MLB roundup: Braves beat Diamondbacks 17-2 after eight-run fifth inning

PHOENIX — Matt Olson, Dominic Smith and Mauricio Dubón hit solo homers, Reynaldo López gave up one run over five innings and the Atlanta Braves coasted to a 17-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.

The Braves broke it open with an eight-run fifth, sending 12 batters to plate to take a 10-1 lead. Austin Riley and Michael Harris II had two-run doubles and Ozzie Albies brought home two more with a single.

It was a frustrating inning for the D-backs — partly thanks to technology. Ryne Nelson walked three batters, including Ronald Acuña Jr., which forced in a run. The right-hander had a potential strike three to Albies overturned by an ABS challenge, turning it into a walk. A potential inning-ending double play was also overturned when Drake Baldwin was ruled safe at first.

On top of that, 10-time Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado made a costly error, leading to five unearned runs for Nelson.

Nelson (0-1) made it just 4 2/3 innings, giving up seven runs, but only two were earned. He walked three and struck out three.

López (1-0) gave up four hits and a walk while striking out three. Olson finished with three hits and three RBIs.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Taj Bradley pitched six innings of five-hit ball, Minnesota homered three times in the ninth inning to break open a close game, and the Twins beat Kansas City to avoid a three-game series sweep.

Bradley (1-0) struck out three and walked one while out-duelling Cole Ragans (0-2), helping the Twins improve to 2-0 with him on the mound. Minnesota was winless in its other four games on a season-opening six-game trip through Baltimore and Kansas City.

Kody Clemens scored on an error by five-time Gold Glove-winning catcher Salvador Perez in the second, and Byron Buxton added a sacrifice fly off John Schreiber in the eighth, before the Twins teed off against Royals reliever Steven Cruz in the ninth.

Matt Wallner began the barrage with his homer to left, Clemens followed two batters late with his first of the season, and Josh Bell gave the Twins their first back-to-back homers since last July with his shot off Cruz to right field.

The only offence for Kansas City came in the eighth, when Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. put runners on the corners with back-to-back singles, and Vinnie Pasquantino hit a sacrifice fly. But after Perez grounded into a fielder’s choice, Twins reliever Taylor Rogers struck out Jac Caglianone with a sweeper out of the zone to leave the tying run on second base.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco rookie catcher Daniel Susac went 3 for 3 with a walk in his first major league start and the Giants rolled over New York.

The younger brother of former Giants catcher Andrew Susac singled in his first two big league at-bats off David Peterson (0-1), then drew a walk and singled off Sean Manaea.

Rafael Devers homered and Casey Schmitt went 3 for 3 with a walk and an RBI for the Giants, who had 13 hits overall and handed the Mets their third straight loss.

Robbie Ray (1-1) gave up two runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked three.

Former Mets reliever Blade Tidwell worked three scoreless innings to earn his first big league save.

Bo Bichette’s RBI double off Ray gave the Mets a 1-0 lead in the first before the Giants scored three times with two outs in the bottom of the inning.

Luis Arraez tripled off the right-field wall to score Heliot Ramos with San Francisco’s first run. Matt Chapman followed with a double down the right-field line to score Arraez. Chapman scored the third run when Peterson dropped Mark Vientos’ throw to first on Jung Hoo Lee’s grounder. Peterson was charged with an error.

Peterson allowed six runs — five earned — and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two.