Mashed Taters

We're not positive who came up with the cute idea of referring to home runs as "taters". But it might have something to do with them getting mashed. And it's highly unusual to see this many home-run notes this early in the season when the weather in many places is, well, let's be nice and call it "borderline". So we're going to take some of the butter we usually use on #Kernels and mix it up with some spuds instead.


5-Pound Bag

There's never been an individual 5-homer game in the majors, but when it comes to teams as a whole, the number 5 came up a lot this week. We begin in Cincinnati, where the Reds laid an absolute thumping on the Marlins in the opener of their series on Tuesday. After starter Jose Ureña gave up four runs on eight hits through the first five frames, it was up to Wei-Yin Chen to truly seal the deal (and/or, take one for the team). Chen would surrender four more homers and 10 runs to make the final score 14-0. Chen was the first reliever in Marlins history to surrender four taters, and the second (after Elieser Hernandez did it last July) to give up 10 runs. Ureña, who also started last season with three losses, joined Nate Bump, Antonio Alfonseca, and Pat Rapp as the only Marlins pitchers to start consecutive seasons 0-3 or worse.

But check out those five Reds homers. Leadoff batter Jesse Winker hit the lone one against Ureña in the 4th. Joey Votto didn't homer, but after getting plunked by Chen (and politely returning the ball to him), he was replaced on defense by Buck Farmer. Who homered in the 7th. And right after the plunking, Chen gave up back-to-back-to-back taters to Matt Kemp, Eugenio Suarez, and Scott Schebler.

In the part of Cincinnati baseball history that's recognized by MLB (that's to 1882), it's only the third time where the top five spots in their order had all homered in the same game. On June 16, 1990, against Houston, the first quintet to achieve the feat was Chris Sabo, Barry Larkin, Eric Davis, Glenn Braggs, and Todd Benzinger. And a few years later, Jacob Brumfield, Brett Boone, Jeff Branson, Kevin Mitchell, and Brian Hunter all did it on August 3, 1994, in San Francisco.

Last Sunday we of course brought you the barrage of taters that was the Yankees' 7-HR game at Camden Yards. The Orioles' home has always been known as a home-run park, but the theme continued at midweek when the Athletics came to town. Monday's opener found Baltimore taking their anger out with a 12-4 win in which they actually hit three triples (more on that later). The A's responded with a 13-2 beatdown on Tuesday, their first time giving up 12+ in one game and scoring 12+ in the next since August 2011, when The Three Grand Slams Game at Yankee Stadium (22-9) was followed by a 15-5 win in Boston.

On Wednesday, however, Oakland sent five dingers out of the grassy playing area, just their second time ever doing that in Baltimore. Bert Campaneris and Reggie Jackson were among the hitters in the other game-- June 13, 1970, at Memorial Stadium. Khris Davis hit two by himself, giving him just the fifth 2-HR, 4-RBI game for the A's at Oriole Park. The previous was all the way back by Erubiel Durazo on August 18, 2004; the others were Eric Chavez (2001), Tony Batista (1998), and Craig Paquette (1995). Orioles starter Dan Straily and reliever Eric Rogers both gave up 5 earned runs and 2 homers while striking out only 1 batter, the second teammates in Orioles/Browns history to do it in the same game. Elon "Chief" Hogsett (so nicknamed because he was from Kansas and looked somewhat native-American even though he wasn't) and Earl Caldwell did it at Tiger Stadium on May 30, 1937.

And you could be forgiven if you turned on Thursday afternoon's getaway game and thought you were watching a replay of Wednesday's. Yet again did the Athletics hammer five home runs out of Camden Yards, and yet again did Khris Davis do it twice. The previous Oaklander with back-to-back multi-homer games was Josh Reddick in Toronto on August 9 and 10, 2013. But this week was only the second time in franchise history (1901) that the Athletics had hit five dingers as a team in consecutive games. The other was at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland on June 27 and 28, 1987.

Meanwhile, in Toronto, another park known for its many taters (and where you can actually buy poutine at the concession stands), the Rays got in on this "five homer" theme on Friday. Austin Meadows started things early, going yard as the first batter of the game, and he then homered again in the 3rd to start the second time around the order. Only four other Rays had ever done that: Brandon Guyer in 2016, Desmond Jennings (2011), Julio Lugo (2006), and Quinton McCracken (1998). Brandon Lowe would also go on to hit two longballs in Friday's win; he and Meadows are the fifth set of Rays teammates to hit two each in a road game. Kevin Kiermaier and Steven Souza had the previous such game, September 8, 2016, at Yankee Stadium. And when they weren't busy hitting homers, a bunch of balls fell just short and ended up as doubles. Tampa Bay thus ended the game as the second visiting team ever to hit five homers and five doubles in a game at Rogers Centre; the Mariners did it in a 19-7 festival on April 16, 2000.


