There were 13 baseball games played Thursday as the 2018 MLB season officially kicked off with Opening Day.
First up, the Cubs were in Miami facing the Marlins. They started things off well with Ian Happ hitting a homerun on the first pitch of the year. The Cubs would go on to win 8-4, with home runs also coming from Anthony Rizzo and Middletown native Kyle Schwarber.
“I was thinking fastball first pitch there,” said Happ after the game. “Historically I’ve seen [Jose Urena] pretty well the last couple of times I’ve faced him. He got me a couple times after that, but I saw that one well.”
The Mets took down the Cardinals in St. Louis 9-4, with a strong showing from starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard. Syndergaard had 10 strikeouts and no walks in six innings. This was Mets manager Mickey Callaway’s first game as a manager, and his lineup produced well.
“It feels great,” Callaway said. “What a ballpark. All of us, the coaches, were sitting there going, man, this is something special. This is a different place than most.”
The Orioles beat the Twins with a walkoff homer from OF Adam Jones in the 11th inning, giving them a 3-2 lead. This marked Baltimore’s eighth straight opening day win, which is the longest active streak in the MLB.
Home runs seemed to be the story of the day, as Giancarlo Stanton hit two HRs in his Yankee debut to lead the Yankees to a 6-1 win over the Blue Jays. Houston RF and reigning World Series MVP George Springer also hit a leadoff homer in his second straight Opening Day, making him the only player in MLB history to do so. The Astros would go on to win 4-1 over the Rangers.
“It’s weird, it’s cool,” Springer said about the stat. “I’m happy to set the tone right there for our team.”
The Red Sox fell on some hard times, despite an inside-the-park homerun from Eduardo Nunez in the 2nd inning and a 4-0 lead entering the 8th inning. The Red Sox bullpen gave up six runs in the 8th, giving the Rays a 6-4 win.
Also having a rough day was two-time MVP Mike Trout of the Angels, who went 0-6 in a 6-5 loss to the A’s. This is the first time in his career that Trout had at least six ABs and not had a hit in his career.
Rounding out the day was the Phillies dropping to the Braves 8-5, the Brewers winning 2-1 in 12 innings over the Padres, The White Sox with a dominating 14-7 win over the Royals, The Giants outlasting the Dodgers 1-0, the Diamondbacks winning at home over the Rockies 8-2 and the Indians losing in Seattle 2-0. The Pirates-Tigers and Nationals-Reds games were both postponed.
Paul Helmers
Sports Editor