Party Like It's 1888

Sometimes a game happens and you just know it's going to get written about. But we don't usually expect it to take us back to the days of Grover Cleveland. And no, not the Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander. The actual President for whom he was named.


Another President, Harry Truman, is often rumored (though never confirmed) to have said, "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." That advice might have rung in the mind of Brewers starter Michael Blazek on Thursday when the Nationals pounded him for six home runs en route to a 15-2 thumping. James Shields of the Rays was the last pitcher to give up six dingers, doing so in Toronto on August 7, 2010, but it took him four innings. Blazek didn't make it out of the 3rd, giving him a dubious honor alongside two other pitchers in major-league history. On September 24, 1940, Athletics starter Ed Heusser gave up five runs to the Red Sox in the first three frames and George Caster was summoned for the 4th. Caster promptly turned a 5-3 game into a 14-3 game by giving up six taters while getting just seven outs, the same as Blazek.

As for starters, Blazek is just the second one ever to allow six longballs in three innings or fewer. To find his "soulmate" we have to journey back to May 9, 1888. John "Egyptian" Healy, so nicknamed because he was from Cairo-- Illinois, not Egypt, but still-- did it while pitching for the NL's Indianapolis Hoosiers. The New York Sun reported the outing as a "mixture of defeat and discomfiture administered to [Healy]... by those expert mixers of singles, doubles, triplets, and quadruples who hail from New York and justly bear the cognomen of 'Giants'." The Expert Mixers won the game 18-4.

(The rest of this game story is an incredible read; zoom in on the fifth column.)

Back to present-day Washington, the Nationals proceeded to hit two more home runs off reliever Wily Peralta for a total of eight. That matched the franchise record set on July 30, 1978, in a 19-0 Expos shutout of the Braves. It also set another team mark as six different players combined on those eight dingers; in that 1978 game (as well as others), only five players went yard.

In their previous game on Wednesday, the Nationals had mounted a 7-run rally in the bottom of the 8th to win 8-5; Thursday thus marked the second time in franchise history that they had posted a 7-run inning (or more) in consecutive games. On July 3 and 4, 1973, they topped the Mets by scores of 19-8 and 7-5, all seven runs in the latter game also coming in the bottom of the 8th.


Catch-22

The city of Miami wasn't even an incorporated place in 1888 (though it did celebrate its anniversary-- July 28, 1896-- on Friday), but a mere 105 years later it got itself a Major League Baseball team. In 2012 that team finally moved inside the city limits, and in 2017 that team proved that everything's bigger in Texas by going to Arlington and shelling 22 runs on the Rangers. It was the highest-scoring game in Marlins history, and just the third 22-10 score in the major-league annals. Bizarrely, the Red Sox crushed Felix Hernandez and the Mariners by that same count less than two years ago (August 15, 2015); in the previous 140 years it had only happened once. That was the Giants over the Reds on June 5, 1912.

Christian Yelich became the second Marlin ever to have four extra-base hits and four runs scored in a single game; Miguel Cabrera did that against the Braves in a 20-1 beatdown on July 1, 2003. That game previously held the Marlins record for team runs scored. Meanwhile, Marcell Ozuna also scored four runs behind a triple and two doubles; he and Yelich are just the sixth set of teammates in the live-ball era to each have 3 XBH and 4 runs in the same game. Paul Goldschmidt and Chris Owings of the Diamondbacks were the previous pair, on May 17, 2014.

Ozuna, meanwhile, teamed up with Derek Dietrich as the first Marlins teammates ever to have 5 RBI each in the same contest. And all told only eight teams have ever had seven different players collect two hits, one of them for extra bases, plus a run scored and an RBI. The last of those was the Yankees in what is still the last "20-11" score in the majors, against the Red Sox on August 21, 2009.

The Rangers, who of course know a little something about ridiculous scores themselves, "only" scored 10 runs, their first time posting double digits in a loss to an NL opponent since Opening Day 2014, when the Phillies beat them 14-10.

The whole thing started innocently enough with a Dee Gordon leadoff homer. Only two other players since 1900 have hit a leadoff home run in a game where their team went on to score at least 22 runs. Brady Anderson of the Orioles did it on September 28, 2000 (def. Toronto 23-1), and the Phillies' Von Hayes began a famous 26-7 game against the Mets with a dinger on June 11, 1985.

And, oh yeah, Adrian Beltre got ejected from this game after he and crew chief Gerry Davis, um, disagreed about where the on-deck circle should be placed. We could watch this all week, but please don't. Keep reading. (And congrats to Beltre on finally getting that 3000th hit on Sunday.) Intermission!


In Square Circle

It really doesn't matter where the on-deck circle is if your teammate hits a walkoff home run. (Willie Mays was on deck when Bobby Thomson hit "The Shot Heard 'Round The World"; this was the answer to some trivia question at a game years ago, and it somehow just stuck with us.) Steve Pearce took care of that problem twice this week; on Thursday he blasted just the third walk-off grand slam in Blue Jays history, joining Gregg Zaun in 2008 and George Bell in 1988. That was two days after former Torontan Edwin Encarnacion mashed a walkoff slam for the Indians, and was the first occurrence of two in three days since June 11, 1980. On that otherwise-random Wednesday, Mike Jorgensen of the Mets and Tony Armas for Oakland both hit them in extra innings.

So in Sunday's series finale with the Angels, Bud Norris allows two singles and a walk to load the bases. And guess who's on deck. And guess what he does. Only two other players in the history of the game have hit two walkoff slams in the same season; the others were Jim Presley of the 1986 Mariners and Cy Williams for the Phillies in 1926.

Pearce also joined Bell as the only players in Jays history to hit multiple 9th-inning slams (never mind the walkoff part). And he joined "E.E." as the only Jays to hit two slams in a four-day span (regardless of inning). Encarnacion did that in August 2015; the next closest pair is by Joe Carter two weeks apart in 1997.


Home & Gardy Center

Pearce wasn't the only batter making walkoff noises multiple times this week. Pearce played 12 games with the Yankees during a brief September stint in 2012, and former teammate Brett Gardner also smacked a walkoff homer on Thursday to beat the Rays. Gardner had also tripled to lead off the bottom of the 9th and scored the tying run to send the game to extras; he exactly duplicated the feat of Clint Frazier, who had a triple and a walkoff homer against the Brewers on July 8. And (as reported right here in Kernels) Frazier was only the second Yankee ever to do that in a game, and the other was some guy named Babe Ruth (August 18, 1922). So after exactly one Yankee did it in their first 114 years, two have done it this month.

Gardner then started Friday's game with a leadoff homer as the Yankees topped the Rays 6-1. Usually the name Roberto Kelly comes up when we talk about Jacoby Ellsbury getting yet another catcher's interference call (which he didn't this week), but it turns out Kelly was the previous Yankee to hit a walkoff homer in one game and a leadoff homer the next. That happened against the Indians on August 5 and 6, 1990.

He wasn't done. After Saturday's 9th inning began with a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and an infield single, Gardy strode to the plate to face new pitcher Dan Jennings, and roped the second pitch to center for a walkoff single. Only one other Yankee in the past 25 years had collected two walkoff hits in a three-day span... and that was Brett Gardner. In reverse order (extra-inning single followed by 9th-inning homer), he bookended a three-game series with the Tigers on August 9 and 11, 2013. Prior to that the last Yankee to do it had been Claudell Washington in 1988.


Party Like It's 1946

A few hours up the road, the Red Sox rallied to end the Royals' nine-game win streak when newly-acquired Eduardo Nuñez rolled a ground ball to short, Alcides Escobar (briefly) looked the runner back and threw to first, but then Sandy Leon made a delayed dash for the plate and hurdled the outstretched arm of Drew Butera for the win. It's scored like a normal 6-3 groundout, the first such walkoff in the majors since Chase Headley hit one against Minnesota on August 17, 2015.

That wasn't the biggest play of the day for Nuñez, however; he earlier cranked two homers out of Fenway Park, becoming the first player to have a multi-homer game within his first two appearances as a Red Sock since Gabe Kapler did it on June 29, 2003. And the last Bostonian to have a game with two homers and a walkoff non-homer anything was none other than Carlton Fisk, whose single to score Carl Yastrzemski defeated the Brewers on July 28, 1975.

Saturday marked the first time the Red Sox and Yankees had both walked off on the same day since September 16, 2009. Ty Kelly also had a walkoff single for the Phillies. Alas, the Nationals spent five-plus innings being perfect-gamed by German Marquez and ended up losing, so we can't get all of Megalopolis involved here. But it was the first day on which Boston, New York, and Philadelphia each celebrated walkoff wins in over 70 years-- a time when each city had one more team than it does now. On August 4, 1946, the Braves rallied for 3 in the 9th to beat the Cubs in the first game of a doubleheader; the Dodgers got a 14th-inning squeeze play from Pee Wee Reese to beat the Reds; and the Phillies capped a doubleheader against the Cardinals with a 12th-inning home run by Jim Tabor.


Return Of The Connie Mack

Speaking of Philadelphia having another team back in 1946, how about those Athletics? They ended the week with a pair of walkoff homers, first by Rajai Davis on Saturday and then by Yonder Alonso on Sunday to shock the Twins. It's amazingly not even the first time this season that Oakland's hit consecutive walkoff homers; Ryon Healy and Jed Lowrie did it on May 7 and 8, albeit against different opponents. The last time they did it against the same opponent was back on June 1 and 2, 2004, when Bobby Kielty and Mark Kotsay ended back-to-back games against the White Sox.

Davis's tater was his fourth hit of the game, making him just the third player since the team moved to Oakland (1968) to have four hits including a walkoff homer. Gene Tenace did it on September 14, 1973, in one of their world-championship years; the other (and most recent) is "only" Reggie Jackson, whose two-run shot in the 13th defeated the White Sox on July 25, 1975.

One throw-in note about Sunday's game: Twins leadoff man (and Former New Britain Rock Cat) Brian Dozier started the game with a home run. And then struck out five times thanks to the extra innings. Only two other players in the live-ball era have posted a game with 5 K's and a homer: Sammy Sosa for the Cubs in 2000, and Ray Lankford for the Cardinals in 1998.


Now With Extra Bases

Back to Philadelphia's National League team for a moment, Wednesday brought them a 9-0 shutout of the old Colt .45s (Astros) in a game where they collected 14 hits. It's who collected them that's interesting.

The Phillies hadn't shut out anyone by a 9-0 score since May 26, 2014, when they blanked the Rockies. Only the Orioles (who haven't done it since September 2012) had gone longer without a 9-0 or larger shutout.

It was the Phillies' first game with at least nine extra-base hits since June 19, 2010, against the Twins, and that was a game they lost! Every other team in the majors has had 9 XBH at least twice since then (and most of them a lot more often).

And most notably, six of those extra-base hits came from the unlikely source that is the bottom of the Phillies' order. Catcher Cameron Rupp, batting eighth, clocked two homers; Tommy Joseph, hitting seventh, had a pair of doubles; and Maikel Franco, hitting sixth, had one of each to raise his average to .226. It was just the second time in the live-ball era that the Phillies' 6- through 8-hitters each had two extra-base hits in the same game. The other such contest was nearly 53 years ago to the day. On July 27, 1954, Danny Schnell, Bobby Morgan, and Willie Jones combined for 6 XBH as the Phils topped Cincinnati 8-2 at (yes, still) Connie Mack Stadium.

