Konnor Griffin shines in his debut as the Pirates hold off the Orioles 5-4

He laced a double to center field off Kyle Bradish (0-2) in the bottom of the second, then showcased his speed while racing home on a single to shallow right field by Jared Triolo. The teenager, the youngest player to make his major league debut at shortstop since Alex Rodriguez did it at 18 for Seattle in 1994, also drew a walk and handled all of his defensive chances without an issue as the Pirates won their third straight. Griffin became the first Pirate under 20 to reach base twice in his debut since Bobby Del Greco in 1952.

The sellout crowd at PNC Park, which opened 25 years ago, or a full half-decade before Griffin was born on April 24, 2006, roared when Griffin was introduced during the pregame ceremony. The roars drew even louder when he took an 85 mph curveball from Bradish and sent it rocketing to the fence in center field. Triolo, who moved from short to third after Griffin’s promotion, had a pair of hits and his first RBI of the season.

Ryan O’Hearn, Henry Davis and Oneil Cruz also drove in runs for the Pirates. Mitch Keller (1-0) allowed two runs and six hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Gregory Soto gave up a solo home run to Gunnar Henderson with two outs in the ninth, but rebounded by striking out former New York Mets teammate Pete Alonso to pick up his first save with Pittsburgh.

YANKEES 8, MARLINS 2 NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the first inning, and New York beat Miami in its home opener for its second 6-1 start in three seasons. Trent Grisham reached leading off with the first of 11 walks by Marlins pitchers and Judge drove a slider into the left-field seats against Eury Pérez (0-1). Judge, who had three RBIs, hit a record 20 first-inning home runs last year , when he finished with 53.