Start The Gravy
We had some leftover home-run drippings that didn't fit neatly into another section. They're just gravy. ☺

The Twins don't go to Citi Field very often. So in Tuesday's interleague matchup it became even weirder when they exploded for 10 extra-base hits, including not five, but six homers, in winning a 14-8 slugfest. Mitch Garver and Jonathan Schoop each connected twice, the first road game where multiple Twins batters had multiple homers since Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer did it in Anaheim on August 3, 2011. Combined with Pete Alonso's two homers for the Mets, it was only the second game in Citi Field's 11-season history where a player on each team went yard twice. Wilmer Flores matched then-Marlin Giancarlo Stanton on July 6, 2016. And also Tuesday, Jorge Polanco became just the second American League player to homer and triple in the same game at the new stadium; Brett Gardner of the crosstown Yankees did it in the very first Subway Series game played there (June 26, 2009).

Some of our baseball-fan friends still find it weird to think of Houston as being in the American League, even though the switch happened seven seasons ago now. But before that, as NL stalwarts, the Astros hadn't traveled to Seattle much either. In fact, they'd only ever hit one grand slam at The Field Formerly Known As Safeco, that being by Carlos Gomez off Nate Karns on July 17, 2016. So in Friday's series opener, they decided to make up for lost time and triple that total. Jose Altuve came to the plate with the bases loaded in the 6th and mashed one slam, and then Yuli Gurriel repeated the feat in the 8th. It was just the third time in Astros history that they'd hit two slams in a game; Chris Carter and Jon Singleton did it at Target Field on June 8, 2014, and Denis Menke teamed with Jim Wynn on July 30, 1969, at Shea. The Mariners had allowed two slams in a game just twice before as well: Oakland's Kurt Suzuki and Dan Johnson hit them at Safeco on September 10, 2007; and on May 10, 1999, at Fenway, Nomar Garciaparra had a fairly-famous game where he hit two slams by himself.

Eloy Jimenez of the White Sox, signed by the Cubs as an international free agent in 2013 and then sent across town in the Jose Quintana deal two years ago, made the Opening Day roster after just 55 games at triple-A Charlotte last season. On Friday he made the most of that opportunity, cranking his first two big-league home runs out of a rainy Yankee Stadium, the second one apparently doing so much damage that they called the game five pitches later. At age 22-136, he was the youngest White Sox hitter with a multi-homer game since Harold Baines (nearly a year younger) did it in Toronto on September 7, 1990. The only Chicago hitter to do it at either Yankee Stadium at a younger age was Brian McCall (19-248) on September 30, 1962.

And Jimenez wasn't the only White Sock launching spuds in the Bronx. In Sunday's 5-2 win, 80% of that damage was done by a Tim Anderson grand slam in the 4th inning, the first one ever hit by the South Siders at the current Yankee Stadium. Only the Tigers, Royals, and Rangers have not hit one yet among American League opponents. The last Sox grand slam at the old place across 161st Street was none other than Frank Thomas off Roger Clemens on August 26, 2003.


Add Sour Cream

The Rangers were in Phoenix on Tuesday to take on the Diamondbacks in another one of those "interleague series we're not used to seeing". And they probably could've waited; leading 4-2 going to the 9th, Texas reliever Jose LeClerc gave up a single, a double, and then a two-run pinch-hit walkoff homer by Jarrod Dyson to lose the game 5-4. That was the first homer in D'backs history with those specific criteria (walkoff by pinch hitter while trailing), and Arizona hadn't hit any walkoff tater when trailing (by PH or not) since the next-to-last game of the 2012 season. That was Aaron Hill off Colorado's Rafael Betancourt, and had been the longest drought of any team by nearly two years. The "honor" of not having done it now passes to the White Sox (Dayan Viciedo, September 2014). Arizona's only other walkoff anything against the Rangers had been a Cliff Pennington single to score Miguel Montero on May 27, 2013.

The Nationals soured a fine pitching performance by Chris Archer of the Pirates on Saturday; trailing 2-1 going to the 8th, and with Archer now out of the game after reaching 94 pitches, Adam Eaton and Howie Kendrick proceeded to hit back-to-back solo homers. Eaton's shot tied the game, and before the excitement had died down, Kendrick had given Washington its final margin of 3-2. In Nats/Expos franchise history, it was only the second time they'd hit back-to-back homers to tie the game and then take the lead in the 8th inning or later. Bob Bailey and Hal Breeden teamed up to do it in Philadelphia on August 12, 1972.

