Putting The O In Halo
No less than four teams put the no-hitter watch back on high alert this week after all those offensive explosions in late August. We are still hopeful that the baseball gods will save Row 300 in the no-hitter list for the Padres on May 16 (at Dodgers, get your tickets now), as that would be the game that exactly ties the Mets' record for never throwing one (8,019 games before Johan Santana in 2012).
Until then, however, we must stumble through the Angels trying to piece together a no-hitter Tuesday on "bullpen day", which along with the "opener" phenomenon started by the Rays, is the latest pitching rage since rosters expanded over Labor Day. (We rage about it every night ourselves.)
"Starter" Jim Johnson managed to get four outs, but after 25 pitches and a second walk, well, pfft, he's done. Cue Noe Ramirez for three strikeouts and 27 pitches, but no hits. Hansel Robles. Cam Bedrosian. Justin Anderson. Jose Alvarez. By now the Rangers radio broadcast is expressing their sympathies for Angels official scorer Ed Munson (who's had a few no-hit predicaments of his own this year), because what happens if nine relievers throw an inning each and nobody gives up a hit? Who do you give the win to under the "most effective reliever" rule? (This actually would not have been an issue, more in a moment, but it's fun to ponder.)
No worries, Blake Parker will bail us out. He's number seven in this parade, and finally our latest hyphenated wonder, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, ropes a solid single to right. Rougned Odor then singles him around to third, which is clearly a sign that Parker needs removed after 13 pitches. Jurickson Profar grounds out to end the inning, Ty Buttrey works a perfect 9th, and let's see who ends up with that pitcher win. Well, that was actually decided for Mr. Munson (it's Noe Ramirez) because it was still a 0-0 tie when "starter" Johnson left in the 2nd inning. So as soon as the Angels take the lead, whenever that is, there's your pitcher of record. And that happened in the bottom of the 2nd when Jose Miguel Fernandez, the 30-year-old Cuban defector, finally connected for his first MLB home run. And speaking of bullpens not giving up any hits, that 2nd-inning tater was the second and final hit given up by Texas in the game as well. Adrian Sampson polished off innings 3, 4, and 5 with no further damage, C.D. Pelham unfortunately did not have a 1-2-3 inning (he walked Mike Trout), but Eddie Butler did in the 7th, as did Martin Perez in the 8th. Count 'em, it's a 1-0 final with the run being Fernandez's homer and both teams finishing with only two hits in one of the most AL-West-ian games ever.
Amazingly (or maybe not in this season), it was the third game of 2018 in which neither team had more than two hits. The others were a Mets/Phillies snoozefest on July 9, and the second-game-of-season duel between Johnny Cueto and Alex Wood. The only other season in the live-ball era with three such games is 1964, right around the time the rumblings started about ways to increase offense (lowering the mound and adding the DH both happened within the next decade). It was also the first such game ever played at Anaheim Stadium, which opened in 1966.
Fernandez's homer was the first to win a 1-0 game for the Angels since Carlos Perez hit one against the White Sox on August 19, 2015. And as for peak #bullpenning, seven different Angels pitchers appeared in the game without allowing a hit (remember, both were off Blake Parker). Only nine times in the live-ball era (and we have to assume ever, but can't prove it) has a team done that, regardless of how long each pitcher went. All nine of those games have been in September, all of them have been since 2006, and six of the nine were extra-inning contests.
Snell's Pace
Barely 12 hours later, Blake Snell was busy interrupting Wednesday afternoon's slate by starting the 7th with only two walks against the Indians. Snell's pulled this stunt before, and has quietly put up some of the best numbers in the AL this season (19-5, 2.03 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, +6.2 WAR, 195 strikeouts). Longtime play-by-play voice Tom Hamilton, observing that Snell's ERA briefly dipped below 2, suggested that his own team might need to get no-hit in order for anyone to notice.
