Fourteen Score And Seven Runs Ago

Apparently the baseball gods got tired of us doing posts about nothing.

Sports schedule got you a little messed up over the past year? Basketball playoffs in October? The Masters in November? Opening Day in July? A Kentucky Derby in September? College football in April?

Well, if you're gonna have football in April, it follows that you would have football scores in April. On a baseball field. Several of them on one particular field. Which used to host football.

If You've Met A Bear...

Of course we take you to Wrigley Field, where, for quite a few years, there was only one sport being played in October. In fact, this fall the Friendly Confines will mark another 100th anniversary, of the first time it played host to the newly-relocated Decatur Staleys of the fledgling National Football League. (It will also mark the 50th anniversary of them leaving, but probably with less fanfare.) Back on October 16, 1921, the locals scored 16 to defeat the Rochester (N.Y.) Jeffersons before an estimated crowd of 8,000. Later that fall the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians would also visit Wrigley Field and lose. The following year the team became the Bears solely because they shared a stadium with, well, the Cubs.

The Mets waited until the 4th quarter-- er, inning-- on Wednesday to do their best Metsing. After three straight singles, a potential double-play ball ended up in right field, leading to a bases-loaded walk, another error, a pitching change, two more singles, a third error, and a touchdown's worth of runs to blow the game open at 7-2. Just one inning later Javier Baez would reach on a catcher's interference for the Mets' fourth error, and their first CI committed against the Cubs since Gary Carter on August 11, 1988. Baez wasn't exactly done, however. After Trevor Hildenberger walks the bases loaded in the 7th, Baez unloads them with his sixth career grand slam and first at home in almost 4 years. It was the first time Cubs had ever hit a grand slam against the Mets while already leading by 6 runs (run up the score!), and their first against any team since Kris Bryant in May of 2019.

That gives us our Cubs football score of 14, and for the sake of, well, safety, Luis Guillorme gives up two more runs in the 8th and we land on a 16-4 final, one run shy of the Mets' largest loss at Wrigley (an 18-5 on September 16, 1972). The Mets also hadn't commmitted 4 errors in a game at the (Un)Friendly Confines since June 8, 1989, when they got walked off by an unearned run (of course). The Cubs, for their part, had played only one other game at Wrigley where they scored 16+ runs with no more than 13 hits. The other was an 18-13-4 linescore against the Pirates on April 17, 1974.

15-Pack Of Brew

Okay, we admit, "16-4" isn't really a football score, even if it does harken back to that first Staleys game of 100 years ago. Neither is "15-2". In fact, they're so not football scores that neither of them has ever happened in a pro game. But the Cubs followed up on Friday by dropping that in their series opener with Milwaukee. Brett Anderson barely got out of the gate, allowing back-to-back doubles after retiring leadoff man Willson Contreras. He would end up charged with 3 runs and only the 1 out recorded, the first Brewers starter to pull that off since Matt Garza at Washington on July 19, 2014.

Then it was Josh Lindblom's turn. And he gave up 3 more runs before finally retiring Contreras to end the inning as well. That would be another touchdown's worth of runs, although the Cubs missed the extra point this time. It was their first 6-run 1st inning in a home game since July 2019, and combined with Wednesday, the second time this century they've had 6-run frames in two games in three days. The other stretch also began with the Mets (September 13, 2017) and continued with the Cardinals 2 days later.

Lindblom would also not be done taking one for the team. Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez hit back-to-back homers in the 2nd. Jason Heyward tripled. Jake Marisnick went yard in the 4th to give Lindblom the distinction of being the first Brewers reliver to allow 8 runs and 3 homers since Andrew Lorraine, also at Wrigley, on September 2, 2002.

Deciding that a 9-run lead was good enough for Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs pinch-hit for him in the 6th. And Austin Romine delivered another run (Jason Heyward) with a double. That was the first pinch-hit RBI double the Cubs had hit when already leading by 9 since Bill Schuster tallied one against Brooklyn on August 15, 1945. So what happens on the very next pitch but more running the score up. Willson Contreras couldn't get the slam like Baez had on Wednesday. But he could tack on a field goal with Jake Marisnick having been held at third on the previous play. The last 3- or 4-run homer the Cubs hit in the 6th or later when leading by double digits was Kris Bryant's grand slam in Cleveland on June 17, 2015. But, you know, you play for the win on the road. Or something. Last time they hit one of those at home? Don Young off Frank Reberger in their second meeting ever with the newly-elevated San Diego Padres, on May 13, 1969. (The Cubs won that game 19-0; to this day it remains tied for the worst defeat in the Padres' MLB history.)

Climbing Jacob's Ladder

There's a good chance you heard of a different version of 15-and-2 that got posted on Friday. This one wasn't a final score. It's the pitching line of our buddy Jacob deGrom, who dominated the Nationals with 15 strikeouts and only 2 hits allowed. Given that it's deGrom, the next thing you're expecting us to say is that he didn't win. But no, he actually did this time. In fact he threw a complete game on 109 pitches, and by hanging around until the 8th inning he got to throw in a couple more "2"s, under runs scored and "safe hits made", as old newspapers used to describe them. Only nine pitchers in the modern era have thrown games of 0 runs, 2 hits, 0 walks, and 15+ strikeouts, and none of the others also had 2 hits on offense. (The most recent was Max Scherzer's no-hitter at the end of 2015.)

DeGrom's offensive line was made even more unique by batting 8th on Friday. Only one other starting pitcher in history has collected 2 hits, 2 runs scored, and at least 1 RBI from a spot other than 9th, and if you guessed Tony La Russa is involved, you're right. Braden Looper did it for TLR's Cardinals on June 1, 2008.

So now you want the Nolan Ryan notes on the 15 strikeouts. Okay. There have been only three individual shutouts in Mets history with 2 hits allowed and 15 strikeouts. Ryan threw the first one on April 18, 1970, and Tom Seaver did it less than a month later. Hadn't happened in the 50 years since. On the flip side, the Nationals have only been shut out on 2 hits and whiffed 15 times once before in franchise history-- and that was against Nolan Ryan too. He was with Houston and they were the Expos back on July 22, 1986. And ignoring the "2 hits allowed" part, only one other Mets pitcher has thrown an individual shutout with 15 K's and no walks. That... is not Nolan Ryan. But we'll put Dwight Gooden on our staff any day; he did it against the Pirates on September 12, 1984.

O Come, O Come, Emanuel

Okay, so maybe these are Canadian football scores or something. We had this whole thing ready to go with 14's and 7's and 3's and teams just kept screwing it up by kicking rouges and stuff. Stick to the script, people.

But we couldn't let a post about running up the score neglect Houston's 16-2 romp against the Angels on Saturday. And after one batter it certainly didn't look like it would end well for the Astros. Because that's when Jake Odorizzi left the game after only 5 pitches citing "forearm tightness" (which frequently ends up being code for "Tommy John surgery"). That brought in Kent Emanuel for his MLB debut, and the Astros quickly gifted him 3 runs to work with. Which he needed after giving up homers to Albert Pujols and Shohei Ohtani in the next couple innings. (Also, wouldn't it be sort of a badge of honor to give up homers to those two? In your debut?)

But then in the middle innings, the Astros started playing a little 3-4-3 defense. And we don't mean balls deflecting off the first baseman. We mean scoring 3-4-3 in innings 3-4-5 and riding this game all the way to the win column. Michael Brantley ended up collecting 3 extra-base hits (all doubles) and 4 runs scored without driving in a run himself, a quirk done by a #2 batter in a lineup just two other times since 1920. Don Kolloway of the Tigers pulled it off in 1949, and Pirates great Arky Vaughan had such a game in 1941. Right below him in the order, Alex Bregman also crossed the plate four times, once on his own homer and once on a bases-loaded triple by Yordan Alvarez who was below him. Two sets of Astros teammates have ever scored 4+ runs in the same game at Minute Maid Park, and all four them start with "B". Two of the original Killer B's, Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell, did it on July 18, 2001.

As for Alvarez, that triple made him the first Astros cleanup batter with a three-bagger and 4 RBI since Carlos Lee did that in Philadelphia on April 2, 2011. All told, the Astros piled up 7 doubles and that triple, another feat they hadn't done in a decade. And the last time they did-- June 26, 2011, against the Rays-- they lost (by another football score, 14-10).

While all this is going on, Kent Emanuel is just kinda hanging out retiring batters. Gave up a homer to Pujols, got those debut jitters out of the way. Took just 10 pitches each in the 4th and 5th. A six-pitch 7th that included a double play. Another double play in the 8th to get out of that on seven offerings. And what do you know, he's still standing out there as we start the 9th, with the Astros now ahead 16-2 and everyone just wanting to go home. First-pitch single. A pair of second-pitch grounders. And of the last 12 batters Emanuel faced, the most pitches (4!) were seen by the guy who struck out to end the game. Having entered on the second batter of the game, Emanuel went 8⅔ innings in relief. Having never been on a major-league mound before.

The only longer relief outing in a debut was by John "Count Of" Montefusco on September 3, 1974; he entered for the Giants after starter Ron Bryant couldn't find the side of a barn and didn't retire anybody. For the Astros, forgetting the debut part, they'd had only two other pitchers in their history get 26 outs in relief. Mike Cosgrove entered a game with the Phillies on June 18, 1974, in a very similar situation after starter Dave Roberts pulled a shoulder muscle on the first batter. In a neat coincidence, that same day in 1974, a pitcher named Dave Giusti made his longest start since joining the Pirates 5 years earlier. Pittsburgh had moved Giusti back into the bullpen since he had done both roles for the Astros at times. One of those relief roles? In 1962, the Astros' inaugural season, Giusti pitched 9 innings of a 14-inning game-- the only relief outing in team history longer than Emanuel's.

No, really. The two stories are next to each other in
one of the Pennsylvania papers we found from that day.

This post started out with the history of football in Chicago, and there's no way we would let it end without this classic. Shuffle like it's 1985. Intermission!

Goin' To Kansas City

On Tuesday the Chiefs and Buccaneers tangled in a matchup of AFL expansion franc-- oh wait. The final score could easily be confused with the actual matchup of American baseball League expansion franchises, the Rays from 1998 and the Royals from 1969. Brad Keller and Rich Hill came down to each other's level, with Tampa Bay holding a 5-4 lead and both starters being gone by the 3rd inning. Keller may or may not been having Opening Day flashbacks to when he also gave up 5 earned runs and got 5 outs against the Rangers (actually 6 and 4). He's the first Royals pitcher to do that in multiple starts in the same season since Mark Redman in 2006. And it's still only April.

The Rays' bullpen kept things largely in control after Hill's 4-run outburst, while the Royals', well, didn't. Ervin Santana gave up 2 runs and a homer to Brandon Lowe. Kyle Zimmer followed with his own 4-run performance. Greg Holland, the last remaining piece of the Royals' "HDH" bullpen from their title year, hung back-to-back homers to Mike Zunino and Austin Meadows. The 14-7 final represented the most runs the Rays had ever scored against Kansas City, home or road, topping a 13-6 win at Kauffman on August 10, 2002.

Before ending the scoring with that 9th-inning homer, Meadows also chipped in a double, a single, and a sacrifice fly, thus joining Akinori Iwamura (June 19, 2007, at Arizona) as the only players in Rays history with all four items in the same game. With Randy Arozarena and Joey Wendle following him in the order, it was the first game in nearly a decade where the Rays' top 3 batters each recorded 3 hits. The trio of Johnny Damon, Ben Zobrist, and Evan Longoria did it in Houston on June 26, 2011.

