Infielder Jake Cronenworth and the San Diego Padres have agreed to a seven-year, $80 million contract extension, multiple outlets reported Saturday.

According to ESPN, it is the biggest deal ever for a player of his age — 29 — who has less than four years of MLB service.

The contract, once official, will take effect in 2024. He is playing this season on a one-year, $4.225 million deal signed in January to avoid arbitration.

Cronenworth made his MLB debut on July 26, 2020. In 366 games with San Diego, he has a .255 batting average with 42 homers and 179 RBIs.

He made his second straight All-Star team in 2022 when he hit .239 but had 30 doubles, 17 home runs and 88 RBIs in 158 games.

After hitting .396 in 18 games this spring, he has started the season 0-for-8.

–Field Level Media

The Seattle Mariners acquired infielder/outfielder Nick Solak from the Cincinnati Reds for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Tacoma.

The Reds had designated Solak, 28, for assignment on Thursday, having never played a regular season game with the team.

Solak has appeared in 253 major league games, all with the Texas Rangers (2019-22). The Reds purchased his contract from the Rangers last November.

He has a career average of .252 with 21 home runs, 93 RBIs and 117 runs.

–Field Level Media

It would appear Cleveland’s Steven Kwan and Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez aren’t worried about any sophomore slumps.

Kwan finished third in the American League’s Rookie of the Year voting last season behind Rodriguez and Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman, Kwan’s former teammate at Oregon State.

Kwan went 2-for-4 with a double and matched his career high with five RBIs as the Guardians posted a 9-4 victory over the host Mariners on Friday night. Rodriguez went 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.

The Guardians and Mariners are scheduled to continue their four-game series on Saturday night in Seattle.

Kwan helped make sure the Guardians bounced back after being blanked 3-0 on Opening Night.

“In baseball, I feel like you’re always a little superstitious about getting that first (win) out of the way. Getting that first one feels really good,” Kwan said.

He had a sacrifice fly in the second inning and a tie-breaking two-run double in the fourth on Friday. Kwan added a two-run single in the fifth to become only the second player in franchise history to have five RBIs in one of the first two games of the season, joining Hall of Famer Larry Doby, who accomplished the feat in 1953.

“I don’t worry too much about him,” Guardians manager Terry Francona said of Kwan.

Cleveland got back to the style it used to win the American League Central title last season, largely by creating havoc on the basepaths. The Guardians took advantage of three Seattle errors and drew eight bases on balls.

“That’s our brand of baseball, and to see it go well is motivating for everyone going forward,” Kwan said.

Mariners manager Scott Servais said Friday’s game was one to forget.

“That was very uncharacteristic of how we usually play,” Servais said. “Certainly not our best night, the combination of the walks and a couple miscues in the field against a team that does a really good job of putting the ball in play. They did make it happen out on the field, and we didn’t respond great.”

Five of Cleveland’s runs were unearned.

“You’re not going to win that ballgame,” Servais said. “So we’ll let it go. We’ll come back (Saturday). I was hoping we’d win all 162 games, but there was a good chance that wasn’t going to happen. We just didn’t play a clean game.”

The Guardians’ bullpen was stellar, with five relievers combining for 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out nine. Right-hander Nick Sandlin (1-0) got the victory.

“Just one guy at a time, everyone trying to do their job when their name is called,” Sandlin said. “The lineup had everything going, a lot of traffic on the bases.”

Cleveland’s Aaron Civale (5-6, 4.92 ERA in 2022) is scheduled to take the mound Saturday against fellow right-hander Logan Gilbert (13-6, 3.20).

Civale is 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA in three career starts against Seattle, while Gilbert is 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA in the same number of starts vs. Cleveland.

–Field Level Media

The third game of the season Saturday night for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers will have an Opening Day feel about it.

A pair of legendary left-handers will rekindle their personal rivalry in Los Angeles when Madison Bumgarner takes the mound for the Diamondbacks opposite Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.

Although their head-to-head matchups number in the double digits, they’ve never met in a season opener. That chance was denied in 2018 when Bumgarner had a broken hand as a member of the San Francisco Giants.

And while they acknowledge having nothing but respect for each other, going head-to-head seems to bring out the best in the pitchers.

