The Countdown's On

Last week we opened with the puzzling equation "BF=R+O+LOB". So this week, we figured, why not extend our puzzle theme? It's one of our famous "countdown" posts, with the bonus that you get to figure out what we're talking about.

17 R on 22 H for N

Okay, this one's easy. We had a "That Game" this week, the one that you just know is going to appear in this post well before it ever does.

Nothing looked terribly out of place when Trea Turner led off Friday's game for the Nationals with a home run. He does that a lot. In fact, he's now just one shy of the franchise record for leadoff homers, 15 by Brad Wilkerson. And having hit another one in Arizona on May 11, 2018, he's the first player in team history with two at Chase Field.

No, things didn't really start to unravel until we hit the #6 spot in the order, Josh Bell. Bases-loaded double. Yan Gomes 2-run double. Max Scherzer grounds out because somewhere out there, someone still likes to see pitchers try to hit. But then Victor Robles with another RBI double. As the lineup turns over, Turner fails at homering again, but the Nats still wind up with 6 runs, their largest 1st in any road game since May 4, 2016, in Kansas City. That was also the last road game where they collected 3 doubles in the 1st inning.

And if they had stopped there, well, we probably wouldn't even be writing about this one. Riley Smith gives up a solo homer in the 2nd to "add the extra point" as the Nationals tweeted. And Riley would give up another RBI double to Robles in the 3rd before departing as the first D'backs starter to allow 8 earned runs in 3 IP or less since Zack Godley on August 27, 2016.

Yet mysteriously Smith wasn't done giving up runs. Because Riley Smith got replaced by Caleb Smith, and Trea Turner, well, did not get replaced. So in the 5th it's another bases-loaded double to make it 10-0. At this point there's no need for Max Scherzer to be out there any longer, so the D'backs do break through with a leadoff double in the 6th. By the time the 9th rolls around we're up to 14-1 and there's no real need for Andrew Stevenson to dump a 3-run homer into right-center. But by doing so he earned himself two notes: He's the second player in franchise history to hit a 3- or 4-run dinger in the 9th inning with the team already ahead by 13. Andre Dawson did it at Wrigley Field on July 4, 1977. And Stevenson had actually entered Friday's game as a pinch runner after Victor Robles got tired of hitting all those doubles. He thus became the first player in Nats/Expos history to score 3 runs and drive in 3 runs in a game he didn't start.

Robles and those doubles made a list too. Only three other players in franchise history have had multiple doubles and multiple RBIs as the starting #9 batter, and all of them did it in an Expos uniform. They were Mike Mordecai (2001), Bill Gullickson (1982), and Scott Sanderson (1981). And we haven't even mentioned that Yan Gomes went on to add a triple and 3 singles to his 1st-inning double, joining Jesús Flores (July 20, 2008, at Atlanta) as the only catchers in franchise history with a 5-hit game.

As for Friday's final score of 17-2, that wasn't made official until Andrew Young (what else?) doubled to score David Peralta with 2 outs in the 9th. The remaining 15 runs in the comeback were, alas, not to be had. Only once before have the D'backs scored with 2 outs in the 9th and the team down by 16-- October 2, 2015, against Houston, when Phil Gosselin and Aaron Hill recorded back-to-back hits to "transform" a 21-3 game into a 21-5 final.

We've had plenty of "countdown" posts involving the Nats over the last few years; they enjoy throwing us scores like 15-0 and 23-5 and 17-7 and 25-4 where Jose Reyes pitches and gives up 6 runs. But it had been nearly a quarter-century since the team had both 17 runs and 22 hits in a road game. That last happened in a 19-3 win by the Expos at Candlestick Park on May 7, 1997.

(17 Runs on 22 Hits for Nationals.)

14 R for R at PNC

We mentioned that Nats/D'backs game being 14-1 after the 8th inning before the ending shenanigans. We started the week with a 14-1 game that did not involve shenanigans, this one between the Reds and Pirates-- two teams that have infamously been involved in some shenanigans.

Eugenio Suarez and Jacob Stallings traded solo homers in the 2nd before Mitch Keller had himself a 4th inning. That went single, walk, single, double, flyout, double, single, stolen base, walk, pitching change. And suddenly a 1-1 tie has become a 7-1 Reds lead with their first 6-run inning in Pittsburgh since June 18, 2014.

