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

Paul Goldschmidt is a strong representative of the Spring Training Stats Do Not Matter club. Goldschmidt did not homer all spring. In fact, he tallied just five hits in Grapefruit League action. But that didn't stop him from taking Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow deep in the top of the fourth for the Cardinals first home run of the year.

Turns out the Dodgers can also hit home runs. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman have gone yard off Miles Mikolas, and Los Angeles leads St. Louis 5-1 after four innings.

The Yankees are on pace for over 1,000 double plays this season. They have three inning-ending double plays through four innings against the Astros.

Off to an outstanding start in his first Opening Day, budding Minnesota Twins star Royce Lewis exited Thursday’s game with an apparent lower-leg injury.

Lewis, who missed parts of two seasons with consecutive torn right anterior cruciate ligaments, pulled up injured just as he raced around second base on a two-out RBI double by Carlos Correa in the third inning of a contest against the Kansas City Royals.

Prior to the injury, Lewis homered in his first plate appearance of the season and singled in his second trip.

Lewis returned to action in late May 2023 after missing most of the previous two seasons with torn ACLs. He quickly became a star, batting .309/.372/.548 with 15 homers in 239 plate appearances. Lewis followed it up with four postseason home runs, including two in his first-ever playoff game.

Injuries limited Lewis to 58 games in 2023. He missed 36 games with an oblique strain in July and August and sat out the final 10 contests of the regular season with a hamstring injury.

Colt Keith is 22 years old and this winter signed a six-year, $28.6-million deal before he'd played a single major league game. He was the Tigers' Opening Day second baseman and just got an infield single for his first big league hit.

Meanwhile, Tigers ace Tarik Skubal has been dominant through four scoreless innings.

Javier Báez is already bringing the drama in 2024. At the end of the second inning against the White Sox, Báez caught a pop fly in shallow left field. And rather than toss the ball into the opposing crowd, Báez fired the ball into the net down the left-field line. Báez then led off the third and got massive boos from the South Side fans — yeah, there's a lot of history here. Báez promptly singled, stole second and later scored Detroit's first run of the 2024 season. As he crossed home plate, more boos rained down.

Oh no! After a homer and a single in his first two at-bats, Twins third baseman Royce Lewis just pulled up with an apparent leg injury in the third inning. Lewis has been through a series of injuries throughout his career, which might be the only reason he's not a household name and a multi-time All-Star already. Brutal.

Nick Martini just homered in Cincinnati. What's so cool about that, you ask? Martini is 33 years old, and just made his first ever Opening Day lineup. He's DHing in the No. 8 spot in the order. He was drafted way back in 2011.

Today marks the 53rd Opening Day in the history of the Texas Rangers — and the first one that will feature the raising of a World Series championship banner. According to the club, the banner to be unveiled before tonight's season 7:35 p.m. ET opener against the Chicago Cubs measures 20 feet in height and 30 feet in width. It will hang near the right field video board at Globe Life Field. The pregame unveiling ceremony will also feature the formal on-field presentation of the Commissioner’s Trophy.

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.