This week started with an epic bottom-of-the-9th comeback and then just kept piling on. We gathered up a lot of instances where teams fell behind early and then either fought back to win via walkoff, or else had their one big inning and then had to just try to stay in the lead until the end. For some it worked. Some it didn't. And a few were never destined to have a chance.
Suzuki Swift
You can probably guess which game we're going to start with. That would be the one between the Mets and Nationals on Tuesday, which was a fairly ho-hum 5-2 affair in the 8th, we're coming off a three-day weekend, today was the first day of school, maybe we'll just leave early. Never leave early.
Anthony Rendon beat out an infield single to start the Nationals' half of the 8th, and then Juan Soto smacks Jacob deGrom's 100th pitch of the game over the wall to make it 5-4 and knock deGrom off the mound. Seth Lugo gets the next three batters to keep things at 5-4, and then the Mets go on a spree of their own. Brandon Nimmo finds his fourth home run of the season to start the 9th, making him the fifth player in Mets history with a homer, a sac fly, and a stolen base in the same game (Carlos Beltran, Howard Johnson, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Randle). Matt Adams drops a foul fly ball that seems harmless at the time, but that eventually allows Todd Frazier to walk, and after the next two batters make outs, the inning should have been over at 6-4. But nope, Jeff McNeil, 2-run single and then Pete Alonso extends his Mets home-run record by clobbering number 44 to make it 10-4 with those last four runs all unearned. Okay, now we can leave early. Never leave early.
The 9th starts with Paul Sewald on the mound, a 6-run lead, and another infield single. And then the doors blow off. Trea Turner, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Anthony Rendon connect for three straight hits to make it 10-6 and knock Sewald out. But we still have those 4 unearned runs from last inning to overcome. The Mets now attempt to play lefty/righty games by bringing in Luis Avilan to throw four pitches and give up another hit. That loads the bases and brings the tying run to the plate in the form of pinch-hitter Ryan Zimmerman against Edwin Diaz. What could go wrong.
Well, the good news is, it's not a tying grand slam. It is, however, a double to make it 10-8, the first pinch-hit, bases-loaded double in the 9th inning in Nationals history. And the two the Expos hit in their 36 years didn't really matter because they were already ahead at the time. That also closes the book on Sewald, who has his third career outing of giving up 4+ runs while getting 1 out. The only other Mets to pull that off three times are Roger McDowell, Raul Valdes, and-- oh, look-- Edwin Diaz. Who is still out there, now with the winning run at the plate in the form of Kurt Suzuki. And now you know the ending. Three-run homer to complete the biggest 9th-inning comeback in franchise history, 11-10. The last time the team scored 7 runs in the 9th inning, was in a game where they didn't need to; they were already up 12-9 on April 11, 1993, in the third MLB game ever played in Denver.
The last time the Mets scored 5 runs in the 9th and lost was also against the Nationals. That was September 25, 2007, at Shea, when they trailed 10-3, Moises Alou and Jose Reyes each had 3-run hits, but they stranded the tying run at third and lost 10-9. The Mets hadn't scored 10 total in any game and lost since May 3, 2014, at Colorado, also on a walkoff homer (by Charlie Culberson). And the last MLB game to see 12 combined runs in the 9th inning was between the Twins and White Sox on September 7, 2007. They entered the 9th tied, traded 6's (!), and the Sox eventually walked off in extras. Never leave early.
Mission Control, Come Back?
The Astros sent Wade Miley out to the mound on Thursday night but may have forgotten to tell him that batting practice was over and he's pitching to the other team now. Because the Mariners open double, single, double, homer, single, walk, and most of that is just the time required to rouse Cy Sneed from his lair (seriously, doesn't that sound like a villain's name from some old cartoon?) and convince him to warm up in the 1st inning. Miley joined the dubious club of five Astros starters ever to give up 5 runs while getting 0 outs; the previous was Jim Clancy in Cincinnati on August 3, 1989. (Larry Dierker, Dave Roberts, and Ken Johnson are its other members.) And even forgetting the 5 runs, Miley is the first Astros starter to not record an out since Scott Elarton at Kansas City on July 8, 2001. The teams had played a beanball game earlier in the season, warnings had been issued in the top of the 1st, and then Elarton hit leadoff batter Rey Sanchez and got ejected. (Along with by-now-the-manager Larry Dierker, how's that for synergy?) Back at Minute Maid, the Mariners tacked on 2 more against Sneed in the 2nd to go up 7-0, and while it's still early, you like your chances at this point.
