Hit Or Miss

Really the only two things that can happen when you swing. (Except for maybe this.) We had a lot of both this week.


Upon returning home from a local indie-ball contest on Friday night, the first tweet that caught our eye was this one by Friend Of Kernels and fellow former-ESPN-er Katie Sharp.

That middle game, 17 years ago tonight (and also on the Sunday before Memorial Day), will always remain one of, if not the, greatest pitching performances we've ever seen in person. A badly-faded (and possibly-laundered) ticket stub seems to indicate §601 E 7, and the announced crowd of 55,339 remains the largest in the personal record book.

The matchup was not just Red Sox/Yankees in the Bronx, which is big enough, but it was Roger Clemens against Pedro Martinez. Through eight innings they combined for 21 strikeouts, one walk, zero runs, and just four over the minimum, with neither pitcher facing more than four batters in a frame. It was finally a Trot Nixon two-run homer in T9 (scoring Jeff Frye, who has never been a trivia answer because of this) that decided things in favor of the Bostonians.

Scoresheet. Proof!
So it was on Friday with Masahiro Tanaka, who (as noted above) became the third pitcher in Yankees history to strike out 13+ and lose. Clemens did issue a walk in that 1999 contest, so if you add the "walk-free" qualifier, the other two games stand alone in Pinstripes history.

Tanaka wasn't the only one to collect a 13-K performance on Friday either. Max Scherzer of the Nationals matched that total against the Padres, and got the win by lasting 8⅔ innings and not needing to involve those pesky bullpens. It was the fourth time Scherzer had fanned 13+ and allowed no more than one run, now the most in Nationals/Expos franchise history. The pitcher who did it three times? Pedro Martinez.

As for a pair of 13-K games on the same day, it's unusual but not rare. Happened three times last season. But Friday was the first day where one pitcher had a 13-K win and another had a 13-K loss since September 29, 2007, when John Maine of the Mets (W) and Aaron Harang of the Reds (L) both did it on the next-to-last day of the season.

The next day Stephen Strasburg topped Scherzer's performance with a career-high 15 Ks (his old mark of 14 had been set in his MLB debut). It's the first time in Nats/Expos team history that pitchers have recorded 13+ strikeouts in back-to-back games. The last for any team were Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber on July 1-2, 2015.

By the way, back in 2000, the next day, on Memorial Day, the Yankees and Oakland played another double complete game, this one between Andy Pettitte and Omar Olivares. Not only did Randy Velarde turn the 11th unassisted triple play in baseball history (there have been four since, and major props to Jim Kaat for recognizing it right away), but it remains the last time a team participated in double-CGs on consecutive days. Other teams, including the Yankees, have thrown back-to-back CGs on their own, but never since as part of a double.


Bases Come in Twos

Conditions were ripe for the first double-CG of the 2017 season on Tuesday between Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn; both struck out 10 in eight innings, Lynn allowed a 1st-inning homer to Yasmani Grandal for the game's only run... and then.

The rare two-base wild pitch uncorked by Kershaw not only tied the game, it sent us to extras and knocked both starters out. Trevor Rosenthal took over in B9, Kenley Jansen in T10, and it took a Logan Forsythe double in B13 to score Enrique Hernandez with the walkoff.

By inning, Forsythe's was the latest walkoff double for the Dodgers since Frank Howard beat the Mets, also in the 13th, or June 28, 1962. (That was loss #52 of the famous 120 in the Mets' inaugural season.) They hadn't hit any 13th-inning walkoff against the Cardinals since April 24, 1967, when Lou Johnson's single scored Wes Parker.

And as for Kershaw, he's the first Dodger in 33 seasons to work 9 innings of 1-run ball, strike out at least 10, and get a no-decision. None other than Fernando Valenzuela did that in a 2-1 extra-inning loss to the Reds on August 5, 1984 (he also surrendered the tying run in the 9th).


The Johnson Connection
(You don't think we mean Randy, do you?)

Although he didn't threaten us with a no-hitter, 26-year-old Brian Johnson of the Red Sox dazzled the Fenway faithful on Saturday with a five-hit, walk-free shutout of the Mariners on 109 pitches. And Johnson managed to find a way to bring Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez together (again) in this post. The last Red Sock to throw a home shutout with zero walks and at least eight K's? Yep, Pedro against the (Devil) Rays on August 12, 2004 (won 6-0). And tossing out the 8-K limit, Johnson is the youngest Boston pitcher to throw a walk-free shutout at Fenway since... 25-year-old Roger Clemens did that against Milwaukee on April 14, 1988. (Clemens also did it three times as a 24-year-old in 1987.)

Of course, the Red Sox also had quite a week in the strikeout department, with Craig Kimbrel capping a 20-strikeout performance Thursday against Texas. Starter Drew Pomeranz fanned 11 in his six innings, becoming just the third Sox pitcher to finish with that line. Although others have fanned 11 in six innings and kept going, the others to end there were John Lackey against the Orioles (July 5, 2014) and... mm-hmm, Pedro Martinez, against the Royals on August 30, 1999.

Aided by a controversial (and botched) replay review of a hit-by-pitch on Nomar Mazara, Kimbrel officially recorded four strikeouts in the 9th inning to finish the game. That made him the second pitcher ever to have two four-strikeout 9ths in his career; he also did it for the Braves on September 26, 2012.

Ignoring the length of the game, it was the sixth time Red Sox pitching has struck out 20+ in a game, the most of any team. The Cubs (thanks, Kerry Wood) have done it four times, and surprisingly, so have the Diamondbacks. The last time four different Rangers struck out thrice was July 29, 2009, against Justin Verlander's Tigers.


Smooth

Ervin Santana started our week with a shutout of his own on Tuesday, two-hitting the Orioles at Camden Yards while walking two and fanning six. It marked the first time Minnesota held the Orioles to two hits since June 8, 1973, when Bert Blyleven traded CGs with Dave McNally at Memorial Stadium (Twins won 2-0).

Santana also one-hit the White Sox on April 15, the lone blemish being a 3rd-inning single by Omar Narvaez. That gave Santana and Blyleven something else in common: Since the move in 1961, they are two of only three Twins pitchers ever to throw a two-hit shutout (SHO-2) and a one-hit shutout (SHO-1) in the same season. Blyleven's SHO-1 was against the Royals on May 24. The third pitcher to do it was Mudcat Grant in 1965.

