Two-time defending American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal delivered two shutout innings in his spring training debut, but his Detroit Tigers were blanked in a 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Monday in Lakeland, Fla.
Skubal, who will earn $32 million this season after winning his arbitration case, struck out two batters to strand a pair in the first and finished with four strikeouts. He told reporters after his start that he only plans to start one World Baseball Classic round-robin game for the U.S. before returning to Tigers camp.
Emmanuel Rodriguez and Alex Jackson homered for the Twins, who got three shutout innings with five strikeouts from Mick Abel.
The Tigers managed just three hits, one of which was a triple by Matt Vierling and another a Javier Baez double.
Mets 4, Blue Jays 3
Cristian Pache homered and MJ Melendez had an RBI double to help New York outlast Toronto in Dunedin, Fla.
A pair of major league veteran starters had mixed results in their spring-training debuts, with Clay Holmes and Jose Berrios allowing two earned runs apiece for the Mets and Blue Jays, respectively.
Kazuma Okamoto, Toronto’s big offseason acquisition out of Japan who signed a four-year, $60 million deal, delivered his first homer, a two-run shot, in the second inning.
Braves 10, Orioles 7
Jorge Mateo capped off an eight-run sixth inning with a grand slam to propel Atlanta past Baltimore in Sarasota, Fla.
The Braves racked up 13 hits, getting two apiece from Dominic Smith, Eli White, Lizandro Espinoza and Aaron Schunk.
Vance Honeycutt hit a two-run homer for the Orioles, who left 11 on base.
Rays 2, Red Sox 1
Jonny DeLuca delivered a walk-off two-run single to help Tampa Bay rally past Boston in Port Charlotte, Fla.
Drew Rasmussen struck out three over two scoreless innings for the Rays, who had three hits in the ninth after managing just two through the first eight innings.
Mickey Gasper opened the scoring with an RBI triple in the top of the ninth for the Red Sox.
Cardinals 5, Marlins 4
Ryan Weingartner and Jeremy Rivas had RBI doubles before a walk-off wild pitch as St. Louis plated three in the ninth to beat Miami in Jupiter, Fla.
Rivas accounted for two of the Cardinals’ five hits, and Jose Fermin added an RBI single in the first inning off Marlins starter Eury Perez.
Jakob Marsee opened the scoring with his first spring homer in the first inning, but Miami was just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13.
Yankees 6, Pirates 2
Ben Rice and Jasson Dominguez provided RBI hits during a four-run second inning to create separation in New York’s win over Pittsburgh in Bradenton, Fla.
Dominguez followed Rice’s two-run single with an RBI double. The Yankees also got a homer from prospect Miguel Palma, working 11 walks to overcome only managing five hits.
Touted Pirates pitching prospect Bubba Chandler was erratic in his spring debut, issuing four walks and allowing four runs in 1 2/3 hitless innings. Marcell Ozuna, whom Pittsburgh signed to a one-year, $12 million deal, opened the scoring with an RBI single.
Rockies 5, White Sox 4
Zac Veen belted a 468-foot moonshot in the bottom of the ninth as host Colorado walked off Chicago in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The Rockies jumped to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, which included a run-scoring double from Willi Castro, the only Rockies player with two hits. Keegan Thompson highlighted the bullpen in his two-inning, three-strikeout performance that yielded just one hit.
Veteran Andrew Benintendi and newcomer Munetaka Murakami each recorded two hits for the White Sox, while Caden Connor and Josh Breaux drove in runs. Shane Smith delivered a 1 2/3 inning start that allowed two hits and three runs. Brandon Eisert and Grant Taylor both produced hitless innings with two strikeouts apiece.
Dodgers 3, Mariners 0
Los Angeles limited visiting Seattle to just four hits in a shutout in Glendale, Ariz.
Santiago Espinal and Andy Pages recorded multiple hits for the Dodgers and Landon Knack started the bout for Los Angeles, who rotated pitchers every inning. Knack produced a hitless inning alongside five other Dodgers.
The Mariners’ aforementioned hitting struggles saw four batters record a hit apiece. Logan Gilbert pitched the first two frames for Seattle, where he recorded two strikeouts, two walks and one hit.