But what's the old saying?, just chip away, a little at a time. Which is exactly what the Astros did, scoring on a double and a wild pitch in the 2nd, another double in the 3rd, solo homers by Kyle Tucker and Josh Reddick in the 6th, and a 2-run triple by Jose Altuve in the 8th. When Michael Brantley's sac fly then brought Altuve home, the Astros had come all the way back to 8-8 and off we go to extra innings. That also got Miley off the hook, the first starter for any team to get 0 outs, give up 5 runs, and NOT lose since Tomo Ohka, then of the Expos, in a 15-8 slugfest on April 17, 2002.
That Mariners homer way back in the 1st inning was hit by Kyle Seager, so it's totally appropriate that he should re-give them the lead with another one... in the top of the 12th. He's the first player in Mariners history to homer 11 innings apart in the same game, and joins Robinson Cano as the only Mariners to hit multiple extra-inning homers in Houston (his other was in July 2017). And he joins Mark Trumbo and Nelson Cruz, both in 2015, as the only Mariners with multiple homers in a loss at Minute Maid Park.
Wait, "loss"? Mm-hmm. Because having come back from 7-0, 9-8 was nothing. That just involved a walk, a groundout, and pinch-runner Myles Straw beating a potential game-ending play at the plate. Josh James, who gave up Seager's homer in the 12th, struck out the side in the 13th, and then Michael Brantley completes the comeback with a 2-run walkoff homer. James became the first reliever in Astros history to give up an extra-inning homer but also strike out 5 and get a win, and the first pitcher ever to win his first 7 decisions of a career and have them all be with the Astros. Brantley's homer was, by inning, the sixth-latest in Astros history, although it's gonna be hard to top the current record-holder.
For Seattle it was the first time they'd scored 5+ runs in the 1st inning and lost since Texas handed them a 13-12 walkoff on May 12, 2008. And Austin Nola collected 3 extra-base hits and 5 RBIs, which we mention not only because he's the fifth Mariner to do that in a loss, but because of a connection to one of the others. The rest of that list is David Segui (1998), Tino Martinez (1995), Ken Griffey Jr (1994)... and Mickey Brantley (1987). And it was, of course, Mickey's son who hit Thursday's walkoff to make the game a Mariners loss and add Nola to the list.
Gone Fishing, Back Later
There was slightly less drama in the Marlins' comeback on Thursday, but they decided to at least make the series finale in Pittsburgh interesting by giving up 5 runs in the 1st and challenging themselves to come back. The Pirates also had a 5-run 1st on the previous Thursday, the first time in at least 25 years they've done it twice in 8 days. (Our "big innings" spreadsheet currently goes back to 1993.)
This time, however, the Marlins would make their big comeback in the 5th, and with some help from the other team. Jon Berti led off with a double off the glove of Josh Bell, and would score on a groundout that left runners at the corners. Jorge Alfaro dropped a little nubber back to the mound for a single to load the bases, Isan Diaz singled home 2 runs to tie the game, and the Marlins took the lead on a sharp grounder to third that ended up getting charged as two errors. They tacked on 2 more in the 6th and 8th, making Jon Berti the first Marlins leadoff batter to score 4 runs since Dee Gordon on April 10, 2015. And that 10-5 lead meant Bryan Reynolds' leadoff homer in the 9th was for naught, other than making him the first Pirates batter with 2 homers in a home loss since Jung Ho Kang on September 6, 2016.
It was the first time the Pirates scored 5 runs in the 1st inning and lost since May 18, 2006, against the Reds. And if it sounds like you've heard that note before, it's because the Mariners did the same thing on the same day in the previous section. In the past quarter-century, there's only been one other day where two teams did it-- July 8, 2014, by the Brewers and Dodgers.
Thursday's 10-7 final, apparently done in honor of the first night of the NFL season, was something the Marlins and Pirates had never played to before (either direction). But oh, Miami and Pittsburgh, surely the Dolphins have beaten the Steelers 10-7 at some point. Nope. Their NFL teams haven't done it either. And just as we were about to post that Miami and Pittsburgh had never played a 10-7 game, we remembered that both cities also have a "University of". And there we did find a lone 10-7 score-- by the Panthers over the Hurricanes on September 16, 1961.
You Say Goodbye, I Say Halo
The Angels and Athletics played a 12:30 getaway game at the Coliseum on Thursday, and day games have a tendency to be kinda bleh because nobody's really awake yet. Lot of 4-2, 7 hits, the "star of the game" went 1-for-4 with a double, nothing we get many notes out of. This one looked on track for that when Mike Trout connected for his 45th homer of the season to put the Angels up 4-1. By the time Kevan Smith homers in the 7th, it's 6-1 and we'll just limp along to a final. Or maybe we won't.