Astros reliever Michael Feliz had an interesting line in that game Wednesday as well; he worked two innings but gave up eight hits and six runs, all earned. No Houston reliever had been tagged for those totals in such a short outing since the late Darryl Kile, in his third major-league appearance, did it as part of an eight-run 7th inning against the Giants on April 13, 1991.


Wild Thing

The great Bob Uecker once quipped that the best way to catch a knuckleball is to wait for it to stop rolling and go pick it up. Braves backstop Tyler Flowers pretty much did just that on Monday when R.A. Dickey uncorked four wild pitches and walked five batters in a 10-2 loss to the Diamondbacks. No pitcher in the majors had hit both those marks since Daniel Cabrera of the Nationals on April 30, 2009; and if you guessed that the last Braves hurler to do it was fellow knuckler Phil Niekro, you'd be right. On August 14, 1969, against the Phillies, Niekro also posted that line, with the added bonus that three of the wild pitches scored runs (Atlanta lost 6-0).

Only five pitchers in the live-ball era have done that and also hit a batter as Dickey did on Monday. Ryan Madson of the Phillies was the previous one; he also did it against Arizona, again almost exactly 11 years ago to the day (July 25, 2006). And our buddy Daniel Cabrera did it again just a month before that (at the time he was with the Orioles and did it against the Nationals); the others are Victor Zambrano in 2003 and Milt Gaston of the Red Sox in 1929.

On Monday the Braves called on Ian Krol for the 7th inning and Luke Jackson for the 8th, and guess what. Each of them also got charged with one wild pitch, making it the eighth game since 1920 where a team combined to throw six of them. The Braves did it once before; that was another Niekro game, against the Astros on August 4, 1979. Niekro unleashed six wild pitches by himself in the complete-game loss, tying the major-league record of Houston's J.R. Richard, who had done it himself earlier in the same season. And four of Niekro's WPs came in the 5th inning alone, a "feat" that's been done by only one other NL pitcher in history-- Ryan Madson in that 2006 contest.

Fast-forward to Dickey's next start on Sunday. Because "day game after night game", it is now Kurt Suzuki behind the dish, but yet again Dickey uncorked four WPs, the first pitcher in (at least) the live-ball era to do that in back-to-back outings. Dickey would actually have thrown a fifth, but Odubel Herrera was cut down at the plate trying to advance on one. And Suzuki got hit with two passed balls as well, one of which scored the only run Dickey allowed. That made it unearned, and gave R.A. the interesting line of bouncing 4 WPs but allowing 0 ER. Only one other pitcher has ever done that, the Dodgers' Fred Morgan against the Cubs on September 14, 1970.


It's Not Polite To Hit People

Sometimes what's destined to be a wild pitch gets interrupted by that pesky batter standing in the way. Cubs starter John Lackey was reminded of this little nugget on Tuesday when he managed to hit four batters in the "Crosstown Cup" series with the White Sox, including three in one inning (you've heard of "walking the bases loaded"?...). That latter part matched a major-league record accomplished about two dozen times, most recently by reliever Cesar Cabral of the Yankees on April 18, 2014.

The only other Cubs pitcher in the last 100 years to hit four batters in a game was Moe Drabowsky, who plunked four Reds on June 2, 1957. And no worries, Lackey also got in one wild pitch for good measure, becoming the first pitcher to hit four and bounce one since Orel Hershiser did it against Houston on April 19, 2000.

All this... and did we mention Lackey got the win?!


Did You Know?

In the first few years of the major leagues, a hit batter was not automatically entitled to first base. The ball was dead and it was counted as just one of the balls required for a walk (the number of which varied from year to year and league to league). Thus throwing at batters was often used as a strategy to prevent stolen bases. It wasn't until 1884 that the National Association awarded the batter first base for getting hit, and the number of balls required for a walk was finally standardized at four... in the winter of 1888.


Bottom Of The Bag
(or, stuff that doesn't quite date to 1888 but is fairly impressive anyway)

⋅ Homer Bailey, Wednesday: First Reds pitcher to give up seven runs to the Yankees since Gene Thompson did it in Game 3 of the 1939 World Series.

⋅ Andrew McCutchen, Sunday: First player in Pirates history to hit three homers in a game and have all of them be solo shots.

⋅ Chris Taylor, Tuesday: First Dodgers leadoff hitter to have two extra-base hits and 3 RBI, but not score a run himself, since Jim Gilliam against the Braves on September 2, 1953.

⋅ Austin Barnes, Friday: First Dodgers catcher to have 0 hits, but walk three times and score twice, since Mike Piazza at Wrigley Field, June 18, 1995.

⋅ Bradley Zimmer, Tuesday: First Indians hitter with three hits, two steals, and 4 RBI since Joe Carter versus Oakland, June 10, 1986.

⋅ Corey Kluber, Saturday: First Indians pitcher to strike out 12, but also allow nine hits, since Charles Nagy against the Tigers on August 26, 1995.

⋅ Sonny Gray, Tuesday: First Athletics pitcher to strike out nine opponents, allow zero earned runs, and take the loss since Ed Rakow against the Red Sox (for Kansas City) on June 2, 1962.

Your Hit Parade

Every year around this time, the temperature heats up and so do the bats. Well, most of them.


Denver Nuggets

It's become commonplace to look at an 18-4 Rockies score, with 21 hits, and say, oh, Coors Field. But Wednesday's game had the unusual combination of one player going off and all his teammates backing him up. Nolan Arenado's 5-for-6 with three homers and seven RBIs was the eye-catcher, but Gerardo Parra also had four hits, while three others-- Charlie Blackmon, Trevor Story, and Ryan Hanigan-- each had three hits, multiple runs scored, and mulitple runs driven in. It was only the second time in Rockies history that five different batters had three hits and two runs scored, and the other was actually not at Coors. It was a 19-3 win at Minute Maid Park in Houston on September 25, 2011.

Arenado's outburst made him just the second player in Rockies history with a five-hit, seven-RBI game, joining Troy Tulowitzki on August 10, 2009, against the Cubs-- a game in which he hit for the cycle. In the majors this season, three players have done it; the others are Scooter Gennett (in his four-homer game) and Anthony Rendon (in that 23-5 game in April). Since RBI became an official stat in 1920, only one other season has seen three players post that line. The 1987 campaign didn't have anyone do it before August, but Kevin Seitzer of the Royals became the first, and then Mickey Brantley (Mariners) and Dave Parker (Reds) did it on back-to-back days in mid-September.

As mentioned, however, it was a team effort. Trevor Story posted his line of three hits, three runs, and three driven in while batting 7th, just the sixth player in Rockies history to do it from the bottom third of the order. The previous entrant on that list was Bobby Estalella against the Giants on May 24, 2002. And while Charlie Blackmon did not hit a leadoff homer to start the game, he did have three hits and three runs scored out of his leadoff perch, his 14th such game. Since his debut in June 2011, that's two more than anyone else in the majors; Jacoby Ellsbury has done it 12 times and Brett Gardner 11.

Clayton Richard gave up 14 of those hits-- and 11 of the runs-- before departing in the 4th inning. He was the fifth pitcher in Padres history to allow 14 hits in an outing, but the others all lasted at least six innings and gave up no more than six runs. (The most recent of the others was Andy Ashby on August 10, 1999.) The most recent member of the "14/11 club", for any team in any length outing, was Jason Marquis of the Cardinals on July 18, 2006 (he also did it on June 21 of that year). And only one other pitcher in the live-ball era pulled off 14-and-11 in under four innings. Dan Dugan of the White Sox allowed 15 and 13-- in relief!-- to Boston on June 5, 1929.

Blackmon would add a triple and a double in Saturday's 7-3 win over Pittsburgh, his fourth game this season with those hits. Only one other player in Rox history has been that prolific; Dexter Fowler did it five times in 2011. Blackmon's career total of eight is now tied with Fowler; they trail Todd Helton (9) and Larry Walker (12) in the Colorado record book.


Springing A Leake

Although he got pulled before he could reach Clayton Richard levels, Mike Leake of the Cardinals was also not a fan of Wednesday. Leake allowed 10 hits and seven runs (though only four earned) to the Mets, needed 53 pitches to get through two innings, and did not come out for the 3rd.

It's the second time this season that Leake has allowed 10 hits, but the other one (June 8) took five innings and only cost him two earned runs. Adam Wainwright has had three 10-hit outings this season, but again, each of those was between 4 and 5 innings. Leake is the first Cardinal to surrender 10 hits while only getting 6 outs since Brett Tomko did it at Fenway Park on June 11, 2003. Before that it was Sylvester Johnson, also against Boston (the other Boston, the Braves) on June 8, 1932. However, both of them started the 3rd but failed to record an out; Leake is the first Cardinals starter in (at least) the live-ball era to give up 10 hits and not make it beyond the 2nd inning.

Leake's performance from June 8 was matched on Friday by Carlos Martinez, who also gave up 10 hits, but limited the damage to two earned runs in six innings. He and Leake are the first pair of Cardinals to do that in the same season since Matt Morris and Jeff Suppan in 2004.


Phil Thine Horn

The Phillies collected 20 hits on Wednesday in Miami, the first visiting team ever to do so at the six-year-old Marlins Park. Even the home team has only done it twice, and the team record is 21.

More notably, although six of those Phillies hits went for extra bases, not one of them was a round-tripper. It's the first game where Philadelphia had 20 hits but no homers since May 2, 1990, in a 14-4 win against Houston.

Rookie Nick Williams, playing in just his 16th MLB game, legged out two triples, the earliest into a career that any Phillie has done that since October 1, 1983, when Jeff Stone, in his ninth game, finally got to play a defensive position (CF) and had a pair of three-baggers and 3 RBI against the Pirates.


Rocky Mountain High

On Friday it was the Pirates' turn to enjoy the altitude at Coors Field, compiling 18 hits and defeating the Rockies 13-5. Josh Bell had four of those-- both hits and RBIs-- despite his only extra-base hit being a double. The great Pokey Reese was the last Pirates batter to have four hits and four RBIs without a home run involved; that was against the Reds back on September 17, 2002.

Although he only had two base hits, leadoff batter Starling Marte reached four times (HBP and a fielder's choice), stole two bases, and scored on all four trips. He was the first Pirates leadoff hitter with four runs and two steals since... Starling Marte on June 12, 2013, against the Giants. Since the definition of a stolen base was made consistent around 1910, he's the first Pirates leadoff batter to post that line twice.

And in between Marte and Bell sat Andrew McCutchen, who had three singles and two walks, but still managed to score three runs and drive in three others. Since RBIs were recognized by both leagues in 1920, only one other Pirate has thrown up a line of reaching base five times, scoring three times, and driving in three runs-- all without an extra-base hit. That was shortstop Tim Foli against the Braves on May 9, 1979.


Cycle Watch

The Indians topped Toronto 13-3 on Friday behind an eight-run 7th inning in which they sent 13 batters to the plate. Edwin Encarnacion had an innocent-looking RBI single to begin the scoring in that frame, notable because he had homered and doubled earlier in the game. Most hardcore baseball fans roll their eyes at the idea of being "a triple shy of the cycle", because literally hundreds of players do it each season. But it was four batters later, when Erick Almonte hit a three-run homer, that it became relevant. Almonte already had the triple, and when he collected the single in the 8th, it marked the first time in 12 years that Cleveland had one player miss by the triple and another miss by the double. Victor Martinez and Grady Sizemore (respectively) did it against the Mariners on July 29, 2005.