And on Wednesday, one day after that 14-0 beatdown of the Marlins, the Reds were back to midseason form by managing only three hits off Trevor Richards and friends. Catch: Two of them were homers, the Marlins had only three hits of their own, and Cincinnati won. It was already the second time this season that a game at Great American Ball Park saw neither team have more than three hits; there had been a total of two such games in the park's first 16 seasons. The two homers, much like those by the Nationals, were by Jose Iglesias and Jesse Winker, first to tie the game and then to secure the 2-1 final score (though not back-to-back). The last time the Reds hit a tying homer and a go-ahead homer, both in the 8th or later, was a back-to-back situation; Devin Mesoraco and Shin-Soo Choo walked off against the Braves on May 7, 2013.


Intermission
We thought about "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" here but that just doesn't go well with taters of any form. So we opted for the only song we could come up with that mentions mashing potatoes. Do you like it like this?


Triple Mash
(Yes, we know this is a brewing term, roll with it.)

Not all things that get mashed end up being homers. Sometimes, depending on who's doing the mashing, and the size of the pot (read: stadium), they end up as the more-exciting play we call a triple. Sure, homers are fun too, but who hasn't seen a batter-runner round second base and think, wait, where is he going?

Cedric Mullins of the Orioles was that player on Monday in that series opener with Oakland about which we promised more later. He knocked across not one but two three-baggers, just the fourth Baltimore player to do it at homer-friendly Camden Yards since it opened in 1992. The others were Alejandro De Aza in 2014, Jay Payton in 2007, and Brady Anderson in 1996 (yes, that's also the year he hit 50 homers). Only two other Orioles have had a multi-triple game while batting ninth; Frank Baker did it against the Brewers on September 12, 1973, and Don Larsen legged them out against the Senators on July 21, 1954 (though that would later be superceded as his biggest career accomplishment).

When he wasn't busy running 270 feet to third base, Mullins also collected a sacrifice fly in the 6th and laid down a bunt to advance Jesús Sucre and Richie Martin in the 8th. That batting line (two triples and two sacrifices) hadn't been done by any player on any team since Edd Roush of the Reds against the Braves on August 25, 1924. And combined with Martin's triple in the 6th (he's the one who scored on Mullins' SF), Monday's game was the first time Baltimore had posted three three-baggers in a game since the only other time they did it at Camden Yards: April 29, 1993, against the Twins.

The Mariners, who did a lot of strange things last week, turn up in this section as well. Because on Thursday it was their turn to collect three triples, at Kauffman Stadium in a 7-6 win over the Royals. It was the team's sixth time ever doing that, and in all six games, it was three different batters who hit them; the previous trio was by Ichiro Suzuki, Randy Winn, and Bret Boone in San Diego on June 24, 2005.

While nobody had two triples, that doesn't mean they weren't running. Mitch Haniger did stop at second on a different trip around, making him the 10th Mariner-- but just the second this century-- to triple and double in the same game at Kauffman. Jean Segura had done it one year and one day prior to Haniger. And in one of his other at-bats, Dee Gordon couldn't be bothered to even stop at third. He joined a club of four other Mariners number-9 hitters who had ever homered and tripled in the same game; the previous entrant was Luis Soto on August 8, 1994. The others all occurred in 1985 (which was kind of a good season in Kansas City), two by Spike Owen and the first by Bob Kearney in June.


Extra Helping

Despite those three triples, the Mariners found themselves still tied with the Royals after nine innings on Thursday. No worries, Daniel Vogelbach is due up second, and he wasted no time by mashing a solo homer into the Kauffman Stadium fountains for a 7-6 victory. That was the fourth extra-inning homer that Seattle had ever hit in Kansas City, and the other three... were all in the same game! On September 8, 2002, the M's set a team record for an extra inning by scoring 8 runs in the top of the 11th, including home runs by John Olerud, Ben Davis, and Mike Cameron.

In case you thought you might survive three whole weeks of the 2019 season without a "Juan Soto is young" note, well, here it is. On Tuesday the Nationals were down to their final strike against Philadelphia when not Juan Soto, but Victor Robles, mashed a solo homer to "sour" another game and force some free baseball. It was only the second time in the Nationals' 15 seasons that they'd hit a tying or go-ahead homer when down to their final strike in a road game. The other was also at Citizens Bank Park, by Chad Tracy off Jonathan Papelbon, on June 17, 2013.

