Saturday In The Park

We started writing this post on Saturday morning with the premise that it had been a fairly boring week so far. No ridiculous scores, no 3- or 4-homer outbursts, just a small collection of random incidents. It was destined to be a "post about nothing", to borrow a Seinfeld phrase. Then, well, Saturday.

Clark And Add-ison

The "good" news, at least if you were the Rockies or the Pirates or the Red Sox, is that not much happened on Saturday. However, if you were their opponents-- the Tigers, Cubs, and Rays-- many many things ended up happening. Tigers fans, hold that thought; we promise to get back to you in a few minutes.

Although the Cubs have been the Cubs longer than the Bears have been the Bears, there was a football score to be had in Chicago on Saturday. And it wasn't something simple like 7-3 or even 14-10. You may need more fingers for this one.

It starts innocently enough with three straight singles off Zach Thompson in the 1st, with Ian Happ driving in the first run. (1) Then there are four more straight singles off Zach Thompson in the 2nd (4) before Happ sends a double-play ball to short. Then Kevin Newman sends that double-play ball into right field and the gates are open. And not the bullpen gates, because Wrigley doesn't have those. Jonathan Villar gives Newman another chance at the double play, and Newman again airmails it for two more runs. (6) Alfonso Rivas, already the 16th batter of the game, polishes things off with a 3-run homer. (9)

For most teams, you think 9 runs is enough. You can stop now. Turns out the Cubs "led" the majors last year by scoring 9+ and losing five times. That wind off the lake doesn't help matters. But Pirates reliever Michael Yajure will. He issues a walk, hits Jason Heyward, Rivas collects another single (10), then #9 batter Rico Hoerner gets an RBI on a groundout. (11) Like Thompson before him, it's Yajure's second inning that fell apart. Three straight doubles open the bottom of the 5th, (13) and then Heyward, Rivas, and Hoerner all connect for another round of base hits (16) to chase Yajure off the mound. In the live-ball era, only two other sets of Pirates teammates have given up 7+ runs while getting no more than 7 outs in the same game: Charlie Morton and Chris Bootcheck in 2009 (also at Wrigley), and Murry Dickson with Paul Pettit against the Phillies in 1953.

Aaron Fletcher keeps things calm aside from two groundouts and another RBI single by Hoerner in the 7th. (17) With Rivas's 3-run homer, they became the second 8- and 9-hitters in Cubs history to each have 3 hits and 3 RBI in the same game. (Remember, until recently that 9-hole was usually a pitcher.) The other pair was Walker Cooer and Howie Pollet (who was in fact a pitcher), also against the Pirates, on August 31, 1954. Hoerner actually had 4 hits in the game, joining only Javy Baez (2017 when Maddon batted the pitcher 8th) and actual pitcher Lew Burdette (1964) in Cubs history to have 4 hits and 3 RBI out of the 9-hole.

Whether you like the "universal DH" rule or hate it, it seems to be here for at least a little while, and it just makes it even more special when a real position player ends up pitching. That would be Pirates right fielder Diego Castillo, not to be confused with actual pitcher Diego Castillo of the Mariners. This one has been in the majors for all of 2 weeks, and while we don't have a lot of detail on his playing history in Venezuela, he's never pitched in affiliated ball in the States, including the minors and spring training. Let's see how this goes.

Single. Walk. Single by Ian Happ. Single by Patrick Wisdom. (18) Single by Jonathan Villar. (20) And before we could tweet out the note that the Wrigley scoreboard hadn't needed a "20" card since May 5, 2001, they were taking that one down because Jason Heyward grounded into a double play to put Castillo (mostly) out of his misery. (21) The last time the Wrigley scoreboard needed that "21" card in the Runs column was on August 16, 1987, and that was for the other team because the Mets piled up a 23-10 win against them. The Cubs hadn't scored 21+ in any game since that famous 26-7 game on August 18, 1995, that made us all sit up and take notice of Coors Field in its first season.