And along the way, both Edwin and Erick knocked in three runs (Almonte's all came on the homer), and only once before in Indians history has one player missed the triple, and another missed the double, while both of them had at least three RBIs. Those two were none other than Larry Doby and Al Rosen on April 29, 1951... in a game the Indians lost to the Browns, 13-11.

Among our writing locations this week was the Downtown Walking Mall in Helena, Mont.


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Speaking of "checking in", the Royals dropped a season-high 16 runs on the Tigers on Thursday night, throwing in 19 base hits for good measure. Strangely, only two of those hits were home runs-- both of the solo variety-- and just three were doubles, making it the first game in over a decade where Kansas City had collected 19 hits with no more than 5 XBH. That was a 17-3 victory over Seattle on July 3, 2007, in which Billy Butler and Jason LaRue both had a homer and a double.

Unlike the Arenado situation, there was no one Kansas City player who dominated the scoresheet; in fact, eight of their nine starters chipped in two hits each, and the one who didn't was CF Lorenzo Cain, who was removed as part of the standard "mass substitution in a blowout" after the 7th inning. It was just the fifth game in Royals history (and one went extra innings) where eight starters had multiple hits; the last was July 31, 1999, a 12-8 win at Texas. (The one left out of that outburst was 3B Joe Randa who went "only" 1-for-6 with a double.)

But at the risk of burying the lead, it's how the Royals compiled those 16 runs that is the most interesting. Their linescore was composed of four 4's and four 0's (they did not bat in B9, obviously), and it was the nicely palindromic 4-0-4-0-0-4-0-4. But more notably, it was the first known game in major-league history where a team put up 16 runs in this "perfect square" format of four 4's. (Three 3's to make 9 happens with some regularity.) Friend of Kernels Diane Firstman reports that it's the first linescore she could find with any four 4-run innings, regardless of whether the total ended up being 16 or not.


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On Saturday the Royals clobbered five homers, including two by Mike Moustakas, in defeating the White Sox 7-2. The outburst began with three longballs in the 6th inning, just the third time in the past decade that they've hit three in an inning. Lorenzo Cain, Sal Perez, and Eric Hosmer did it on June 10 in San Diego; and the other was their famous 14th inning against the Rangers on May 27, 2011, when Hosmer teamed with Melky Cabrera and Brayan Peña.

David Holmberg gave up all three of those 6th-inning taters, becoming the first White Sox pitcher in 12 years to give up three dingers while getting fewer than three outs. Shingo Takatsu did it in an 11-3 loss to the Indians on April 7, 2005.

Saturday marked the first time in Royals history that they'd hit five homers from the 6th inning onward (regardless of hitting any earlier in the game), and amazingly, Kansas City had not hit five home runs in a game at Kauffman Stadium since May 26, 2000, when they topped the Angels 9-4. That was easily the longest drought in the majors of doing it in a home game; that honors now passes to the Giants, who haven't done it since April 7, 2003.

It was also odd that the Royals stole four bases in Saturday's game (usually, if you hit a bunch of homers, you don't need to steal). That marked the first game in team history with five homers and four steals; only one other team (the Rays on June 9) has pulled off that combo in the past six years.

Sure enough, the Royals did it again Sunday, hitting four homers in defeating the White Sox 5-4. All were solo shots, and that still wasn't enough; the fifth and final run scored on Brandon Moss's walkoff double. It was the seventh time this season that Kansas City went deep at least four times, setting a new team record. The 2001 squad did it six times (and lost one of them).

Similar to Saturday, three of Sunday's homers came back-to-back-to-back to lead off the 4th inning; it was easily the first time in team history that the Royals had a three-homer inning in consecutive games. Their previous record for the closest such innings was a whopping 41 days; the 1988 squad did it on May 19 at the Metrodome, and then again on June 29, also against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium (though it wasn't called that yet).



Not Going Anywhere For A While?

The Tigers piled up 16 hits in Sunday's 9-6 win over the Twins, a game that needed 11 pitchers throwing 377 pitches, a combined 25 hits, 10 walks, 26 strikeouts, and 18 runners stranded. It clocked in at a tidy 4 hours 19 minutes, amazingly not even the longest nine-inning game this season. (That "honor" belongs to the 4 hours 32 minutes it took the Rays to beat the Red Sox on May 14.) However, it was believed to be the longest nine-inning game in Minnesota Twins history; the great Baseball Reference Play Index appears to have game times all the way back to the team's move from Washington in 1961.

James McCann, Alex Presley, and Jose Iglesias each chipped in three hits and scored two runs. That was only the third time in the live-ball era that Detroit's 7- through 9-hitters had each done that. The more recent of the other games was June 3, 1987, when Pat Sheridan, Chet Lemon, and Tom Brookens did it as part of a 20-hit outburst in Cleveland. The other was just 10 months prior (August 7, 1986), when Sheridan batted 8th and was bookended by Darnell Coles and Dwight Lowry in a 15-1 win, also over the Indians.

For Iglesias, Sunday was his seventh career such game out of the 9-hole, tied for the second-most in Tigers history (at least in the LBE). Deivi Cruz had nine of them from 1998 to 2000, while Alan Trammell also posted seven in his 20-year career with the team, although he stopped batting 9th after the 1983 season.


And The Number-One Hit Is...

And in the midst of all these big outbursts, a nod to one particular game without many hits. That was Wednesday's outing by the Washington Nationals, in which Angels starter Alex Meyer held them at bay for five innings. That set off the no-hitter panic alerts in the final game of the day before Brian Goodwin finally solved him with a two-out double in the 6th. Although Meyer would only go seven innings, David Hernandez and Jose Alvarez would also work 1-2-3 innings for the Angels' first complete-game one-hitter since Ervin Santana did it to the Diamondbacks on June 16, 2012. (Santana, of course, no-hit the Indians the year before.)

Only once before had the Nationals/Expos franchise been held to one hit by an American League opponent, and that was in a game they won! Mike Lansing's home run was the only base knock against the Red Sox on September 3, 1997, but it was enough to hold up for a 1-0 victory. That was also the last time that the team had been one-hit by anyone with the one hit being an XBH.

That game, of course, was in Montréal; the last time "Washington" was held to one hit, with it being for extra bases, was in a rain-shortened affair with Kansas City on August 11, 1971. Jeff Burroughs had a double before the game was called in the top of the 6th. And bizarrely, the Angels had done it to "Washington" once before as well; Claude Osteen-- the pitcher-- had a double for the Senators' only hit at Griffith Stadium on April 13, 1964.


Minor-League Minute

If you follow on Twitter, you no doubt know that the past week was devoted to a whirlwind tour of the rookie-level Pioneer League which covers the I-15 corridor from Great Falls to Orem, plus a few points on either side. One of those points is Missoula, Mont., which gave us our first-ever double-digit inning on Thursday night. The visiting Ogden (Utah) Raptors, named after the dinosaur which used to roam these parts and was made famous by Jurassic Park, sent 14 batters to the plate in the 5th, collected six hits and four walks, and capped an 11-run frame with a three-run homer by catcher Hedrick Clementina.

The kicker is that Ogden scored only those 11 runs in the game, winning 11-7 after Missoula insisted on trying to mount a comeback. We instantly thought of the Cardinals game from a few years ago, but here are the last occurrences of a major-leaguer team scoring X runs in a game with all of them in one inning.
8: Angels over Athletics, September 28, 2016.
9: Angels over Braves, May 30, 2017.
10: Yankees over Rays, October 4, 2009.
11: Yankees over Blue Jays, July 3, 2010.
12: Cardinals over Cubs, July 21, 2012.
13: Phillies over Reds, April 13, 2003.
To our knowledge it's never happened with a 14-run inning or higher (the MLB record for one inning is 18), but we're on the road, so our reference materials are limited. We will update if this turns out to not be true.



Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Michael Wacha, Tuesday: First Cardinal to throw an individual shutout with at least 8 K's against the Mets since Joaquin Andujar did it at Shea on April 9, 1983.

⋅ Jaime Garcia, Friday: First Braves pitcher to hit a grand slam since July 3, 1966. That's the famous game where Tony Cloninger became (still) the only pitcher to hit two.

⋅ Matt Adams, Sunday: First Braves player to hit a tying or go-ahead homer with the team trailing by 3 and down to its final out since Nick Green against the Expos, June 1, 2004. First on the road since Francisco Cabrera off Cincinnati's Rob Dibble in the "worst to first" season, August 21, 1991.

⋅ Eduardo Nuñez, Tuesday: 9th-inning single was the second time the Giants have ever walked off against the Indians. The other was in the 1954 World Series, when Dusty Rhodes ended Game 1 with one of the shortest home runs in history, just over the 258-foot fence at the Polo Grounds. (That's also the game where Willie Mays made "The Catch".)

⋅ Chris Taylor, Saturday: Second Dodger in live-ball era to homer and triple in a game he didn't start, joining LF Gordie Windhorn vs Phillies, September 21, 1961.

⋅ Yoan Moncada, Friday: Youngest White Sock with a 4-RBI game since Sammy Sosa at Seattle, September 21, 1990.

⋅ Marwin Gonzalez, Saturday: Third player in Astros history to have a pinch-hit homer, stay in the game, and have another XBH. Others: Jeff Bagwell at Pittsburgh, May 10, 1992; and Jose Tolentino against the Mets, August 26, 1991.


Did You Know?
No, seriously. Does anyone know what this mascot is? We don't have a high-enough resolution to read the logo on its overalls. It showed up as part of Saturday's "Utah Mascot Night" at the Orem Owlz game, and we want to adopt it. Hashtag Kernels. :)

Holding Out For A Hero

We don't normally do much with the All-Star Game because, well, it doesn't count. (And thankfully it is back to really not counting.) But this week's ASG in Miami started a trend, and we'll jump on any such thing if it fits the theme. ☺


Bienvenido a Míami

Trailing 1-0 on a Miguel Sano seeing-eye single, Yadier Molina's solo shot tied the game in the 6th, where it stayed for two more innings. Molina, amazingly, was the first Cardinal to homer in an ASG since Reggie Smith in 1974.

Kenley Jansen allowed a leadoff single to Yonder Alonso, who promptly stole second and was balked to third. Jansen's gaffe was the first balk in an All-Star Game since Derek Lowe committed one in 2002, and combined with a pair of wild pitches by Dellin Betances in the 3rd, it was the first ASG ever to feature two wild pitches and a balk. Partial credit to the 1986 edition, which-- thanks to knuckleballer Charlie Hough-- had the reverse (two balks and one wild pitch). Betances also chunked a wild pitch in last year's ASG, just the second pitcher to do it in consecutive years. Ewell Blackwell of the Reds had one in both 1946 and 1947; the only others to do it twice at all were Robin Roberts (Phillies) in 1950 and 1955, and Montreal's Steve Rogers in 1978 and 1982.

Craig Kimbrel escaped two walks and a passed ball in the bottom of the 9th, and just when it looked like we might be headed for another Bud Selig Tie Snafu (not the neckwear, that infamous 2002 game), Robinson Cano of the Mariners delivered a solo home run in the top of the 10th to give the AL its fifth straight victory.