Santana is among several active pitchers (Kershaw, Verlander, Felix, etc.) who have thrown an SHO-2, an SHO-1, and a no-hitter; ironically Santana's NH was not also an SHO-0. He gave up a 1st-inning run on an error, a steal, and a wild pitch against Cleveland on July 27, 2011; it remains the last NH where a pitcher allowed a run.


Intermission
Bringing this full-circle, guess what song was #1 on May 28, 2000, when we took in our Clemens/Pedro game. Nope. But close.


Steeling Home

Whichever Pennsylvania team you follow, it was a fascinating week in the "hit or miss" department. The Pirates rallied to tie Wednesday's game in the 9th on Jose Osuna's two-run, bases-loaded single off the Braves' Jose Ramirez (who had loaded said bases on two singles and a walk). After a scoreless B9 it was off to extras again.

Pittsburgh wasted no time, exploding for a seven-run 10th off Josh Collmenter that included the first-ever back-to-back-to-back extra-inning homers in team history. Only once before had the Pirates ever clobbered three extra-inning homers in the same game, and those were in different innings: On July 15, 1971, they traded runs with the Padres in both the 13th (Willie Stargell) and 16th (Richie Hebner) before Roberto Clemente finally walked off in B17.

After a three-run homer in the 2nd, Adam Frazier walked four times, including intentionally in the seven-run 10th, and thus became another notable line in the Pirates' 12-5 win. The last leadoff batter for any team with a home run and four walks was Rickey Henderson for Oakland on June 26, 1993. And the last for the Pirates was only Barry Bonds, who did it as a rookie on August 30, 1986, in a 13-3 Pittsburgh win in Houston.

The Pirates would go on to host the Mets over the weekend; Saturday's game ended when John Jaso hit a bases-loaded single to drive home David Freese in the bottom of the 10th. That was an inning after Jaso also singled to drive in Gift Ngoepe from third with the tying run off Mets reliever Addison Reed. Jaso thus became the first Pirate with a tying hit (any value) in the 9th, and a walkoff hit in extra innings, since Al Oliver on May 1, 1977. Oliver homered off the Astros' Ken Forsch to lead off the 9th, and then singled home Omar Moreno with the game-winner in the 10th.


Keystone Light

Meanwhile, over in the southeast corner of the state, the Phillies managed to put together the following six hit totals beginning last Sunday: 3-3-8-3-8-3. They scored no more than two runs in any of those games, and lost all but one of them (more on that in a second). Although we don't have easy access to full linescores before about 1909, it was the first time in the live-ball era (and probably much longer) that the Phillies managed three hits or fewer four times in a six-day span. In fact, it shattered their "record" for such a thing; the only comparable stretch of hitting futility was a 10-day span from June 19 to 28, 1966 (and they won one of those three-hit games).

In between, though, it was sometimes sunny in Philadelphia; Thursday's eight-hit game and then Saturday's seven-hit game were both won on walkoff singles by Tommy Joseph. The last Phillie to have two walkoff anythings in a three-day span was the great Rico Brogna, who singled and then hit a sacrifice fly against the Marlins on July 24 and 26, 1998.

Odubel Herrera found the "miss" column on Thursday, going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts (the "platinum sombrero") despite Philadelphia's walkoff win over the Rockies. It was the first 5-K game in the majors this season; the Phillies also had the last one (by Roman Quinn, September 24, although he went 1-for-6 with a single). Only five Phillies in the live-ball era have done the traditional sombrero of 0-for-5 with 5 K's, and four of them did it in a victory! Pat Burrell (September 16, 2008, at Atlanta) was the last; Larry Hisle did it in 1970, Dick Allen in 1964, and Scott Rolen in a loss to San Diego on August 23, 1999.


California Love (/Hate)

The Cubs also got into both themes this week, starting on Tuesday when Jon Lester threw a four-hit CG against the Giants. The lone run scored on a Brandon Crawford double in the 5th, and Lester struck out 10 but walked zero. That made him the first Cubs pitcher to throw a walk-free CG against San Francisco since Dennis Eckersley did it at Candlestick Park on July 8, 1986. (He won by the same score, 4-1.) Johnny Cueto allowed three homers, becoming the first Giants pitcher to do that at Wrigley since Mark Gardner on April 20, 1996. And at 2:05, Tuesday's game ranks as the shortest one of the season by a full 8 minutes.

The next day the Cubs gave up runs to San Francisco in the 2nd and 3rd, but got them back in the 2nd and 4th, both on solo homers by Anthony Rizzo. There's not much drama involved in a "game-tying homer" in the 2nd inning, but still, Rizzo became the first Cub to hit two tying solo shots in the same game-- in any inning-- since Ron Santo on June 27, 1973. Santo's were a bit more dramatic, coming in the 9th and 13th innings before Chicago eventually lost to Montréal in 18.

The Cubs ended the week at Chavez Ravine, however, and the hit parade was abruptly shut down. Alex Wood and two relievers shut them down on two hits Friday, their first "0-2-X" line at Dodger Stadium since August 8, 1969. That was a game which the Cubs even protested when the umpires awarded Willie Crawford home plate on an overthrow by the second baseman, saying he was running with the pitch and had already crossed second base before the wild throw. (The protest was denied, with NL President Warren Giles saying it did not affect the outcome of the 5-0 game. More in this snippet of a book; scroll down for a page or two.)

On Saturday it was zero runs on three hits for the Cubbies in Los Angeles, their first time pulling that off in back-to-back games since losing 5-0 and 1-0 in Atlanta on April 27-28, 1992.


Balks Make Everything Funner

The Padres must have read our last post while killing time during their series in New York this week. (There are literally thousands of better ways to kill time in New York. We know.) On Wednesday they decided to sumbit a late entry when starter Jarred Cosart and reliever Jose Torres both committed balks in San Diego's 6-5 win. It was the first time two different Padres had balked in the same game since Andy Benes and Calvin Schiraldi did so in Cincinnati on April 17, 1990.


Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Dallas Keuchel, Saturday: Third pitcher in Astros history to start a season 8-0. Roger Clemens won his first nine decisions in 2004 and Juan Agosto set the mark with a 10-0 start in 1988.

⋅ Mike Montgomery (CHC) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (LAD), Thursday: First pitchers to earn 4-inning saves on same day since Esteban Yan (DET) aand Kevin Gregg (ANA) on April 23, 2004.

⋅ Mariners, Thursday: First-ever win at Nationals Park (2008), leaving the Athletics as the only team without one. Seattle's previous win in "the other Washington" was by the Pilots on August 9, 1969.