Fresh off his victory in a pregame national-anthem standoff, Luis Oviedo was summoned for the 6th. He should have quit while he was ahead. Tyler Mahle, the opposing pitcher, drives in the Reds' 8th run with a groundout. But then in the 7th, Oviedo gives up a double, a single, and a 3-run homer to make it 11-1 already. Although we confess we don't have an exhaustive list of national-anthem standoffs (submissions welcome!), it certainly appears that Oviedo is the first pitcher to win a standoff but then go out and give up 4 runs in the game. The home run in question belonged to Tyler Naquin, and it made him the first Cincinnati hitter to drop a 3- or 4-run bomb in the 7th or later of a road game-- with the team already ahead by 7-- since Zack Cozart did it at Wrigley on June 11, 2013.

And to polish things off, the "Nicks" (Senzel and Castellanos) each contributed an RBI double in the 8th for the final score of 14-1. Those were also the fifth and sixth doubles of the game for Cincinnati, which didn't have any games last year with 6 two-baggers. The last time the Reds did it was also in Pittsburgh, on the next-to-last day of the 2019 campaign. The 13-run win was the most lopsided win the Reds had posted IN Pittsburgh since a 19-1 beatdown... on July 14, 1955.

(14 Runs for Reds at PNC (Park in Pittsburgh).)

13 RS, 8 RA in 2 G in 2 D

But one weird offensive outburst wasn't quite enough for the Reds this week. On Thursday they began a series at Coors Field, where pretty much any score combination can happen on any given night. Let's pick 13-8. Not only because it was the score of Thursday's game, but because the White Sox and Twins had played to the exact same 13-8 final just the day before. That exact score often doesn't happen twice in a season, and the last time it happened on back-to-back days was May 12 and 13 of 1993. But check out this little quirk-- it did happen twice in the same day on July 26, 2003, with one of those games also at Coors Field.

As for Thursday, the Rockies scored 3 in the 1st because that's just kind of what they do. Luis Castillo navigated the 2nd and 3rd with no trouble, and then faced the Rockies' order in the 4th. All of it. Flyout, single, double, groundout, walk, then four straight 2-out singles as the Rockies batted around and made it 8-0. The last Reds starter to give up 10 hits, 8 runs, and not get through the 4th, was Homer Bailey on August 6, 2017. After a couple more bloops it was 10-0 going to the 8th, and did we mention we're at Coors?

Pinch-hitter Tyler Stephenson starts the festivities with a 2-run homer. The Reds had only had two other multi-run pinch-hit taters in the 8th or later at Coors, by Scooter Gennett in 2017 and by Reggie Taylor in 2002. Pitcher Robert Stephenson enters for the Rox, but he gives up 4 singles in 5 batters and basically deprives us of the chance for some Stephenson-on-Stephenson action. Because then Jonathan India clears the bases with a 3-run homer to give the Reds their first 8-run inning in a road game since August 17, 2017, at Wrigley. The last time they had an 8-run 8th (exactly) was September 20, 1999, in San Diego.

With the bases clear and Mychal Givens now on the mound, guess who's up again. Tyler Stephenson, who pinch-hit earlier in the inning. Friends Of Kernels Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville have spent much of the season trying to name unusual feats on their weekly podcast on The Athletic, but we don't have a name for this one yet. Stephenson hasn't taken a defensive position because the inning hasn't ended. But he's already been a pinch hitter. He can't pinch-hit again, can he? Who's he PH'ing for? Himself? (The same phenomenon exists with pinch runners.) So we're not sure what to call him, but he shows up at the plate again in this weird black hole of a position. He strikes out to end the inning. But in so doing he becomes the first Reds batter with this "batted around" quirk since Jesse Winker against the Cubs on June 24, 2018.

And after all that it still didn't matter because the Rockies tacked on 3 more and rolled to that 13-8 final. The last game where the Reds had an 8-run inning and still lost was June 20, 2014, against Toronto. And if you're wondering why this game didn't end up under Countdown Position 8, well, we have our reasons.

(13 Runs Scored, 8 Runs Allowed in 2 Games in 2 Days.)

12 K for GC at TF

If you've spent any time around Yankees Twitter, you know that its one collective mission is to blow up "The Trop". (A close second: Fire any umpire who calls a questionable strike against them.) "The Trop" is, of course, Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, and for years it has been a stadium that the Yankees just can't seem to solve. They are 45-61 (.425) there over the past 12 seasons, including a few heartbreaking moments like, say, "Game 162".

But for once something went right at the weirdly-tilted little orange-juice factory on 16th Street. That was Wednesday's middle game of a three-game series where Gerrit Cole matched zeroes with a parade of Rays pitchers because that "opener" thing hasn't gone away yet. Through six innings we have a scoreless tie in which the teams have combined to face five batters over the minimum. Who's going to be our hero?