Cano was the fourth player in ASG history-- and the first AL participant-- to hit an extra-inning home run, and the others are a nice list. It had been a half-century to the day since Tony Perez of the Reds hit the previous one, in the 15th inning of the 1967 affair in Anaheim. The first two were both hit by Cardinals: Stan Musial in 1955 and Red Schoendienst in 1950.

When the season resumed on Friday in Chicago, Cano smashed another home run off James Shields. Bizarrely, of those four players to hit extra-inning homers in the All-Star Game, three of them homered in the next regular-season game after the break. Schoendienst was the one left out of this club; Musial homered off Brooklyn's Johnny Podres, and Perez went deep against the Mets in the opener of a Thursday doubleheader. (Musial had also homered in the three games prior to his extra-inning tater in the ASG.)

In Sunday's series finale, Cano would go 0-for-5, but Nelson Cruz picked things up with a solo shot in the top of the 10th for a 7-6 Mariners win. Given that Cano's ASG homer doesn't technically count, it was the first extra-inning homer by Seattle this season, leaving seven teams still without one. And the only other one the Mariners have ever hit in Chicago was by Ken Griffey Jr. on September 27, 1991, the first year of the new (and current) Comiskey Park. It's the third of Cruz's career, trailing only Griffey (four) in Mariners lore, although several others have three.


East Coast Bias

It had been 36 whole days since certain media outlets obsessed over a Yankees/Red Sox series, so what better way to come out of the break than with some late-inning heroics? After holding a tenuous 4-3 lead for four innings, the Yankees summoned Aroldis Chapman to start the 9th. Chapman also ended the 9th inning, and not in desirable fashion (for him). Mookie Betts and Dustin Pedroia beat out infield singles, Xander Bogaerts reached on an error, and Hanley Ramirez was intentionally walked to load the bases. Chapman then issued a five-pitch walk to Andrew Benintendi for Boston's first "shrimp" (game-ending bases-loaded walk) since Trot Nixon drew one against the Orioles on September 23, 2000. That was the longest drought in the majors by over 2½ years; that honor now passes to the Reds who haven't done it since April 26, 2003 (Ruben Mateo).

Chapman became the second Yankee since 1969 (when saves became official) to enter the game in a save situation, face at least five batters, and get none of them out. Dave Righetti pulled that off on May 19, 1990, against the Royals, though the Yankees still walked off in that game in the 11th.

Although Benintendi didn't have to do much except not swing, his part in the game goes alongside a Red Sox legend. The last Bostonian to draw a game-winning walk against the Yankees was none other than Ted Williams (from Tommy Byrne) on August 7, 1956.

The Yanks and Sawx were scheduled to play two games on Sunday to make up an April 25 rainout, but someone missed a memo. Holding a 1-0 lead going to the top of the 9th, Craig Kimbrel gave up a leadoff homer to Matt Holliday and, in addition to their 18 innings Sunday, the squads would end up playing 16 just on Saturday. Holliday's shot was the Yankees' first game-tying (not go-ahead) dinger in the 9th inning at Fenway since Dan Pasqua took Calvin Schiraldi deep on June 19, 1987. (Pasqua also had a two-run double in the 13th in that game, though it wasn't the game-winner.)

Didi Gregorius finally broke Saturday's tie in the 16th with the third consecutive hit off Doug Fister who was in his third inning of relief. It was the first go-ahead single for the Yankees in the 16th or later since Paul O'Neill brought home Chuck Knoblauch in a 17-inning game in Toronto on April 19, 2001. Austin Romine followed with another RBI single, and a Gary Sanchez sac fly marked the first time the Yankees had scored 3 or more runs in an inning numbered 16 or higher since May 18, 1976, when they won an 11-6 game in Cleveland.

Although the AL East rivals played a 19-inning game in the Bronx two years ago, it was their longest contest at Fenway Park since June 4, 1966, when Jim Gosger's walkoff homer won it in the bottom of the 16th. And combined with that famous Sunday-night game at Wrigley from May 7 (the one that set the strikeout records), it's the first season in Yankees history where they've won two road games of 16 innings or longer.

Chris Sale recorded yet another 13-strikeout game, but his effort was lost in the extra-inning drama. Sale also had 13 K and 0 runs allowed on April 20 in Toronto, and also got a no-decision in that one when Jason Grilli gave up three runs in the top of the 10th. He's the first pitcher in (at least) the live-ball era to have two such "non-wins" in a season. Combined with the one he had for the White Sox two years ago, he joins Nolan Ryan as the only pitchers to do it three times in a career.

And as for that Sunday doubleheader, the Yankees won the day game by a 3-0 count and held Boston to four hits. They'd also shut out the Sawx on three hits back on April 26 (after the rainout), making 2017 just their third season ever with a pair of four-hit shutouts at Fenway Park. The others were 1979 and 1915. In the nightcap, the reverse happened; although the Yankees did manage eight hits, it was the Red Sox who took the 3-0 victory. Only once before in their long history had the rivals traded identical scores in a doubleheader; that was a 4-2 swap on September 1, 1958.


Intermission
Inspiration for the title of this post from the Baltimore Orioles, who played this song occasionally in the middle of the 9th if the game was close. (Other teams probably did too, but that's where we first heard it.)


You Can Ring My Bell

Seung-Hwan Oh of the Cardinals entered Friday's game in the 9th inning after Matt Bowman, Brett Cecil, and Trevor Rosenthal had kept it at a 2-2 tie for the previous three frames. Once again, it wasn't tied for long. After a leadoff double by Adam Frazier and an intentional walk, Josh Bell blasted a three-run walkoff homer to give Pittsburgh the 5-2 win and Oh his fifth loss of the season.

It was the Pirates' first 3- or 4-run walkoff homer since Pedro Alvarez beat the Rockies on August 7, 2010. Remarkably, the Brewers (September 25, 2008) were the only team to go longer without a walkoff hit of that variety. Pittsburgh hadn't hit one against St. Louis since Curt Wilkerson's walkoff grand slam off Lee Smith on September 19, 1991.

Frazier then added his own walkoff single in Sunday's series finale with the Cards; other than Bell on Friday he's the youngest Pirate to hit a walkoff since Gregory Polanco also beat St. Louis on July 12, 2015.


Going Back To (The Clubhouse In) Cali

Saturday's slate of night action included three west-coast games, and two of those shared the common theme of being won 5-3 on a two-run walkoff homer. Hector Sanchez hit one for the Padres to beat San Francisco, the Padres' first multi-run walkoff against the division-rival Giants since Johnny Jeter (no relation to Derek) went deep on April 19, 1972-- against Juan Marichal.

Meanwhile, 8 minutes later in Oakland, Khris Davis cranked his own 2-run shot to beat Cleveland 5-3. The A's hadn't walked off against the Indians since Jack Cust hit a three-run dinger on May 13, 2007.

And combined, it marked the first time two of the five California teams had hit walkoff homers on the same day since August 29, 2004. (Rarely are more than three of them home at the same time, so asterisk.) But on that occasion, Adam Kennedy of the Angels went deep to beat the Twins 4-2, while Oakland's Billy McMillon hit a three-run shot against Tampa Bay.


Puigging Out

With Friday's game tied 1-1, Yasiel Puig gave the Dodgers the advantage with a leadoff homer in the top of the 5th. Corey Seager also hit a solo shot, but the Marlins answered with three runs in B5 and took a 4-3 edge into the top of the 9th. A.J. Ramos got the first two outs, but then gave up a single to Joc Pederson and a walk to Yasmani Grandal before Puig came to bat again. And promptly gave the Dodgers the lead again with a three-run homer that would prove to be the final margin. Puig thus became the first Dodger in over 20 years to have a multi-homer game where the second one was a go-ahead shot with the team down to its final out. Raul Mondesi (Sr.) did that at Coors Field in a wild 16-15 game on June 30, 1996.

Enrique Hernandez did have two go-ahead home runs in the same game for the Dodgers last April 15, and Andre Ethier did it in the 8th and the 10th innings on August 2, 2015 (the latter a walkoff). But Puig is the first Dodger to have two go-ahead homers in the 5th or later of a road game since Todd Hollandsworth went deep in the 5th and 7th in St. Louis on May 11, 1996 (both off Andy Benes).


Sugar Cain So Sweet

Lorenzo Cain began Sunday's game with two strikeouts and a pair of grounders to third. So of course guess who comes to the plate in the bottom of the 9th with two outs and the bases loaded. The game was tied, so Cain wasn't technically the Royals' last hope, but he was certainly the best one they'd had in a few innings. Cain lifted a fly ball to right, and Sunday afternoon games will be Sunday afternoon games. Shin-Soo Choo lost the ball in the sun and it fell in front of him for a walkoff single. Cain's final line was thus 1-for-5 with the one being the game-winner.

He's the first Royal for whom a walkoff hit was his only time on base in the game since... Lorenzo Cain did it against the White Sox last August 10. (He went 1-for-7 in the 14-inning affair, but his lone single scored Christian Colón with the game-winner.) The last Royal to pull that trick twice was Michael Tucker, whose two games both game in the 2002 season.


Tiger Shrimp
(This is a real thing. We're shocked too.)

Andrew Benintendi wasn't the only one passing through the seafood aisle this weekend. On Sunday the Tigers got a gift "shrimp" when Josh Donaldson booted a Nick Castellanos grounder that would have ended the 11th inning and kept the game going. Instead Lucas Harrell then issued two more walks, including the game-loser to Miguel Cabrera. It was the first time the Tigers had received a game-winning pass in extras since Ramon Santiago drew one against the Red Sox on May 15, 2010. But it was already the second one issued by the Jays this season; Casey Lawrence passed the Rays' Brad Miller in the 11th inning back on April 8. The Royals are the only other pitching staff to do it twice this year, and the only other seasons where the Jays issued two were 1997 and 1986.

As for the "unearned" part, the last time the Tigers got a shrimp that forced in a UR was on April 11, 1985, against Cleveland. And the only other one ever issued by Toronto happened in their ninth game as a franchise; Pete Vuckovich gave one to pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston of the White Sox to score Oscar Gamble on April 16, 1977.


Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Braves, Saturday: First game where two pinch hitters had an RBI extra-base hit since Sep 2 2008 (Ruben Gotay sighting!).

⋅ Seth Lugo, Saturday: Second pitcher in Mets history to homer with the team already up by 7 or more runs. Dwight Gooden hit a 7th-inning shot against the Cubs on June 5, 1988, to turn a 7-0 lead into a 9-0 lead (it scored Dave Magadan).

⋅ Carlos Carrasco, Friday: Third Indians pitcher this year to strike out 10 in a loss (also Corey Kluber & Danny Salazar). First season where three different Clevelanders did it since 1968 (Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert, Luis Tiant).

⋅ Nick Williams, Sunday: First grand slam ever hit by the Phillies in Milwaukee (either stadium and either team, including the Braves years). Thanks to the Brewers having been in both leagues, there's only one remaining team that's never hit one there, the probably-guessable Tampa Bay Rays (who entered the AL in 1998 just as the Brewers switched to the NL).

