Pitch Imperfect

Everybody has rough days. Even baseball players. We normally don't spend a lot of time dwelling on the bad outings, because why rub it in. Most weeks we celebrate the big offensive performances, the walkoffs, the marathon games. But hey, you bunch of pitchers, many of whom are legitimate major-league stars, um, what in the heck was that?


Every Rose Has Its Thor

You're probably aware that Noah Syndergaard of the Mets has embraced the nickname "Thor", after the Norse god of thunder and lightning (and of oak trees for some weird reason), and acquired after he posted a photo of himself weightlifting while dressed as the Marvel character. You may also remember that Thor's previous start was cut short by one of those thunderstorms, which knocked him out of the game in the 6th inning after a 2½-hour rain delay. Could've used one of those on Wednesday. Actually, no, it wouldn't have mattered. Because not only did he not make it to the 6th, he didn't make it to the 4th.

It began to unravel in the 1st inning when Amed Rosario attemped to start an inning-double play and fired the ball into right field. That was followed by four straight hits, including an Addison Russell 2-run double, an Ian Happ 2-run homer, and the Cubs' first 6-run 1st inning in a road game since May 24, 2016, in St Louis. They hadn't done it in Queens since pounding Anthony Young to a 9-2 defeat on June 25, 1992.

But this is Thor. The god of thunder (and oak trees). Even gods can have one bad inning (insert picture of a goofy-looking animal like the duck-billed platypus here). Kyle Schwarber, 2-run homer in the 2nd. Nick Castellanos, 2-run homer in the 3rd. That made the Cubs the first visiting team ever to homer in each of the first 3 innings at Citi Field. (The Mets have done it twice.) And yeah, it might be time to put our superpowers to rest for the night. No Mets starter had given up 10 runs in any outing since Johan Santana at Philadelphia on May 2, 2010. None had done it at home since Bobby J. Jones against the Braves on June 25, 1997.

And the amazin' part? No Mets starter, in their 58 seasons, had ever given up 10+ runs while getting no more than 9 outs. And-- even including the expansion franchises that are less than half their age-- the Mets were the only one of the current 30 teams to never have a starter do that. Feel the thunder.

Even better, while the Cubs were busy blasting Syndergaard, their starter, Kyle Hendricks, wasn't exactly having a bang-up night either. It took until that famous third time around the order, but Jeff McNeil and J.D. Davis hit back-to-back homers in the 5th, and Hendricks gave up three more runners after that to get the Mets back to within 10-6. If he had been able to get the final out of the 5th, he would have gotten the win (don't get us started on this rule). But he at least didn't eat the loss despite giving up 6 earned runs and 2 homers. The last Cubs starter to do that on the road was Carlos Zambrano in Pittsburgh on September 19, 2003.


Gio-Locating

In the one division that's still fairly competitive as we head into September, the Cardinals visited the Brewers to start the week, and Milwaukee countered with Gio Gonzalez in the series opener. Oof. They might have been able to come back from the 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs in the 1st, but 3 hits, a walk, a bases-loaded double by Marcell Ozuna, an error by Mike Moustakas, and yet another bases-loaded double finally put Gio on the hook for 9 runs on 9 hits (okay, yeah, "only" 7 were earned, but still). Only one other Brewers pitcher had done that in a home game in the past 9 years: Jimmy Nelson against the Reds on August 11, 2017. The Cardinals cruised to a 12-2 win, their first time scoring a dozen runs at Miller Park since a 12-4 win on August 14, 2007.

The Brewers then headed down I-94 to Wrigley Field for the weekend, and despite shutting out the Cubs on both Saturday and Sunday, Chase Anderson got the start in Friday's series opener. After giving up a 2-run homer to Nick Castellanos in the 1st, the real nail was when the Cubs batted their way around and Castellanos faced Anderson again in the 2nd. Oh, yeah, boom, another 2-run homer to lead the Cubs to a 7-1 win. No Cubs batter had cranked a multi-run homer in both the 1st and 2nd innings of the same game since Kris Bryant against the Marlins on July 4, 2015. And by the time the Brewers finally pulled him in the 5th, Anderson ended up giving up 5 runs and 5 extra-base hits. The last Brewers pitcher to do that at Wrigley? Oh, look-- that's Chase Anderson on May 21, 2017, in a 13-6 loss. He's the first pitcher in Brewers history to do it at Wrigley Field twice.

