Egg Hunt

Continuing the "food" theme that brought you lots of taters last Sunday, the Easter Sunday post is perfectly timed for some eggs. Which resemble a lot of round things put up on scoreboards this week. Now all we need next week are some big games from the "meat" of the order.


Don't Go Outside The Yard

No matter how many times the adults guaranteed you there were no eggs hidden outside the fence, there was always one kid who didn't believe them and went out there anyway. (This is the same kid who did believe them when they said there was a magical bunny who lays eggs and brings them candy, but we digress.) So even if it wasn't technically part of the hunt, we sure did find a lot of round white things outside the fence this week. And we don't know if Christian Yelich is in fact Christian (and honestly, it doesn't matter), but he certainly did a lot during the most important week in the Christian calendar.

Yelich's biggest game, of course, was in Monday's 10-7 win over the Cardinals, in which he went deep three times and drove in seven of the 10 runs. Only three other Brewers have ever posted a 3-HR, 7-RBI game; they are Aaron Hill (2016), Ryan Braun (2014), and Corey Hart (2011). Hill and Cecil Cooper (July 1979) are the only others to homer off three different pitchers in one game. Only two other Brewers have hit multiple three- or four-run homers in the same game at Miller Park; Khris Davis did it in 2015, and Jose Hernandez pulled it off on April 12, 2001, in the sixth game played there.

One more dinger on Tuesday meant that eight of Yelich's then-nine home runs on the season had come against the Cardinals. Since the first round of NL expansion in 1962 (i.e., when there were more than seven other opponents to face), Yelich is just the fourth player to hit eight longballs against St Louis in one season. He joins Richard Hidalgo of the Astros (2000), Greg Luzinski of the Phillies (1977), and Willie Mays (1964) in that club. And by the way, thanks to the famous "unbalanced schedule", look at where the Brewers play again this week.

Yelich took a break from homering on Wednesday, but when he went yard against the Dodgers on Thursday, he broke Rob Deer's team record of getting to 9 home runs in 20 games in 1987. Then on Friday he became just the 12th player to collect 11 or more homers in any team's first 21 games of a season. That list includes luminaries such as Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Willie Stargell, Mike Schmidt, Albert Pujols, Alex Rodriguez, and the most recent to do it, Justin Upton for the Braves in 2013.

But why stop there? Yelich took it one more step by going yard not once but twice more on Saturday, giving him 13 for the season. Only three other players have connected for 13 homers in any team's first 22 games, and you've probably seen this list: Alex Rodriguez in 2007 (14), Ken Griffey Jr in 1997, and Luis Gonzalez for the D'backs in 2001. It also gave Yelich his fourth three-game homer streak just since joining the Brewers last year. Geoff Jenkins and Jeromy Burnitz share the team mark with 10 such streaks each, but they were also in Milwaukee for a combined 16 seasons.


The Color Purple

There have been four Fridays so far in the 2019 regular season, and for some reason the NL West has developed the disturbing habit of keeping us up late every week. On March 29 the Dodgers had a 13-inning, 6-hour dirge that didn't end until 1:15 am, and then last weekend the Giants needed 18 innings before finally walking off at 12:50 am. This past Friday didn't run quite that long, but two of the remaining teams-- the Padres and Rockies-- both went to extra innings just for fun.

After the 3rd, the Reds/Padres game was 1-1 on a pair of solo homers by Eugenio Suarez and Fernando Tatis Jr. And there's no point in looking up the last time either team had a solo homer stand up for a win, because one of them has to score again. Enter Derek Dietrich. After Tatis made a costly error to begin the 11th inning, Dietrich hit a two-run homer to score himself and Jose Iglesias for a 3-1 lead. That was only the third time in Reds history they'd hit a go-ahead multi-run homer in extra innings in San Diego; Eric Davis (April 15, 1989) and Buddy Bell (September 27, 1986) had the others.

Tatis did his best to atone for the gaffe in the bottom of the 11th, even though the Reds still would have been ahead at this point. Drawing a one-out walk, Tatis proceeded to steal second and then third in the span of four pitches, then scored on the very next pitch when Eric Hosmer rolled a slow grounder to first. You could argue that the play might have been at home if the Reds hadn't had the two-run cushion, but still, that gave Tatis three stolen bases on the day. And combined with his earlier home run, he became not just the first player in Padres history to record a homer and 3 SB in the same game, but also the youngest player in the live-ball era to do so for any team. That mark had previously been held by Tim Raines of the Expos, who did it twice in the 1981 season before turning 22.

