Repeat After Me

There have been somewhere north of 215,000 MLB games played since the 1870s (the exact number boils down to which of the early leagues you decide to count, and have fun with that). So it's inevitable that, even in a game with so many different stats and players and teams and potential outcomes on every pitch, the vast majority of events have repeated themselves by now. But it sure did feel like we were looking up the same things over and over again just this week.


Tiger Beat

We've already repeated this headline because we've repeatedly given the Detroit Tigers their own entire section of #Kernels already this year. That's largely because the MLB schedule-makers decided that spending all of April in the Great Lakes would be a good idea for the Tigers, for whom this weekend's series in Baltimore is the farthest from home they've ventured so far. That also means they've already played all six of their interleague games against the Pirates, including a 13-10 victory in the front half of Wednesday's doubleheader, caused when the series opener on Tuesday became the Tigers' seventh postponement already this season. Miguel Cabrera became just the third Tiger ever to have three doubles, three runs scored, and four RBIs in a game, joining Ivan Rodriguez (2006) and Charlie Gehringer (1929), while Jeimer Candelario scored five runs, the first Tiger to do so since Carlos Guillen in 2008 (July 21 at Kansas City), and the first ever against an NL opponent (including postseason). Leonys Martin homered in both games of the doubleheader, becoming the first Tigers leadoff batter to do so since Dick McAuliffe against the (second) Senators on May 19, 1968.

But something looked familiar about that 13-10 score, besides the fact that it should be between the Lions and Steelers (who oddly have never played such a game). It's not a rare score in MLB, happening about once a year on average (and exactly once in each of the previous three seasons), but the last 13-10 happened on Opening Day... between the Tigers and Pirates... with the road team winning... and was played after the original series opener, yep, got postponed by weather. Given that a 13-10 only pops up once or twice a year, it got us looking at the last time two teams traded that exact score (each winning a 13-10 contest against the other) in the same season. And it's only ever happened once before, between the New York Giants and the Chicago then-White Stockings (the NL team now the Cubs) on June 27 and July 16, 1889.

The Pirates did collect 10 runs of their own in that game, with six of them driven in by Francisco Cervelli including a three-run homer (he also "drove in" a Tigers run by committing a 9th-inning throwing error). Only eight Pirates have ever had 6 RBI in a loss, the previous being Jason Bay against the Cubs on September 19, 2003. Pittsburgh also had 14+ hits in both games of the twinbill; the Pirates hadn't amassed that total since doing it July 27, 1997, at Candlestick Park.


Christmas In April

But at the exact same time Wednesday, in Candlestick Park's replacement, Matt Adams was having his own 6-RBI day for the Nationals as they pounded the Giants 15-2. Only one other player in franchise history had driven in six against the Giants-- Sean Berry in a 12-1 win at Stade Olympíque on August 25, 1995. It's not uncommon for multiple players to have 3-hit, 6-RBI games on the same day, but the last time it happened (last September 26)... one player did it for the Pirates (Andrew McCutchen) and one player did it against the Giants (J.D. Martinez, who will come up again later also).

Adams may not have even been the headliner in that game; he collected most of those RBIs because Trea Turner had a five-hit day in front of him. Turner is the sixth visiting player with a five-hit game at AT&T Park (succeeding then-Oriole Matt Wieters in 2016), and combined with his effort last June against the Reds, Turner is the first Nationals leadoff hitter with a pair of five-hit games since Denard Span in 2014-15. Span was also the last Washingtonian, from any spot in the order, with five hits and a stolen base, doing so on May 20, 2014.

When Turner had that other five-hit game last June 24 in an 18-3 thumping of Cincinnati, there was also a player (Michael Taylor) whose four-hit game he overshadowed. Enter Andrew Stevenson on Wednesday. He had four hits and four RBIs, yet didn't lead the team in either category. Only one other player in franchise history had pulled that off, and he called Wednesday's game for MASN. F.P. Santangelo had four hits and five driven in, but Mark Grudzielanek had five hits, and David Segui had six RBIs, as the Expos beat up the Rockies 21-9 at Coors Field on April 28, 1996.