That, of course, didn't quite happen, because after going 3-0 to Jose Ramirez to start the 7th, the Cleveland extra-base-hit wonder (he has 78 XBH versus 73 singles) crushed his 38th homer of the year to erase two of the zeroes from the scoreboard. Snell got the next three outs and left after 7 innings and 104 pitches, but then Chaz Roe and Jose Alvarado also gave up no hits in the 8th and 9th-- leaving Ramirez's two 1's up there as the only Cleveland offense in the game. It's actually the second time this season that the Indians have had only one hit in a game and it was a homer. The other was way back on April 3 against the Angels, and care to guess who hit it? Yep, Jose Ramirez. They also did it once last season, August 22 against the Red Sox. Care to guess who hit that one? Wrong. Francisco Lindor. But in the Retrosheet era (1907, from where we have full boxscores), Cleveland pulled the only-hit-is-a-homer stunt exactly once in 110 seasons before doing it three times in 13 months. For their part, it was the fourth time in Rays history that they'd allowed one hit in a game and it was a home run; Starlin Castro of the Yankees hit the previous one on May 29, 2016.
And for not-Cy-Young-winner Blake Snell, remember we said he's pulled this stunt before. Wednesday was the third time this year, regardless of innings, that he'd given up exactly one hit in a game and struck out at least nine. He blanked the White Sox for four frames on April 10 before Tyler Saladino doubled, and then on June 25 against Washington, Snell got through another six no-hit innings but stumbled on the first batter of the 7th (Anthony Rendon double followed by two walks). He's the first pitcher in Rays history to have three such games in a season.
Cashner Cab
Ramon Laureano of the Athletics, now batting leadoff after shooting out of the gate in his rookie season, began Wednesday's game in Baltimore by beating out an infield single. In the bottom of the 1st, Trey Mancini rolled a two-out ground ball into left field, and excellent, our no-hitter watch can move on. Oakland, meanwhile, blows up for eight runs against Andrew Cashner (the line "Cashner pitched to 8 batters in the 3rd" appears in the boxscore, which is remarkable in itself because that line means he started the inning but didn't record an out. Eight batters.) So we know the A's are cruising to a win in this one. But hang on a second. Jace Peterson drew a walk for the Orioles in the bottom of the 3rd. And then twenty straight Baltimore hitters were retired by four different Oakland pitchers. That Trey Mancini single in the 1st? Only hit the Orioles got the whole game. In our humble opinion, it's the best kind of one-hitter, where there's no drama and suspense going to the 6th and 7th and 8th. In fact, the last time the Orioles got one-hit in a game, and that hit came in the 1st inning, was August 28, 1991, against Toronto (Joe Orsulak singled off Tom Candiotti).
Not only did Andrew Cashner give up those eight runs in the 3rd, Cody Carroll, sent to the mound with the supposed mission of getting out of this, gave up two more after that. That makes our final score 10-0 with all the runs in one inning. The A's hadn't done that since May 9, 1972, when they dropped a dime on Milwaukee in the bottom of the 4th and cruised to a 10-2 victory.
Sean Manaea's no-hitter in May (that's number 299, since we're still holding there) messes up a lot of Oakland notes, but it had been 13 years since the A's scored in double digits while also allowing only one hit. Deivi Cruz of the Giants had the only hit against Rich Harden in a 16-0 win on June 26, 2005. The last time the Orioles did the reverse (had ≤ 1 hit and gave up 10+ runs) was in Clay Buchholz's no-hitter for Boston on September 1, 2007. And remember Ramon Laureano's infield single to start the game? He went on to double and triple later (though strangely not in the 10-run inning), becoming the youngest A's hitter with all three hits and a stolen base since Luis Polonia did it against the Brewers on July 9, 1987.
Izzi Gonna Give Up A Hit?