Well, if sacrifice flies can be heroic (No. They can't. Full stop.), then it's Aaron Hicks to the rescue. After Ryan Thompson gave up a leadoff single to Aaron Judge in the 7th, Hicks eventually brought him in for the 1-0 lead. Cole, meanwhile, is still his usual jolly old soul, striking out five of his last seven batters before Aroldis Chapman worked a perfect 9th. That gave the Yankees just their third 1-0 victory ever at The Trop; the others came on July 7, 2006 (Bernie Williams RBI double in the 4th), and in the 2001 season finale when Clay Bellinger hit a solo homer in the 8th. The last time the Yankees won any 1-0 road game via a sacrifice fly was on August 7, 1999, when Scott Brosius hit one in Seattle to score Tino Martinez as part of the team's first-ever series at Safeco Field.

But why is this under "12", you ask? Well, that's because Gerrit Cole fanned 12 Rays batters on his way to that 1-0 win. It's the third 12-K game Cole has had already this season, to say nothing of an 11 and a 10 (which he lost). The only pitcher in Yankees history with four 12-K games in a single season is Al Downing in 1963, and Cole still has 4½ months to do it again. His total of 78 strikeouts through 8 games destroyed Bob Turley's team record of 72 in 1965. And Wednesday was Cole's 12th straight game (dating to last September) allowing no more than 2 earned runs, tying a Yankees record held by Whitey Ford in 1963.

(12 striKeouts for Gerrit Cole at Tropicana Field.)

11 HA by WM 1 GS after NH

Remember Wade Miley? You know, the guy who threw a no-hitter for the Reds just a couple Fridays ago. We even dropped a possibly-unsafe-for-work Miley Cyrus video into last week's post because of him. Thanks to off-days, the Reds faithful had to wait a whole week to see Miley again. Well, watch out, law of averages. Because if he goes 9 innings with 0 hits in one start, let's just say Johnny Vander Meer has nothing to worry about.

We'll grant you that we're at Coors Field; in fact, we're now in the second game of the series following our 13-8 escapade from a few minutes ago. And Miley did have a no-hitter going... for one pitch. Garrett Hampson took the second offering of the game to the alley in left-center where Coors is notorious for triples. The Rockies' last leadoff three-bagger against Cincinnati was by Corey Dickerson against Bronson Arroyo on August 30, 2013. Except it didn't stop there.

After a walk, Miley's errant pickoff attempt allows Hampson to score. The 2nd inning involves a double and a walk. The 3rd begins with a walk and four straight singles. Rockies pitcher German Marquez, tasked with laying down a sacrifice bunt, ends up at first when Miley throws that away also. And now we're in the spooky "third time through the order" when Miley gives up three straight hits to start the 4th. All told it would be 11 hits and 8 earned runs while getting 9 outs. The 11-and-8 isn't terribly rare by itself, but no other Reds pitcher had ever done that while also committing 2 errors. And we found only one other to give up 11 hits and 3 walks (forget the runs) without finishing the 4th inning: Dan Serafini at St Louis on September 6, 2003.

And as you might expect, it's not very often that someone allows 0 hits followed by 11. You almost certainly have to go back to the days when starting pitchers just never left, no matter how bad things got. And sure enough, according to STATS, the last pitcher to give up 11 hits in his next start after a no-no was Bob Gibson on August 18, 1971.

(11 Hits Allowed by Wade Miley 1 Game Started after No-Hitter.)

10 HA by SM at FP

If you remember Wade Miley from last week's post, you probably also remember Sean Manaea as the "third wheel" after two of his fellow M's (Miley and Means) threw no-hitters. Last Friday Manaea took one into the 8th in an attempt at just the third day in MLB history with multiple no-no's. Like Miley in the last section, Manaea's next start was, well, not close. Oh sure, there's a zero involved, but the question of whether Manaea would threaten us again was quickly answered by Michael Chavis's leadoff double. And then this turned into a Fenway Special. J.D. Martinez single. Xander Bogaerts over the Green Monster. Bobby Dalbec homer. Xander with another RBI double his next time up. And three straight singles to start the 3rd mean that Manaea is replaced after 6 outs, having given up not zero hits, but one-zero. The last Oakland starter to surrender 10 hits and not get through the 3rd inning was, um, oh look. It's Sean Manaea who did it on May 10, 2016-- also at Fenway Park. He's the first in A's franchise history to have two such games, be they at the same park or not.