The 3-2 win marked the first time the Reds had five or fewer baserunners in an extra-inning game, and still won it, since defeating the Cardinals 2-0 at the old Busch Stadium on August 30, 1989.

Meanwhile, in Denver, the Rockies-- with a 90-minute head start-- were busy slogging things out with the Phillies in the second game of their weekend series. Bryce Harper finally doubled in the top of the 12th to score Phil Gosselin, the Phillies' 17th hit of the game and Harper's fifth. But hold that thought. Because Tony Wolters drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the 12th, and then Charlie Blackmon launched a walkoff homer to center for a 4-3 win. It's just the fourth time in Rockies history that they've hit a walkoff home run when trailing, and all have been in extra innings. Ryan Spilborghs crushed a walkoff grand slam against the Giants on August 24, 2009, in the 14th; the others were both by Dante Bichette-- against the Cardinals on August 20, 1996, and against the Mets on April 26, 1995, in the first game played at Coors Field.

Bichette had also hit one of two previous walkoff homers in Rox history when the team was down to its final strike; that happened on May 23, 1999, against Arizona. Todd Helton did it on September 18, 2007, against the Dodgers, and then Blackmon became the third on Friday. And remember Harper's double in the top of the inning being his fifth hit of the game? He's the phirst Phillie with phive hits in a loss since Marlon Anderson did it in Phoenix on May 17, 2002.

Blackmon, of course, wasn't done with his note-writing for the week. After Friday's walkoff homer, he also hit the very next pitch the Rockies saw for a leadoff homer in Saturday's game. In so doing, he became just the seventh player in Rockies history to hit a leadoff homer and a walkoff homer in the same season, much less the same month. The only one to do that had been Ellis Burks in June 1995 (walkoff on the 2nd, leadoff on the 19th). And in one of those leaderboards that we've given up posting because he and George Springer are constantly flip-flopping, Blackmon now has 31 leadoff homers, one shy of the most in the majors since his debut in June 2011. But he's not one short of Springer (who has 26). He's one short of now-37-year-old Ian Kinsler, who's been dropped out of the leadoff spot by the Padres over the past couple weeks.

We originally wrote the first part, about not going outside the fence, before there had been any inside-the-park home runs this week. Well, Raimel Tapia took care of that in the very next inning on Saturday, and since he fits the "purple" Rockies theme, we'll drop him here. Tapia legged out the 18th inside-the-parker in team history to open the 2nd inning, right after Blackmon had homered to start the 1st. In a neat case of turnabout-is-fair-play, the last Rockies IHR had been by Blackmon on July 16, 2017, at Citi Field, the home of the Mets. And the last one at Coors Field, home of the Rockies, had been by a Met-- Brandon Nimmo last June 18. Saturday also marked the fourth time in Rockies history that they'd started both the 1st and 2nd innings with dingers; Blackmon and Ben Paulsen did it in Atlanta on August 24, 2015, as did Darryl Hamilton and Todd Helton (April 12, 1999, vs Padres), plus Nelson Liriano and Daryl Boston (September 29, 1993, at Candlestick Park).


Color Me Impressed

Speaking of west-coast games, we enjoy making fun of the AL West for being the most boring division where every game ends with a 3-1 score and nobody gets a hit until the 5th inning and the most impressive batting line is 2-for-4 with a double. Yawn, why are we staying awake for this? So we marveled in amazement on Thursday when the Mariners and Angels went totally off the board and combined for 21 runs, 29 hits, 10 extra-base hits, and actual excitement in the late innings. And actually the game was a blowout until the Angels erupted for seven runs in the 7th off three different Seattle pitchers. When David Fletcher homered off Anthony Swarzak to start the 8th, Anaheim had come all the way back to a 10-10 tie, and for once, not the kid of AL West tie that's scary. When it's 1-1 or 2-2 there's a good chance neither team is going to score for another two hours. But at 10-10 something will give.

