MLB Opening Day 2026 Results Overreactions From Every Game

Thursday was not the first day of the 2026 MLB season, but it was Opening Day. There's a difference, and you can tell by the number of games.

The day had 11 games on the schedule, and a slate like that called for literally dozens of overreactions.

We came up with multiples for each team for every game, whether they concerned a good or bad performance or something just plain worthy of attention.

Remember, it's only Day 1. But as we're pretty sure somebody once said, it's not a 162-game season, but 162 one-day seasons.

Opening Day Schedule and Scores

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Wrigley Field

Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Mets

Final Score: Mets 11, Pirates 7

Chicago White Sox vs. Milwaukee Brewers

Final Score: Brewers 14, White Sox 2

Washington Nationals vs. Chicago Cubs

Final Score: Nationals 10, Cubs 4

Minnesota Twins vs. Baltimore Orioles

Final Score: Orioles 2, Twins 1

Boston Red Sox at Cincinnati Reds

Final Score: Red Sox 3, Reds 0

Detroit Tigers vs. San Diego Padres

Final Score: Tigers 8, Padres 2

Texas Rangers at Philadelphia Phillies

Final Score: Phillies 5, Rangers 3

Los Angeles Angels vs. Houston Astros

Final Score: Angels 3, Astros 0

Tampa Bay Rays at St. Louis Cardinals

Final Score: Cardinals 9, Rays 7

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Final Score: Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 2

Cleveland Guardians at Seattle Mariners

Final Score: Guardians 6, Mariners 4

Overreactions for Pirates vs. Mets

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Paul Skenes

Final Score: Mets 11, Pirates 7

Overreactions for Mets

Freddy Peralta still has rust to shake off. He was the better of the two starters on the mound in Queens, notably striking out seven over 5.0 innings. But the velocity on all four pitches was down, and was charged with four earned runs.

Sheesh, that offense looks like a problem. The 11 runs obviously speak for themselves, but how about nine walks to go with 11 hits? As that was with relatively little noise from Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, you have to love that if you're a Mets fan.

Carson Benge is already a star. The kid made the Opening Day roster just a couple of days ago, and celebrated with a pair of walks and his first major league homer. He didn't go deep once in spring training, as he otherwise hit .366. Suppose he's off the schneid.

Overreactions for Pirates

Oh no, Paul Skenes is bad now. The Mets hung five runs on Skenes and forced him out after two outs and 37 pitches. A pair of misplays by Oneil Cruz didn't help, but neither did the four hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch charged to Skenes. He got just five whiffs. This was the worst start of his career, full stop.

Oneil Cruz is still not a center fielder. Yeah, that was a tough sun at Citi Field this afternoon. But when a guy has -17 Defensive Runs Saved in just 1,256.1 innings as a center fielder, it's fair to fault the guy, too.

The new guys are just what the doctor ordered. Namely, Brandon Lowe and Ryan O'Hearn, who combined for all three home runs the Bucs got on the afternoon. After hitting an MLB-low 117 homers in 2025, they need as many of those as they can get.

Oh, and that new home run celebration? A steel welder's helmet? Heck, yes.

Overreactions for White Sox vs. Brewers

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Jacob Misiorowski

Final Score: Brewers 14, White Sox 2

Overreactions for Brewers

The Jacob Misiorowski Cy Young chase is on. "The Miz" gave up a homer to the first batter he faced, but hung in there to set a new Brewers Opening Day record with 11 strikeouts over 5.0 innings of one-run ball. He averaged 98.3 mph on the fastball, with a high of 101.1 mph.

Who needs Jackson Chourio? There's nothing like losing your best young player to a hand fracture mere hours before the opener… and then hanging 14 runs anyway. Garrett Mitchell was the only starter without a hit, and he walked twice.

Seriously, good luck pitching to them. Yes, it's the White Sox. But Milwaukee's offense drew 10 walks and struck out only three times on the day. The discipline that resulted in the NL's best BB/K ratio in 2025 is clearly still there.