⋅ Cody Bellinger, Saturday: Youngest batter to hit for the cycle out of the cleanup spot since 21-year-old Al Kaline against Kansas City (that's the Athletics, not the Royals) on June 30, 1956.

⋅ Michael Conforto, Friday: First Mets leadoff batter to reach base four times and also drive in four runs since... Michael Conforto against the Padres on May 23. First Met ever to do it twice in the same season.

⋅ Willson Contreras, Sunday: First Cubs catcher to have a 4-hit game out of the cleanup spot since Bob Scheffing did it against the Giants on August 26, 1947.


Did You Know?

A "chukar" is a game bird, related to the pheasant. It's native to the Middle East (and is the national bird of both Iraq and Pakistan!) but has also thrived in arid regions of the American west. This message brought to you by the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League, near whose ballpark (on the banks of the Snake River) most of this post was composed.

Hey Now, You're An (NL) All-Star

The All-Star break is upon us again, and for the last several years, our tradition here at Kernels has been to steal a page from MLB and select one "All-Star" from every team. This year we've split it into two posts; be sure to check out our American League team as well. But proving that we do scour every boxscore every day, we've come up with each team's most notable performance just from the past week.


Arizona Diamondbacks: Robbie Ray, SP; Fernando Rodney, RP

These two were both "stars" of Thursday's game, but in entirely different ways. Ray scattered five singles and struck out 13 Dodgers before departing after 6 innings. That was his second 13-K game for the Diamondbacks; the other was last August 20 against the Padres. Only four D'backs pitchers have ever recorded 13 strikeouts in a game; Randy Johnson did it (no, really!) 35 times, and Curt Schilling eight. Brandon Webb also notched a 13-K outing on April 18, 2007.

Arizona took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th on Thursday. Rodney took care of that-- facing six batters but retiring exactly none of them. Two hits and four walks eventually led to the Dodgers walking off on a Chris Taylor bases-loaded single. In just 20 seasons, the Diamondbacks have actually had five pitchers face six batters and get none of them out; the most recent was David Hernandez on June 7, 2011. Greg Swindell (2002), Matt Mantei (2000), and Armando Reynoso (2000) also did it.


Atlanta Braves: Nick Markakis, RF; Julio Teheran, SP

The Braves owned Washington on Saturday, dropping a 13-0 score on the Nationals who were shut out for the first time this season (leaving the Yankees as the last team to not be). It was the largest shutout by Atlanta in nearly a decade; they hung a 14-0 in Arizona on July 29, 2007 (and another 13-0 against the Nationals a month before that).

Markakis was the first Atlantan to collect three hits and four runs scored in over three years; Evan Gattis did it at Coors Field on June 10, 2014. Only three teams had gone longer without a player doing that; the Orioles, Brewers, and Pirates last saw it in 2014 as well, but earlier in the season.

Meanwhile, Teheran obviously didn't allow a run, but he did drive in three of them with a pair of scoring-position singles. The last Braves pitcher with two hits and three RBIs was Kevin Millwood in Houston on August 11, 2002.


Chicago Cubs: Kris Bryant, 3B

Bryant dominated Friday's Wrigley Field matinee with two home runs and a triple against the Pirates. No Cub had collected those hits in a game since Todd Walker did it in Houston on June 14, 2004. The last Cub to do it at home was Andre Dawson in a 13-2 win, also against the Astros, on June 2, 1987.

In fact, no player for any team, had homered twice and tripled at Wrigley Field since Gary Varsho of Pittsburgh on July 2, 1991. Bryant also drove in four runs, the first Cub with that full line (2 HR, 3B, 4 RBI) since Shawon Dunston did it in St Louis on June 4, 1989.

A single gave Bryant 12 total bases in Friday's game, his third time with 12 TB and 4 RBI. That trails only Sammy Sosa (five) in Cubs history; Mr. Cub himself, Ernie Banks, also had three. Bryant is also the only one ever to do it multiple times before the age of 26.


Cincinnati Reds: Josh Hamilton, CF

We comment on leadoff homers a lot around these parts, but not so much leadoff triples. Hamilton had one of those on Thursday as the Reds beat Colorado 6-3. It was the first one ever hit by the Reds at Coors Field, and it was the fourth of Hamilton's career. Pete Rose is believed to be the team's all-time leader with 10, although play-by-play from any earlier is pretty sketchy. We can say, however, that since Rose's debut in 1963, the only other player to have four was Eddie Milner from 1982 to 1986.

On Saturday Hamilton didn't triple, but he did reach base four times, steal three bases, and drive in a run as the Reds shut out Arizona. The only other game where Hamilton did that was in his very first major-league start, on September 18, 2013. (He batted ninth, that's how long ago it was.) And since RBI became official in 1920, he's one of only two Reds ever to post that line twice. Joe Morgan did it in 1972 and again in 1975. All other Reds since then have combined for four such games.


Colorado Rockies: German Marquez, SP

Although he's a pitcher, Marquez got this vote not for throwing the ball, but for hitting it. Like the Braves' Teheran, he had a pair of hits on Friday and also scored two of the Rockies' 12 runs. Tyler Chatwood (June 3) and Kyle Freeland (May 21) have also posted that line, the first time in the Rockies' 25 seasons that three different pitchers have done so.

Marquez narrowly beat out the top three in the Rockies' order-- Charlie Blackmon, D.J. LeMahieu, and Nolan Arenado-- who each homered in that game. They also each homered on May 31 of last year, becoming the first trio of 1-2-3 hitters in Colorado history to do it twice.


Los Angeles Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw, SP; Alex Wood, SP; Rich Hill, SP

These three folks dominated the Diamondbacks this week, each going seven innings and holding Arizona to three or fewer hits, one or zero runs, and at least nine strikeouts. Even throwing out the three hits, it was the first time in 55 years that three consecutive Dodger starters had allowed a max of one run and fanned at least nine opponents. You've probably heard of the last trio: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Johnny Podres from June 30 to July 2, 1962.

Kershaw stepped things up even further on Sunday, needing only 99 pitches for a complete-game win over the Royals. He did allow a two-run homer to Eric Hosmer, but he somehow struck out 13 batters in those 99 pitches. Obviously it takes at least three (and usually several more) to get a K, which drives up the pitch count as opposed to putting the first or second pitch in play all the time. To that end, Kershaw is the first pitcher in the known population of pitch counts (which covers the vast majority of games back to 1988) to throw a 13-K CG in under 100 balls.


Miami Marlins: Dee Gordon, 2B

We really wanted to give this one to Jeff Locke for allowing 11 earned runs on Monday but somehow not surrendering a homer (a first since the Angels' Scott Schoeneweis on May 23, 2001). But we'll focus on the positive and point out Gordon's two notable games this week.

In the series finale with the Cardinals on Thursday, Gordon had two hits and was plunked once. He then stole two bases and scored on all three trips around. Only one other Marlins leadoff hitter had ever posted that line (2 hits, 2 SB, 3 scored) in a loss, that being Luis Castillo against the Cubs on July 12, 2002. It was Gordon's third such game (win or lose) with the Marlins, tying Juan Pierre and Hanley Ramirez for the most in team history.

On Friday, Gordon had four hits out of the Marlins' 16-hit attack (more on that when we get to the Giants section), his 10th career four-hit game and sixth with Miami. That already ties him for the third-most such games by a leadoff hitter in Marlins history. Pierre had 11 and Ramirez eight, while Luis Castillo and Chris Coghlan matched Gordon's total of six.
Honorable mention to A.J. Ellis, whose game-winning pinch-hit home run in the top of the 11th on Sunday was just the second one ever hit by the Marlins. Their only other PH HR in extras was a Cliff Floyd walkoff to beat the Cubs on June 25, 2000.


Milwaukee Brewers: Jesús Aguilar, 1B

After being used "sparingly" during three callups with the Indians, Aguilar had a breakout game on Friday when he homered twice and drove in seven of the Brewers' nine runs against the Yankees. It's the 11th 7-RBI game in Brewers history (though only one is prior to 2000), but just the second to include a sacrifice fly as one of the RBIs (Ryan Braun last year). Aguilar became the first visiting player with a 2-HR, 7-RBI game at the current Yankee Stadium; the last at the old place was another National Leaguer, the Mets' Carlos Delgado on June 27, 2008.

Aguilar was also the second player in Brewers history to drive in seven or more runs in a game where the team only scored in single digits. Rickie Sexson had two homers and a triple to singlehandedly beat the Cardinals, 7-5, on April 18, 2002.

But he's not perfect. Aguilar was also charged with one of the Brewers' five errors in the game, the first time in over five years that a team has committed five miscues and won. The Diamondbacks pulled that off against the Giants on April 8, 2012.


New York Mets: Curtis Granderson, PH

Monday night's game with the Nationals was a 2-0 affair after eight innings and seemed destined for another Mets defeat. And it was, but not before Granderson drilled a 2-run homer on an 0-2 pitch to tie the game with two outs in T9. (Ryan Raburn then walked off in B9.) It had been over a decade since the Mets hit a tying or go-ahead home run when down to their final strike; Damion Easley-- also as a pinch-hitter-- hit one against the Rockies on April 24, 2007, in the bottom of the 10th inning after Colorado had scored in T10. (Endy Chavez then won that game on a drag bunt in the 12th.)

A backhanded honorable mention to Jacob deGrom, who managed to squeak out a win on Friday despite allowing four solo homers. Only two other Mets pitchers have ever pulled that off: Johan Santana (June 9, 2009, vs Phillies) and Rob Gardner (August 18, 1966, vs Pirates).



Philadelphia Phillies: Aaron Nola, SP

Much like the Mets, the Phillies didn't have a lot to get excited about this week as they lost five straight. Nola was the lone bright spot, working eight innings against the Padres on Saturday and fanning nine batters. (He still lost, because it was a 2-1 game.) Nola is the only Phillies starter to make it through eight innings this season (he's done it twice), and Saturday marked his fourth straight game with at least eight strikeouts. That's the longest streak by a Phillies pitcher since Cliff Lee ended the 2013 season with five in a row.

Although these are individual nominations, the Phillies did break the losing streak with a 7-1 win on Sunday wherein all the runs scored on homers. Six of them. The Phillies hadn't hit six homers in a game since August 11, 2004, and that was the game where pitcher Randy Wolf hit two. The only teams to go longer without a 6-HR game are the Royals (2003), Angels (2003), and this weekend's opponent, the Padres (1998!).


Pittsburgh Pirates: Andrew McCutchen, CF

We had several choices for this week's Pirates representative, but the national pasttime is rife with interesting events on July 4 and we couldn't let this one go. McCutchen had two homers in a 3-0 win, which isn't unusual, but the game was in Philadelphia. On July 4. (You may have to remember a little history and a big bell and stuff here.) It had been exactly 30 years since anyone hit two homers in Philly on Independence Day; Von Hayes did it in 1987. The last visiting player ("tourist", if you will) was Cesar Cedeño of the Reds in 1984. (We started compiling the whole list, but in the days of two teams there, it just ended up being too long.)

As for Bells, on Wednesday, Josh became the first Pirate with an RBI triple at Citizens Bank Park, and two innings later, Jordy Mercer became the second. That marked the first time two Pittsburghers had done it in the same game IN Philadelphia since Roberto Clemente and pitcher Vern Law each had one on May 26, 1957.