Not all those batters scored, but enough did that Manaea also became the first A's pitcher to give up 7 runs while getting 6 outs at Fenway since Dana Eveland did that on August 2, 2008. And Bogaerts has already accounted for a homer, a double, and 3 RBI, so when he added a single later, it was the third time in his career that he'd done all that while hitting cleanup. It's a fun list of Sawx cleanup batters to have that line in three or more games: Jose Canseco, Joe Cronin, Bobby Doerr, Jimmie Foxx, Nomar Garciaparra, Smead Jolley, Manny Ramirez, Reggie Smith, Mo Vaughn, and Ted Williams.

Michael Chavis would also add another double in the 6th. With the one to start Thursday's game, he became the first Sawx leadoff batter with a multi-double game since... oh. Marwin Gonzalez on Wednesday. Well, that's fine. Because the last time Boston had that happen in consecutive games? That's Wade Boggs who did it by himself on July 31 and August 1, 1989.

(10 Hits Allowed by Sean Manaea at Fenway Park.)

9 R in 4 IP off JA

We mentioned there was a second 13-8 game this week but we hadn't actually gotten to it yet. That's because it's landing at number 9 on our countdown. It was Wednesday when J.A. Happ and Dallas Keuchel, um, "battled" to see who could make a bigger mess of their pitching line. Keuchel took the early lead on a Nelson Cruz homer in the 1st, but Happ responded with 4 hits and 2 runs in his half, only escaping further damage because of a double play and a foulout. In the 2nd, however, there was no such luck. Another triple by speedster Billy Hamilton makes it 3-1, and Billy Hamilton on third is a bad time to uncork a wild pitch. By the time Happ's night is done it's 7-3 with two runners still out there, and we're only in the 4th. Happ would end up being the first Twins starter to give up 9 runs in under 4 innings since Brian Duensing did it at Texas on August 25, 2012. And no Minnesota starter had done it against the White Sox since Kevin Tapani on April 6, 1993.

It took Keuchel a couple more innings to hit his "wall", finally giving up three singles and a wild pitch in the 6th. It's also been nearly a decade since a White Sox starter gave up 6 earned runs and won; Jose Quintana did that at Yankee Stadium on June 29, 2012.

Aside from Happ, the other reason this game lands at #9 is the bottoms of both teams' orders. Hamilton, of the 2nd-inning triple, wound up with 4 hits and 3 runs scored. He batted 8th on this day, but is the first White Sox #8 or #9 to post that line against the Twins since Joe Crede on June 6, 2008. In fact, Hamilton, Yasmani Grandal, and Andrew Vaughn all batted 6th or lower and all of them scored 3 runs, the first time such a Sox trio has done that since June 20, 2006. On the Twins side, it was Luis Arraez who collected 2 hits, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI-- which no Twins #9 batter had done against the White Sox since Ehire Adrianza on August 30, 2017.

(9 Runs in 4 Innings Pitched off J.A. (Happ).)

8 RS by R in T2 off SA

Back to the other 13-8 game-- you know, where the Reds posted all 8 runs in the same inning and lost? Turns out they weren't the week's only "snowman". The Dodgers went quietly in the 1st against Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara on Friday. The 2nd inning... not so much. Like Luis Castillo before him, Alcantara faced the Dodgers lineup-- all of it. Walk, double, single, double, single, double, single, strikeout, 3-run homer, grab a towel, tip your server. It was the Dodgers' first snowman in the 1st or 2nd inning of a home game since August 30, 2011, against San Diego. And Alcantara joined an illustrious list of Marlins starters to give up 8 earned while getting 4 outs; the others are Ricky Nolasco (2011), Jesús Sanchez (2000), and Chris Hammond (1996). Granted, an 8-0 lead does give Clayton Kershaw a bit of a "leash". So it wasn't too huge a problem when Adam Duvall connected for a 3-run homer. Meanwhile, Garrett Cooper had also dropped multiple RBI hits such that our game is now 8-5 and the leash is getting a little too short. Kershaw left the game after the 6th to make him eligible for the win. And of course, he is still Clayton Kershaw, so of the 18 outs, 11 were K's. He's the first Dodgers pitcher to give up 5+ runs but strike out 11 and still get a win since Sandy Koufax did it against the Reds on May 30, 1965.

(8 Runs Scored by Reds in Top of 2nd off Sandy Alcantara.)

It's actually sort of a depressing song, but our title is of course a lyric snippet from "Major Tom". So you can either blast that off, or you can enjoy some snippets we found of Casey Kasem jingles. Intermission!