And would you believe the repeating isn't done? Look at the Nats' schedule from last season. On April 25, they went to Coors Field and won a 15-12 slugfest with the Rockies. On April 25 of this year they visited another NL West team and again scored exactly 15 runs. The last team to score 15+ in road games exactly a year apart was the Phillies of 1936 and 1937, doing so on consecutive May 22's (also 15 at Giants, but 19 at Reds). The Nats are the first team since at least 1900 to score exactly the same number 15 or higher in that situation.


Section 142, Row 1, Seat 0

Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, the Tigers and Pirates finished off their season series (on April 26!) with a 1-0 game, the kind the Tigers have become infamous for losing. Since the start of the 2016 season, they've been on the wrong end of 10 such games, while only the Padres (6) and Marlins (5) have even half that many. But look at that schedule again. After that 13-10 game on Revised Opening Day, the teams' third scheduled contest also got snowed out, and in an Easter Sunday doubleheader, the Pirates won the opener in Detroit by, yep, a 1-0 count on Gregory Polanco's 1st-inning double. While 1-0 is much more common than 13-10, and thus we must restrict this to Pirates history, it's the sixth time in the live-ball era that Pittsburgh has won a 1-0 home game and a 1-0 road game against the same opponent in the same season. Guess who they did it to last. Yep, the Tigers in 2013. Before that it was the 1988 Mets... and before them the 1978 Mets. The other two such teams they've victimized? The 1962 Reds... and the 1924 Reds.

And while it wasn't Gregory Polanco who came through with the 1-0 win on Thursday (that honor probably technically belongs to a fan in the front row in right field), it was Corey Dickerson who hit a solo homer for the walkoff. The Pirates' last such win is a game that won't soon be forgotten: Josh Harrison's 10th-inning shot to break up Rich Hill's no-hitter last August 23. For all their 1-0 losses, however, the Tigers hadn't been walked off on a 1-0 solo homer since August 26, 1992, when the Twins' Brian Harper went deep off John Kiely.


One Magnificent Mile

After seeing what their division-mates had done in Thursday's "getaway day" game, the Cubs decided to repeat the same feat in Thursday's night opener with Milwaukee. It wasn't a walkoff, but Kyle Schwarber's 6th-inning tater stood up for the Cubs' first 1-0 home win over the Brewers since Addison Russell's solo homer held up on May 1, 2015. Rondell White (May 25, 2001) is the only other Cub to singlehandedly beat the Brewers with a solo homer at Wrigley, and in a neat twist caused by them switching leagues, the Brewers also lost one such game on the South Side. Ed Herrmann's solo homer gave the White Sox a 1-0 win over Milwaukee at Comiskey Park on July 11, 1971.

And speaking of 1-0 games in Chicago, the Mariners took one at the new(er) version of Comiskey Park on Tuesday, their second such win in team history. On September 18, 1987, Mark Langston and Floyd Bannister hooked up in a double complete game, with the lone run being unearned after Seattle's John Christensen reached on an error in the 5th. The Mariners hadn't won any 1-0 road game, in any ballpark, since doing so at Target Field on August 27, 2012! That was, by over a year, the longest drought of such a thing in the majors; the "honor" now passes to Oakland.

Lest you thought we were done with Chicago, Yoan Moncada cranked a leadoff homer to open Wednesday's game with the Mariners... and then repeated it on Thursday in the series opener in Kansas City. He's the fourth player in White Sox history to hit leadoff homers in back-to-back games, and amazingly no one did it before 2002. Kenny Lofton was the first, followed by Alejandro De Aza in 2013 and Adam Eaton in 2015. Adam Eaton, by the way, and bringing this full-circle-- had the Nationals' last 5-hit game (March 31) prior to Trea Turner repeating that line on Wednesday.