Jose Suarez, now starting his sixth inning after being designated the "successor" (we heard Oakland radio use this term earlier in the year for the guy who follows the "opener" and we kinda like it), gives up a 2-run homer to Josh Phegley which makes it 6-3 and ends his afternoon. Ty Buttrey gets summoned and, well, he doesn't seem completely awake either. Single by Marcus Semien and then four straight walks, requiring 27 pitches, to get the A's within 6-5. Fernando Rodney, against Minnesota on September 2, 2011, was the last Angels pitcher to issue back-to-back bases-loaded walks. Two batters later, Robbie Grossman triples home the remaining runners to complete a 7-run 7th and leave Oakland on top 8-6. It was the team's first go-ahead pinch-hit triple since Rajai Davis hit a walkoff against the Rangers on August 3, 2009, and it closed the line on Buttrey-- who also had a game last September where he faced four batters and all of them scored. The only other pitchers in Angels history to do that twice are Mark Petkovsek and Scot Shields. The A's hadn't scored 7+ in a home inning numbered 7 or higher since an 8-2 win over the Rays on August 23, 2015.
Meanwhile, on Friday, the Angels get to go to Chicago and mount their own, albeit slightly smaller, comeback. They succeeded in getting Lucas Giolito out of the game after 7 innings, 103 pitches, and a Shohei Ohtani triple to get within 4-2. Ohtani had also doubled back in the 2nd and was the first Angels batter ever to do both in the same game at the current White Sox stadium (now in its 30th season). The last to do it at the old place across 35th Street was Jack Howell on June 11, 1986.
Aaron Bummer is now on the mound in the 8th, and that's a rough name to have as a pitcher. Especially when you walk Taylor Ward and then Brian Goodwin cranks a game-tying homer to get you a blown save. That turns out to be the first game-tying (not go-ahead) multi-run homer the Angels have ever hit in the 8th or later in Chicago (including Wrigley); their only others at the current park were by Josh Hamilton in 2014 and J.T. Snow in 1995, but both of those were solo shots. The final blow would come against Alex Colome in the 9th, who might have wanted one more warmup pitch before that clock ran out. Because his very first offering, to Justin Upton, ended up in the bleachers in left for a 5-4 Angels lead. Brandon Wood (2008), Greg Myers (1995), and Chili Davis (1994) are the other Angels to hit go-ahead homers in the 9th at the current park. Meanwhile Hansel Robles retired the last six White Sox batters on just 21 pitches, becoming the first Angels pitcher to finish a game with 2+ perfect innings and get the win since Matt Shoemaker was pressed into service in a 19-inning game with the Red Sox on August 9, 2014.
The Way The Cookie Crumbles
Speaking of the White Sox, they trailed 5-2 in Cleveland after seven innings on Tuesday. Ah, but that's why we play nine (well, that, and so that you spend money on beer for another 45 minutes). After Mike Clevinger allowed just 2 hits in those first seven frames, Carlos Carrasco-- still working his way back from a leukemia diagnosis in June-- was sent to the mound for the 8th. James McCann and Eloy Jimenez, whom we're sure share the same sympathies as the Rays did in his return last Sunday, did not share the same sympathy for his pitches, cranking two of them out of Progressive Field to tie the game and then take a 6-5 lead, saddling Cookie with the loss. McCann's shot was the first tying 3- or 4-run homer for the White Sox in the 8th or later since Melky Cabrera hit one against the Tigers on May 6, 2015. Jimenez had also homered in the 7th for Chicago's second run, which tied the game before Cleveland scored 3 in their half. He's the first Sox batter with a tying homer and a go-ahead homer, both in the 7th or later, since Tyler Flowers forced extras and then walked off against the Athletics on September 8, 2014.
More Fish Tales
And while it was only 4-3 in the 9th in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, the Marlins got a 2-out homer from Miguel Rojas to force extra innings, their first tying homer when down to their final out since Derek Dietrich went deep off the Padres' Craig Kimbrel on July 31, 2015. An inning later, with Parker Markel now on the mound, Garrett Cooper went yard for the 5-4 lead which held up as the final score. That was the first extra-inning homer the Marlins had ever hit against the Pirates, home or road; Pittsburgh was the only National League team (including Houston) against whom the Marlins had never hit one. Tuesday was also just the Marlins' second extra-inning win at PNC Park; the other was during their first-ever series there, on May 30, 2001.