And that Rays' bullpen was anchored, at least for one day, by Trevor Richards who got the last 9 outs having been spotted a 5-run lead. That "earned" him the famous 3-inning save, the first Rays pitcher to get one of those while allowing only 1 hit since Matt Andriese also did that at Kauffman on August 28, 2017.

Seven-Ten Split

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, gave us a fun case of a 6 and a 7 within a 14 this week. After a lackluster 2-1 start through 5 innings against the Reds, both teams erupted for 6 runs over the next two frames once they got into each other's bullpens. David Peralta chipped in four of those for Arizona with a 2-run homer and a bases-loaded single. Eventually, however, it would be Jonathan India's first career home run that knotted things in the bottom of the 8th and sent us into free runner land.

The 10th begins with Josh Rojas singling home free runner Asdrubal Cabrera to give the D'backs the lead again. It ends with... Asdrubal Cabrera at the plate again after Arizona bats around. In between there is a home run from Carson Kelly and a bases-loaded triple from who else but David Peralta. That by itself was the first bases-loaded triple in extra innings in D'backs history, but it also gave him that "7" we mentioned, driving in half of Arizona's total of 14 runs. The D'backs had only ever had one other 7-RBI game on the road, by Damion Easley in Atlanta on June 3, 2006. The team's only other batter to have 5 hits and 7 RBI in one game was Shea Hillenbrand against the Rockies on July 7, 2003. And the team's only other player to have 5 hits in a game, yet miss the cycle by the all-too-common double, is Mark Reynolds against Houston on May 25, 2007. The only other time Arizona scored 6+ extra-inning runs in a game was on September 27, 2011, when they answered the Dodgers' 5-spot with Ryan Roberts' walkoff grand slam.

But hang on a minute, the Reds still have to bat too. And they get a free runner. Who scores on a Tucker Barnhart single. And then Tyler Naquin singles. And soon Cincinnati also has the bases loaded for Nick Castellanos. Who does not unload them with a triple. He does, however, hit a 2-run single to cut the final margin to 14-11. So your 10th-inning linescore is all in field goals, 6 over 3. The last time the Reds scored 3 runs in the bottom half of an extra inning and still ended up losing? That was July 2, 1976, when they traded 3's with Houston in the 11th and then ended up losing in the 14th. (And still had another game to play, because Independence Day weekend doubleheader.)

Raiders Of The Lost Park

Oakland has had an on-again, off-again relationship with football for quite a while now. In typical 1960s fashion, the Alameda County Coliseum was built to host both baseball and football, and it remained the last such shared facility long after all the others had been demolished. At least in most other cases it was the baseball team who moved out, in favor of their own new swanky "retro" ballpark without those dirt cutouts for bases.

But no, here in Oakland we keep making plans for a new snazzy ballpark but haven't seen one yet. The Raiders left town entirely (again). But the last of the "cookie-cutters" does have an occasional football reference though, such as Tuesday's 7-0 win over the Twins. That featured a complete game by Sean Manaea, the first individual shutout the A's have thrown against Minnesota since Jon Lester did it on August 7, 2014. Many of those runs came via a Matt Olson grand slam, and it was Oakland's first home game scoring 7+ runs on only 5 hits since April 12, 1994, against Toronto.

The 7-0 was the front end of a doubleheader, and one of those scores stayed the same in the nightcap. This time Oakland needed just 1 run to complete the sweep, their first 1-0 home win over the Twins since June 2, 2007, and the first time they'd won both ends of a twinbill via shutout since defeating the Royals by football-y counts of 3-0 and 7-0 on September 9, 1974. And the Twins hadn't been shut out on 2 hits at the Coliseum since Vida Blue threw his no-hitter against them on September 21, 1970.

In Wednesday's series finale the two teams played to basically a 10-10 tie that Kenta Maeda and Frankie Montas would just as soon forget. Both of them allowed 8 hits, 6 earned runs, and 3 homers while getting 12 outs or fewer. The only other pair of opposing starters in MLB history to do that, since earned runs first became a thing in 1912, also featured an entry from Minnesota. Carl Pavano matched "wits" with Detroit's Jeremy Bonderman on September 25, 2010.

In the 10th Byron Buxton put the Twins up with a 2-run homer, Minnesota's first go-ahead dinger in extras in Oakland since Paul Sorrento took Gene Nelson deep on September 13, 1990. And it all came crashing down on, of all plays, back-to-back errors. Mark Canha rolled one to second where it was airmailed by Luis Arraez for one run. Then this happened. The last game the A's won on an "error-off" was... last Sunday against the Tigers. They hadn't even won two such games in a season since 2008.

Qwest For Excellence

When does a field goal count as a touchdown? Why, when you "hit" a 3 but end up scoring seven times. Our final bit of football confusion takes us to Fenway Park on Thursday where Nick Pivetta and Justin Dunn of the Mariners matched each other's mediocre outings, Adam Ottavino blew a save on an unearned run, and here we sit at 3-3 headed to extras. We should back up and give Pivetta a little credit for taking a no-hitter into the 6th, which is about to become relevant. He did walk three, and lost the NH on a double by Ty France that scored two runs and also ended the inning when France got in a rundown. The bullpen issued two more walks and a hit-by-pitch, and with Ottavino's error, the manual scoreboard at Fenway probably wants to ask if these people are putting the cards in the right spot. At the end of regulation Seattle has 3 runs on 1 hit. One.

There is more baseball to play, however. The free runner means that the Mariners' second hit, a Sam Haggerty double, already scores a run. Wouldn't have mattered though, because after yet another walk to J.P. Crawford, Mitch Haniger connects for their third hit-- a homer to score both Haggerty and Crawford along with himself. That's 7 runs on 3 hits, or a touchdown on a field goal. The Sawx did nothing in their half of the 10th, thus ending with 8 hits-- a TD and a 2-point conversion-- that only counted for a field goal (3 runs).

No team had done a "7 on 3" linescore (or more) since the A's drew 12 walks against Toronto on April 12, 1994 and won 8-4. So you're correct in guessing it's the first time Seattle's ever come close to doing it. It was also the first time the Mariners had 3 hits and won since Seth Smith homered to beat Kansas City 1-0. The only team in the majors that had gone longer without such a win, oddly enough, is the Red Sox who watched Seattle do it Thursday.

As for that 3-run homer in the 10th, it was the Mariners' first 3- or 4-run job in extras since Robinson Cano took Cleveland's Cody Allen deep on April 21, 2016. They've only ever hit three against the Red Sox, and the others were both walkoff grand slams back at their own place. The "place" did change in between; Jim Presley hit one off Bob Stanley on July 17, 1986, and then Bret Boone took Curt Leskanic deep at the fancy new Safeco Field on July 19, 2004. You know, the fancy new Safeco Field that replaced the Kingdome so football and baseball could finally have their own homes.

You gotta stop building them across the street from each other, though. It's easy to get them mixed up.

Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Dodgers/Mariners, Tuesday: First game in the history of Safeco Field (slash T-Mobile) where neither team had more than 2 hits. Happened once at the Kingdome, against the White Sox in 1987.

⚾ Logan Webb, Sunday: First Giants pitcher with a multi-run triple in a home game since Scott Garrelts at Candlestick on June 29, 1989.

⚾ Avisail Garcia, Wednesday: First Brewers batter with 5 strikeouts in a 9-inning game since Richie Sexson at St Louis, May 29, 2001.

⚾ Fernando Tatis, Fri-Sat: Second visiting player ever to have back-to-back multi-homer games at Dodger Stadium. The other is only Barry Bonds in the first two games of the 2002 season.

⚾ Enrique Hernandez, Monday: Second Red Sox batter ever to lead off a Patriots' Day game with a home run. Ellis Burks did it against Texas on April 18, 1988.

⚾ Nick Wittgren, Thursday: Second pitcher in Indians history with a line of exactly 2 total outs, 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Mike Lopez did it in Seattle on July 27, 1995 (and tossed in 2 homers for good measure).

⚾ Connor Brogdon, Tuesday: First Phillies reliever to give up 6 runs while getting 2 outs since Ben Tincup against the Giants on April 30, 1918.

⚾ Tyler Glasnow, Friday: Third 4-strikeout inning in Rays history, after Alex Cobb in 2013 and Jeremy Hellickson in 2011.

⚾ Franmil Reyes, Sunday: Second Indians DH ever to have a homer, a triple, and 3 RBI in a home game, joining Rico Carty against the Mariners on August 28, 1977.

⚾ Garrett Richards, Wednesday: First Red Sox pitcher to issue 6 walks, hit a batter, throw a wild pitch, and commit a fielding error since Mickey McDermott against Chicago on July 26, 1949. (He got a win.)

⚾ Trevor Bauer, Saturday: Became first Dodgers pitcher in modern era to strike out 7+ batters in each of his first five outings of a season. Tom Candiotti (1992) and Sandy Koufax (1962) did it for four games.

⚾ Marlins, Thursday: Second time ever being shut out on 2 hits in San Francisco. Other game was April 28, 1995, at Candlestick, with Mark Leiter on the mound.

⚾ Joe Musgrove, Monday: First Padres pitcher to strike out 13 and lose since Jake Peavy vs Atlanta, May 22, 2006.

⚾ Nationals, Wednesday: First 1-0 win for Washington over St Louis since Dutch Leonard threw a 4-hit shutout on May 26, 1943. In a matchup that would now be Twins-Orioles.

⚾ Michael Perez & Kevin Newman, Saturday: First road game where Pirates' #8 and #9 batters both homered since Willie Stargell and Vern Law did it at Shea on June 2, 1966.

⚾ Alex Reyes, Friday: First Cardinals pitcher to issue a run-scoring wild pitch and a run-scoring walk, and still get a save, since Tom Henke on August 18, 1995.

⚾ Yasmani Grandal, Tuesday: First catcher for any team to be called for interference twice and commit a passed ball in the same game, since Minnesota's Mark Salas on April 23, 1986.

⚾ Braves, Sunday: First team in MLB history to record a total of 1 hit in a doubleheader. Previous low of 2 had been set by Cleveland on April 12, 1992. Last time Braves were 1-hit in any back-to-back games was September 28 & 30, 1916, at the Polo Grounds.

⚾ Rougned Odor, Saturday: First Yankees #9 batter to hit a go-ahead homer in Cleveland, in any inning, since Deion Sanders off Cecilio Guante, July 29, 1990. (One last football item for you!)

Zero Hour

One traditional quirk here at Kernels is already alive and well here in 2021: As soon as we write about something on Sunday, a bunch of teams see it and go, hey, there's a good idea, let's do the same thing next week.

Rodon To Nowhere

Stop getting ideas, White Sox.

After 60 years of there being at least one team out there that had never thrown a no-hitter, it all came crashing down last Friday thanks to Joe Musgrove and the Rangers. And we couldn't even get through a whole week without it happening again. On Wednesday, the day of Musgrove's next start... well, at least we still have Johnny Vander Meer. Musgrove actually gave up a 1st-inning single to Bryan Reynolds. Carlos Rodon of the White Sox did not give up a 1st-inning single. Nor one in the 2nd. Or 3rd. Or a double. Or a walk. Or, well, you know where this is going. Rodon blew through 24 straight Cleveland batters to stand on the precipice of the 24th perfect game in MLB history. In 2012, Philip Humber tossed one of the most improbable PGs ever for the White Sox... and Rodon made his debut on the anniversary of that event. There hadn't been any PG in the majors since Felix Hernandez did it later that same season.