7 W in 8 GS by JF
We couldn't decide which "7" to go with, and multiple 7's on a slot machine is always good, so we've got an extra one.

To mix casino metaphors, those lucky 7's are in the Cards. This week it takes the form of Jack Flaherty who has been a big reason that St Louis is atop the NL Central. On Thursday he took the hill for the eighth time this season (already? feels like we just started), and once again emerged with a capital "W" next to his name. Flaherty was the Opening Day starter in Cincinnati, and that's the one "W" he didn't get. He gave up 6 earned runs and 2 homers and escaped with a no-decision. In the seven starts since then he's given up 7 earned runs and 1 homer. Combined. He's the first Cardinals pitcher to begin a season 7-0 since Michael Wacha did it in 2015. But Flaherty has also recorded 5+ strikeouts in every one of those wins (and that's a single outlier). The last St Louis starter to be 7-0 with 5 K in every win was Bob Gibson in 1965.

And this next one could easily have been our main #7 if we hadn't already led with the game before it. Earlier in the countdown we heard the Nationals and D'backs at number 17. Well, [Casey Kasem voice] their follow-up to that song also lands on our chart this week. On Saturday they changed up the tune into an 11-4 Arizona win in which Eduardo Escobar posted a 2-run single, a 2-run homer, and a 3-run homer to collect 7 RBIs. Escobar had another 2-HR, 7-RBI game back on August 3, 2019-- and that was also against the Nationals. Of all the players to have 7-RBI games in the current century, he's only the second one to do it twice against the same opponent; Nelson Cruz has three such games against Toronto.

Joe Ross gave up 8 runs, including 5 of Escobar's, and 8 hits without finishing the 5th inning. The last Nats pitcher to do that... Joe Ross back on April 19. The only others in franchise history with two such outings in a season are Jason Bergmann in 2008 and Jim Bullinger in 1997.

(7 Wins in 8 Games Started by Jack Flaherty.)

6 H, 6 R, 6 RBI from TTBJ

We couldn't decide whether to make this one #5 or #6, but (a) we already had a 5, and (b) you've probably heard Toronto nicknamed "the 6" after the six smaller municipalities that were combined to form it. Now if only the Jays could get back to playing there.

Although, after the last two seasons, we're not sure they will need the exchange rate at Rogers Centre. They've found a couple of other bandboxes in Buffalo and Dunedin, and this weekend they got a visit from their next-door neighbors in Clearwater. That's where the Phillies have their spring headquarters. It's a 15-minute drive from one park to the other (we've done it!), and if only Phils starter Chase Anderson hadn't run out of gas.

Marcus Semien and Bo Bichette started the game with back-to-back homers en route to a 5-run 1st inning. It's the fifth time in Jays history they've led off that way (see the "5" theme?), but just the second ever in a home game. The other one did happen at Rogers, when Alex Rios and Frank Catalanotto took Rodrigo Lopez of Baltimore deep on June 14, 2006. Toronto hadn't had a 5-run 1st inning since September 5, 2018, against that other Pinellas County team (the Rays); the only team to go longer without doing it is yet another Florida club (the Marlins).

Chase Anderson got chased after two more runs in the 2nd, earning a dubious line of giving up 7 runs while getting 4 outs. The last Phillies starter to post that dreadful line in a road game was Tyler Cloyd in Atlanta on September 26, 2013. But it's still only the 2nd inning. The Phillies finally find life when #9 batter Nick Maton homeres to lead off the 5th. Andrew McCutchen followed him with a homer, and then Jean Segura followed that with a triple. Robbie Ray escaped that inning with a double play, so gave up only those 3 runs, but the parade of hitters means Maton will bat again in the 6th. And his second homer in as many innings is enough to knock Ray out of the game finally. Only three other Phillies #9 batters have ever homered in consecutive innings: Jack Knight in 1926, Phil Collins in 1930, and John Mayberry (who did it in extras!) in 2013.

The Phillies tried to claw their way back by stealing five bases but ultimately went down 10-8. However, Maton was also one of those swipers, doing so just after driving in the Phils' 2 runs in the 8th to get as close as 9-7. Only four players in the live-ball era have homered twice and stolen a base while batting 9th in their team's order. The previous one was another Blue Jay, Travis Snider on April 13, 2009. Before that it was done by Jose Valentin of the Brewres in 1995 and Dodgers pitcher Don Newcombe (who did a little of everything in his career) in 1956.