Stay (I Missed You)
While plenty of teams came back this week, there were also a few who made the most of one scoring chance and then just sat on it and somehow made it hold up for a win.
Jack Flaherty of the Cardinals gave us another no-hitter scare on Tuesday by holding the Giants without one until Mike Yastrzemski singled in the 6th. Turns out that was on the 18th anniversary of the Cardinals' last completed no-hitter, by Bud Smith on September 3, 2001. That would be the only hit Flaherty allowed, and Marcell Ozuna, apparently sensing that the Cardinals needed to score themselves to win the game, hit a solo homer in B6 right after Yaz's single. Yaz did single again in the 9th when Carlos Martinez was brought on for the save, but that's all she wrote, folks. 1-0 on Ozuna's homer, with the Giants collecting only 2 hits and both of them by the same batter. Ozuna was the first Cardinals batter whose solo homer stood up for a 1-0 win since Matt Holliday at Wrigley on July 27, 2014; only the Yankees and Diamondbacks had gone longer without it happening. The Cards hadn't beaten the Giants in any 1-0 game since Ray Lankford had an RBI double in the 6th on September 10, 1996. And the Giants hadn't been held to 2 hits in a game in St Louis since John Fulgham shut them out on August 17, 1979.
1-Gallen Ketel
Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks promptly sent us on another no-hitter scare on Wednesday, this one slightly unique in that he still allowed 4 baserunners through 6 innings. As one of the radio broadcasts put it, there's the old trivia question about how many ways you can reach first base, and the Padres were checking them off-- hit by a pitch, walk, error, wild pitch, they just don't have a hit yet. Manny Machado finally took care of that with a 1-out single in the 7th, although that did make the Diamondbacks the only team this season to take three no-hitters into the 7th.
The other issue is that the D'backs hadn't scored either, so similar to Justin Verlander last Sunday, even if the no-hitter had continued, the Arizona offense still needed to do something. Ketel Marte, apparently aware of this, came to bat in the bottom of the 7th with the bases loaded by two walks and an infield single. And none of those runners was there when he was done, because Marte launched his 30th homer of the year, and second grand slam, for a 4-0 lead. Wil Myers would break up the shutout with a solo homer in the 9th, but Marte's slam was just the second one in D'backs history to account for every run the team scored in a game. J.D. Martinez did it in St Louis on July 27, 2017. And Marte is the first player in team history to have 4+ RBI, in any form, that accounted for every D'backs run in a home victory.
Lucky Seventh
The Dodgers' offense is going to come up again later, but let's just say it took a well-deserved break for a few innings on Tuesday. Finally Chi Chi Gonzalez met some trouble in the 7th with a single and a walk, and then Russell Martin flipped the lead off reliever Bryan Shaw. Max Muncy and Chris Taylor also hit lead-flipping homers in the 7th or later in June; it's the Dodgers' first season ever with three against the Rockies. Two pitches later, David Freese would make it 4-2 with the team's fourth pinch-hit homer against Colorado this season. That's also the most of those ever against the Rockies, and the Dodgers' most in one season against any team since the 2004 Diamondbacks. Shaw, for his part, gave up 2 homers, got 1 out, blew the save, and took the loss, the first Rockies pitcher to pull that off since Shawn Chacon against the Cubs on August 4, 2004.
One Singular Sensation
The Giants famously opened the 2018 season with a pair of 1-0 wins against the Dodgers, both of them on home runs by Joe Panik. However, those were in the 5th and 9th innings respectively. When you get a leadoff single from Mike Yastrzemski (or anybody else), you don't really expect that to end up being the game-winner. Clearly Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner didn't expect that when Kevin Pillar rolled a grounder to him with the bases loaded, and he took the easy out at first instead of trying to throw home. I mean, it's the 1st inning, right?
Funny how this game works. Because the Dodgers loaded the bases in the 2nd and 5th and didn't score. The Giants had 5 walks and a single over the next six frames but never connected them for another run. And when Enrique Hernandez grounds into a double play in the bottom of the 9th, the Giants have secured a 1-0 victory on that innocent-looking groundout in the 1st inning. It was the first time the Giants won a 1-0 game, with the run coming in the 1st, since August 30, 2013, in Arizona. But it's the first time they did it against the Dodgers since June 27, 1916! Leadoff batter George Burns (not the actor) drew a walk, went first to third on a single, and then scored on what we would today call a sacrifice fly. The "SF" stat didn't officially exist until 1954, so 103 years ago, we just reported that Burns "trotted home unmolested". All righty then.