It certainly used to bring out the best in Bumgarner, the hitter, who crushed two home runs against his counterpart back when pitchers came to the plate. In fact, the last time Bumgarner squared off against Kershaw as a member of the Giants, it was as a pinch hitter in 2019. He lined out.

It will be all about their arms on Saturday as Kershaw begins his 16th season and Bumgarner his 15th. Their chances to take the same mound on the same day are running out.

Despite injury issues in recent seasons, including multiple back problems, Kershaw remains effective, going 12-3 with a 2.28 ERA in 22 starts last season while being named the National League’s starting pitcher in the All-Star Game. He is 20-11 with a 2.70 ERA in 41 career starts against Arizona.

In his final spring start last week, Kershaw had 10 of his 15 swing-and-misses on his slider.

“Overall, definitely a good step forward for me,” Kershaw said. “It’s time to go.”

Bumgarner struggled last season, going 7-15 with a 4.88 ERA in 30 starts. In three seasons with the Diamondbacks (65 starts), he has a 4.98 ERA. Bumgarner is 16-17 lifetime against the Dodgers with a 2.90 ERA in 41 appearances (40 starts).

The pair of lefties were witnesses Friday on how to control the opposing offense. The Diamondbacks pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Dodgers, not scoring until pinch hitter Kyle Lewis hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning. The Dodgers’ lone run came on a Mookie Betts home run in the seventh.

“I thought we did a nice job taking walks, so we had traffic,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after his team worked nine walks but went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. “Mookie hit an 0-2 slider, but outside of that, we really didn’t threaten.”

A pair of right-handers led the way for the Diamondbacks on Friday as Merrill Kelly did not allow a run in 3 2/3 innings, although he did walk four, while Drey Jameson followed with one run over four innings to pick up the victory.

The duo combined for nine strikeouts and kept the game close for Lewis to perform his heroics.

“I felt like when you pinch hit, it’s an interesting role,” Lewis said on Bally Sports Arizona. “I just tried not to come in and save the day. I just wanted to keep the line moving. That’s what I was telling myself, to just keep it simple, put a good short swing on it, and I was able to do that.”

–Field Level Media

Excuse Colorado manager Bud Black for scoreboard-watching Saturday night as the Rockies look for a third straight road win over the San Diego Padres to open the season.

Black is a graduate of San Diego State. The former Aztecs pitcher is a member of San Diego State’s Hall of Fame.

On Saturday afternoon, San Diego State plays Florida Atlantic in the Aztecs’ first visit to the NCAA basketball Final Four. Black, who lives in San Diego during the offseason, has Aztecs basketball season tickets.

The Rockies and Padres will start the third game of a four-game series around the time that the Aztecs-Owls game might be ending.

“I’m thrilled for all of us,” Black said of San Diego State fans. “To be here when the Aztecs are in the Final Four, it’s awesome. … It’s such good stuff.”

Last Sunday, Black was managing the Rockies in a spring training game in Arizona while the Aztecs were defeating Creighton to reach the NCAA championship round.

“Full disclosure,” Black said. “I saw the second half up to the 11-minute mark. But there were some Rockies fans behind our dugout who knew my connection to San Diego State and kept giving me updates.”

Black won’t have to look hard to follow the Aztecs on Saturday. The Padres are having a watch party at Petco Park before the first pitch of the baseball game.

Then, the Padres will try to earn their first win of the season as right-hander Michael Wacha makes his team debut against Rockies right-hander Jose Urena.

“We haven’t hit our stride,” San Diego manager Bob Melvin said Friday night after his team fell 4-1 to Colorado. “It’s a small sample. We wanted to get off to a good start and it hasn’t happened.”

In the two games, the Rockies have outscored the Padres 11-3 and have out-hit them 26-12. Colorado has four homers, and San Diego has none.

Xander Bogaerts and Ha-Seong Kim each have two singles and two doubles for the Padres. The rest of the team is a collective 4 for 48 (.083).

Wacha, 31, signed with the Padres as a free agent in February after going 11-2 with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.115 WHIP in 23 starts for the Boston Red Sox last year. He held opponents to a .233 batting average while striking out 104 and walking 31 in 127 1/3 innings.

In three spring training starts for the Padres, Wacha posted a 3.97 ERA over 11 1/3 innings.

