Yandy Díaz has career-high 5 hits, drives in 4 runs as Rays beat Cardinals 11-7 behind Steven Matz

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Yandy Díaz singled four times, doubled and drove in four runs, and Steven Matz notched the victory against his former team as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11-7 on Sunday to avoid a season-opening sweep.

Jonathan Aranda added three hits and two RBIs, and Cedric Mullins also drove in two as the top three in the Rays' lineup combined for nine hits and eight RBIs.

Díaz, Aranda and Mullins strung together consecutive two-out RBI doubles against Dustin May (0-1) in the fourth inning to push Tampa Bay's lead to 6-1. The Rays tacked on three runs in the eighth off Matthew Pushard in his big league debut, and Díaz had an infield RBI single in the ninth to match his career best with five hits.

Jordan Walker, Nolan Gorman and Pedro Pagés homered for St. Louis.

Matz (1-0) was making his first start since September 2024, when he lost his spot in the Cardinals’ rotation and got moved to the bullpen. He was traded to Boston in July and then signed with the Rays in the offseason.

Matz pitched five innings and gave up four runs on six hits, including a three-run homer by Walker. In the eighth, Gorman hit a solo shot and Pagés a two-run drive to cut the deficit to 9-7.

May lasted only four innings in his Cardinals debut, giving up six runs on 10 hits. He struck out three and gave up walk.

It was a breakthrough for the Rays, who had managed only one extra-base hit in their first two games despite racking up 23 singles. That was the most singles for any major league team in their first two games since at least 1900.

Rays RHP Nick Martinez and Brewers LHP Kyle Harrison will each making their first start for their new teams Monday at Milwaukee.

Cardinals RHP Kyle Leahy, who moved from the bullpen after starting the final game of 2025, starts Monday against Mets RHP Clay Holmes.

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Tampa Bay Rays' Yandy Díaz hits an RBI single in the second inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Dustin May (3) throws in the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, March 29, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)

St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Thomas Saggese catches a line drive hit by Tampa Bay Rays' Junior Caminero in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)

Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Richie Palacios throws out St. Louis Cardinals' Alec Burleson at first base in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Steven Matz throws in the first inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday, March 29, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Joe Puetz)

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly dipped in Monday morning trading as worries continued about soaring oil prices and the potential for further escalation in the U.S. war with Iran.

The drops in Asia follow the deep declines on Wall Street last Friday that finished off a fifth straight losing week, its longest such streak in nearly four years.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 4.5% in morning trading to 50,979.54. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.2% to 8,417.00. South Korea's Kospi dove 3.2% to 5,264.32. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1.7% to 24,519.63, while the Shanghai Composite shed 0.7% to 3,884.57.

Worries have been great in Japan and the rest of Asia about the effective lack of access to the Strait of Hormuz because of the war in Iran, as the region relies greatly on such access for oil shipments.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude jumped $2.28 to $101.92 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, soared $2.88 to $115.45 a barrel. Before the war, Brent had been priced at about $70 to a barrel.

Investors are now bracing for the war to last for some time, which would likely set off inflation in global markets, and eventually may stunt Asia's economic growth.

“Although we do not expect the conflict to be protracted, we anticipate heightened volatility in the near term,” said Xavier Lee, senior equity analyst at Morningstar Research.

Oil prices are again climbing after momentarily easing when President Donald Trump extended a self-imposed deadline to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants to April 6.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 1.7% to close its worst week since the war with Iran began. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 793 points, or 1.7%, and fell more than 10% from its record set last month, while the Nasdaq composite sank 2.1%.

The S&P 500 is 8.7% below its all-time high set in January. Big Tech stocks were among the heaviest weights on the market, including Amazon and Nvidia.

All told, the S&P 500 fell 108.31 points to 6,368.85 last Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 793.47 to 45,166.64, and the Nasdaq composite sank 459.72 to 20,948.36.

In the bond market, the yield for the 10-year Treasury rose as high as 4.48% before pulling back to end last week at 4.43%. That’s up from 4.42% late Thursday and from just 3.97% before the war began.

In currency trading, the U.S. dollar inched down to 159.97 Japanese yen from 160.32 yen. The euro cost $1.1505, down from $1.1510.

Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama

Workers walk in an area at a degassing station in Zubair oil field, whose operations have being reduced due to the Mideast war triggered by the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, near Basra, Iraq, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A person walks by an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index in Tokyo Monday, March 30, 2026. (Yusuke Hashizume/Kyodo News via AP)

A dealer walks near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won and the Korean Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (KOSDAQ) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Dealers work near the screens showing the foreign exchange rates at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Dealers work near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)