Annnnnd there still hasn't. Like Musgrove before him, it was a very close (though not disputed) hit-by-pitch call to Roberto Perez with 1 out. That left Billy Pierce in 1958 as the only White Sox pitcher ever to have a perfect game broken up on the 27th batter; Rodon's was on the 26th. As Indians broadcaster Tom Hamilton, now very clearly rooting for this to happen, described it, "it's like Santa brought you everything execpt that little fire engine... and that fire engine was the only thing you wanted." So with visions of sad children on Christmas morning in our heads, we still got to hear Rodon finish off Yu Chang and Jordan Luplow to complete the 307th no-hitter in MLB history, and the 20th for the White Sox. That broke a tie with the Braves and left them behind only behind the Dodgers (23) for the most by a franchise. (Last place: The Padres.)

However, only six of those 307 NH's have been an HBP away from perfection. And two of them happened within a week of each other. We still have the link saved from last week to when Max Scherzer lost his on a questionable Jose Tabata "stance" on June 20, 2015. Before that there'd only been three of them in the modern era: Kevin Brown in 1997, Lew Burdette in 1960, and George "Hooks" Wiltse for the Giants in 1908. (Wiltse, like Scherzer, hit the 27th batter, but ended up having to get four more outs; his was a 10-inning NH.)

Meanwhile, Rodon could cruise through most of the game knowing that his offense had spotted him 6 runs in the 1st. Since 1901 only four teams have done that in an eventual no-hitter, and the White Sox are two of them. Frank Smith got the boost against the Tigers in 1905, the Marlins did it for Al Leiter in 1996, and the Angels famously did it in a 13-0 game in July 2019, the one commonly known as the Tyler Skaggs tribute game.

Bare Cubs

Although the Indians were the only team getting no-hit on Wednesday, they definitely weren't the only team putting zeroes on the board. Remember Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff from last week? No you don't, because they got upstaged by Joe Musgrove. But the Brewers' top two starters each took no-hitters into the 7th last week, becoming the first team to have two pitchers do it that early in a season since the 1990 Padres (who, like Milwaukee, did not complete either NH).

On Wednesday Jason Heyward took care of that early with a 2nd-inning double. Eric Sogard singled in the 3rd. And then 10 in a row. Josh Lindblom escaped a threat in the 9th after wild-pitching a runner to third, but the Cubs yet again ended a game with 0 runs on 4 hits, dropping this one by a 7-0 count. It was the third time in his Brewers career that Burnes has allowed 2 hits, walked 0, and struck out at least 10; the only other pitcher in team history to do it multiple times... is Brandon Woodruff.

Burnes didn't have his stuff only on the mound. Shelby Miller entered to pitch the 6th for the Cubs and promptly gave up two singles and three straight walks. That loaded the bases for Burnes who blooped one into right-center. He was the first Brewers pitcher with a multi-RBI game against the Cubs since Chase Anderson in September 2017, and Miller became the first Cubs hurler to give up 4 earned runs while getting 0 outs since Hector Rondon did it against the Cardinals in July 2017.

As for the Cubs' 0-on-4, we say "again" because check out the "H" column in their first dozen games of the season. 2-7-3-5-1 (that's a Freddy Peralta start). Then 3-11-8-5-4-6. And then 4 again on Wednesday. In eight of their first 12 games, the Cubs were held to 5 hits or fewer. Only one other team in the modern era has pulled that off, and it's not one of those Cinderella stories. It's the 1972 Brewers who went 65-91 and finished last in the newly-realigned AL East, 21 games out.

Busch Light

Elsewhere in the NL Central, the Cardinals plopped a big zero on the scoreboard at Busch on Wednesday against the Nationals and Joe Ross. Even at only 6-0, it was the Washington franchise's largest shutout in St Louis since said franchise wasn't in Washington. Spike Owen contributed a triple to a 6-0 Expos win on April 26, 1992.

This note made possible by the "save some runs for tomorrow" adage. Because on Tuesday the Washington franchise suffered its largest loss in St Louis since a 16-0 blowout on August 11, 1980. Most of Tuesday's 14-3 score came in the form of a 9-run 5th inning in which Austin Dean pinch-hit... and then pinch-hit again. Technically you can't do that, but since the Cardinals batted around without Dean taking the field yet, he hits again in sort of an "undefined" position. The last Cardinals batter to have that happen was Kolten Wong at Wrigley on August 14, 2016.

Dean's "first" pinch hit was actually a sacrifice fly to score Dylan Carlson, the Cards' first PH SF against the Nationals since Brian Barden hit one on April 30, 2009. It made Stephen Strasburg the first Nationals starter to allow 8+ hits and 5+ walks without getting through the 5th inning since Daniel Cabrera did that against the Giants on May 11, 2009.

Unfortunately Luis Avilan didn't fare any better, giving up 6 more singles before getting out of the inning (on Austin Dean's "pinch-hit" strikeout). The last Nats reliever to surrender 6+ hits and 6+ runs while getting only 3 outs was Saul Rivera who turned a 7-4 deficit into a 15-4 deficit against the Marlins on July 5, 2006. By the time it was all over, the Cardinals had three players-- Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and Matt Carpenter-- with a homer, 2 runs scored, and 3 RBI. No Cards trio had done that in a home game since Jim Edmonds, Craig Paquette, and Mark McGwire on May 14, 2000.

As for the combined Tuesday-Wednesday results, it was the first time the Cardinals had followed a 14-run home game with a 0-run home game since August 1980, also against the Expos (16-0 and 0-4).

Plenty Of Fish

Not to be outdone, the Marlins blew up for 14 runs on Tuesday as well, the second time they've ever done that in Atlanta after a 17-1 beatdown on April 5, 2003. Max Fried survived four innings but needed 86 pitches and gave up 8 runs along the way. He did make some Braves history however; the last time the team had a pitcher allow 9 hits, 8 runs, 2 homers, and hit two batters was on July 1, 1912, when Lefty Tyler did it at the Polo Grounds.

Despite Fried's struggles, the Marlins actually came from behind to win on Tuesday because Pablo Lopez was off giving up 6 runs of his own. He also got yanked after the 4th inning and created just the third game since 1912 (when earned runs became official) where both starters gave up 9 hits, 6 earned runs, and multiple homers. The previous illustrious matchup where that happened was Carl Pavano versus Jeremy Bonderman on September 25, 2010. And it's okay if you don't remember Emerson Dickman of the Red Sox and Cotton Pippen of the A's doing it against each other. It really wasn't the big story in baseball on the day they did it-- July 4, 1939.

Fried and Lopez did match each other in one more way. Being a National League game, they both batted, and with both of them struggling, they each connected for a double and a run scored. No game had seen both starting pitchers do that since Homer Bailey of the Reds and Chris Narveson of the Brewers did it on July 7, 2011. And Adam Duvall would end up with 4 hits, 4 runs scored, and 7 RBI in Tuesday's 14-8 slugfest. Only three other players have done that in a game IN Atlanta, and only one of them did it for the home team-- Gene Oliver in Atlanta's first year of baseball, 1966. The others were both visiting from Cincinnati-- George Foster in 1977 and Dave Parker in 1987.

The Marlins could have saved a couple of those 14 runs from Tuesday. In the series finale with Atlanta on Thursday they did manage 6 of them, but the Braves collected 7. Granted, that took until the very last batter when Ozzie Albies drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game and then Dansby Swanson walked off with a single. Dansby became the second player in Atlanta history (that's 1966 again) with 3 hits, a hit-by-pitch, and a walkoff anything in the same game; Justin Upton did it against the Nats on April 11, 2014. Albies drew the team's first game-tying walk in the 9th or later since Jordan Schafer in St Louis on May 18, 2014.

Thursday's rally was set up by Pablo Sandoval who mashed a 3-run homer in the 6th off Zach Pop. The last time the Braves had a pinch hitter flip the lead with a 3- or 4-run homer (any inning) was on May 20, 2010, when Brooks Conrad hit a walkoff grand slam against the Reds. Sandoval would also make some history on Friday when he pinch-ran for Ozzie Albies when the latter got hurt against the Cubs. If you guessed "Kung Fu Panda" probably hasn't pinch-run much in his career, you'd be right. He's done it once. Friday. At age 34. The previous player to make a pinch-running debut at age 34 or older was A.J. Burnett who did so in a 15-inning Yankees game on May 18, 2011, after Chris Dickerson got hit by a pitch.

We tried to come up with something clever to go with Carlos Rodon throwing the 307th no-hitter, but "Rodon To Nowhere" was too good to take second fiddle. But as those of you in Wyoming already know, 307 corresponds to your telephone area code. So it's our very brief salute to Brandon Nimmo's home state. Intermission!

Drop That Zero, Get Yourself A Hero

Three days after being on the wrong end of no-hitter number 306, the Rangers needed 5 innings to finally get a hit off the Rays' Tyler Glasnow on Monday. Glasnow then sat down seven more in a row before Jose Trevino got the Rangers' second hit to lead off the 8th. But the Rays weren't exactly burning up the scoreboard either. They got a runner to second in four of the first five innings but stranded them all. Both teams finished the game with only 3 hits.

Ah, but the third Rays hit was a Willy Adames solo homer in the 7th, meaning we would not go to extra innings as a scoreless tie. Instead Tampa Bay escapes with a 1-0 win, their first one in team history against the Rangers. It was the Rays' fifth 1-0 win in a home game at Tropicana where the run came on a solo homer; Matt Joyce hit the last one of those against Oakland on April 20, 2013. And Adames was only the second #9 batter in Rays history to homer for a 1-0 win, home or away. Nate Karns did it in Philadelphia on July 21, 2015.

As for Glasnow, he struck out 14 batters around allowing only those 2 hits; James Shields (October 2, 2012, vs Baltimore) is the only other pitcher in Rays history to do that. And the Rangers hurler who gave up that Adames homer was Taylor Hearn, summoned in the 5th after Dane Dunning hit a 70-pitch limit. He was the first Rangers pitcher to allow only 1 hit and strike out 7 in a relief appearance since Cecilio Guante against the Red Sox on April 28, 1989. But how many other pitchers-- for any team-- had posted that line and taken a loss? Since 1901, that would be three: Then-Mariner Ron Villone in 1995, Oakland's Victor Cruz in 1980, and "Bump" Hadley in a 13-inning game for Washington in 1931.

Leading Zeroes

A day before getting nine zeroes hung on them by Carlos Rodon, the Indians were just as happy to hang nine zeroes on themselves. Lucas Giolito scattered 3 hits and 2 walks in Tuesday's game, and Cleveland converted none of them, such that another string of 0-run innings went on the scoreboard in Chicago. In this case, however, Shane Bieber was on the mound for Cleveland, and all he did was scatter 3 hits and strike out 11. So through nine complete innings, the only person to touch home plate was umpire Bill Miller with his little brush thingy.

Thanks to the free runner rule, Garrett Crochet already started the 10th with a disadvantage, then compounded it by slipping on the mound while trying to field the Josh Naylor bunt that we all knew was coming. That would lead to 2 unearned runs and a Cleveland victory, for which Bieber now gets credit because he hasn't been replaced yet. Ultimately, though, he was replaced-- by James Karinchak who got his second career save. So Bieber's line was 9 innings, 0 runs, 11 strikeouts, a win-- and not a complete game. Also not a shutout (which is a subset of complete games). The last pitcher for any team to post that line was Dwight Gooden of the Mets on August 17, 1984, when the exact same scenario happened at San Francisco.

The White Sox hadn't played an extra-inning home game where they were shut out on 3 hits and fanned at least 12 times since August 4, 1910. That was a 16-inning scoreless tie with Philadelphia that was the first tie in the history of Comiskey Park-- because it was only the 14th game played there.