⋅ Royals, Wednesday: First time being shut out in the Bronx since a 1-0 game on April 5, 2001. That also made them the last American League team to be shut out at the new Yankee Stadium.

⋅ Amir Garrett, Tuesday: First Reds pitcher to allow four home runs in a game since Bronson Arroyo did it two days earlier. Last time two Reds did it in three days was September 6 & 8, 2004, by Aaron Harang and Jose Acevedo.

⋅ Charlie Blackmon, Tuesday: Eighth career multi-homer game. Three of those have been at Citizens Bank Park. Only two have been at his home stadium, Coors Field.

⋅ Dinelson Lamet, Thursday: First Padres pitcher to strike out 8+ in his MLB debut since Bob Shirley at Cincinnati, April 10, 1977.

⋅ Mitch Moreland & Josh Rutledge, Wednesday: Each had a pinch hit that drove in a run. Last pair of Red Sox to do that: Mike Lowell and Alex Cora at Atlanta, June 18, 2006.

It Takes Two

In a week that began with the Yankees retiring Derek Jeter's number, it sure popped up a lot.


Twinbill In The Twin Cities

When the Twins got rid of that pesky roof in 2010, they opened themselves up to rainouts and doubleheaders. Sure enough, those happened Saturday and Sunday (respectively) with the Royals in town. Although the teams split the results, the Royals had two players hit two home runs in a twinbill in the Twin Cities. Brandon Moss did the honors in the first game, his 10th career multi-homer game, and easily the most among current members of the Royals.

However, it was catcher Salvador Perez who caught most of our attention; he opened the Royals' scoring in the first game and then homered again in the second, becoming the 15th Royal ever to homer in both halves of a DH. Six of those belong to Amos Otis and Bob Oliver, who did it thrice each in the '70s. Steve Balboni, John Mayberry Sr., and Lou Piniella are on the list as well. Prior to Perez it was Eric Hosmer on August 16, 2013.

When Perez hit another homer in the 4th inning of game 2, he created two more notes. Only once before has a Royals batter homered three times in a doubleheader; Bill Pecota did that against the Yankees on July 14, 1989. And combined with Moss, it was the second time the Royals have gotten a two-homer game in both games of a DH. Jermaine Dye and Mark Quinn teamed up against the Angels on September 14, 1999.


Paging Mr. Martinez

The Tigers notably have two Martinezes in their starting lineup, but this week J.D. didn't need Victor's help. He got on the "two-fer" list by himself, recording a home run and three walks on Tuesday against Baltimore, and then repeating that line on Thursday in the series finale. No Tiger had posted two such games in a month (much less a week) since Charlie Gehringer in August 1937.

As for that Tuesday homer, that was the Tigers' 13-inning, 13-11 escapade with the Orioles, and J.D. would end up collecting two homers and four walks (two intentional) by the time it was over. Only three other players in the live-ball era have done that, all in extra-inning games: Derrek Lee in 2002, Mike Schmidt in 1979, and Eddie Robinson in 1948.

Tyler Collins came along on Wednesday and chipped in a two-homer game, the first time the Tigers had a player hit two homers in two straight games since Ramon Santiago and Gary Sheffield pulled it off in September 2008.


It's Just A Little Crush

Remember when we bought entire albums just to get the one song? Gosh, that was silly.


Now back to that 13-11 mess on Tuesday. It began with a seven-run 3rd inning by the Orioles, their largest in Detroit since September 21, 1995, a frame capped by a Cal Ripken three-run double. (That was game 2145 of The Streak; Cal had broken the record just two weeks earlier.) The Tigers put together a four-run 7th before Mark Trumbo hit the first tying or go-ahead homer of his career when down to the last out (i.e., he was "the last hope", as they say). The last Oriole to hit such a homer in the Motor City was Floyd Rayford at Tiger Stadium on June 10, 1985.

So we play on. Chris Davis shone a light on the end of the tunnel with a homer in the 12th inning, just the second of his career hit that late in a game (June 25, 2009, in Arizona). Detroit amazingly answered with a three-run B12, marking the first game in nearly four years where teams had traded 3's (or more) in the 12th or later. The White Sox and Mariners matched 5's in the 14th on June 5, 2013.

So we play on. And here's Crush's chance to get into the "2" column. Deciding "let's try this again", Davis homered again in the 13th, matching the feat of Matt Adams of the Cardinals (September 4, 2013) as the only two players ever to hit two homers in the 12th or later of the same game. Davis was also just the second player in Orioles history (which is 1954) with two extra-inning homers in one game; Mike Young went deep in the 10th and 12th to beat the Angels on May 28, 1987.

It was the first time in Comerica Park history that the Tigers had scored 11 and lost.


Paging Mr. Garcia

The White Sox, of course, counter the Tigers' Martinezes with two Garcias of their own (it was briefly three early in the season).

Avisail hit two home runs off Yovani Gallardo (more on him later) in Saturday's 16-1 thumping of the Mariners, and then added two doubles off Dillon Overton. That's four extra-base hits and six RBIs, both career highs, and just the third such game in White Sox history. Robin Ventura had the same combo of two and two against Milwaukee on July 19, 1991; while Pat Seerey has the only four-homer game in Sox lore, July 18, 1948, in Philadelphia.

The last cleanup batter with 4 XBH and 6 RBI was Matt Holliday, then with Oakland, on July 20, 2009. And Avisail's 6 RBI, along with the team's 16 total runs, both set Chicago records (including the Cubs) for any game ever played in Seattle.

Meanwhile, Willy Garcia earned himself a Kernel on Friday by being the first White Sock with a home run and two sacrifice flies (and honestly, aren't sac flies just balls that wanted to be homers but didn't make it?) since the great Lyle Mouton did it in Baltimore on April 23, 1997.


900 Feet ≈ 166 Altuves

Avisail, however, was the second player just this week to have four extra-base hits in a game. Jose Altuve accomplished it on Wednesday, and none of his even left the yard. Altuve became the first player in Astros history with two doubles and two triples in a game, and the first in the majors since Carl Crawford of the (still-Devil) Rays on August 2, 2005.

Unfortunately, three of Altuve's hits came with two outs and he never advanced even one base. He thus became the third player in the last 100 years to have four extra-base hits and not score a run. Matt Murton had that dubious honor for the Cubs on August 3, 2006, and Willie Jones did it for the Phillies in Boston on April 20, 1949.


Intermission
More baseball in just a second, but I wanna rock right now.


Down With The Ship

The pitching side was not without its 2's this week, mostly in the form of two players having equally bad outings.