Wacha is 1-2 in his career against the Rockies with a 5.18 ERA in 33 innings over seven games (six starts). He has not faced the Rockies since 2019 when he was pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Urena, 31, was 3-8 with a 5.14 ERA and a 1.567 WHIP in 17 starts for the Rockies last season. He was 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts against San Diego in 2022.

Urena owns a 1-4 record and a 3.72 ERA in seven career starts against the Padres. He is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in three starts at Petco Park.

–Field Level Media

Jorge Soler slugged a homer and made a run-saving diving catch in right field, leading the host Miami Marlins to a 2-1 win over the New York Mets on Friday night.

It was the first Marlins win for new manager Skip Schumaker.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit Miami’s second solo homer of the night, and Jesus Luzardo (1-0) earned the win with 5 2/3 scoreless innings. Garrett Cooper had another big game for Miami, going 3-for-4. A.J. Puk made his Marlins debut and earned the save.

Pete Alonso led New York with a homer in the ninth. Mets starter David Peterson (0-1) took the loss, allowing just one run in five innings.

Astros 6, White Sox 3

Yordan Alvarez delivered a go-ahead, bases-clearing double in the seventh inning and Kyle Tucker hit a two-run home run to boost host Houston to a win against Chicago.

Houston evened the season-opening series with Chicago at one game apiece after the White Sox won 3-2 on Thursday. Seth Martinez (1-0) was the winner with an inning of scoreless relief, and Rafael Montero worked around a single in the ninth to earn the save.

Yoan Moncada had three hits and an RBI for Chicago, and Eloy Jimenez had two hits and two RBIs. Tim Anderson added a pair of hits.

Diamondbacks 2, Dodgers 1

Pinch hitter Kyle Lewis belted a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning as visiting Arizona rallied past Los Angeles.

Right-handers Merrill Kelly and Drey Jameson combined to give up one run over 7 2/3 innings for Arizona. Jameson (1-0) yielded the run on two hits with three walks and five strikeouts to earn the win. Andrew Chafin picked up his first save of the season.

The Dodgers’ Mookie Betts delivered the game’s first run with a seventh-inning homer. Los Angeles right-hander Dustin May went seven scoreless innings for Los Angeles, in the longest outing of his career, giving up three hits and one walk while striking out four.

Guardians 9, Mariners 4

Steven Kwan matched a career high with five RBIs as Cleveland defeated host Seattle.

Kwan had a sacrifice fly in the second inning, a tiebreaking two-run double in the fourth and a two-run single in the fifth. Five Guardians relievers combined for 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out nine. Right-hander Nick Sandlin (1-0) got the victory.

Mariners starter Robbie Ray (0-1) lasted just 3 1/3 innings. The left-hander allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits and five walks with three strikeouts.

Rockies 4, Padres 1

Charlie Blackmon and Kyle Freeland continued their domination of the Padres, leading visiting Colorado to a victory.

Left-hander Freeland shut out the Padres on three hits and a walk with one strikeout over six innings to earn the win. Blackmon hit a two-run homer and scored twice.

Ha-Seong Kim had three of the Padres’ five hits and scored the Padres’ lone run in the bottom of the eighth.

–Field Level Media

You can feel the critics ready to pounce.

Perhaps, they might say sarcastically, the New York Mets needed to spend more than the value of their $335 million-plus payroll.

Of course, there are still 160 games left in the regular season, but the Mets — the most expensive team in baseball — know the spotlight will be on them for the entire 2023 campaign.

So far, the Mets have split two games with the host Miami Marlins, and the third of four contests in the series is set for Saturday afternoon.

The Marlins, with a relatively meager $81 million payroll, according to Spotrac, will look to young right-hander Edward Cabrera to give them a series lead.

New York will start right-hander Tylor Megill, who has moved up from the bullpen to the third slot in the rotation due to injuries. Two Mets’ starting pitchers are already on the injured list — Justin Verlander and Jose Quintana.

“It’s unfortunate with what happened,” Megill said, “but I’m here to do my thing and help the guys out. There are a lot of emotions. I’m here to compete.”

Megill, 27, has pitched just two games and six innings against Miami, going 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA.

Overall last season, he went 4-2 with a 5.13 ERA in 15 games (nine starts). He had a stellar April, going 4-0 with a 1.93 ERA in five starts, and the Mets hope to get him back to that form.

