Archer outpitches Tanaka, Rays Top Yankees 7-3 in MLB opener

By FRED GOODALL

AP Sports Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Pitch by pitch, Chris Archer set the tone for what he and the Tampa Bay Rays hope will be a bounce-back year.

Not such a good start for Masahiro Tanaka and the New York Yankees.

Archer pitched seven solid innings, and the Rays roughed up Tanaka on the way to beating New York 7-3 in the first game of the new Major League Baseball season Sunday.

"We didn't play perfect, but we played well enough to win," Archer said. "We scored a lot of runs and made some nice defensive plays. It's all about winning, and we did that."

And what the Rays didn't do a lot of last season, when they sank to the bottom of the AL East with their worst finish (68-94) since 2007.

New York lost on opening day for the sixth consecutive year, with Tanaka matching the shortest start ever by a Yankees pitcher in an opener.

"It happens. He's human," Yankees pitching coach Larry Rothschild said. "He just didn't command anything. ... He usually self corrects real well. But today, he tried a few things and it just didn't work."

Evan Longoria and Logan Morrison homered and drove in three runs apiece before a sellout crowd of 31,042 at Tropicana Field. Tanaka, who had baseball's lowest ERA in spring training, was tagged for a career-worst seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.

A first-time All-Star in 2015 who lost an AL-leading 19 times last season, Archer (1-0) limited New York to two runs and seven hits. He narrowly escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh to turn a five-run lead over to a revamped bullpen.

Rays manager Kevin Cash said it was important to give his ace an opportunity to get through the seventh.

"I'm really happy he did, not only for my sake but the other guys on the staff, too," Archer said. " I want them to know when stuff gets hairy, you need to strap it on and go right after them. We don't need to be bailed out, we need to get out of the inning."

There were three games around in the majors on the first day, and the Rays got off to a quick start.

Leadoff man Corey Dickerson singled in the Tampa Bay first for the first hit of the season and later scored on Longoria's sacrifice fly as part of a three-run inning. Longoria connected for a two-run drive in the second.

Aaron Judge had a RBI double, while Starlin Castro and Chase Headley each had three hits for the Yankees.

Tanaka (0-1) made his third consecutive opening day start for the Yankees, and had been 6-0 with a 2.82 ERA in eight career starts against Tampa Bay. He gave up eight hits and two walks.

Longoria connected for his fourth homer on opening day. Morrison, who didn't drive in a run until May 17 last season, added a solo drive in the third.

"Obviously, you just have to accept it. I can't take it back," Tanaka said through a translator. "So, the main thing is, I really need to move forward from today. Make the necessary adjustments."

UNCHARACTERISTIC

Tanaka, who tied Hideo Nomo for the most opening day starts by a Japanese-born pitcher, had a seven-game winning streak stopped. He went 7-0 with a 2.28 ERA over his final nine starts of last season. ... Tanaka had won all three of his previous career starts at Tropicana Field, limiting the Rays to four earned runs in 20 innings for a 1.80 ERA. He led the AL with a 2.36 road ERA in 2016, trailing only the Mets' Noah Syndergaard (2.29) for the major league lead.

It was the second-shortest start of Tanka's career. He tied the Yankees shortest on opening day, joining Ron Guidry (1983) and Mel Stottlemyre (1973).

LEADING OFF

Dickerson, who hit 24 home runs last year, was 1 for 5 in his debut as Tampa Bay's leadoff hitter against right-handed pitching. Cash is considering moving right-handed batting Steven Souza Jr. to the top of the order against left-handers, beginning Tuesday against CC Sabathia.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Yankees: SS Didi Gregorius (right shoulder strain) expects to start limited baseball activities the middle of this week. He is out until some time in May. ... INF-OF Tyler Austin (broken left ankle) was placed on the 60-day disabled list.

Rays: Longoria, who sat out Tampa Bay's final spring training game due to a stiff neck, made his club-record ninth consecutive start on opening day. ... Seven players, including C Wilson Ramos, OF Colby Rasmus and SS Matt Duffy, begin the season on the disabled list.

UP NEXT

Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia, 3-7 in 14 starts at Tropicana Field since joining New York in 2009, is Tuesday night's scheduled starter. He's 2-0 against the Rays in three road starts over the last two seasons.

Rays: RHP Jake Odorizzi is set to work the second game of the series, which resumes after a day off. He went 7-1 with a 2.71 ERA in 14 outings after the All-Star break last year. He was the only Tampa Bay starter with a winning record, at 10-6, in 2016.

Orioles finalize 25-man roster

The Orioles today announced several roster moves to finalize their 25-man roster.

Three players have been placed on the 10-day disabled list: LHP Wade Miley (retroactive to March 30 - upper respiratory infection), OF Anthony Santander (retroactive to March 30 - right forearm strain), and RHP Chris Tillman (retroactive to March 30 - right shoulder bursitis).

