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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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