Fier-Balls
As we were finishing off last week's post, the Astros-- for the second straight week, mind you-- decided to interrupt us by blowing up for a 21-1 win over the Mariners, the "1" being a Shed Long homer which was also Seattle's only hit of the game. (We are writing this paragraph on Friday, so who knows what they're about to do this week.) But at least they gave us a nice transition into this week by hanging another big blowout on Oakland on Monday.
Mike Fiers-- you know, the guy who threw a no-hitter for Houston in 2015 and then threw a no-hitter for Oakland in May?-- Mike, you gotta spread these things out, dude. Because this time he retired exactly one batter in a row before just getting shelled. Two singles and an Alex Bregman homer. Yordan Alvarez goes back-to-back. Robinson Chirinos 2-run homer. In the 2nd he didn't even get that one batter out before Jose Altuve and Michael Brantley went back-to-back, although that does leave Fiers with another little piece of history. Specifically, he's the first pitcher ever (starter or reliever) to allow 5+ homers while getting no more than 3 outs. He's also the first A's starter to give up 9 total runs while getting 3 outs since Lou Brissie did it in a 21-2 loss to Cleveland on June 18, 1950. (The Indians, apparently impressed with this performance, traded the A's to get Brissie the following April.)
Paul Blackburn didn't fare a whole lot better at first, finishing the 2nd with another homer by Alvarez and a triple by Abraham Toro. It's already 11-0 and the Astros have the first game in their history where they scored 5+ runs in both the 1st and 2nd innings. Chirinos would later be Blackburn's last straw with a 3-run homer to complete the scoring in the 7th; he joins J.R. Towles (2007), Rafael Ramirez (1989), and Dave Giusti (1966) as the only Astros to have a 6-RBI game hitting 8th or 9th in the order. And combined with Alvarez's 6 RBI from the 21-1 game on Sunday, it's the first time in Houston history they've had a player do it in consecutive games. It's the second time the Astros have ever hit 7 homers in a game, and both of them have been on September 9-- the other being a 14-4 win at Wrigley in 2000. And the 15-0 final matched Houston's largest-ever shutout (April 26, 1998, at Montréal), and was the worst one for Oakland since dropping a 16-0 in Kansas City on June 25, 1984.
By the way, Fiers would have another start shortened by injury on Saturday, but in that one he managed to give up 3 runs, commit a balk, and throw a wild pitch before finally accepting that it was time to go. He's the first A's starter to do all that without finishing the 2nd inning since Dick Joyce at Boston on September 18, 1965; and the first to do it in a game the A's still won since Hank McDonald gave up 6 unearned runs in the 1st against the White Sox on July 20, 1931.
Mileys To Go Before I Sleep
So hey, what could go wrong on Tuesday? Glad you asked. Because that would be when the Astros handed the ball to Wade Miley, and all he had done in his previous start was give up 5 runs without getting an out. Sooooo the good news is, he got an out this time?
But that's all. Just the one. And then after that, Miley gave up a walk and six straight singles, leading not only to his departure from the game, but his place in #Kernels lore. He became the first starter to give up 5+ runs while getting 1 out in consecutive games since before the Astros were even a team. Mel Parnell of the Red Sox pulled it off in the summer of 1948.
George Springer managed to lead off the game with a home run, but as Friend Of Kernels Jayson Stark points out (paywall alert), it kinda loses its luster when they're already down 7-0. The Astros hadn't ever hit a leadoff homer when trailing by as many as 4, and the last to hit one down 7 was Randy Ready of the Phillies off then-Mets starter David Cone on June 16, 1989. That's so long ago that we saw Ready's son play in the New York-Penn League playoffs last week.
Cy Sneed (which we still maintain is the villain's name from some 1970s cartoon series) got us to the 4th without too much more damage, but by now the A's have built up an 11-1 lead and it's time to have Joe Biagini do his best Wade Miley impression. Or his worst, depending on how you look at it. And at least it's fairly consistent. Walk, 2-run homer. Double, 2-run homer. Single, 2-run homer. Yeah, maybe we should go get him. That would be six runs on zero outs, at least equalling if not topping Miley's start if that were possible. Only Xavier Cedeño (2013, also against Oakland) and Jim Clancy (1989) had done that in Astros history, and only one other pair of teammates in the live-ball era had given up 6+ while getting 1 out: Mike Venafro and Brandon Villafuerte of the Rangers in a 19-6 loss to Detroit on August 8, 2001.
