homer as Philadelphia bounced back after dropping the last two games of its opening series in Texas.
Roberto Hernandez (1-0) pitched into the sixth inning in his Phillies debut after signing a $4.5 million, one-year contract in the offseason.
Welington Castillo had a solo homer for the Cubs, who have dropped four consecutive home openers for the first time since 1991-94. Travis Wood (0-1) struck out eight in 6 1-3 innings, but was charged with four runs, three earned, and six hits.
ROCKIES 12, DIAMONDBACKS 2
DENVER — Charlie Blackmon tied a team record with six hits and drove in five runs.
Blackmon finished 6 for 6 with three doubles and a two-run homer. The only other Rockies player with six hits in a game was Andres Galarraga against Houston on July 3, 1995.
Carlos Gonzalez added a two-run triple and a two-run homer off the facing of the third deck as the Rockies improved to 13-9 in home openers.
That was more than enough for Juan Nicasio (1-0), who surrendered one run and four hits in seven efficient innings. His only mistake was a slider that Mark Trumbo hit for a solo homer in the fifth.
The Diamondbacks fell to 1-6, their worst start since 1998.
Randall Delgado (0-1) gave up six runs and 10 hits in four innings.