Overreactions for White Sox

Munetaka Murakami lives! He homered for the first time as a major leaguer in the ninth inning. He also didn't strike out and walked twice, which feels like equally huge victories in light of all the concerns over his bat during free agency.

The allegedly exciting offense needs work. Maybe "exciting" is too strong, but that's what the "allegedly" is for. The young hitters are there, but all that mattered Thursday was that the scoreboard showed two runs, four hits, and 17 strikeouts.

It'll be a long year for that pitching staff. FanGraphs has the White Sox projected to allow more runs per game than any AL team, so it might not be only uphill from here.

Overreactions for Nationals vs. Cubs

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Joey Wiemer

Final Score: Nationals 10, Cubs 4

Overreactions for Nationals

Hey, maybe they're not the worst. The Rockies also exist, so this could actually prove to be accurate. Either way, they just plain pulled a fast one on the Cubs with a six-run outburst in the fourth. It was a fun moment for a young team that might as well have an "us against the world" attitude.

Joey Wiemer breakout coming? He was a top 100 prospect once upon a time, and he's still only 27. If the breakout does come, history shall record that it began with an absolute tank on Opening Day.

Overreactions for Cubs

That's your ace? The Cubs are ostensibly a World Series contender, but something about Matthew Boyd being their No. 1 starter didn't sit right, even before the Nats lit him up for six runs over 3.2 innings. Too soon to work the trade market?

New guy's a bust. Alex Bregman went 1-for-4 and didn't single-handedly dig the Cubs out of the hole the Nationals put them in with that fourth inning. He also had a ground ball go through the wickets on defense. The best of that five-year, $175 million contract will have to come another day.

They solved Washington's best hitter, at least. James Wood was 0-for-5 with four strikeouts on the day. Well done, Cubs. You successfully did to Wood what every team has been doing to him since last year's All-Star break.

Overreactions for Twins vs. Orioles

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Trevor Rogers

Final Score: Orioles 2, Twins 1

Overreactions for Orioles

The Trevor Rogers resurgence is ongoing. The lefty put up maybe the quietest sub-2.00 ERA in history last year, and he picked up where he left off by holding Minnesota scoreless on three hits over 7.0 innings on Thursday.

The new-look lineup is a dud. The Orioles should score a ton of runs throughout the year, but two runs is not the start they were hoping for. Better things have to start with Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso, who went a combined 0-for-7.

Ryan Helsley, though. He's theoretically a reclamation project, but there was never anything wrong with his stuff last year. That showed as he locked down the save in the ninth inning, striking out the side with a max velo of 102 mph.

Overreactions for Twins

Why is Joe Ryan still here? Seriously, dude's one of the best trade chips in all of MLB, so watching him throw 5.1 innings of one-hit ball for a team that's going nowhere feels like a waste.

At least they tried. The Twins offense had its chances, but went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and hit into three double plays. No wonder the team couldn't post literally any highlights.

Overreactions for Red Sox vs. Reds

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Roman Anthony

Final Score: Red Sox 3, Reds 0

Overreactions for Red Sox

Garrett Crochet's spring is already a memory. OK, maybe this isn't an overreaction. But either way, he went from a bad spring (7.36 ERA) back to being one of the unquestioned aces in MLB on Thursday, firing 6.0 shutout innings with eight strikeouts against three hits and two walks.

Roman Anthony is too dang good. He was one of the big stars of the World Baseball Classic, and he began his 2026 season with three hits and a crucial challenge that helped Boston pad its lead in the ninth inning.

Garrett Whitlock gets his revenge. Speaking of the WBC, remember when Whitlock blew it against Eugenio Suárez in the final? That may have been on his mind when he fanned Suárez on four pitches with the tying run in scoring position in the eighth.

Overreactions for Reds

Andrew Abbot is also evidence against spring training. Abbot was even worse than Crochet during the spring, posting an 11.72 ERA in six outings. Yet he also fired six scoreless innings on Thursday, so… what is the point of spring training again?

Good for Sal Stewart. He's frankly an overlooked NL Rookie of the Year candidate, but not now after a three-hit debut. Dude also hit .327 in spring training, which obviously mattered.