You may already know that this limps along to a 21-7 final, yet another football-looking score to "celebrate" the opening of football season. It's the 13th such exact score in MLB history, the previous being
Come Back To Me
We like to joke that there's always one team who reads last week's post, says hey that's a good idea, and then tacks on one more example of That Thing on Monday. Well, the Tigers didn't play on Monday, so they had to wait until Tuesday to do their best impression of a comeback. Edwin Jackson, now back with the third of his 14 major-league teams (15 if you count the Rays dropping the "Devil" while he was there), would like some credit for setting up the comeback, thank you very much.
Jackson accomplished this mostly by giving up home runs to Brett Gardner in both the 1st and 2nd innings, the first Yankees batter to hit same since... Brett Gardner against the Orioles on April 29, 2017. But no sooner is Jackson gone and the Yankees up 6-0 than Nestor Cortes and Luis Cessa also melt down in the 3rd and give it all back. The Tigers eventually take a 10-8 lead in the 6th when Jonathan Loaisiga gives up 2 hits and 2 walks, and after Didi Gregorius hits his second homer of the game the next inning we're knotted at 11. Gregorius and Gardner together became the second pair of Yankees to each homer twice in a game in Detroit; the others were Joe DiMaggio and Tommy Henrich on June 23, 1946.
Chance Adams has, well, a chance to keep it tied in the 9th, but after a 1-out frozen-rope double by Grayson Greiner, here comes Jordy Mercer for the walkoff. It was the first game in 6 years where the Tigers trailed by 6 at any point and won (September 21, 2013, vs White Sox), and their first walkoff win against the Yankees since Alex Avila singled home Bryan Holaday on August 28, 2014. For the Yankees it was just the fourth game in their history where they'd hit 6 homers and lost, and the first time scoring 11+ runs and losing since May 29, 2010, against Cleveland.
And Edwin Jackson, well, he got a no-decision out of all this, the first Tigers starter to give up 6+ runs while getting 6 or fewer outs, in a game Detroit still won, since Andy Oliver did it in a 12-9 game with Baltimore on July 5, 2010.
As with most things, however, the Yankees must have the last laugh, and after Wednesday's game got rained into a Thursday doubleheader, they promptly swept that 10-4 and 6-4 to take the series after all. Greiner made the nightcap interesting by hitting a 9th-inning triple this time, the team's first against the Yankees that late in a game since Chet Lemon on August 2, 1990 (which for you youngsters, is the same day Iraq invaded Kuwait). And Greiner ended up scoring again on Thursday, but this time the Tigers had started out down by 4 and he would not be the walkoff run. Instead the Yankees won their first twinbill in Detroit since July 26, 1964, back when Sunday doubleheaders were all the rage (the Tigers played 11 of them that season).
Baker's Dozen
The Yankees then took their act to Toronto, and after getting walked off by Bo Bichette on Friday-- the first extra-inning walkoff homer they'd surrended to the Jays since Vernon Wells took Mariano Rivera deep on July 20, 2006-- they clearly decided that can't be allowed to happen again. After getting to Jacob Waguespack for 3 early runs, Brett Gardner unloaded a 3-run homer off Brock Stewart in the 5th, and then Gleyber Torres and Luke Voit went back-to-back in the 6th to open a 9-1 lead. Stewart became the fourth reliever in Jays history to give up 6 runs and 3 homers while getting no more than 6 outs, and two of them have done it this year. Edwin Jackson in a June 17 loss to Anaheim is the other, along with Brad Mills in 2014 and Josh Towers in 2003.