It did. Mitch Haniger singled, stole second, and scored on a Jay Bruce hit in the top of the 9th to provide our final of 11-10. Franklin Gutierrez hit the Mariners' only other go-ahead, pinch-hit single in the 9th or later in Anaheim, three years ago tomorrow. It was the 10th time in Mariners history that they'd allowed 10 runs in a road game and still won; the previous was a 16-13 slugfest at Petco Park in June 2016, and they'd never done it in Anaheim. On the flip side, it was the third game in Angels history where they had scored 10 runs against Seattle and lost; the others were both at the Kingdome, one in April 1996 and the other in May 1979.

But check out where all that Mariners offense came from. Omar Narvaez and Ryon Healy-- batting 7th and 8th-- combined to reach base eight times, score five, and drive in nine of the 11 runs. Healy's two hits were both homers; he joins Michael Saunders (2013), Ben Davis (2002), Jose Cruz (1997), and Brian Giles (1990) as the only Mariners with a 2-HR, 5-RBI game batting 8th or 9th. Meanwhile, Narvaez was the first batter in team history to reach base five times, score three times, and drive in four runs from that low in the order. And combined they are the first set of Mariners teammates to have 4 RBI in the same game batting 7th, 8th, or 9th.

The Mariners did manage to lose Sunday's finale in Anaheim, but not for lack of trying. Mitch Haniger, Tom Murphy, and Dee Gordon all homered in a 5-run 9th inning, the only problem being that Seattle was down by 7. Only once before had the M's hit three homers in any inning numbered 9 or higher; John Olerud, Ben Davis, and Mike Cameron did it in a fairly-famous 8-run 11th inning on September 8, 2002.

Then it was the other part of the AL West that threw up another 11-10 game on Sunday. That was in the Lone Star State, where the Rangers took an early 10-1 lead and held on as Houston chipped away with four home runs, including leadoff taters in the 6th, 8th, and 9th. They still fell one run short, marking the first road game where they had scored 10 runs and lost since May 5, 2009, in Washington. And even that wasn't entirely a road game; it was suspended by rain with the score tied, and it being the Astros' last visit to Washington, the Nationals actually scored the 11th and walkoff run at Minute Maid Park batting as the home team.

Collin McHugh gave up those 10 early runs to Texas on Sunday, and managed to only strike out one batter. Only three other pitchers have done that for Houston, and if it's any consolation, they all lost too. Those hurlers were Brandon Backe (2008), Jason Jennings (2007), and Wade Miller (2000). Joey Gallo managed to drive in five of the Rangers' 11 runs without going yard, the first Texas batter to pull that off since Rougned Odor did it in his 12th game in the majors, at Detroit on May 24, 2014.


Color Me Badd

Everyone has a bad day from time to time. Daniel Powter confirms. And we try not to pick on pitchers too much. But the epic performance of Steven Matz on Tuesday just couldn't be ignored. To be fair, he got no help from shortstop Amed Rosario either. But the first eight Phillies batters went E6, double, hit by pitch, two-run double, three-run homer, walk, another E6, three-run homer. Count 'em, the first eight batters reached, all eight of them scored, and we can't let this continue. (It did continue, just not with Matz on the mound; the Phillies added two more doubles, a walk, and another Mets error for a 10-run inning.)

You may have guessed that Matz is only the sixth starter in the live-ball era to give up 8+ runs and not record an out. But amazingly, he's not the first Met to do it. Bobby J. Jones pulled it off against the Braves on September 17, 1997. And the Mets aren't the first team to have two pitchers do it. In fact, those six games belong to only three teams: Blake Stein (1998) and Bill Krueger (1984) did it for Oakland, and Paul Wilson of the Reds did it twice by himself! Wilson's second such game, on May 6, 2005, against the Dodgers, is the occurrence before Matz.

As for the Phillies, who went on to a 14-3 drubbing on Tuesday, J.T. Realmuto and Scott Kingery became the eighth pair of teammates in their history to have 5 RBI in the same game. Jim Thome and Pat Burrell were the previous pair, on April 9, 2003, against the Braves. And April 2003 was also the last time the Phillies had recorded a four-inning save before Jerad Eickhoff got one on Tuesday. That earlier save was on the 26th, by Carlos Silva against the Giants.

