Dominic Smith hit a walk-off grand slam in the ninth inning to help the Atlanta Braves overcome a two-run deficit and beat the visiting Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Saturday night.
Smith’s home run, a 386-foot shot to right-center field, came with one out against Royals closer Carlos Estevez (0-1), who failed to hold a 2-0 lead. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Smith became the first player to hit a walk-off grand slam in his team debut.
In the ninth, Drake Baldwin walked to lead off, took third on Matt Olson’s single and scored on Mike Yastrzemski’s one-out single. After Ozzie Albies walked, Jorge Mateo — running for Olson — scored the tying run when Michael Harris II lined a single. The winning pitcher was Osvaldo Bido (1-0), who struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth.
Salvador Perez broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run in the seventh inning — ending Kansas City’s 15-inning scoreless streak to start the season — on the first pitch from Reynaldo Lopez. It was the 304th homer of Perez’s career, leaving him 13 away from tying Hall of Famer George Brett for the franchise record.
Cardinals 6, Rays 5 (10 innings)
Rookie JJ Wetherholt singled in two runs with one out in the 10th inning to lift St. Louis past visiting Tampa Bay.
Jordan Walker started off the inning with a walk on four straight pitches to put runners on first and second. Victor Scott II moved the runners over with a perfect sacrifice bunt. Wetherholt then grounded the first pitch he saw into right field for his first career walk-off hit. Griffin Jax (0-1) took the loss by blowing the save in the 10th.
Cardinals closer Ryne Stanek (1-0) picked up the win despite blowing the save in the ninth and giving up the go-ahead run in the 10th. Yandy Diaz singled in automatic runner Ben Williamson on the first pitch of the 10th inning to give Tampa a 5-4 lead.
Guardians 6, Mariners 5 (10 innings)
Chase DeLauter homered for a third consecutive game, a two-run shot in the 10th inning, as Cleveland defeated host Seattle.
The Guardians broke a 3-3 tie on Brendon Donovan’s throwing error on Steven Kwan’s bunt. That scored Brayan Rocchio, who opened the 10th as the runner at second base. DeLauter then deposited a 2-2 fastball from Andres Munoz (0-1) just over the left field wall. It was DeLauter’s fourth homer of the season.
The Mariners’ Luke Raley hit a two-run shot to center with one out in the bottom of the 10th, his third in as many games, but right-hander Connor Brogdon struck out Leo Rivas and Cole Young to get the save.
Reds 6, Red Sox 5 (11 innings)
Dane Myers singled home automatic runner TJ Friedl from second base with the winning run to lead host Cincinnati to a wild win over Boston in 11 innings.
Sal Stewart homered and drove in two, Elly De La Cruz belted his first homer of 2026 and Matt McLain had three hits to lead the Reds to their first win of the season. Connor Phillips (1-0) struck out three and retired all five batters faced in the 10th and 11th for the win.
Trevor Story, who homered earlier, lined into a double play to end the top of the 11th. Right-hander Justin Slaten (0-1) surrendered the game-winning hit. With the Red Sox just one out from defeat, Wilyer Abreu homered in the ninth to tie the game at 5-all.
Rangers 5, Phillies 4 (10 innings)
Texas scored on a wild pitch and Andrew McCutchen’s two-single in the 10th inning, then held on to post a win over host Philadelphia.
Corey Seager and Jake Burger hit early home runs for the Rangers, who blew a 3-0 lead but rallied to give Skip Schumaker his first win as their manager.
The Phillies’ Brandon Marsh notched the game-tying hit in the ninth for 3-all. Down 5-3 with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, Bryce Harper singled in one run, but reliever Tyler Alexander got Alec Bohm to pop out to end it.
Mets 4, Pirates 2 (11 innings)
Luis Robert Jr. hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 11th inning for New York, which overcame a pair of deficits in extras to beat visiting Pittsburgh.
Bryan Reynolds had an RBI infield single in the top of the 11th for the Pirates before the Mets rallied against Hunter Barco (0-1). Jorge Polanco worked a five-pitch walk, after which Robert hit a 1-0 pitch beyond the left-center-field wall for his first homer with New York and his second career walk-off shot.
Richard Lovelady (1-0) allowed an unearned run in the top of the 11th before earning his first big league win since 2024. Luis Torrens had a game-tying RBI single in the 10th for the Mets. Pittsburgh’s Nick Gonzales had an RBI single in the top of the 10th. Gonzales, Reynolds and Jake Mangum had two hits apiece.
Blue Jays 8, Athletics 7 (11 innings)
Ernie Clement stroked an RBI single in the 11th inning and host Toronto came back to defeat the Athletics. Clement’s hit against Luis Medina (0-1) gave the Blue Jays their second straight walk-off win to open the season.
Spencer Miles (1-0) made his major league debut in the 11th and pitched around a walk to earn the win.
Shea Langeliers hit his third career grand slam in the seventh inning to give the Athletics a 6-2 lead. Toronto’s Alejandro Kirk tied the game at six with a one-out solo homer in the ninth. The Athletics’ Brent Rooker delivered an RBI single in the 10th, but the Blue Jays tied it on Addison Barger’s sacrifice fly in the home 10th.