Between Monday and Thursday, the Indians went 26 "regulation" innings without scoring... and lost only one of the four games. Timing is everything.

Some Other Beginning's End

Last week's theme of intriguing endings also got picked up by a few teams this week. On Thursday the Twins wasted an 8th-inning lead by having Hansel Robles load the bases and then letting Alex Verdugo of the Red Sox unload them. His 3-run double was the first such tying hit for Boston in the 8th or later since Mookie Betts hit one off Raisel Iglesias of the Reds on September 24, 2017. It also erased Michael Pineda from the win column, making him the first Twins starter to throw 7 shutout innings, allow 2 hits, and not get a win since Kyle Gibson, also against the Red Sox, on June 18, 2014.

It was then up to Max Kepler to regain the lead with a walkoff single in the bottom of the 9th. Kepler, educated at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin, has a way of victimizing JFK's beloved Boston. He also had a walkoff hit against them on June 18, 2019, in a 17-inning affair. And a 3-run homer in the 10th on June 12, 2016. Since the Twins moved to Minnesota in 1961, Kepler is the first player to have three walkoff hits for them against Boston.

On Monday Dallas Keuchel and Triston McKenzie matched lines as the White Sox and Indians played to a 3-3 tie. After a succession of relievers on both sides failed at giving up a run, the Indians decided to let their defense do it instead. Emmanuel Clase, the fifth Cleveland hurler, gave up a single and a walk to put Nick Madrigal at second. That's when Nick Williams grounded one to Yu Chang, whose throw hit the runner and allowed Madrigal to trot home with the walkoff. It was the first game the White Sox had won on an "error-off" since July 18, 1994, against Detroit. Storm Davis was the batter, Joey Cora was the runner who scored, and Alan Trammell was the Tigers shortstop who committed the error.

Five-Twelve Upset

The Dodgers scored 5 runs in the first 8 innings of Friday's contest, but those aren't the 5 you probably remember. Because Corey Knebel was summoned to pitch the bottom of the 8th, at which point Jurickson Profar promptly tied the game with a 2-run double. Justin Turner then provided a go-ahead single in the 9th, and Eric Hosmer matched it in the bottom half. Hosmer's was the first game-tying single for the Padres when down to their final out since Fernando Tatis hit one at Coors Field in June 2019.

Speaking of Tatis, he was set up perfectly to win the game in the bottom of the 10th. With bases loaded (partly due to the free runner), he, um, didn't. He struck out looking. Christian Villanueva was the last Padres batter to end an extra inning that way, also against the Dodgers on April 17, 2018. Nothing happened in the 11th. Not-nothing happened in the 12th. Corey Seager leads off with a home run, and because of the free runner, creates the second "leadoff 2-run homer" in Dodgers history. Edwin Rios hit one against the Astros in the first game the Dodgers played with the new rule, July 29 of last year.

Unlike that game, however, the Dodgers of Friday weren't done. Three more singles and an error make it 9-6 and we end up with second baseman Jake Cronenworth on the mound and Joe Musgrove-- yes, that Joe Musgrove-- in left field. Cronenworth became the second position player in Padres history to pitch in an extra inning, after Josh Wilson did so against Arizona on June 7, 2009. And he didn't disappoint, giving up another single and a sacrifice fly to complete the Dodgers' 5-run 12th. Their last time scoring that many that late in a game was July 22, 2012, in an 8-3 win over the Mets.

Back To Zero

On Saturday, however, it was right back to the zeroes for both the Dodgers and Padres as Clayton Kershaw matched wits with Yu Darvish. Kershaw lost his no-hitter in the 3rd, but Darvish retired the first 14 Dodgers before, here we go again, hitting Zack McKinstry with a pitch. This game does not end up in the Carlos Rodon section because the very next batter, Luke Raley, singles to break everything up. But then Darvish "unintentionally" walks the number-8 hitter to get to Kershaw. Who manages to work an 8-pitch walk and force in a run. It's the first go-ahead walk by a Dodgers pitcher since Hiroki Kuroda also did it against the Padres on August 30, 2011. And until Justin Turner led off the 9th with a solo homer, it was on track to be the first 1-0 game where the run scored on a walk to the pitcher since September 22, 2004, when Carlos Zambrano drew the free pass against Pittsburgh.

Instead that run would make Darvish the first pitcher in Padres history to throw 7 innings, allow 1 hit, strike out 9, and still eat a loss.

While that game was limping to its finish, the Astros-- 8 minutes earlier-- polished off a 1-0 snoozefest in Seattle in which they managed to collect 10 hits but nine of them were singles. It was the second time in team history that Houston had turned 10 hits into 1 run and still won; the other was a Ken Oberkfell walkoff against the Reds on April 24, 1991. It was also just the second 1-0 win in Astros history over the Mariners, given that the teams were in different leagues until the last decade. The other was an interleague game on June 8, 2004, when Morgan Ensberg's sac fly scored Jeff Bagwell.

Zero Milestone

And finally, the Nationals found a way to combine both of our themes. Their game with Arizona on Friday was a pitcher's duel between Max Scherzer, who struck out 10, and... um... Taylor Widener? Who pitched in 4 games in last year's shortened season? Yeah, he had the reverse problem that we see especially in MLB debuts, where no one has seen this guy before and they can't figure out how to hit him. The Nats collected just 4 singles in the first 7 innings, and of course Max was just out there being Max. So we eventually hit the bottom of the 9th in another double-zero situation. Actually seventeen zeroes in a row because nobody can figure out how to score. Except now it is Alex Young on the mound for Arizona and the newly-acquired Kyle Schwarber at the plate for Washington. And four hundred sixty-three feet later Schwarber has his first homer with the Nationals, and the Nationals have their first-ever 1-0 win via walkoff homer. The Expos had two of them, by Delino DeShields (that's Senior) on April 30, 1991, and Vance Law on September 2, 1986, both against the Dodgers. It was the first 1-0 walkoff homer in the majors since Daniel Palka of the White Sox hit one against Cleveland on August 10, 2018.

As it turns out, Schwarber also owns the most recent walkoff homer for the Cubs, from whom he was traded. That was July 16, 2019 against Cincinnati. The only teams to go longer without one are the Cardinals and the D'backs themselves who got victimized by Friday's blast. And the last Nationals walkoff of any kind against Arizona was also their only other one by a 1-0 score. It was August 21, 2014, when Denard Span was awarded home on a throw into the camera well for what became the Nats' 10th straight win at the time.

And of course, just as we had finished this section, what do the Rangers come up with on Sunday but another 1-0 walkoff win. This one was not by homer, but it was in extra innings, meaning it had an assist from the free-runner rule. That runner, Charlie Culberson, was not the one who scored; he got retired at third on an attempted sacrifice because, as we know from having this rule in the minors for a few years, the home team always bunts if the visiting team didn't score in their half. But then Travis Lakins issues two wild pitches and two walks to load the bases for Nate Lowe, who deposits a single into left field for the win.

The Rangers hadn't won a 1-0 game with an extra-inning walkoff since Delino DeShields (this one is Junior) scored Joey Gallo on April 20, 2017. The Orioles hadn't lost one since Martin Prado of the Marlins singled home Adeiny Hechavarria on May 23, 2015. And Lakins? Well he's only the first reliever in Orioles/Browns franchise history to enter a game in extra innings and issue 2 walks and 2 wild pitches to end up losing.

So it's a good thing this part was last. Except for the always-important...

Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Steven Matz, Saturday: Second pitcher in Jays history to allow 1 run and get a win in each of his first three appearances for the team. The other is only Roger Clemens in 1997.

⚾ Kyle Wright, Friday: First Braves pitcher to hit three Cubs batters in the same game since Ray Boggs on September 17, 1928 (his last of exactly four (4) MLB appearances).

⚾ Nationals, Thursday: First time any Washington pitching staff has hit 5 batters in a game since June 20, 1913, when the Senators did it to the Yankees. Bert Daniels took three.

⚾ Aaron Nola, Sunday: First Phillies pitcher to throw a 9-inning shutout with 0 walks and 10 strikeouts since Roy Halladay's perfect game on May 29, 2010.

⚾ Yusmeiro Petit, Tuesday: First Oakland pitcher to get 3 wins within the team's first 12 games of a season since Jeff Parrett in 1992.

⚾ Jacob deGrom, Saturday: Became second pitcher in Mets history with 14+ strikeouts in consecutive outings. Dwight Gooden did it in August 1984.

⚾ Craig Stammen, Thursday: First Padres pitcher to get a 3-inning save in a road game since Brian Sweeney at Dodger Stadium on September 16, 2006. White Sox (by a few months) are the only team to go longer without having one.

⚾ Willy Adames, Monday: Second #9 batter in Rays history whose solo homer provided a 1-0 win. Nate Karns did it in Philadelphia on July 21, 2015.

⚾ Mitch Haniger & Ty France, Sunday: First one-two hitters in Mariners history to EACH have 2 extra-base hits and 3 RBI in the same game.

⚾ Luis Urias, Tue-Wed: First Brewers hitter to draw 3+ walks in back-to-back games since Rickie Weeks versus Houston, September 4-5, 2007.

⚾ Luis Urias, Saturday: First Brewers player to make 3 errors in a game that the team still won since Trent Durrington at St Louis, July 21, 2005. (We were there! And it was freakin' hot!)

⚾ Carlos Santana, Wednesday: First Royals baserunner called out for being hit by a batted ball since Jorge Soler got doinked by Alex Gordon on April 24, 2008.

⚾ Alex Cobb, Monday: First Angels pitcher to record 10 strikeouts in Kansas City since Nolan Ryan, July 1, 1979.

⚾ Mitch Haniger, Thursday: First player in Mariners history to bat leadoff in both games of a doubleheader and homer in each of them.

⚾ Brandon Nimmo, Tue-Wed: First Mets leadoff batter with back-to-back 3-hit games against the Phillies since Jose Reyes, July 12-13, 2003.

⚾ Casey Mize, Saturday: First Tigers pitcher to allow 3 homers and hit 2 batters since Frank Tanana in Anaheim, June 24, 1990.

⚾ Wilson Ramos, Tuesday: First Tigers catcher to bat cleanup and hit multiple homers since Robert Fick at Cincinnati, July 15, 2001.

⚾ Shane Bieber, Sunday: Became first pitcher in modern era (and probably ever) to record 11+ strikeouts in each of his first 4 appearances of a season.

⚾ Ronald Acuña, Monday: First Atlanta leadoff batter to have a triple and 3 walks since Walt Weiss vs Brewers, July 19, 1998.

⚾ Kolby Allard, Friday: Second pitcher in Rangers history to throw 3+ perfect innings and strike out 5+ batters. Note we didn't say "reliever". The other is Kenny Rogers' perfect game on July 28, 1994.

Repent, The End Is Near

And yet it seems like we just started. But we're not talking about the end of the season here, we're talking the end of the game. Since the international tiebreaker rule (you may know it as the "free runner", "ghost runner", "runner on second", "a good idea", "a really stupid idea", etc.) was introduced for the shortened 2020 season, the ends of games are greatly compressed. We've yet to have one go beyond 13 innings, and only 10 percent even make it to the 12th. So a lot of drama can be squished into those couple extra frames. And this week, if you wanted to find the fun and oddities, you went straight to the end.

Triskaidekaphobia

One of those three games that's even gotten to a 13th inning happened on Tuesday when the Diamondbacks and Rockies hooked up at Coors Field. Stephen Vogt put Arizona ahead with a 2-run homer in the 7th. only to have Ryan McMahon answer in the bottom half. When Sam Hilliard took Chris Devenski deep with 2 outs in the 9th, we mumbled something under our breath and headed off to extras. Hilliard also had a tying homer with 2 outs in the 9th on September 28, 2019, against Milwaukee; he and Todd Helton are the only players in Rockies history to hit two of them when the team was down to its final out.

