The Yankees netted yet another nice victory on Friday, taking down the Giants 3-0 thanks to homers from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Although the season is young and the true important games elsewhere are yet to be determined, there is plenty of other action around the American League. From excellent starts to the season on the bump to red hot bats, here’s a look at what went down.
Toronto Blue Jays (1-0) 3, Athletics (0-1) 2
The Blue Jays made the most of a dominant season debut from their ace and a couple of big hits from their shortstop on Friday.
An Opening Day matchup of Luis Severino and Kevin Gausman turned into an excellent duel to open the season for both of these teams, though the Toronto right-hander finished with the upper hand. Neither team scored through the first three innings, as the righties were feeling it early on, though the A’s struck first when the powerful Shea Langeliers swatted his first homer of the year in the fourth.
Despite allowing the first run, it was all Gausman on Friday. The veteran made a statement to open his age-34 season, as he worked for six innings, allowing just one hit while striking out 11 Athletics. After a year that had its up and down moments, this was surely a welcome start to 2026 for Gausman and the Jays.
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On the offensive side, Andrés Giménez was the hero in the opener for the Jays. In the fifth inning, his timely triple turned Toronto’s 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. Langeliers would have his say once again, however, as the backstop pummeled a second home run in the top of the ninth to tie things up at two.
In the ninth, Giménez would come through again, this time with a walk-off single into right field. Each of his two big hits scored Ernie Clement, who had a pair of doubles in this one.
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Los Angeles Angels (2-0) 6, Houston Astros (0-2) 2
The Angels continued their hot start to the season with a second consecutive win over the Astros. The Los Angeles bats were fired up early, and they never really looked back.
Both teams manufactured a run in the first, but the big blow came an inning later when the Angels’ Josh Lowe belted a deep three-run homer to put his squad up 4-1. The Halos would get back it in the fifth inning, this time with Mike Trout teeing off on his second homer in as many games, part of a three-hit performance by the future Hall-of-Famer.
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Although Yordan Alvarez matched with a solo homer of his own in the fifth, the Astros were only able to muster two runs on their eight hits, which helped push the Angels to their second win of the season, along with 4.2 scoreless innings from the bullpen to finish the game up. The three homers from Lowe, Trout, and Zach Neto didn’t hurt either.
Friday’s win marks a pleasant start for the Angels, and perhaps foreshadows tougher days ahead for Houston. Los Angeles will aim for the sweep on Saturday.
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Detroit Tigers (2-0) 5, San Diego Padres (0-2) 2
The Tigers also cruised to a 2-0 start to the season with a comeback victory against San Diego. Veterans Michael King and Framber Valdez turned in a solid pitcher’s duel in this one as well, as the decisive scoring wouldn’t happen until late.
The Padres’ righty tossed five innings allowing just one (unearned) run on one hit, while striking out six. On the other end, Valdez was just as good. The Tigers’ new lefty grinded his way through six innings, allowing just one earned run despite plenty of baserunners.
The Padres struck first with an RBI knock from Miguel Andujar in the fourth, before both squads plated a run in the sixth thanks to timely hits. Down 2-1 all the way into the eighth, the Tigers were in need of a big hit, and they got a few of them. Riley Greene tied the game up with a bases loaded infield knock, before singles from Kevin McGonigle and Dillon Dingler plated three more, and suddenly had Detroit in business.
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Kenley Jansen was called upon to lock down the save for the Tigers, his first opportunity with the club, and the right-hander would do just that. The Tigers will look to continue their winless start to the season on Saturday.
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Seattle Mariners (1-1) 5, Cleveland Guardians (1-1) 1
Despite going down early on Friday, excellent pitching and timely hitting helped the Mariners net their first win Friday over the Guardians.
The game began with the red-hot Chase DeLauter belting his third home run of the young season, as the rookie continues to make huge impressions out of the gate.
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Despite the early blow, Mariners’ starter George Kirby turned in a great start, as he tossed six innings of one-run ball, allowing just two hits and striking out six. The Seattle bats had his back too, as they woke up during the middle innings.
In the fourth a three-run homer from Cole Young turned the game around, and an inning later, Luke Raley’s second blast of the young season, a two-run bomb, had the M’s suddenly up 5-1.
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The Mariners bullpen made this a largely stress-free finish, as they closed this game with three spotless innings. On both sides of the ball, Seattle held the upper hand, and as a result, they got their first win of the season on Friday.
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