Dodgers 3, Diamondbacks 2
Will Smith hit a go-ahead two-run home run in the eighth inning as the two-time defending champion Los Angeles posted a three-game, season-opening sweep with a victory over visiting Arizona.
Freddie Freeman had three hits, including an RBI double, starter Tyler Glasnow went six strong innings and new Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz picked up his second save in two nights.
Corbin Carroll had a hit, an RBI and a run scored and Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic hero Eduardo Rodriguez gave up an unearned run over five-plus innings in a no-decision for the Diamondbacks.
Cubs 10, Nationals 2
Miguel Amaya and Ian Happ homered while right-hander Cade Horton pitched effectively into the seventh inning in a triumphant season debut as host Chicago routed Washington.
The Cubs out-hit the Nationals 9-4. Amaya had two hits and two RBIs, while Pete Crow-Armstrong added two hits. Horton (1-0) cruised behind the support, spacing two runs and four hits over 6 1/3 innings with one walk and four strikeouts.
Horton was perfect through three innings before James Wood cracked a solo home run for Washington’s lone extra-base hit of the afternoon. Chicago pounded right-hander Miles Mikolas in his Nationals debut, reaching the veteran for six runs (four earned) and six hits in five innings. Mikolas (0-1) walked three and struck out four.
Twins 4, Orioles 1
Royce Lewis hit a two-run home run and Minnesota won for the first time under first-year manager Derek Shelton by beating host Baltimore.
Six Minnesota pitchers combined on a five-hitter while striking out 16 batters and walking six. Anthony Banda (1-0) was the winning pitcher with two-thirds of an inning of relief. Cole Sands worked the ninth and was credited with a save.
The Orioles stranded 11 runners. Jeremiah Jackson had two hits for Baltimore. Minnesota starter Taj Bradley struck out nine in 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits but he was finished after 92 pitches. Orioles starter Kyle Bradish (0-1) was done after 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on two hits.
Brewers 6, White Sox 1
Chad Patrick pitched effectively into the fifth inning and Brice Turang doubled twice to pace Milwaukee past visiting Chicago for its second consecutive victory.
Aaron Ashby (1-0) got the win with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Patrick allowed one run on five hits in 4 1/3 innings, striking out four and walking one. Garrett Mitchell hit a two-run single in a three-run first and Christian Yelich went 3-for-5 with an RBI hit.
Munetaka Murakami homered for the second consecutive game, a 409-foot leadoff shot in the fourth inning off Patrick to pull the White Sox within 4-1. Starter Sean Burke (0-1) yielded four runs (three earned) on seven hits over four innings.
Astros 11, Angels 9
Yainer Diaz and Jake Meyers had two RBIs each in an eight-run sixth inning for Houston, which rallied from a six-run hole to beat visiting Los Angeles. The Astros scored all eight runs with two outs.
Isaac Paredes and Carlos Correa also had two RBIs apiece for Houston. Meyers, Correa, Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker each had two hits. Astros starter Cristian Javier went 4 2/3 innings, allowing six runs and four hits, striking out one and walking four. Kai-Wei Teng (1-0) threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory.
Oswald Peraza homered and singled twice, Jorge Soler and Nolan Schanuel also homered and Mike Trout singled, walked twice and scored two runs for the Angels, who were trying to start 3-0 for the first time since winning their first five games in 2006.
Yankees 3, Giants 1
Aaron Judge homered in his second straight game and Ben Rice doubled in two runs as visiting New York beat San Francisco to complete a three-game series sweep.
San Francisco put its first two batters on base in the ninth against David Bednar before Harrison Bader struck out and Patrick Bailey grounded into a double play. The Giants scored their first run of the season in the third when Jung Hoo Lee hit a leadoff double off Will Warren and scored on Matt Chapman’s single up the middle.
Bednar recorded his second save in as many games for the Yankees, who outscored the Giants 13-1 in the series and turned four inning-ending double plays in the finale. Jake Bird (1-0), one of four New York relievers, earned the victory with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
Padres 3, Tigers 0
Randy Vasquez fired six shutout innings as host San Diego beat Detroit and avoided a season-opening, three-game sweep.
Vasquez allowed just two hits, both to third baseman Cole Keith, while walking three and striking out eight, one shy of his career high. Kyle Hart followed with two perfect innings and Mason Miller worked the ninth to earn the save. It was the first win for Craig Stammen, the Padres’ first-year manager.
Jack Flaherty absorbed the loss for the Tigers, allowing four hits and three runs (two earned) over 4 1/3 innings. Flaherty walked four and whiffed two.
Marlins 4, Rockies 3
Rookie Owen Caissie drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and Liam Hicks posted three RBIs as Miami rallied to defeat visiting Colorado.
Pete Fairbanks, acquired as an offseason free agent, earned his second save in two games for the Marlins. Caissie, acquired in January from the Cubs as part of the package for Edward Cabrera, went 3-for-4 with a double, a steal and one RBI. Hicks had a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly.
Colorado hit a pair of homers: a two-run shot by Ezequiel Tovar and TJ Rumfield’s solo blast. Rumfield’s homer was the first of his major-league career in just his second game. Calvin Faucher (1-0) earned the win with one inning of scoreless relief. Jaden Hill (0-1) took the loss, allowing one run and two hits in 1 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
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