Bad for every other Reds hitter. The rest of them had one hit. One damn hit.

Overreactions for Tigers vs. Padres

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Kevin McGonigle

Final Score: Tigers 8, Padres 2

Overreactions for Tigers

Kevin McGonigle can't be stopped. B/R's Joel Reuter has him ranked as the No. 1 prospect in MLB, and that's sure hard to argue after he debuted with four hits on Thursday. He doubled twice off Nick Pivetta, who is not exactly a lightweight. Just go ahead and give him the AL Rookie of the Year.

Tarik Skubal isn't there yet. Sure, he pitched 6.0 scoreless innings. But he also struck out only six batters. We expect more from you, Tarik. We really do.

Dillon Dingler is more than just a pretty glove. This was already true, as he had a solid 108 OPS+ to go with his Gold Glove-winning defense last year. But more power wouldn't hurt, so that 106 mph homer was a nice sight.

Overreactions for Padres

Way to set the tone, Nick. His four-run first wasn't great. Neither was Pivetta's final line of 3.0 innings with seven hits, three walks and six runs. Given the other No. 1s in the NL West, it's not exactly an encouraging performance for the Padres.

The bottom of that lineup is not great. It looks dangerously shallow on paper, and it acted as such on Thursday. The Padres only had five hits in the game, and only one from the bottom six spots in the order.

Are we sure about Jackson Merrill? His star faded in 2025 after a huge breakout in 2024, and he began 2026 by going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. We'll leave it at "Hmmm..." for now.

Overreactions for Rangers vs. Phillies

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Kyle Schwarber

Final Score: Phillies 5, Rangers 3

Overreactions for Phillies

Cristopher Sánchez's Cy Young chase is also on. The Phillies did Sánchez a solid by ripping up his old contract in favor of a much richer new one, so the least he could do was go out there and shove on Opening Day. He did so with 6.0 scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts, giving him a quick leg up in his pursuit to win the NL Cy Young Award after he finished second last year.

How could Kyle Schwarber have ever left? He's back on a $150 million contract, so of course he had to celebrate by hitting a home run in his first at-bat. Not many stars fit as well anywhere as he fits in Philly.

Alec Bohm redemption incoming? Bohm, on the other hand, has a famously tense relationship with Philadelphia and the Phillies. But if he's going to change that, a three-RBI game on Opening Day is a good start.

Overreactions for Rangers

Tough one for the new guys. This offense probably needed more than Brandon Nimmo, Andrew McCutchen and Danny Jansen. Well, maybe make that a "definitely" after they went 2-for-9 in their Rangers debut.

Nathan Eovaldi was his perplexing self. His fastball was up 0.5 mph on his average from last season and he got 14 whiffs out of 44 swings. Not bad, not bad. But he also gave up eight hits, including a pair of homers.

At least the new-look bullpen looked good. The pen logged 3.1 scoreless innings after Eovaldi left, all by new additions. Given the general "meh" vibe of their offense, the Rangers need as much of that as they can get.

Overreactions for Angels vs. Astros

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Mike Trout

Final Score: Angels 3, Astros 0

Overreactions for Angels

Mike Trout's still got it. Not his superstardom, mind you. That's long gone. But the power is still there, as seen in the go-ahead moon shot that he hit in the seventh inning. The sight of those never gets old.

A three-hitter? Didn't see that coming. Sure, two of the three hits went for extra bases. And sure, Angels pitchers also walked six guys. But the Angels only had eight shutouts all of last year, so nobody in Anaheim is complaining right now.

Geez, José Soriano. He topped 100 mph five times and was responsible for all 17 of the game's fastest pitches. Dude has an arm. You have to give him that.

Overreactions for Astros

Justice for Yordan Alvarez! The roof at Daikin Park was closed on Thursday, and that may have cost Alvarez a home run on a high fly ball in the first inning. The lesson? Less launch angle… and maybe a stern word with whoever's in charge of the roof.

Again, three dang hits. And not much in the way of solid contact, as the Angels had seven of the 11 hardest-hit balls of the game. Not exactly helpful to the narrative that Houston's offense is over the hill.