In that Sunday shutout of the Cubs, Gio Gonzalez was back, and the good news is that he didn't allow a hit. The bad news is that he walked four, needed 56 pitches to get through 3 innings, and only 22 of the 56 were strikes. That was enough for Craig Counsell to remove him before the 4th inning, giving way to the oddity of still having a no-hitter intact. As we mentioned last week, Jordan Lyles had that happen after 6 innings back on August 23; it's only the second time two Brewers pitchers have exited "no-hitters" in the same season. The other was 2017, and one of those, Chase Anderson, threw only 8 pitches before getting hurt.

So, ignoring the obvious asterisk of Sunday's start only lasting 3 innings, it's still fun that Gio gave up 9 runs in that game on Tuesday and then came back to allow 0 hits in his next game. Turns out the last pitcher to pull that off, in any number of innings, and over "continuous service" (no DL stints or minor-league send-downs or what-have-you in between), was Carl Scheib of the A's in July 1951. And Scheib only faced two batters in the second game. The last truly-legitimate time it happened was in 1937 by Bill Dietrich of the White Sox. He gave up 10 runs to Cleveland on May 29, got yanked in the 4th, and then threw a complete-game no-hitter against the Browns 3 days later.


I Get Around

Zack Greinke is certainly in the discussion of the best pitchers in recent memory. (We didn't say he's gonna win, just that someone will yell his name out.) His recent memory may want to forget Thursday's start against the Rays, a 4-hour slog that involved thirty-six baserunners, 12 walks, 18 left on, and in which at least 1 run scored in 13 of the 18 half-innings. The most recent game we found where a run scored in 13 different half-innings was between the Rockies and Mets on August 21, 2015.

Greinke did strike out eight Rays batters along the way, which is what makes the 5 runs allowed that much more interesting. Three of those came on homers by Austin Meadows and Travis d'Arnaud, the latter joining Desmond Jennings (2013) and Evan Longoria (2011) as the only Rays batters to have a 3-hit, 4-RBI game in Houston. And because of all the back-and-forth-ing, the game was tied 5-5 when Greinke left in the 6th, so he doesn't even get a decision. However, it's the 11th game of his career where he's struck out 8+ but also allowed 5+ runs. And as he's moved around over a 16-year career, those 11 games have come with six different teams. No other pitcher has ever had such a game in six different uniforms; the only one to do it with five teams was Bobo Newsom in the 1940s. (Bobo, is of course, famous for also throwing a no-hitter in his first major-league start.)

Greinke wasn't the only one posting historic numbers in that game. Rays rookie Colin Poche managed to face seven batters and walk five of them, thereby forcing 2 runs home as well. Those were only the fourth and fifth runs for Houston (which got Greinke off the hook), so he gets a blown save out of the deal also. But when the Rays scored 3 runs of their own off Chris Devenski in the 7th, they hung on to win 9-8. Poche was long gone by then, but he did become the first pitcher since saves became official in 1969 to walk 5+, record no more than 2 outs, and blow a save, in a game that his team later ended up winning.


Dodging The Question

Even the Dodgers-- a notable stop in Zack Greinke's career-- weren't immune from the pitching bug this week. They spent the weekend in Phoenix, another hitter-friendly park, especially with the roof closed. So it was that Hyun-Jin Ryu retired the first seven Diamondbacks in the opener on Thursday, but then the 4th inning happened. Hit batter. Single. Two doubles. Intentional walk to get to the pitcher's spot. Who gets pinch-hit for and Ildemaro Vargas hits another RBI single. The 5th wasn't any better, with Ryu giving up 4 singles around a 2-run double by Adam Jones before departing with the Dodgers down 7-4.

It was the second time in Ryu's career that he'd given up 10+ hits and 7+ runs; the other was July 8, 2014, in Detroit. He's the first Dodgers starter to do that without finishing the 5th inning since Brock Stewart at that other bandbox, Coors Field, on August 3, 2016, and the first ever to do it in Phoenix.

Friday's outing from newcomer Tony Gonsolin was sufficient; he left in the 6th with a 3-2 lead which the bullpen promptly blew. But Friday's weirdness was how the Diamondbacks won the game. Yimi Garcia struck out Christian Walker to end the 7th and keep things tied 4-4, and then recorded 3 more strikeouts in the 8th. Except one of those strikeout victims, Tim Locastro, reached first on a passed ball. Then stole second. Then got singled over to third. Then Garcia made a weird jump-step toward first and got called for a balk to give the D'backs the lead. It would be that run that stood up for the 5-4 Arizona win. And because it reached on a passed ball (not the pitcher's fault), it's also unearned. Since the National League began tracking earned runs in 1912, no Dodgers pitcher had ever worked 2 innings or less, struck out 4+, allowed 0 earned runs, and lost.