So where did our 6 come from? Check the top third of the Jays' boxscore. Semien, Bichette, and Vlad Guerrero Jr all scored 2 runs, had 2 hits, and had 2 RBI. And that had only happened twice before in Jays history. On August 9, 1999, Shannon Stewart, Tony Batista, and Shawn Green did it in a 19-4 romp in Arlington; and 1 year and 1 day later, Stewart duplicated the feat with Alex Gonzalez and Dave Martinez in a 15-7 win at Kansas City.

(6 Hits, 6 Runs, 6 Runs Batted In from Top Three Blue Jays.)

5 IP as RP for KB in KC

We were over the "opener" thing a long time ago, and with the tweaks to roster rules in the last couple years, it appears a few teams are finally over it as well. One team that occasionally still drags it out is the Royals. And no one is better suited for their "long relief" role than Kris Bubic, who was a starter last year but averaged exactly 5 innings per game because this is how we live now.

Bubic has made four appearances so far this year, all when the Royals were already losing, and last week he pulled off the line of 5⅔ with 1 hit allowed. On Thursday the Tigers scored 4 early runs to knock Daniel Lynch out of the game, and Bubic entered for the 4th. He didn't leave. The Royals put together a small rally and got back 3 of the 4 but still lost. Bubic stayed out there for the rest of the game, allowing 0 runs on 3 hits. No pitcher, for any team, had made back-to-back appearances that were 5+ innings of "relief" since R.A. Dickey, then of the Mariners, on May 30 and June 3, 2008.

And our 5-inning "relief" club gets a late honorable mention from Sunday's games. The Orioles overcame a 4-run 1st inning by the Yankees and pulled out a 10-6 win. Keeping the Yankees at bay for most of the game was Bruce Zimmermann who entered immediately after that 4-run inning. He then hung around until the 7th, allowing only a solo homer to Aaron Judge. No Orioles pitcher had thrown 5+ innings of relief against the Bronx Bombers since Mike Oquist on May 21, 1994. And they hadn't had someone do it and get the win in the game since John Flinn at Memorial Stadium on September 14, 1982.

(5 Innings Pitched as Relief Pitcher for Kris Bubic in Kansas City.)

4 WP by SG + 4 R in T10

Going back to our Reds/Pirates series, it was a 12:30 "getaway day" start on Wednesday and, as often happens because nobody's awake yet, it was knotted in a 1-1 yawner as the final innings approached. And just to make sure everyone stayed awake, Sonny Gray spent the first few innings just bouncing pitches wherever. In the 1st it was an 0-2 to Gregory Polanco who later struck out. One to Michael Perez in the 2nd moved two runners up, but neither one scored. Kevin Newman, who had moved up on the first one, did so again in the 3rd, but Gray struck out the next two to keep the Pirates scoreless. Gray finally gave up a run in the 5th, then uncorked a fourth wild pitch, then got a lucky tag play at home to avoid another run, and got taken out. So he escaped with a no-decision, but not without the dubious distinction of being the first Reds pitcher in (at least) the modern era to unleash 4 wild pitches in one game. The last Cincinnati hurler to do 3? Why, that's Sonny Gray, on September 27 of last year at Minnesota. He joins six others on the list of multiple 3-WP games in Reds history: Gerry Arrigo, Bruce Berenyi, Jack Billingham, Jim Maloney, Wayne Simpson, and Scott Williamson.

As mentioned, though, this thing is still stuck in a 1-1 tie long after Gray's departure. These are the games where the free-runner rule works best. And in this case it did. Nick Senzel starts life at second base and Jesse Winker immediately singles him home for a Reds lead. After a walk and a single, Eugenio Suarez then dumps a gap double to clear the bases and give the Reds their first 4-run extra inning since June 12, 2018, in Kansas City. Suarez's 3-run double was the Reds' first in extras since Sean Casey hit one off Rich Hill at Wrigley on September 14, 2015.

Lucas Sims, who had worked the 8th and 9th, got the win when Cincinnati took the lead in the 10th. Sims recorded 4 strikeouts and 2 groundouts among the 6 batters he faced. The last Reds reliever to work 2+ perfect innings, strike out 4+, and get a win, was Chris Reitsma against the Yankees on June 3, 2003.

(4 Wild Pitches by Sonny Gray plus 4 Runs in Top of 10th.)

3R HR + 3R 2B for JS of KC

It would have been easy to put Jorge Soler under #6 on our countdown. He wears number 12 which is a pair of sixes. And he was the first entry in our parade of 6-RBI games this week. But in this case, he gets the #3 spot for how he did it. On Tuesday the Royals trailed 7-0 after failing to do anything against Tigers starter Matt Boyd. But if you thought the Royals weren't capable of scoring 7 late runs, then you've never been with us at Kauffman Stadium for this 2016 classic.