Now, for all those Cubs runs, notice what we didn't mention? Yeah, that would be any Pirates runs. At all. Nada. Kyle Hendricks held them to just 2 hits over 7 innings. The last time the Pirates were shut out on a total of 3 hits at Wrigley was "only" 4 years ago (June 9, 2018, by Jon Lester), but that was only a 2-0 game. We can bring you the list of all 21-0 finals in MLB history, because it's only four games long. And until Saturday, it hadn't changed in over 80 years. The previous such game was the Yankees over the A's at Shibe Park on August 13, 1939. Before that it was the fledgling American League, famous for putting up big numbers in its 1901 inaugural season, where the Tigers defeated the Cleveland Blues (now on about their fifth nickname since then) on September 15 of that year. And the other harkens back to the American Association: The St Louis Browns, who eventually became the Cardinals after joining the NL in 1892, defeated the Columbus (Ohio) Solons in the latter franchise's 16th-ever game on May 7, 1889.

Your Rays Has Been Denied

Meanwhile, the Rays are one of three active franchises who have not yet scored 21+ runs in a game, along with two of their newer classmates, Arizona and Colorado. But on Saturday they could have used just one run, not twenty-one. That's because the Red Sox were visiting Tropicana Field, and maybe it was hard to tell because there's a pitching change every few batters, but a parade of Rays openers and successors and random middle-relief people succeeded in not allowing a hit. J.P. Feyereisen, six up and six down. Javy Guerra walked a batter. Jeffrey Springs walked two, but both with two outs. Jason Adam issued a pair of walks as well but got out of his inning. Ryan Thompson threw a perfect 7th. Andrew Kittredge came close to giving up a hit on a comebacker in the 8th but got a glove on it and recovered for the out. There were a couple of Sawx who dropped balls just foul down the lines in the late innings, plus two more who actually made outs in foul territory. While all this is going on, however, know how many hits the Rays have? One. A leadoff double by Brandon Lowe in the 4th. Brett Phillips singles in the 8th but gets stranded. Kittredge gets Boston in order in the 9th. So here we are on the verge of a no-hitter that is not a no-hitter... because neither team has scored yet. If you're having flashbacks to The Henderson Alvarez Game, don't worry, we did too. Especially when Lowe draws a leadoff walk in the bottom of the 9th.

Since we had the list ready by this point, that Alvarez game was the fourth no-hitter in MLB history that was only a no-hitter because of a walkoff win. The Pirates had the 10-inning combined one in 1997 where Francisco Cordova went 9, Ricardo Rincon threw the 10th, and then Mark Smith hit a pinch-hit homer for Rincon to walk it off. The other such games were by Virgil Trucks of the Tigers in 1952 (Vic Wertz homer) and Dick Fowler of the A's in 1945 (Irv Hall single).

Instead Randy Arozarena rolls a perfect 6-4-3 double-play ball to Xander Bogaerts and we have a 9-inning non-no-hitter. And now the baseball purists get to make some noise, because there's about to be a free runner at second base. What if this guy scores but the Rays still don't give up a hit? How many asterisks is that going to fetch? Well, fortunately none, because Matt Wisler takes the hill for the 10th and Bobby Dalbec sends his third pitch into the right-field corner for a triple. It was the 15th time in MLB history that a team had a no-hitter through 9 innings and had it broken up in extras, and the first of those 15 where the breakup was on a triple. The previous instance, you probably remember this one too, was The Rich Hill Game in 2017. The Red Sox hadn't hit any RBI triple in extra innings of a road game since Kevin Millar did it at Veterans Stadium on June 21, 2003.

A sac fly brings home Dalbec and the Sawx have a 2-0 lead on just 1 (later 2) hits. But we still have to play the bottom of the 10th. And the Rays get a free runner also. Are they deflated by losing the no-hitter, what would have been their second one ever (Matt Garza in 2010)? Two quick strikeouts would say maybe. Is Trevor Story about to hand them the game with a 2-out throwing error? Our sources say yes. Story's E4 scores the free runner and then Kevin Kiermaier does this.

The only other time the Rays hit a walkoff homer against Boston while trailing in extra innings was Nate Lowe off Josh Smith on September 21, 2019. They'd also only had one other extra-inning game in team history where they had only 3 hits and won; that was May 26 of last year against the Royals. Meanwhile, the Red Sox finished with only those 2 hits in the 10th, their first extra-inning road game with that low an output since May 24, 1970, in Baltimore.