One honorable mention to Gregory Polanco, who wrapped up the series on Thursday by becoming the first Pirate ever to have a 4-hit game at CBP. Their last to do it at the Vet was Warren Morris on September 20, 2000.

And another mention to Francisco Cervelli, who hit a grand slam in the 1st inning on Sunday. That's notable because he bats second. You can't hit a grand slam from the top three spots in the order without batting around, which the Pirates did in a 10-run frame. George Springer of the Astros hit one in similar fashion last June, but there have only been nine in the past 30 years. And Cervelli was the first batter in Pirates history (1882) to do it.


San Diego Padres: Jose Pirela,... DH (?)

Because they're in the National League, the Padres don't often have a designated hitter. And even less often does that DH bat in the leadoff spot. In fact, Pirela on Wednesday became just the second ever to do that, joining Rickey Henderson in 1997, the first season of full interleague play.

Pirela responded with three hits including a triple, the first San Diego DH ever to post that line. To be fair, though, two others did have three hits including a home run: Greg Vaughn on June 30, 1997, and the Padres' first-ever DH, Kurt Bevacqua in the 1984 World Series. Bevacqua actually did it in a home game at Jack Murphy Stadium; in those days, the World Series alternated using the DH in even-numbered years for the entire series, regardless of the game site.


San Francisco Giants: Matt Moore, SP

Speaking of even-numbered years, 2017 isn't one, so the Giants weren't really expected to dominate, but they weren't expected to do this, either. Our most "notable" performance of the week from the San Fran club involved giving up 12 hits in 3.1 innings as the Marlins beat them 6-1 on Friday. No Giants hurler had done that since William VanLandingham lost a 7-4 decision to the Padres on June 30, 1996.


St Louis Cardinals: Paul DeJong, SS

MLB Gameday lists him as "DeJong, P" to differentiate him from Chase De Jong of the Mariners, and it always tricks us into thinking he's a pitcher, especially since he bats toward the bottom of the order. Which would have made it extra special on Saturday when DeJong had three doubles and a home run in the Cards' 4-1 win over the Mets.

As always, boxscores from before 1910 or so are hard to come by and even harder to search, but DeJong is the first Cardinal we could find to have four extra-base hits while batting in either the 8- or 9-hole. And still a few weeks shy of age 24, DeJong is the youngest Cardinal to have 4 XBH from any spot in the order since 22-year-old rookie outfielder Terry Moore did it at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia on August 28, 1935.


Washington Nationals: Daniel Murphy, 2B

"Murph" was among the players who made our radar twice this week, first in Tuesday's "a.m." game (one of two morning starts in the majors this year, the other being Patriots' Day in Boston). In the Nats' 11-4 win over the Mets (11-4 on 7/4?), Murphy had four hits and five RBIs, the first player with that line on Independence Day since Casey McGehee in 2009, and the first ever in the nation's capital on July 4. ("Home Run" Baker, then of the Yankees, did it unofficially in 1918.)

(Andrew Benintendi would duplicate the line a few hours later; see our AL post for more on that.)

Murphy also had a 4-hit, 5-RBI game against the Cardinals on April 11. Only one other player in Nats/Expos history has done it twice in a season, and that's Andre Dawson in 1985.

On Friday, Murphy brought an end (just before the rains came again) to the Nationals' 5-4 win over the Braves with a walkoff single in the 10th. Back on April 14 against the Phillies, he also had a 10th-inning walkoff (this one a double), and is the third player in Nationals history (2005) with two extra-inning walkoffs in a season. Elijah Dukes had a homer, a single, and a bases-loaded walk to win three games in 2008, while Ryan Zimmerman also drew a walk, and hit a single, in 2006.


Did You Know?

The last pitcher to actually have four extra-base hits in a game was the Sultan Of Swat himself. In his fourth season, Babe Ruth started transitioning to the outfield on days he wasn't pitching. The first of those "everyday" starts was on May 6, 1918, and three days later when it was his turn to pitch again, the Babe legged out a triple and three doubles in a 10-inning loss to the Senators.

Hey Now, You're An (AL) All-Star

The All-Star break is upon us again, and for the last several years, our tradition here at Kernels has been to steal a page from MLB and select one "All-Star" from every team. This year we've split it into two posts; be sure to check out our National League team as well. But proving that we do scour every boxscore every day, we've come up with each team's most notable performance just from the past week.


Baltimore Orioles: Adam Jones, CF

Jones came through on Sunday (for the team, and for us, since we didn't have an Orioles note yet) with a pair of homers in an 11-5 victory in Minnesota. Jones was just the second Oriole this season to have a 2-HR, 5-RBI game, and the other was by a pinch hitter. Trey Mancini did it on June 7; that was the 11-inning game with Pittsburgh where he tied it in the 9th and then walked off.

Although Manny Machado had two homers and four RBIs on Friday, Jones was the first Oriole to have a two-homer, five-RBI game against Minnesota since Miguel Tejada did it at the Metrodome on September 18, 2004.


Boston Red Sox: Andrew Benintendi, LF

Depending on which post you read first, you may already know that Benintendi dominated Tuesday's 11-4 win in Texas with a five-hit, two-homer, six-RBI game. (Daniel Murphy posted a similar line in Washington earlier in the day to earn the Nationals' nomination.) Only three players younger than Benintendi have ever posted five hits and six RBIs; Andruw Jones of the Braves owns all kinds of "youngster" records from 1999. He's followed by the Giants' Jimmy O'Connell in 1923 and some guy for the Yankees named Joe DiMaggio in 1937. DiMaggio was the only one to also score four runs as Benintendi did. And that three-part line (5 H, 6 RBI, 4 R) has only been done three times in Red Sox history, by anyone of any age. Jackie Bradley Jr. had his breakout five-hit game from the 9-hole in August two years ago; the only other such game belongs to Fred Lynn against the Tigers on June 18, 1975.

"Beni" and "JBJ" were the 6- and 7-hitters in Tuesday's hitfest, but Christian Vazquez and Tzu-Wei Lin (the 8- and 9-) also had three hits on Tuesday. It marked the first time in (at least) the live-ball era that the 6 thru 9 hitters for the Red Sox all had three hits in the same game.


Chicago White Sox: Jose Quintana, SP

Quintana needed 103 pitches to get through 5.1 innings against the Rockies on Saturday, but he left with a 4-3 lead after striking out 10 batters. Tommy Kahnle would promptly blow the save but also get the win when Tim Anderson homered to lead off the top of the 9th. Quintana thus became the first White Sock to hit double-digit strikeouts in less than six innings since Alex Fernandez did it at Texas on April 22, 1996. But he became the first to do it and not get a win since May 16, 1985, when Floyd Bannister gave up back-to-back doubles to Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray of the Orioles to start the 6th. Bannister left trailing 3-2, the White Sox failed to score in B6, and then the game was called by rain.


Cleveland Indians: Carlos Carrasco, SP

Carrasco, like some others we've seen this year (and written about) is one of those pitchers who just leaves it over the plate and dares you to hit it. Those are the ones who end up with strange lines such as Carrasco posted on Friday: Nine hits allowed, but also 11 strikeouts and thus only two runs. He got his 10th win of the year as a result.

No Indians pitcher had gotten to 9 and 11 in the same game since Charles Nagy did it in the second year at Jacobs Field, and also against the Tigers. He won that 6-2 contest on August 26, 1995.

Friday's game also featured the year's fifth "immaculate inning", described appropriately in the record book as "three strikeouts on nine pitched balls". Nick Castellanos, Mikie Mahtook, and Jose Iglesias all went down swinging in the 5th. There were just three such innings in the previous two seasons combined, and Carrasco is just the second Clevelander known to have one. Justin Masterson did it against the Red Sox on June 2, 2014.


Detroit Tigers: Dixon Machado, SS

The 25-year-old Machado has been driving I-75 from Detroit to Toledo a lot the past couple seasons, but in 2017 he's stayed up for the entire year so far. He's used sparingly; Thursday was his 33rd game (of the Tigers' 84) but it brought about his first major-league home run, a two-run shot off the Giants' Chris Stratton (who, coincidentally, was making his first major-league start). By virtue of San Francisco being in the other league, Machado was just the second Tigers number-9 hitter ever to homer against the Giants; Ryan Raburn did so on June 17, 2008.

But Thursday marked Machado's 65th game in the majors, all with Detroit. That was the longest homerless streak to start a Tigers career since Hernan Perez made his debut in 2012 and never went yard before getting DFA'd in May 2015... after sixty-six games. (Oddly, Perez was waived four days after Machado's debut, though there's no indication that the two infielders were "exchanged" for each other.) The last longer streak was by outfielder Nook Logan, who went exactly 100 games into his Tigers career before picking up his first tater in June 2005.


Houston Astros: George Springer, CF; Jose Altuve, 2B; Josh Reddick, RF

Any of their games individually would have been really good, but it's the combination that was noteworthy in Tuesday's 16-4 thumping of Atlanta. The top three in the Astros' order, each of them ended up with three hits including a home run, and they combined for 10 hits, nine RBIs, and eight runs scored. It was the first game in Astros history where the top three in the order each had three hits including a homer.

Reddick's homer in that game was a 9th-inning grand slam to turn an 8-run lead into a 12-run lead. There had only been one other such slam in team history; Jim Wynn hit it at Shea Stadium on July 30, 1969, to cap an 11-run 9th inning. (Fred Gladding, who entered when it was 5-3, got a save.)

Springer added four more hits, four more runs, and five RBIs as the Astros moved on to Toronto on Friday. Only four Houstonians have ever had that line, and Springer is the first to do it from the leadoff spot. Jeff Bagwell (2001), Cesar Cedeño (1976), and Lee May (1973) were the others.

Honorable mention to Carlos Correa, who nearly duplicated Springer's line in Sunday's 19-1 outburst which set an Astros record for victory margin. Correa only scored three runs as opposed to Springer's four, but even with that slightly-lowered threshold, no two Astros had ever had that line in the same season, much less in three days.


Kansas City Royals: Salvador Perez, C

Few things stir a reaction from east-coast baseball fans like "extra innings in Seattle". Perez made sure we didn't stay up too late on Wednesday, hitting a two-run shot in the top of the 10th to ultimately win the game 9-6. Amazingly, that was the first extra-inning home run ever hit by a Royals player in Seattle, whether at Safeco, the Kingdome, or yes, even Sick's Stadium which was home to the '69 Pilots.

Perez was also the first Royals catcher to hit a go-ahead homer in extras since Matt Treanor's 3-run walkoff against the Angels on April 3, 2011.


Los Angeles Angels: Ricky Nolasco, SP

We did specify "notable". Which around here doesn't always mean "good". The Angels scored just 16 runs in their six games this week, lost four of them, and the wins were a 2-1 and a 3-0. The losses were, well, not that close. In fact our "notable" tag falls to Nolasco for allowing eight runs to the Rangers on Friday-- all with two outs-- and getting pulled without finishing the 2nd inning. Back-to-back homers by Adrian Beltre and Rougned Odor were the last straw.

Only three pitchers in Angels history have allowed eight earned runs and a pair of homers while getting five outs or fewer. Tim Lincecum did it last July while attempting a comeback (after two more starts that were only slightly better, the Angels DFA'd him), and Don Sutton dropped that line against the Mariners on April 15, 1986.