Chris Heston, making his first start for the Mariners on Sunday, surrendered a five-run 1st inning to the White Sox, who eventually rolled to an 8-1 win. Jeremy Bonderman (June 2, 2013) was the last pitcher to allow 7 ER in his first start with the Mariners, and Hector Noesi (April 9, 2012) was the last to do it in under four innings.

(Noesi, incidentally, would later become the first pitcher ever to make starts for three different teams before the end of April, when he was traded twice in 2014.)

Aside from the "first start" qualifier, Heston also became the first Mariners starter to allow seven earned runs in less than four innings since... Yovani Gallardo did it on Saturday. That's the game from above where the Garcias did their thing. Not only was it Chicago's most runs ever scored in the Pacific Northwest, but it exactly matched the largest home losses in Mariners history. Oddly, all three 15-run decisions have been by 16-1 counts; the Reds won there in June 2007, and the Royals did it on April 24, 1977.

Saturday was just the second 10-run outing of Gallardo's career, the other being back in 2007 (August 8, and at Coors Field, so does it really count?). But he and Heston became the first pitchers in Mariners history to give up 7 ER in under 4 IP in consecutive home games.

Gallardo's exit on Saturday, and the blowout nature of the game, had us wondering by the 7th inning which position player was going to pitch. That would be 2B Mike Freeman, who never even pitched in college, much less the minors. Sure enough, he gave up three hits and a sacrifice fly, topping out at 78 mph, but he did spell Dillon Overton, whose own outing of 4⅓ innings and 5 ER was a first for the Mariners since Paul Abbott lasted that long on April 30, 2002.


Dream Nightmare? Weaver
Freeman was the first position player to pitch for the Mariners since Luis Sardiñas on July 29. That's only 10 months ago, BUT guess who took the mound the night before on Friday. That would be Luis Sardiñas, now with the Padres, after Jered Weaver surrendered seven runs and couldn't escape the 1st inning against the Diamondbacks. Weaver was the first San Diego starter to not finish the 1st (aside from injuries) since Tim Stauffer also gave up seven runs to the Diamondbacks in a spot start on May 28, 2014.

Sardiñas was the second Padres Position Player Pitching (that's four P's instead of our usual three) this season; Erick Aybar got the final out of another Diamondbacks blowout on April 18. It's the first time in Padres history that two different position players have taken the mound in the same season, and it's the first time in MLB history that it's happened in west-coast games on back-to-back nights (stay up late with us!).


Tim Stauffer Fans, This Is Your Week!

In between Weaver and Sardiñas, there was the interesting line of Craig Stammen, picked up by the Padres as a free agent in December. Stammen gave up two more runs, both on solo homers, but recorded seven K's among his 10 outs of work. He also issued zero walks (since, clearly, everything's over the plate). The last Padres reliever to strike out seven and walk zero... why, that's Tim Stauffer against the Cardinals on May 22, 2013.


The Nightmare Continues

Weaver's outing on Friday was promptly followed by Luis Perdomo giving up 11 hits and eight runs (although he spread them over 3+ innings) to Arizona on Saturday. The last Padres starters to give up 7 ER in back-to-back games were Cesar Carrillo and Mat Latos in August 2009, while Perdomo was the first San Diegan to allow 11 hits and eight runs in front of his home fans since Jake Peavy did it on April 9, 2006, against the Rockies.

In that 2006 game, Rockies 2B Jason Smith collected three hits and drove in four runs while batting 7th; that feat also hadn't been duplicated in a Rox road game until Alexi Amarista did it against Weaver et al. on Friday.

And in case our pitchers weren't connected enough, in Perdomo's previous start (Monday), he stuck around long enough to also have a triple and a double while batting. Only one other Padres hurler had done that in a game... and of course it's Jake Peavy. Chase Field in Phoenix, April 19, 2007.


Bridge
(Because this is pretty long and there are other songs with the same title.)


It Takes One

(Former New Britain Rock Cat) Danny Valencia led off Friday's 2nd inning for the Mariners with a triple and crossed that game off our no-hitter watch for the evening. To be honest we kinda forgot about it. Until the teams played to a nine-inning tie and Valencia still had Seattle's only base knock. Melky Cabrera's double in the 10th gave the White Sox the lead, and when the Mariners went 1-2-3 in the bottom, we had some notes that were even more fun than if Jose Quintana had thrown the NH.

It was the first time in Mariners history that their only hit of a game was a triple, and the first time they'd been one-hit in an extra-inning contest. They do have two extra-inning games where they've been two-hit, one by Melido Perez (!) and the Yankees on April 24, 1993; and the other against Tampa Bay on August 6, 2004.

Tony Zych, who in 2015 replaced Dutch Zwilling as the alphabetically-last player in MLB history, had finished a handful of games before, but they were all blowouts. Because Zwilling had been last since his own debut in 1910, and saves weren't official until 1969, that also made Friday the first time that the alphabetically-last player had been the last pitcher in a game and gotten the traditional "closing" stat, a save.

By the way, if you're thinking the Mariners do this a lot, you'd be right. Since the start of 2011, it's the 11th time Seattle's maxed out at one hit, more than any other team. The Pirates have done it 10 times, while the Padres and Twins are still chasing them with eight each.

Speaking of Mariners triples, Ben Gamel hit one in the 1st inning of their Wednesday game with Oakland. That was notable because Gamel is the only active player born on May 17, and is now the fourth Mariner with a triple on his birthday. The others are Darnell Coles (1989), Ken Phelps (1987), and Dave Henderson (1986).


It Takes Three (Or 17)

For years there's been a superstition about the Yankees being historically bad at Tropicana Field. That seemed to hold true again this week when they lost two out of three and salvaged the final game on Sunday by a 3-2 score despite striking out (on offense) 17 times.

It's the third time already this year that the Bombers have fanned at least 17 times in a game... and they've won all three of them. One was the record-setting 18-inning game with the Cubs on Sunday Night Baseball, and the other was April 15 in a 3-2 win over the Cardinals. They are (already!) the first team in the live-ball era (1920) to win three 17-K games in the same season, and equally strange, the rest of MLB has only done it once. The Nationals held on to beat the Phillies on April 7. The only other team with a pair of 17-K games so far is the Padres, and all other teams (including the Nationals) have a combined record of 1-8 when they do it.


Balks Make Everything Funner
(We know "funner" isn't a real word. Don't @ us.)