Cubs 3, Royals 2
Chicago’s early scoring and 12 strikeouts of host Kansas City helped avoid a near-walk-off in Surprise, Ariz.
Prospect Jefferson Rojas went yard, paired with a James Triantos two-run single that sufficed for a Chicago offense that went just 6-for-31 at the plate. Ben Brown began the first two innings for the Cubs, and finished with two hits alongside three of his team’s strikeouts.
Josh Rojas homered in the eighth inning to get the Royals on the board, followed by a Peyton Wilson sacrifice fly in the ninth that brought Kansas City within one score. With Spencer Nivens on third base, newcomer Kameron Misner struck out swinging to close the game. Seth Lugo pitched the first two innings, where he allowed two hits.
Padres 7, Brewers 5
Six runs in the eighth inning lifted host San Diego to a comeback win over Milwaukee in Peoria, Ariz.
A three-run double from Romeo Sanabria was quickly followed by one-run singles from Samad Taylor and Francisco Acuna, along with a run scored on a balk, to lift the Padres to the final score. Miguel Andujar belted a solo home run in the fourth inning. Starter JP Sears was pulled after he allowed four hits and runs in just 2/3 of an inning.
Milwaukee jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning thanks to Andrew Vaughn’s two-run bomb and Jett Williams’ two-run triple. Brandon Lockridge’s solo shot in the seventh wasn’t enough for the Brewers, as Jordyn Adams struck out with two runners on base to end the game. Easton McGee opened the contest with a perfect, two-strikeout inning.
Giants 6, Athletics 2
Newcomer Luis Arraez and Victor Bericoto tallied two hits and two RBIs apiece to lift San Francisco over the visiting Athletics in Scottsdale, Ariz.
San Francisco began to clear a two-run deficit in the third inning on Arraez’s run-plating single. Drew Gilbert and Luis Matos recorded an RBI for the Giants as well. JT Brubaker allowed three hits and two runs in his one-inning start.
The A’s began the game with a 2-0 lead off the backs of Nick Kurtz’s run on a double-play grounder and a one-run double from Andy Ibanez. Their offense would freeze for the remainder of the game, although the Athletics tallied 10 hits to the Giants’ 11. Starter J.T. Ginn threw a perfect two innings with three strikeouts, while nearly every other pitcher allowed a run.
Guardians 9, Diamondbacks 5
Jose Ramirez’s four RBIs paved a Cleveland victory over visiting Arizona in Goodyear, Ariz.
Ramirez, who hit a three-run home run, Bo Naylor and Jackson Chourio recorded two hits on the day to play part in a rampant Cleveland offense (11-for-32). Tanner Bibee allowed just one hit with one strikeout in his two-inning start.
Jordan Lawlar (3-for-4) and No. 1 prospect Ryan Waldschmidt went yard as part of Arizona’s late five-run stretch between the seventh and eighth innings.
Rangers 6, Angels 0
Six runs through four innings was all it took for Texas to shut out Los Angeles in Tempe, Ariz.
Danny Jansen’s two-run home run kickstarted the bout, followed by scoring singles from Tyler Wade and Sam Haggerty. Jack Leiter pitched a two-inning, two-hit start, while the bullpen followed with nine of the Rangers’ 10 strikeouts in the win.
Zach Neto went 2-for-3 at the plate, the only multi-hit batter for the Angels. Reid Detmers pitched 1 2/3 innings as the starter, and allowed three hits and three runs.
Phillies 5, Nationals 5
Matt Mervis hit a two-run ground rule double in the bottom of the eighth and Washington rallied from a four-run hole to tie visiting Philadelphia in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The Nationals were behind 5-1 before Trey Lipscomb and Mervis came home on seventh-inning groundouts. Washington’s Drew Millas had an RBI double in the first inning to open the scoring.
Washington committed four errors, two coming in the sixth when reliever Andre Granillo gave up four unearned runs, capped by Bryan Rincon’s three-run double. Edmundo Sosa and Pedro Leon had two hits apiece for the Phillies.
–Field Level Media
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