Joe Jimenez has found his way to the mound by the 8th inning, which means two Royals have found their way to first base via walks. Soler than unleashes a 3-run homer to break up the shutout. It takes Kyle Funkhouser to get out of that inning, and then Jose Cisnero comes out of the Detroit bullpen for the 9th. Let's see how that went. Double, strikeout, single, single (7-4), strikeout, error to load the bases, Jorge Soler double to unload them and tie the game at 7. He's the second player in Royals history to have both a 3-run homer and a 3-run double in the same game; Billy Butler did it against the Mariners on July 3, 2007. He's also the first player in team history with 6 RBIs in a game, all of them in the 8th or later. (Last for any team: Todd Frazier of the Mets, August 30, 2019.)

Soler is also the first Royals player with 6 RBI in a loss since Jose Guillen did that at Yankee Stadium on June 7, 2008. Wait, huh? A loss? Well we're at Comerica, so even after the Royals rally to tie things, the Tigers still have one chance to bat. Which consisted of Scott Barlow hitting one Tiger, walking another, and then giving up a 2-out walkoff single to Robbie Grossman. Detroit hadn't had a walkoff single against the Royals since Dixon Machado on September 18, 2015. And fresh on the heels of Soler's 6 RBI, that was Grossman's fifth RBI of Tuesday's game. He was the first Tigers leadoff batter with 5 RBI in a home game since Curtis Granderson on April 4, 2007. Those other runs scored on a bases-loaded triple and a sac fly, and only one other batter in Tigers history had posted that combo since the latter became official in 1954. Jason Thompson did it against the White Sox on May 22, 1977.

(3-Run Home Run plus 3-Run 2B (double) for Jorge Soler of Kansas City.)

2 WO FCXs by PH PM

Last week we brought you the tale of Patrick Mazeika and his unique pinch-hit walkoff for the Mets. Where his little dribbler up the first-base line was slow enough that Stefan Crichton couldn't get to it and throw to the plate in time and Pete Alonso scored the winning run. It's a fielder's choice with no out recorded, a play we've affectionately written down for years as "FCX".

Ever seen it twice? Well, yeah, you probably have, but as a walkoff? And as a pinch-hit walkoff? Well, look no further than Tuesday against the Orioles. Cesar Valdez gives up three singles in the 9th to blow the save. First and third with 1 out in a tie game. Sounds like Patrick Mazeika time. Valdez chunks a wild pitch which necessarily moves the trail runner to second because the O's have to keep the winning run at third. And once again, a bouncer to first that is cleanly handled by Trey Mancini, who has to come home to avoid the walkoff loss. And Jonathan Villar gets around the tag for another 3-2 victory.

This one gets a couple extra quirks because of its interleague nature. The Mets have only walked off three other times against the Orioles, and that includes an error in the 1969 World Series. The others were on a Carlos Baerga single in 1998 and a Kurt Abbott walkoff homer on June 8, 2000. Pat Valaika (not to be confused with Mazeika) had driven in the Orioles' first run with a pinch hit sacrifice fly in the 7th, the team's first go-ahead PH SF in a road game since Gary Roenicke lofted one in Cleveland on April 17, 1985.

As for Mazeika and his two FCX's? The only other player in Mets history with two such walkoffs is Carl Everett, who bizarrely, also had both of his within a week of each other (September 1996). Neither was as a pinch hitter, though. And for the rookie Mazeika, these two weird plays have come in games 2 and 4 of his major-league career. In the entirety of the great Stathead Play Index, no player has had two walkoff anythings within his first four MLB games played. To say nothing of neither one being a base hit.

(2 WalkOff FCX (fielder's choice, no out) by Pinch Hitter Patrick Mazeika.

FP 1/9 for SP SO

Fans of the New York subway may remember the 1/9 skip-stop trains that used to run along Manhattan's West Side. The rush-hour-only 9 never fully recovered after 9/11 and was eventually discontinued, but this week we got a little flashback in the form of Shohei Ohtani. This isn't a comparison of him to a train, although you could probably make that. It's the fact that he started Tuesday's game on the mound as part of his continued return to two-way play. After 7 innings and 88 pitches, he left the mound but never crossed the foul line. Instead of going to the Angels dugout, he went to right field and replaced Taylor Ward. The Angels have no need to have someone bat for Ohtani, so we don't get to invoke some rare clause in the DH rule. But if you're scoring at home, it does cause Ohtani to have "1/9" (or "p-rf" if you prefer) following his name in the boxscore. And it's been nearly 70 years since any starting pitcher did that.