Dirty Dozens

While there were no exact repeats of scores, a whopping six teams scored at least 11 runs on Saturday, the most in exactly three years (to the day, April 28, 2015). Unlike that day three years ago, all of them won, and all of them big. The Astros dropped an 11-0 score on Oakland as part of a series that saw multiple no-hit bids get to the 5th inning (insert AL West wisecrack here); Houston also shut out the White Sox by a 10-0 count last week and is the only team to have a pair of double-digit shutouts this season. In fact, the rest of MLB only has one (by the Royals over the Mariners). Houston's never even two before the end of May, let alone April.

Meanwhile, out in Anaheim, Zack Cozart's solo home run was the only dent in another 11, this one posted by the Yankees for their eighth straight victory. The Yankees batted around in each of the first two innings, scoring five times in each, the first game where they've done the latter since beating Tampa Bay 17-3 on September 13, 2005. In their 293 games at Anaheim Stadium since 1966, the Yankees had never before scored 10 runs by the end of the 2nd inning there. More impressively, Cozart hit the only homer of Saturday's game, meaning the potent Yankees offense tallied 11 scores without going deep, which they hadn't done in a victory since May 25, 2009 (at Texas), and hadn't done in Anaheim since a 13-11 slugfest on April 9, 1997. Garrett Richards got the dubious honor of being the second starter in Angels history to give up at least nine runs without getting through the 2nd inning; the other was Ramon Ortiz against the White Sox on September 3, 2000.

While Richards was giving up nine runs to one New York, the other New York team was also involved in a pitcher meltdown-- except it was their own. Jason Vargas, signed to a two-year deal in February, made his Mets debut after breaking his non-throwing hand in spring training. Unfortunately, his throwing hand looked a bit broken also as the Padres pounded him before his removal in the 4th inning. He becomes the third hurler to give up at least nine runs in his first start as a Met; the others are Steve Trachsel in 2001, and David Cone in 1987 (Cone made several bullpen appearances early that year before the fateful first start). San Diego walked over the Mets 12-2 as Austin Hedges drove in five of those runs batting in the eight-hole. Only six players in Padres history have done that, and Hedges is the first at home (either stadium). The last was Gary Bennett at Coors Field on September 20, 2003. Four of the six are catchers.

And repeating the Reds' 15-run outburst from Friday, Saturday's highest-scoring game was the day game of the Dodgers/Giants doubleheader (caused by the rare rainout we discussed a few weeks ago). Los Angeles went a whopping 12-for-27 with runners in scoring position and beat up the Giants 15-6. It's only the second 15-6 score in the 2,461-game series between the two; the other one was the reverse (Giants over Dodgers) at the Polo Grounds on May 30, 1929. Three different Dodgers had three hits, three runs scored, and multiple RBIs, and that doesn't even count Joc Pederson's 4-for-5 day (he didn't score). The team hadn't done that since July 21, 2001, when Paul Lo Duca, Shawn Green, Gary Sheffield, and Adrian Beltre led a 22-7 outburst at Coors Field. Chase Utley recorded three doubles, the first Dodger to do that at AT&T Park in exactly nine years (Manny Ramirez, April 28, 2009), and also scored four runs. Since the move to the west coast, only two other Dodgers have hit three doubles and scored four times in a game; the others are Kirk Gibson (1988) and Steve Garvey (1977). And combined with Chris Taylor's four runs out of the leadoff spot, it marked the first time the Dodgers' one- and two-hitters both crossed the plate that often since Johnny Frederick and Eddie Moore did it against the Phillies on September 6, 1930.


Intermission
We originally thought of titling this one Déjà Vu All Over Again, but it didn't quite capture the spirit of having very similar things happen twice (as opposed to the exact same thing). So we changed it because, well, if you can't imitate him, don't copy him.


Connect The Dots

Regular readers have probably noticed that we tend to use ellipses... for dramatic effect, and frequently when a player is both the subject and object of his own note. That sure happened a lot this week, with players repeating their own stellar (or not so much) performance from earlier in the year, last year, or even further back.