Minnesota Twins: Max Kepler, RF

Speaking of Angels losses, their first one of the week was a 9-5 decision on Monday against the Twins. That's a game in which the top four in the Minnesota lineup combined for 11 hits and seven RBIs. 24-year-old Max Kepler, who was optioned back and forth to triple-A for most of last season, is now entrenched as their cleanup batter, and he chipped in four of those hits including a solo homer. In the past 85 years, only one younger cleanup batter for the Twins/Senators has had a four-hit game that included a homer, and that was Miguel Sano on May 22. Before that the trail goes to 23-year-old future Hall of Famer Joe Cronin in July 1930.


New York Yankees: Clint Frazier, LF

In a month where the Yankees have won just two games out of eight so far, this one was fairly obvious. After being no-hit by Brent Suter for four innings, Frazier broke that up with a 5th-inning single, and then tripled in a run in the 7th to get the Bronx Bombers within 1. After two walks in the bottom of the 9th, Frazier hit a three-run walkoff homer, the Yankees' first one against Milwaukee since before Frazier was born. Roberto Kelly's solo shot on September 18, 1991, was the prior one, owing largely to the Brewers' move to the NL.

Melky Cabrera was the last Yankee younger than 23 to hit a walkoff homer, doing so on July 18, 2006, against the Mariners. His, however, was a solo shot. The last Yankee younger than Frazier with a multi-run walkoff homer was none other than Mickey Mantle, who did it against the Red Sox on April 23, 1953, at age 21½.

And remember that 7th-inning RBI triple? That made Frazier just the second player in Yankees history to have a three-bagger and a walkoff home run in the same game. The other is someone named Babe Ruth, against the White Sox on August 18, 1922 (the Yankees' last year at the Polo Grounds before Ruth built a "house" of some type).


Oakland Athletics: Franklin Barreto, SS

Wouldn't you know it, New York and Oakland are next to each other alphabetically. And it turns out Clint Frazier wasn't the only player this week to have a triple and a walkoff homer in the same game. He wasn't even the first player younger than 23. On Tuesday against the White Sox, Barreto drove in a run with a three-bagger in the 4th, then walked off on a solo shot with one out in the 9th.

We'd love to say that the last Oaklander to have a triple and a walkoff homer was some all-time great like Rickey Henderson or Reggie Jackson or Bert Campaneris. It's Mark Canha, who did it on May 19 against Boston. Shrug. But the fact that both of them did it does create a note; it's the first time in Athletics history (to 1901) that two players did it in the same year.

And Barreto just turned 21 in February. He's the youngest Athletics batter with a triple and a homer (never mind the walkoff part) in the same game since Elmer Valo on May 30, 1942. And he's the youngest with a walkoff homer (never mind the triple) since an all-time great, Jimmie Foxx against the Indians on May 14, 1928.


Seattle Mariners: Jean Segura, SS

The AL West tends to give us a lot of snoozefests, so Segura's game on Thursday was really the Mariners' only notable line of the week. As the leadoff man, Segura came up with four hits including a double, but thanks to a caught-stealing and Ben Gamel (who batted after him) going 0-for-4, he never made it beyond second base. He's the first Mariners leadoff hitter to have four hits but score zero runs and drive in zero runs since... Jean Segura did it on May 30 against the Rockies. And that makes him the first Mariner ever to have that line twice in a season. The only other player in team history to do it twice was Ichiro Suzuki, whose games came four years apart in 2005 and 2009.


Tampa Bay Rays: Mallex Smith, CF

Mallex was the one-man offense for the Rays on Wednesday as they dropped a 7-3 decision to the Cubs at Wrigley. Smith had half of Tampa Bay's eight hits in the game, and driven in by Corey Dickerson and Evan Longoria after him, also scored all three Rays runs. He's the first (Devil) Ray with four hits and three runs scored in a loss since Dioner Navarro did it at Fenway on September 11, 2007, and the first ever to do it out of the leadoff spot.

Smith was also the first leadoff batter in team history to score every run for the Rays in a game where they scored at least 3. Only one other leadoff batter in the majors has pulled that off in the last six seasons; that was Jonathan Villar of the Brewers in a 9-3 loss at Arizona last August.


Texas Rangers: Nomar Mazara, RF

Our parade of "youngsters" continues with the 23-year-old Mazara scoring three runs and driving in three runs as the Rangers laid their biggest shutout ever on Anaheim, 10-0 on Friday. (The Senators did drop 13-0 on the Angels once, on June 2, 1965.)

Only three players younger than Mazara had ever had three runs and three RBIs for the Rangers or Senators; Joey Gallo did it in his memorable MLB debut on June 2, 2015. The others, as with most Texas age-related things, were Adrian Gonzalez (2004) and Ruben Sierra (1987).

Honorable mention for "quirkiness" to Andrew Cashner, who on Wednesday became the second pitcher in team history to throw seven-plus innings of three-hit ball, allow zero earned runs, and yet also give up a homer. Xander Bogaerts' 6th-inning tater came after a two-out error extended the inning.

The other Rangers pitcher to do that was knuckleballer Charlie Hough at Detroit on August 30, 1987-- a game in which he gave up seven runs, but none were earned because catcher Geno Petralli set a single-game record with six! passed balls.


Toronto Blue Jays: Russell Martin, C

Catchers aren't known for their speed, mainly because their knees are all shot. So it's unusual when one bats toward the top of the order (Buster Posey also being a notable exception), and also unusual when they leg out a bunch of hits. Martin did both of those on Thursday when he hit two singles and a solo homer in the Jays' 7-4 win over Houston. Only one other Toronto catcher has ever had three hits including a homer from either of the top two spots in the order. Ernie Whitt, who like Martin batted second, had a pair of solo dingers in an extra-inning win at Yankee Stadium on August 11, 1988.

Honorable mention to Ezequiel Carrera, who put the "1" in Sunday's 19-1 loss to Houston... with a solo homer with two outs in the 9th inning. The Blue Jays had never homered at any point in a game when trailing by more than 16 (Darrin Fletcher did that in a 23-1 loss to Baltimore on September 28, 2000). And it's the first home run in (at least) the live-ball era to be hit with 2 outs in the 9th inning and the batter's team trailing by 19 or more.


Did You Know?

Joe Cronin may have been the next-youngest player for the Twins/Senators to have a four-hit game from the cleanup spot, but the one before him was another Hall of Famer, Goose Goslin. Goslin pulled it off four times as a 23-year-old during the Senators' lone title year in 1924. One of those games, on August 28, was against the Yankees. And while "hitting for the cycle" didn't become a big thing until around the 1960s, Goslin did it in that game. It remains the last cycle by the Twins/Senators against the Yankees, and the last time a Yankee hit two homers but a player on the other team cycled against them. You may have guessed the Yankee with two homers that day. That was Babe Ruth too.

Teamwork Makes The Dream Work

This is a catchphrase of a former co-worker. And while we've had all kinds of interesting solo performances this year (Rendon's 10 RBI, Scooter's four homers, four cycles, etc.), this week it was a group effort.


A Tribe On A Quest

The Indians piled up 19 hits in Monday's 15-9 slugfest with the Rangers, with absolutely no one stealing the show. Of Cleveland's nine batters (there were no subs), six of them had two hits, two of them had three, and poor Jason Kipnis "only" went 1-for-4. It was the first time eight different starters had multi-hit games since June 28, 2013, at the White Sox, and the first home game where Cleveland did it in 12 years (plus one day). On June 25, 2005, Coco Crisp led the way with four base knocks as they beat Cincinnati 12-7.

More notably, none of those 19 hits on Monday left the yard, marking the first-ever game at Jacobs Field (Progressive, whatever) where any team, home or visitor, had that many hits with no homers. Cleveland last did it at the Stadium on April 11, 1992; the Brewers did it in the sixth-to-last game played at the "Mistake By The Lake", September 24, 1993.

And continuing our series of unusual scores, 15-9 has actually happened 11 times so far this century, but it was the first one that either team had been involved in since June 4, 2008... when they played each other again! The Rangers have three 15-9 losses in their history, and two have been to Cleveland; the other was to the Red Sox in 1973. Cleveland has six 15-9 wins in its history, the most of any team since 1900 (the Yankees have five).


Union Of The Snakes

Chris Herrmann's RBI single in the bottom of the 10th gave the Diamondbacks a 6-5 win over the Cardinals on Tuesday. That paired nicely with his 11th-inning home run to beat the Mets on May 17; it's the first time in his brief career (six years but only 258 games) that he's had two walkoffs in a season.

And Herrmann pairs nicely with Daniel Descalso who also has two extra-inning walkoffs this season, and whose are also a single and a homer. The former beat the Phillies last Sunday, and Descalso's 13th-inning homer put an end to the April part of the D'backs' schedule. It's the first time in Arizona team history that two different players have had multiple extra-inning walkoffs in one season.

Arizona went on to beat the Rockies 6-2 on Saturday in a game where Descalso, Jeff Mathis, and Paul Goldschmidt all tripled. Two of those were leadoff triples, so while all three eventually came around to score, only Mathis got an RBI out of the deal. And for all three players, that run following the triple would be their only one of the game, the second time in Diamondbacks history where three players pulled that off. Stephen Drew, Orlando Hudson, and Chad Tracy each had a triple but only one run scored in a 10-5 loss to San Diego on April 24, 2007.

Saturday marked the 10th three-triple game in Diamondbacks history (nine of them at Chase Field), but they've had one in each of the past four seasons, so far the only team in the majors to do that. The Giants are the only other team with a chance to match them, but they haven't had one yet in 2017.

Ketel Marte joined the party on Sunday with a 9th-inning walkoff single, becoming the youngest Diamondback with a walkoff since Justin Upton also beat the Rockies on May 5, 2011.


Odd Number Of Sox

Although you could say one star was brighter than the others, the Red Sox exploded for 21 hits on Sunday in dominating the Blue Jays 15-1. After striking out to start the game, Mookie Betts went on a spree with an RBI single in the 2nd, a three-run homer in the 4th, a two-run jack in the the 6th, and then a line-drive single to score two more as Boston hung a "snowman" in the top of the 7th. Mookie's final line: 4-for-5, two homers, eight RBIs. It was the first 8-RBI game for the Sawx since... Mookie Betts had his three-homer game last August against the Diamondbacks. He joins Nomar Garciaparra (1999 & 2002) as the only players in Red Sox history to have a pair of 8-RBI games, and just the second visiting player ever with a 2-HR, 8-RBI game at Skydome/Rogers Centre. The other was also a notable Red Sock, just not at the time. Manny Ramirez did it when he was with the Indians on September 24, 1999. (Don Baylor, incidentally, had the only such game at Exhibition Stadium, in 1979.)

As for leadoff hitters, only five since 1920 (when RBI became an official stat) have collected 8 RBIs in a game. The last was Ronnie Belliard for the Rockies on September 23, 2003. Belliard and the Cardinals' Augie Bergamo (July 4, 1945) are the only others to have four hits as Betts did. The other 8-RBI guys are Jim Northrup of the Tigers in 1973, and Bill Glynn for the Indians in 1954 (Glynn had three homers but no other hits).