It's handy that Trey Mancini removed our no-hitter drama from that game early on Wednesday, because at the same time, Jake Odorizzi of the Twins was offering up plenty of his own. Giancarlo Stanton (2nd) and Gary Sanchez (5th) both drew walks, but Odorizzi kept the Yankees at bay through five and six and then seven innings, causing everyone to send out the warning flares. When Sanchez struck out to start the 8th, drawing a huge ovation from the crowd at Target Field (he's now five outs away!), John Sterling even quipped that he didn't know why they're so excited, it's not a perfect game, after all.
Happily, after Luke Voit walked, Greg Bird-- who hadn't had a base hit since August 29-- deposited a solid double down the left-field line and triggered another huge ovation from #TwinsTerritory. That would be the last of Odorizzi's 120 pitches, and also generated the only Yankees run in their 3-1 loss. Miguel Andujar added a meaningless single in the 9th, sparing us from looking up the last team three teams were one-hit on the same day (it's August 29, 2000, by the way). But still, since the Senators moved to Minnesota in 1961, it's only the second time the Yankees were held to two hits there, at any of the three stadiums. The other was July 29, 2000, by Eric Milton and future Yankee LaTroy Hawkins. It was the third game this season where the Yankees had ≤ 2 hits but still managed to score a run, their most since doing it four times in 1990.
And as for Jake Odorizzi? He became the first Twins starter to throw 7+ innings, allow only 1 hit, but also give up an earned run, since Scott Erickson did it against the White Sox on September 24, 1991. His lone hit was a home run by Dan Pasqua.
Where Every Day Is Bullpen Day
So if the Twins can do it with one pitcher against the Yankees on Wednesday, and the Angels can do it with seven pitchers on Tuesday, well, why not combine the two and have the Twins do it on their own "bullpen day" the very next night? On Thursday at Kauffman Stadium, the combo of Gabriel Moya and Stephen Gonsalves no-hit the Royals for another five innings before Alan Busenitz came on in the bottom of the 6th. That caused us to think, hey wait a minute, isn't he the pitcher who gave up four runs on Monday without recording an out? Yep, he is, although apologies for spelling his name wrong at the time. Four pitches later, Hunter Dozier had doubled to left to stand down another threat. We actually turned the game off at that point, missing (until later) the fact that Salvador Perez and Jorge Bonifacio promptly hit back-to-back homers off Busenitz before he got pulled.
So hang on here. On Monday, Busenitz became the first Twins pitcher to face four batters and have all of them score since Casey Fien did it against Milwaukee on June 28, 2015. He was the first to do it against the Yankees since Ken Schrom on July 20, 1985. And then Thursday, in his very next appearance, he faces three batters and all of them score too. If that feels pretty odd to you, you're right. The last pitcher for any team to pull that off (3+ BF) in back-to-back outings was Scot Shields of the Angels in April 2009. And since that move in 1961, no Minnesota pitcher had ever done it. The most recent to even do it twice in a season was Bobby Keppel in 2009. But at least we got a do-over at spelling his name right.
Gonsalves, meanwhile, didn't give up a hit but did walk four batters in his three innings of Bullpen Day, probably contributing to his removal. An error by Jorge Polanco after one of those walks led to him also giving up a run, albeit unearned. It had been half a century since any Twins pitcher gave up 0 hits, but walked 4, threw a wild pitch, and allowed a run, since Dean Chance did it in his no-hitter in Cleveland on August 25, 1967.
Goose Eggs, Half-Dozen, 99¢
Friday only brought more teams going through the motions, with a season-high six shutouts, none of them particularly pretty (at least if your team has the 0).