Alas, as for balking in the go-ahead run, well, Dylan Floro did the ultimate version of that last August.



It Only Takes A Spark-man

With any kind of temporary ailment-- a cold, a bruise, a stomach bug-- there's always that one day when it seems to peak and then start improving. Of course, you usually don't know that at the time, but for our pitching ailment this week, that was Thursday. Because that's also when Oakland made a triumphant return to the city they called home for 13 years, somehow escaping a Royals comeback by a count of 9-8. That's the third time in August that the Royals scored 8 runs and lost, something they hadn't "achieved" in a calendar month since June 2005.

Jurickson Profar would be the early, uh, spark off Glenn Sparkman, with a hit-by-pitch, a double, and a homer in his first three plate appearances. By the end of the thing he would add a single and be the first Oaklander with 3 hits, a homer, 3 RBI, and an HBP in the same game since Eric Byrnes did it across the Bay on July 4, 2004. Sparkman got forced from the game in the 5th after 3 hits and a walk to load the bases; it would become his third start this season where he gave up 9 hits and 7 runs in 5 innings or less. The last Royals pitcher with three such starts in a season was Luke Hochevar in 2012. And by also hitting Mark Canha in the 1st inning, Sparkman joined a quartet of Royals pitchers to ever do 9-and-7 while also hitting two batters; one of those Hochevar games in 2012 also qualifies him for the list, along with Jeremy Guthrie in 2015 and Bill Castro in 1983.

Rookie Seth Brown, who got called up on Monday and was playing in just his fourth MLB game, collected 4 hits in Thursday's win. Since leaving Philadelphia, only one other A's batter had done that within his first four MLB games; that was Doug Jennings in Seattle on April 13, 1988. And so that we can use this story, the last Philadelphia A's player to do it was Forest "Spook" Jacobs in 1954. The "Spook" moniker was supposedly earned because of his tendency to bloop little base hits to the shallow outfield. Except his big swing and the sound created off his bat always "spooked" outfielders into breaking back, thinking they were much deeper than they were (and thus not being able to get to them). Spook also holds the distinction of having been the first player ever to record base hits in his first four MLB plate appearances.

There was one other pitching quirk about Thursday's game, when (former New Britain Rock Cat) Liam Hendriks came on to record the final five outs with Oakland clinging to that 1-run lead. He became the 16th pitcher since saves became official in 1969 to get a 5-out save (or more) where every out was a strikeout. Amazingly one other Oakland pitcher had done it, Jay Howell against the White Sox on June 8, 1987.


Cease Giving Up Runs Please

Yet another Thursday game fits our theme, this one between the White Sox and Twins where Dylan Cease just couldn't get the bleeding to, well, cease. The Twins ripped the scab off early by starting the game with five straight hits, actually the second time this season they've done that. The other was July 28, also against the White Sox, and also against a Dylan-- in this case Covey. The Twins hadn't opened with 5 straight hits twice in a season since 1971.

A double play allowed Cease to escape with "only" 4 runs in that inning, but there's always more innings. A single, a walk, a wild pitch, and a 2-run single that Cease actually deflected out of the reach of his infield made it 6-0, and when Jake Cave and C.J. Cron started the 3rd with back-to-back homers, well, it's time to Cease pitching, at least for today. Dylan became the first starter since the AL adopted earned runs in 1913 to give up 8 of them, plus 10 hits, while getting no more than 6 outs. (Jon Garland in 2007 and Scott Schoeneweis in 2004 each did 8 on 9 hits.) It was the fifth time this season the Twins had scored 8+ runs by the 3rd inning, and all of those games were on the road, something no other team in the 21st century has accomplished 5x in a season.

But Cease wasn't the only one bitten by the bug in this game. Although he did narrowly get a "quality start" by giving up 3 runs in 6 innings, and got the win, Jose Berrios uncorked 4 wild pitches along the way, including one that scored a run. The franchise's last pitcher to be charged with 4 WPs in a game was one Bert Gallia, who also did it against the White Sox... in 1917!

The White Sox then went to Atlanta on Saturday and watched Reynaldo Lopez, generally their number-2 behind Lucas Giolito, implode in the 1st inning, the last straw being a two-run single by pitcher Dallas Keuchel. (Note, this means they've already batted around.) The last Braves pitcher to have a multi-run hit in the 1st inning was Denny Neagle against the Mets on July 13, 1997, and the 6 runs Atlanta scored in the 1st were just the second time they've done that in the past 4 years. The other 6-run 1st, oddly, was also in an interleague home game, against the Jays on May 17, 2017.

