Big homers and late inning rallies highlight MLB’s 125th opening day

• Major League Baseball’s 125th opening day featured many big homers and late-inning rallies. The Orioles and Yankees headlined some of the big wins.
• Baltimore Orioles Tyler O’Neill extended his opening day record with his sixth straight home run.
• The Los Angeles Dodgers are the biggest World Series betting favorites since the 2002 New York Yankees.

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The 125th Major League Baseball season started Thursday, March 27, with some big home runs and some late-inning heroics. You can’t blame Baltimore Orioles fans if they believe this is their year after a 12-2 win in Toronto.

What records did the Baltimore Orioles set?

The O’s hit a team-record six opening day homers in Rogers Centre. Their newest star outfielder, Tyler O’Neill, extended his major league record with a sixth straight homer on opening day. Maybe it was the donuts? O’Neil, a Canadian, brought his teammates two boxes of Tim Horton’s famous treats before the game.

“Very special,” O’Neill said. “I’ve had a great day so far. Playing in Toronto is always special for me.”

Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde called O’Neill’s streak “mind-boggling,” and new teammate Cedric Mullins said it was a team effort right from the start.

“Yeah, you talk about a lot of good swings today, Adley (Rutschman) starting off hot like he does. O’Neill making history, continuing to make history for Opening Day, to Westy (Jordan Westburg), a lot of good stuff today,” Mullins said.

How about the Yankees and other American League teams?

The New York Yankees got a 4-2 win over Milwaukee. Austin Wells hit a leadoff homer on opening day, a Yankees first in their 122-year history. New closer Devin Williams, with a well-groomed beard, picked up a shaky save against the team that traded him in the offseason.

In the American League Central, the Kansas City Royals tied their game with Cleveland in the ninth inning only to see the Guardians win it 7-4 after a go-ahead Steven Kwan double in the 10th inning.

Also in the A.L., coming off a record 121-loss season, the Chicago White Sox start 2025 with a big 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Andrew Benintendi hit a three-run shot in the eighth inning to blow the game open.

What about teams in the National League?

Over in the National League, the highest-paid position player in baseball, Juan Soto, had a hit and two walks in his New York Mets debut, but his new team got beat 3-1 by Framber Valdez and the Houston Astros. Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza says they’ll recover quickly; they’ve got a better mentality this year.

“We were tested last year from the get-go, and we were able to weather a storm,” Mendoza said. “So, I think it put all of us in a better situation. We want to be in a better position knowing that, you know, adversity will hit at some point, and we just got to weather the storm and keep moving forward.”

Also in the N.L., the San Francisco Giants rallied with four runs in the ninth inning to beat the Cincinnati Reds. Wilmer Flores hit a clutch three-run homer to give the Giants the late lead.

In a battle of two early contenders, the Atlanta Braves got three RBI from Ozzie Albies, including a two-run homer. However, with the game tied at four in the seventh inning, the Padres put together a three-run rally to win it.

How about the defending champion Dodgers?

The defending champion Dodgers took on Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. Los Angeles was already 2-0 to start the season after sweeping the Cubs in the Tokyo Series on March 21. They picked up their World Championship rings before the game, then promptly went out and beat the Tigers, 5-4.

The Dodgers are the biggest Opening Day favorites to win the World Series since the 2002 New York Yankees. According to some sportsbooks in Las Vegas, more bets have been placed on the Dodgers to win the World Series than on every other team combined.