⋅ Julio Urias added to our parade of bad pitching lines on Saturday by giving up seven runs to the Marlins before leaving in the 3rd inning. Seven runs on seven hits barely registers one pop on our Kernel-meter; Hyun-Jin Ryu did it two weeks ago (but again, at Coors Field) and Brock Stewart had such an outing for the Dodgers last August.

Even tack on Urias's wild pitch and you only get back to Mike Bolsinger in September 2015. BUT toss in his balk and we have a winner. The last Dodger to do all that in a game (7 H, 7 R, 1 WP, 1 BK) was rookie Leo Dickerman in Boston on June 1, 1923.

⋅ Phillies reliever Joely Rodriguez got rocked for seven runs while getting just two outs on Thursday, becoming their first with that line (< 1 IP) since Hector Mercado against the Astros in 2002. But throw on the balk, and J-Rod is not just the first Phillies reliever ever to do it, he's the first for any team since the immortal Tanyon Sturtze on September 13, 2004.

⋅ Tanner Roark was pulled in the 6th inning of the Nationals' loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday having allowed seven earned runs and two homers. That by itself wasn't too rare; even the stars like Gio Gonzalez and Max Scherzer did that last season. Add one (1) balk to the search and Roark is the first ever for the Nationals. The only two pitchers in franchise history with 7+ ER, 2+ HR, and a balk were both Expos: Mark Leiter in 1996 and Bill Gullickson in 1982.


Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Pirates, Sunday: Won 1-0 game thanks to bases-loaded hit-by-pitch of David Freese in 6th inning. Last 1-0 game decided by an HBP: July 5, 1998, when Scott Erickson of the Orioles plunked the Yankees' Chad Curtis in the 3rd.

⋅ Kyle Freeland, Sunday: Third pitcher in Rockies history to homer and double in the same game. Two have come in Cincinnati (Denny Neagle at Cinergy, August 12, 2001), and the first was journeyman Brian Bohanon in Montréal on August 11, 2000.

⋅ Carlos Martinez, Saturday: First Cardinals pitcher to work 9 scoreless innings and get a no-decision (because tie game) since Matt Morris against the Cubs on May 2, 2004.

⋅ Ben Taylor, Saturday: First Boston pitcher to allow two homers, not record an out, and eat the loss for it since Herb Hash against the Yankees on July 4, 1940.

⋅ Mark Canha, Friday: First player with a double, a triple, and an extra-inning walkoff homer in the same game since Dwight Evans did it for the Red Sox on June 28, 1984 (Evans also got the single to hit for the cycle).

⋅ Dansby Swanson, Friday: First Braves player in live-ball era with a homer, a double, and two walks while batting 8th or 9th. Youngest to do it from any spot in the order since Ryan Klesko on April 15, 1994.

⋅ Hector Velazquez, Thursday: First Red Sox pitcher to give up three homers in major-league debut since Pete Smith in Detroit, September 13, 1962.

⋅ Braves, Wednesday: Scored six runs before making an out; team's first time doing that since August 15, 1984.

Plate Tectonics

You probably learned in some science class years ago (and have since forgotten) about the movement of continents over millions of years. This isn't about that. You may remove your safety goggles.


Not too long ago, it was easy to tell from a pitcher's line whether he was finding the plate or not. Those who had a lot of pitches and a lot of walks, well, weren't. The overpowering ones would drop 18 strikeouts in a complete-game three-hitter (does anyone other than Ben Sheets remember that Ben Sheets did this?).

Then there are the kind who just throw it over the plate and see what happens.


Instant Bargain

Chris Sale, arguably off to one of the best starts ever with a new team, and certainly in this century (because we needed a Sale of the Century reference), struck out 12 more batters on Saturday to notch his seventh double-digit-strikeout game of the season. No one else has more than four (Jacob deGrom), and the rest of the Red Sox staff has one (Drew Pomeranz). The last pitcher in the majors to have seven 10-K games by May 13 was Randy Johnson in 2001; he would finish that season with 23 such games, again tying the major-league record he already shared with Nolan Ryan.

Sale did leave a couple of balls close enough to the plate to be raked for home runs (by Logan Morrison and Kevin Kiermaier); equally strange is that those were the only two hits Sale allowed. The last Boston pitcher to strike out 12+ and give up two dingers were Bruce Hurst against the Rangers on May 16, 1986 (he actually gave up three, including a leadoff shot to Oddibe McDowell). And only one other Sawx hurler has fanned 12 and had every hit allowed be a homer: Pedro Martinez, in his 17-strikeout one-hitter against the Yankees on September 10, 1999. The one hit was a solo home run by Chili Davis.

(For those who remember Sale of the Century, we were *at* Jim Perry Stadium just two weeks ago, though it's named for the 1970 Cy Young Award winner, not the Canadian game-show host.)


The Match Game

A few hours later, Nate Karns of the Royals matched Sale's line by recording a career-high 12 strikeouts of his own, and doing so in just five innings of work against the Orioles. He became the second pitcher in Royals history to fan a dozen or more in the first five innings of a game (regardless of final line); Kevin Appier did that against the Rangers on May 25, 1994.

Like Sale before him, however, Karns also left two balls in just the right spot, and Francisco Peña tagged both of them. He became the first Oriole to hit two homers at Kauffman Stadium since Melvin Mora on May 18, 2005, and also gave Karns a unique spot in Royals lore. Zack Greinke (June 13, 2010 at Cincinnati) and Danny Jackson (May 26, 1987, at White Sox) are the only other pitchers in team history to fan 12 but also allow two homers.

And as for two pitchers doing it in the same day? That had happened just once before in the live-ball era... and it was two weeks ago! Jacob deGrom and Charlie Morton both pulled it off on Friday, April 28.


Danny Jackson Fans, This Is Your Week!

Jackson's 12-strikeout game was not enough to overcome his 9-18 record with the Royals in '87; they traded him to the Reds after the season for middle-infielder Kurt Stillwell and a Power pitcher. (No, literally. Ted Power, who bounced to six other teams before retiring in 1993).

Anyway, in Jackson's first start with the Reds, the second game of the '88 season, he tossed a complete game in beating the Cardinals 8-1. That feat was finally duplicated on Saturday as well; although Lisalverto Bonilla had made one relief appearance, he became the first pitcher since Jackson to throw a CG (win or lose-- and he did lose) in his first Cincinnati start.


Hit(s) The Fan(s)

Jeff Samardzija finally won a game on Sunday, but it didn't exactly come easy. Continuing our theme, Samardzija struck out eight Reds batters but also allowed eight hits, something he's already done four times this year. Corey Kluber is the only other pitcher to have even done it twice. The last Giants hurler with four such games in an entire season was John "Count of" Montefusco in 1975.

