12-0
Jose Ramirez of the Indians was already on an absurd spree of extra-base hits when, on Monday, he decided to collect a triple and two doubles as part of a 10-XBH team outburst and a 12-0 victory at Camden Yards. That made him the first player since (at least) 1900 to have 14 extra-base hits in a seven-game span, and also the first Clevelander with a double in seven straight games.
Amazingly, Ramirez managed to not drive in any runs with those three extra-base hits, the first Indians batter with a triple, two doubles, and zero RBI since Brad Komminsk did it against the Mariners on August 24, 1989. All told Cleveland piled up 10 XBH, the team's most ever in a game in Baltimore (either stadium) since the Browns moved there and became the Orioles in 1954.
Thanks to Corey Kluber, the Indians didn't actually need all those extra-base hits and runs. However, Kluber became the first Cleveland pitcher to hurl an individual shutout with 11 strikeouts, in a game the Indians won by 12 runs, since Herb Score did it against the Senators on June 2, 1956. (Score also walked eight but somehow avoided any of them scoring.)
The 12-0 final score matched the Indians' largest-ever shutout in the Charm City; Sonny Seibert threw a complete-game 3-hitter at Memorial Stadium on May 10, 1968.
And here at Kernels we always feel bad for the one player who's left out of such offensive outbursts (and most of the time there is one). On Monday it was Francisco Lindor, whose 0-for-6 was a first for a Cleveland leadoff hitter when the team scored 12 runs since Jerry Dybzinski did it against the Twins on June 15, 1980.
9-0 and 12-11
The Braves had an innocent-looking 2-0 lead on the Giants going to the 8th inning on Monday before the wheels fell off. Josh Osich got two groundouts but issued two walks (one intentional, to Matt Kemp) and an RBI single before Derek Law was summoned.
(Sidebar: Someone really needs to get Derek Law, Aaron Judge, and Red Sox triple-A guy Ryan Court all together on one team. Or at least in a "SportsCenter" commercial. Make this happen.)
The Law, unfortunately, was not on the Giants' side on this night; Derek became the first Giants pitcher to face at least six batters and get none of them out since Chris Hook, well, got the hook against Pittsburgh on September 16, 1995. Atlanta's 7-run inning was its biggest of the season, and the 9-0 final was (really) the biggest shutout dropped by the Braves against the Giants since September 15, 1975, at Candlestick Park (12-0).
The Braves then topped their 7-run inning with an 8-run 5th on Thursday as they won a wild finale with the Giants, 12-11. It was the team's first 8-run frame since April 19, 2011, at Dodger Stadium, the longest drought in the majors by nearly 3½ years. The Cardinals were the next-least-recent team to have an 8-run inning, and theirs was in the 2014 Division Series.
Lane Adams, batting in the pitcher's spot, had a three-run pinch-hit homer as part of that frame, the first such homer for the Braves since... Danny Santana did it in Monday's 7-run inning. The last time the Braves had a pair of three- or four-run pinch-hit homers in the same week was way back in July 1945; outfielder Butch Nieman hit both of those.
The Giants rallied for five runs in the last two innings, but stranded both the tying and go-ahead runs on base. The last time they stranded both runs in such a high-scoring affair was August 25, 2010, when Andres Torres, like Hunter Pence on Thursday, grounded to second for a 12-11 loss (this one to Cincinnati).
And the last time the Giants scored 11 runs against the Braves but still lost was on April 19, 1951, when the teams were still New York and Boston. Earl Torgeson's single gave the Braves a 13-12, 10-inning walkoff.
8-1
Okay, that part's not unusual. But what if we added "(F/11)"? The Cardinals and Phillies were tied 1-1 after regulation on Tuesday before St. Louis went on a seven-run spree in the top of the 11th, including a pair of two-run homers from Yadier Molina and Tommy Pham. Those two were the first Cardinals teammates to homer in the same extra inning since Skip Schumaker and Scott Rolen did it in Atlanta on July 22, 2007. (Both of those were also multi-run homers, though they "only" finished the inning with 5 runs.)