And remember those 14 (now 15) teams who had a no-hitter through 9 but lost it in extras? The Rays are the first of those teams to then come back and win the game in walkoff fashion.

Tax-a-chusetts

Speaking of the Red Sox, it seems that this year, and again next year, the fine people of Massachusetts get an extra day to file their taxes because the third Monday in April is always the "Patriots' Day" holiday, marking the battles of Lexington and Concord that started the whole thing. (Maine, being a spinoff of Massachusetts, has the same quirk, but we don't see MLB expanding there anytime soon. Although a team named the Caribou Caribou would be tremendous.)

Enrique Hernandez was disappointed on not-quite-tax-day to find out that he owed. As in, "owe"-for-5 out of the leadoff spot in Boston's 8-3 loss to the Twins. He was the first leadoff hitter to draw that collar on Patriots' Day since Johnny Damon in 2003. And while Boston may have been dumping tea into the harbor, Minnesota was busy dumping garlic into the Green Monster. That would be Kyle Garlick, whose 1st-inning homer was the first such shot by a visiting player on Patriots' Day since Orlando Cabrera of the Angels in 2007.

Although Jorge Polanco struck out to start the game, he followed that up with a 2-run homer and a bases-loaded single in the 8th, the first Twins leadoff hitter to have a 4-RBI game at Fenway (anytime, not just Patriots' Day) since Larry Hisle on May 25, 1977. That single marked the end of the night-- er, afternoon-- for Kutter Crawford, who faced 13 Twins batters and retired 5 of them. And while one of them was intentional, he became the first reliever in Sawx history to issue 5 walks and hit a batter while recording no more than 5 outs.

He Told Me To Walk This Way

Someone say intentional walk? Last week all the buzz was about Corey Seager drawing the four-finger salute from Joe Maddon with the bases loaded in the 4th inning. This week a chorus of boos rang through Comerica Park when Yankees manager Aaron Boone issued a free pass to Miguel Cabrera in the 8th on Thursday. In a vacuum the move made perfect sense and we wouldn't be talking about it; it's a 1-0 game with runners on second and third, so why let Miggy drive in two more runs with a hit?

Well, it's not a vacuum. Because that hit-- if Miggy had gotten it-- would have been number 3000. That's what all those boos were about, from 21,000 people who wanted to witness history. After all, only 32 others in baseball history have reached that milestone. Now, because of discrepancies in official records, especially for Cap Anson and Ty Cobb, we threw out anything before intentional walks became official in 1954. But Miggy is the only player ever to receive an IBB at any point while sitting on 2999 career hits. Dave Winfield and Hank Aaron both got one later in the game after connecting for #3000.

The Tiger faithful would have to wait yet another day for Miggy to become the 33rd on the list, because it rained on Friday. He wasted no time when play resumed on Saturday, dropping a 1st-inning single to right. The previous inductee into the club was Albert Pujols back on May 4, 2018. And the only others to get their 3000th career hits while playing for the Tigers are Ty Cobb and Al Kaline.

Saturday The 13th

So Miggy gets that 3000th hit in the 1st inning, and it's a fairly boring uneventful game after that, right? Right? Mmm, yeah, no. We told you we'd get back to you about Saturday, Tigers fans. Because Miggy came around to score when Spencer Torkelson, who may be his heir apparent at first base, hit a 3-run homer. Antonio Senzatela lasted 5 innings for the Rockies but gave up 5 runs and 10 hits, joining Tyler Matzek (2014) and Jeff Francis (2008) as the only Rockies pitchers to do that in Detroit. And then the bullpen got involved.

Ty Blach takes over for the 6th and allows five straight Tigers batters to reach with 2 outs-- including Miggy's 3001st career hit. Suddenly it's 9-0. Lucas Gilbreath gets to take one for the team in the 7th, and he also allows five straight Tigers to reach with 2 outs. And when Jonathan Schoop completes the "batting around" cycle with an RBI single, this thing has ballooned to 13-0. Veteran Jhoulys Chacin takes over and gets Detroit in order in the 8th, but this has now become a historic game for more than one reason. The Rockies had never been shut out by 13 runs or more in any road game in their history. It was also one shy of the Tigers' record for an interleague game, behind a 14-0 at Shea on June 30, 1997.

