INTERLEAGUE
ROYALS 4, METS 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The reigning champion Kansas City Royals picked up where they left off in November, beating Matt Harvey and the New York Mets 4-3 on Sunday night in the first opening-day rematch of a World Series.
With runners at the corners in the ninth inning, All-Star closer Wade Davis struck out David Wright and Yoenis Cespedes to preserve the victory.
Edinson Volquez (1-0), who started the decisive Game 5 at Citi Field last fall, allowed 2 hits and 3 walks over 6 scoreless innings, his night curtailed by an inflated pitch count rather than anything the Mets did.
It wasn't until Joakim Soria came on in the eighth that New York rallied, scoring three times on Lucas Duda's two-run single and Neil Walker's RBI groundout. Luke Hochevar struck out Asdrubal Cabrera to strand runners on first and second.
Davis promptly got into another jam in the ninth before holding on.
Harvey (0-1) allowed 4 runs -- 3 earned -- on 8 hits and 2 walks in 5 2/3 innings for the Mets.
There wound up being little good about opening night for the NL East champs, still in search of their first championship in three decades. They spent nearly an hour before the first pitch reliving last year's World Series defeat through a steady stream of highlights on the crown-shaped big screen, then had to watch the raising of the championship banner over the Royals Hall of Fame in left field at Kauffman Stadium.
Things didn't get a whole lot better once the game began.
Cespedes, the Gold Glove outfielder whose shoddy fielding hurt the Mets in the Series, dropped an easy fly ball in the first inning that ultimately led to the Royals' opening run.
Kansas City then strung together a couple of singles before Kendrys Morales popped a sacrifice fly to center in the fourth, and Alex Gordon and Omar Infante added two-out RBI singles in the sixth.
Volquez and the Kansas City defense had things well in hand by that point.
The right-hander escaped a jam by getting Travis d'Arnaud to ground out in the second inning, then watched first baseman Eric Hosmer make a nice diving stop to escape a sticky spot in the third. All-Star catcher Salvador Perez threw out Michael Conforto trying to steal second base to end the fourth.
The biggest misstep Volquez made may have been fashion-related -- he wore his spring training hat with a gold crown over the interlocking "KC" to start the game. He swapped it out for the proper one before taking the field for the second inning.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 5, RAYS 3 Marcus Stroman outpitched Chris Archer in his first opening day start, helping the visiting Toronto Blue Jays begin defense of their first AL East title in 22 years with a victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. Stroman allowed 3 runs and 6 hits over 8-plus innings for the Blue Jays, who won 93 games in 2015 before making a run to the AL Championship Series in their first playoff appearance since 1993. Troy Tulowitzki hit the first home run of the 2016 MLB season. Edwin Encarnacion had two hits and drove in two runs after not having an at-bat in a major league exhibition all spring training. Archer struck out a Rays opening-day record 12 in five innings.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PIRATES 4, CARDINALS 1 Francisco Liriano tied a Pirates opening day record by striking out 10 and singled home the first run of the season for good measure, sending host Pittsburgh past St. Louis. It was 39 degrees when Liriano threw the first pitch of the year. He allowed just 3 hits and walked 5 in 6 shutout innings. His RBI hit in the second came off Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright. David Freese, the 2011 World Series MVP for the Cardinals, had two hits against his former club in his debut with Pittsburgh. Francisco Cervelli and Gregory Polanco also had two hits apiece for the Pirates. Wainwright gave up 3 runs in 6 innings, walking 3 and striking out 3 in his first regular season start since tearing his Achilles last April. The Cardinals tried to rally in the ninth against Mark Melancon, who led the majors in saves last year. Matt Carpenter hit an RBI single with two outs but Matt Adams, representing the tying run, flied out to end it.
Sports on 04/04/2016