Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco connects for a two-run homer in the third inning Wednesday against the Nationals in Washington. The Rays won, 7-2. Alex Brandon/Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Wander Franco and Harold Ramirez each had two hits, including a home run, and the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Washington Nationals 7-2 on Wednesday.
The Rays improved to 6-0 and extended the best start in franchise history. They are off to the best start of any team since Baltimore opened 7-0 in 2016.
Taylor Walls and Randy Arozarena also had two hits each for Tampa Bay, which has outscored opponents 44-13.
Shane McClanahan (2-0) allowed two runs on five hits and four walks over six innings, allowing at least one runner in every inning but the sixth. He struck out six.
Victor Robles had two hits for the Nationals, who have lost five of their first six games.
Washington starter Patrick Corbin (0-2) gave up six runs on 10 hits over six innings.
The Rays broke open a close game in the sixth. Corbin had retired 11 in a row before Ramirez lined a homer to center with two outs. Manuel Margot then singled, stole second and scored when center fielder Robles lost Walls fly ball in the sun for a double. Walls scored on a single by Jose Siri to make it 6-2.
RANGERS 5, ORIOLES 2: Josh Jung hit a tiebreaking two-run homer soon after Jacob deGrom threw his final pitch of the game, giving the two-time NL Cy Young Award winner his first victory in the American League as Texas won at home.
DeGrom (1-0) retired the first 12 batters and finished with 11 strikeouts, but the game was tied 2-2 after he ended the sixth with back-to-back Ks. The right-hander, who in free agency signed a $185 million, five-year contract after his first nine big league seasons with the New York Mets, got a no-decision in the season opener.
Jung’s second homer this season came in the bottom of the sixth off Austin Voth (0-1), who had taken over in relief after top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez went five innings in his big-league debut.
José Leclerc worked a perfect ninth for his first save and extended the scoreless streak for Rangers relievers to 21 1/3 innings.
ANGELS 4, MARINERS 3: Shohei Ohtani held the Mariners to one run in six innings and drove in a run, leading Los Angeles to a victory at Seattle.
Ohtani (1-0) kept the Mariners scoreless after allowing a run in a bumpy first inning, finishing his day having allowed three hits and four walks while striking out eight.
GUARDIANS 6, ATHLETICS 4: Andrés Giménez scored on pinch-hitter Will Brennan’s groundout for the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, Stevan Kwan followed with an RBI single, and Cleveland won at Oakland despite blowing a four-run lead.
The A’s tied it in the eighth on Jesús Aguilar’s two-out, three-run homer, but the Guardians recovered for their second consecutive series win to begin the season.
ASTROS 8, TIGERS 2: Chas McCormick, Kyle Tucker and Jeremy Peña homered and combined for six RBI to help the Houston win at home, snapping a three-game skid.
McCormick hit a two-run home run in the second inning off Eduardo Rodriguez (0-2) and doubled in the fourth.
Tucker homered for a second straight game in the fourth, then added an RBI double in a two-run seventh.
Peña, last year’s World Series MVP, connected on a two-run shot off Tyler Alexander for his first home run of the season with two outs in the eighth.
INTERLEAGUE
YANKEES 4, PHILLIES 2: Gerrit Cole outpitched Aaron Nola in a marquee matchup, Gleyber Torres had three hits and two RBI and New York won at home.
Torres also stole two bases and is hitting .421 with six RBI and five steals. Jose Trevino added a two-run homer off reliever Gregory Soto, and New York took two of three for the second straight series. NL champion Philadelphia is off to a 1-5 start, its worst since 2007.
Coming off six scoreless innings against San Francisco in the opener, Cole (2-0) pitched shutout ball into the seventh and left after a pitch-clock violation put on a runner who scored the first run off him this season. The 32-year-old right-hander allowed three hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out eight and walked three. He also picked off speedy Trea Turner at first base for the final out of the third.
On a 48-degree afternoon with a chilling mist, Nola (0-1) gave up three runs and seven hits in six-plus innings, with a walk and five strikeouts. He has a 7.45 ERA.
WHITE SOX 7, GIANTS 3: Dylan Cease went five innings for his first win of the season, Tim Anderson got ejected, and Chicago won at home.
Luis Robert Jr. had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run. Gavin Sheets added three RBI.
Cease walked five, but struck out eight. The only hit and run he allowed was a solo homer to J.D. Davis in the second.
Anderson got tossed in the third. With a 1-2 count, he was in the batter’s box but not settled into his stance when Webb began his delivery with 11 seconds left on the pitch clock.
Anderson stepped out and was already walking toward the home dugout when Webb threw strike three down the middle. It was unclear if Anderson tried to call timeout. After an argument with plate umpire D.J. Reyburn, Anderson returned to the dugout and but shouted several profanities and was ejected while Robert was batting.
MARLINS 5, TWINS 2: Bryan De La Cruz hit a go-ahead single in the eighth, Jorge Soler homered twice and Jesús Luzardo fanned 10 to lift Miami to a win at home.
Jean Segura and Jon Berti hit back-to-back one-out singles against reliever Griffin Jax (0-1) in the eighth before De La Cruz’s RBI single against Caleb Thielbar scored Segura and broke a 1-1 tie.
Soler followed with a three-run shot to left field.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BRAVES 5, CARDINALS 2: Matt Olson homered and drove in three, and Atlanta completed a three-game sweep at St. Louis.
Bryce Elder, who was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett on Tuesday, pitched six strong innings, giving up two hits, striking out six and walking three.
The Braves won for the fifth time in their first six games, while St. Louis has lost three straight.
BREWERS 7, METS 6: Garrett Mitchell hit a tiebreaking homer off Adam Ottavino in the ninth inning, and Milwaukee defeated visiting New York Mets, for its fifth straight victory.
The Brewers swept a series of at least three games for the first time since last June. The Brewers have won 18 of their last 21 home games against the Mets.
Milwaukee’s Joey Wiemer added a three-run shot for the rookie’s first career homer.
NOTES
WHITE SOX: Chicago closer Liam Hendriks has completed his final round of chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Hendriks posted a video Wednesday on Instagram of him ringing the “victory bell” and a lengthy note thanking his medical team, wife, family, friends and fans.
A three-time All-Star, Hendriks was third in the majors with 37 saves and made his third All-Star team last season. He led the American League with a career-high 38 saves in 2021.
• Chicago expects slugger Eloy Jiménez to miss two to three weeks because of a strained left hamstring he suffered running the bases.
The team placed Jiménez on the 10-day injured list and recalled infielder Jake Burger from Triple-A Charlotte.
CARDINALS: Outfielder Tyler O’Neill was not in the starting lineup Wednesday, a day after his baserunning effort was questioned by Manager Oliver Marmol.
O’Neill was thrown out by Ronald Acuña Jr. at the plate with two outs and the Cardinals trailing 4-1 in the seventh inning Tuesday night. St. Louis lost the game by the same score. Marmol took issue with O’Neill’s turn around third as he attempted to score from second on a Brendan Donovan pinch-hit liner to right.
O’Neill told reporters Wednesday was a scheduled day off and contended he was hustling on the play.
POSTPONEMENT: Baltimore’s home opener against the New York Yankees has been postponed because of severe weather in Thursday’s forecast.
The Orioles announced the game would be pushed back to 3:05 p.m. Friday.
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