The combo of Black and Gilbreath was the third set of Rockies pitchers to give up 4+ runs while getting no more than 3 outs in the same road game. Josh Newman and Matt Herges did it in Philadelphia on May 26, 2008, while household names Bryan Rekar and Curt Leskanic did it in St Louis on September 1, 1996. And oh by the way, did we mention (yes we did) that because it rained on Friday, this 13-0 was the first game of a day/night doubleheader. The Tigers hadn't won the opener of any twinbill by 13 runs since defeating Cleveland on August 7, 1986.

The second game was not nearly as interesting, other than Connor Joe becoming the first player in Rockies history to hit a leadoff homer in Detroit (at either stadium). He was also the first player in the modern era to lead off the second game of a DH with a homer, after his team got shut out by 13 or more in the first game. And when you tack on that 21-0 Cubs score, Saturday was the first day with multiple shutouts of 13-0 or worse since April 7, 2013, by Boston and Cleveland.

We Are Phamily

Does it seem like it's always April in San Diego? No matter what the actual calendar says, they have no seasons and the weather always screams mid-April. Tommy Pham of the Reds sent a baseball screaming out of Petco Park in the 1st inning on Monday (that's April 18) for a quick 1-0 lead. Then Manny Machado answered it with a 2-run dinger in the bottom half. The only other Padres homer that flipped a lead in the 1st inning against the Reds (so, must be a home game where they're already losing) was by Fred Lynn on September 22, 1990.

Stop us if you've heard this one, but on Tuesday (April 19), Tommy Pham hit yet another 1st-inning homer. The only other Reds batters to hit two in the same season in San Diego are Dave Parker in 1985 and George Foster in 1977, and theirs were weeks apart in two different series.

So at some point, Manny Machado must have said, c'mon, you mean I gotta do this again? And he did. From the Padres' side, the only other batter to hit two lead-flipping homers in the 1st inning in the same season was Ryan Klesko in 2001, and he did it against different opponents. According to Baseball Reference, there's only been one other instance of the same players "trading" homers in the same inning in back-to-back games. It was July 24 and 25, 2000, when Tim Salmon of the Angels matched 4th-inning shots with Gabe Kapler of the Rangers. Those, however, did not also share the asterisk that all four homers took the lead.

And care to know the last (only other) time the Reds hit 1st-inning homers in back-to-back games at Petco? Those came off the bats of Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez in 2019-- on April 18 and 19.

For his part, Eugenio Suarez was off hitting a 3-run homer for the Mariners in the 1st inning on Tuesday as they toppled the Rangers. Seattle hadn't collected 3 homers and a triple in a home game against Texas since September 25, 1998, in their final full season at the Kingdome.

April Showers

San Diego excepted, it tends to rain a lot in most parts of the country in April. That was especially true in the mid-Atlantic this week where Monday's slate of 12 games got reduced to nine. The newly-minted Cleveland Guardians did not have a big enough umbrella to guard against back-to-back rainouts on Monday and Tuesday. But the Mets and Nationals both made up for the weather with Tuesday doubleheaders, and it was only the second time ever that both teams swept a twinbill on the same day. The other came in the first year of the Nats/Expos franchise, and on a day when MLB always loved to intentionally schedule doubleheaders-- July 4, 1969.

At Citi Field, Francisco Lindor would figure prominently in both games, dropping a 1-out double in the 3rd that would end up leading to all 3 Mets runs. Meanwhile, since we mentioned the Nationals, the pitcher in the day game Tuesday was none other than Max Scherzer, who held the Giants to just 1 hit in 7 innings. Scherzer struck out at least 6 batters and got a win in each of his first three appearances with the Mets, joining Pedro Astacio (2002) as the only ones in team history to do that. The Giants' final total of 2 hits matched their lowest ever at Citi Field, the other such game being May 9, 2017, against Zack Wheeler.