Not Hunter Brown's best. He was third in the AL Cy Young Award voting last year, so he deserves some grace. But out of 102 pitches, only 59 were strikes and he walked four batters over 4.2 innings.

Overreactions for Rays vs. Cardinals

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JJ Wetherholt

Final Score: Cardinals 9, Rays 7

Overreactions for Cardinals

No deficit is too big! The Rays put them down by six runs with a six-run sixth, but that proved to be a case of bringing a knife to a gunfight. The Cardinals scored eight runs in their half of the sixth and never looked back.

Yeah, JJ Wetherholt was totally ready. He only had one hit, but it was a 425-foot bomb that got the scoring started for St. Louis. It's an early step forward in the NL Rookie of the Year race for B/R's No. 5 prospect.

Way to make it interesting. Oli Marmol called on six different relievers to record just 12 outs after Matthew Liberatore made it through the first five innings. It definitely slowed the game down, but at least it worked.

Overreactions for Rays

Way to waste 17 hits. There were 103 games in which a team gathered 17 or more hits last year, and 100 of them were victories for that team. So, way to go, Rays. Still discovering market inefficiencies after all these years.

Ian Seymour? More like Ian See-Less. You never want to give up five hits and five runs after coming out of the bullpen. And if you do, you preferably get more than zero outs in the process.

Check out the eye on Junior Caminero. He walked four times on Thursday. Four times! He's already a 10th of the way to his walk total from last year.

Overreactions to Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers

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Andy Pages

Final Score: Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 2

Overreactions for Dodgers

The lineup is full of booby traps. It's not just the MVPs and All-Stars that made the Dodgers offense so dangerous. There's also just how you never know who's going to be the one to get you. On Thursday, it was Andy Pages with a three-run homer that gave them a lead that never went away.

It's still win day when Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitches. He appeared in six games in the playoffs last year, and the Dodgers won five of them. Add in Thursday, and that makes six wins in Yamamoto's last seven appearances for LA.

Shohei Ohtani doesn't homer on Opening Day. Yeah, this is honestly surprising. He's now played in eight openers since coming stateside in 2018, and has yet to go deep in any of them.

Overreactions for Diamondbacks

Geraldo Perdomo is not a one-year wonder. If anything, he's getting better. He's increased his rWAR every year in the majors, and his two-run homer on Thursday is a sign he's about to add power to his game.

Zac Gallen still needs to earn back his ace card. He just wasn't good last year, and his hot start on Thursday was doomed to unravel. He struck out just two in 4.0 innings, with zero whiffs on 17 swings against his fastball.

Can't make it that easy for the Dodgers. It's not the reason the D-backs lost, but their offense went through the whole game without drawing a walk.

Overreactions for Guardians vs. Mariners

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Chase DeLauter

Final Score: Guardians 6, Mariners 4

Overreactions for Guardians

Chase DeLauter is on a fast track to AL Rookie of the Year. This wasn't exactly his MLB debut, but he did get his first career home run. And then, his second for good measure. The Guardians are clearly confident in him, and that makes so much more sense after Thursday.

José Ramírez is going to beat you, whether you like it or not. He just always seems to do something to make teams pay, even in times when the odds should be against him. Case in point, taking Gabe Speier's shoetop slider and driving it into the gap for a go-ahead double.

Rhys Hoskins is so back. He had three three-hit games in all of 2025, including none after May 14. He already has one with his new team.

Overreactions for Mariners

Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez are bad now. They're ostensibly the best star duo in MLB, but true star duos don't go 0-for-7 with six strikeouts in their team's opener. And does Raleigh know you can challenge strike calls now?

Dan Wilson still has bullpen management issues. This is how the Mariners lost the ALCS last year, and you wonder if Wilson learned his lesson. What Casey Legumina and Cooper Criswell were doing out there in a one-run game in the late innings, only Wilson knows.

At least the lineup depth showed. Brendan Donovan debuted with a homer and a double, and Luke Raley and Dominic Canzone homered as well. The latter indeed hit two absolute tanks, continuing an excellent run at the end of 2025.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.