Gardner would end up with 3 extra-base hits and 5 runs batted in, joining Aaron Hicks (2017), Robinson Cano (2005), and Tony Clark (2004) as the only Yankees hitters to do that at Rogers Centre. Luke Voit wound up with 2 extra-base hits, 2 walks, and 3 runs scored before Mike Ford hit another homer in his place in the 9th for a final score of 13-3. Amazingly only one other Yankees cleanup batter in the past 50 years has posted that line on the road; it was Giancarlo Stanton last September at Tropicana. The one to do it before Stanton was Mickey Mantle in 1962.
And the last time the Yankees scored 13 runs in Toronto was August 28, 2004, and it involved a 9-run 9th inning against Dave Maurer and Kerry Ligtenberg. (Fun fact, Mariano Rivera got the last out of the 8th and thus ended up with a save in a 12-run win, the only such save of his career.) Saturday was also the third time this season the Yankees have collected 19 hits in a game, and bizarrely they've been in three different countries: Saturday in Toronto, July 23 in Minneapolis, and June 29 against the Red Sox in London.
Tile Work Done Cheap
To top it all off, the Astros and Yankees weren't the only ones double-dipping from the double-digits this week. Yeah, we see you, Cubs. Oh, but don't forget, the weekend didn't exactly start out on the right foot. The Pirates had to feel pretty good about a 4-run 1st inning on Friday, including a bizarre play with multiple unnecessary throws in which Kevin Newman scored from first on a walk. (Trust us, watch it.) But then we hand the ball to Steven Brault with a 4-0 lead and, um, he doesn't exactly give it back with a 4-0 lead. In fact he gives up three 1st-inning homers, such that the Pirates' lead doesn't even make it through the inning. After the teams trade zeroes in the 2nd, Willson Contreras opens the 3rd with another dinger, and after a single and two walks-- one to opposing pitcher Jon Lester-- Anthony Rizzo hit the Cubs' 10th grand slam of the season, breaking the team record set in 1929. Rizzo also had one against the Pirates in September 2012, and is the first Cubs batter to hit two against Pittsburgh at home since Ernie Banks did it 13 years apart in 1955 and 1968.
Naturally this also knocks Steven Brault out of the game having given up 10 runs and 5 homers without finishing the 3rd inning. Remember where we started this post? (Yeah, we don't either.) With Mike Fiers giving up 5 homers and not finishing the 3rd on Monday? In the Year Of The Homer, it's not surprising that two pitchers have never done that in the same season before. Actually the only other Pirates to give up 5 homers in an outing of any length were Chris Archer against the Braves in June, and Ivan Nova against the Dodgers last July.
Although the Pirates did fight back to 10-7, the Cubs threw down the hammer with yet another 5-run inning (actually 7) in the bottom of the 5th against Yefry Ramirez-- all after he had struck out the first two batters of the frame. The Cubs hadn't had three 5-run innings in the same game (quick, find those extra scoreboard tiles!) since beating the Brewers 19-5 on April 30, 2008. Alec Mills would work the last three innings for the Cubs, and while he allowed a triple to Cole Tucker for the Pirates' final run, he became the first Cubs pitcher with a 3-inning save against Pittsburgh since Scott Sanders got one on July 8, 1999. The pitcher whose win he "saved"? Why, that's Jon Lester, who with such a big lead, was allowed to give up 11 hits and 7 runs. No Cubs hurler had done that and won since Jim Bullinger in Montréal on August 9, 1996.
And while it was not the only other 17-8 win in Cubs history, Friday's score was the majors' first since August 2 of last year (Rangers over Orioles), and Chicago's first since they beat the old National League Senators in "an admirably played game" (really?) on July 16, 1896.
We were going to use the old '60s classic "See You In September" here, a version of which was recorded by The Four Seasons, who also did a song about December, and so forth. But with all these big numbers and big names we need something upbeat to keep us going. Even though the 21st isn't until next weekend. Never a cloudy day. Intermission!