A little farther down I-95, we must also mention David Hess of the Orioles, who did get an out in Wednesday's game (actually six of them). His issue was three homers, including back-to-back jacks by Yandy Diaz and Ji-Man Choi to start the 3rd and end Hess's evening. That made Hess the first starter in Orioles history to give up 8+ hits, 3+ homers, strike out 0, and not get out of the 3rd inning. The last pitcher in franchise history to do it (i.e., for the Browns) was Bill Trotter at Tiger Stadium... on August 14, 1937.


This being a family-friendly column, we're going to skip over Color Me Badd's breakout hit (along with the soundtrack to New Jack City) and instead link you to the more-recent of their two number-1's. But you can find the other one pretty easily. Intermission!


Colors Of The Wind

Baseball isn't usually a fast-paced game, but there are a couple objects that do move quickly. Bats and balls (and occasionally baserunners) have all kinds of metaphors about flying and whiffing and fanning and feeling the breeze-- sometimes on a strikeout, and sometimes on a home run or a sharp hit that whooshes right back past the pitcher. For some strange reason, a lot of pitchers did a lot of both this week.

Jorge Lopez of the Royals struck out 10 White Sox batters on Tuesday... and lost. Apparently seven of Chicago's hitters couldn't solve him, but Yonder Alonso and Yoan Moncada could. They combined for three homers and a double, and in the first game in major-league history where both starting pitchers were named Lopez, Reynaldo held Kansas City to 1 run on 5 hits. Besides Jorge, only one other Royals pitcher had ever fanned 10 batters but also given up three homers in the same game. Kevin Appier pulled that off against the Tigers on August 23, 1996. Lopez (that's Jorge again) was also the first Royals pitcher to strike out 10 opponents and lose since Luke Hochevar did that, also against the Tigers, on June 5, 2010.

The Nationals had a strange pitching week, beginning with Stephen Strasburg's loss to the Giants on Tuesday. Let's just say he's another one who was leaving it over the plate. In six innings, Strasburg struck out eight Giants, issued zero walks, and somehow also gave up three homers. Only one other hurler in Nats/Expos history has posted that line, Jason Bergmann at Arizona on May 31, 2008.

Perhaps no line was stranger, however, than what Max Scherzer "accomplished" on Saturday in the Nats' 9-3 loss to Miami. As he is wont to do, Scherzer struck out nine Marlins, and we've given up posting the leaderboards for high-strikeout games in Nats history because Scherzer and Strasburg just leapfrog each other every couple weeks. But would you believe the "9" wasn't the biggest number in Max's pitching line? Nope, that would be an "11" and it's under Hits. Along with seven runs, six of them earned, and a loss. Forgetting the decision for the moment, the only other pitcher in Nationals history to give up 11 hits but still strike out nine... is Max Scherzer, at St Louis on September 2, 2015. Max also did it once as a Tiger (June 7, 2014, at Boston) and is the first pitcher this century with three such games. If you tack on the seven runs, only one other pitcher in the past 15 years has pulled that off, and it's National-turned-Tiger Jordan Zimmermann, on May 16, 2016, against the Twins.

Confused yet? Good. Because Scherzer wasn't the only pitcher with this weird affectation on Saturday. Gerrit Cole gave up five 1st-inning runs to his cross-state rivals the Rangers, and eventually got pulled in the 5th after nine total and eight earned. Cole being Cole, however, he still struck out eight batters in the 13 outs he did get. No matter how you slice it, he's the second pitcher in Astros history, and he has some pretty good company. The only one to give up nine total runs yet fan eight opponents was Roy Oswalt against the Cardinals on April 13, 2003. But only five of Oswalt's runs were earned. So if you take the 8 earned runs instead, Cole shares that club with only Nolan Ryan, June 4, 1988, against the Giants.