Lopez became the second White Sox pitcher to give up 6 runs while getting 2 outs in an interleague game, joining Dan Jennings, who did it in a relief appearance against Cincinnati on May 9, 2015. And combined with another Dylan Covey outing-- not the one against the Twins mentioned above, but July 13 against Oakland-- it's the first season in a quarter-century where two Sox starters have given up 6 while getting 2. Rod Bolton and Jack McDowell both pulled it off during the 1993 campaign.



We couldn't find too many songs about pitching, especially not-good pitching, but there's a series of movies about it (which of course inspired our title). Besides, you know you haven't heard That Song From It in a few years now. Intermission!



Rocky Start

Rico Garcia was throwing double-A ball in Hartford, Conn., as recently as June 9. That's all well and good, and despite the vibrant excitement that is downtown Hartford (Hartford has it!), he really kinda wanted to get out of downtown Hartford. (We say the same thing after every Yard Goats game. It's okay, they blocked us on Twitter two years ago. Chuckle.) Rico really wanted to end up in Denver, and after a couple months of layover in Albuquerque, he finally got that chance on Tuesday. And facing the team from New England, no less.

It'll get better, Rico. And we've seen plenty of worse debuts. But the big blows came from Jackie Bradley, Christian Vazquez, and Xander Bogaerts, all of whom homered on a first pitch from Garcia to put the Red Sox up 6-0 by the 5th inning. He would join Edwar Cabrera (2012), Juan Morillo (2006), and Jeff Francis (2004) as pitchers to make their MLB debut with the Rockies and give up 3 homers. (Morillo at least got bailed out by the offense and ended up with a no-decision.)

Except the bug is going around the clubhouse. Jake McGee took it to the mound with him in the 7th when he walked Rafael Devers. Bogaerts doubled. J.D. Martinez singled. Mitch Moreland reached on a botched fielder's choice, one of three Rockies errors in the game. Then Brock Holt's 2-run single provided Boston's 10th and final run, meaning McGee faced 5 batters and retired none of them. No Rockies pitcher had done that since Jorge Rondon on May 1, 2015. And we'll throw one shoutout to Bogaerts, who was the third Red Sox batter to have a homer, a double, and 2 runs scored in a game at Coors Field. The others both did it in the same game, Adrian Beltre and Dustin Pedroia on June 24, 2010.

By Thursday the Pirates had come to town, and by know we know what happens on Thursday. That's when Chi Chi Gonzalez gets the start, and much like the old Chi Chi's Mexican restaurant chain, it really doesn't sit well right from the beginning. (Did you know the restaurant still operates in five countries including Luxembourg and Kuwait? We do actual research for these sometimes.)

Kevin Newman drilled Gonzalez's second pitch for a leadoff homer, joining Andrew McCutchen (2011) and Al Martin (1999) as Pirates batters to hit one at Coors. Then two singles, a walk, a double, two more singles, and it's 5-0 with only 1 out when Trevor Williams-- the Pirates pitcher who hasn't even taken the mound yet-- lays down a sacrifice bunt. Chad Kuhl actually did it in the 1st inning on July 9, 2017, against the Cubs, which was also the last time the Pirates had a 7-run 1st inning. Anyway, Newman then comes up again, singles home the last of those 7 runs, and Gonzalez bids a prompt exit. Kip Wells, on July 21, 2008, against the Dodgers, was the previous Rockies starter to give up 7+ runs without finishing the 1st inning; the others are Bret Saberhagen in 1995 and Jeff Parrett in 1993. The Pirates had gone the longest of any team without having any 7-run inning (September 2017 against the Cardinals); that torch now passes to Kansas City.

Newman would go on to have 4 hits on the day, including another homer in the 5th. Andrew McCutchen was also the last Pirates leadoff batter with 4 hits and 4 RBIs in a game, doing so against the Nationals on August 1, 2009. That was also the last time a Pirates batter led off the game with a homer and then hit another homer later on (ignoring the 4 RBIs). And the last Pirates batter to do all that in a road game... was some fellow named Barry Bonds, in Philadelphia on August 13, 1988.

The Rockies did claw back with 8 runs of their own but still lost a fairly-normal Coors Field game by an 11-8 count. That kept Gonzalez on the hook for the loss and dropped him to 0-6 on the season, the first Colorado pitcher to begin a campaign 0-6 since Yohan Flande in 2014. No one's ever gone 0-7.