On September 28, 1952, Stan Musial and the Cubs' Frank Baumholtz were coming down to the wire for the batting title, which was still a big thing then. Their two teams were playing each other, so wouldn't it be a fun idea to let them literally "face each other"? After the first batter, Cards starter Harvey Haddix trotted out to right field so that Musial could actually pitch to Baumholtz. Who promptly reached on an error, got retired on a double play, and did nothing to settle the batting race. But then Haddix came back to the mound ("1/9/1") and Musial retired from pitching. Baumholtz was the only batter he ever faced.

But maybe it's not too late to bring back that 9-train. Ohtani ended the week on Sunday with a 2-run homer off Matt Barnes of the Red Sox. It came with the Angels trailing by 1 in the 9th inning. And since the franchise began in 1961, it's hit only one other lead-flipping homer in the 9th inning at Fenway. That was by Brian Downing off Dick Drago on May 9, 1979.

(Fielding Positions 1/9 for Starting Pitcher Shohei Ohtani.)

Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Austin Nola, Saturday: Second Padres batter ever to have a 6-RBI game against St Louis. Yangervis Solarte did it at their place on August 22, 2017.

⚾ Cesar Hernandez, Tuesday: Indians' first lead-flipping homer against the Cubs since David Justice off Terry Mulholland, June 4, 1999.

⚾ Yankees, Saturday: First game where they scored a run on a passed ball and another run on a balk since April 11, 1988, at Toronto.

⚾ Brandon Woodruff, Wednesday: Became first pitcher in Brewers history to allow 1 run and strike out 10+ in consecutive games and not get the win in either game.

⚾ J.D. Martinez & Rafael Devers, Tuesday: First pair of Red Sox batters with 9 homers and 30 RBI each in team's first 37 games since Vern Stephens & Ted Williams in 1950.

⚾ Gregory Polanco, Friday: Pirates' first sac-fly-off in the 11th or later since Jose Bautista against Houston, May 27, 2006.

⚾ Drew Butera, Monday: First Angels batter to execute 2 sac bunts in a game since C.J. Wilson (an actual pitcher) on May 27, 2013.

⚾ Astros, Thursday: First "bounce-off" win (game-ending wild pitch) since July 19, 1999, by Tom Candiotti of Cleveland (scoring Bill Spiers).

⚾ Royals, Sunday: First "bounce-off" loss since Jason Grimsley bounced one to Ellis Burks of Cleveland on April 13, 2002.

⚾ Yusei Kikuchi, Tuesday: First Mariners pitcher ever to strike out 11 Dodgers in a game. Also first to strike out 11+ in any National League park and not get a win.

⚾ Max Kepler, Sunday: Third game for Twins with a homer, a double, and a sacrifice fly. Since the last category became official in 1954, only one other Twins/Sens player has done it three times. That's only Harmon Killebrew.

⚾ Indians, Wednesday: Second-ever walkoff win against the Cubs. Wil Cordero singled home Roberto Alomar in the 11th on June 5, 1999.

⚾ Darin Ruf & Brandon Crawford, Saturday: First Giants teammates to hit 1st-inning homers in Pittsburgh since Chili Davis & Jeffrey Leonard on August 18, 1982.

⚾ Dansby Swanson, Thursday: Second lead-flipping homer ever hit by Braves against Toronto. Brian Jordan off Chris Michalak, June 11, 2001.

⚾ Joc Pederson, Saturday: First National League designated hitter ever to hit a leadoff triple to begin a game (including last year when the home team could do it).

⚾ Adrian Houser, Friday: Second "Kernels trifecta" (HBP, WP, BK) in majors this season. Both have been by the Brewers (Zack Godley April 28). Last team to have two pitchers do it in same season was the 2014 Giants.

⚾ Matt Harvey, Wednesday: Second time giving up 7+ earned runs at Citi Field. Of course the other was from the home dugout-- June 10, 2015, vs Giants.

⚾ Freddie Freeman, Sunday: First time Braves hit a grand slam in 7th or later in Milwaukee since... yep, they were the home team. Not just any slam either. Hank Aaron off Don Drysdale, August 14, 1963.

⚾ Cardinals, Tuesday: First extra-inning game where they had 5 or fewer hits but still scored at least 6 runs since a 7-6 loss on May 24, 1985, in Cincinnati.