From Nolan to Nola, Aaron of the Phillies kept this theme going in that Rockies game where Charlie Blackmon and Raimel Tapia started the first two innings with homers. By the time Nola got lifted in the 6th, he had given up nine hits (but only three runs) and also fanned nine batters. Not surprisingly, the last Phillies pitcher to do that was our old pal Cliff Lee. The one before him was... Cliff Lee. And before Cliff Lee was... Cliff Lee. In fact, the last six such games thrown by Phillies pitchers, dating to 2011, were all by Cliff Lee. And naturally he lost five and had one no-decision. By virtue of the Phillies taking the lead in the 4th, Nola became the first Phils pitcher to post that line and actually win the game since Roy Halladay at Florida on September 15, 2010. And Nola was bookended by Vince Velasquez on Friday and Jerad Eickhoff on Sunday, both of whom also gave up 7+ hits while striking out 8. The last time the Phils had three straight starters to do that was June 2 through 5, 1993, by Ben Rivera, Terry Mulholland, and Tommy Greene).

From Nola to Nova, Ivan is now with the White Sox if you've lost track, and all he did on Thursday was give up 11 hits, plus throw a wild pitch and hit a batter. Amazingly he didn't take the loss because Welington Castillo's homer tied the game in the 8th before Detroit hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to regain the lead. No Sox pitcher had done everything Nova did and not lost the game since Gavin Floyd, also against the Tigers, on July 24, 2007. And since sacrifice flies were split into their own category (versus bunts) in 1954, the Tigers had never hit back-to-back ones to take a lead in the 8th inning or later as Nick Castellanos and Miguel Cabrera did on Thursday.

And finally, we detailed Steven Matz's issues earlier, but on Monday Noah Syndergaard preceded him in Mets pitching lore. "Thor" got knocked around for 9 hits and 5 runs, although the Mets got a run in the 11th to beat the Phillies in their series opener. Despite all those hits, Syndergaard still struck out nine in just five innings of work, thus becoming the first Mets hurler with a line of 9+ hits, 5+ runs, and yet 9+ strikeouts, since... Noah Syndergaard did it in San Diego on June 2, 2015. He's in good company. The only other Mets pitchers to do that twice are Dwight Gooden and Tom Seaver.


Goose Eggs

Geese, unlike rabbits, actually do lay eggs, and we're not sure how the number zero came to be associated with a goose egg (as opposed to any other kind of egg). But in the midst of this week's action there certainly were a few teams who, well, laid an egg.

Earlier we covered the Reds' visit to Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, which ended in a 3-2 loss on A.J. Pollock's homer, and in which neither team managed more than three hits. Turns out that wasn't the only game that fell flat on Wednesday. Returning to their AL West roots, the Athletics and Astros muddled their way through a 2-1 game in which both teams managed only four hits and the go-ahead run scored on Matt Chapman's solo homer in the 6th. In the past seven seasons, there's been only one other game at the Oakland Coliseum where both teams posted ≤ 2 runs on ≤ 4 hits; that was a 2-0 loss to the Royals on June 9 of last season. The Astros-- known for their strikeout proclivity behind Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Lance McCullers, et al.-- only fanned one Oaklander (Stephen Piscotty) the entire game. The last time Houston pitching struck out just one batter was May 14, 2015, against Toronto.

Also on Wednesday Erik Swanson of the Mariners managed to give up two hits and lose. That's because one of those hits was a solo homer by Jake Bauers, and because Swanson's opponent was whiff-master Carlos Carrasco, who fanned 12 Mariners over 7 innings. The last Seattle pitcher to lose a home game while throwing 6+ innings of 2-hit ball was Jamie Moyer against the Angels on June 23, 2001. Carrasco, for his part, tied Bob Feller with four outings of 12+ strikeouts and 0 runs allowed; only Sam McDowell (six) had more for Cleveland. And Bauers' dinger marked just the second time the Indians had beaten the Mariners 1-0 on a solo homer; the other was July 28, 2006, when Shin-Soo Choo took Felix Hernandez deep at Jacobs Field. And Wednesday's affair was just the fourth game in the history of Safeco Field where neither team had more than 3 hits; the previous one was a 2-0 Seattle loss to Tampa Bay on May 14, 2014.

Between those three games-- Reds/Dodgers, Indians/Mariners, and Astros/Athletics-- it was just the second time in the past 15 seasons where there were three games on the same day in which neither team had more than four hits. The other such day was August 30, 2014, and three of the same six teams were involved (CIN, HOU, OAK).