And by the way, Kevin Newman would hit another leadoff homer on Saturday, this one on the first pitch of the game from Tim Melville. And then Adam Frazier did the same thing against Jeff Hoffman on Sunday. We had already set a season record (at least since 1988 when we have full pitch counts) for first-pitch-of-game homers earlier on Saturday when Josh VanMeter of the Reds did it. But only twice before over that span has a team hit them in back-to-back games, and both of those were in 2017 and involved the White Sox. Tim Anderson and Leury Garcia did it for them on August 15 and 16, while Matt Szczur and Manuel Margot of the Padres did it against them on May 12 and 13.


Thy Rod And Thy Staff

Speaking of the Pirates, they got the joy of three games in Philadelphia earlier in the week before that Coors trip. On Monday it was a tale of two Rodriguezes (Rodrigi?) when Richard entered the game in the 8th. After two quick strikeouts, he promptly gave up a homer to Bryce Harper, a single, and a 2-run homer to Corey Dickerson, the first lead-flipping dinger the Phillies had hit against the Pirates that late in a game since Mike Lieberthal walked off Rich Loiselle on June 16, 1998. Richard, for his part, also gave up 2 homers and blew a save on April 13 in Washington, becoming the first Pirates pitcher since saves became official to do it twice in a season. The only ones to do it twice at all were Grant Jackson (1977-79) and Rod Scurry (1981-83).

Josh Bell, however, would provide a glimmer of hope with his game-tying solo shot in the 9th, the first tying homer for the Pirates against the Phillies in the 9th inning since Brandon Moss took Ryan Madson deep on August 26, 2009-- a decade earlier to the day. The ending, however, would be different in 2019 when Sean Rodriguez greeted Michael Feliz with a leadoff tater in the bottom of the 11th. Feliz was the first Pirates pitcher to surrender a walkoff homer to the first batter he faced since (remember me?) Stolmy Pimentel versus Matt Wieters on May 1, 2014. (We are currently offering even odds on Stolmy Pimentel one day being a Long Island Duck. He's still only 28.) As for Sean, he hit the Phillies' first extra-inning walkoff homer against their Pittsburgh rivals since Gary Matthews (that's Senior) took Enrique Romo deep on April 15, 1981.

Now, before Chi Chi Gonzalez's start against them on Thursday, it's possible the Pirates took the bug to Colorado with them. Because they had it Philly on Wednesday as well, this time by Mitch Keller. He did strike out 8 batters, including all three outs in the 2nd. That, unfortunately, was around a triple, a double, and two singles. And by the 5th the wheels had come off, with a leadoff homer by Corey Dickerson, followed by four more hits and a walk to turn a 3-2 game into an 8-2 game. The Phillies would end up having 22 at-bats with runners in scoring position, their most since September 8, 2010, against the Marlins. J.T. Realmuto had both a homer and a triple, the first Phillie to do so against Pittsburgh since Chase Utley on July 29, 2011. And Keller's weird line would earn him a place (not necessarily treasured) in Pirates history. Since earned runs were first kept in 1912, he's the team's first pitcher to gave up 8 of them, plus 11 hits, yet also record 8 strikeouts. Jeff D'Amico had come the closest, allowing 12 hits but "only" striking out 7, on August 3, 2003, against the Rockies.


You Take The Good, You Take The Bad

Okay, we've gotta talk about it, right? Justin Verlander twirled Official No-Hitter number 303 on Sunday in Toronto, and as it turns out, only 300 of those were not by him. You've probably seen the illustrious list of six pitchers to throw at least 3 NH's, topped by Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax, then including Larry Corcoran from the 1880s, Cy Young, and Bob Feller. However, as Astros radio pointed out late in Sunday's game, it's hard to believe Verlander was only 28 when he threw his last one. It was 8 years ago and in the same building. That's the one on June 7, 2011, where the Kentucky Derby was run during the 8th inning. Of the pitchers to throw multiple NH's, only Nolan Ryan (1981-90) and Randy Johnson (1990-2004) went 8 years between doing it. And by the 2011 one also being at Rogers Centre, Verlander is the first pitcher to throw two of them outside the U.S. (there's only been eight). And remember that it was only 4 weeks ago when the Astros threw another no-hitter, their combined one against the Mariners. The last team to throw back-to-back NH's (in the list of 303) was also the last team to throw two in 30 days-- the Dodgers in 2014 (Josh Beckett May 25 & Clayton Kershaw June 18).