In the night game, the teams battled to a 4-4 tie before Lindor's walkoff single in the 10th scored free runner Brandon Nimmo. The Mets hadn't walked off in extras against the Giants since May 8, 2010, when Henry Blanco hit a solo homer in the 11th. Lindor also became the first batter in Mets history to have a single, a double, a stolen base, and a walkoff RBI (any kind) in the same game. The Mets' last doubleheader sweep of the Giants? That was at Shea... on July 13, 1979.

Hit The Ground Running

If you thought the Mets might get through the week without doing something Mets-ian, Saturday gave us that little gift as well. They have by now moved on to playing the Diamondbacks, and losing a generally-unnotable 5-2 contest. The notable part is that Saturday's game gave us one of our favorite quirky plays not once, but twice. We've actually been asked by fans at live games, wait, how do you score that? (Do you know?) See if you can spot it.

Here's one. Hey Pavin, don't you know it's a party foul to knock over your Beer?

Here's the other.

The Mets had not gotten mixed up in one of these since May 30, 2017, when Curtis Granderson plunked Lucas Duda. The last time the D'backs had it happen was May 2, 2015, at Dodger Stadium, and oh yeah, all that one did was end the game.

But we've tracked this little quirky occurrence all the way back to 2000 (we could go further, we just haven't yet), and Saturday was the first game in this century where it happened twice-- either to the same team or once for each.

(Rule: Dead ball, runners advance if forced. Scoring: Infield single for batter, putout goes to the closest fielder, we note it "HBB" (hit by batted ball).)

Texas Three-Step

There are a lot of quirky rules and scoring plays in this great game of ours. There are rules about "apparent fourth outs" and pitches lodging in the catcher's mask and the lights going out in the middle of play. But the old "HBB" play from above got us thinking. Has there ever been an HBB as part of a triple play?

The answer is no, and by rule, this can't happen, because the HBB only applies if the ball has not already been touched by a fielder. If the plunked runner is the first out then the ball is dead immediately, and no TP. If the ball has already been fielded to get the first or second out of the TP, then "ball hitting runner" does not apply, live ball, play on.

We mention all this because, and you might have missed it because it involves the AL West, the Rangers turned the first TP of 2022 on Wednesday night in Seattle. It happened in the 1st inning and was one of your "standard" triple play setups, runners on first and second and a line drive right at an infielder. Nate Lowe caught that, then went to Corey Seager at second, then back to Lowe to double off both runners.

In their history the Rangers/Senators have actually turned 10 triple plays, among the leaders in the Expansion Era (the Twins have 15, including, famously, the only instance of two in one game). Their last was in 2018 against the Angels. One of those others was also against the Mariners, on April 14, 2002, when Ruben Sierra got himself in a rundown. And while a triple play cannot involve a runner getting hit by a batted ball, it can be started by a strikeout. The Mariners found that out the last time they "hit" into one, Kc+CS26+OA62 (?!), on September 2, 2006.

Catch Us If You Can

Speaking of quirky scoring plays, Friend Of Kernels Jen Underwood threw us this nugget. Although it is becoming a bit tainted in recent years, there is still a rule about "catcher's interference", and it's something weird that we've tracked for years. The intent of the rule is to prevent catchers from reaching forward and interfering with the batter's swing, usually to get a split-second jump on throwing out a runner trying to steal. The reward is that the batter is given first base despite not actually hitting the ball, and so a few hitters in this age of dynamic oversized backswings, plus standing so far back in the batter's box, have been able to take advantage of this rule, even when there is no runner on base. It also trips up plenty of folks when balancing a boxscore (it's an E2 but no at-bat) and/or figuring out earned runs.

Anyway, the Nationals received a whopping three catcher's interference awards in the course of 6 days, two of them to Josh Bell-- one last Saturday against his former team, the Pirates, and again on Thursday with the bases loaded to score a run. In between, Nelson Cruz got one in that Tuesday doubleheader. In their previous 17 seasons as the Nationals, the Washington team had been gifted a total of four CI awards, and two of those were last year. They also had four total in their last eight years in Montréal. But as for 3 CI's in 6 days, that's happened only five other times in the past 50 years (and before the mid-1960s the leagues did not report it as an official statistic). The same franchise-- as the Expos-- is one of the others; Andre Thornton and Wayne Garrelts teamed up to garner three of them in July 1976. The Yankees are also two of them, doing so in August 1992 (Roberto Kelly, the king of CIs) and July 2016 (Jacoby Ellsbury, who replaced Kelly as king). The Brewers (April 2019) and Astros (April 2017) round out the list.

