MLB Opening Day 2024 results: Yankees win close one in Houston; Diamondbacks score 14 runs in one inning

You may have thought the Yankees had a simple road uniform before, but today they’re officially unveiling an even more muted look. For the first time in several decades, there’s no white outline around the “NEW YORK” or the jersey number, and no navy-white-navy stripes at the bottom of the sleeves. It’s pretty much the same road look that the Yankees wore in the Mickey Mantle years and before … except for the tacky sleeve of an insurance company’s logo.

We have our first lead in this second wave of games.

Young Minnesota Twins third baseman Royce Lewis — a former first-overall draft pick whose big league career has been delayed by injuries — homered in the top of the first inning in Kansas City. Lewis has been plenty productive in limited big league action up to this point. If he can stay healthy, he could join a long list of third base standouts in today's game.

By the way, the Orioles have pulled ahead 5-1.

Oh, and if you have a chance, tune into the Dodgers-Cardinals game. The top the Dodgers order is coming to the plate.

Wearing a Dodgers cap, a blue button-up shirt, an impressive mustache, Emmy Award-winning actor Bryan Cranston added some Hollywood muscle to baseball’s most star-filled roster. Cranston announced the Dodgers' starting lineup from behind home plate, beginning with three straight MVPs: shortstop Mookie Betts, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, and first baseman Freddie Freeman.

The players walked in from the outfield, with their families lining the way, stepping into a season loaded with anticipation. Betts at a new position, Ohtani in a new uniform, and the Dodgers loaded with hype after a billion-dollar offseason. It was a fittingly over-the-top introduction for baseball's most high-profile team.

The Orioles have come back to take the lead in Baltimore as the schedule is about to really ramp up throughout the league. For now, the Orioles and Angels are the only game happening, but at 4:10 p.m., eight games get underway. The new look of the recently rebuilt Giants. The pitching wizardry of Tarik Skubal. The division matchup of the Jays and Rays. And, of course, the Dodger Stadium debut of Shohei Ohtani.

And as you're checking in on various games across the country, remember that quite often Opening Day history is happening whether you recognize it or not.

The Orioles have the team’s new owner, David Rubenstein, in the broadcast booth. If you like what GM Mike Elias has done with the team, here’s an encouraging quote from Rubenstein: “My expertise in baseball is limited. I know something about finance and other kinds of business things, but I don’t know baseball that well. But you’ve got the best general manager in the American League, maybe the best general manager in baseball. Why would you not let him make these decisions? So I’m not gonna be telling him what to do. I’ll kind of follow his recommendations.”

Later, Rubenstein started talking Orioles history, dropping names like Jim Gentile, Gus Triandos, Milt Pappas and so on. “I’m just amazed,” says Jim Palmer, the only Oriole to win three World Series. Here’s what amazes me: they talked about Rubenstein buying a copy of the Magna Carta in 2007. He made sure it would be displayed at the National Archives in Washington. The total cost, according to the New York Times, including fees and commissions: $21.3 million. The highest salary on Rubenstein’s new baseball team: $15.6 million for this afternoon’s starter, Corbin Burnes. Meanwhile, the Orioles are pouring it on: it’s 5-1 in the second inning and they just knocked out Angels starter Patrick Sandoval.

Thirty minutes before the first pitch between the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays, the stands in Tropicana Field are filling up. The Rays announced that Thursday is a sellout for Opening Day.

That’s noteworthy because the last time meaningful baseball was played here —the Wild Card series between the Rays and the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers — the Rays drew the smallest MLB postseason crowd since 1919.

The Dodgers are rolling out the blue carpet to showcase their billion-dollar offseason.

The St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day starter Miles Mikolas stoked some flames a couple of weeks ago in saying the Dodgers were playing "checkbook baseball."

"I think checkbook baseball, as a player, I think you want that," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts responded Thursday. "That’s probably a good thing, right? But we’re trying to win, as I think every team is trying to do. So, Miles can sound off but I don’t think anyone pays too much attention to it.”

Can we generalize about the Angels off the very first inning of the season? Of course we can. Mike Trout homered in his first at-bat, and the other Angel hitters struck out twice and popped up.

Then the Angels lost the lead immediately as the Orioles scored two runs. We’ll see if the next 161 games and eight innings change the pattern for Trout and the Halos.

Jason Benetti has been making the rounds today, talking with old White Sox colleagues before his new team, the Tigers, opens the season in Chicago.

Just after noon on Thursday, the Cincinnati Reds' Tyler Stephenson and Jonathan India were on the field ahead of batting practice talking to their former teammate Nick Senzel, now with the Washington Nationals.

That scene of old teammates reuniting — especially for teams that spend their spring in different states — will be repeated across baseball the next couple of days, but the meeting in Cincinnati has quite a few connections beyond Senzel returning for his first big-league game in a uniform other than the Reds.