We begin in Boston, where the Red Sox tried a little #bullpenning against the Mets and Noah Syndergaard, and, well, yeah. William Cuevas made it around the order once before Robby Scott gave up a three-run homer to Jay Bruce and the rout is on. Brian Johnson, who actually has started games and gone several innings, got through 4&8532; on only one run, but two more homers in the 8th off Tyler Thornburg put the Mets' total at 8. Bruce's blast was the first 3- or 4-run homer ever hit by the Mets at Fenway Park (Brandon Nimmo hit the second on Saturday); Bruce also had an RBI double to become the first Met ever with a 4-RBI game against Boston (home or road). And Syndergaard became the third Mets pitcher ever to throw seven or more scoreless innings against the Red Sox while allowing no more than three hits. The others were Glendon Rusch in a 2-0 win at Shea on July 14, 2001; and Bobby J. Jones in a 1-0 win at Fenway on June 6, 1998. Those three games turn out to be the only three shutout wins in Mets history over the Red Sox.
Of course, the Mets can't do something without the Yankees trying to outdo it, so let's head to the Bronx and see how that's going. Oh look, they've got eight runs also-- but that's just off Toronto starter Marco Estrada who didn't escape the 3rd inning. Turns out Estrada did that same thing last September in Boston; the only other starters in Jays history with a pair of 8-runs-in-under-3-innings games are Ricky Romero and Juan Guzman. Meanwhile Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka threw six scoreless innings, allowed four hits, and struck out eight-- his fourth game this year hitting all those marks or better. The last Yankee with four such games in a season was Ron Guidry in 1976.
And our final score ends up at 11-0 after Didi Gregorius connects for a homer in the 8th, the largest Yankees shutout of anyone since they slammed 15 on (who else?) the Mets on June 14, 2009. Along with the Padres (whose last is in 2007), they had been the only teams not to have an 11-0 shutout (or better) this decade. And combined, Friday was the first time ever that the Mets and Yankees both shut out their opponents by eight or more on the same day.
All this talk of zeroes and halos and goose eggs and we're running out of synonyms has us going in circles. Intermission!
Friday On My Mind
If you called it a night early on Friday and didn't wait up for those pesky west-coast games, you didn't miss much. All three of them ended up in shutouts, one of the individual variety by Chris Stratton of the Giants, who allowed just two hits to the Rockies and struck out seven. If you skip over the "Madison Bumgarner" section of ledger, he's the first Giants pitcher to throw an SHO-2 with at least seven K's since Chris Heston tossed his no-hitter at Citi Field on June 9, 2015. The last non-Madison to do it at home was Yusmeiro Petit against Arizona on September 6, 2013.
The Padres, meanwhile, suffered a 4-0 loss to Texas, their sixth home interleague game where they were shut out on five or fewer hits with none of them for extra bases. Texas did it to them last year as well (May 9). On Friday Jurickson Profar became the first Rangers hitter ever to have a 3-hit, 3-RBI game in San Diego (at either park). And not too far up "the 5", the Mariners were busy blanking the Angels 5-0 behind two-run singles from both Ryon Healy and Dee Gordon. For both players that was their only hit of the game; they are the first Mariners teammates to have multiple RBI with only a single (and no other weird stuff like a sac fly or bases-loaded walk) in a victory since Kenji Johjima and Franklin Gutierrez did it in Oakland on April 11, 2009. And it turns out that back on July 11, Seattle also shut out the Angels on six hits or fewer (actually two); it's the first time they've ever posted two such games in Anaheim in the same season.
Meet Me In St Louis
Of course, it's not entirely about the coasts. We have some love for the heartland also, and apparently so do the Dodgers. Especially Yasiel Puig, who is your friend anyway, and Busch Stadium returned the favor. In Friday's series opener he greeted Jack Flaherty with a solo shot, and then added another in the 9th to become the second Dodgers hitter with a multi-homer game at the current park. The other, really, is Rod Barajas on August 23, 2011. That first run would be the only one allowed by Flaherty, but it was enough, given that Walker Buehler-- who of course started the combined no-hitter against the Padres in May-- took us into the 5th again before Paul DeJong and Harrison Bader both connected for singles. And that's it. Buehler issued two more walks but the Cardinals never got another hit, finishing a home game with 0 runs on 2 hits for the first time since... well, September 1 against the Reds. That hadn't happened twice in a season since 1995, and not in a month since they did it twice in the same series against Pittsburgh in May 1991.