Additionally, LHP Jayson Acquino and RHP Gabriel Ynoa have been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk and Rule 5 pick OF Aneury Tavárez has been returned to the Boston Red Sox. The Orioles have also selected the contract of OF Gentry from Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles have transferred RHP Dariel Álvarez from Triple-A Norfolk to Class-A Delmarva. The Orioles have also transferred RHP Jason García from Triple-A Norfolk to Double-A Bowie.

White Sox finalize Opening Day roster

Following today's workout at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Chicago White Sox announced the following six roster moves:

• Placed RHP Juan Minaya (right abdominal strain), LHP Carlos Rodon (left biceps bursitis) and OF Charlie Tilson (stress reaction in right foot) on the 10-day disabled list, all retroactive to March 30;

• Purchased the contracts of INF Cody Asche, C Geovany Soto and RHP Anthony Swarzak.

With the moves, Chicago's 25-man Opening Day roster will include 12 pitchers, two catchers, eight infielders and three outfielders. The 40-man roster increases to 39.

Indians sign Roberto Pérez ro long-term contract

The Cleveland Indians today signed C Roberto Pérez to a four-year contract with club options for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

Pérez, 28, has spent his entire professional career in the Indians organization following his 33rd round selection in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. He owns a career Major League batting average of .220 (93/422) with 20 doubles, 2 triples, 11 home runs and 42 RBI in 160 games (.318/.355/.674) since debuting with the club in July 2014. The Mayaguez, Puerto Rico native spent the 2016 season between the active Major League roster and the disabled list (right thumb surgery), appearing in 61 games and starting all 15 games behind the plate in the 2016 Postseason. He hit 3 home runs with 7 RBI in the Postseason while recording an OPS of .719, becoming the first Puerto Rican-born player to homer twice in a World Series game (Game 1) on October 25.

Roberto batted .304 (7/23) this spring with 2 2B and 2 RBI in 10 games and was a member of Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic (2 games).

Champion Cubs open against rival Cardinals

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For the first time in 108 years, the Chicago Cubs will play a game as the defending World Series champions.

Add their archrival St. Louis Cardinals to the mix and you have a prime-time matchup made for the opening Sunday night of the season in front of what should be one of the biggest crowds in Busch Stadium history.

"We're finally to that day," Chicago pitcher Kyle Hendricks told mlb.com after Friday's 6-3 exhibition win in Houston. "You feel it building up, you feel it coming, you see a light at the end of the tunnel. But now, being the last day, flying to St. Louis, you feel it coming."

After ending the fabled Curse of the Billy Goat with a stirring comeback from a 3-1 series deficit to subdue the Cleveland Indians in seven games, Chicago enters the season with the biggest possible target across its chest.

It also enters the season with most of the same cast that made history last November. Six of eight everyday starters return, and the starting rotation is so deep that Hendricks, who pitched at a Cy Young Award level last year, is the fifth starter.

Jon Lester (19-5, 2.44 ERA in 2016) is manager Joe Maddon's choice to start the opener. He has been effective in nine career starts against the Cardinals, posting a 1.97 earned run average despite going only 3-3. That doesn't include two World Series wins against the Cardinals in 2013 when he worked for the Boston Red Sox.

One thing to watch with Lester is whether he can develop the kind of chemistry with his new catcher, Willson Contreras, that he had with the retired David Ross. Lester was pleased with Contreras during the spring, even joking that it's nice to finally get an offensive catcher.

While the 33-year old Lester is an old hand at Opening Night appearances, his mound opponent is a neophyte. Carlos Martinez, who has blossomed as a starter the last two years, made it known early in spring training his desire to pitch the first game.

Manager Mike Matheny opted to go with him, a message that the club knows Martinez has evolved from pure thrower to growing pitcher. But Martinez (16-9, 3.04 ERA) hasn't always found success against the Cubs, going 3-3 with a 4.67 earned run average in 19 games, nine as a starter.

Coming off its first postseason miss since 2010, St. Louis' major offseason move was to raid Chicago's outfield for center fielder Dexter Fowler. The Cubs' leadoff man the last two years, Fowler brings his blend of grinding at-bats, occasional pop and above-average defense to a team badly in need of better glovework.

"I've always held myself to high standards," Fowler said to mlb.com. "They don't pay you for being someone else. They pay you for what you're doing."

The teams get an off-day Monday and conclude the series with games on Tuesday night and Wednesday. In the middle contest, the Cubs will match Jake Arrieta with Adam Wainwright, and the series finale pits John Lackey against either Lance Lynn or Michael Wacha.

Lovullo, D'backs look for positive step vs. Giants

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PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks would like to get off to a good start for one of the few times this decade, especially with new manager Torey Lovullo in charge.

The San Francisco Giants are hoping to avoid the sort of disastrous finish that hurt them last year.