Stephen Strasburg got in on this theme on Wednesday, allowing eight hits but also recording eight K's in the Battle of the Beltways against the Orioles. It was his fifth game with that line, now the most in Nationals history (2005). Gio Gonzalez has done it four times and Max Scherzer three.

Rick Porcello had a slightly different split on Friday, allowing nine hits and five runs but also striking out seven in Boston's loss to the Rays. Since the start of 2015, Porcello has had five such games (9+ H and 7+ K), beating out five others, including Sale, Gonzalez, and Scherzer, for the most in the majors.


Ineffectively Wild

Mike Clevinger started Saturday's game with three no-hit innings for the Indians. Those darned 4th innings. Although it could have been much worse, Clevinger issued his fourth and fifth walks of the game, uncorked two wild pitches, had the no-hitter broken on a bunt single, then threw the ball away trying to field said bunt single. He has some good company though; the last Cleveland pitcher with five walks, three earned runs, two wild pitches, and a fielding error was Sam McDowell who pulled all that off (and also had a balk!) against the White Sox on September 12, 1964.

If you're into heat maps (which we're not), Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers offers us this gem to back up his line from Thursday's game. In his return from the DL following a "hip contusion", Ryu allowed eight hits, six walks, and 10 runs, becoming the first Dodgers pitcher to reach those levels since one Lee Pfund did so on May 30, 1945 (and won!). The Nationals' Jason Bergmann (August 13, 2008) was the last to do it for any team, and Ryu was the first in (at least) the live-ball era to also hit a batter and commit a balk.

Over the weekend it was announced that Ryu's next start will be pushed back two days.


Fault Lines

Speaking of heat, the friction between the catcher's glove and the batter's backswing usually results in the former getting "faulted" with an interference call. Not only was this weekend's Astros/Yankees series a matchup between the two best records in the American League, it matched this season's leader in CI awards against the active career leader.

Josh Reddick earned his fourth such call of the year in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader, already tying him with Andujar Cedeño (1993) for second place on the Astros' all-time list. Their team record is held by longtime catcher Alan Ashby, who had six in 1987.

In the series opener on Thursday, Jacoby Ellsbury moved one overextended backswing closer to history, garnering his 28th career CI award and putting him one shy of Pete Rose's all-time record. (Rose is regarded as the record-holder, although some are lost to history, since the batters who received CI awards weren't officially reported by both leagues until 1963.)

That Ellsbury call was the first of his 28 to occur with the bases loaded and force in a run; the Yankees hadn't had that happen since August 18, 1992, when Pat Kelly got one against the Athletics. The Astros have committed two this year with the bases loaded (albeit with different catchers); the 2010 Mariners and Rose's 1986 Cincinnati Reds are the only other teams known to do that twice.

And although he got an RBI for the bases-loaded CI (which apparently even confused the official scorer until he reviewed the rule book after the game), Ellsbury's chance at tying the game was cut down at the plate when he was thrown out by LF Jake Marisnick for the final out. It was the first time the Yankees had the potential tying run thrown out at home to end a game (at least on a ball in play) since August 12, 1987, when Wayne Tolleson got nailed by Royals LF Lonnie Smith while trying to score on Roberto Kelly's double.


Intermission

We've had some dozen-strikeout games, but not a baker's dozen in a while. For that we have to bring in the fourth question ever asked by Jim Perry on Sale of the Century (at 3:15). (Also, if you have no reason to leave the house this week, the rest of that playlist lasts over 76 hours.)


Busterin' Loose

After 17 innings of squatting behind the plate, Buster Posey had enough and decided to shake things up (veiled earthquake reference!) with a walkoff home run to defeat the Reds on Friday (actually 12:43 am Saturday). It missed being the latest finish this year by two minutes, and was 43 minutes from being the latest in San Francisco history (June 21, 1983, also against the Reds).

Posey's homer was just the fifth ever hit by the Giants in the 17th or later, and the first walkoff. Larry Doyle holds the record with a 21st-inning inside-the-parker (back when such things were common) in Pittsburgh on July 17, 1914. George "High Pockets" Kelly hit one in the 18th inning in 1922, while Jim Davenport gave them a 17th-inning lead against the Mets on May 13, 1966. More recently, and more memorably, Brandon Belt's 18th-inning shot signalled the beginning of the end for the longest postseason game in MLB history, Game 2 of the 2014 Division Series against Washington.

As for that walkoff, however, Posey wrote his name next to one of the all-time greats. The team's previous record for latest walkoff was set when Willie Mays defeated the Milwaukee Braves at Candlestick Park on July 2, 1963. That game, which Hank Aaron called "the finest exhibition of throwing [he'd] ever seen", was a double complete game between Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn; there hasn't been even one CG of 15+ innings since then.

Some 5½ hours earlier, Denard Span had led off the festivities with his own solo homer. Posey's game-winner thus made the Giants the only team in major-league history to both start and end a game of 17 innings or longer with a home run.


Park Rangers

The Rangers didn't wait for extra innings, with Mike Napoli hitting a three-run jack in the bottom of the 9th on Thursday to walk off against the Padres 5-2. It was Napoli's second homer of the game; his other one came just an inning before to start the Texas scoring. He was the first Ranger to homer in the 8th and 9th innings of the same game since Mark Teixeira did it on July 13, 2006, and the first to do it where the second homer was a walkoff.

On Friday it was Joey Gallo's turn, with his three-run 9th-inning blast giving the Rangers a 5-2 win over Oakland (who of course won three straight walkoffs of their own last week). The last time Texas hit back-to-back walkoff homers was July 29-31, 2013, when they nailed three straight against the Angels. But it was the first time in team history that both homers had been at least three-run shots. The Angels' offense was the last to do that; on May 29, 2010, Kendrys Morales hit the infamous walkoff where he broke his leg jumping on home plate and was done for the year; the next day on the 30th, Howie Kendrick came through with a walkoff slam.

And the last known team to pull off back-to-back three-run walkoffs against different opponents was the 1947 Giants; Willard Marshall beat the Cardinals on June 6 of that year, and after Marshall was intentionally walked in their next game on the 9th, Walker Cooper hit the three-run shot to beat the Pirates. (Games on the 7th and 8th were rained out.)


Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Matt Szczur (Fri) & Manuel Margot (Sat): First occurrence of a team homering on the first pitch it saw in consecutive games since Alfonso Soriano did it for the Cubs on September 19 & 21, 2007. In the era of complete pitch counts, which is to about 1988, no road team (i.e., first pitch of game) had ever done it.

