AROUND THE HORN | Sunday’s MLB games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Indians: Catcher Roberto Perez and the Cleveland Indians have agreed to a $9 million, four-year contract that includes club options for 2021 and 2022. After spending nearly three months on the disabled list following thumb surgery, Perez became a key contributor last season during the Indians’ postseason run. With Yan Gomes on the DL, the 28-year-old Perez started all 15 games in the postseason. He hit two home runs in Game 1 of the World Series. The deal announced Sunday includes a $500,000 signing bonus and salaries of $550,000 this season, $1.5 million next year, $2.5 million in 2018 and $3.5 million in 2019 and a $450,000 option buyout.

Rays 7, Yankees 3

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.

Chris Archer pitched seven solid innings and the Tampa Bay Rays won the first game of the new Major League Baseball season, roughing up Masahiro Tanaka. Evan Longoria and Logan Morrison homered and drove in three runs apiece before a sellout crowd of 31,042 at Tropicana Field on opening day. Tanaka, who had baseball’s ERA in spring training, was tagged for a career-worst seven earned runs in 22/3 innings. A first-time All-Star in 2015 who lost an AL-leading 19 times last season, Archer limited New York to two runs and seven hits. He narrowly escaped a bases-loaded jam and turned a five-run lead over to a revamped bullpen. Closer Alex Colome replaced rookie Austin Pruitt with the bases loaded in the ninth, yielding a sacrifice fly to pinch hitter Chris Carter before finishing for a save.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cardinals 4, Cubs 3

ST. LOUIS

Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and a game-ending RBI single in the ninth, helping St. Louis win a wild prime-time opener. Jose Martinez sparked the winning rally with a pinch-hit double against Mike Montgomery, who closed out Chicago’s World Series championship in November.

Yadier Molina then was awarded the first no-pitch intentional walk in major league history, part of baseball’s offseason rule changes designed to speed up the game. With two outs and the bases loaded, Grichuk lined a 1-2 pitch into the gap in left-center for his second career game-ending hit. He was mobbed as he rounded first in the rain, and what was left of a sellout crowd of 47,566 cheered wildly. Diamondbacks 6, Giants 5

PHOENIX

Chris Owings singled home the winning run and the Arizona Diamondbacks scored twice with two outs in the ninth inning off new San Francisco closer Mark Melancon. Derailed by a dreadful bullpen last year, the Giants started this season the same way — even after trying to fix the problem by bringing in Melancon on a $62 million, four-year contract as a free agent. They wasted a record-breaking performance by pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who homered twice and retired his first 16 batters.

Associated Press