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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
Glavine pitched against Milwaukee in 1992? Brewers were still in the AL then, and there wasn't interleague play yet.
ReplyDelete