The game marked the first time the Cardinals had scored 7 or more, in an inning numbered 11 or higher, since beating the Boston Braves 10-3 on the final weekend of the 1928 campaign.
Pham would have two more homers on Wednesday as the Cardinals won another extra-inning affair, 7-6. He also contributed two outfield assists, gunning down Aaron Altherr at home in the 4th, and actually sending the game to extras by throwing out Odubel Herrera at the plate in the bottom of the 9th with what would have been a walkoff. He's the 14th player (and first Cardinal) in major-league history to have two homers and two outfield assists in the same game, the last being Jose Guillen of the Royals on June 7, 2008.
12-3 and 18-3
Despite only having the fifth-best run differential in the majors, the Nationals have put up a variety of weird numbers this year, including a 16-5, a 15-12, and a 23-5. Tuesday's 12-3 win in Miami was fairly tame, aside from the fact that those 12 runs were scored by six different players who had exactly two each. Thanks to all those high-scoring games, that was already the third time this year that the Nats had six players with multiple runs, setting a franchise record. It happened three times total in the 13 previous seasons dating to 2004.
It was also the team's seventh game with 12 total runs scored, tying the all-time mark set just two years ago. That would be fairly impressive if it were September. But this happened on June 20. The last team with seven 12-run games by June 20 was the 2011 Red Sox (who also got their seventh on that date), and the last with eight by the 24th was the 2007 Tigers.
Yes, four days later on Saturday, the Nats did it again, this time hanging an 18-3 in our matrix. The last 18-3 game in the majors was on September 11, 2013 (Oakland over Minnesota), and every X-to-3 score up to 18 has now been achieved this year. The last season that happened was 2002. And the Nats are the first team to have an 18-run game and a 23-run game (exactly) in the same season since the 1943 Brooklyn Dodgers.
Trea Turner got everything started; although he didn't homer, the Nats' leadoff man collected five hits and scored four of the 18 runs. He's just the third leadoff batter in franchise history with that line, joining Denard Span (April 18, 2015 at Atlanta) and Tim Raines (August 16, 1987, versus Pittsburgh). Span's game being on the road, and Raines's team being in Montréal, the last leadoff batter to post that line in Washington was one Bubba Phillips of the White Sox, who did it against the original Senators on May 16, 1957.
Michael Taylor also chipped in four hits and four runs scored, making he and Turner the second teammates in franchise history to do it in the same game. The other pair was Gary Carter and Larry Parrish in a 19-0 beatdown of the Braves on July 30, 1978. If you look closely at our matrix below, you'll see 19-0 was last done in 2002 (by the Angels), but that 1978 contest is the last 19-0 before that.
And being that the Reds have only been coming to Washington since 2005, because the previous two teams were in the American League, Saturday also marked Cincinnati's worst loss in the nation's capital since June 7, 1892, when the National League Senators (who were disbanded after finishing a combined 101½ games out in 1898 and 1899) collected 31 hits and beat them 20-2.
The Nationals have inspired us to create The Matrix of every final score in MLB history and the last time it happened. (It doesn't even fit in one screenshot, but if we can figure out how to make it HTML-friendly, we'll post it here. Promise.) Dark green is this year, light green last year, then the yellows.
The lowest score that has never happened in MLB history is a 15-15 tie. The lowest missing score that would result in a decision is 19-18.
25 or 6 to 4
The "twenty" part is meant to modify both numbers, as in "25 to 4" or "26 to 4". If you can make out the matrix above, neither of those has happened in MLB since 1899. Intermission!
(For you purists who want the original, here. But no freaky video with it.)