Verlander's finish was only made possible because Abraham Toro hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 9th. He's the first Astros batter to homer in the 9th to break a 0-0 tie in a road game since Chris Truby did it in Milwaukee on April 10, 2001.

Now if you were hoping against hope that the Jays might break through in the bottom half, having seen how this hitting thing is done, well, that would be a breakthrough that hasn't happened in 30 years. According to the great "Lost In The Ninth" site, the last time an Astros no-hitter was broken in the 9th was on June 12, 1988, when Ken Oberkfell of the Braves singled off Mike Scott with 2 outs. The only teams to go longer without having one broken up in the 9th or later are the Mets and the Athletics.


Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Matt Boyd, Saturday: First pitcher for any team to give up 4 homers, but also strike out 11 and get a win, since the Phillies' Art Mahaffey on August 2, 1962.

⚾ Francisco Cervelli, Monday: First Braves catcher to hit a 9th-inning triple with the team down by 1 since Phil Masi vs Cardinals, May 15, 1945.

⚾ Hanser Alberto, Friday: Second batter in Orioles history with a 5-hit game in Kansas City (including A's years). Other was Tommy Davis on August 30, 1974-- 45 years earlier to the day.

⚾ Jason Adam, Tuesday: First Jays reliever ever to commit a balk in consecutive appearances. Team's last starter to do it was Ted Lilly in May 2005.

⚾ Adalberto Mondesi, Sunday: Second career game with 4 hits and 3 stolen bases (also August 14 of last year vs Toronto). Only other player in Royals history to do it twice is Amos Otis in 1971 and 1978.

⚾ Todd Frazier, Friday: Third Mets batter to homer in 8th and 9th innings of same game, joining David Wright in 2009 and John Olerud in 1997.

⚾ Gerrit Cole, Wednesday: Second pitcher in Astros history to strike out 14+ while also allowing 4 earned runs. Don Wilson did it in a loss in Cincinnati on May 12, 1974.

⚾ Cardinals, Sat-Sun: First time hitting walkoff singles in back-to-back games since John Rodriguez and David Eckstein against Pittsburgh, September 12-13, 2005. Those were the team's final two walkoff wins at the previous Busch Stadium.

⚾ Francisco Lindor, Tuesday: Second Clevelander ever to hit 2 doubles and hit into 2 double plays (official since 1933) in same game. Pat Seerey did it in Washington on August 13, 1944.

⚾ Ryan Brazier, Saturday: Second pitcher in Red Sox history to give up 6 runs, get no more than 2 outs, and blow a save. Matt Albers did it against the Cubs on May 21, 2011.

⚾ Cubs, Tue-Thu: First time hitting multiple homers in three straight games in New York since August 12-14, 1996.

⚾ Steven Brault, Sunday: First Pirates pitcher ever to homer against the Rockies (home or road). Only remaining NL team against whom a Bucs pitcher has never hit one is the Marlins.

⚾ John Gant, Saturday: Became second Cardinals pitcher in live-ball era to start a season 10-0. Other was Howie Krist in 1941.

⚾ Marlins, Thursday: First game in team history where their first batter homered (Jon Berti) and their last batter homered (Harold Ramirez).

⚾ Marcus Semien, Monday: First Athletics batter ever to have 7 RBI in a game in Kansas City. Including the 13 years they were the home team.

⚾ Jonathan Villar, Friday: First Orioles/Browns player since at least 1922 (before which we lose play-by-play) to steal second, third, and home in the same game.

⚾ Kenta Maeda, Wednesday: First bases-loaded lead-flipping (2-run) single by a Dodgers pitcher since Jerry Reuss at Houston, June 14, 1985.

⚾ Yankees, Sat-Sun: First time hitting walkoff homers in consecutive games since Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon against the Twins on May 16-17, 2009.

⚾ Kyle Gibson, Friday: Second straight start where he gave up 10 hits but got a win. Last Twins pitcher to do that in consecutive outings was Albert Williams in September 1981.

⚾ Miles Mikolas, Tuesday: First Cardinals pitcher to strike out 10 but also throw 2 wild pitches since Steve Carlton at Houston, August 18, 1967.

⚾ Dodgers, Sunday: Second road game in team history where they scored 4+ runs and all were on solo homers. The other wasn't really much of a road game; it was September 7, 1952, at the Polo Grounds.

⚾ Juan Soto, Wednesday: Youngest cleanup hitter ever to have a triple, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI in a game. The player whose record he broke? Just some bloke named Ted Williams, August 22, 1939.