The "title track", as it were, to our post was one of two that immediately came to mind when pondering comebacks. The other is the next section header, so after you're done with this little '80s throwback, be sure to return and keep going. Will you ever return? Intermission!.
Don't Call It A Comeback
Well, sometimes it ends a big comeback, as in our previous examples, but sometimes it's just called your standard "walkoff". Or "walk-off". Let us turn once again to the Mets to explain the difference.
"Walkoff", in the sense of game-ending, has become so commonly used that it doesn't really need the hyphen, very similar to its game-starting counterpart, the "leadoff" home run or whatever. However, we like to make up words by appending the "-off" part to whatever the play is, creating things like a sac-fly-off, a steal-off, a plunk-off (hit by pitch), and so forth. So to us a "walkoff" is any game-winning play, but a "walk-off" is a game-ending base on balls. Which you may also know as "shrimp".
Now that you've sat through your Grammarly ad for the hour (actually, probably about the seventh if you've clicked all the links), we'll get back to the Mets. For whom, if we said Pete Alonso had a walkoff, you certainly wouldn't expect it to be a walk-off. But locked in a 2-2 battle with the Phillies on Friday, Alonso did have a go-ahead single in the 8th, with another base knock by Wilson Ramos behind him to put the Mets up 4-2. And surely last year's saves leader, Edwin Diaz, can get three-- okay, never mind. Jean Segura, already the second Phillies leadoff batter with a multi-double game at Citi Field (Odubel Herrera, April 15, 2015), singles to right and then J.T. Realmuto hits the Phils' first-ever game-tying homer at Citi Field. (They hit four at Shea-- Pat Burrell twice, Tim McCarver, and Don Money.)
This time, however, the Mets avoided another epic collapse when Juan Lagares and J.D. Davis both roped 2-out singles in the bottom of the 9th. Nick Vincent needs only retire one batter to send the game to extras, and-- yeah. Jeff McNeil, hit by a 2-strike pitch to load the bases. And then Alonso draws the 6-pitch walk to win it. Vincent is the first Phillies pitcher to face multiple batters, get nobody out, get walked off, but escape being the losing pitcher (because it was an inherited run that scored), since Billy Brewer at Cincinnati on August 13, 1999. And Alonso gets the Mets' first walk-off since Carlos Beltran against the Braves on May 12, 2009 (scoring Jose Reyes). The Mets had never had one against the Phillies, and the only teams in the majors to go longer without doing it are the Angels and Mariners.
Hangin' With Mr. Cooper
After that Garrett Cooper extra-inning homer on Tuesday, the Pirates weren't going to get burned again on Wednesday. Well, at least not in the same way. Cooper did become the Marlins' first cleanup batter ever to have a 3-hit, 3-RBI game at PNC Park; the only ones to do it at Three Rivers were Jeff Conine and Gary Sheffield. And Cooper did have a 2-run homer in the 7th to put the Fish out in front 4-2. After perfect innings by Adam Conley and Ryne Stanek, let's send out usually-a-starter Jose Ureña to close this thing out.
Well, he did close it out. By giving up a leadoff homer to Elias Diaz, a walk, a double, and then a two-run single to Bryan Reynolds for the 5-4 walkoff. Pittsburgh's last walkoff single when trailing (which thus must be of the multi-run variety) was by Freddy Sanchez off the Cubs' Ryan Dempster on August 30, 2006. Exactly 15 months earlier, Sanchez had another walkoff single, one of (now) five the Marlins have ever hit against the Pirates. The others were by Jeff King (1996), Al Martin (1995), and the previous one by Russell Martin on August 8, 2013.
Ureña is only the fifth pitcher in Marlins history to get 0 outs, give up 3 runs, blow a save, and get walked off-- a list that includes Steve Cishek (2014), Juan Carlos Oviedo (2009), Randy Messenger (2006), and Robb Nen (1997). And the walkoff made Starlin Castro, who collected a homer and 3 doubles, the first player in Marlins history with 4 XBH in a loss.
You Never Count Your Money When You're Sittin' At The Tabler
The Royals led Tuesday's game against the Tigers 3-2 after 7 before Detroit put together a miniature rally against Kevin McCarthy in the 8th. Christin Stewart had the third hit of the inning to tie the game and also deposit Jeimer Candelario on third; he then scored the go-ahead run on a sac fly. Not to be outdone, the Royals flipped it back in B8 with a single, a walk, a double steal, Alex Gordon's tying single, and Gregory Soto wild-pitching in the go-ahead run to make it 5-4. The Royals send out Ian Kennedy for the save in the 9th; he gives up back-to-back singles to start the inning before Ronny Rodriguez drives in the tying run and has the go-ahead run thrown out at the plate to end the inning. That leaves us tied 5-5 heading to the bottom of the 9th.
