It was a big day in Philadelphia on March 31, as highly-touted pitching prospect Andrew Painter made his MLB debut for the Phillies. And he did not disappoint, as Painter pitched very well and helped lead the team to a victory against the Washington Nationals.
Painter gets first MLB win
The Phillies defeated the Nationals on March 31. Andrew Painter picked up his first Major League win, while Jhoan Duran notched the save.
Painter didn’t get a ton of swings and misses in this game, as his Whiff% for this game was just a shade over 23%. However, he did get a lot of called strikes, which is why Painter was able to strike out eight batters in his MLB debut.
Kyle Schwarber hit his second home run of the season on the 31st, while Adolis Garcia hit his first as a Phillie.
Rangers improve to 4-1
The Texas Rangers won 8-5 against the Orioles on March 31st.
Jacob deGrom cruised during the early parts of this game. However, deGrom didn’t make it through five in this game, which was his first of the year after Texas pushed him back due to neck tightness. Pete Alonso hit his first home run as an Oriole off his old Mets teammate, while Gunnar Henderson picked up a two-run double in the fifth.
Texas’ offense, though, came through. Home runs from Danny Jansen and Corey Seager lifted the Rangers.
Rays lose in McClanahan’s return
Thanks to numerous injuries, Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan hadn’t pitched in an MLB game since 2023 — until today. The left-hander made his 2026 season debut against the Brewers, and it was an interesting contest.
Milwaukee won 6-2 in a game that featured multiple overturned calls, most notably a tag play that gave the Brewers what would be the game-winning run in the contest.
Getting back to McClanahan, the left-hander hit 97 MPH and struck out four over 4.2 IP (21.2% Whiff%).
Brandon Woodruff (23.5% Whiff%) struck out six over five innings to earn his first win of the year.
A’s get first 2026 win
Aaron Civale tossed five innings to earn his first win of the year and the Athletics’ first victory of 2026. Civale didn’t miss many whiffs (19.5% Whiff%) and struck out three. However, he got a lot of groundballs.
Shea Langeliers, a former Braves prospect, hit his fourth home run of the season.
Drake Baldwin hit his third home run of the year.
Red Sox go to 1-4
The Red Sox lost 9-2 to the Astros on March 31, which pushed Boston to a 1-4 record.
Yordan Alvarez took Brayan Bello deep in the fifth inning for his third home run of the season. Bello was in trouble all night, as although his stuff was getting swing-and-miss, the right-hander walked three and conceded eight hits.
Carlos Correa, Cam Smith, and Christian Walker all had multi-hit games for the Astros.
Boston is 0-4 since the team won on Opening Day.
Other notes
Two home runs from Oneil Cruz, one of which was a 111.1 MPH bullet, plus homers from Ryan O’Hearn and Bryan Reynolds, helped the Pirates beat the Reds 8-3.
Owen Caissie and Griffin Conine each drove in two runs for the Marlins. Miami defeated the White Sox 9-2.
Max Scherzer tossed six quality innings to help the Blue Jays win 5-1 over the Rockies.
Jose Soriano and the Angels beat the Cubs 2-0. Soriano tossed six scoreless innings and kept his ERA at 0.00.
The Cardinals shut out the Mets 3-0.
Rookie Jose Fernandez hit his first two home runs for the Diamondbacks. who won 7-5 over the Tigers.
Logan Webb navigated trouble, including four walks, to help the Giants beat the Padres 9-3.
Max Fried tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out six for the Yankees. New York (AL) beat Seattle 5-0.
Shohei Ohtani (31.4% Whiff%) struck out six over six scoreless innings for the Dodgers. Los Angeles won 4-1 to improve to 4-1.
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