Joe Musgrove #44 of the San Diego Padres celebrates with his team after pitching a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on April 09, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. This was the Padres first no-hitter in franchise history. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by RONALD MARTINEZ / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Joe Musgrove, a San Diego County native who grew up a Padres fan, threw the first no-hitter in franchise history Friday night, beating the Texas Rangers 3-0 in Arlington, Texas.
Musgrove came within one hit batter of a perfect game, as he plunked Joey Gallo on the right hip in the fourth. Musgrove (2-0) struck out 10 and retired Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a grounder to shortstop Ha-Seong Kim to end the game. The 28-year-old right-hander, threw 112 pitches and has allowed only three hits in 15 scoreless innings this season.
The Padres had gone 8,205 games without a no-hitter since becoming a National League expansion team in 1969. They were the lone major league team without a no-hitter and have had 30 one-hitters in their history.
The closest the Rangers came to a hit was a line drive to right by Nate Lowe in the fourth (immediately following the Gallo hit-by-pitch), a sharp Jose Trevino grounder to the right of shortstop Kim to end the fifth and Trevino’s line drive to Wil Myers in right to end the eighth.
Dodgers 1, Nationals 0
Justin Turner homered to highlight his three-hit performance as Los Angeles won its home opener over Washington.
Walker Buehler (1-0) and three relievers combined for the shutout, with Corey Knebel striking out the side in the ninth inning for his second save of the season. Buehler scattered six hits over six innings and struck out four without issuing a walk.
The Dodgers distributed 2020 World Series rings to players and coaches and raised their championship banner before taking on the 2019 World Series champion Nationals. Juan Soto and Jonathan Lucroy each had two hits for Washington, which got five shutout innings from starter Joe Ross.
Braves 8, Phillies 1
Ronald Acuna Jr. had a pair of doubles and blasted a 456-foot home run to lead host Atlanta past Philadelphia to run its winning streak to three games.
Acuna was 4-for-5, including his third homer of the season, a two-run shot off starter Zack Wheeler (1-1). It was the fifth four-hit game of his career. The Braves also got homers from Ehire Adrianza and Freddie Freeman.
Atlanta starter Charlie Morton (1-1) pitched six strong innings, allowing one run on four hits and one walk. He struck out seven. The Braves chased Wheeler (1-1) after 4 2/3 innings, although the move was necessitated when manager Joe Girardi forgot he had already made one mound visit and went out again in the inning. Wheeler allowed three runs on seven hits, four walks and struck out four.
Giants 3, Rockies 1
Veteran right-hander Johnny Cueto came within one strike of his first complete game in almost five years as he and San Francisco rewarded the return of their fans with a victory in their home opener over visiting Colorado.
Brandon Crawford launched a bases-loaded, two-run double with one out in the seventh inning to end a scoreless deadlock and give Cueto (1-0) all the run support he and closer Jake McGee would need.
The Rockies ended his shutout bid when Chris Owings led off the inning with a triple and scored on Garrett Hampson’s sacrifice fly to close the gap to 3-1.
A’s 6, Astros 2
Matt Olson crushed a tiebreaking, three-run home run with one out in the eighth inning and visiting Oakland defeated Houston for the first time in six meetings this season.
Olson belted a 2-1 slider from Astros reliever Blake Taylor 414 feet and halfway into the upper deck in right field. Taylor, who entered in relief of right-hander Bryan Abreu (1-1) with one on in the inning, surrendered a single to Jed Lowrie before Olson went deep.
Lowrie and Mark Canha added homers for the Athletics, who were swept at home by the Astros in a four-game set to open the season before dropping the opener of the current series on Thursday.
Rays 10, Yankees 5
Brandon Lowe stroked a three-run double to highlight a four-run fourth inning as Tampa Bay posted a win over New York in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Rays unveiled two banners toward the top of Tropicana Field before the first meeting between the division rivals. One banner read AL East 2020 Champions, while the other read American League 2020 Champions.
Austin Meadows went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs as Tampa Bay belted out 13 hits en route to snapping a four-game skid. DJ LeMahieu went deep and Giancarlo Stanton singled in a pair of runs for the Yankees, who recorded four of their seven hits in the third inning.
Indians 4, Tigers 1
Franmil Reyes clubbed a pair of homers, Zach Plesac tossed seven scoreless innings and host Cleveland handed Detroit its fourth loss in five games.
Plesac (1-1) was tagged with a loss in Detroit on Saturday despite allowing only two runs in six innings. He was even more dominant on Friday, allowing just three hits with no walks while recording six strikeouts.
Emmanuel Clase got the last three outs, including two strikeouts, for his first save of the season. Detroit’s scheduled starting pitcher, Julio Teheran, was a late scratch due to triceps tightness. Emergency starter Derek Holland (0-1) lasted 2 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with three strikeouts.
Angels 7, Blue Jays 1
Shohei Ohtani had a three-run double and a solo home run, Andrew Heaney threw six scoreless innings and visiting Los Angeles defeated Toronto at Dunedin, Fla.
Jared Walsh added a two-run homer for the Angels, who have won the first two games of the four-game series. The Blue Jays lost their fourth game in a row.
David Phelps allowed only a walk in the first inning as Toronto’s opener. T.J. Zeuch (0-1) took over in the second and allowed four unearned runs in that frame.
Reds 6, Diamondbacks 5 (10 innings)
Tyler Naquin hit a home run and Tucker Barnhardt drove in a pair of runs, including the go-ahead score in the 10th inning, as Cincinnati regrouped for a victory over Arizona to extend its winning streak to six games.
Cincinnati now has a franchise-record 63 runs through its first seven games of the season. The Reds led 5-0 after six innings, with the help of Naquin’s major-league-leading fifth home run, but the Cincinnati bullpen coughed up the advantage. Arizona’s Eduardo Escobar hit a game-tying, two-run home run in the eighth inning off Lucas Sims.
Cionel Perez (1-0) pitched two-thirds of an inning to earn the victory, and Amir Garrett pitched the 10th inning for his second save of the season. Alex Young (0-2) took the loss in the Diamondbacks’ home opener.