And since we're here, one more Nationals note. The Giants-- after getting dumped on by the Mets earlier in the week-- rounded out their weekend with a 12-3 beatdown against Washington, in which half of their runs came in the top of the 9th as Sam Clay and Steve Cishek became the first teammates in Nats/Expos history to each give up 3 earned runs and hit a batter while getting no more than 1 out. And the last time the Giants scored 12+ runs in a game in Washington? Well, that was "only" on April 27, 1898. New York beat the old NL Senators by a count of 20-5 in a "parody" of the game that was played "in a blizzard" and called after 7 innings.

Eleventh Heaven

Not only did it rain in Washington and New York early in the week, it rained even more in Cleveland. The Guardians had to cancel two games before playing a doubleheader with the White Sox on Wednesday. And the team from Chicago would have been more than happy to wait through another rainout.

Dallas Keuchel took the mound in the opener and almost got through the Cleveland lineup twice. (In 2022, he's expressly forbidden from ever facing a hitter for a third time, because Unwritten Rules.) So there were 17 Guardians batters to match up with Keuchel. He got three of them out. Pro tip: That's not good. The first two batters he faced both reached on errors, so not entirely his fault, but it was the 2nd inning when the wheels came off. Yet another error to start the inning and make most of this unearned. Four straight singles before a grand slam by Jose Ramirez. The last grand slam hit by Cleveland in a home game against the White Sox was Jason Kipnis's walkoff on September 19, 2018. But rather than stop the bleeding now, Keuchel got to stay out there for five more batters-- four singles and another reached-on-error. Altogether he faced 11 batters in the 2nd inning and didn't get any of them out.

If you've perused enough boxscores, you know that there is a special notation for when a pitcher starts an inning but doesn't retire a batter. In our personal scoresheets we just record the innings pitched as "1+". But in this one you will see the added line Keuchel pitched to 11 batters in the 2nd. Eleven. Which prompted some Friends Of Kernels to ask, has that ever happened before? And we're pretty sure the answer is no.

In the era of complete play-by-play on Baseball Reference, which dates to 1974, the highest number to appear on such a line is 9, by David Price in 2014 and Rick Rhoden in 1982. We found a game in 2006 where Luke Hudson of the Royals allowed 10 batters to reach to start the inning, but the 11th one made an out and thus deleted the special line.

And special line or not, how many White Sox pitchers have given up 10+ runs in a game while getting only 3 outs? That would be two-- Keuchel on Wednesday and Milt Gaston against the Senators on June 13, 1934.

The second game of that Wednesday doubleheader was a 2-1 affair, marking the first time Cleveland won the opener of a twinbill by 10+ runs, but the nightcap by only 1, since August 15, 1984, against Toronto.

Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Jazz Chisholm, Saturday: First player in Marlins history to have 4 hits, 3 runs scored, 3 RBI, and 2 stolen bases in a game. Last for any team was Cavan Biggio of Toronto on September 17, 2019.

⚾ Christian Yelich, Monday: Third grand slam at The Park Formerly Known As Miller. Only other batter to hit three there (as home or visitor) is Ryan Braun.

⚾ Twins, Thursday: First time winning a 1-0 game on a sacrifice fly since August 14, 1974, in Cleveland (Glenn Borgmann hit the SF in the 7th).

⚾ Orioles, Wednesday: First 1-0 win over Oakland since June 10, 1978, on a 9th-inning double by Lee May.

⚾ Byron Buxton, Sunday: Second batter in Twins history to hit 2 homers but also strike out 3 times in the same game. Chili Davis did it against the Yankees on June 13, 1991.

⚾ Seiya Suzuki, Tuesday: Fifth Cubs batter in modern era to have a 3-walk game within his first 8 MLB appearances. Others: Kris Bryant (2015), Damon Berryhill (1987), Steve Swisher (1974), Toby Atwell (1952).

⚾ Mookie Betts, Friday: First Dodgers leadoff batter with 2 homers and 2 walks in a game since Davey Lopes at St Louis on June 1, 1979.