If you looked at Buehler's line of eight scoreless innings, two hits, and nine strikeouts, and guessed that the last Dodger to throw that was Clayton Kershaw, well, you'd be right, because Kershaw's an acceptable guess for anything Dodger-pitching-related. That was September 29, 2015, at San Francisco. But only two other Dodgers have ever recorded that line in St Louis: Orel Hershiser (who is always another good guess) on July 19, 1984, and Ismael Valdez (who is not) on September 17, 1995.
The good news for the Cardinals is that they ended up scoring four runs in Saturday's game, which, if they had done that Friday, would have been enough to win. On Saturday, uh, not so much. Fourteen would not have been enough as John Gant gave up another Puig homer, got into a mess in the 5th inning and got pulled after six runs before having to face Puig again. Let's send Mike Mayers out there instead. Puig your friend. Puig not care. Home run number two and it's 8-4. He's the first Dodger this season with consecutive multi-homer games (Cody Bellinger did it last June), and the first ever to do it in St Louis.
Puig not done. By the 8th inning Luke Weaver is out there, the score has mushroomed to 10-4 on Bellinger's third RBI of the day, and mash. Another three-run shot for 13-4, seven driven in, and the fourth three-homer game at this edition of Busch Stadium. Then-Giant Aubrey Huff did it on June 2, 2011, and the others were both by Albert Pujols in its inaugural season of 2006.
Turns out Bellinger's not done either. Nor is Weaver. After an error by Patrick Wisdom extends the inning, Bellinger finds himself at the plate unexpectedly, now with it 14-4 and two more runners on base. Wham. 17-4, which will mercifully be the final, but remember Bellinger already had three RBIs also. Now he's got six. Combined with Puig's seven, they're the second Dodgers ever with a half-dozen in the same game; the others were Gil Hodges and Billy Cox against the Reds on June 12, 1949. And only eight pairs of teammates (since RBI became official in 1920) have had six each, plus three hits, plus three runs scored, plus a homer. The previous set was Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez in the Rangers' famous "30-3 Game" in Baltimore in 2007.
End-Of-Summer Blowout!
If 17-4 isn't your style, well, we have a variety of lopsided scores to choose from as we start to see which teams are still interested. The Phillies are still technically clinging to life in the NL East, but need all the wins (and Braves losses) they can get to have any chance. Unfortunately they can't save any of Friday's 14 runs to use again later.
Yes, 14, versus the Marlins' 2. And 5 home runs, from a team that had combined for just 17 and 5 in the five-game mini-losing streak preceding that game. The Phillies also hung a 20-1 game on Miami back in April; the last team they beat by 12 or more twice in the same season was the 2003 Braves. Two of those taters were from Aaron Altherr, who became just the third Phillie to have a four-hit game that included two homers at Citizens Bank Park since it opened in 2004. The others were both named Ryan Howard. Altherr also had five RBIs, his second career 4-hit, 5-RBI outing (the other was in Washington in September 2015). Only four other Phillies have had two such games: Rico Brogna (within a week of each other!), Don Demeter, Chuck Klein, and Mike Schmidt.
That, of course, wasn't the only time this week that the Marlins got blown out. Their scheduled game on Monday got blown away by the remnants of Hurricane Gordon, and you can understand a New York team not wanting to play a doubleheader on 9/11 (the Yankees' farm team on Staten Island is still forbidden from playing on that date). The problem with Wednesday is that it was going to rain all day. And it did. From 4:10 they waited. And waited. At this point of the season the decisions about games are in MLB's hands, not the teams, since it's usually the last series between the combatants. So even the Mets were helpless (write your own joke). Finally at 9 pm they decided play could start at 9:45, and mercifully also announced there would only be one game and the doubleheader would be Thursday now.