Cole Hamels hit three batters in the Rangers' 3-2 loss to Oakland on Tuesday. It had been just over two years since a Texas pitcher plunked three opponents, and naturally, the last one to do it was Cole Hamels (April 20, 2016, vs Astros). Only two others in franchise history have had two such games; knuckleballer Charlie Hough did it in back-to-back starts in 1987, and Ted Broberg managed to do it across the move-- once in 1971 in the team's final season in Washington, and again in 1972 as a Texas Ranger.

The Rangers came back to win Wednesday's game against Kendall Graveman, who saw his record drop to 0-5 on the season after an Opening Day no-decision. Graveman is the first A's pitcher to lose five straight starts, with no ND's in between, since (of course) Kendall Graveman did it in April and May of 2016. The last Oaklander to have two such "streaks" was Rick Langford who did it in 1980 and again in 1983.

The Diamondbacks held on for a 5-4 win over Washington on Friday despite Zack Godley allowing 10 hits and three walks (the Nats stranded 10 runners). The last Arizona pitcher to give up 10 hits and 4 ER and get the win? Why that's Zack Godley, July 24, 2016, at Cincinnati. Only one other pitcher in team history has done it twice, and that was complete-game machine Randy Johnson.

In that same game Friday, A.J. Pollock became the ninth player this season (already!) to miss the cycle by the double. But he's the first Diamondback to do it since... A.J. Pollock against the Phillies on August 10, 2015. Pollock has actually pulled off that "feat" three times (also once in 2014), the first player in Arizona history to do so (Jay Bell and Mark Reynolds are among those with two).

Alex Cobb got tagged for 10 hits and five runs in the Rays' 8-4 win over the Orioles on Wednesday. He also had the seldom-seen-anymore zero strikeouts despite retiring 14 batters. Well, for most pitchers it's seldom seen. Cobb, however, is the first Orioles pitcher to give up 10 hits and strike out 0 since... Alex Cobb did it two starts ago (April 14 at Boston). The Orioles/Browns franchise hadn't had a pitcher do that twice in a season since Al Papai in 1949, and their last to pull it off twice in a month was Vern Kennedy in June 1940.

Jacob deGrom appeared to be the deGrom of old this week (although he was facing the Braves and Padres, so). After throwing seven scoreless innings and fanning 10 Braves last Saturday, deGrom threw another 7⅓ on Friday in San Diego while striking out eight. In so doing, he became just the third pitcher in Mets history to have back-to-back starts, both on the road, with 7+ scoreless innings and at least 8 K's in each. If you guessed one of them was Tom Seaver, you're correct (August 1971, both in southern California). The other was longtime Royal Kevin Appier, who played his lone NL season in 2001 with the Mets and did it in June of that year while visiting the two Florida teams.

Speaking of Florida teams, the Marlins were on the wrong end of the 20th 1-0 win in Colorado Rockies history on Friday (as you might expect based on their home field, that's the fewest in the majors since 1993). Jose Ureña threw seven innings and struck out five Rockies, but did allow the one run and thus ate the loss. No Miami pitcher had done that since... Jose Ureña, in another 1-0 loss last July 31 (to Washington). The only other Marlins to have two such games in their history are Kevin Brown and Josh Johnson.

Josh Tomlin gave up four homers in losing to the Cubs 10-3 on Tuesday. Kyle Schwarber hit two of them, becoming the first batter in Cubs history to have a multi-homer game in Cleveland. (Derrek Lee on June 19, 2009, remains the only one to do so against the Indians at home.) But at least Tomlin isn't alone; he's the second Indians pitcher this year to give up four dingers in a game. And the other-- oh, wait, he is alone. It's Josh Tomlin, who did it on April 3 in Anaheim. Cleveland's last pitcher to do it twice in a season (although he managed it in back-to-back starts) was Carl Pavano in July 2009.