⚾ Freddie Freeman, Monday: First Dodgers batter to hit a 2-run homer as team's second batter of a game against the Braves since Franklin Stubbs, June 24, 1984.

⚾ Austin Nola, Saturday: Second-ever "sac-fly-off" for Padres against the Dodgres. Other was by Gary Sheffield on April 11, 1992.

⚾ Cesar Hernandez, Tuesday: First Nationals batter with a double and at least 1 RBI in both games of a doubleheader since Cristian Guzman vs Philadelphia, May 16, 2009.

⚾ George Springer, Wednesday: Second leadoff batter in Jays history to have a base hit, a sac fly, and a hit-by-pitch in the same game. Shannon Stewart did it against Seattle on August 11, 1998.

⚾ George Springer, Saturday: First Jays batter ever to hit a leadoff homer IN Houston. Had been the last remaining AL park in which Toronto had never hit one.

⚾ Yoshi Tsutsugo, Thursday: Pirates' first lead-flipping double in the 5th or later at Wrigley since Bobby Bonilla off Jamie Moyer on September 7, 1987.

⚾ Michael Kopech, Friday: First White Sox starter to allow 0 runs and strike out 7+ against Minnesota, but NOT get the win, since Wilbur Wood on September 1, 1971.

⚾ Jo Adell, Sunday: Angels' first 1st-inning grand slam since C.J. Cron hit one at Citi Field on May 21, 2017.

⚾ Roansy Contreras, Tuesday: Became second Pirates pitcher in live-ball era to allow 1 hit and strike out at least 5 in consecutive outings. Roy Face did it in 1960. (Contreras promptly got optioned to Indianapolis later in the week.)

⚾ Ty France, Saturday: Second player in Mariners history with 5 hits, 5 RBI, and 3 runs scored in a game. Mickey Brantley did it against Cleveland on September 14, 1987.

⚾ Angels, Wednesday: First game where they scored 6+ runs with all of them coming in the 1st inning since a 7-0 win in Milwaukee on June 19, 1977.

⚾ Michael King, Friday: First Yankees pitcher to record 8+ strikeouts in a relief appearance since... Michael King on July 3 of last year. First to do it twice for the Bronx Bombers since Joe Page in 1947.

⚾ Anthony Rizzo, Tuesday: First Yankees batter to have 3 walks and a stolen base in Detroit since Chad Curtis on July 6, 1999.

⚾ Anthony Rizzo, Wednesday: First Yankees batter to have a homer, a double, and a stolen base in Detroit since Paul O'Neill on July 15, 1998.

⚾ Bryce Elder, Sunday: First Braves pitcher to issue 5+ walks and get a loss in back-to-back games since Tom Glavine in April 1994.

⚾ Pablo Lopez, Thursday: Second Marlins pitcher ever to allow 0 runs and strike out 9+ against the Cardinals. Charlie Hough did it at the previous Busch Stadium on June 14, 1994.

⚾ Mariners, Sunday: First walkoff win against the Royals since August 28, 2004, when Randy Winn hit a 2-run homer in the 12th. Point of personal privilege, we were at this game.

Baseball: It's A Hit!

We've previously covered the various ways those offensive batters can reach first base. There are generally about eight of them depending on which nuances you count or don't. Some of them are dull. Walks are dull. Stop it. Dropped third strike, meh. No, what (most) everyone really came to see is some bat-on-ball action.

Ten-der Is The Night

Last week we left you with tales of the newly-minted Cleveland Guardians dropping 17 runs on the Kansas City Chiefs, er, Royals. (Hey, they play right next to each other, what do you want?) Although they didn't quite get back to 17 again, they did keep that "1" lit up for a couple more days.

