Sonny Gray pitched seven strong innings, Mark Canha homered and the Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 Wednesday night.
Gray, scratched from the opening-day start because of a stomach flu, gave up a run on three hits, walking four and striking out five.
John Axford pitched a scoreless eighth and Ryan Madsen got the final three outs for his first save. Madsen's last four saves have come against the White Sox.
Chicago starter Carlos Rodon gave up two runs on seven hits over seven innings. He walked one and stuck out six.
Jed Lowrie also had an RBI for the A's and Jimmy Rollins drove in a run for Chicago.
Adam Eaton singled twice and walked, reaching base safely in 25 consecutive games dating to last Sept. 9.
>>Pirates Sweep Cardinals in Season Opening Series
Juan Nicasio pitched six dominant innings and Francisco Cevelli hit a two-run double as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 Wednesday night to sweep an opening three-game series between the teams with the best regular-season records in the major leagues last year.
Nicasio gave up one run and two hits while striking out seven and walking none.
Cervelli's two-run double capped a three-run fourth inning that pushed the Pirates' lead to 4-0 and ended the Cardinals' debut of Mike Leake (0-1), who allowed four runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Mark Melancon retired the only batter he faced for his first save.
Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte had two hits each for the Pirates and pinch-hitter Sean Rodriguez hit an RBI double in the sixth inning to cap the scoring.
St. Louis rookie Jeremy Hazlebaker hit his first career home run leading off the sixth.
The Redbirds open a three-game set with the Braves in Atlanta on Friday.
>>Cardinals Prospect Gonzales To Start Season On DL
LHP Marco Gonzales, a first-round draft pick in 2013, will begin the season on the disabled list at Triple-A Memphis with elbow discomfort.
He is expected to get a second opinion with a visit to orthopedist Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Thursday or Friday in Los Angeles.
Gonzales pitched in 11 games for the Cardinals over the last two seasons, six of which were starts, and was 4-2 with a 4.82 ERA.