The Marlins were probably grateful there was only one game. Two doubles and a triple plate three runs in the 2nd. Still plenty of time. Amed Rosario, three-run homer in the 4th. Welp. And then in the 11 o'clock hour, let's just have Ben Meyer take one for the team. Jay Bruce grand slam and a two-run shot by Dominic Smith and your final (at 12:15 am for a 4:00 game) is 13-0. We mentioned Bruce's antics at Fenway later in the week, but it turns out he also hit a grand slam in the 7th inning in Washington on April 5. He's the first Mets batter with two in the 6th or later in the same season since Carlos Beltran in 2006. It was the ninth time in Mets history (last in 2016) where they hit a 2-, 3-, and 4-run homer in the same game. Meyer was the third pitcher in Marlins history to give up seven runs and two homers while recording no more than two outs; Matt Lindstrom did it against the Phllies on April 24, 2009; and Chris Hammond pulled it off in a start on May 4, 1996, although that was at Coors Field. Combined with Friday's 14-2 in Philadelphia, and some from earlier in the season, this week set a new Marlins "record" with five 12-run losses (four in 2006) and marked the first time they'd ever done it twice in three days.
Cleveland and Detroit have a fairly decent rivalry just based on geography; they could basically wave across Lake Erie at each other if the lake were smaller or they had really big hands. (We know Detroit's not technically on the lake, don't @ us.) And they're both original members of the American League from 1901, so is it possible they could still make history in 2018? Of course it is.
The Indians had a chance to clinch the AL Central title against the Tigers on Friday, but stranded the tying run on second to end the game. On Saturday the biggest drama was which position player would pitch for Detroit, and how soon. Cleveland opened with back-to-back homers off Michael Fulmer, their first time doing that since Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis took Chad Green of the Yankees deep on July 8, 2016. Fulmer then abruptly departed citing "knee inflammation", making him just the second starter in the live-ball era to face two batters, give up two dingers, and leave. Chris Archer did it against the White Sox last September in a game that came up on Friday night as well when Archer gave up two more 1st-inning homers. So on comes Matt Hall, likely not expecting to pitch today, and well, that showed. He ends up facing 15 batters, getting three of them out, and you can start rolling in those champagne carts. No Tigers reliever had given up 9+ runs while getting ≤ 3 outs since Steve Gromek did it in Boston on June 18, 1953, and Cleveland hadn't gone through 21 batters in the first two innings since they opened with an 8 and a 6 at Houston on April 20, 2013.
Detroit managed only two measly singles and committed four errors; the final score of 15-0 was their largest shutout loss since Toronto did it to them on July 6, 1996. The Indians' last 15-run shutout was also the largest shutout loss in Yankees history, a 22-0 in the Bronx on August 31, 2004. And that history we mentioned? 15-0 was the largest shutout ever by Cleveland over Detroit, including the 1880's when both cities had NL teams (go Wolverines!). The previous record on that front was 14-0... on May 17, 1902.
Young-Adult Forum
It's always the kids who have the most energy, isn't it? Among the teams who did not let off the gas pedal this week were the Atlanta Braves, who are within a few days of eliminating those Phillies and winning the NL East for just the second time in 13 years (after that stretch of winning it 11 straight years before that). On Monday Ozzie Albies got them out of the (Golden) gate with a leadoff double in the 7th; he would become the game-winning run when Dansby Swanson hit a sac fly later in the inning. Albies then tripled in another run in the 9th, his fifth career game with both a two-bagger and a three-bagger. He's just the second player in the live-ball era to have five such games before his 22nd birthday (which is in January); Buddy Lewis of the Senators did it in 1936-37.
