Soto’s single lifts Nationals over Braves in delayed opener

<p>WASHINGTON &mdash; Juan Soto drove in the winning run with a single on a 3-0 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday, lifting the coronavirus-depleted Washington Nationals to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Atlanta Braves after waiting five days to start their season. </p>
<p>Lefty reliever Will Smith (0-1) entered for the ninth and promptly gave up a single to new leadoff hitter Victor Robles, and then hit Trea Turner with a pitch. That brought up Soto, the 2020 NL batting champion, and he delivered a line drive to center field.</p>
<p>Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson homered against Washington ace Max Scherzer. Acuña drove Scherzer’s first pitch of the game deep to left-center, and led off the third with his second homer.</p>
<p>Turner hit a two-run shot for the Nationals. Daniel Hudson (1-0) got the win.</p>
<p>Because of a COVID-19 outbreak — four players tested positive; seven were forced into quarantine after potentially being exposed — Washington’s first four scheduled games were scrapped.</p>
<p>ASTROS 4, ANGELS 2</p>
<p>ANAHEIM, Calif. &mdash; Carlos Correa hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning, lifting Houston to the victory.</p>
<p>Kyle Tucker and Aledmys Díaz hit back-to-back homers in the second inning for the Astros, who went an impressive 5-1 on their six-game road trip to start the season amid the incessant booing and jeering they’ll hear indefinitely as fans react to their sign-stealing scandal in the 2017 and 2018 seasons.</p>
<p>Mike Trout hit a 464-foot homer in the first inning, but the Angels dropped to 4-2 and failed to match the best six-game start in franchise history. Raisel Iglesias (1-1) got the loss.</p>
<p>Ryan Pressly (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for Houston, getting Justin Upton to ground into a game-ending double play.</p>
<p>TIGERS 4, TWINS 3, 10 INNINGS</p>
<p>DETROIT &mdash; Akil Baddoo added another big hit in this charmed start to his big league career, lining an RBI single in the 10th inning for Detroit.</p>
<p>Baddoo made his debut Sunday and homered on the first pitch thrown to him. Then he hit a grand slam in a 15-6 loss to the Twins on Monday. The rookie entered Tuesday’s game as a pinch runner, stayed in to the play the outfield and ended it with a hit to right off Hansel Robles (0-1).</p>
<p>Nelson Cruz and Byron Buxton homered for the Twins, who rallied from a 3-1 deficit.</p>
<p>Gregory Soto (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for Detroit, and the Tigers scored in their half of the 10th.</p>
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