Feisty Reds top Cardinals 9-6 for 1st win of season

CINCINNATI (AP) – Nick Castellanos stood over, flexed and jawed at St. Louis pitcher Jake Woodford after scoring, setting off a series of scuffles that included relievers shoving in the outfield as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Cardinals 9-6 Saturday. St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright was knocked around for six runs and chased in the third. The next inning, the teams started tagging each other. Castellanos, who homered on opening day and hopped out of the box before tossing his bat, was plunked by Woodford with two outs and none on in the fourth. Castellanos retrieved the ball and offered to toss it back to Woodford before flipping it out of play. A wild pitch soon sent Castellanos scampering home from third and he scored with a headfirst slide for a 7-2 lead as he bumped into Woodford, who took the throw from catcher Yadier Molina at the plate. As Castellanos began walking away, Molina rushed up and tapped him from behind, and the benches and bullpens emptied in a wild scene. There was more pushing and shoving before order seemed to be restored. But as relief pitchers for both teams were heading back to their bullpens, they tangled in the outfield. Castellanos was the only player ejected. Cincinnati’s Tyler Mahle (1-0) struck out nine in five innings, allowing two earned runs. Wainwright (0-1) lasted only 2 2/3 innings and gave up five earned runs and seven hits. TWINS 2, BREWERS 0 MILWAUKEE (AP) – José Berríos and three Minnesota relievers combined on a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts to outduel Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes. The Twins held Milwaukee hitless until Omar Narváez delivered a one-out single off reliever Tyler Duffey in the eighth inning. Neither team had a hit or walk until Minnesota’s Byron Buxton led off the seventh with a homer against Burnes (0-1). Buxton’s homer came on the 87th and final pitch from Burnes, who had 11 strikeouts. Berríos (1-0) struck out 12, hit a batter and didn’t walk anybody in six innings but left after 84 pitches. This was the first game in which both teams were hitless through six innings since an Aug. 2, 2014, duel between Jake Peavy of the San Francisco Giants and Jacob DeGrom of the New York Mets. ASTROS 9, ATHLETICS 1 OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Yordan Ã�lvarez hit a three-run homer and Houston kept thriving through all the boos, slugging its way to a third straight win over Oakland. Houston has outscored Oakland 26-7 in three games against the defending AL West champion A’s, who were eliminated by the Astros in a four-game AL Division Series last fall. Lance McCullers Jr. (1-0) did his part. The Houston right-hander struck out seven and walked three in five innings, allowing two hits and one run. Lefty Cole Irvin (0-1) allowed four runs on seven hits in 4 1/3 inning in his A’s debut after pitching the past two seasons for the Phillies. YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 3 NEW YORK (AP) – Gary Sánchez joined Elston Howard in 1963 as the only Yankees catchers to homer in each of the first two games of a season and Jay Bruce blooped a two-run single in the seventh for his first hit with his new team in New York’s win over Toronto. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, limited by injuries to one inning in the previous two seasons, pitched around control problems to allow one earned run over four innings in his Yankees debut. Left-hander Lucas Luetge also debuted for the Yankees in his first major league appearance in six years. Jonathan Loaisiga (1-0) pitched two innings, and Chad Green got a four-out save in the absence of Aroldis Chapman, who completed a two-game suspension for throwing near the head of Tampa Bay’s Mike Brousseau last Sept. 1.