We trade runs in the 10th thanks to a leadoff double by pinch hitter Josh Fuentes (and the free runner rule, of course). The Rockies had recorded only one other tying or go-ahead double by a pinch hitter in extra innings, and it was in the very first game at Coors Field on April 26, 1995. Jim Tatum doubled off the Mets' Mike Remlinger to send that contest to a 14th inning.

Tuesday would not end up with a 14th inning. Charlie Blackmon gets thrown out at the plate as the winning run in the 11th. We trade runs in the 12th. But then Stephen Vogt offers up a go-ahead single in the 13th, joining Luis Gonzalez (August 15, 2006) as the only D'backs players to hit one that late in a game at Coors. Ketel Marte then doubles home Vogt and Matt Peacock for a 10-7 lead. Did we mention Ryan McMahon is up in the bottom half?

No, he didn't go yard. He definitely didn't hit a 3-run homer to tie it, which is the only reason the game mercifully ended at exactly midnight. He did double in Trevor Story to finish the scoring at 10-8, thus becoming the third player in Rockies history to have 4 extra-base hits in a loss. The others on that list are Jeff Baker (May 30, 2008, at Wrigley) and Todd Walker (June 25, 2001, vs Padres). It was, not surprisingly, the first game in Colorado history where they scored in three different extra innings and still lost.

It All Begins Where It Ends

Entering Tuesday, there was one team left who not only hadn't had an "end" yet, they hadn't even had a beginning. Five days after most of their counterparts, the Nationals finally got to play their season opener, and well, maybe we'll just do that first pitch over again. Because Ronald Acuña launched it to left field for a 1-0 Atlanta lead. In the past four seasons, Acuña leads all MLB hitters with seven homers on the first pitch seen by a team in a game; Shin-Soo Choo has six. Two batters later, Freddie Freeman had also taken Max Scherzer deep for a 2-0 lead. Dansby Swanson then led off the 2nd with a homer, and wouldn't you know it, Acuña is back up to start the 3rd. And that ball is in the seats in left-center. It was the first time in Scherzer's career that he allowed homers in each of a game's first three innings, and Acuña's fourth time leading off a game with a homer and then going yard again later. The only other Braves batters to do that multiple times are Martin Prado and Felipe Alou.

But we're about endings this time. The Nats chipped away until an Andrew Stevenson RBI single tied the game in the 8th. That got Scherzer off the hook, joining John Patterson (2004), Tony Armas (2003), and Scott Sanderson (1982) as the only pitchers in franchise history to allow 4 homers and not take a loss. Alas he was long gone by the time Juan Soto reached home plate in the 9th. Soto dumped a line-drive single into center to allow Victor Robles to also reach home plate with a 6-5 Nationals win. Since moving from Montréal, the "Nationals" had only won one other season opener in walkoff fashion; that was 2008, also against Atlanta, when Ryan Zimmerman homered.

Tuesday was the first game in Nationals history to begin with a homer on the first pitch and end with a walkoff (of any kind) on the last pitch. The last known time the Expos did it was July 26, 1990, against the Cubs (Dave Clark HR, Tim Raines single).

Save The Last Dance For Me

And what about a beginning full of endings? Meet Akil Baddoo. Selected by the Twins out of high school in 2016, he never made it above high-A before needing Tommy John surgery and missing most of 2019 and all of 2020. But that meant he had been in the minors for five seasons and was subject to the Rule 5 draft. The Tigers picked him up and here he is on their Opening Day roster.

Last Sunday, in his MLB debut with the Tigers, all he did was provide half of the team's offense. Okay, that's a small sample size, because Detroit mustered just two hits in a loss to Cleveland, but one of them was Baddoo's first major-league homer. On the first pitch he ever saw in the majors. Only nine players in Tigers history have ever homered in their first at-bat, and the only other one known to do it on the first pitch is George Vico in 1948.

Monday's series opener with Minnesota was, well, also not close. Jose Ureña and Buck Farmer gave up 8 early runs and it was 15-2 by the time Baddoo came to the plate in the 9th inning. With the bases loaded. And at least 15-6 looks like less of a blowout. Baddoo was the first Tigers batter to hit a grand slam with his team down to its final out since J.D. Martinez did it against the Royals on June 16, 2014. More notably, Baddoo is the first ever to play his first two MLB games in a Tigers uniform and homer in both of them.

Spoiler alert: On Tuesday Baddoo did not homer. So no 3-game streak to start a career. Ah, but he does have another 3-game streak. Because in this one the Tigers bullpen surrendered two late runs to force more of those weird extra innings we've come to, well, know. And with 2 outs in the 10th, it was Baddoo's turn to single home free runner Harold Castro for the walkoff win. That got Baddoo another place in Detroit history; the only other Tigers batter with an extra-inning walkoff hit within his first 3 MLB games was Gabe Alvarez on June 24, 1998. And that walkoff hit also means another RBI. Four others have played their first 3 major-league games with the Tigers and had at least 1 hit and at least 1 RBI in all of them: Ron Cash (1973), Johnny Lipon (1942), Don Ross (1938), and Dale Alexander (1929).

As for that Monday game, Randy Dobnak was on the hill for the Twins to give up that grand slam. But he'd also been on the hill throughout the 7th and 8th innings also. That earned him the loophole of a 3-inning "save" despite turning a 14-run lead into "only" a 9-run lead. Oh yeah, and the grand slam. He was the second pitcher in Twins history to give up 5 runs and 2 homers, yet still "earn" a save because of the 3-inning rule. Dave Goltz did it in Cleveland on June 6, 1973.

Friend Of Kernels Jayson Stark asked us to look into the part about the slam. Since saves became an official thing in 1969, Dobnak is the fourth pitcher to "earn" one despite giving up a 2-out, 9th-inning grand slam. And two of the other three are Francisco Rodriguez (K-Rod), who did it for two different teams (the 2005 Angels and 2017 Tigers). The remaining one is Kevin Gregg of the Marlins in 2007.

J.D. Got Us Fallin' In Love

J.D. Martinez just got mentioned in that Tigers section, but his days in the Motor City ended in 2017. He's now in the fourth year of a five-year deal with the Red Sox, and so far the negotiations for a new one are looking good. Tuesday's game with the Rays featured more of those pesky extra innings after Christian Vazquez hit a tying homer in the 9th. Mike Lowell had the only other such homer for Boston against the Rays on August 14, 2007. After the teams traded free runners in the 11th, Randy Arozarena's groundout in the 12th scored Mike Zunino to give Tampa Bay a 5-4 lead.

Enter Mr. Martinez. With Hunter Renfroe as the free runner at second, he could only stand there as the first two batters made quick outs. But then Alex Verdugo got hit by a pitch to allow Martinez to bat again. A wild pitch puts both runners in scoring position, and when J.D. doubles to right, the Sawx have not only walked off, they've done so when down to their last out because the Rays were winning at the time.

The Sawx had not recorded a walkoff win that late in a game since Blake Swihart's automatic double in the 13th on July 30, 2018, against the Phillies. It was also Boston's latest walkoff win ever against the Rays (if you consider 2 outs in the 12th to be later than 1 out in the 12th, which we do). But the last time the Red Sox had a walkoff hit when trailing in the 12th or later? For that you have to go back to April 29, 1967, when Rick Monday of Kansas City (that's the A's) homered in the top of the 13th but Jose Tartabull hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom half.

That Martinez walkoff was the most exciting of his hits this week, but there were plenty to choose from. J.D. homered on Monday and would go on to double on both Wednesday and Thursday as well (alas, no walkoffs). The streak extended to Martinez having at least 1 extra-base hit in every one of Boston's first 7 games of the season. Four other players in the modern era have pulled that off: Alex Rodriguez in 2007, Larry Walker and Phil Nevin in 2001, and Ken Griffey Jr in 1997. However, A-Rod remains the only one to extend that streak to 8; J.D.'s hopes were dashed by not playing at all on Saturday due to cold symptoms and an abundance of caution. Perhaps he should have shown this column to Alex Cora.

Or maybe he did. On Sunday J.D. was cleared to come back, and he did so with a vengeance, crushing 3 homers in a 14-9 slugfest with the Orioles. The only other Red Sox batter to do that in Baltimore (either stadium) was Mookie Betts in a 6-2 win on May 31, 2016. Rafael Devers added 2 homers of his own, making them the third set of Boston teammates to have 2 HR & 4 RBI in the same game against the O's/Browns franchise. And the other two happened in back-to-back games! Vern Stephens and Clyde Vollmer did it on June 7, 1950, in a 20-4 escapade, and the next day three Red Sox batters-- Bobby Doerr, Walt Dropo, and Ted Williams-- all collected that line (and much more) in a still-famous 29-4 game at Fenway Park.

And even though Martinez didn't have an extra-base hit in his team's first 8 games of the season, he did have one in each of his first 8 games of a season. Along with A-Rod, the only other player in the modern era to pull that off is Cleveland's Sandy Alomar in 1997.

How The East Was Won

Elsewhere in the AL East, the Orioles and Yankees found themselves in an extra-inning escapade the next day after Gio Urshela hit an RBI double in the 8th. It was the Yankees' first two-bagger to tie (not take the lead) a game with the Orioles in the 8th or later since Tony Kubek ruined Dave McNally's pitching night on May 2, 1965.

After the teams traded free runners in the 10th, Baltimore finally sealed the win when Chance Sisco singled home free runner Rio Ruiz in the 11th. Luis Cessa then came in and struck out Anthony Santander and Ryan McKenna with the bases loaded to keep the game within reach. The Yankees still didn't score in their half, but Cessa became the first Yankees pitcher to record back-to-back bases-loaded strikeouts in an extra inning since Shawn Kelley on June 30, 2014.

The Orioles' run in the 10th managed to score on an error as Gleyber Torres got a little too anxious to end the inning and airmailed the throw to first. So Sisco's hit in the 11th was still just the fourth base knock of the game for Baltimore. The O's hadn't played an extra-inning game where they managed to score 4+ runs on 4 or fewer hits since May 11, 1996, at Milwaukee.

On Saturday the Orioles found themselves in another extra-inning tangle, this one against the Red Sox. After Freddy Galvis gave Baltimore the lead in the 8th, the Sawx tied the game when Bobby Dalbec grounded into a potentially-game-ending double play but the O's couldn't turn it. And that would end up giving Dillon Tate an unfortunate piece of Orioles history. Tate was the pitcher who started the 10th for Baltimore, with free runner Michael Chavis quickly advancing to third... and in position to score the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Which we mention because of course it happened. Only three Orioles pitchers this century have wild-pitched in a go-ahead run in extra innings, and they've all done it against Boston at Camden Yards. The others are Brad Brach (September 19, 2017) and Willis Roberts (September 23, 2002).

As for the Yankees, they waited until Sunday to meet up with the extra-inning rule again, but this time they seemed to like it. Free runner Aaron Judge got erased at the plate, but behind him came Aaron Hicks who had been plunked, Rougned Odor who singled, and then Gary Sanchez who singled and scored on a fielding error. The Yankees doubled their total for the game with 4 runs in the 10th, and the Rays went 1-2-3 in the bottom half.

And there's something about these two teams and extra innings. In the past eight seasons, to the start of 2014, there have been five occasions where the Yankees scored 4 or more runs in an extra inning-- and all of them are against the Rays, including back-to-back wins on July 4 and 5, 2019.