⋅ Michael Conforto, Sunday: Third player in Mets history with a homer, a triple, a double, and four runs scored (also Kevin McReynolds 1989, Darryl Strawberry 1987). Third in past 100 years to do it in a loss for any team, joining Hal McRae (Royals 1977) and Ty Cobb (Tigers 1921).

⋅ Astros/Yankees, Sunday: First teams to trade 6-run innings in a doubleheader (Yankees did it in G1, Astros in G2) since the Indians and Red Sox on September 21, 2000.

⋅ Rockies, Saturday: First home game in team history where they scored 0 runs and struck out at least 14 times.

⋅ Trevor Cahill, Saturday: Third pitcher in Padres history to throw four wild pitches in a game. First for any team to throw three in one at-bat since Stephen Strasburg on August 17, 2013.

⋅ Josh Lindblom, Friday: First Pirates reliever to give up seven hits and four runs since... Josh Lindblom on Monday. First Pirate to do it twice in a season since Mark Petkovsek in 1993.

⋅ Miguel Sano, Friday: First player in Twins/Senators history (1901) to hit a solo homer in the 1st inning and have it stand up for a 1-0 victory.

⋅ Gregory Polanco, Thursday: First Pirate to homer for team's only hit of game since Joe Randa on September 22, 2006 (his final career HR broke up a 9th-inning no-hit bid by Chris Young of the Padres-- who still have never thrown one).

⋅ Luis Perdomo, Wednesday: First pitcher in Padres history to balk in a run and wild-pitch in a run in same game.

Hey MLB, You Up?

A few years back, we here at Kernels adopted the motto (and occasionally the hashtag) "till the last out" because you never know what's going to happen at insane times of the night. Just like never leaving a game early, we never sign off for the evening until every game has finished. Which made this a good week to be a night owl. (Though not a good week to be on a road trip and need to wake up every day for morning games and/or travel purposes.)


Northwest Passage

The Angels and Mariners started our late-night festival on Tuesday night with an 11-inning affair that was already (somehow) four hours long before Robinson Cano hit a two-out single in the bottom of the 9th to tie things at 4. The Mariners hadn't had a tying hit with two outs in the 9th since July 27, 2015 (Mike Zunino); that was actually the fourth-longest drought of such a thing in the majors (BAL, SF, TB).

Albert Pujols doubled home Mike Trout (who had walked on four pitches) in the 11th, then stole third himself and scored on a groundout. The last time Pujols stole any base other than second was July 7, 2013, and that was his only SB that year.

Ten days before that SB (June 27), Pujols also had the Angels' last go-ahead double in the top of an extra inning (i.e., not a walkoff) when he brought home J.B. Shuck in a game in Detroit.

Tuesday's game didn't even reach "#WeirdBaseball" status by lasting until midnight, but it did mark the second-latest finish so far this year (Anaheim's 13-inning game against Toronto ended at 12:45 am PT). Seattle had a later finish just 34 home games ago; in the August 9 contest last season, the aforementioned Mike Zunino hit a sacrifice-fly-off at one minute after midnight to beat the Tigers.


Three days later, as the Mariners' homestand moved into its series with Texas, they kept us up again with a 13-inning missed-opportunity-fest.

Despite 20 baserunners from the 5th through 12th innings, the teams combined to go 2-for-23 with men on, and kept us locked in a 1-1 AL West snoozefest until Rougned Odor finally homered in the 13th. He became the youngest player in Rangers (/Senators) history to go deep that late in a game, breaking by about 6½ months the mark of Oddibe McDowell from June 11, 1986. It was the Rangers' second 13-inning game already this season (also April 20 vs Royals), the third time in team history that they've played a pair of them within their first 30 contests (joining 1983 and 1963).

Guillermo Heredia grounded into a double play to end the game at 12:12 am, the latest finish in Seattle since September 18, 2012, when their 18-inning escapade with the Orioles ended at 12:54 am.


The Quotable Ernie Banks

Speaking of 18-inning escapades, let's get to the elephant in the room.

The Yankees and Cubs, already an interesting series from a historical standpoint, didn't seem to want it to end on Sunday night, engaging in an 18-inning marathon that would eventually set a major-league record for strikeouts in a game (48). Fifteen different pitchers (yes, all pitchers, no position players) took the mound and all of them recorded at least one strikeout, also the first game in history where that happened.

The Cubs' three-run rally in the 9th culminated with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch of Anthony Rizzo by Aroldis Chapman. That was the first HBP to tie the game with two outs in the 9th since Pittsburgh's Joel Hanrahan plunked Todd Frazier of the Reds on September 23, 2011. The Cubs had not received one since July 12, 1979, when catcher Barry Foote was beaned by Doug Bair of Cincinnati, and the Yankees had never issued one as far back as full play-by-play is available (generally to around 1950).

The teams kept adding to the strikeout total, only combining for 12 baserunners in the first eight extra innings. Aaron Hicks and Chase Headley would both fan four times, the first Yankee teammates to do that in a win since Tino Martinez and Paul O'Neil on August 23, 1997. After Aaron Hicks was sacrified to third in the top of the 18th, Starlin Castro hit a grounder to short and Hicks beat the throw to the plate for an RBI fielder's choice with no out recorded (that's "FCX" as we score it here). Oddly, Castro had plated Hicks with the first run of the game 17 innings earlier; he would become the first player in major-league history to have 2 RBIs while also going 0-for-8 or worse. (Three did 0-for-7, including the aformentioned Tino Martinez in a 17-inning affair with Toronto in 2001.)

Headley, Didi Gregorius, and Austin Romine would join Castro in the 0-for-7-plus club, the first time in major-league history that a team had four players do that. And they won!

The Yankees then headed off to Cincinnati and won 10-4 on Monday night. They became the first team since the 2013 Athletics (April 29-30) to play 18 innings one day and score 10 runs the next, and the first to do it after traveling to a different city since the Rockies played an infamous 22-inning game in San Diego on April 17, 2008, then went to Houston and downed the Astros 11-5 the next night.


We Are Pham-Ily
(Don't blame me, blame the Braves' organist.)

Earlier on Sunday, Tommy Pham collected four hits and two homers as the Cardinals beat the Braves in 14 innings. His two-run shot was the third-latest (by inning) ever hit by a visiting player in Atlanta, after Benito Santiago's 16th-inning dinger for the Padres in 1988, and Adam LaRoche's 15th-inning version for the Nationals in 2013.