On Tuesday "old man" Mike Foltynewicz (who will be 27 in a few weeks) tossed a six-hitter for an identical 4-1 win to Monday, the only Giants damage being when Evan Longoria singled with two outs in the 9th, the Braves gave him second, and then Brandon Crawford drove him in. Folty threw a two-hit shutout against the Nationals back in June, and his two (two!) complete games are tied for the major-league lead because it's 2018. He is the first Braves pitcher to have multiple CGs with seven (or fewer) baserunners and seven (or more) strikeouts in each since Javier Vazquez in 2009. And it was the first time a Braves pitcher had thrown any complete game in San Francisco since Tom Glavine hurled a three-hit shutout at Candlestick on August 7, 1998.
Speaking of the Nationals, after the Braves finished the sweep on Wednesday thanks to a Tyler Flowers pinch-hit single in the 9th, it was on to Washington and another play date between youngsters Albies, Ronald Acuña, and Juan Soto. They've hung out at the kids' table a few times before since they're in the same division, but they were full of excitement this weekend.
In Friday's opener, you didn't have to scroll down very far in the boxscore to see the big headline. Acuña, hitting leadoff for the Braves as he usually does, had four hits including a triple and a double. He's the youngest Braves player to do that since Milwaukee's Hank Aaron posted that line in Cincinnati on September 5, 1954. Throw on two runs scored and two RBIs (which, as discussed frequently, became official in 1920), and he's the second-youngest player for any team to do that. Nineteen-year-old Travis Jackson of the Giants pulled that off at Wrigley Field on July 29, 1923.
Gosh, so close. Acuña had the single, double, and triple, but couldn't complete the cycle. No worries. Look at the other side of the boxscore. Juan Soto, who will turn 20 at the end of October, mashed his 20th homer of the year-- not just joining Bryce Harper and Tony Conigliaro as the only teenagers to hit 20+ major-league homers, but also providing the perfect match to Acuña's game. Together they are the first players under the age of 21 to hit for a combined cycle in the same game since Boston's two Tonys (Conigliaro again, plus Horton) did it on August 21, 1965. And hey, over here, Albies-- batting below Acuña-- scored three runs of his own as the Braves won 10-5. That's already the seventh time Albies has scored three runs in a game, tying HOF'er Eddie Mathews for the most by any Braves player before reaching his 22nd birthday. Watch out, though; Acuña has already done it four times also-- and has all of next year to add to his total.
Saturday's game would be a complete flip of Friday's, with the Braves scratching out only two singles against Jeremy Hellickson-- who injured himself while batting (DH in the NL, please?!)-- and then Jefry Rodriguez. Juan Soto, apparently on a mission to make us figure out what he hasn't done yet, only had one single, but also drew three walks and then stole three bases as the Nationals cruised to a 7-1 win. As previously reported by many other sources, Soto is the youngest player in MLB history to steal three bases in a game, breaking Rickey Henderson's mark by nearly a year. But he's also the first player in Nats/Expos history to have three walks and three steals in a game. And those three walks were only part of a much-larger fourteen-walk campaign ("Stop walking people!") by the Atlanta pitching staff. In a nine-inning game, the Braves had never issued 14 walks before, and the Nationals/Expos had never received them.
We hinted that Jefry Rodriguez ended up battening down the hatches for the Nationals after Hellickson got hurt; he actually went 4⅔ innings (getting the Nats into the 7th) without allowing a hit. Only two other pitchers in franchise history (both Expos) had done that: Dan Schatzeder on June 11, 1979 (also against the Braves), and Jackie Brown in an 18-inning marathon with the Padres on May 21, 1977.
Bottom Of The Bag
⚾ Didi Gregorius, Tuesday: First player in Yankees history to hit a triple and a grand slam in a loss.
⚾ Scott Schebler, Sunday: Hit leadoff home run against Cubs. Also hit leadoff home run against White Sox back on July 2; is first player in MLB history to do it against both clubs in the same season.
⚾ Tyson Ross, Thursday: First Cardinals relief pitcher to hit a home run since Mark Worrell at Washington, June 5, 2008.