With all this discussion of "Ray"s and "ghost runners", we can't not drop this classic on you. Intermission!

California Love

Out in the Golden State, four of its five MLB teams matched wits with each other this week, and on Wednesday neither game could be bothered to end in nine innings. Wil Myers forced extras at Petco Park with a solo homer, the team's first tying homer against the Giants in the 8th or later since Hector Sanchez took Mark Melançon deep on April 30, 2017.

But in the top of the 10th, it was Donovan Solano's sac fly that held up for the win; he brought home free runner Alex Dickerson after a strikeout and a roller to second failed to advance him. The Giants had hit just one other go-ahead sac fly in extra innings against San Diego, and it was a walkoff. Jim Dwyer hit it off Rollie Fingers on July 5, 1978.

Up in Oakland, it was the Dodgers' turn to visit there in an unusually-early interleague series. This one ended up in extras when Elvis Andrus hit a sacrifice fly in the 9th. And with the benefit of the free runner at second, it didn't take long for Mitch Moreland to hit a walkoff single in the 10th. Even though interleague play has now been with us for a quarter-century, it's only the third time the A's have walked off against the Dodgers in extras. Billy Butler hit a 10th-inning double on August 18, 2015, and on June 17, 2006, Bobby Crosby drew the latest-ever "shrimp" in Oakland history, a bases-loaded walk with 2 outs in the 17th.

Not to be forgotten, the remaining California team, the Angels, posted an 11-inning win over the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla., on Thursday. Leadoff batter Jose Iglesias walked, and with the added bonus of free runner Justin Upton, it would soon be David Fletcher's turn to bloop a 2-out, 2-run single into center field. The last time the Angels hit a multi-run, go-ahead single in the 11th or later was Opening Day 2013 in Cincinnati, when Chris Iannetta provided a 3-1 win off J.J. Hoover.

Then on Saturday the Angels and Jays played one of the most fascinating games of the young season before a "sellout" crowd of 1292 at the little single-A park in Dunedin. After a 2½-hour rain delay, the first pitch finally crossed the plate at 9:45 pm, and by 11:00 the Jays had wasted no time unloading on their Halo visitors. They knocked Jose Quintana out of the game in the 2nd after 7 runs, and dumped 7 more on Jaime Barria before he was rescued in the 4th. Those two pitchers were the first teammates in Angels history to give up 7+ runs each in the same game while getting no more than 6 outs. It was the first time since May 14, 2010, that the Jays had scored 14+ runs by the end of the 4th, and then Joe Panik added a meaningless RBI single in the 8th. The final score of 15-1 was easily the Jays' largest victory margin ever against the Angels, and the first time they'd scored 15+ without hitting a home run since July 14, 2011, against the Yankees (W 16-7).

Tommy Milone invoked that 3-inning rule to become the second pitcher in Jays history to "earn" a save in a game they won by 14 runs. Dave Stieb also did it in a 16-2 win at Seattle on August 19, 1998.

And Josh Palacios began his MLB career on Friday by going 0-for-3, but no worries, he's joining the parade on Saturday. His 4-for-4 performance, including scoring a run on all four trips around the bases, put him in rare company. Only two other players in the modern era have done 4 hits and 4 runs scored in either of their first two MLB games. Wid Conroy of the Brewers (slash Browns, slash Orioles) did it on April 25, 1901, in a game that is famous for being the first one in Tigers history. It ended with a 14-13 Detroit walkoff. The other player was Michael Conforto of the Mets on July 25, 2015.

Lean On Me

Sooooo yeah, about Michael Conforto. You might have heard he was the topic of a wild ending on Thursday that even the Mets' own announcers couldn't believe. Things were set up by Jeff McNeil's solo homer to lead off the 9th, the second such dinger in Mets history to tie a game against the Marlins. Endy Chavez also started the 9th with one off Kevin Gregg on May 28, 2008.

After Brandon Nimmo collected his third extra-base hit of the day, Francisco Lindor was intentionally walked to get to Conforto. Who had been hit by a pitch in the 5th inning already. Now technically Conforto and the ball did make contact. Which party initiated it, is a debate that will live on. To say nothing of whether the pitch was actually a strike, which isn't reviewable. So it goes in the boxscore as one of our favorite events here at Kernels, one which we affectionately call a "plunk-off". There's only been three in Mets history; the others with game-winning bruises in the morning were Justin Turner (June 22, 2011, vs Oakland) and Daryl Boston (April 23, 1992, vs Cardinals). Conforto also became the first player, for any team, since at least 1907 (we lose play-by-play before that) to have multiple HBPs in a game with the last one being a plunk-off.

Mets fans are all too familiar with another ending, the one where Jacob deGrom pitches his brains out and still can't buy a win. Against the Marlins on Saturday "JDG" fanned 14 batters and allowed just 1 run, but that was a solo shot by Jazz Chisholm and it was enough to tag deGrom with the loss. Chisholm, for his part, became the sixth Marlins batter to homer at both Citi Field and Yankee Stadium, joining Brian Anderson, Garrett Cooper, J.T. Realmuto, Giancarlo Stanton, and Christian Yelich. But with Trevor Rogers also striking out 10 for the Marlins, and the Mets mustering only 3 hits, deGrom got the second "L" of his career in a game where he fanned 14 opponents. The other was last September against the Rays. He joins an illustrious list of hurlers to do it for other teams-- including (among others) Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Steve Carlton, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, and Pedro Martinez-- but deGrom is the first pitcher in Mets history to do it twice.

The End Of The Innocence

You may know that "Mets history", at least the current incarnation, begins in 1962 with National League expansion after the Dodgers and Giants moved to the west coast. For half a century there was one elusive feat the Mets had never pulled off, and it wasn't a game-ending hit-by-pitch or even a pitcher striking out 14 and losing. It was a pitcher throwing a no-hitter. Johan Santana finally broke that streak on June 1, 2012, in the team's 8,020th regular-season game. For nearly a decade that left us with only one active franchise that had never thrown one-- the San Diego Padres. Elevated to major-league status seven years after the Mets, they finally passed the Mets' streak of games in 2019. Oh sure, there had been scares. Five Padres games had gone into the 9th inning as no-hitters but none ever broke through. The most recent of those was a five-pitcher combined affair against the Dodgers in July 2011, in which not only did the Padres lose the NH in the 9th, they lost the game on a walkoff.

Enter Joe Musgrove. The kid from the San Diego suburb of El Cajon who grew up as a Padres fan and finally got the chance to play for his hometown team after a three-team trade in January. He led that team onto the field in Arlington on Friday night, and the Padres already had a 3-0 lead by the 3rd inning. In the 4th, Musgrove plunks Joey Gallo with a pitch for the Rangers' first baserunner. But then he retires four more in a row to earn the bright-blue "no-hitter" banner on MLB's scoreboard page. Yeah, we've seen this movie before.

Except this one has a surprise (and happy) ending. Musgrove did indeed retire twelve more in a row to break the spell in the Padres' 8,206th regular-season game. That's still not the all-time record; according to Friend Of Kernels Dirk Lammers, who may now have to change the name of his website devoted to all things NH, that honor is held by the Phillies who went 8,944 games (from 1906 to 1944) without throwing one. The longest current streak is now with the Indians, whose last NH was also a PG, by Len Barker in 1981. To reach the record streak, Cleveland would have to get to at least the 2038 season without throwing another one.

A no-hitter is usually (but not necessarily) an individual shutout as well, but Musgrove struck out 10 Rangers batters along the way. No Padres pitcher had thrown one of those in a road game since Andy Ashby did it in Pittsburgh on June 18, 1995. Ashby, by the way, was one of those other five Padres to lose a no-hitter in the 9th (though not the same game). Also, note here that the only baserunner Musgrove allowed was Joey Gallo's hit-by-pitch in the 4th. No walks either. 27 of 28. The last time a hit batter stood between a pitcher and a perfect game was yet another controversial ending a la Michael Conforto. Max Scherzer retired 26 straight before Jose Tabata "got hit by" a pitch on June 20, 2015.

Four no-hitters have been thrown in Arlington, and all of them are notable in their own way. Two are among the 23 perfect games in MLB history: Mike Witt's in the 1984 season finale, and Kenny Rogers in 1994. And Nolan Ryan threw his seventh and final NH at Arlington Stadium on May 1, 1991.

All this meant that at 9:51 CDT on April 9, 2021, we could finally, once again, say that every existing MLB franchise had thrown at least one no-hitter. The Padres, as mentioned, date back to 1969, and the Mets to 1962 before them. Neither of the AL expansion teams (Angels and Senators) threw one in their inaugural season the year before. The Senators played their first-ever game on April 10, one day before the Angels did. That means that the last full day on which we could actually say "every team has thrown a no-hitter" was April 9, 1961-- sixty years to the day before the Padres allowed us to say it again.

Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Ronald Acuña, Sunday: First Braves leadoff batter with 3 hits and a sacrifice fly in a loss since Lonnie Smith versus San Diego, September 15, 1990.

⚾ Lorenzo Cain, Wednesday: First extra-inning homer hit by Brewers at Wrigley Field since Prince Fielder off Rocky Cherry, April 23, 2007.

⚾ Roberto Perez, Saturday: Second player in modern era with a homer, 3 walks, and 4 runs scored batting either 8th or 9th. Boston's Trot Nixon did it at the Metrodome on April 28, 1999.

⚾ Mike Yastrzemski, Monday: First go-ahead pinch-hit homer for Giants against Padres since Bill Bathe off Atlee Hammaker, September 4, 1990.

⚾ Yasmani Grandal, Wednesday: First White Sox catcher to bat in the cleanup spot and draw 3 walks since Carlton Fisk vs Orioles, September 2, 1989.

⚾ Trey Mancini & Maikel Franco, Sunday: First Orioles teammates with 4 RBI each in a loss since Larry Sheets & Jim Dwyer against Texas, August 6, 1986.

⚾ Brandon Nimmo, Tuesday: First Mets leadoff batter with 3 walks and a stolen base since Jose Reyes vs Giants, May 3, 2011.

⚾ Luis Arraez, Thursday: First Twins #9 batter with a homer and a sac fly in the same game since Alexi Casilla at Oakland, August 31, 2008.

⚾ Adrian House, Saturday: Second pitcher in Brewers history to allow 6 hits, 4 walks, and throw a wild pitch, yet be charged with 0 earned runs and get a win. Jim Slaton did it in a shutout of Minnesota on July 4, 1971.

⚾ Dodgers, Friday: First 1-0 win over the Nats/Expos via solo homer since Mike Piazza off Pedro Martinez on August 14, 1997.

⚾ Dylan Carlson, Wednesday: Second grand slam ever hit by Cardinals in Dade County. The other was (really) by (pitcher!) Kent Mercker on September 2, 1998.

⚾ Trea Turner, Sunday: First Nats/Expos player with 3 hits and a stolen base in a game where the team got shut out since Marquis Grissom at Philadelphia, June 23, 1992.

⚾ Zack McKinstry, Monday: First Dodgers #9 batter with 3 hits and 3 RBI in a game since Randy Wolf at Arizona, August 16, 2009. First non-pitcher in Dodgers history to do it.

⚾ Tyler Mahle, Friday: First Reds starter to be removed from a game in the 5th or later having not allowed a hit since Jim Maloney at Pittsburgh, August 16, 1967.

⚾ Freddie Freeman, Wednesday: First player to be intentionally walked in both the 1st and 2nd innings of the same game since Albert Pujols against Detroit, June 16, 2009.