Hey Zac Reininger, don't give up a walkoff homer, okay? Mmm, yeah. Ryan O'Hearn on the third pitch of the inning, and the Royals have their first walkoff homer of the year, and their first against the Tigers since Ken Harvey on April 18, 2003. Did we mention O'Hearn was pinch-hitting as well? There's only been one other pinch-hit walkoff homer in Royals history; it was hit by Pat Tabler off Kenny Rogers of the Rangers on September 12, 1989. And the Royals' first walkoff homer of the year-- on September 3-- left us with two teams (the Reds and Mariners) who still don't have one in 2019.
Seeing Reds
Welp, that lasted two days. In Thursday's matinee with the Phillies, the Reds dropped back-to-back homers by Jose Iglesias and Eugenio Suarez in the 6th for a 3-1 lead, only to see J.T. Realmuto tie things up in the 8th with a longball of his own. Realmuto had already tripled earlier in the game, joining Jimmy Rollins (September 25, 2005) as the only Phillies batters ever to do both in the same game at Great American Ball Park. By the time we finally got around to the bottom of the 11th, Phil Ervin must have remembered that little nugget about the Reds not having a walkoff homer yet. After swinging and missing at the first pitch from Nick Vincent-- the NINTH hurler of the game for the Phillies (please make it stop)-- he didn't miss the second one, plopping it in front of the smokestacks in right-center for a 4-3 win. The Reds' last extra-inning walkoff against the Phillies was a single by Brandon Phillips against Tom Gordon on April 20, 2007. But their last walkoff extra-inning homer to beat Philadelphia? That's only Pete Rose in the 12th inning on August 9, 1969. And while we're name-dropping, Realmuto may be the first Phillies batter to homer and triple in Cincinnati since Jimmy Rollins in 2005... but the walkoff made him the first to do it in a loss there since Mike Schmidt at Riverfront on July 9, 1975.
By the way, in Monday's opener of that Phillies-Reds series, there was no comeback, no extra innings, but the Phillies piled up 7 runs on only 6 hits, mainly because 4 of them were homers. (AND they played the game in 2:40; we continue to believe in the correlation between LOB and time of game.) The last time the Phils did a 7-on-6 in Cincinnati wasn't at GABP. It wasn't at Riverfront. It wasn't technically even at Crosley because Crosley wasn't called that yet. At "Redland Field" on July 6, 1918, the Phillies managed to draw 14 walks against only 4 hits, score 9 runs in the top of the 9th, and still lose by 1. It's a game that remains the only known "9-4-2" linescore in major-league history.
Upgrading to 16:9
Every so often there's a game that doesn't quite fit our theme, but it's so wild that we can't not include it. It would have taken an incredible 10-run comeback from the Rockies to beat the Dodgers on Monday, but then again, they actually have done that before. Several times. No, really, several times.
If you needed any indication that home runs have defied statistical explanation this year, just ask 58 seasons of Dodger Stadium history. Trevor Story began the game with a leadoff homer, joining Dexter Fowler and both Eric Youngs (Sr in 1996 and Jr in 2012) as the only Rockies to hit them there. But when Joc Pederson also started the Dodgers' half of the 1st with a homer, the stadium saw its third game this season where both teams hit a leadoff dinger. How many times had that happened in its first 57 seasons? Yeah, that would be none. Pederson's homer was his 13th leadoff tater at Dodger Stadium, tied with Rafael Furcal and trailing only Davey Lopes (16).
This one would end up being 10-4 by the 4th inning, with Peter Lambert becoming the first Rockies starter to give up 6 runs at Dodger Stadium while getting less than 6 outs. The Rockies did get as close as 10-6 in the 5th, knocking Walker Buehler out of the game, but he did finish the required 5 innings and became eligible for (and later got) the win despite allowing 6 runs of his own. Only two other Dodgers had ever done that in a home game at Chavez Ravine, Rick Rhoden against the Braves in 1977 and Don Suttion against the Giants the previous year.
Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor yanked Jake McGee for homers in the 7th to make the score 16-6, matching the Dodgers' season high for homers in a game. They also hit seven on Opening Day against Arizona, and are just the fifth team in MLB history to have a pair of 7-HR games at home in the season. The others are the 2017 Nationals, 2008 Reds, 2005 Rangers, and 1939 Giants. Taylor's homer was his second of the game, which Pederson had also done several innings ago; they became the first Dodgers teammates ever to have 3 hits including 2 homers in the same game in Los Angeles. The last pair to do it at Ebbets Field was "only" Duke Snider and Gil Hodges against the Phillies on June 29, 1956. Pederson would also end the game with 3 runs scored and 5 driven in; only one other leadoff batter in Dodgers history had pulled that off-- Tommy Brown against the Cubs on September 18, 1950.