16-5
Ridiculous scores at Coors Field are no surprise to anyone at this point, and the Diamondbacks won by this score there on Wednesday. However, if it looks a little familiar, that's because it's the third 16-5 game already this season, and the second just in Denver. The Nationals posted the first one back on April 27 (the other was Mets over Braves on May 3); it's the first time there have been three 16-5 games in a season since 2010. However, the Coors Field scoreboard operator(s) are the first to see that same final twice in a season since their counterparts at Crosley Field in Cincinnati in 1955. The Reds beat both Pennsylvania teams by that score that season (Phillies June 26, Pirates July 29).
The other interesting part of Wednesday's game was that the "1" in the Diamondbacks' "16" all came in one inning. The 4th was the third 10-run inning in Arizona's 20-season history, and actually the first time they've scored exactly 10 in a frame. They had an 11-run 2nd against the Phillies in 2015 and a team-record 13 runs in the 4th on April 11, 2010, versus Pittsburgh. That "10" filled out the Diamondbacks' version of a bingo card as well; they have already (on June 21!) scored every number from 0 through 10 in some inning this season. The last team to do that was the 2009 Yankees (and, yes, their season turned out okay).
And despite Coors Field's reputation, only two of those 16 runs came on homers; Nick Ahmed's two-run shot in the 7th was the D'backs' only longball in the game. Only once before had Arizona scored 16 runs in a game with a maximum of one homer; that was August 2, 1999, when they topped the Giants 16-6 at (then) Bank One Ballpark, and the tater was by Bernard Gilkey.
10-6
The Mets and Dodgers threw this score together in a Monday slugfest that featured eight home runs, one shy of the Dodger Stadium record for a game (set against the Cardinals in 2003). It was the first time in Mets history that they'd homered four times at Dodger Stadium and lost.
Jose Reyes became the third individual Met with two homers in a Dodger Stadium loss, joining Victor Diaz (August 12, 2005) and the great Dave Kingman (July 17, 1982).
Clayton Kershaw got the win despite all those Mets bombs. Only one other pitcher in the modern era (1900) has given up six runs and four homers, but also struck out 10 and won the game, and he was also a Dodger. Ben Wade did it in a 12-7 complete-game (!) victory against the Pirates on May 17, 1952. Three others had done it with only the "4 HR" qualifier, but in those cases all the homers were solo shots and they ended with less than six total runs allowed.
Zack Wheeler gave up three homers of his own and, unlike Kershaw, didn't come back out for the 3rd inning. He's the fifth starter in Mets history to give up seven earned runs and three homers while getting six or fewer outs. Tommy Milone did it back on May 21, marking the first time two Mets have done it in a season. The others were Pat Misch (2009), Steve Trachsel (2003), and Jack Fisher (1966).
It would end up being just the second game ever played at Dodger Stadium where both starters gave up six runs and three homers. Woody Williams of the Cardinals "matched" Odalis Perez in a 10-7 St. Louis victory on July 20, 2003.
12-0 (reprise)
The next day was another Mets-Dodgers slugfest, although it was only one team doing the slugging. And mostly one player, as Corey Seager smacked three home runs and a double, collected six RBIs, and was stranded on deck to end the game. The double didn't score any runs; instead that "6" was a combination of a three-run homer, a two-run homer, and a solo shot. Like Scooter Gennett just a couple weeks ago, Seager could have had the chance at the never-attained "home run cycle" had Logan Forsythe singled (walked, been plunked, whatever) to load the bases for him. Instead Forsythe struck out looking, making Seager the first 3-HR hitter stranded on deck to end the game (i.e., missing the shot at his fourth) since Kendrys Morales in September 2015.
Seager also became just the fourth Dodger ever to miss the home-run cycle by the slam, joining Yasmani Grandal (last July 8), Andre Ethier (June 26, 2009), and Duke Snider (June 1, 1955).
The score matched the Dodgers'-- who of course were one of the New York teams for their first 75 years or so-- largest shutout ever against a(nother) New York team. They also hung a 12-0 on the (then-New York) Giants on April 19, 1940, at Ebbets Field.