The National League West foes will open a four-game series in Chase Field on Sunday, when aces Madison Bumgarner and Zack Greinke are scheduled to start. As in every season in the last half-dozen, San Francisco's Bumgarner will enter on the short list of NL Cy Young Award candidates. He has finished fourth, sixth and fourth while winning 51 games over the last three seasons.

Like his team, Greinke is looking to bounce back from a subpar 2016. He won 13 games but had a 4.37 ERA after signing a seven-year, $206.6 million free agent deal the previous winter. He also missed eight weeks with a strained oblique muscle, part of the reason Arizona finished with a major league-high 5.08 ERA last year.

"I still have really high hopes for our team," Greinke said this spring. "I thought we were going to be really good going into last year. We pretty much have the same team or a very similar team. I think we should be good. I'm shocked we didn't do better last year."

The Diamondbacks' first two weeks include seven games against the Giants, four versus the Los Angeles Dodgers and three against defending American League champion Cleveland. Lovullo, hired away from Boston by new general manager Mike Hazen, said he expects about 75 friends and family for Opening Day.

"I've been saying since Day 1 that we have to be a smart, tough baseball team that is going to earn everything on a daily basis," Lovullo said.

Bumgarner is 6-2 with a 2.80 ERA in 15 appearances and 14 starts at Chase Field. This is the fourth time in six years that the teams have opened the season in Arizona. Bumgarner is making his fourth consecutive Opening Day start, going 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in his previous three.

The Giants were done in by a bullpen that had a major league-high 32 failed save conversions last year, but they addressed that by signing free agent Mark Melcanon.

"When you have your set closer, it's a little easier to build down a little bit," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said in the spring.

The Diamondbacks have not started particularly well this decade, even when they won the NL West in 2011. That team opened 15-22 before a team meeting on a West Coast trip sparked a turnaround and a 94-win season in Kirk Gibson's first full year.

They lost seven of their first eight and were 5-18 in 2014 when left fielder Mark Trumbo suffered a foot injury in Wrigley Field that sidelined him for several months. That team was within 10 games of .500 only twice thereafter. It finished 64-98.

Arizona opened 10-14 in 2015 and never broke .500 over the final five months while finishing 79-83. It started 3-7 and 13-18 last year, before the pitching issues became acute.

"Everybody feels the importance of it," Lovullo said of a quick getaway.

"The bottom line is, if you are expecting to compete and go out and have meaningful games played in August and September, you have to have some sort of good start. I don't want to look too far ahead of things. I want us to go out on April 2 and compete and see where that leads us."

The Giants were 13-6 against Arizona last season, winning nine of 10 games played in the desert.

Rays, Archer aim for opening win against Yankees

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TAMPA, Fla. -- If the Tampa Bay Rays are to be a different team in 2017, it can start with Chris Archer on Opening Day against the New York Yankees.

Archer has pitched twice on Opening Day, losing in each of the last two seasons. That familiarity will help him as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing 2016 season.

"It's a mentality, just like anything else in life," Archer said of taking the mound on Opening Day before a sellout crowd at Tropicana Field. "It's all about perspective. The good thing about this being my third one is I've done it before. I'm looking forward to getting at them and taking the team with the other eight guys."

Archer went 0-3 against the Yankees last season with a 3.86 ERA and the Rays were 8-11 against New York, finishing with a losing record for the second year in a row.

Archer wound up 9-19, leading the majors in losses, and the Rays finished 68-94 to take a step back and finish last in the American League East.

New York also has a 28-year-old right-hander on the mound in Masahiro Tanaka, but his 2016 was very different from Archer's. Tanaka went 14-4 with a 3.07 ERA and dominated the Rays, going 4-0 with a 2.88 ERA, with twice as many wins as against any other opponent. He's 6-0 in eight career starts against Tampa Bay.

The Yankees finished 84-78 last season, ushering out key veteran players like Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann. They still finished five games out of the wild card, though much of the attention now is on a younger generation of emerging stars like Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge.

"I know we've talked a lot about the youth, but the veterans have to do their job," manager Joe Girardi said of the season ahead. "That is a huge key. All the veteran players do their job, and if we do that, we're going to be in good shape."

Sanchez in particular generated excitement last year, hitting 20 home runs in just 201 at-bats in a phenomenal debut at the end of the season.

"I definitely think I've improved a little bit. It's a result of the hard work," Sanchez said. "We put a lot of work in to becoming a better catcher. I feel very excited, and I want (Sunday) to get here."

The Rays-Yankees rivalry is placed at the beginning and end of the season. After three games this week in St. Petersburg, the teams play three next week at Yankee Stadium but only six games between then and mid-September, when they play two more three-game series in the final three weeks of the season.

The Rays' final road series is against the Yankees on Sept. 26-28, and there's no telling what will be on the line when that begins.