Cabrera, who will turn 25 on April 13, is 1-1 with a 7.20 ERA in four career games against the Mets.

Cabrera finished 6-4 with a 3.01 ERA in 14 starts last year. He improved everything from his rookie season of 2021, when he went 0-3 with a 5.81 ERA in seven starts. His hits allowed per nine innings decreased from 8.2 to 5.5, and his homers yielded dwindled from 2.1 to 1.3. His walks were down, too, from 6.5 to 4.1.

He will take the mound with the Marlins at .500 thanks to the heroics of Jorge Soler on Friday. The right fielder led Miami to a 2-1 win by hitting a solo homer and making a run-saving catch.

Skip Schumaker, who earned his first win as Marlins manager, said Soler “looked good all around,” including on his diving catch that robbed Starling Marte of a hit that would’ve tied the score in the eighth inning.

“(Soler) had good swings and good at-bats,” Schumaker said. “On the ball hit by Marte, (Soler) got a good jump. If that ball gets by him, who knows where Marte ends up.”

Marlins starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo, who earned the win on Friday, said the other teammates were giving Soler the comically royal treatment in the dugout.

“We were messing around, calling him MVP,” Luzardo said.

Meanwhile, several big-time Mets hitters are off to slow starts, including center fielder Brandon Nimmo, who in December signed an eight-year, $162 million contract; shortstop Francisco Lindor, who is on a 10-year, $341 million deal; and first baseman Pete Alonso, who is due a huge contract soon after averaging 43.3 homers in his three full seasons.

Nimmo and Lindor are both 1-for-6, and Alonso is 1-for-8, though he homered on Friday.

–Field Level Media

Houston Astros right-hander Jose Urquidy will oppose the visiting Chicago White Sox on Saturday, making the first of what he hopes will be many starts this season.

After detouring to the bullpen during Houston’s run to the 2022 World Series title, Urquidy isn’t eager to go back.

“That’s my priority. That’s my goal,” Urquidy said. “Be in the rotation, have a full workload and pitch every five days.”

Urquidy will aim to help Houston secure at least a split of the season-opening series against Chicago.

After edging the defending World Series champions 3-2 on Opening Day Thursday, the White Sox were unable to hold a three-run lead in the late stages Friday. Houston rallied for a 6-3 victory, scoring each of its runs across the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Yordan Alvarez provided the key hit, delivering a go-ahead, three-run triple in the seventh inning to give Houston a 5-3 advantage.

Urquidy went 13-8 with a 3.94 ERA in 29 appearances last season, including 28 starts. He faded as the season wore on, however, pitching to a 5.01 ERA in four September starts.

A more diligent offseason training regimen helped Urquidy reset after he contributed out of the bullpen in October.

“Really taking care of my food and sleeping well and doing the right things,” he said. “Working hard, doing my workouts, it helps me feel great.”

Coming off his second straight 11-9 season, right-hander Lucas Giolito is slated to get the start for the White Sox. Giolito pitched to a 4.90 ERA in 30 starts last season, nearly 1 1/2 runs higher than his 3.53 mark in 31 starts in 2021.

It was a disappointing 2022 season for the White Sox overall, as the team underachieved on the heels of back-to-back postseason appearances.

Giolito is eager for a bounce-back season, and his first opportunity to that end comes against an Astros team that traditionally has hit him well.

Giolito lost his both of his starts against Houston last season, allowing 15 runs on 15 hits in eight innings. In seven career starts vs. the Astros, Giolito is 2-5 with a 6.21 ERA, having served up seven home runs in 42 innings.

The White Sox have benefited from strong starts by some of their offensive stalwarts. Leadoff man Tim Anderson has produced two hits and a walk in each of the first two contests, Yoan Moncada collected three hits on Friday, and Eloy Jimenez contributed two RBIs doubles in the second game to plate both of the game’s first two runs.

“We’re 1-1. That’s it,” Chicago right-hander Lance Lynn said. “It’s two games in. Everybody is playing hard and that’s all you ask.”

Urquidy is 1-0 with a 1.84 ERA in two career starts against Chicago, with 10 hits allowed and nine strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings. He faced the White Sox once last season, taking a no-decision after permitting one run and six hits in 7 2/3 innings during a home outing on Aug. 15. Urquidy didn’t issue a walk while registering four strikeouts.

–Field Level Media