Hit Me Baby One More Time
Those players from 1896 might even describe a beanball war as "an admirably played game", given that until 1887 you didn't even get a free base for being plunked. But in Saturday's rematch between the Cubs and Pirates, there were plenty of them, although it wasn't until the late innings when the game became a blowout for them to really take center stage. The Cubs once again jumped to an early lead with two homers off Pittsburgh starter James Marvel, whose performance didn't even earn him any notes. Already eight Pirates starters this year have given up 7+ earned runs while pitching 4 innings or less, and that's not even their most this decade. Nine Pittsburgh pitchers did it in 2010 (there are still 13 games left!).
No, the interesting part would come in the 5th inning after the Cubs blew out to a 9-1 lead and then the fireworks began. Clay Holmes hits the first batter he faces, Nick Castellanos. Then he hits the second one, Kris Bryant, to force in the 10th Cubs run. Then the next inning he beans David Bote before Nico Hoerner hits a 3-run homer to get us to 13-1. Only two other Pirates pitchers have ever given up a homer and hit 3 batters in the same game: Paul Maholm in 2010 and Jim Tobin in 1938, and both of them went at least 7 innings. No Pirates batter had plunked 3 opponents while getting no more than 6 outs since Dock Ellis did it in a start (!, he hit 3 of the first 4) on May 1, 1974.
Naturally, with the Cubs up 14-1 in the 9th, there was more retaliation waiting to happen, with Dillon Maples hitting Elias Diaz and Erik Gonzalez in back-to-back plate appearances. That got him-- and Joe Maddon-- ejected from the game, and also made it the second game this season where six different batters got plunked. The other was between the Reds and Brewers on June 20, and half of those were just a result of Taylor Roark coming off the injured list and not finding his control (i.e., not a beanball war). But as for the Cubs scoring 14+ in back-to-back home games, well, that's only happened three times in their Wrigley Field history (where are those extra tiles from yesterday?). It happened against the Mets two years ago on the exact same dates, September 13 and 14, by scores of 17-5 and 14-6. And the other was way back in 1944 when they swept a doubleheader against the Braves by 15-1 and 14-5.
Goldilocks And The Three
Don't put those tiles away yet. On Sunday it's Trevor Williams' turn to take the hill for the Pirates, and we don't know what freak of weather was sitting over Wrigley Field, or what was in the pregame porridge, but once again every thing came up juuuuuussst right for the Cubs. kris Bryant, as the Cubs' third batter of the game, smacks a 3-run homer to pick up right where we left off on Saturday. The only other Cubs player in the last 10 years to hit a 3-run homer as their third batter (which is obviously the earliest you CAN hit one) is Anthony Rizzo, who's done it thrice. The Pirates briefly took the lead with 5 runs in the 3rd, but then, if there were any wheels left on the Pirates' wagon (mixed-metaphor alert!), they went a-flying off. Bryant homers again. Two more singles, a walk, and a pinch-hit triple by Tony Kemp, the first one by a Cubs batter so early in a game since Zack Taylor on August 2, 1930 (also against the Pirates, for whatever that's worth). Catcher (and HOF'er) Gabby Hartnett left in the 2nd inning with an "injured thumb" and Taylor hit in his stead. Williams is now done, and with Brault and Marvel from the prior two games, it's the first time in Pirates history (1882) that three straight starters each gave up 7+ runs and multiple homers.
The Pirates, meanwhile, are convinced that someone might have missed third base while scoring on that triple. Just to be sure, let's appeal before the next pitch and ohhhhh boy. (The Kernels Rules Desk points out that, despite what the announcers are saying, the umpires never actually had to rule on the appeal. So we still don't really know if everybody touched third or not. Rule 5.09(c):)
Turns out that quiet 2nd inning for Williams would be the only one for the Cubs. Two more runs in the 4th. Ian Happ homers in the 5th. Jason Heyward RBI single in the 6th. Kyle Schwarber collects another homer in the 7th to finish the day with 3 hits, 3 runs scored, and 3 RBIs. Nico Hoerner had done that in the first game of the series on Friday, the first time Cubs batters have posted the line twice in a series since Fred McGriff and Sammy Sosa did it in Houston in September 2001. If you're counting, we're past 14 again. Told you not to put those tiles away. Jonathan Lucroy adds a solo homer in the 8th for a 16-6 count, the first Cubs win by that exact score since April 4, 2005, in Phoenix, and their first at home since beating the Reds on April 19, 1936.