Pham's earlier homer had come all the way back in the top of the 3rd, making him just the second player in Cardinals history to homer 11 innings apart in the same game. Hall-of-Famer Johnny Mize, who led the majors with 43 homers in 1940, went deep in the 2nd and 13th innings of a game at Crosley Field in Cincinnati on May 13 of that year.


Land Of Oaks

Oakland has a lot of areas that are, well, "interesting" after dark, but the most interesting this week may have been Alameda County Coliseum. Trailing 5-4 in Friday's game, Adam Rosales roped a single to left and Matt Joyce beat the play at the plate for the walkoff. The Athletics hadn't hit a walkoff single when trailing (i.e., the two-run variety) and down to their final out since Jose Canseco beat the Orioles with one on July 14, 1991.

Ryon Healy ended Sunday's game with the Athletics' first walkoff homer of the season, and the first one allowed by "K-Rod" (Francisco Rodriguez) since September 30, 2009 (to Justin Maxwell of the Nationals). Oakland has hit three walkoff homers agains the Tigers since the start of 2013; in both teams' cases, the most against any opponent over that span. It also marked the first time Oakland had consecutive walkoffs against the Tigers since June 2 and 3 of 2008.

And the Athletics weren't exactly done. On Monday night Jed Lowrie closed out the series opener against Anaheim with his first walkoff homer since August 21, 2010, giving Oakland its first string of three straight walkoffs since June 1-3, 2004. As of this writing, the Athletics have suddenly become the only team this season with two walk-off homers (in two days!), and that 2004 set was also their last time hitting one in back-to-back games. Bobby Kielty and Mark Kotsay upended the Twins (both in extra innings) in the first two games of that streak.

Lowrie's walkoff was his second home run of the game, having also gone yard to lead off the 4th. That made him just the second Oaklander ever to homer twice in a game, with the second one being an extra-inning walkoff. The other was Brandon Moss, whose 19th-inning dinger finally beat the Angels on April 29, 2013 (that's the same game mentioned above where Oakland scored 10 runs the next day). Oddly, two players-- Hector Lopez and Vic Power-- did it during the Athletics' 13 years in Kansas City, while Sam Chapman and Jimmie Foxx were the two who did it in Philadelphia.


Too Soon?
(Or, You Played 10 Innings And Barely Got A Mention)

Travis Shaw decided last Monday's game in favor of the Brewers with a three-run homer in the 10th inning, joining Prince Fielder (April 17, 2008) as the only Brewers to hit a multi-run homer in extra innings against the Cardinals.

Monday's final score was "only" 7-5, however, as Jedd Gyorko launched a solo homer in the bottom of the 10th. Gyorko had also led off B8 with a dinger with St. Louis trailing 4-2. And that made him the first player in Cardinals history (1882) to homer twice in the 8th inning or later, where neither homer at least tied the game.


Billy Hamilton hit his second double of the year to give the Reds a 10-inning, 4-3 walkoff against the Pirates on Monday. Doubles, of course, aren't what Hamilton is known for; he had stolen three bases (including two in one at-bat) earlier in the game before hitting the walkoff. He thus became the first player to do that (3 SB and a walkoff anything) since Kenny Lofton's homer in the 13th gave Cleveland a win over Baltimore on September 3, 2000. Hamilton was the first to do it for Cincinnati in (at least) the live-ball era.


Josh Harrison added a 10th-inning walkoff to our collection on Saturday with an RBI single to beat the Brewers 2-1. It was his seventh career walkoff hit; since his MLB debut on May 31, 2011, Harrison has more for the Pirates than any other player (Starling Marte has six and McCutchen five), and is tied for the most extra-inning walkoffs for any team. Josh Donaldson, Matt Kemp, Ian Kinsler, and Matt Wieters are the others to have five in extras over that span.


It's Too Early To Be This Late
(This sounds like it should be a Yogi Berra line, but we couldn't find it.)

Although they didn't keep us up very late because they were day games, two NL West games from last Sunday earned honorable mention in the walkoff category.

Wil Myers hit a 12th-inning home run to give the Padres a win at AT&T Park. That marked the second-latest dinger ever hit by San Diego in San Francisco, and the other was in their second year of existence. On May 23, 1970, Steve Huntz's solo shot in the 15th made the final score Padres 17, Giants 16. Because Candlestick Park.


Meanwhile, in the desert, the Rockies and Diamondbacks played 12½ scoreless innings before Brandon Drury led off with an infield single and then Daniel Descalso crushed a walkoff homer. It was the second time in Arizona history they had hit a walkoff anything to break a scoreless tie; the other was Chad Tracy's solo homer against the Royals on June 13, 2008 (1-0 in 10). Orlando Hudson hit the team's only other walkoff multi-run homer in the 12th or later; he defeated the Dodgers by a 9-7 score with a 15th-inning tater on August 25, 2006.

And Sunday's final score marked the longest game in Rockies history where they failed to score at least one run.


Bottom Of The Bag

Jay Bruce, Tuesday: Fourth player in Mets history to have 6 RBI in a loss. Mike Piazza 2002, Robin Ventura 1999, Frank Thomas 1962.

Red Sox, Saturday-Sunday: First time in franchise history with an 8-run inning (or more) in consecutive games.

Twins, Tuesday: First time in 50 years that the team hit six homers in a home game. Never did it at the Metrodome. Last was at Metropolitan Stadium on June 9, 1966 (vs Athletics).

Rangers, Tuesday: First time since moving from Washington that they hit five homers and lost. Franchise last did it on May 16, 1969.

Kris Bryant & Javier Baez, Tuesday: First Cubs teammates to each have a homer and a triple since George Altman and Billy Williams did it against the Cardinals on July 1, 1961.

Seth Smith, Thursday: First Oriole to have four hits and a steal of home plate since Don Baylor against the Tigers on September 20, 1973.

Yunel Escobar, Thursday: Fourth leadoff hitter in Angels history to have four hits but zero runs scored and zero driven in. Others were David Eckstein (2002), Rod Carew (1981), and Jose Cardenal (1967).

Wade Miley, Friday: First Orioles starter to leave game in 1st inning (hit by line drive) without allowing a run since Mike Flanagan twisted his knee fielding a grounder on May 17, 1983.

Cody Bellinger, Friday: Second career multi-homer game (also April 29); first player in Dodgers history to do it twice before turning 22 years old.

Cardinals, Friday: First double-digit shutout of Braves since May 20, 1985 (14-0). First one ever in Atlanta.

And we were there!