What Happened on Opening Day (Part 1) of the 2022 MLB Season (2024)

Major League Baseball's 2022 season is here. It's Opening Day. The Athletic brought you the latest news, analysis, updates and more throughout the Day 1 of Opening Day.

Thursday's scores

• Cubs 5, Brewers 4
• Royals 3, Guardians 1
• Cardinals 9, Pirates 0
• Reds 6, Braves 3
• Mets 5, Nationals 1
• Diamondbacks 4, Padres 2
• Astros 3, Angels 1

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The latest news

• Max Scherzer passed tests on tight hamstring, will start Friday for the Mets
• Xander Bogaerts says despite Red Sox contract offer, extension won't happen this season
• Pirates, Ke'Bryan Hayes agree to 8-year deal
• Guide to the season | Friday’s schedule

(Photo of Seth Beer: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)

The Astros turned a double-play in the ninth to clinch a 3-1 win on Opening Night.

The Angels came close to a game-tying homer by Anthony Rendon in the seventh that was deemed foul after a replay review, and Shohei Ohtani hit a fly ball to right that landed in front of the warning track that had Angels play-by-play broadcaster Matt Vasgrsian completely fooled with a runner on in the eighth.

Ohtani's stuff was electric, but Framber Valdez pitched a gem on Thursday to give the Astros their first win.

As a well-known San Diegoan once said, "that escalated quickly."

The Padres were up 2-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth, but Robert Suarez walked two, threw a wild pitch and hit Carson Kelly. Then Craig Stammen threw a wild pitch and gave up a walk-off three-run homer to Seth Beer. Think the Padres are happy they traded for Taylor Rogers?

Alex Bregman hit a fly ball to left that kept carrying into the first row of the stands, and Yonder Alonzo followed with the second straight homer off Ryan Tepera to give the Astros a 3-0 lead in the eighth.

One thing that's been difficult to ignore that could become a problem for the Angels is how lost Jo Adell looks in left field. He's taken at least two bad angles tonight, including on Bregman's homer (which a better left-fielder might've robbed), and made a throw that was at least 50 feet wide of the target when Bregman knocked in Michael Brantley with a single in the third.

Ryan Tepera has thrown 4 pitches. He has allowed 2 homers.

3-0, Astros.

Pivotal moment in Anaheim. Anthony Rendon, who is under a decent amount of pressure to live up to his contract, hit a ball deep down the left-field line that was barely foul. Then Framber Valdez, who has been the best pitcher of Opening Day, got him to ground into a double play.

Valdez just left the game after 6 2/3 shutout innings with a 1-0 lead. He gave up two singles to Matt Duffy and a walk while striking out seven. His ability to live down in the zone throughout the evening had the Angels flummoxed.

It's a good problem to have, but Bob Melvin had to pull the plug on a potentially historic moment in his first game as Padres manager. Yu Darvish didn't allow a hit through six innings, but his pitch count was already at 92. So Tim Hill takes the mound for San Diego, which has a 2-0 lead over Arizona, and Hill gave up a single to the first batter he faced.

Two Japanese pitchers have thrown no-hitters. Hisashi Iwakuma threw one for the Mariners in 2015 against the Orioles, and Hideo Nomo threw two, including one in 1996 at Coors Field of all places. Darvish has come close to throwing a no-hitter on multiple occasions, including the time in 2013 when he took a perfect game into the ninth and David Ortiz singled with two outs.

Padres lead 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh.

Tylor Megill, the 26-year-old right-hander in his second season, pitched five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and just three hits to lead New York to the win.

Juan Soto's solo homer was the only run scored for the Nats.

Yu Darvish is no-hitting the Diamondbacks through five innings.

Padres lead 2-0.

And that's it for Shohei Ohtani, whose night ends after 4 2/3 with his third strikeout of Jose Altuve. Ohtani struck out nine batters on 80 pitches, many of them 99 mph fastballs. He allowed four hits and a walk and leaves with a man on second.

The Astros are up 1-0, because Framber Valdez has been even better at avoiding bats. The Angels' only hit was an opposite-field single by Matt Duffy.

Brandon Drury, from the ninth spot in the Reds' lineup, tanked a three-run homer in the sixth inning off Collin McHugh and Cincinnati took down the defending champion Braves.

Tyler Mahle struck out seven over five for the Reds. With him gone, Austin Riley's two-run shot in the eighth brought Atlanta back, but not far enough.

Shohei Ohtani just struck out the side, giving him eight strikeouts over four innings. He was mostly trying to throw it by the Astros early, but he went with breaking pitches on eight of the 14 pitches he threw in the fourth.

The Astros still lead 1-0, but Ohtani has dazzled the crowd — which has serenaded him with MVP chants — with his work on the mound.

Jacob deGrom is out for several weeks with a shoulder injury and Max Scherzer survived a hamstring scare but won't appear until Friday.

So the Mets trotted out Tylor Megill to start Opening Day against the Nationals in D.C. And Megill, the 26-year-old right-hander in his second season, pitched five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and just three hits. Megill had the Mets up 4-0 until Juan Soto hit a solo homer for the Nats off reliever reliever Trevor May in the bottom of the sixth.

What's new? It's just Juan Soto doing Juan Soto things. The two-time Silver Slugger sends one to the second deck for homer No. 99.

Mets still lead 4-1.

The eighth-year man notches his first RBI with New York.

Mets lead 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth.