History was made Friday night as baseball opened its newest ballpark. The Atlanta Braves hosted the San Diego Padres in the first regular-season game at SunTrust Park, MLB's first new stadium since Marlins Park opened in 2012. The Braves spent 20 years at Turner Field, their former home.
Here is our daily look around the league post. Make sure you check back throughout the day Friday for updates.
Friday's scores
Pirates 4, Cubs 2 (box score)
Nationals 3, Phillies 2 in 10 innings (box score)
Yankees 4, Cardinals 3 (box score)
Orioles 6, Blue Jays 4 (box score)
Braves 5, Padres 2 (box score)
Rays 10, Red Sox 5 (box score)
Marlins 3, Mets 2 (box score)
Brewers 10, Reds 4 (box score)
Tigers 7, Indians 6 (box score)
White Sox 2, Twins 1 (box score)
Royals 7, Angels 1 (box score)
Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 1 (box score)
Giants 8, Rockies 2 (box score)
Astros 7, Athletics 2 (box score)
Mariners 2, Rangers 1 (box score)
Diamondbacks get Kershaw'd
Dodgers uberace Clayton Kershaw entered Friday's matchup against the Diamondbacks and former teammate Zack Greinke with a 2.75 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 24 career starts against Arizona. The 25th time turned out not to be the charm, either.
Kershaw carved up the opposition for eight scoreless innings before the Diamondbacks scratched out a "moral victory" run in the ninth as the Dodgers cruised to a 7-1 win. The ace finished with four hits, one earned run and one walk allowed in 8 1/3 innings while striking out eight, but that doesn't begin to tell the story of how dominant he was. Here's the story of his first seven innings:
The eighth inning didn't go much better for the Diamondbacks, as a one-out single was immediately erased by an inning-ending double play. They finally managed two hits off Kershaw in the ninth, but even then it took the slimmest of margins to put a run on the board:
That's an RBI double for Chris Owings that managed to find a gap and roll all the way to the wall. Without that run scoring, it's possible Kershaw stays in to try and complete the shutout on his own. After all, he was lifted right after that play at just 100 pitches.
Either way, one fantastic play doesn't take away from the fact that Kershaw was outstanding at home for what feels like the 100th time in a row.
Greinke, the ex-Dodger whose first year in Arizona was nowhere near the level of his last one with the boys in blue, had put together two nice starts coming into this matchup. He couldn't make it three in a row though, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits and three walks in five innings.
Is Felix back to being a king?
Long one of the best pitchers in baseball, His Royal Highness Felix Hernandez started trending the wrong direction in 2015 and things got worse last year, while for the first time in his career he missed an extended period with injury, keeping him from making 30 starts for the first time since his rookie year.
On Opening Day, he mixed kingly precision (six strikeouts, no walks) with a pair of solo home runs before having to leave the game due to groin tightness after five innings. It was almost a microcosm of his last few years -- good signs, bad signs, and a bit of a crack in his heretofore pristine health.
The groin issue didn't cost him any time, and on Friday, he delivered his best start of the young season, giving up just one earned run on six hits in 7 1/3 innings to pick up his first win of the year in the Mariners' 2-1 win over the Rangers.
The strikeouts weren't there (just three on the night), but he hadn't lacked for punchouts in his previous two starts, and best of all, he still has yet to walk a batter in 18 1/3 innings. When you consider his walk rate went from 1.8 walks per nine innings in 2014, his last stellar season, to 2.6 per nine then 3.8 per nine during his down 2016, that might be the best reason yet to crown Felix king once again.
Braves open new park with a win
SunTrust Park is, at long last, alive -- er, open for regular-season baseball. The Braves christened their new home with a game against the Padres.
Julio Teheran, whose season entering the night had included 13 shutout innings and zero decisions, had a less-than-ideal introduction to the new park: he walked four batters and allowed five hits in six innings, albeit while yielding just two runs.
On the bright side, the Braves pulled out a 5-2 win, with Ender Inciarte sealing the deal with a two-run homer in the sixth inning, which would serve as the final scoring in the game. Also, Teheran and Padres starter Jhoulys Chacin combined for this nugget:
You can see how the Braves celebrated their new park here.
Conforto's big throw
Here's Michael Conforto's latest case for playing time -- an impressive throw to peg Miguel Rojas at the plate:
Conforto is doing his part at the plate, too. He entered Friday hitting .417/.533/1.000. We'll see if Terry Collins relents and plays him more.
Reds call up top prospect, then don't start him
The rebuilding Reds called up top outfield prospect Jesse Winker from Triple-A on Friday, the team announced. MLB.com currently ranks Winker as the 63rd-best prospect in baseball, saying he "still appears to be the future in left for Cincinnati" even after Adam Duvall's breakout 2016 campaign.
Despite the call-up, Winker is not in the Reds' lineup Friday night. He'll be a bench player in his MLB debut.
According to Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer, it's possible Winker's callup is only temporary. The Reds need to call up a starting pitcher for Sunday's game, and Winker is the one who could go down to make room.
The Reds have started Duvall in left field, Billy Hamilton in center field and Scott Schebler in right field in nine of their 10 games. Schebler is off to a slow start -- he's hitting .161/.278/.419 (85 OPS+) -- and figures to lose playing time to Winker before Duvall and Hamilton.
White Sox use an all-Garcia outfield
Here's a fun little baseball oddity. All three starting outfielders for the White Sox on Friday have the surname "Garcia." Check it out:
That's Avisail Garcia in right, Willy Garcia in center and Leury Garcia in left. And yes, this is the first time baseball history three outfielders with the same last name are starting a game.
While this is historic, I'm not sure it's quite as cool as the day the three Alou brothers (Felipe, Jesus, Matty) played the outfield together for the Giants in 1963. The Alous didn't all start that game, however. Felipe started then Jesus and Matty both came off the bench.
The Garcias, by the way, are not related.
Quick hits
- Dodgers southpaw Rich Hill will return on Sunday to make his second start. He'd been on the disabled list due to a blister.
- According to agent Greg Genske, shortstop Carlos Correa is not interested in a long-term contract with the Astros right now. "Carlos is never going to do an [early] multiyear contract," said Genske.
- Phillies left-handed pitching prospect Elniery Garcia has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for Boldenone, a banned substance, MLB announced. MLB.com ranks Garcia as Philadelphia's 18th-best prospect. He is on the team's 40-man roster but has yet to play above High Class-A.
- Hall of Famer Rod Carew's heart and kidney transplant came from former NFL player Konrad Reuland. Carew received his new heart and kidney last December. Reuland died from a brain aneurysm at age 29 a few days earlier.
- Umpire Dale Scott was carted off during the Orioles-Blue Jays game after taking a foul tip to the mask.
- The Rockies will be without ace Jon Gray for at least a month after he broke his foot during Thursday's start.