Anything You Can Do,

With the bar for the week set at four homers, Jakob Junis of the Royals said, watch this. Anyone can give up four, but it takes talent (and a very stubborn manager) to give up five. The White Sox scored all six of their runs in Thursday's win via longballs off Junis, making him the third pitcher in Royals history to give up five homers in a game (and the first at home). Chris Young did it at Yankee Stadium on May 9, 2016; and Sean O'Sullivan allowed five at Texas on May 28, 2011. Junis also uncorked two wild pitches; since 1900, only he and the Giants' Allen Watson (April 19, 1996, at Wrigley) have posted a 5-HR, 2-WP game. As for the White Sox, it was their second time this year collecting five homers at Kauffman Stadium (also Opening Day). In the previous 61 seasons of baseball in Kansas City, they'd done it twice-- total (vs Royals in 2003 and A's in 1955).

On Friday the Mariners' Erasmo Ramirez jumped on the five-homer bandwagon, surrendering all solo shots to the Indians in their 6-3 win. Chris Young, mentioned above, was the last pitcher to allow five solo homers in a game, but Ramirez joined Jason Vargas (2012), Jamie Moyer (2006), and our friend Mark Langston (1988) in the Royals' 5-HR club. Ramirez is the first of that group to allow three additional extra-base hits in addition to the five homers.


If You Can't Beat 'Em...

And when it wasn't one player repeating his own performance, it was someone teaming up with another player to do the exact same thing.

On Monday, Cody Bellinger gave the Dodgers a 2-1 win over the Marlins with an 8th-inning otherwise-uninteresting sacrifice fly. Except that it came one day and one inning after Corey Seager hit one to beat the Nationals 4-3 in last weekend's series finale. The last time Los Angeles hit a go-ahead sac fly in the 7th or later of consecutive games, both were against the Nationals. Those were by Andre Ethier and Shea Hillenbrand (who had a walkoff) on August 28 and 29, 2007.

On Wednesday the Twins and Yankees hooked up in a 7-4 affair, with Miguel Sano starting the scoring with a 2-run homer in the 1st. Didi Gregorius answered that with an RBI single and then a solo homer in the 3rd. Sano walked. Didi singled. Sano singled. Didi walked. And so forth. By the end of the game, each of them-- both hitting third in their team's order-- had collected two hits, two walks, two runs batted in, and a home run. And since RBI became an official stat in 1920, only two other pairs of number-three hitters had matched that line in the same game. Atlanta's Chipper Jones and Philadelphia's Scott Rolen did it on April 13, 1998, while Pat Seerey of the Indians matched wits with the Splendid Splinter, Ted Williams, on May 3, 1946.

J.D. Martinez (we told you we'd get back to him later!) hit a three-run homer in the 5th inning that ultimately gave the Red Sox a 5-4 win in Toronto on Thursday. That scene was reminiscent of one just 24 hours earlier, when Mookie Betts's second dinger of the game put Boston out in front 4-3 in the 7th. It had been nearly 13 years since the Red Sox had homered to turn a deficit into a lead in back-to-back road games... and back then it was the same player. Trot Nixon hit both dingers himself in a series in Seattle on May 13 and 14, 2005.

The breakout story of the week was clearly Ronald Acuña of the Braves, the 20-year-old from Venezuela who made his major-league debut and finished the week batting .421 with five extra-base hits in five games. In Thursday's game he got his first major-league hit, and they couldn't exactly save the ball for him. It was a home run to left field as Atlanta beat Cincinnati 7-4. (He did eventually get the ball.) Three innings later, Ozzie Albies, less than a year his senior, would also go deep, and the pair drove in two of the final three Braves runs with RBI doubles. Those doubles gave them a special place in major-league history. In the live-ball era, the only other set of teammates to homer and double in the same game, at a younger age than Acuña and Albies, are two guys you've seen if you've ever been to Fenway Park. They're retired on the right-field bleachers: Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams, July 4, 1939, at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.