Last Opening Day, Reds first baseman Jeimer Candelario was the Nationals' starting third baseman and Nationals reliever Derek Law pitched 1 2/3 innings in the Reds' Opening Day loss to the Pirates at Great American Ball Park.

Candelario, 30, signed with the Nationals as a free agent before the 2023 season, was traded to the Cubs at the trade deadline and then signed a three-year deal with the Reds last December.

"(The Reds) got a good player," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "He's a switch hitter and he plays third base really well, now our challenge is containing him a little bit and hopefully we do that."

Senzel was drafted by the Reds at No. 2 in the 2016 draft. He made his big-league debut in 2019 and played 377 games for the Reds over five seasons before being non-tendered after last season, eventually signing with the Nationals. Senzel started last season on the injured list, missing Opening Day.

Senzel spent much of his time with the Reds in center field even though he played third base in college because the Reds had Eugenio Suárez at third base for much of Senzel's tenure. In Washington, Martinez said Senzel will be the team's everyday third baseman.

Jesse Winker will be making his fifth Opening Day start at Great American Ball Park, but first here as a visitor. Winker was drafted by the Reds and made the All-Star team for the Reds in 2021 and was traded along with Suárez to Seattle before the 2022 season in a trade that netted the Reds four players, including their starting right fielder Thursday in Jake Fraley.

Relievers Dylan Floro and Tanner Rainey also played for the Reds. Nationals starter Josiah Gray was drafted by the Reds and then part of a seven-player trade with the Dodgers after the 2018 season.

Martinez played for the Reds in 1992 as did his hitting coach, Darnell Coles. Washington bench coach Miguel Cairo and pitching strategist Sean Doolittle also spent time as a Red, as did Paul Lessard, the Nationals' head athletic trainer.

Two years after Gleyber Torres came off the bench on Opening Day, the Yankees' second baseman will lead off today against Astros starter Framber Valdez. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he chose Torres to lead off because, "He can mash."

Boone added that he believes Torres, who will be a free agent this coming offseason, is poised to have "an outstanding year."

Expected wins: 78

They lost 106 games last season. Their .389 win percentage the last six years is the worst in the majors by a considerable margin. And yet — admittedly during a time when everyone sports rose-colored glasses — perhaps the most common question to players and coaches this spring: How much better are the vibes?

The Royals signed a parade of veterans to fill holes, especially on the pitching staff. They reconfigured their scouting team in a bid to boost their farm system. Their coaching staff has flushed a forgettable first year. And the sorry AL Central can stoke even the wildest imaginations. Maybe it’s still too tall a task to expect a team to leap from 56-106 to division contention, but if things break KC’s way, with a couple offensive breakouts and a more reliable pitching staff, they could flirt with mediocrity. Given the team’s recent history, that has never sounded so appealing. — Zack Meisel

Austin Mock's odds

Make postseason: 21.4%

Win division: 15.7%

Win pennant: 2.3%

Win World Series: 0.8%

Jim Bowden's report card

Lineup: C+

Rotation: C+

Bullpen: C

Defense: B

Depth: C

Overall: C+

Expected wins: 84

Despite an offseason spent slashing payroll by $30 million and losing key veterans Sonny Gray, Jorge Polanco and Kenta Maeda, the Twins are the clear front-runners in the American League Central and well-positioned for their fourth division title in six seasons.

Much of that depends on the trio of Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis staying healthy, but the injury question marks don’t end there. Alex Kirilloff, Chris Paddack and Brock Stewart are also health risks, and the Twins have lost key arms Jhoan Duran, Caleb Thielbar and Anthony DeSclafani to spring training injuries.

This is the most talented team in the division, with the star power and depth to rank among the league’s top five lineups and pitching staffs, but they need Duran to get healthy, Correa/Buxton/Lewis to stay healthy and someone to replace Gray atop the rotation alongside ace Pablo López. — Aaron Gleeman

Austin Mock's odds

Make postseason: 60.2%

Win division: 53.3%

Win pennant: 9.3%

Win World Series: 3.8%

Jim Bowden's report card

Lineup: B

Rotation: B

Bullpen: A-

Defense: B+

Depth: B

Overall: B

Carlos Correa performed a rare task on Thursday, participating in on-field batting practice. The Minnesota Twins shortstop rarely steps on the field to hit before a game, with several coaches believing Correa only did one session of on-the-field BP in all of 2023.

Correa typically hits indoors because it’s easier to work and it’s part of his routine. There’s also a boatload of technology at his fingertips in the indoor cages. But with 15 mile-per-hour winds forecast at Kauffman Stadium for the season opener against the Kansas City Royals, Correa batted in a group with Carlos Santana, Kyle Farmer and Christian Vázquez.

“Just to see how the ball is traveling,” Correa said. “I don't want to hit anything in the air because the ball isn't traveling too much.”