Texas’ Robbie Grossman, right, is congratulated by Josh Jung after hitting a three-run homer during the fourth inning on Thursday.
Jeffrey McWhorter | AP photo
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ARLINGTON, Texas — Robbie Grossman and Brad Miller homered in a big comeback for Texas after prized acquisition Jacob deGrom struggled in his debut, and the Rangers beat the National League champion Philadelphia Phillies 11-7 in the season opener Thursday.
Grossman, a free-agent addition who earned the starting left field job in spring training, hit a three-run homer that tied the game at 5-5 in the middle of a nine-run outburst in the fourth inning. An inning later, Miller became the first Rangers player in 11 years to homer in consecutive season openers. His two-run shot made it 11-6.
While deGrom struck out seven without a walk, the two-time National League Cy Young Award winner allowed five runs on six extra-base hits in his 3 2/3 innings. He threw 49 of 73 pitches for strikes.
Aaron Nola, the 29-year-old right-hander making his sixth and maybe final opening-day start for the Phillies, also allowed five runs in 3 2/3 innings. Nola is in the final year of his contract and discussions about an extension ended just before the start of the season.
METS 5, MARLINS 3
MIAMI — Brandon Nimmo broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run double, sending Max Scherzer and New York past Miami.
Scherzer coughed up a three-run lead but threw six solid innings in a matchup with NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara as the Mets improved to 41-21 on opening day — the best record in baseball.
Garrett Cooper tied it 3-all in the sixth with a two-run homer off Scherzer. Jacob Stallings led off the inning with a single and scored on Luis Arraez’s double.
PIRATES 5, REDS 4
CINCINNATI — Oneil Cruz homered shortly after a pitch clock violation and later drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, helping Pittsburgh open the season by beating Cincinnati.
The game was played in 3 hours, 2 minutes under new rules this season designed to speed things up. There were a combined 15 walks and 26 strikeouts which contributed to the game’s length.
ORIOLES 10, RED SOX 9
BOSTON — Adley Rutschman became the first catcher in major league history with five hits on opening day, and Baltimore survived a wild ninth inning to beat Boston.
Playing in his first season opener after starring for the Orioles as a rookie last year, Rutschman homered in his first at-bat and finished 5-for-5 with a career-best four RBIs and a walk on a chilly day at Fenway Park, with temperature of 38 degrees at first pitch.
RAYS 4, TIGERS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Shane McClanahan pitched six sharp innings, Jose Siri and Wander Franco homered and Tampa Bay opened its silver anniversary season with a victory over Detroit.
Miguel Cabrera, beginning what he has said will be his last season, had one of Detroit’s six hits — a seventh-inning double — that moved him into a tie with Ichiro Suzuki for 23rd on the all-time hit list with 3,089.
BRAVES 7, NATIONALS 2
WASHINGTON — Atlanta overcame the early exit of NL Cy Young Award runner-up Max Fried because of a bad leg with four hits by Travis d’Arnaud and three errors by Washington on a sunny, chilly opening day.
The temperature was 45 degrees at first pitch, players from both teams lost balls in the bright daylight, and there were a total of five errors, three by Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams.
Designated hitter d’Arnaud capped his afternoon with a two-run double in the ninth and Austin Riley walked three times — once with the bases loaded — for Atlanta.
CUBS 4, BREWERS 0
CHICAGO — Dansby Swanson had three hits in his Chicago debut and Marcus Stroman worked six scoreless innings, breezing past baseball’s first pitch-clock violation on his way to a victory over Milwaukee.
Swanson’s first hit with his new team was an RBI single that sparked a four-run third. He tacked on two more singles and played his usual solid defense at shortstop.
BLUE JAYS 10, CARDINALS 9
ST. LOUIS — George Springer had five hits and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in three runs as Toronto beat St. Louis despite the Cardinals’ Tyler O’Neill tying a major league record by homering on opening day for the fourth straight season.
Making his Cardinals debut, catcher Willson Contreras left after the eighth inning because of an injured knee.