Juan Soto ripped a three-run home run to the opposite field in his first spring training game in pinstripes and the host New York Yankees clubbed their way past the Toronto Blue Jays 12-6 on Sunday in Tampa, Fla.
Soto batted second in the Yankees’ lineup and mashed his homer in the fourth inning to put his new club up 7-1.
Luis Torrens added a solo shot in the sixth and George Lombard Jr. tacked on a two-run homer for insurance in the eighth. Aaron Judge went 2-for-2 with an RBI single and two runs in his first game of spring training.
Carlos Rodon (1-0) got the start for New York and went 2 2/3 innings with five strikeouts, two walks, one hit and one run.
Bowden Francis (0-1) gave up two runs on four hits over the first two innings for the Blue Jays. Alejandro Kirk went yard off Rodon.
Phillies 4, Yankees 0
Colin Pache had a solo homer, an RBI single and a run scored on an error as host Philadelphia one-hit New York’s split squad in Clearwater, Fla.
Aaron Nola (1-0) struck out three batters over two perfect innings and seven relievers followed with a pristine inning. Gregory Soto gave up the only Yankees hit in the eighth inning, a single by Greg Allen.
Marcus Stroman (0-1) made his Yankees debut and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk in 2 1/3 innings. He fanned two.
Red Sox 5, Braves 4
Christopher Miller scored Karson Simas on a groundout for the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth, lifting Boston over host Atlanta in North Port, Fla.
Connor Wong had an RBI double and a run-scoring infield single for the Red Sox. Brendan Cellucci (1-0) pitched the eighth for the win and Gabriel Jackson earned the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
Atlanta was down 4-0 when Austin Riley hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to begin a four-run rally over the next two innings. Grant Holmes (0-1) pitched the ninth and took the loss.
Red Sox 8, Twins 6
Nick Sogard’s two-run home run to right center in the seventh inning pushed Boston over visiting Minnesota in split-squad action in Fort Myers, Fla.
The Twins scored all six of their runs in the top of the seventh to erase a 6-0 deficit. Two players walked with the bases loaded, and Will Holland was later hit by a pitch with the bags full before Yoyner Fajardo scored the tying run on a Boston fielding error.
Both teams finished with 11 hits, and Jordan DiValerio (1-0) received the win despite a blown save during 2/3 innings of work in the seventh. Caleb Boushley (0-1) allowed Sogard’s go-ahead homer.
Tigers 9, Rays 9
Ruben Cardenas and Kameron Misner homered in the seventh before Tampa Bay plated four more runs in the eighth to tie visiting Detroit in Port Charlotte, Fla.
The Tigers had opened up a 9-3 lead through six innings before the Rays stormed back. Greg Jones, C.J. Hinojosa and Cardenas hit back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles off Wilmer Flores in the eighth before Austin Shenton’s single drove in Cardenas for the tying run. But neither team got on base in the ninth.
Yu Chang also homered for the Rays, while Justyn-Henry Malloy and Carson Kelly went yard for the Tigers.
Cardinals 3, Astros 0
Alec Burleson, Nicholas Raposo and Moises Gomez supplied RBI singles as visiting St. Louis blanked Houston in Palm Beach, Fla.
Masyn Winn went 3-for-3 from the leadoff spot for the Cardinals, while Drew Rom (1-0) pitched two innings before giving way to four relievers.
Joey Loperfido had two of the Astros’ four hits. Bennett Sousa (0-1) yielded Burleson’s RBI hit in the third inning before Raposo and Gomez added on in the ninth.
Mets 3, Astros 1
Francisco Alvarez mashed a two-run home run to the opposite field as host New York beat Houston’s split squad in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Jose Butto (1-0) scattered three hits over two scoreless innings before six relievers finished the job. Tyler Jay fanned three over the sixth and seventh innings.
Brandon Bielak (0-1) yielded a run on Ji Man Choi’s double-play ball in the first. Waner Luciano’s double play scored the Astros’ only run of the day across both games.
Nationals 6, Marlins 3
James Wood and Lewin Diaz hit two-run home runs in consecutive innings to help visiting Washington defeat Miami in Jupiter, Fla.
Mackenzie Gore started for the Nationals and had four strikeouts while yielding two hits and a run in two innings. Luis Perdomo (1-0) worked the fifth and got the win.
Christian Bethancourt, Nick Gordon and Marty Costes supplied the Marlins’ RBIs. Calvin Faucher (0-1) gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk in 2/3 innings of work.
Orioles 2, Pirates 0
Baltimore starter Cole Irvin and six relievers combined to three-hit host Pittsburgh in Bradenton, Fla.
Irvin tossed three strikeouts over two innings of work. Luis Gonzalez (1-0) pitched the sixth for the Orioles and got the win after Coby Mayo scored on a Pittsburgh throwing error in the top of the seventh for the game’s first run. Maverick Handley added an RBI single in the ninth.
Cam Alldred (0-1) allowed the unearned run to Mayo but struck out three in the seventh for the Pirates.
–Field Level Media