And the last team to score 14+ runs in three straight games? Why that's the 1993 Tigers who did it against Baltimore from August 10 through 12. (If you're coming at this from the Pirates' side, that's also the last time a team gave up 14 runs in three straight games.) The Cubs have had three other stretches in their history of scoring 14+, but it's unlikely you remember any of them. Before the Tigers in 1993, the Cubs were actually the prior MLB team to do this, 63 years earlier in a home game with the Pirates and then two road games at Boston (June 1-4, 1930). They also had three straight 14's from September 8-11, 1884, and a four-game stretch in July 1876 (18-30-23-17!), the first year that MLB recognizes them as an official major-league team.
Up Goes Frazier
Speaking of being recognized as a major-league team, no week would be complete without the Mets doing something strange. And this time it's actually something good. They opened a sweep of the Diamondbacks with a ho-hum 3-1 game on Monday in which Jacob deGrom struck out 11 and actually got a win for once. Wilmer Flores's homer-- his first back at Citi Field as a visitor-- would be one of just three Arizona hits, and let's say that'll be a theme also.
The Mets collected only 5 hits in Tuesday's game, but two of them were doubles by Todd Frazier, who appeared to be the only one who could solve Zac Gallen. Those doubles accounted for 3 Mets runs, and at the same time, Arizona had its first game this season where they converted 10 hits into only 2 runs. Gallen became the first D'backs pitcher not named Brandon Webb (who did it twice) to strike out 9+ Mets and lose, while the New Yorkers posted just their second game at Citi Field where they had 5 hits, struck out a total of 12 times, and still won. The other was also a 3-2 win, over St Louis on April 23, 2014. And Frazier, who batted 8th on Tuesday, was the first Mets batter with 2 doubles and 3 RBI from that low in the order since Victor Diaz against the Nationals on April 23, 2005.
That single-handed victory may have earned Frazier a "promotion" up to the #6 slot on Wednesday (or maybe Mickey Callaway just likes to do weird things with lineups because Mets), and he wasted no time upgrading those two-baggers to four-baggers. Frazier took Robbie Ray for a 2-run homer in the 1st, and when Brandon Nimmo went back-to-back, the Mets already had a 5-0 lead and Ray was done for. He's the first starter in D'backs history to give up 5 runs and 2 homers without finishing the 1st inning.
The Mets, however, were not finished. Taylor Clarke is good for two more homers out of the Arizona bullpen, including a second one by Frazier and a solo shot by Jeff McNeil. McNeil also went yard against Yoshihisa Hirano in the 7th as the Mets matched their biggest shutout ever against Arizona with a 9-0 win. The other game was at Chase Field on April 15, 2014. Together, Frazier and McNeil are the fourth Mets teammates to each homer twice in a game at Citi Field, but it's the first time neither Ike Davis nor Rod Barajas has been part of the pair. They teamed with Lucas Duda and Jeff Francoeur respectively, and with each other once, all between 2010 and 2013. Amazingly, in 45 seasons at Shea, the Mets only pulled that off once, by Joe Christopher and Hawk Taylor in the stadium's very first year, June 20, 1964.
In the Year Of The Homer, if 5 is good on Wednesday, then 6 in Thursday's series finale must be better. Oh sure, Frazier hit another one, a solo shot in the 2nd, but that was quickly overshadowed by a Juan Lagares grand slam in the 3rd-- especially painful because it followed a 2-out error and all 4 runs were unearned. Lagares would add a 2-run tater in the 5th for the Mets' fourth 6-RBI game this year. Frazier's got one of those too, along with Pete Alonso and Wilson Ramos; it's the first time in team history they've had four in a season. Lagares also became the first Mets batter in 11 seasons at Citi Field to have a 2-homer game where one of them was a grand slam (six people did that at Shea). Wednesday and Thursday marked the first time in Mets history the team had hit 5 homers in back-to-back games.