⚾ Lorenzo Cain, Monday: First leadoff batter in Brewers history to have a 4-hit game at Wrigley Field. Last for "Milwaukee" was Felipe Alou on August 15, 1965.
⚾ Billy Hamilton, Wednesday: First Reds number-nine hitter with a triple and a double in the same game since pitcher Gary Nolan at Houston, September 21, 1969.
⚾ Yankees, Saturday: Second time in team history they hit four homers, including a grand slam, in a game and lost. The other was a 14-12 slugfest with the Browns on July 24, 1940 (Bill Dickey had the slam).
⚾ Felipe Vazquez, Sunday: Second Pirates pitcher since 1969 (when they became official) to give up two homers and still "earn" a save. Dave Giusti did it in Atlanta on August 2, 1970.
⚾ Salvador Perez, Friday: Fourth player in Royals history with 5 RBI including a walkoff homer. Joe Randa in 2001 also hit a walkoff slam. Others were George Brett in 1993 and Frank White in 1986.
⚾ Devon Travis, Tuesday: Became third player in Blue Jays history to steal home twice (also did it once last year). Others are Lloyd Moseby and Alfredo Griffin in the early 1980s.
⚾ Joey Votto, Monday: First Reds batter with a multi-run double (not a homer) on his birthday since Tony Perez on May 14, 1972.
⚾ Robinson Chirinos, Saturday: Three-run double to turn deficit into a lead. Also had one against the White Sox on June 30. Only other player in Rangers history with two is Ivan Rodriguez, and his came in different seasons.
⚾ Athletics, Friday: First time they had ≤ 3 hits in an extra-inning game and won it since a 1-0 win at Kansas City on April 16, 1992.
⚾ Scooter Gennett, Monday: Second game this season with 4 hits and 3 RBI (also May 11 at Dodgers). First Reds batter with two in same season since Rich Aurilia in 2006.
⚾ Francisco Arcia, Wednesday: Second player in Angels history to have 3 XBH and 4 RBI batting 9th. Gary DiSarcina did it at Texas on June 13, 1998.
⚾ Robbie Grossman, Sunday: First Twins baserunner out for being hit by a batted ball (yes, we have a list) since Matt LeCroy versus Boston on August 6, 2005. Every other team's had it happen since 2011.
Minor-League Minute
We love and follow the minor leagues with great interest around these parts, so a brief congratulations to all the teams who claimed their league championships over the past week or so. And a reminder that Durham and Memphis will square off in this year's triple-A title game in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday. You might even see the next guy to throw a major-league no-hitter (Jake Odorizzi started the 2013 edition for Omaha).
🏆 AAA International: Durham (N.C.) Bulls (TB)
🏆 AAA Pacific Coast: Memphis (Tenn.) Redbirds (STL)
🏆 AA Eastern: (Manchester,) New Hampshire Fisher Cats (TOR)
🏆 AA Southern: Jackson (Tenn.) Generals (ARI)
🏆 AA Texas: Tulsa (Okla.) Drillers (LAD)
🏆 High-A California: Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) Quakes (LAD)
🏆 High-A Carolina: Buies Creek (N.C.) Astros (HOU)*
🏆 High-A Florida State: Fort Myers (Fla.) Miracle (MIN)
🏆 Low-A Midwest: Bowling Green (Ky.) Hot Rods (TB)
🏆 Low-A South Atlantic: Lexington (Ky.) Legends (KC)
🏆 Short-Season New York-Penn: Tri-City (Troy, N.Y.) ValleyCats (HOU)
🏆 Short-Season Northwest: Eugene (Ore.) Emeralds (CHC)
🏆 Rookie Appalachian: Elizabethton (Tenn.) Twins (MIN)
🏆 Rookie Pioneer: Great Falls (Mont.) Voyagers (CHW)
* - "Lame-duck" team, moving to nearby Fayetteville in 2019
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