⚾ Nomar Mazara, Sunday: Second player in Tigers history to ground into 2 double plays (official since 1933) and commit 2 defensive errors in the same game. Pinky Higgins at Philadelphia, July 16, 1940.

⚾ Jonathan India, Tuesday: Second player in Reds history with a triple, a sac fly, and 3 runs scored in a game. Barry Larkin did it at Wrigley Field on July 13, 1995.

⚾ Shane Bieber, Wednesday: Became fourth pitcher in modern era to strike out 12+ opponents in each of first two starts of a season. Bieber is half of them (did it last year too). Others are Nolan Ryan 1978 and Karl Spooner 1954.

2020: Hindsight

Doesn't it feel good to have baseball in April again? It's been a while.

We Always Find Our Way Back Home(r)

While New York was officially the site of 2021's first pitch (see The Time Of The Season link above), the first home run would memorably come from Miguel Cabrera, featuring a slide into second base because he couldn't follow the ball in the also-flying Detroit snow. (Trivia question: Who hit the first home run last year?) Miggy hit Opening Day homers in both 2007 (with Florida) and 2008 but hadn't clobbered one in the 13 years since. That 13-year span between Opening Day homers was the longest in Tigers history; Al Kaline hit one in 1959 and then waited a decade to hit another.

(Trivia answer: Giancarlo Stanton. And nobody was confused by where it ended up.

Farther west in Chicago, it was an hour later until the Pirates and Cubs got to begin their 2021 campaigns, and what more exciting way to welcome fans back to Wrigley Field than with a leadoff walk. Adam Frazier was the first Pirates batter to draw a walk to begin the team's season since Starling Marte did it 8 years earlier to the day. But then Ke'Bryan Hayes steps to the plate. If you missed Ke'Bryan last year, he is the son of journeyman infielder (and original Colorado Rockie) Charlie Hayes from the 1990s, and he made his debut halfway through the 2020 season-- you know, September 1st. Exactly seven months later he made Pirates team history by clobbering a 2-run homer as the team's second batter of the season. Since the "Alleghanys" of the American Association were founded in 1882, that had never happened before.

In the bottom of the 1st, Ian Happ would lead off the season for the Cubs. You might remember Happ's Opening Day claim to fame; in 2018 he homered on the first pitch of the entire MLB season. In 2021, not so much. But he did also draw a walk, and combined with Adam Frazier, it was the first game in 14 years where both teams walked the first batter of a season. Gary Matthews of the Angels and Kenny Lofton, by then with Texas, did it on April 2, 2007.

That would not be the last walk issued in that Pirates/Cubs game. Ohhhh no. Colin Moran ended up with three, joining Jason Bay (2006) as the only Pirates cleanup batters in the modern era to do that in an opener. The total of 11 was the most walks issued to Pittsburgh by the Cubs since April 12, 2004, in the second game of Greg Maddux's return to the North Side. (More Maddux connections later.)

For their part, the Cubs' offense wasn't doing much either. They ended up with 3 runs on only 2 hits, and neither of the hits was a home run. The last time they pulled that off was against the Mets at Shea on May 8, 1966.

Five Alive

Even though the Rangers hosted the final game of the 2020 season, they didn't exactly play in it. In fact, they and the Royals won only 48 games between them, or 2 out of every 5. We'll write that off as a "rebuilding year". So we're not expecting much when the gates open on 2021.

Rangers: Double, double, walk, infield single, double, single, single, foulout, single with force play at the plate, fielder's choice.

Royals: Single, single, walk, bases-loaded walk, passed ball, walk, strikeout, single, single, pitching change!, sac fly, flyout.

Just like that, 47 minutes later, we have a 5-5 game after one inning. The great folks at Baseball Reference (from whom most of our nuggets are gleaned) beat us to this one; it is indeed the first Opening Day game in history where both teams scored 5 runs in the 1st inning. Kyle Gibson (see pitching change above) became the first Opening Day starter-- for any team-- to record just 1 out since Mark Bomback of the Blue Jays did it against Milwaukee on April 9, 1982. (You Brewers fans recall how that season turned out.)

Brad Keller, the Royals' starter, then lasted just four more batters (and two more hits) before getting pulled in the 2nd. It was the first game since at least 1900 that was a season opener for both teams, and in which neither starter got through the 2nd. It was also the first game in Kauffman Stadium history where both starters gave up 5+ runs while getting no more than 5 outs.

By the time this finally ends, the Royals have won the slugfest 14-10, easily their highest-scoring opener in team history, and the first time the Rangers scored 10 in a road game and lost since their old mate Nelson Cruz walked them off in Seattle on April 19, 2015.

It's In The Cards

For many years the MLB season always began at Crosley Field in Cincinnati (frequently against the Cubs), a tradition which continued into the Riverfront Stadium days. Doesn't happen so much anymore. But the Reds do generally still open at home every year, even if they're not the first game of the season, and in 2021 it was the Cardinals' turn to come to town. And while one team from Missouri was trading 5's, the other was hanging a 1st-inning "6" on Cincinnati, yet another instance of a team never before doing that in its first inning of a season. However, St Louis would roll up 11 runs by the 4th inning... and then say eh, that's enough, we'll stop. We haven't done this "play a game" thing in six months, let's start slow. That, of course, was enough to still win easily, 11-6. Only once in the last 10 years had the Reds given up 11+ runs by the 4th inning, and that was also against the Cardinals (August 6, 2017, there was a "9" involved). Luis Castillo, forget that it's Opening Day, became the first Reds pitcher to give up 10 runs and strike out zero, in any game, since Dan Serafini did it at St Louis on September 6, 2003.

Paul Goldschmidt collected 4 hits and 3 runs scored in the romp; the last Cardinals batter with a 4-hit opener was Albert Pujols-- also in Cincinnati, and also in an 11-6 win. That was in 2010. Since 1900 the only other Cardinals batter with 4 and 3 on Opening Day was Julian Javier in 1962, when St Louis was the opponent in the first-ever game played by some new team called the Metropolitans.

One bright spot for Cincinnati was the MLB debut of infielder Jonathan India. It's hard enough to make your MLB debut on Opening Day, especially when you didn't play at all in the previous season, but India did that and had 2 hits. The last player to debut for Cincinnati in an opener and also have a multi-hit game was Tony Gonzalez in 1960.

Strike It Up

Because we're all about oddities here at Kernels, we like to point out the exceptions rather than the rule. But in most cases a team's Opening Day starter is the highly-regarded ace of the staff, or maybe a strong second-chair depending on how the schedule falls out. Either way, someone you'd expect to be dealing. So would you believe this little nugget.

Gerrit Cole, acquired by the Yankees last year just so that nobody else could, fanned 8 batters in their season-opening loss to the Rays. The Yankees-- of Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina and CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka and even a couple Randy Johnson years-- had not had an Opening Day starter strike out 8 batters since Roger Clemens did it in 1999.

Meanwhile, the Braves trotted out Max Fried for their opener, and he also struck out 8 in a loss to the Phillies. The Braves-- of Greg Maddux and John Smoltz and Derek Lowe and Julio Teheran-- hadn't had an Opening Day starter do that since 1992 (!) when Tom Glavine threw a 2-hit shutout in Houston.

The Braves and Yankees were two of the three teams to not have an Opening Day starter fan 8+ yet this century. The last one left is the Orioles (yeah, that sounds right), for whom the aforementioned Mike Mussina did it in 1998. And all their starter, John Means, did on Friday was to throw 7 innings of 1-hit ball and issue 0 walks. Since 1901 that's only happened twice before in an opener-- by Jordan Zimmermann of the Tigers two years ago, and Irv Young of the Braves in 1906.

New Season, Who Dis?

Trevor Bauer, never one to shy away from an argument, or a demand for money, or a conspiracy theory here and there, had a number of teams shying away from signing him after he became a free agent last year. Los Angeles, never one to refuse a controversial celebrity, signed him to a 3-year deal in February and then gave him the second start of the season against the Rockies.

Bauer proceeded to throw 6 no-hit innings and make us dig up the list of second-game NH's. You likely know the list of official no-hitters on Opening Day. It's Bob Feller and that's it. (There is also one in the Negro Leagues which is gaining attention now that MLB is moving toward official recognition.) The second-game list is four pitchers long: Hideo Nomo in 2001, Ken Forsch in 1979, Burt Hooton in 1972, and Rube Marquard for the Giants in 1915.

Coors Field then decided there would not be a fifth. Bauer gave up 4 runs and 2 homers in the 7th, but did at least get Garrett Hampson for his 10th strikeout before leaving. Since becoming the "Los Angeles" Dodgers in 1958, only three other pitchers have fanned 10+ in their first appearance for the team: Yu Darvish in 2017, Kaz Ishii in 2002, and Pedro Astacio in 1992.

Someone say Yu Darvish? After those nine appearances for the Dodgers in 2017, he found his way to Chicago for three years, and then got traded to San Diego for Zach Davies right after Christmas. So he became the Padres' Opening Day starter for 2021, and let's say this one is less memorable than his first start of 2013. Darvish allowed 8 hits and 2 homers to the Diamondbacks, who-- after Darvish's exit-- would go on to become the first team in MLB history to hit four homers in the same inning of any season opener. When the Padres scored two late runs to win (and get Darvish off the hook), he became the first pitcher to allow 8-and-2 in his first game with San Diego and not take a loss.

Remember that 14-10 Royals game where both teams scored 5 in the 1st? That wasn't the only gusher that Michael Taylor was watching that day; he now had some new gushers behind him in center field at Kauffman after being granted free agency by the Nationals last October. Taylor unleashed a couple gushers of his own, throwing out two runners at the plate (and remember, 10 of them still scored) in addition to having 3 hits, a homer, and 3 RBI on offense. No Royals player had done all that in a game since Jose Gullen on June 7, 2008. And since RBI became official in 1920, no player in the sport had done that (3 hits, HR, 3 RBI, 2 outfield assists) in his first game with any new team. In fact, only three did it while having one outfield assist: Chuck Carr for the Brewers in 1996, Bobby Bonilla for the Mets in 1992, and the Browns' Bob Nieman in 1951.

In the continuing pitcher shuffle, Alex Cobb has found his way to Anaheim, where he made his Angels debut on Saturday. The good news is that he struck out seven Chicago batters. The bad news is that he allowed 8 hits to the same group. Only other pitcher has hit both those lofty numbers in his first appearance with the Angels; Jerry Casale did it in the team's second-ever contest, April 15, 1961, at Boston.

Remember Lucas Luetge? We weren't sure he was still playing either. After three solid years in Seattle, including being part of a combined no-hitter in 2012, Luetge was sent to the minors and bounced around triple-A for five different teams in four years around a Tommy John surgery in '17. Yankees GM Brian Cashman mysteriously signed the lefty right before Christmas, with Scranton likely his sixth triple-A destination in a row. However, with Zach Britton suddenly injured, the Yankees added Luetge to their opening-day roster. On Saturday he made his first MLB appearance in nearly six years... and got a hold despite throwing 2 wild pitches and giving up a run. No Yankees pitcher had uncorked 2 WPs in his first appearance for the team since Darrin Chapin made his MLB debut on September 21, 1991.

We have Cashman and Chapin in that last section, neither of whom are related to the musicians of the same name. But guess whose song we're going to link you to. (Hint: Not the depressing one. The one that's about baseball!) Intermission!

1, 2 Step

Yeah, but sure, anybody can do something in the first game of the season. Can you do it again in the second?