The Marlins also know a little something about goose eggs, having posted three of them this week. That already brings their season total to six, two more than any other team. The Padres (who did it in both 2011 and 2016) are the only other team in the past 15 years to get shut out six times in their first 22 games, and the 1987 Royals are the only team to get to seven that quickly. The live-ball-era record for the eighth shutout of a season is game #28, so the Marlins have the whole week to do it twice more.

And it was a lonely weekend for visiting teams on the shores of Lake Michigan. On Saturday, in the game where Christian Yelich homered twice, the Dodgers got a leadoff single from Joc Pederson and then had just one other hit the rest of the game. Their only time posting 0 on 2 in Milwaukee was against Junior Guerra on June 29, 2016, although they did have two other games with ≤ 2 hits but a run scored. One was Opening Day 2007 against Ben Sheets, and the other was May 3, 1961... against Warren Spahn and the Braves. For Chase Anderson, Saturday was his fourth career start where he gave up only one hit and got the win; that ties Teddy Higuera for the most such games in Brewers history.

Meanwhile, down I-94 (or the Edens if you prefer), the Diamondbacks were held to only 3 hits on Sunday at Wrigley Field, although one of them was a 9th-inning homer by Jarrod Dyson and the Cubs had to win via walkoff. Arizona's only other 3-hit game at Wrigley was a meaningless affair on the next-to-last day of the season in 2009. And Archie Bradley started the bottom of the 9th, and needed only three batters-- none of whom he retired-- to surrender the walkoff. Joe Thatcher was the last D'backs pitcher to pull that off, in San Francisco on September 8, 2013.


All The Eggs In One Basket

If only the Twins had been at Wrigley Field on Saturday instead of the Diamondbacks. Because the outfield at the Friendly Confines is known for its famous "basket" that traps home-run balls which might otherwise end up stuck in the ivy (ground-rule double, and this one actually is a ground rule) or have the potential for fan interference. The Twins didn't seem to mind, however. Because they were at another homer-happy park, Camden Yards in Baltimore, and those bats had been simmering for an extra day thanks to Friday's rainout.

The first game wasn't anything terribly special aside from Eddie Rosario hitting two home runs, including a leadoff dinger in the 2nd and a game-tying solo shot in the 5th. He also doubled, making him just the fourth player in Twins history to have 10 total bases in a game in Baltimore. The others on that list are Gary Ward in 1983, Larry Hisle (who also appears below Yelich on some Brewers' home-run lists) in 1976, and Tony Oliva in 1968. He also passed Brian Dozier with his eighth career multi-homer game, the most for Minnesota since his MLB debut in May 2015. Jose Berrios actually gave up three home runs to the Orioles as well, but still got the 6-5 win because the Twins never relinquished the lead. He's the first Twins pitcher to do that in a road game since... Jose Berrios did it on May 24, 2017-- also at Camden Yards. In franchise history, only four other pitchers-- Dutch Leonard for the Senators, plus Kyle Lohse, Eric Milton, and Camilo Pascual-- have had multiple road games where they gave up three homers and won. And only Pascual (who did it at Tiger Stadium in 1962 and 1964) repeated the feat in the same park.

But when it comes to repeating feats, there was nothing quite like the night game of Saturday's twinbill. We always say there are certain games that you just know are going to be in this post each week. Bingo. Nelson Cruz and C.J. Cron both hit 1st-inning homers. Cruz doubled to lead off the 3rd, then Rosario picked up where he left off in Game 1 and put the Twins up 6-0. In so doing, he became the first Twins batter with three homers in a doubleheader (homering in each game) since Dan Ford did it at Texas on July 4, 1975. And he also broke Tony Oliva's team record for the most homers through the Twins' first 18 games of a season (nine).

Mitch Garver hits a three-run shot later in the inning. So does Jonathan Schoop in the 4th. 13-0, you can stop now. Which they do for a few innings. Until Garver leads off the 8th with another dinger. And Cruz homers again. By now the Orioles' seven runs and three homers are an afterthought. And sure enough, in Baltimore's second installment this year (already!) of Position Players Pitching, Chris Davis, whose batting average was pitcher-like for a good chunk of the early season, serves up a friendly meatball to his old teammate Schoop in the 9th. 16-7 and count them, eight home runs just by the Twins. That ties the franchise record, set in Washington against their own replacement team, the second Senators, on August 29, 1963. (You may recognize that date as the day after the March On Washington and MLK's "I have a dream" speech.)

