Baseball-Highlights of Sunday's MLB games

April 3 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Sunday's Major League Baseball games. Blue Jays 5, Rays 3 Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman pitched into the ninth inning on Opening Day, outdueling the Rays' Chris Archer, and Toronto pulled out a 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon at Tropicana Field. Stroman, at 5-foot-8 baseball's shortest Opening Day starting pitcher in 45 years, picked up where he left off at the end of last season, holding the Rays to one run on four hits before giving up two hits to open the ninth. He wound up charged with three runs in eight-plus innings. Pirates 4, Cardinals 1 Francisco Liriano struck out 10 in six scoreless innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 on Sunday in the first game of the 2016 Major League Baseball season. Liriano (1-0) tied the franchise record for strikeouts on opening day while allowing three hits, walking five and driving in the game's first run. The left-hander also had 10 strikeouts against the Chicago Cubs in 2014 to join a list that includes Bob Veale (1965), John Candelaria (1983) and A.J. Burnett (2013). Royals 4, Mets 3 Edinson Volquez pitched six scoreless innings, and Eric Hosmer stroked three singles and drove in a run as the Kansas City Royals held off the New York Mets 4-3 in the season opener Sunday night in a rematch of the 2015 World Series. Volquez, who was the starter for the decisive Game 5 of the World Series, allowed two hits, walked three and struck out five. Volquez (1-0) threw 62 strikes in 106 pitches.