But this post is about teamwork, and Mookie couldn't have collected all those RBIs unless the guys at the bottom of the order kept getting on base. Tzu-Wei Lin and Deven Marrero each had three hits and scored twice, just the second time Boston's 8- and 9-hitters have both done that in a road game in the past 40 years. Stephen Drew and Jose Iglesias were the culprits in a 10-6 win in Detroit on June 21, 2013. (The previous road game, in 1974, was at Tiger Stadium; you have to go to 1953 to find a Sox game fitting this search that wasn't in either Boston or Detroit.)

Hanley Ramirez and Jackie Bradley also tossed in three hits to the mix, the first road game where five different Bostonians had three hits each since April 26, 2010. That game, also in Toronto, was a 13-12 Sox victory. Sunday's 15-1 score matched Boston's largest win ever against the Jays (14-0 on September 6, 2011). It was the first 15-1 in the majors this year, and the first loss by that score in Toronto history.


Cub Scouts

After the Kyle Schwarber Experiment fizzled, the Cubs have been trying various people in the leadoff spot for the last several weeks, with Anthony Rizzo memorably hitting a home run to begin his first game in that position (June 13). On Monday the honor went to Willson Contreras against left-hander Gio Gonzalez, with Rizzo temporarily bumped down to second. By now you've figured out what happened. Contreras led off his game with a home run as well, becoming the first catcher in Cubs history (all of it, to 1876) to start a game with a dinger.

It's the first time in (at least) the live-ball era that two different Cubs in the same season hit a leadoff homer in their first game batting in the leadoff spot. And adding in Ben Zobrist, who hit one on May 21, it's the first time three different Cubs have hit leadoff home runs by the end of June since 1994. The platoon who did it that year was Sammy Sosa, Shawon Dunston, and Tuffy Rhodes.


National Velvet

In a highly-publicized incident that ended with Miguel Montero getting released for "not being a team player" or something, the Nationals went on a stealing spree against the Cubs on Tuesday night. In un-Jake Arrieta-like fashion, he walked six batters and was replaced before recording an out in the 5th. Although he did have one 7-walk game last year, Arrieta became the first Cubs starter to walk six while lasting only 4 IP since Kerry Wood did it against the Cardinals on July 4, 2003.

The Nationals took advantage of all those runners on first, swiping a total of seven bases off Arrieta. That's believed to be the most ever against a single pitcher in Cubs history (though the scoring definitions for steals changed several times before 1910), and this is a team with Jon Lester who never throws to first. The seven steals were the most ever in Nationals history and the most for the franchise since May 7, 1986.

Trea Turner, now on the DL with a broken wrist (suffered not sliding into a base, but when hit by a pitch on Thursday), swiped four of those bags, the most by any Nationals player in... well, nine days. Turner also had a 4-SB game on Sunday the 18th, and is the second player in franchise history to do it twice in a season. The other is bound for the Hall of Fame in just a few weeks: Tim Raines in 1981.

But continuing our "teamwork" theme, Michael Taylor was also responsible for two of the Nationals' seven thefts. Only twice before in Nats/Expos history had one player stolen four bases and another stolen two. And both those games were by the same teammates 2½ weeks apart. Raines (the "4") and Rodney Scott (the "2") did it on both April 21 and May 8 of 1981.



Intermission
The phrase "the Kyle Schwarber Experiment" got this earworm going. Science!


Yankee Invasion

The Yankees have been an interesting mix of players all season, from the young sluggers like Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez to the, uh, wily? veterans like Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury. They introduced three new pups this week in the form of Miguel Andujar, Dustin Fowler, and Clint Frazier.

Andujar had a two-run single to start his MLB career as the Yankees sent eight men to the plate in Wednesday's 1st inning. He later added another single and two-run double, and would have had a fifth RBI had Chase Headley not been thrown out at the plate. He thus became just the second player since 1920 to have three hits, drive in four runs, and steal a base in his MLB debut. Roy Weatherly, who would play the role of "fourth outfielder" for the Indians for seven years and later do a brief stint with the Yankees, did it some 81 years and one day earlier (June 27, 1936).

Ignoring the four RBI, Andujar became the first Yankee with three hits but zero runs scored in his debut since catcher Charlie Silvera did that on September 29, 1948. New York collected 10 walks in the Wednesday game; that's actually not very Kernel-worthy, but it did enable them to score 12 runs as a team on only nine hits. The Yankees hadn't done that since a 12-8 win in Oakland (with nine walks) on August 9, 1999.

Then on Thursday in Houston, Fowler also had an interesting stat line in his debut, but not in a good way. In the 1st inning of his first major-league game, he blew out his knee crashing into an unpadded metal box.

Backup catcher Kyle Higashioka (April 10) also had zero plate appearances in his MLB debut; he got the call in the 9th inning of a blowout against the Rays. But Fowler is the first Yankee to start his major-league debut and leave before getting a plate appearance since pitcher Al Downing gave up five runs to the Senators in the 1st inning and was replaced on July 19, 1961. (The two Yankees to do it before Downing were also both pitchers.)

If, as seems to be consensus, Fowler is done for the year, he will be the first non-pitcher whose "first season" in the majors consisted of one game and zero plate appearances since Francisco Peña played one inning on defense for the Royals on May 20, 2014. The last Yankee to do it was outfielder Matt Luke, who pinch-ran in the second game of the 1996 campaign but was then optioned back to triple-A.

Frazier then effectively became Fowler's replacement, getting the right-field callup on Saturday in Houston. He promptly had a homer and a double, becoming the first Yankee ever to do that in his debut. The last for any team was Joey Gallo of the Rangers in June 2015. And Frazier is the fourth-youngest Yankee in the live-ball era to homer and double out of the 9-hole (never mind the debut part). Melky Cabrera (2007), Robinson Cano (2005), and Deion Sanders (1989) all did it slightly earlier in their 23rd year of life than Fowler did.

At the other extreme, Ellsbury tacked on a triple in Thursday's 6th inning, becoming the third-oldest Yankee to record a three-bagger at the current White Sox stadium (whatever it's called this month). Derek Jeter hit one there in 2014, while Marlins manager Don Mattingly recorded one on July 3, 1995, just after turning 34.

As it turns out, we saw Frazier and Fowler and Andujar and Higashioka (plus some others like Tyler Austin) all playing for the triple-A RailRiders just a week prior. Road-trip yourself to Moosic, folks. (First Google where Moosic is.)


Fish Combo

Speaking of Marlins, the middle of their Sunday boxscore against Milwaukee was a mix of crooked numbers as well. Marcell Ozuna pounded two homers, the first a three-run shot in the 3rd that would ultimately be the game-winning RBI, but Christian Yelich right above him actually led the team with four hits and three runs scored. Miami didn't have a single batter with that line in all of 2015 or 2016, but they've now had three in the past two months; Yelich joins Miguel Rojas (May 3) and Justin Bour (May 23). He's also the first Marlin ever to post that line versus Milwaukee; the Cardinals are now the only NL opponent they've never done it against.

Since the start of 2012, the Marlins have had three games where one player had three hits and four driven in, while a different player had four hits and three runs scored. In all three of those pairs, Ozuna has been the player of the first part; he teamed with Donovan Solano against the Braves on September 5, 2014; and with Casey McGehee on June 5, 2014, against the Rays.



Hunter, Gatherer

The Padres won a 6-0 contest with the Braves on Thursday night, and not only were there a lot of zeroes on the Atlanta side, the San Diego side had its share too. The Padres' 2-3-4 hitters-- Manuel Margot, Wil Myers, and Hunter Renfroe-- combined for seven of the team's nine hits, all three extra-base hits (one each), four of the runs, and all six runs batted in (two each).

The Padres hadn't had that concentration of hitting lines-- three consecutive batters with three hits, an extra-base hit, and 2 RBI each-- since June 21, 2002, when they beat the Yankees by a 9-1 count. Those three hitters (3 thru 5 in the order) were Ron Gant, Bubba Trammell, and catcher Wiki Gonzalez.

Renfroe would go on to collect four hits in Sunday's win over the Dodgers, but two of them came with two outs and nobody on, so he also had the unique line of neither scoring a run nor driving one in. Yonder Alonso had the same 4-0-0 line in an extra-inning game in 2012, but the last Padres hitter to be a perfect 4-for-4 or better, with 0 runs and 0 RBI, was Xavier Nady at Wrigley Field on April 13, 2005. And it hadn't happened at home since Fred McGriff did it against the Dodgers on April 19, 1991.


First Mates

The Mariners, meanwhile, dropped a 10-0 beatdown on the Angels on Friday, a 17-hit attack that included four home runs. The Mariners hadn't hit four homers in Anaheim since May 28, 2007 (a 12-5 win), and Robinson Cano became their first player with two homers and five RBIs there since Alex Rodriguez did it in the next-to-last game of the 2000 season.

Cano, however, was preceded in the order by Ben Gamel who had four singles and two RBIs, and followed two batters later by Kyle Seager who chipped in three more singles plus another of the home runs. All told the 2 thru 5 spots in the order (Nelson Cruz went 1-for-4 in between) combined for 12 hits and 8 RBI, the first time that's happened for the Seattle lineup since May 29, 2003. At the Metrodome on that day, Carlos Guillen (four hits), Bret Boone (three), Edgar Martinez (three), and John Olerud (two) led the way to a 10-6 win over the Twins.

The 10-0 final on Friday was the Mariners' largest shutout this year, and their largest road shutout of another AL West team since laying a 13-0 in Oakland on July 2, 2003. Seattle's only other 10-0 win in Anaheim was on July 5, 1999, a game in which A-Rod and Edgar each homered twice.


Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Yankees, Sunday: Kept their season record of not being shut out intact by scoring a lone run in the 9th inning. Sixth time this year that the Yankees have scored all their runs of a game in the 9th, most in the majors. (Royals and Pirates have each done it four times.)

⋅ White Sox, Sunday: Posted first "6-5-4" linescore (runs-hits-errors) in the majors since the Rockies in a 10-6 loss to the Giants on September 29, 2002.

⋅ Curtis Granderson, Tuesday: First player in Mets history to hit three leadoff homers in a seven-day span (21st and 22nd at Dodger Stadium, 27th at Marlins Park).

⋅ Rangers, Tuesday: Second team in live-ball era to have 16 strikeouts and three or fewer hits in a nine-inning game and win it. Mariners over Oakland, April 24, 1986.

⋅ Rick Porcello, Wednesday: First Red Sox pitcher to have 10 losses by the end of June since Danny MacFayden in 1932.

⋅ Whit Merrifield, Sunday: First Royals leadoff batter with 3 hits & 3 stolen bases since Vince Coleman, June 29, 1994.

⋅ Denard Span, Friday: First Giant to hit leadoff HR in Pittsburgh since Chili Davis on July 14, 1984. First Giant to finish game with 4 hits & 4 runs scored including a leadoff homer (any stadium) since Bobby Bonds, also in Pittsburgh, June 6, 1973.

⋅ Kurt Suzuki, Sunday: First Braves player to homer 10 innings apart in same game (T2 & T12) since Danny O'Connell went deep in the 1st and 11th against the Giants on August 27, 1955.


Did You Know?
Moosic is the only minor-league city on the personal stadium list that has two listings for the same site. Nearly the entire place was razed in 2011 (the team played all of the 2012 season on the road), and the resulting new stadium was so significantly different that we made an executive decision to give it two numbers (37 and 159).

By the way, here's where it is.