The Rockies did "rally" for 3 more runs, including solo homers from Ryan McMahon and pitcher (yeah, that's right, we said "pitcher") Ian Desmond in the 9th. Mike Hampton in 2004 and Marvin Freeman in 1994 are the only other Rockies to homer at Dodger Stadium while in the game as the pitcher. And despite the loss, Charlie Blackmon and Daniel Murphy became the first teammates in Rockies history to each have 3 doubles in the same game.
As for that 16-9 final, it hadn't happened in the majors since the Cubs beat the Red Sox at Fenway on July 2, 2014. The Rockies had seen it just one other time, against the Marlins on August 5, 1996. And the Dodgers hadn't won a game by the exact score of 16-9 since September 9, 1955, at Wrigley Field.
Twenty-One
And speaking of "games we've gotta talk about", there's a record that you'll find in most books of same called "Largest Deficit Overcome To Win Game", or some variation thereon. It's currently 12, last done by the Indians against the Mariners in 2001. In the National League it's 11. The odds of it reaching 20 anytime soon are, let's say, small. And on Sunday they remained at zero, even if the Mariners did have dreams of redeeming that Cleveland game from 18 years ago. (Remember, that's the year they set the wins record. Could've had 117.)
Felix Hernandez had a start in August 2015 that's always stuck out as that one disaster game; he gave up 12 hits and 10 runs to the Red Sox while getting just 7 outs. The Mariners went on to lose that one 22-10. And while he did give up 11 runs once last year, that was over 6 innings and "only" 7 of them were earned. This 22-10 game comes up a LOT in Felix-related searches. But now it might have a friend. The Astros collected 4 unearned runs in the 2nd after a 2-out error by Dee Gordon and a homer by Jake Marisnick. Still within reach. But then off to the 3rd where Felix faces seven batters and five of them hit doubles against him. And the others didn't even make outs; they walked and got hit by a pitch. It's already 9-0 with nobody out when Erik Swanson comes to his rescue. And then all Swanson does is give up a 3-run homer to George Springer. Felix thus becomes the second starter in Mariners history to give up 11 runs and not get out of the 3rd inning. But like we said, every legendary pitcher still has that one game somewhere... because the other Mariner to do it was Randy Johnson, on April 10, 1994, in Toronto.
Meanwhile, we now have a Gerrit Cole problem. Because the Mariners didn't have a baserunner the first time through the order. And they just handed Gerrit Cole, strikeout machine extraordinaire, a thirteen- run lead to play with. Oh boy. Just what we need, an Astros no-hitter on Sunday afternoon, not like that hasn't already happened this month. So Shed Long-- who also got the first hit in Verlander's next start on Saturday-- earns our hitter of the week award for his solo homer off Cole in the 4th. And hey, that comeback record is 12, maybe there's a chance of bumping it to 13 after all. Seattle just needs, well, a lot more baserunners than they'd get. Which is zero. Cole retired 14 more Mariners in a row, collecting a total of 15 strikeouts, joining Pedro Martinez in September 1999 as the only pitchers ever to fan 14+ in three straight starts.
Meanwhile somehow the Astros can't stop doubling. Kyle Tucker for 2 more runs in the 5th. Garrett Stubbs and Yordan Alvarez for a run in the 6th. Reggie McClain, to his credit, allowed only one double in the 7th, but the four singles and two walks didn't help either. That's five more runs and our eventual final score of 21-1 after Zac Grotz finally hangs a 0 in the 8th. The Astros' 11 total doubles had only been done six other times in the live-ball era (of course, one was by Cleveland last year), and it's the fourth game in Houston's history where seven different players had one.
There have been five 21-1 games (exact score) in MLB history, the latest being just over two decades ago between the Yankees and Cleveland on July 24, 1999. The "Murderer's Row" Yankees of 1927 celebrated their independence by clubbing the Senators on July 4. The others are Philly over St Louis on September 24, 1894, and the old Louisville Colonels (#Kernels!) of the American Association over Cleveland on June 21, 1887.