Between Cruz, Garver, and Schoop, it was only the second time in Twins/Senators history that three players had gone deep multiple times in the same game; Corey Koskie, Torii Hunter, and Jacque Jones did it in Miller Park's first year, July 12, 2001. And Renato Nuñez had two of the Orioles' three homers as well; combined it's the first time four players had multiple homers in the same game since Geoff Blum (Expos), Dante Bichette, Todd Helton, and Edgard Clemente (Rockies) did it at Coors Field on August 14, 1999. The 11 combined longballs in one game tied the Camden Yards record set on July 1, 1994, when the O's hit six and the visiting Angels hit five. The Orioles hadn't allowed eight homers in a game since the Blue Jays set the still-standing MLB record with 10 against them on September 14, 1987.

Cruz, Garver, and Schoop also all doubled in addition to their two homers, the first trio of teammates in major-league history to each have 2 HR and a double in the same game. Cruz also singled to give him four hits and four RBIs, the second Twins player ever to post that line in Baltimore. Steve Brye also did that in the back half of a doubleheader on June 6, 1976. Starter Alex Cobb, who would otherwise have been up in the "bad pitching lines" section, got tagged for 10 hits, 9 runs, and 3 homers, a first for an Orioles starter since Rodrigo Lopez did it at Yankee Stadium on July 5, 2005.

And last but not least, Mitch Garver had his two homers and five RBIs out of the leadoff spot. In Twins/Senators franchise history, only other leadoff batter has done 2-and-5, and you can't make this stuff up. It's not Judge Joe Brown, it's Joe Judge against the Browns, in St Louis on July 10, 1921.

May that inspire you to keep the Easter spirit alive by going down a YouTube, uh, rabbit hole. (Actually finish this bottom part first. Then come back.)


Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Joc Pederson, Monday: First walkoff homer by Dodgers against Reds when trailing since Eric Karros off Rob Dibble, August 6, 1993.

⚾ Joc Pederson, Sunday: First Dodger to hit two homers on his birthday since Duke Snider, September 19, 1953. Also first Dodger ever to hit a leadoff homer on his birthday.

⚾ Aaron Wilkerson, Wednesday: Third relief pitcher in Brewers history to hit a multi-run homer. The others were both by Brooks Kieschnick in 2003, the year they tried to convert him from being an outfielder.

⚾ James Paxton, Tue & Sun: Second Yankees pitcher in live-ball era to strike out 12+ in consecutive starts. David Cone, June 7 and 14, 1998.

⚾ Derek Holland & Jameson Taillon, Saturday: By virtue of 5-inning rain-shortened game, technically recorded the first double CG in the majors in nearly three years. James Shields & Matt Shoemaker actually made it through 9 on July 16, 2016.

⚾ Tyler Mahle, Tuesday: First Reds pitcher to give up 11 hits and commit a balk (because balks make everything funner) since Norm Charlton at Dodgers, July 30, 1990.

⚾ Joey Rickard, Thursday: First Orioles batter with single, double, triple, and stolen base since Brian Roberts at Boston, July 11, 2008.

⚾ Rays, Saturday: Set team record with 4 triples. First team in majors to have 4 triples in a loss since Royals did it against Detroit on September 21, 1998.

⚾ Brett Gardner, Wednesday: Third grand slam in Yankees history to flip the lead against the Red Sox in the 7th or later. Mark Teixeira walkoff in September 2016, and Johnny Blanchard in July 1961.

⚾ Cody Allen and Diego Castillo, Friday: First day where two pitchers allowed multiple homers while getting no batters out since July 30, 2010 (Andrew Cashner & Raul Valdes).

⚾ Mike Minor, Tuesday: First Rangers pitcher to throw an SHO-3 or better against Angels at home since Kenny Rogers' perfect game, July 28, 1994.

⚾ Touki Toussiant, Saturday: First Braves pitcher to hit 3 batters and throw a wild pitch since George Barnicle at the Polo Grounds, April 25, 1940.

⚾ Noah Syndergaard, Sunday: First Mets pitcher to homer in a game where he also took the loss since Jason Isringhausen at Pittsburgh, June 19, 1996.