#514---HOU @ TB, 3/29/2019

Michael Brantley’s two-out, two-run double in the third gave Gerrit Cole a 2-0 lead, and based on the way he dominated the Rays in the first two innings (six up, six down, 5 Ks) it seemed possible that might be enough. But Tampa Bay got a pair of two-out run scoring singles to go up 3-2. Yandy Diaz would add a leadoff homer in the sixth, Cole’s last frame. He left having allowed four runs but otherwise been very sharp with ten strikeouts and no walks, but Houston’s offense failed to dent the scoreboard again.

#513---SF @ LA, 3/29/2018

 

Ty Blach v. Clayton Kershaw was not an auspicious Opening Day matchup for the Giants, but Joe Panik’s fifth-inning homer accounted for the only run as they won 1-0. It’s not that Kershaw pitched poorly, although it wasn’t vintage Kershaw as he worked around trouble (6 IP, 8 H, 2 W, 7 K, and also 2-2 at the plate). Blach gave the Giants five, and each team used relievers for one inning each to cover the rest of the game. The Dodger relievers each turned in perfect innings, while each Giant allowed at least one runner to reach, although the Dodgers only got a man to scoring position in the sixth and seventh and not until there were two out in each frame.

#512---CHN @ STL, 4/2/2017

 

This was the opener for the major league schedule and it was a good start to the campaign. St. Louis struck first with a run off Jon Lester in the second but they’d stranded nine runners through seven innings. In the eighth, Randall Grichuk’s two-run homer off Pedro Strop seemed to assuage that frustration by building a 3-0 lead.

The Cubs meanwhile had done very little with Carlos Martinez. Through seven they had been shutout, stranding just three runners and fanning ten times, with Martinez having retired a dozen in a row between the third and seventh. They got two hits to chase him in the eighth, but Seung-Hwan Oh was able to strand the bases loaded. 

In the ninth, a hit batter and a Matt Carpenter error opened the door for the Cubs. With first and second and one out Willson Contreras went deep to tie the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Jose Martinez delivered a one-out pinch-hit double against Jordan Montgomery. Joe Maddon elected to intentionally walk Yadier Molina, the first instance of the new rule permitting intentional walks without the four wide ones being delivered. Montogomery struck out Stephen Piscotty, but then walked Kolten Wong to load the bases. Grichuk made himself the undisputed offensive hero of the game by driving one into the gap in left-center to be credited with a walkoff single. 

#511---TOR @ TB, 4/3/2016

Edwin Encarnacion’s two-run single in the first and Troy Tulowitzki’s two-run homer in the eighth allowed Toronto to take a 5-1 lead into the eighth on Opening Day at Tropicana Field. Through eight, Marcus Stroman had allowed one run on four hits, one walk, and five strikeouts on ninety-two pitches. He’d also retired twelve consecutive Rays, so he was allowed to go for a complete game. Corey Dickerson led off and homered on a 0-2 pitch, then Desmond Jennings singled up the middle to chase him. Roberto Osuna came in and got to strikeouts before surrendering a single to Kevin Kiermaier that made it 5-3. Kiermaier moved up on in difference and a wild pitch, but the tying run was still embodied by Hank Conger at the plate, and he grounded back to Osuna to end the game.

#510---SD @ LA, 4/7/2015

Both starters pitched six good innings (Zack Greinke 1 R, 2 H, 1 W, 4 K; Tyson Ross 2 R, 6 H, 3 W, 4 K), with Greinke surrendering his run in his first inning and Ross allowing two in his last inning. Greinke did not allow a hit in his last five innings, but the Dodger bullpen was not nearly as effective. Three relievers allowed a run in the seventh and two allowed a run in the eighth that gave San Diego the lead. Adrian Gonzalez’s solo homer off Joaquin Benoit pulled LA even at three, but the Dodger pen coughed up four in the ninth. Craig Kimbrel struck out the side for the save.

Six Dodger relievers combined for 3 IP, 6 R, 11 H, 3 W, 3 K while three Padre relievers combined for 3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 W, 5 K. 

#509---CHN @ PIT, 3/31/2014

 

This was the first game to get underway on Opening Day, and when Jeff Samardzija bunted into a 1-5-3 double play in the fifth inning, the Cubs issued the first challenge in MLB history (I have long since ceased recording whether players were reviewed or not unless it is particularly noteworthy), which they lost as the out at first was upheld. Samardzija (7 IP, 5 H, 2 W, 3 K) and Francisco Liriano (6 IP, 4 H, 3 W, 10 K) both shutout the opposition, and each bullpen carried that into the tenth. The only close call was when Emilio Bonifacio was thrown out at home with one out in the Chicago eighth trying to score on Starlin Castro’s grounder to second.

Bonifacio reached in the tenth but was picked off by Bryan Morris. Carlos Villaneuva came on in the bottom of the inning for the Cubs and went to a full count on Neil Walker. Walker fouled two pitches off and that hit a walkoff homer to right for a 1-0 Pittsburgh win.

One play to note from a scoring perspective came in the Chicago first. With Junior Lake at the plate I have a notation “AC – CP1RE3”. This means that after the third pitch (AC), the runner was caught stealing and picked off in a play that would have been a 1-3 out but for a muffed catch by the first baseman (R[ecieving]E3). This was an odd play because it did not fit in the scorebox of the runner Bonifacio as he was obviously not putout but he also did not advance.