Only four teams in baseball have yet to play a home game this season, and by the end of the day Tuesday, that list will be down to one. The Blue Jays, Marlins, and defending AL champion Indians are all playing their home opener Tuesday. The Braves have to wait until Friday for their home opener. They’re moving into brand new SunTrust Park this season.

Below is our one stop shop recap of the day around baseball for Tuesday. Make sure you check back often for updates throughout the day.

Tuesday’s scores

Tigers 2, Twins 1 (box score)
Indians 2, White Sox 1 in 10 innings (box score)
Nationals 8, Cardinals 3 (box score)
Reds 6, Pirates 2 (box score)
Mets 14, Phillies 4 (box score)
Brewers 4, Blue Jays 3 (box score)
Marlins 8, Braves 4 (box score)
Red Sox 8, Orioles 1 (box score)
Rockies 3, Padres 2 (box score)
Angels 6, Rangers 5 (box score)
Astros 7, Mariners 5 (Box score)
Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3 (Box score) 

The Comeback Kids

The Angels’ first win of the season was thanks in part to a go-ahead three-run home run in the ninth from Danny Espinosa. Then on Sunday, they came back from a six-run, ninth-inning deficit to win the game.

Tuesday, they did it again. This time, they trailed the Rangers by three. Espinosa homered, Yunel Escobar and Mike Trout doubled and then Albert Pujols singled home Trout to send the game to extras. 

In the top of the 10th, Mike Trout robbed Mike Napoli: 

And then in the bottom of the 10th, Carlos Perez came through with a beautiful bunt to bring home Cameron Maybin and win in a walkoff. It just hugged the first base line while Napoli hoped to let it roll foul. No such luck and the Angels are 6-2 while the Rangers are 2-5. 

Print out the standings, Reds fans

As you see above, the Reds on Tuesday night topped the Pirates and in doing so won their third game in a row. The Cubs, meantime, were off, and that brings us to the current NL Central standings ... 

National League Central
TeamWLPct.GBRSRADiffHomeRoadEastCentWestL10Strk
Cincinnati62.750-3921182-14-12-14-10-06-2W 3
Chi. Cubs52.714½3323101-04-20-04-21-05-2W 3
Pittsburgh34.4292½2334-113-20-23-00-20-03-4L 2
Milwaukee35.37533338-52-51-00-01-21-33-5W 1
St. Louis26.25042847-192-40-20-22-40-02-6L 3


At least for one night, Reds, you were master of all you surveyed. 

Cespedes goes off

As noted above, the Mets on Tuesday night throttled the Phillies. A big part of said throttling was Yoenis Cespedes, who notched the second three-homer game of his career ... 

And let it be said that none of those three clouts was a cheap one ... 

For good measure, Cespedes added a seventh-inning double and finished 4 for 6 with 14 total bases and five RBI. In not-unrelated matters ... 

The Cardinals lose again 

The Cardinals dropped the second game of their road series in Washington, and on Wednesday the Nats will go for the sweep. The loss drops the Cards to 2-6 on the season, and at this writing only the Braves have a worse mark in 2017 among NL teams. As well, the Cards’ run differential of minus-19 is presently the worst in baseball. Given the substantial investments made this offseason, that’s a very disappointing start to the season. 

On the other side, Daniel Murphy came up big for D.C. with a homer, two doubles, and five RBI. Bryce Harper’s now reached base in nine straight plate appearances. He doubled and walked three times on Tuesday. 

Michael Brantley comes up big

Indians outfielder Michael Brantley was limited to just 11 games last season because of a major shoulder injury. Even this spring, his recovery from surgery has been halting and uncertain, so he’s a bit of an unknown quantity going forward. Yes, the Tribe won the pennant last season while getting almost nothing from Brantley. When healthy, though, he’s a frontline player. From 2014-15, he put up an OPS+ of 139, stole 38 bases in 40 attempts, and averaged 50 doubles and 20 homers per 162 games played. Any team can use more of that. 

Going into Tuesday’s home opener against the White Sox, however, Brantley had a basement-level .513 OPS with no extra-base hits in five games. Against the Sox, he started off 0 for 2 with a pair of walks, but then he came up in the 10th inning with two outs and Francisco Lindor on first. Brantley worked the count full against Tommy Kahnle and then put the bat on a 98-mph fastball ... 

Yes, Lindor’s wheels definitely came into play, as did Melky Cabrera’s somewhat clumsly glove-work, but that’s a big, big hit for Brantley in any context. 

Need more uplift, Tribe fans? Rings and banners were also in attendance ... 

The Tigers continue to get strong starting pitching

Tigers left-hander Matt Boyd, in his second start of the season, took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against the Twins on Tuesday. It wasn’t until Robbie Grossman looped a single to shallow left field with two outs in the sixth that Minnesota got into the hit column. Tuesday’s performance was much better than Boyd’s first start -- he allowed five runs on five hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings against the White Sox last week.

Boyd’s start against the ChiSox last week is an outlier for the Tigers so far this season. They’re 5-2 on the season and have received a quality starting pitching performance in 6 of 7 games. Here are their starting pitcher performances to date:


Result

IP

H

R

ER

BB

K

HR

April 4: Justin Verlander @ White Sox

W, 6-3

6 1/3

6

2

2

2

10

0

April 6: Matt Boyd @ White Sox

L, 11-2

2 1/3

5

5

5

4

2

1

April 7: Michael Fulmer vs. Red Sox

W, 6-5

6

4

0

0

2

4

0

April 8: Jordan Zimmermann vs. Red Sox

W, 4-1

6

4

1

1

1

3

0

April 9: Daniel Norris vs. Red Sox

L, 7-5

6 1/3

7

3

3

3

2

0

April 10: Justin Verlander vs. Red Sox

W, 2-1

7

3

1

0

2

4

0

April 11: Matt Boyd vs. Twins

W, 2-1

6

1

0

0

2

6

0

Total

40

30

12

11

16

31

1

Seven games into the seaon, Detroit’s starters have a 2.48 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP while averaging 5.71 innings per start. Take away Boyd’s dud against the White Sox and the starters are averaging 6.28 innings in the other six games. The Tigers have had some bullpen issues already this season -- don’t they always? -- but manager Bad Ausmus has to be pretty pleased with his starting five overall.

Jharel Cotton has a big fan in Pedro

Athletics right-hander Jharel Cotton, who came over from the Dodgers in last year’s Josh Reddick/Rich Hill trade, held the Royals to two hits in seven scoreless innings Monday night. He struck out six, including several on his nasty changeup:

Cotton was never a top prospect -- he never made Baseball America’s annual top 100 prospects list, for example -- but through seven MLB starts, all with the A’s since the trade, he has a 2.66 ERA (151 ERA+) and a 0.96 WHIP in 40 2/3 innings. There’s a reason I consider him an AL Rookie of the Year candidate.

Following Monday’s start, Cotton received some serious praise from someone who knows a thing or two about nasty changeups: Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez. Pedro complimented Cotton on Twitter:

Now the Dodgers will hope Pedro and Cotton won’t have something else in common besides a great changeup: getting traded away too soon by the Dodgers.

A small tribute to Jose 

The Marlins on Tuesday night hosted the Braves for their 2017 home opener. Before first pitch, the Marlins held a moment of silence for their fallen ace, Jose Fernandez, who died in a boat crash last September. As well, in the home clubhouse, Fernandez’s locker has been encased in glass as a memorial to the beloved right-hander ... 

That’s a nice touch and a permanent reminder of his short-lived brilliance on the mound. 


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