Arroyo defeats Cubs, homers again
Bronson Arroyo had no homers in his first six major league seasons. Now the long-legged Cincinnati pitcher has two in one week.
On a windy day at Wrigley Field, Arroyo and his Reds teammates used a bevy of long balls to beat the Chicago Cubs.
Arroyo, acquired in a March 20 trade from the Red Sox for Wily Mo Peña, pitched seven shutout innings and hit one of Cincinnati's six homers, Edwin Encarnacion connected for a grand slam, and the Reds routed the Cubs, 9-2.
Adam Dunn hit a pair of solo shots and Ken Griffey and Arroyo had one each off Glendon Rusch. Encarnacion hit his first career slam and Austin Kearns followed with another homer, both off Will Ohman in the sixth.
Arroyo, who hit his first homer since high school off Rusch six days before at Great American Ball Park, hit the Reds' third of the game leading off the third. Arroyo's homer last week was his first hit since 2001.
''I got lucky again. Just keep hacking," said Arroyo, whose homer went over the left-field bleachers and landed on Waveland Avenue.
''I really just couldn't believe where the pitch was because it was almost identical to last time. I was a little surprised. I knew the wind was going out. I got it good like I did last time. I figured that it wasn't going to land anywhere in the park."
''He's got more homers than Wily Mo already," Dunn said. ''He's got a good swing. That's impressive."
Asked how he could give up two homers within a week to the light-hitting pitcher, Rusch said, ''I don't have anything for you. He took two pitches and hit them good. Other than that, there is nothing I can say."
Arroyo (2-0) also pitched well, an outing made easier by all the run support. He shut down the Cubs and ended their three-game winning streak, allowing six hits.
Derrek Lee doubled in Chicago's first run in the eighth off reliever Chris Hammond. Michael Barrett homered in the ninth.
Mets 7, Nationals 1 -- There were no beanballs, brawls, or even brushbacks between New York and Washington in the Nationals' home opener.
Rookie Brian Bannister shut down Washington again for his first major league victory, and Carlos Beltran homered off the facing of the upper deck, leading the Mets.
Bannister (1-0) allowed three hits over seven innings, throwing 107 pitches. The lone run he gave up came on Alfonso Soriano's homer in the seventh. The righty held the Nationals hitless for 5 1/3 innings in his big league debut last week in New York.
Seven batters were hit by pitches during that series -- six by Mets pitchers -- and a near-fight ensued. Nationals righthander Felix Rodriguez and manager Frank Robinson were suspended by Major League Baseball, which told the umpires for this three-game set to look out for trouble.
Indians 9, Mariners 5 -- Jhonny Peralta and Travis Hafner hit consecutive homers in the fifth inning to back Cliff Lee as host Cleveland won its sixth straight.
At 6-1, the Indians are off to their best start since opening 11-1 in 2002. It's also the first time they've been in first place in the AL Central since April 18, 2002, a season they finished 74-88.
Peralta's two-run homer and Hafner's solo shot off Jarrod Washburn (1-1) gave the Indians a 6-0 lead and provided Lee (1-0) with all the cushion he would need. The lefthander, who improved to 5-0 in six career starts against Seattle, allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.
Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki went 0 for 4 and is 0 for 17 in his last four games -- the first time he has gone that long without a hit since Aug. 2-5, 2005.
Padres 9, Marlins 3 -- Khalil Greene drove in four runs with two homers to help San Diego shake a slump and spoil Florida's home opener.
The Padres, who scored a major league-low 19 runs the first week of the season, snapped a four-game losing streak.
Greene hit a two-out solo homer in the second and a three-run shot in the sixth. He has four of the Padres' six home runs after hitting 15 each of the past two seasons.
Sergio Mitre (1-1) gave up five runs in six innings for the Marlins, who started six rookies in their first home game since an offseason payroll purge. Five Marlins played in Miami for the first time: Mitre, Hanley Ramirez, Reggie Abercrombie, Mike Jacobs, and Dan Uggla.
Angels 5, Rangers 4 -- Adam Kennedy's one-out double in the ninth inning drove in Darin Erstad with the tying run, and pinch-runner Maicer Izturis scored the winner on the botched relay from the outfield to rally Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Kennedy lined a pitch off Rangers closer Francisco Cordero into the right field corner as Erstad scored. First-year third-base coach Dino Ebel held up Izturis at third, then waved him home when second baseman D'Angelo Jimenez mishandled the relay from Adrian Brown for an error. Jimenez entered the game in the second inning after rookie second baseman Ian Kinsler injured his left thumb while getting thrown out trying to steal second base in the top of the inning.
Hank Blalock homered twice and drove in three runs for the Rangers.
Pirates 7, Dodgers 6 -- Ryan Doumit hit one of Pittsburgh's four homers and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning in a victory over visiting Los Angeles.
Jeromy Burnitz added a two-run homer, and Craig Wilson and Doumit each hit solo shots as the Pirates came back from deficits of 3-0, 5-2, and 6-3 to avoid their first 1-8 start in 51 years.
The Dodgers scored two or more runs in the first inning for the sixth time in eight games as Ricky Ledee hit a two-run homer during a three-run inning against righthander Ian Snell.
LA's Bill Mueller hit two solo homers during his first career four-hit game.
Twins 7, Athletics 6 -- Tony Batista woke up Minnesota's offense with a three-run homer and Joe Nathan pitched a hitless ninth for his first save in the Twins' home opener.
Orioles 8, Devil Rays 4 -- Kris Benson took a four-hitter into the eighth inning for his first win with Baltimore and Melvin Mora homered against host Tampa Bay.
Rockies 6, Diamondbacks 5 -- Brad Hawpe fell a single shy of the cycle and drove in four runs as Colorado spoiled Arizona's home opener.
The series opener between the Giants and the NL champion Houston Astros was rained out at San Francisco, and will be made up as part of a split doubleheader tomorrow.