Met At 1, Walked You Home
The Mets then moved on to Saturday's much-hyped pitching matchup between deGrom and Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers, which did not disappoint. Both starters worked 7 scoreless innings, allowing just five singles between them, and neither one walked a batter. Only four other pairs of starters in the live-ball era have done that in the same game, and two of the others were last year.
Alas, because neither one ever cracked, neither of them got the win because scoreless tie. DeGrom already owns nearly every Mets record for striking out X and not getting a win, it's just a matter of what number you pick for X. And you could certainly question the decision to take Ryu out after only 90 pitches ("save him for the postseason", most likely), but here we are in the Dodgers bullpen in the 8th. Frazier, hit by pitch. Nimmo, hit by pitch. Amed Rosario, walk. Rajai Davis, in the pitcher's spot, bases-clearing double. Mets, 3-0 win. There had been only two other go-ahead, 3-run, pinch-hit doubles in the 8th or later in Mets history, by Marlon Anderson in 2007 (in a game where they blew that lead because Mets), and a walkoff by John Stephenson, also against the Dodgers, in 1965. Davis was also the second batter in team history with a 3-run pinch-hit anything in a 3-X Mets victory; Nimmo did it with a homer on July 11 of last season.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks-- having garnered only 3 hits on Monday and 4 on Thursday to bookend that Mets series-- continued their climb up our ongoing "4 hits or fewer" leaderboard. On Saturday Nick Ahmed hit the first pitch of the 3rd into the left-field corner and raced around for a triple. That made our no-hitter watch happy, and the very next pitch made D'backs fans happy because Jarrod Dyson lofted it for a sac fly and a 1-0 lead. After which Anthony DeSclafani sets down 14 batters in a row. Sounds pretty good, right? Except guess what the Reds offense did. It got two singles in the 1st but stranded both runners. Aristides Aquino singled in the 7th and got erased on a double play. So that harmless-looking triple in the 3rd is not only Arizona's only hit of the game, they freakin' won. It's the second game in their history where they had 1 hit and won; Stephen Drew doubled and scored against the Dodgers on May 14, 2011. The only other time the D'backs had 1 hit and it was a triple was when Luis Gonzalez did it in a 2-1 loss at Detroit on June 25, 2004.
But wait. Those last 14 set down by DeSclafani. That means no walks either. And that makes the Diamondbacks the first team in (at least) the live-ball era to have 1 baserunner over the course of a 9-inning game and win; the "9-inning" part is necessary only because the Orioles pulled it off in a rain-shortened affair on July 30, 1971. DeSclafani is the first Reds pitcher we could find (going back to 1908) to throw 7+ innings, allow 1 baserunner, and lose.
All Hands On Deck
There's another quirky thing about September baseball that we "get to" enjoy for the final time in 2019, that being the sea of people that occupy the dugout when the teams get 15 extra players and call up half of their triple-A and double-A teams. (If you're unaware, rosters are dropping to 28 spots next September instead of 40, in an attempt to rein in the endless pitching changes that make these games take 4 hours. Unfortunately, the tradeoff is that the normal roster will be 26 spots the rest of the year instead of 25, so instead of having eight unnecessary pitching changes in September, you'll have two more in every game *before* September. Soooo yeah.)
Anyway, this roster expansion does occasionally lead to some interesting MLB debuts, and Seattle's Kyle Lewis can tell you some stories about that. Shortly after being drafted in 2016, he blew out his ACL while playing with the Mariners' affiliate in Everett, Wash. (we saw him in two games there, as it turns out), and needed almost a year to return to action. So it was a happy moment when he got one of those September callups and finally got to the big leagues on Tuesday. To face (gulp) Trevor Bauer. Who is, oh by the way, throwing a no-hitter in (gulp) the 5th inning.
Kyle Lewis, hitter of the night. And one of five players ever to make his MLB debut as a Mariner and homer in it, joining Kenji Johjima (2006), Greg Dobbs (2004), Alvin Davis (1984), and Jamie Nelson (1983). Another September callup, Brian O'Grady for the Reds, would get the lead back with a pinch-hit homer in the 7th, just the second PH homer the Reds have ever hit in an American League ballpark (where they would have the DH available to them). Jason Romano hit their other one in Cleveland on June 25, 2005. Kyle Seager finally settled things with his own lead-flipping homer in the 8th as the Mariners scored 4 runs on just 4 hits.