But Juan Soto is the reason this game is down here in the extra-inning section. Because just one frame later, the 20-year-old wandered up to the plate with two runners on, and two pitches later all three of them wandered back into the Nationals dugout with a 9-6 lead. The Nationals hadn't hit a 3- or 4-run homer in extra innings of a road game since Anthony Rendon took John Lannan deep at Citi Field on Opening Day 2014. And the "youngest" note you were waiting for? Well, Soto is the youngest player to hit any 3- or 4-run homer in extra innings since a barely-20-year-old Willie Mays cranked one out of Wrigley Field on June 22, 1951.

The extra-inning homer giveth, the extra-inning homer taketh away. When the Nats returned home on Friday, they needed the game-tying services of Anthony Rendon in the bottom of the 8th to force more extra innings. Rendon had also given them a brief lead with a solo shot in the 2nd, and is the sixth player in the Nationals history-- but first in a home game-- to hit two tying or go-ahead homers in a game they still ended up losing. Jayson Werth was the prior one, in Philly on May 7, 2017.

Did we mention the Nats ended up losing? That's because pinch-hitter Colin Moran was summoned with two on in the top of the 10th and did his best Juan Soto impression. Since Nationals Park opened in 2008, Starling Marte (July 17, 2016, in the 18th) had been the only Pirate to hit an extra-inning homer there, and the only other 3- or 4-run homers by visitors in extras were by the Rangers' Robinson Chirinos (June 2017) and Florida's Jeremy Hermida (April 2009).

And as for the pinch-hitting part, Moran was the first Pirates PH in over a decade to go yard in extra innings. Jack Wilson hit one against the Reds on August 4, 1997. And their last extra-inning PH homer of at least three runs was a Mark Smith walkoff against the Astros on July 12, 1997.

At least Sundays are (usually) day games. So if you're going to play 14 innings, you're not keeping people up too late. The Phillies and Marlins were nice enough to do that on Sunday, the ninth game in the relatively short history of Marlins Park (eighth season) to go at least 14 frames. The Marlins, predictably, have won just two of those games, and in the latest case, that's thanks to Jean Segura's two-run tater in the top of the 14th, scoring Andrew McCutchen who had tripled right in front of him. The Phillies hadn't hit a home run in the 14th (or later) of a road game since Jason Michaels did it in Baltimore on June 27, 2003, to win a 17-inning affair. And when Neil Walker got the Marlins' final base knock in B14, but his run was retired on a double play to end the game, it marked only the second time in the live-ball era that Phillies pitching had thrown 14+ innings and held their opponent to five hits. Jim Bunning (8 IP) and Jack Baldschun (6) combined on the other one, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, on July 28, 1965.

And the longest game of the week actually didn't feature any taters at all. Which is probably good, because they would have been cold and lumpy by the time we finally got one. The Rockies and Dodgers found themselves tied at 2 after Joe Panik's sacrifice fly in the 6th. Eleven innings, 78 plate appearances, 15 pitching changes, and nearly 3½ hours later, they found themselves stilL tied at 2 and mired in the second-longest game ever played at AT&T Park. Finally when Brandon Belt clanged a leadoff double in the bottom of the 18th, we were resigned to "how do they waste this?". Belt moves up on a flyout and then the bases get loaded by two intentional walks. So there has to be a double play coming, right?

Well, no. Against a five-man infield, Erik Kratz rolled one to CF Ian Desmond who came home to at least get the force and keep the game alive. Except he didn't. At least not according to the people who matter, in this case C.B. Bucknor and his friends in Chelsea who got to review this play at 3:50 in the morning. Belt was ruled safe with a walkoff "FCX" (fielder's choice with no out recorded), the first such play in the majors in the 18th or later since the Braves beat the Pirates on a similar ruling on July 26, 2011. That was before full replay, and Jerry Meals was blamed by many Pirates fans for blowing the call and sending their previously-promising season right down the drain.

As for the Giants, they hadn't won any game of 18 innings or longer since Bob Brenly's single scored David Green on June 11, 1985, in Atlanta. And their last walkoff win in the 18th was on a single by Hughie Critz against the Cardinals-- on July 2, 1933!

The 12:50 am (local) finish time was the second-latest in park history (though Candlestick's record was 1:25), 20 minutes before its other 18-inning game, a 1-0 loss to the Diamondbacks on May 29, 2001. The Rockies took their lumps by striking out a team-record 24 times, including Chris Iannetta's four in a game he didn't start (also a Rockies first).


Sculpt A Pillar

And finally, if you just can't finish that extra serving and are more inclined to sit there and make mashed-potato sculptures out of it, might we suggest an obelisk. We couldn't let this week end without mentioning the first big "trade win" of 2019. Yes, already. Just five games into the season, the Blue Jays traded Kevin Pillar to the Giants to get utility man Alen Hanson and pitcher Derek Law (who is currently hanging out at triple-A Buffalo).

