Major League Baseball

MLB Opening Day: D-backs walk it off against Padres

Updated Apr. 8, 2022 1:53 a.m. ET

The 2022 MLB season is officially here.

After being delayed due to a lockout, the season began Thursday with seven games on the schedule.

The Chicago Cubs, the Kansas City Royals, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cincinnati Reds and the New York Mets came out with wins early. Later, the Arizona Diamondbacks got a thrilling walk-off victory over the San Diego Padres, and the Houston Astros defeated the Los Angeles Angels.

Here are the top moments from Opening Day.

San Diego Padres 2, Arizona Diamondbacks 4

Setting the tone

The Padres jumped out to an early lead after a walk in the third inning brought home one run, and an RBI in the fourth inning brought in the second run.

The Diamondbacks, who didn't have a base hit through six innings, trailed 2-0 early.

Beer me!

On National Beer Day, Seth Beer indeed came to the rescue in the bottom of the ninth. With two men on base and down by a run, Beer cracked a walk-off home run. What a way to start the year.

Houston Astros 3, Los Angeles Angels 1

Sho-time!

Two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, last year's AL Most Valuable Player, started things off with a bang:

'Stros strike first

Alex Bregman had the first RBI of the season, as the Astros took a 1-0 lead at the top of the third inning.

Back-to-back

Houston brought in a couple more runs in the top of the eighth inning off of back-to-back homers from Bregman and Yordan Alvarez.

Cincinnati Reds 6, Atlanta Braves 3

Seeing red

Newly minted first baseman Matt Olson got a standing ovation during his first at-bat, as the world champion Braves began their title defense run.

But it was the Reds who jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in this one.

Don't blink!

Marcell Ozuna lined out to Mets pitcher Tyler Mahle on this absolutely wild catch:

See ya!

Reds first baseman Brandon Drury hit a three-run homer — the first Reds home run of the season — to give Cincinnati a commanding 6-0 lead in the sixth inning.

Braves on the board

The Braves avoided a shutout when Eddie Rosario scored on a throwing error by the Mets. Then, Austin Riley brought in two more runs with this homer:

It wasn't enough to pull off the comeback, however, and things ended there.

New York Mets 5, Washington Nationals 1

Keepin' it 100

Mets reliever Tylor Megill set the tone early with his 100th career strikeout in the first inning.

Denied

Mets first baseman Pete Alonso wasn't able to outrun a rocket from Victor Robles, and he was thrown out at home to keep things scoreless as the fourth inning got underway.

Taking one for the team

The Mets' got on the board after a James McCann hit-by-pitch sent Robinson Canó home.

Mets on the move

New York followed that up with another quick score to jump out to a 2-0 lead headed into the sixth inning.

Then, the Mets extended their lead on back-to-back hits at the top of the sixth inning.

Nationals on the board

The Nationals avoided a shutout, thanks to a Juan Soto home run, but things ended there.

St. Louis Cardinals 9, Pittsburgh Pirates 0

Last Opening Day

For one last time, Yadier Molina and Albert Pujols took the field together on Opening Day.

Making a statement

Tyler O'Neil certainly made an entrance with this bomb. The Cardinals went on to shut out the Pirates, 9-0.

Kansas City Royals 3, Cleveland Guardians 1

Grand opening

The Royals' top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. made his debut, and the home crowd made sure he felt the love.

More of the usual

José Ramírez recorded 103 RBI last season, and he picked up where he left off on Opening Day.

The arrival

Witt Jr. didn't take long to show why he is so highly touted as a prospect, coming through in the clutch to give the Royals a 2-1 lead in his debut. Kansas City indeed held on to win, 3-1.

Chicago Cubs 5, Milwaukee Brewers 4

One K

The first strikeout of the year is on the board, and it belongs to Kyle Hendricks.

A cannon

Omar Narvaez sent an early message to the rest of the league about trying to steal bases when he's behind the plate on this throw-out:

First time for everything

The first hit of the season belonged to Andrew McCutchen, and it also happened to be his first hit as a Brewer.

Up, Up and Away!

The Cubs took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to a two-run homer from Nico Hoerner.

So that Happ-ened

The Brewers were able to tie the game in the top of the seventh inning. That meant nothing to Ian Happ, who immediately gave the Cubs a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the inning with this two-run double.

That would prove to be enough for the Cubs to hold on and win their first game of the season.