And that 12-0 score came one day after the Indians/Orioles 12-0 score that started this post. The last time that score popped up on back-to-back days was June 17 and 18, 1928! (To be fair, it has happened twice on the same day since then.)
12-6
The Dodgers finished off their homestand with a bizarre wild-pitch-fest on Sunday which resulted in a 12-6 victory. The score wasn't that unusual, but Adam Ottavino entered in the 7th with a 6-4 lead. He promptly walked the bases loaded and then uncorked two wild pitches that scored all three runners and gave the Dodgers the lead. In the 8th, Ottavino surrendered a leadoff double to Joc Pederson, then bounced two more wild pitches-- scoring Pederson and Chris Taylor who walked-- before Cody Bellinger hit his second homer of the game to knock Ottavino out.
Ottavino became the second pitcher in Rockies history to throw four wild pitches in one game (David Hale against the Mets, August 23, 2015), but the first for any team in the live-ball era to throw four and have all of them result in a run. Knuckleballer Phil Niekro once bounced in three runs in 1969.
And Ottavino wasn't the only one. Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy had bounced three of his own in the 2nd inning to advance Mark Reynolds all the way around after a leadoff walk. That made Sunday's contest the first game in the live-ball era (1920) where multiple pitchers recorded three of them. Rockies starter Tim Anderson threw in one for good measure, and thus also made it the first game since 1920 with eight total wild pitches. (A single pitcher threw 10 back in 1876, so we know it's not the all-time record, but boxscores pre-1910 aren't complete/or and easily searchable.)
And as for Bellinger, who tends to hit homers with such regularity that we run out of notes about them, that shot in the 8th inning marked his sixth multi-homer game so far this season. In Dodgers franchise history, which dates to 1884, no player has had six multi-homer games by the end of July, much less June. The previous record-holder for fastest to do it was Shawn Green, who got his sixth on August 3, 2002.
Bottom Of The Bag
⋅ George Springer & Jake Marisnick, Sun-Mon: First time in Astros history that the #1 and #9 batters both homered in back-to-back games (remember, pitchers were in that 9-hole for a lot of years).
⋅ Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley, Wednesday: Four "B" players each had an extra-base hit for Boston (who are sometimes called the B's locally to this day). Last time that happened was April 17, 1988; the hitters were Wade Boggs, Ellis Burks, Marty Barrett, and Todd Benzinger.
⋅ Josh Reddick, Thursday: Missed cycle by the single for second time this year (also April 19). Seventh player in live-ball era to do it twice in a season, joining Chris Owings (2014), Gregg Jefferies (1988), Eddie Mathews (1960), Stan Musial (1951), Joe DiMaggio (1937), and Travis Jackson (1929).
⋅ Whit Merrifield, Friday: First player in Royals history to have multiple doubles in a game with the last one being a walkoff.
⋅ Curtis Granderson, Wed/Thu: Second player in Mets history to hit a leadoff home run in consecutive team games. Kaz Matsui pulled it off on May 22 & 23, 2004.
⋅ Curtis Granderson, Wed/Thu: Second visiting player ever to hit back-to-back leadoff homers at Dodger Stadium. That honor previously belonged to then-Brewer Scott Podsednik, also in 2004 (June 1-2).
⋅ Joey Gallo, Wednesday: First player in Rangers/Senators history to have an inside-the-park home run and two other extra-base hits in same game.
⋅ Franklin Barreto, Saturday: Youngest player to homer in an A's uniform since Jose Canseco on September 28, 1985. Joined Matt Olson and Jaycob Brugman in hitting first career homers, first trio to do that in same game since 1914.
⋅ Mets, Friday: Second game in team history where the 2 through 5 batters all recorded three hits. The other was July 4, 1985, in Atlanta. Yes, the Rick Camp game.
Did You Know?
Butch Nieman was considered a replacement player during World War II, but was dangerously close to being drafted himself. His orders were sent on the same day the U.S. bombed Hiroshima, telling him to report on August 17... two days after Japan surrendered.
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