So then on to Wednesday when yet again Sonny Gray is no-hitting the Mariners after 4. This is getting old, guys. And then 5. Mallex Smith gets plunked in the 6th but Shed Long-- who broke a couple of bids against the Mariners last week-- strikes out. No worries, guess who's coming up in the 7th. And this time he's got two baserunners, although that was also a hit-by-pitch and a walk. Kyle Lewis, hitter of the week. Among that list of Mariners to homer in their first MLB games, only Johjima and Davis also homered in their 2nd. And with this 3-run job giving the Mariners the lead, Lewis became the first player to hit either a tying or go-ahead homer in each of his first two games (any inning) since former Connecticut Defender Brett Pill did it for the Giants in September 2011.
Thursday's finale, thank goodness, for once did not require Lewis to break up a no-hitter; Kyle Seager took care of that in the 1st. But you probably heard that Lewis did homer again, a solo shot to lead off the 5th inning. Among that list of Mariners to homer in their first MLB game-- yeah, nobody's done three. In fact, the only other player in history to homer in his first three MLB appearances was Trevor Story in 2016. Thursday was more memorable for another MLB debut, this one of Mariners starter Justin Dunn. The one that begins with a 4-pitch walk to Josh VanMeter. Who steals second, which was unnecessary because Joey Votto walked. Mound visit. Settle down, kid. Next pitch, VanMeter steals third. Next pitch, Votto steals second. And neither of those was necessary either because Eugenio Suarez draws a third walk, the first time the Reds' first three batters of a game walked since Reggie Sanders, Barry Larkin, and Jeffrey Hammonds against the Marlins on August 28, 1998. Mound visit. Sac fly. A fourth walk to reload the bases (those mound visits are paying off, huh?). Another sac fly. The aforementioned Brian O'Grady draws a fifth walk. And then Justin is, well, Dunn.
So where to begin with this average-defying debut. Well, there's the up side that Dunn didn't allow a hit, thus becoming the first starter for any team to get 2 outs, give up 5 walks, but also give up 0 hits, since Pat Combs of the Phillies on June 26, 1991. No Mariners pitcher had allowed 5 walks and 3 steals in an outing of any length since Horacio Ramirez did it in Baltimore on August 9, 2007. Then there's the matter of it being Dunn's MLB debut. The last pitcher to issue 5 walks and allow 3 steals in his debut, in any number of innings, was Zack Wheeler for the Mets in 2013. He seems to have turned out okay. And the last pitcher to give up 5 walks while getting 2 outs in his debut (forget the steals) was Brooklyn's Frank Wurm on September 4, 1944. Wurm remains one of just a few pitchers with a career ERA over 100; having fought in the Mediterranean during 1943 and '44, he suffered badly from what we today would call PTSD and never pitched in the majors again.
I'll Try The Shrimp
Kyle Lewis, meanwhile, is going to interrupt us one more time on Sunday by, yes, homering again. Now he did go two games without a dinger, so we don't have any four-straight streaks to worry about. But he is the first-ever Mariner to have 4 homers in his first 6 MLB games, a feat also done by Yordan Alvarez of the Astros earlier this year. The only Mariners to have 3 homers in their first 6 games are Jose Cruz, the aforementioned Alvin Davis, and Bucky Jacobson.
And the Mariners couldn't help but provide an interesting end to our week of interesting September games by overcoming an 8-run White Sox outburst in the 5th to walk off with an 11-10 win (never leave early!). And they did it via "shrimp" (game-winning base on balls), no less, after rallying for 5 runs in the 8th. The last time the White Sox had an 8-run inning in any game and lost was July 18, 1998, against Cleveland. Welington Castillo provided a grand slam for half of those 8, the third one the Sox have hit at the current Mariners stadium. Tyler Flowers in 2011 and Danny Richar in 2007 had the others. Castillo also became the first Sox batter with 5 RBI in a loss-- anywhere-- since Josh Fields in a home game with the Mariners on August 11, 2007. The White Sox had gone the longest of any team without having a player pull that off, an "honor" which now passes to the Angels (2009).
