MLB Opening Day as it happened: Kyle Hendricks tosses shutout, Yoenis Cespedes homers in return
Major League Baseball's 2020 season officially began Thursday night but with 14 games on the schedule Friday, we'll call this Opening Day proper.
And with a 60-game season and expanded playoffs, it's going to be a year unlike any other.
Friday's slate began at 4:10 p.m. ET with the Mets and Braves facing off at Citi Field. Elsewhere, the Cubs host the Brewers (7:10 p.m.) and the Diamondbacks visit the Padres (9:10 p.m.) in a series that could already shape the course of those division races.
Some other big stories today include White Sox phenom Luis Robert making his big-league debut, Madison Bumgarner's Arizona debut and the Astros' first competitive game since the cheating scandal that dominated the offseason.
Here's a look back at Friday in baseball as it happened:
Olson hits walk-off slam (2:20 a.m.)
In the league's first game with the new extra-innings rule, Oakland first baseman Matt Olson hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th to give the Athletics a 7-3 win over the Angels.
A walk and a hit batsman – in addition to a runner starting on second – loaded the bases for Olson, who delivered the first walk-off slam on Opening Day since 1986.
In the top of the frame, Shohei Ohtani – the first player to ever begin an inning on second – was thrown out trying to advance to third on a ground ball.
Hosmer had a night (midnight)
San Diego 1B Eric Hosmer had quite an Opening Night. He hit three-run doubles in the sixth and seventh innings, racking up six RBI.
In the sixth, he knocked out D-backs ace Madison Bumgarner. He broke the game open with another three-run double the following inning off Junior Guerra en route to a Padres 7-2 win.
Hendricks tosses shutout (9:45 p.m.)
The Cubs beat the Brewers 3-0 behind a masterful performance from Kyle Hendricks. The right-hander went the distance on 103 pitches, giving up just three hits with nine strikeouts and no walks.
Ian Happ hit a two-run homer in the third inning off Brandon Woodruff and Anthony Rizzo added a solo shot in the eighth to give the Cubs a bigger cushion.
Robert gets first big-league hit (9:10 p.m.)
White Sox center fielder Luis Robert – one of baseball's top prospects – singled in his first career at-bat, lacing a ball to left field on the first pitch from Twins starter Jose Berrios.
Bomba Squad back at it (8:40 p.m.)
The Twins set a major-league record with 307 home runs last season and on Friday, picked up right where they left off.
Minnesota right fielder Max Kepler homered on the first pitch of the new season, delivered a home run against White Sox starter Lucas Giolito.
Kepler homered against in the second.
Yoshi goes yard for Rays (8:30 p.m.)
Playing in his first MLB game, Rays third baseman Yoshitomo Tsutsugo hit a two-run homer off Blue Jays lefty Hyun-jin Ryu in the fifth inning of Friday night's game.
Tsutsugo, 28, had long been one of the top sluggers in the Nippon Professional Baseball, hitting 205 homers with a .910 OPS since making his debut as an 18-year-old in 2010.
New Reds come through (7:15 p.m.)
A trendy pick in the National League this season, Cincinnati overhauled its offense by handing $64 million contracts to Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos – both of whom delivered early on Opening Day against the Tigers.
After Castellanos was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in a run in the first, Moustakas knocked an RBI single to make it 2-0. In the third, Castellanos doubled to left and scored on another Moustakas RBI single.
In the sixth inning, outfielder Shogo Akiyama – signed from Japan in the offseason – added an RBI single of his own as a pinch-hitter.
And Moustakas wasn't done, going on to hit a two-run homer in the seventh.
Cespedes homers in return (6:05 p.m.)
Playing his first game in more than two years, Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes hit a solo home run in the seventh inning off Atlanta's Chris Martin, breaking the ice in a scoreless game. Cespedes, 34, is the team's designated hitter on Friday but hadn't played in a regular-season game since July 20, 2018 due to heel and ankle injuries.
deGrom dealing (5:25 p.m.)
Mets ace Jacob deGrom is removed after pitching five shutout innings (85 pitches), giving up one hit with eight strikeouts. Naturally, the Mets didn't score a run for the two-time reigning Cy Young winner – but JD Davis did his best, getting robbed of extra bases by Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte with a runner on base in the fifth.
Play ball (4:15 p.m.)
We are underway! In a battle of NL award contenders, Jacob deGrom struck out Ronald Acuña Jr. to start the day.
COVID-19 test results (3:50 p.m)
MLB announced its latest COVID-19 test results, with six of 10,939 tests coming back positive in the past week. The league said that four of the positives were players and two were staff members.
Luis Robert set to debut (3:15 p.m.)
In early lineup news, Luis Robert is batting seventh and starting in center field for the White Sox. The 22-year-old signed a $50 million extension in the offseason – that could be worth $88 million – before even playing a game in the majors.
“He’s got all the tools. When somebody signs a pretty good deal before they even get to the big leagues, then you know they’ve got a real shot to be special," White Sox starter Dallas Keuchel said of Robert. "And he knows that, which is great. But he also puts in the work"