The Mariners were one of those teams that erupted for 12 runs on Saturday (okay, retract AL West wisecrack), largely on the back of Jean Segura (although Nelson Cruz also chipped in four hits). The Seattle shortstop finished with three hits, three runs scored, four driven in, and a stolen base-- the first Mariner to post that line since Edgar Martinez did it at Comiskey Park on August 30, 1999. On Sunday the Mariners repeated their double-digit performance-- the first time they'd ever done so in Cleveland-- with a 10-4 victory and another line of three hits, three runs scored, and four driven in. This time it was Ryon Healy, and it marked the first time-- minus the stolen base-- that two Mariners had repeated that line in back-to-back games since Edgar followed Alex Rodriguez against the Blue Jays (April 16) and White Sox (April 18) in 2000. (Though partial credit to Justin Smoak and Jesús Montero who did it in the same game in 2012.) In Sunday's game Mitch Haniger pulled a repeat of his own, with a homer, a triple, and three runs scored. He was the first Mariner to do that since... Mitch Haniger, last September 9 against the Angels. And the other two Seattle hitters to have two such games in team history have already been mentioned-- Edgar and A-Rod.

And finally, reliever Greg Holland of the Cardinals faced four batters on Friday. He retired none of them. Three hits, an error, and three runs later, Holland had blown the save and the Pirates would walk off on Starling Marte's single in the 11th. Turns out the previous Cardinals reliever to face four batters, retire zero, and blow a save... was Tyler Lyons who did it just six days earlier (April 21). Since saves became an official stat in 1969, they are the first pair of Cardinals to pull that off within a week of each other.


Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Mets, Sunday: First time in team history that nine different batters had multiple hits in a game. Also first time eight different Mets had two hits and a run scored (sorry, Michael Conforto).

⚾ Reynaldo Lopez, Friday: First White Sox pitcher to allow 10 hits, strike out ≤ 2, hit two batters, and not take the loss since "Doc" White did it in the first season at Tiger Stadium, June 28, 1912.

⚾ Jay Bruce, Tuesday: First Mets batter with a homer and a triple in St. Louis since Kevin McReynolds hit for the cycle on August 1, 1989.

⚾ Didi Gregorius, Friday: Hit Yankees' first extra-inning home run in Anaheim since Tino Martinez on August 21, 1997.

⚾ Ryan LaMarre, Monday, to Tyler Austin: First position player in Twins/Senators history to give up a home run (while pitching) in the Bronx.

⚾ Scooter Gennett, Tuesday: Second player in Reds history with 3 hits and 4 RBI including an extra-inning walkoff homer. Adam Dunn did it against Montréal on June 5, 2004.

⚾ Nick Kingham, Sunday: Third pitcher in live-ball era to throw 7+ innings in MLB debut and allow no more than one baserunner. Joins Johnny Cueto (2008) and the Padres' Jimmy Jones in 1986.

⚾ Gary Sanchez, Thursday: First Yankee to "redeem" himself for an earlier fielding error by hitting a walkoff homer since Alex Rodriguez vs Indians, April 19, 2007.

⚾ Antonio Senzatela, Friday: First relief pitcher to drive in the lone run in a 1-0 victory since Joe Niekro's 17th-inning walkoff against the Cubs on August 23, 1980.

⚾ Matt Chapman & Jake Smolinski, Monday: First Athletics teammates to triple in the 9th inning or later of same game since Ed Charles & Tim Talton vs Indians, July 9, 1966.

⚾ Dexter Fowler, Thursday: Cardinals' latest walkoff hit vs Mets since Ray Lankford singled off John Franco in the 14th on August 12, 1998.

⚾ Jesse Biddle, Sunday: First Braves relief pitcher to strike out 5+ batters and record an extra-base hit on offense since Ron Reed (seven innings and a triple!) at Mets, September 3, 1968.

⚾ Reds, Friday: All nine starters had at least 1 RBI, first such game for Cincinnati since August 6, 1975, in a 12-5 win at Candlestick Park.


Did You Know?

The Reds' win on Friday by the bizarre score of 15-9 was just the third in their history, and all have been on the road. They last did it on September 27, 1941, in Pittsburgh in the next-to-last game of that season. The other was in the final game of the season-- in 1891, and was played at the second incarnation of South Side Park in Chicago. That stadium on 35th Street had been home to the Chicago Pirates of the Players League in 1890, a team which featured Charles Comiskey. South Side II was abandoned by the National League team after 1893, but the land would later become the site of the original Comiskey Park.