Making his third spring training start, Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Max Scherzer struck out six over 3 1/3 strong innings in a 5-0 win over the visiting Detroit Tigers on Saturday in Dunedin, Fla.
Scherzer, who signed a one-year, $15 million deal last month to join Toronto’s rotation, allowed one hit and no walks to lower his spring ERA to 2.00.
Ernie Clement sparked Toronto’s offense, going 2-for-3 with a three-run home run, while Bo Bichette delivered an RBI single.
Detroit starter Jackson Jobe, who is 18 years younger than the 40-year-old Scherzer, delivered 3 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and two walks. Brant Hurter yielded five runs (four earned) on six hits in two innings.
Braves 6, Pirates 5
Matthew Batten capped a four-run, ninth-inning comeback with a tiebreaking RBI single to lift Atlanta over visiting Pittsburgh in North Port, Fla.
Marcell Ozuna’s two-run double gave Atlanta an early 2-0 lead, but starter Spencer Schwellenbach yielded three runs on six hits in three-plus innings. Ambioris Tavarez, Stephen Paolini and Lizandro Espinoza each had an RBI.
Andrew McCutchen, Endy Rodriguez, Jack Suwinski, Bryan Reynolds and Matt Gorski had RBIs as Pittsburgh built a 5-2 lead. Jaden Woods couldn’t close it out, allowing all four Braves runs (three earned) in the ninth.
Twins 9, Red Sox 8
Despite blowing a seven-run lead and falling behind late, host Minnesota rallied to beat Boston on Aaron Sabato’s walk-off single in Fort Myers, Fla.
Trayce Thompson’s go-ahead grand slam capped a six-run eighth for Boston, which trailed 7-0 entering the seventh. Nick Sogard hit a two-run shot to get the Red Sox on the board in the seventh.
Ty France was Minnesota’s hitting star, going 2-for-3 with four RBIs, including a three-run homer in the sixth. Luke Keaschall hit his first spring homer, a solo shot.
Rays 6, Orioles 3
Tre’ Morgan capped a five-run seventh inning with a two-run home run as visiting Tampa Bay defeated Baltimore in Sarasota, Fla.
Bob Seymour, Tanner Murray and Jake Mangum notched RBI hits in the seventh before Morgan went deep. Kameron Misner added a solo shot in the ninth.
Charlie Morton was sharp for Baltimore, allowing one hit over three scoreless frames. Jeremiah Jackson drilled a two-run homer and Adley Rutschman, who is hitting .438 this spring, knocked an RBI single.
Cardinals 5, Nationals 3
Ryan Vilade and Michael Helman each drove in a pair as visiting St. Louis posted a win over Washington in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Thomas Saggese went 2-for-3 with two runs and Pedro Pages also scored twice for the Cardinals, who got solid pitching from starter Steven Matz and the bullpen.
For the Nationals, Keibert Ruiz notched a hit and two RBIs and Jacob Young went 2-for-3 with two runs. Starter DJ Herz was touched for four runs (two earned) over 3 1/3 innings.
Phillies 5, Blue Jays 4
Philadelphia built an early five-run lead and held off a late Toronto comeback to post a home victory in Clearwater, Fla.
Alec Bohm belted his third spring homer, a solo drive, to give Philadelphia a 4-0 lead in the third. J.T. Realmuto, Bryson Stott, Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh all collected RBI singles.
Bowden Francis endured a tough start for Toronto, giving up all five Philadelphia runs on seven hits over 2 2/3 innings. Addison Barger, Alan Roden and Eddinson Paulino all went deep.
Rangers 5, Royals 3
Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, attempting to come back from two seasons riddled by injury, threw two perfect innings in his spring debut as Texas beat a visiting Kansas City split squad in Surprise, Ariz.
The 36-year-old deGrom has made only nine starts since signing a five-year, $185 million deal with the Rangers in 2023. Tommy John surgery limited him to six starts in 2023 and he returned to make three starts in September of last season. On Sunday, he struck out three of the six batters he faced.
Leody Tavares hit a solo home run for Texas while the Royals scored all three runs on three outs — two RBI groundouts and a sacrifice fly.
White Sox 5, Dodgers 2
Miguel Vargas homered off his former team and catcher Korey Lee added a double and a triple as last season’s worst team be the reigning World Series champion in Glendale, Ariz.
Vargas, traded to Chicago as part of a deal that brought the Dodgers reliever Michael Kopech last July, hit a solo home run off Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow to open the scoring in the bottom of the second inning.
Despite the homer, Glasnow was solid, giving up a run on two hits and a walk while striking out six over three innings. White Sox starter Shane Smith was just as good, giving up one hit and striking out five in three scoreless innings.
Reds 9, Diamondbacks 8
Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a two-run home run and Blake Dunn walked with the bases loaded to give Cincinnati the lead for good as the host Reds beat Arizona in a split-squad game in Goodyear, Ariz.
Austin Hays had a pair of singles and a pair of RBIs, and Gavin Lux reached base four times, driving in one run and scoring another as the Reds scored eight of their nine runs in a pair of innings — a five-run fourth inning and a three-run sixth.