In between Miguel Cabrera hitting the first homer of 2021 and Ke'Bryan Hayes hitting the third, we find Gary Sanchez. Entering his fifth season of being the Yankees' most frequent catcher, he launched a 2-run, lead-flipping homer in the 2nd inning on Thursday. Now, those would be the only runs the Yankees scored in that game, but on Saturday Sanchez was back to do it again, this time leading off the 4th with a solo shot to again put New York up 2-1 on Toronto. The last time a Yankees batter homered in the team's first two games? We already gave you a hint by saying that Giancarlo Stanton hit last year's first homer. He went deep in Game 2 as well. And the number of Yankees who have done it over the years is more than we want to list here. But the only other time the Bronx Bombers had a player do it two years in a row was 1932-33... both times by Lou Gehrig.

Elsewhere in the AL East, Austin Meadows was pulling off the same feat for the Rays as they took an opening series in Miami. On Thursday Meadows launched a solo homer in the 8th inning-- the only run scored by either team in the game. Rays win 1-0. They'd never won a season opener by that count, and they'd never won a 1-0 game against the Marlins via solo homer. On Friday he was back for more, lining another solo shot over the fence in right. That made Meadows the third player in Rays history to homer in their first two games of a season, joining Evan Longoria in 2010 and Elijah Dukes in 2007.

And then we go to Milwaukee where the Twins were opening their season. Max Kepler was the story on Thursday, becoming the first player to go single-double-triple in a season opener on the road since Jose Offerman did that for the Red Sox in 1999. Only two other players in Twins/Senators history had posted 3 hits including a triple on Opening Day: Joe Kuhel in 1945, and Gary Gaetti in 1982 in the very first game at the Metrodome.

Byron Buxton was relegated to a homer and a stolen base on Thursday, but on Saturday the only things being hit were gloves. It's unusual to have a "game for the ages" so early in a season, but as the saying goes, that's why they play 'em. Jose Berrios and Corbin Burnes combined to retire the first 26 batters of the game in order. Strangely, two of the next three-- Jake Cave for the Twins and Keston Hiura for the Brewers-- proceeded to get hit by pitches and break up both perfect games. But then 10 more go down in order. Through 6 innings we have a double no-hitter, the first such game in the majors since Jake Peavy (SF) and Jacob deGrom (NYM) matched wits on August 2, 2014.

And finally with 1 out in the 7th, boom goes Buxton again. Nobody is thinking about this list at the time, but you can add him as the seventh player in franchise history to homer in the first two games of a season. The others are Shannon Stewart (2006), Tony Oliva (1975), Larry Hisle (1973), Bobby Darwin (1972), Harmon Killebrew (1968), and Reno Bertoia (1959).

Finally Omar Narvaez kills the other no-hitter in the 8th, and by now both starters have long since departed. Buxton's homer knocked Burnes out and also put him on the hook for the loss. Two other pitchers in the modern era have allowed 1 hit, struck out 11+, and eaten an "L": Kevin Appier of the Royals on July 27, 1993, and then-Angel Nolan Ryan on July 31, 1972. Berrios, for his part, was the more-controversial pulling. Because it's the second game of a 162-game season, and coming off a shortened 60-game campaign, managers are being more cautious than ever. Rocco Baldelli admitted as such. But still yanked Berrios after 6 no-hit innings and 12 strikeouts. Berrios thus gets a special place in MLB history-- as the first pitcher ever to allow 0 hits and strike out a dozen batters without actually getting to finish the game.

You Know The Rhythm Now

For those out there who claim there are "too many homers", we also have some first-two-games achievements in other categories.

The Red Sox did not have a particularly good weekend, dropping three straight games to Baltimore and going 0-3 for the first time since 2012. They were shut out in their season opener for the first time since 1976, also by the Orioles; the only team to go longer without that happening is (really) the Mets (1963).

The Sawx finally scored in their second game on Saturday, with J.D. Martinez recording a double in both contests. Since the DH rule was adopted in 1973, only three other Boston designated hitters have doubled in the first two games of a season: David Ortiz (2006), Jose Offerman (1999), and Andre Dawson (1994).

However, because there must be "too many homers", Martinez hit the first longball of Boston's season on Sunday, giving him an extra-base hit in the team's first three games of a season. The only Red Sox batter ever to do that, and have the team lose all three games, was Mike Greenwell in 1989.

Over in Detroit, while Miguel Cabrera was busy sliding through the snowflakes, Robbie Grossman was content to just walk through them, drawing three free passes from Cleveland pitching on Thursday. Even with a lack of snow in the second game on Saturday, Grossman again walked three times, making him the first Tigers leadoff batter with consecutive 3-BB games since Chad Curtis in 1995. But Grossman is just the fourth batter for any team in the modern era to draw 3+ walks in each of his team's first two games of a season. Freddie Freeman did it for the Braves three years ago; the others are Wally Moon of the Cardinals in 1958 and Ted Williams in 1950.

And we mentioned the Diamondbacks hitting four homers in an inning in the opener with San Diego, where the Padres eventually bailed out Yu Darvish with two late runs to win 8-7. Reliever Emilio Pagán happened to be the pitcher of record when Jurickson Profar's 8th-inning sac fly put the game away. So he got the win. In the second game on Friday, starter Blake Snell left with a 3-0 lead but only pitched 4⅔ innings so "couldn't" get the win (get rid of this rule!!). That left the decision to scorer Bill Zavestoski, and it wasn't a hard one. His choices were Craig Stammen who gave up 2 runs, Taylor Williams who only got 1 out, and Pagán who pitched a perfect 8th inning. Guess who. In so doing, however, Zavestoski placed Pagán in rare company. Only one other pitcher in the live-ball era has been credited with a win in both of his team's first two games of a season: releiver Dave LaRoche of Cleveland in 1977.

Mark Melançon also got a save in both games for San Diego, joining Kirby Yates (2019) and John Littlefield (1981) as the only Padres pitchers to do that to start a season.

On the offensive side, Eric Hosmer drove in 3 runs for San Diego in both of those first two games of 2021; only Brian Giles in 2005 had done that in Padres history. And no player-- for any team-- had collected 3 hits and 3 RBI in both of his team's first two games of a season since the latter became an official stat in 1920.

Two To Make A Thing Go Right

It's four years later and we still think of Mr. Hosmer in a Royals uniform. So back to Kansas City where we find an example of not one, but two teammates duplicating feats in the first two games of a team's season. Michael Taylor may have stolen the show with those outfield assists in the opener, but don't forget the homer and 3 RBI. Because he did that again in the second game of the year on Saturday. He's the first player in Royals history to accomplish that feat... but back at the top of the order, Whit Merrifield was putting balls in fountains as well. His homer on Thursday was the 14th and final run, and on Saturday he parked another 8th-inning homer for the 11th and final run. Only two players in Royals history had homered in each of the team's first two games of a season... and then two more did it this year. The others were Amos Otis in 1977 and Clint Hurdle in 1981. Also, the last time any team scored 11+ runs in each of its first two games of a season was 1994 when the Brewers pulled it off.

As for homering in each of the first two games, Buster Posey and Evan Longoria also pulled off that feat for the Giants in 2021, the team's first batters to do it since Joe Panik won the first two games of 2018 by himself. But only once before in Giants history had two players done it in the same season-- Ray Durham and Benito Santiago in 2003.

And lost in the fun of near-no-hitters on Friday and Saturday was the Braves/Phillies series. Seems like a fairly normal thing to have J.T. Realmuto hit a double in back-to-back games. Ditto for Rhys Hoskins. But when those are the Phillies' first two games of a season, it marked the first time two Phillies teammates had each done it in the same year. In fact no Phillies batter had done it at all (doubled in first two games of a season) since Shane Victorino in 2007.

That Saturday game didn't trigger any no-hitter watches because Travis d'Arnaud singled in the 2nd. But that's it. Zack Wheeler and two relievers promptly retired 23 Braves batters in a row to finish the game with only 1 baserunner allowed. The last time the Braves had 1 baserunner in a game was July 7, 2008, at Dodger Stadium when Mark Teixeira broke up Hiroki Kuroda's perfect game in the 8th. If you guessed that the last time the Phillies did it to an opponent was Roy Halladay's playoff no-hitter in 2010, you'd be right. And the Braves hadn't finished a game with 1 baserunner and 14 strikeouts since Nap Rucker of the Dodgers no-hit them on September 5, 1908.

Those are the Boston Braves. Who would become the Milwaukee Braves. And then the Atlanta Braves. Meanwhile, the current Milwaukee team (the Brewers) also got shut out on 1 hit on Saturday, as discussed above. Which gives us this fun tidbit: The last time any city had that happen (a current team and a former team both get 1-hit on the same day) was April 7, 1979. And that also featured the Braves; they got no-hit by Ken Forsch in Houston, while the current Boston team (the Red Sox) met up with Rick Waits in Cleveland.

Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Shohei Ohtani, Sunday: First AL starting pitcher to (intentionally) bat in a game where the DH was available since Ken Brett of the White Sox on September 23, 1976. (You may remember the Andy Sonnanstine debacle. Or this Mike Hargrove gem from 1999.)

⚾ Shohei Ohtani, Sunday: First AL starting pitcher to homer in an AL game since Baltimore's Roric Harrison in the final game of 1972 (i.e., the last game before the DH rule).

⚾ Wilson Ramos, Saturday: First Tigers catcher to reach via interference by the opposing catcher since Mike Heath vs CLE Rick Dempsey, May 17, 1997.

⚾ Yermin Mercedes, Friday: Second player in White Sox history to have a 5-hit, 4-RBI game while batting either 8th or 9th in the order. Sherm Lollar did it in Kansas City on April 23, 1955.

⚾ Ketel Marte, Thu/Sat: Third player in modern era (1901) to homer and double in each of his team's first two games of a season. Adrian Gonzalez (2015 Dodgers) and Ray Jablonski (1956 Reds) are the others.

⚾ Brandon Bielak, Sunday: First Astros reliever to pitch 4+ no-hit innings and get a win since Dan Schatzeder on April 18, 1990.

⚾ Manuel Margot, Friday: Second Rays batter ever to homer and triple in a game in Dade County. Rocco Baldelli did it at the old place on June 26, 2006.

⚾ Cubs, Thu/Sun: Posted an "inverted linescore" (more runs than hits) in two of first three games of season. Only other teams to do that in modern era are the Brewers of both 1974 and 1978.

⚾ Reymin Guduan, Saturday: First Oakland reliever to uncork 3 wild pitches in an outing since Fernando Arroyo against Texas on July 4, 1982.

⚾ Cedric Mullins, Sunday: Second leadoff batter in Orioles/Browns history with a 5-hit game that included 3 extra-base hits. Other was Fred Schulte at Chicago, June 4, 1932.

⚾ Jose Alvarez, Thursday: First Giants pitcher to issue three consecutive walks to lose a game since Jeff Brantley at Cincinnati, August 4, 1991.

⚾ Gary Sanchez, Sunday: Called for ninth catcher's interference infraction since the start of 2019. That's double the number of any other catcher in the majors over the span, except for Carson Kelly of Arizona who has five.

⚾ Phillies, Thursday: First time ever winning their season opener via extra-inning walkoff (Jean Segura single).

⚾ Zack McKinstry, Saturday: Dodgers' first go-ahead inside-the-park home run in the 8th inning or later since Mitch Webster circled San Diego's Donnie Elliott on June 21, 1994.

⚾ Indians, Sunday: Second game in team history where they scored exactly 9 runs with 1 by every starting batter. Other was August 26, 1953, against the Senators.

⚾ Yankees, Thursday: First extra-inning loss in a season opener since 1982 against the White Sox when Bill Almon tripled to lead off the 12th.