#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.

#508---BOS @ NYA, 4/1/2013

Each of the ancient rivals had their lefty ace on the mound for Opening Day, with Boston striking first against CC Sabathia with four singles and two walks in the second inning. The Yankees got two back in the fourth when Francisco Cervelli singled home two with two outs, but in the seventh David Phelps walked the first two Sox with hitters with one coming around to score, and they removed all doubt with a three-run ninth off Joba Chamberlain, also fueled by two walks and finished with hits by Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorino. The Red Sox drew eight walks on the day, five of them coming around to score, and both Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jackie Bradley (in his MLB debut) drew three walks. Lester and Sabathia each went five innings with around 100 pitches, while five Boston relievers combined for four shutout innings allowing just three baserunners. 

#507---CHA @ CLE, 4/9/2012

Josh Tomlin gave up three runs on two first inning homers (Alejandro de Aza leading off, AJ Pierzynski) which was really all the White Sox and Chris Sale would need. Sale was making his first major league start after working out the bullpen late in 2011. He went 6 2/3, removed at exactly 100 pitches after allowing one run on three hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Chicago used a two-out rally in the fifth to score a fourth run, then stranded six runners between the sixth and eighth innings while Cleveland’s offense posed little threat until Jose Lopez (whose stint as an Indian I can’t confidently say I remember) homered to lead off the ninth. But that was all they would get and the Sox took it 4-2.

#506---MIN @ NYA, 4/4/2011

 

Alex Rodriguez (#615 of his career) and Jorge Posada each hit two-run homers off Scott Baker in the first two innings to stake Ivan Nova to a 4-0 lead. Minnesota got RBI doubles from Jim Thome in the fourth (two runs) and Tsuyoshi Nishioka in the fifth (one run), and after that there was very little offense the rest of the way. Only one runner reached second base for either team (Cano in the Yankee sixth), and the back-end of the Yankee bullpen each pitched one shutout inning (Joba Chamberlain in the seventh, Rafael Soriano in the eighth, Mariano Rivera in the ninth) to preserve a 4-3 win.

#505---SEA @ OAK, 4/5/2010

 

Seattle got single tallies off Ben Sheets in each of the first three frames, with lots of actions on the basepaths (three steals coupled with two Kurt Suzuki throwing errors, two caught stealings) while Felix Hernandez allowed just one hit (a chopper by Rajai Davis leading off the game for Oakland) through five. Oakland pushed across a run in the sixth and after King Felix got two groundouts to start the seventh, he walked two and was pulled for Sean White. Cliff Pennington and Davis each singled in a run to tie the game. In the ninth, Casey Kotchman got a two-out, two-run single off Andrew Bailey to give the Mariners the lead, and David Aardsma set the A’s down 1-2-3 to save a 5-3 Opening Day victory.

#504---CLE @ DET, 9/1/2009

 

September 1 used to be a fun day for fans of teams out of the race, as you got an influx of September callups, sometimes including top prospects. This game saw the major league debuts of two Cleveland prospects who were major pieces in big trades: Michael Brantley (CC Sabathia) and Carlos Carrasco (Cliff Lee). Brantley’s debut (2-4) went smoother than Carrasco’s (3 IP, 6 R, 9 H, 3 W, 3 K, 3 HR (Placido Polanco, Jose Guillen, Brandon Inge)). Detroit led 6-1 when Carrasco departed and added two more in the fourth before Cleveland showed life with three in the fifth. Andy Marte’s leadoff homer in the sixth cut it to 8-5, but the from there the Tribe would muster just Brantley’s ninth inning infield single amidst their last dozen outs.

#503---CHA @ CLE, 4/3/2008

 

Jake Westbrook retired the first eleven Chicago batters and went 4 2/3 hitless, while John Danks went five hitless innings. Juan Uribe opened the scoring when he took Westbrook’s first delivery of the sixth over the big wall in left, but the Indians tied the game when Nick Swisher dropped Franklin Gutierrez’s fly in the seventh. However, Joe Crede led off the eighth with another homer to left off Westbrook, providing the winning run as Scott Linebrink and Bobby Jenks closed out the White Sox victory by each pitching perfect innings.