The Astros had just set their record for largest victory a few weeks ago, with a 23-2 beatdown of Baltimore on August 10. They are the first team since the 2000 Athletics to score 21+ twice in a season. Yordan Alvarez had 6 RBIs in both of those games, joining Jeff Kent (2003), Vinny Castilla (2001), and Jeff Bagwell (1999) as the only Astros to do it twice in a season.
For the Mariners, it was the fourth time this season they'd been 1-hit, two of those of course being NH's. That's their most in a season in team history. It's also the sixth game in team history where they had only 1 hit and it was a homer-- but at least they won the last one of those (April 29, 2016, by Seth Smith against the Royals). By comparison, the Astros' 11 doubles on Sunday were only half of their hit total; the last game in the majors where one team out-hit the other by 21 or more was on August 2, 2010, between the Brewers (18 on 26) and the Cubs (1 on 4). And, as you might expect, the 20-run deficit was the worst loss in Mariners history, topping a 20-3 decision against Detroit on April 17, 1993.
Hey, they can't all be Cinderella stories. Which is why we also have...
Bottom Of The Bag
⚾ Tyler Flowers, Friday: Had 2 walks, a sac fly, and a hit-by-pitch, resulting in the rare "complete game 0-for-0". Last Braves batter with one was Chipper Jones (4 walks) against the Cardinals on April 28, 2009.
⚾ Steven Brault, Saturday: Recorded the second #Kernels pitching trifecta of the season (hit batter, wild pitch, balk), joining Brad Keller on April 29. Last Pirates pitcher to do it was Charlie Morton on August 30, 2011.
⚾ Twins, Thursday: First game where they had 2 or fewer hits, no extra-base hits, and still won, since September 30, 1962, against Orioles (1-0).
⚾ Kolten Wong, Monday: Third straight game with a triple, becoming first Cardinals batter to do that since Luis Alicea from May 10-12, 1992.
⚾ Logan Morrison & Jay Bruce, Wednesday: First game where Phillies had multiple pinch-hit homers since Rip Repulski & Bob Bowman hit them against the Pirates on August 13, 1958.
⚾ Christian Yelich, Saturday: Second Brewers player ever to hit a walkoff double against the Cubs. Geoff Jenkins off Rod Beck, April 17, 1999.
⚾ Athletics, Friday: First time winning the completion of a suspended game since August 11, 1972, against the White Sox (ah, the old AL curfew rule).
⚾ Ronald Acuña, Tuesday: First Braves batter to triple on the first pitch the team saw in a game since Marquis Grissom vs Pirates, August 17, 1996.
⚾ Evan Longoria, Sunday: First Giants cleanup batter with a 4-strikeout game since Jeff Kent vs Houston, April 14, 1999.
⚾ Joc Pederson, Wednesday: Fourth game this year with multiple homers including a leadoff. Only other player in MLB history with four such games in a season is Cleveland's Grady Sizemore in 2008.
⚾ Cal Quantrill, Monday: Became second pitcher in Padres history to give up 8+ earned runs in consecutive outings. Other was Dewon Brazelton in April 2006.
⚾ Reynaldo Lopez, Thursday: First White Sox pitcher to throw a complete-game 1-hitter, allow a run, and get the win since Jack McDowell at Milwaukee, July 14, 1991.
⚾ Jack Flaherty, Tue-Sun: Second Cardinals pitcher in last 50 years to throw 8+ scoreless innings with 8+ strikeouts in back-to-back games. Adam Wainwright did it in May 2014 (before that, of course, Bob Gibson 1968).
⚾ A.J. Pollock, Friday: Third Dodgers batter ever with a 3-homer game against the Giants, joining Kevin Elster (2000) and Don Demeter (1959).
⚾ Paul Fry, Tuesday: Second pitcher in Orioles history to record 0 outs in three straight appearances. Tippy Martinez needed 9 days to do it in 1978.
⚾ J.D. Martinez, Saturday: First Red Sox batter whose homer broke up a shutout of 5-0 or worse against the Yankees, when down to team's final out, since Bernie Carbo off Doc Medich, April 18, 1974.
⚾ Paul Goldscmidt & Tommy Edman, Wednesday: First Cardinals teammates to each triple and double in a loss since Ken Oberkfell & Willie McGee at Philadelphia, June 9, 1983.
⚾ Michael Lorenzen, Sunday: First Reds pitcher to hit a walkoff anything as a pinch hitter since Joe Nuxhall against the Phillies on July 31, 1957.
⚾ Rowdy Tellez, Monday: Second Blue Jays pinch hitter ever to homer against the Braves. The other was only Ed Sprague's lead-flipper in Game 2 of the 1992 World Series.
No comments:
Post a Comment