Although only one of his walks would be part of that 8th-inning comeback, Hector Santiago left his mark as the first White Sox reliever to issue six free passes in a game since Scott Ruffcorn did it in Boston on April 28, 1995. And thus it's only appropriate that the game ends on a walk as well, to Tom Murphy scoring Braden Bishop. The Mariners' last true "walk-off" (we covered the grammar behind this last week) was also against the White Sox, and it was more than 15 years ago! Billy Koch walked Jolbert Cabrera to force home Willie Bloomquist for a 5-4 win. The Mariners had gone the longest of any team without one of these, this time by over 4 years. And that honor now passes to the Angels as well.
Bottom Of The Bag
⚾ Ryan Braun, Sunday: Second known grand slam in Brewers history when team was down to its final strike (there is one in 1973 we can't prove either way). Jose Valentin hit the other against the Blue Jays on June 21, 1995.
⚾ Oscar Mercado, Saturday: First Clevelander to collect 5 hits in a doubleheader and have the Indians lose both games since Manny Ramirez against Anaheim, July 28, 1997.
⚾ Rangers, Wednesday: First team to pick off 4 baserunners in the same game since the Blue Jays did it against Oakland on May 25, 1977.
⚾ Nico Hoerner, Monday: Joined Pat Borders (1988 Jays), Dee Fondy (1951 Cubs), and Roy Weatherly (1936 Indians) as only players to record 3 hits, a triple, and 4 RBI in their major-league debuts.
⚾ Jack Flaherty, Saturday: First Cardinals pitcher to strike out 10 and lose in a home game since Woody Williams against the Reds on August 18, 2004.
⚾ Kris Bryant & Jason Hewyard, Tuesday: First Cubs teammates to each hit 2 homers in a road loss since Randy Jackson, Dee Fondy, and Ernie Banks all did it in a 14-inning game in St Louis on April 16, 1955.
⚾ Giants, Friday: First 1-0 win against the Marlins at home since Barry Bonds hit a 4th-inning homer on June 17, 1996.
⚾ Trent Thornton, Wednesday: First "reliever" to throw 5+ hitless innings, strike out 7+, and get a win since Cincinnati's Mel Queen on April 22, 1967.
⚾ Peter Lambert, Saturday: First Rockies starter to allow 5+ runs, strike out 0, and get a win since Denny Stark against the Expos on August 22, 2002.
⚾ Athletics, Thursday: First 9-inning game where they struck out 17 times and won since a 4-3 win at Tampa Bay on September 12, 1999-- two decades earlier to the day.
⚾ Cal Quantrill, Monday: Became first pitcher (any team) to give up 8+ runs in three straight starts since Albie Lopez of the Rays in June 2001.
⚾ Paul Goldschmidt, Friday: First Cardinals batter with a grand slam and a 3-run homer in same game since Albert Pujols against Houston, April 11, 2009.
⚾ Albert Pujols, Sunday: Second-oldest player ever to homer, double, steal a base, and have 4 RBI in a game. 40-year-old Davey Lopes, then of the Cubs, did it in a return to his old stomping grounds at Dodger Stadium on July 28, 1985.
⚾ Trent Grisham, Wednesday: First leadoff homer ever hit by Brewers against the Marlins on the road (either stadium). Thanks to switching leagues 20 years, San Francisco is now the only road city where they've never hit one.
⚾ Joe Musgrove, Thursday: First Pirates pitcher to hit a triple and get the win in the same game since Salomon Torres against the Cubs on September 19, 2003.
⚾ Zach Plesac, Tuesday: Fourth SHO-4 (4-hit shutout) or better for an Indians pitcher this season. Last time the team had four such games was 1988 when Greg Swindell threw three of them.
⚾ John Hicks, Saturday: Second walkoff grand slam in Tigers history in the 12th or later. Other was only by Charlie Gehringer off Ted Lyons of the White Sox on August 4, 1930.
No comments:
Post a Comment