Seems like Pillar is enjoying it, at least.

On Monday he connected for the first grand slam hit by the Giants at home since Hunter Pence hit one in the home opener-- in 2016. That 3-year drought without a slam was the longest of any team's home fans by well over a season; the White Sox (Matt Davidson, June 2017) now inherit that badge.

And Tuesday brought another 4-RBI game as Pillar had a bases-loaded double and a sac fly. In 695 games with Toronto, he had three 4-RBI games; in his first week with the Giants he had two. The last Giants batter to have consecutive 4-RBI games-- well, you might have guessed the name, but you might be surprised that nobody else had done it since. Barry Bonds at Dodger Stadium in the first two games of the 2002 season. The only other Giant to do it at the corner of 3rd & King was in the first season Pacific Bell Park opened: Ellis Burks on August 19 and 20, 2000.

Wednesday it was back to homering for Pillar, but unfortunately it didn't rub off on any of his teammates. Pillar's solo homer was the only run in San Francisco's 3-1 loss to the Padres, which was also just the second game in stadium history to feature 13+ hits with all of them by different players. The Giants and White Sox got to 14 in an extra-inning affair on August 12, 2014.

And in Thursday's series opener with Colorado, in which the Rockies were shut out on only three hits, it still took Pillar's bat to get them over the hump. Another solo homer, this one in the 7th inning, stood up for a 1-0 victory, the fifth such win in stadium history. Brandon Crawford did it last June (also against the Rockies), as did Barry Bonds in 2007, and Ramon Martinez and Shawon Dunston in 2001.

You may remember the way last season started for the Giants. Joe Panik certainly does. His home runs were the difference in both of the Giants' first two wins, by identical 1-0 counts over the Dodgers. So that destroys a big chunk of our Pillar notes. But that was at Dodger Stadium. So Pillar is still the first Giant whose solo homer was the team's only run in back-to-back games-- where both games were at home-- since Bobby Thomson did it at the Polo Grounds on July 18-19, 1957.


Bottom Of The Bag
(Non-homer edition)

⚾ Harrison Bader, Thursday: First player to get hit by a pitch with the bases loaded twice in same game since Toronto's Reed Johnson at Texas, April 16, 2005.

⚾ Carlos Carrasco, Friday: First Indians starter to give up 6 runs and not finish the 1st inning since Paul Byrd, also in Kansas City, on August 23, 2006.

⚾ Paul DeJong, Tuesday: First Cardinals batter with 2 doubles, 2 walks, and a stolen base since Ray Lankford in 1996. First to also score 2 runs since Stan Musial against the Phillies on September 13, 1953.

⚾ Jameson Taillon, Monday: First Pirates starter to give up 6+ runs, with none of them charged as earned, since Woodie Fryman against the Mets on August 18, 1966.

⚾ Yankees, Saturday: First game where pitching staff allowed 1 hit and 0 walks since September 2, 2001, at Boston. The one where Carl Everett broke up Mike Mussina's no-hitter with two outs in the 9th.

⚾ John Hicks, Sunday: First 5-strikeout game in majors this season. First for Tigers in a nine-inning game since Craig Monroe vs Brewers, June 14, 2007.

⚾ Terrance Gore, Wednesday: Second batter in live-ball era with single, double, triple, and two stolen bases while hitting 9th. Charlie Moore of the Brewers did it in Anaheim on October 1, 1980.

⚾ Walker Buehler, Thursday: First Dodgers pitcher to homer at Busch Stadium (either one) since John Wetteland, May 27, 1990.

⚾ Marco Gonzales, Tuesday: Second starter this century to get four wins within team's first 13 games of a season. Jered Weaver did it in 2011 when the Angels were able to open with a four-man rotation because of travel days.

⚾ Braves, Saturday: Top five starters in batting order all had multiple hits and multiple runs scored. Team last did that July 9, 1964, at Pittsburgh; the batters that day were Eddie Mathews, Denis Menke, Hank Aaron, Lee Maye, and Joe Torre.

⚾ Dodgers/Cardinals, Monday: First game at current Busch Stadium where both teams had ≤ 5 hits but both scored 3+ runs. Last at the old place was also against the Dodgers, on August 9, 1974-- which you may recognize as the day Richard Nixon resigned.

⚾ Thomas Pannone, Sunday: First Jays reliever to throw 3+ perfect innings and strike out at least four batters since Doug Linton at Boston, August 5, 1992.

⚾ Nationals, Wednesday: Scored 15 runs without benefit of a single tater. Second time that's happened in franchise history; the Expos did it at Wrigley Field on June 28, 1974.