Arizona starter Zac Gallen surrendered one run despite not giving up a hit, walking three and striking out three in two innings pitched. Cincinnati got one inning of work from nine different pitchers, with Sam Moll (2-0) getting the win despite allowing the Diamondbacks to tie the game in the sixth.
Giants 7, Royals 3
Matt Chapman homered, scored twice and drove in three and San Francisco roughed up Kansas City starter Micheal Wacha in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Mike Yastrzemski opened the scoring with a two-run shot that scored Chapman, who then hit a three-run blast to right-center the next inning. Wacha gave up five runs on three hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out two as his spring ERA rose to 15.43.
The Giants held the Royals, playing with a split squad, scoreless until the ninth inning, Keaton Winn starting the game with two scoreless innings that saw the right-hander strike out four.
Cubs 9, Mariners 8
Pete Crow-Armstrong homered twice in the first three innings en route to a five-RBI day as host Chicago outlasted Seattle in Mesa, Ariz.
The teams combined for 11 runs in the first three innings as Seattle stater Logan Gilbert was tagged for two solo home runs in the second and Chicago starter Matt Boyd (1-1) gave up four runs on four hits over 3 2/3 innings.
The teams hit eight home runs overall, with Crow-Armstrong’s grand slam in the third the biggest of them all. The blast gave the Cubs a 7-4 lead that they would not relinquish.
Angels 6, Brewers 2
Christian Yelich hit his first home run of the spring, but Jo Adell delivered the game’s big blast as Los Angeles topped host Milwaukee in Phoenix.
Yelich homered in the bottom of the first to open the scoring. In the next inning, however, Adell blasted a three-run shot to left-center off right-hander Elvin Rodriguez (0-1) to give the Angels the lead for good.
Every run in the game came via a home run, with Nolan Schanuel and J.D. Davis going deep for Los Angeles and Rhys Hoskins added a solo shot for Milwaukee.
Athletics 8, Rockies 1
The Athletics erupted for six runs in the second inning and cruised from there, beating Colorado in Scottsdale, Ariz., in a split-squad game for the A’s.
Rockies right-hander Chase Dollander (0-2) suffered the worst of it, giving up five runs on two hits and four walks over 1 2/3 innings. Control issues doomed him in the second, when he walked three and threw a bases-loaded wild pitch in the span of five batters. Bradley Blalock relieved Dollander and gave up two walks and two RBI singles to the first four batters he faced.
A’s starter Mason Barnett (1-0), on the other hand, gave up only three hits and a walk with three strikeouts over 3 2/3 scoreless innings. JJ Bleday homered in the win.
Padres 7, Guardians 2
Gavin Sheets’ three-run home run capped a six-run first for host San Diego, which had little trouble with Cleveland in winning at Peoria, Ariz.
Xander Bogaerts drove in two and Luis Arraez had two hits for the Padres. San Diego got to Cleveland starter Luis Ortiz (0-20 for four runs on three hits and two walks over 2 2/3 innings. Padres starter Yu Darvish (1-0) gave up two runs on four hits and walk with three strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings.
An RBI single by Kyle Manzardo and sacrifice fly by Johnathan Rodriguez on back-to-back plate appearances in the third accounted for the Guardians’ runs.
Athletics 4, Diamondbacks 2
Three solo home runs were more than enough for the Athletics, who beat visiting Arizona in a split-squad game in Las Vegas.
Nick Kurtz homered in the second inning, Jacob Wilson in the sixth and Daniel Susac in the seventh for the Athletics. Ryan Waldschmidt, who has yet to play a regular-season game in the majors, hit a solo blast to center in the eighth inning, but that was as close as Arizona would get.
Diamondback starter JP Sears (1-1) gave up one run on three hits, striking out four and walking two, over three innings. Lefty Tommy Henry (0-2) gave up two runs on three hits over three innings in taking the loss. He struck out one without walking a batter.
Astros 5, Yankees 2
Houston scored five in the bottom of the ninth, capped off by Cesar Salazar’s walk-off, three-run homer, to beat New York in Palm Beach, Fla.
Righty Allan Winans turned in 3 1/3 scoreless innings in making the start for New York. But after the Yankees gave up no runs on five hits across eight innings, left-hander Edgar Barclay (0-1) gave up five hits and five runs while getting only two outs in the ninth.
Brice Matthews tripled in a run for Houston’s first run in the ninth, followed by pinch hitter Cristian Gonzalez’s RBI single. Three batters later, Salazar ended the game.
Mets 7, Marlins 3
Juan Soto went 3-for-3 with a run scored and another driven in as New York dropped host Miami in Jupiter, Fla.
Joey Meneses hit the game’s only home run, a solo shot in the fifth inning off Marlins reliever Janson Junk. Miami was held off the board until Bennett Hostetler’s sacrifice fly in the seventh inning.
Mets starter David Peterson (1-0) gave up one hit and walked two over four scoreless innings. He also struck out two.
–Field Level Media