Monday saw the final game of a "wraparound" series in Kansas City, and that game saw the two teams locked up at 4 for most of those boring middle innings. The real breakthrough happens in the top of the 8th when rookie Steven Kwan becomes the first Clevelander to hit a bases-loaded triple at Kauffman Stadium since Casey Blake did it on May 24, 2007. That gave the Ohioans a 9-5 lead, but it took Oscar Mercado's otherwise-meaningless groundout in the 9th to flip the "1" back on. Mercado had homered back in the 4th to contribute to that 4-4 tie, and it made him just the third Clevleand batter to have a homer and 3 RBI in consecutive games at Kauffman. Jose Ramirez did it in July 2019, and Marty Cordova pulled it off in May 2001. Monday's 10-7 final (Andrew Benintendi homered in the 9th to try and make it interesting) was not only another "football" score similar to Sunday's 17-3, it was also the third time Cleveland had hit double digits in back-to-back games at "The K". They won by the non-football scores of 11-9 and 13-7 back in April 2012, and by counts of 16-3 and 14-5 in May 1998.

The Guardians' team bus then made the long trek across Missouri on I-70, then to Louisville via I-64, then up I-71 to finally cross back into Ohio. Before reaching their own end of I-71, however, they would stop in Cincinnati for the latest installment of the cross-Ohio "rivalry". And stop us if you've heard this one, but once again it's 4-4 in the middle innings, though it took the Reds until the 6th to finally tie things up. Jose Ramirez and Andres Gimenez both had RBI triples as part of Cleveland's 4 runs, which is going to make the 9th inning quite interesting.

Owen Miller leads off with a double for the Guardians, and then Gimenez gives them the lead with a 2-run shot. Hunter Strickland promptly hits Austin Hedges with the first pitch, sparking some, well, "interest" from the Cleveland dugout. Myles Straw doubles, Kwan walks, and up comes Jose Ramirez with the bases loaded. And down goes baseball into the right-field seats, the second grand slam ever hit by a Cleveland team (yes, including the Spiders) in Cincinnati. Travis Hafner took Joe Mays deep on July 1, 2006. That also gave Ramirez 6 RBI on the day, his fourth such game for the Cleveland franchise. Hafner also did that four times; the only ones with more are Manny Ramirez and Hal Trosky.

And remember, Ramirez and Gimenez both tripled earlier in the game before going yard in the 9th. Only one other pair of teammates in franchise history has had both hits in the same game: Lou Boudreau and Ken Keltner in Philadelphia on June 19, 1941.

Are you counting runs? Yep, it took until the 9th again, but that's three straight double-digit games for the Guardians. The franchise hadn't done that at all since May 2018, and hadn't done it with all three games on the road since a sweep of the White Sox in May 1999.

Now Back To The Hits

Spring has finally sprung in most places (we'll get back to you, Minnesota), and with the warmer weather, it feels like some players have a little extra spring in their bats. Or maybe they were just excited to be back on the field after the events of the winter. But did you notice all the 4-hit games that were out there this week? We did.

Jose Iglesias of the Rockies started the week by collecting 4 hits in their Monday game in Arlington. It's already a little strange that Colorado would be playing Texas in an interleague matchup so early in the year, but Iglesias winds up being just the third #9 batter in Rox history with a 4-hit game (since most of them have been pitchers). The others on that list are Juan Pierre on July 14, 2001-- also in Arlington, but at the old park across the street-- and John Thomson against the Marlins on June 1, 1997. The day before Pierre's 4-hit game in Arlington, Todd Walker had a homer and a triple despite the Rockies losing 10-2. And sure enough, C.J. Cron duplicated that feat on Monday as well.

Franco-National

Down in Atlanta, the Braves are off to a mediocre start at defending their title from 2021, and while the 2019-champion Nationals are nowhere near the buzzsaw of a few years ago, they do still enjoy pounding a division rival now and then. That brings us to Maikel Franco, formerly a division rival of both teams from his time in Philadelphia, but now in his first season with Washington. Franco went down to Truist Park on Monday and pounded out a 3rd-inning homer and a bases-loaded double in the 8th as the Nats dropped an 11-2 decision on the Braves. Franco had two other singles along the way and, oh, did we mention he batted 8th? That doesn't mean quite as much in the National League this year since the pitchers aren't in the 9-hole, but he's still just the third batter in franchise history to have 4 hits and 5 RBI from that low in the order. Orlando Cabrera did it on July 3, 2000, also in Atlanta, along with Larry Parrish in St Louis on May 29, 1977.

Franco was also the first Nationals batter with 5 RBI in a game in Atlanta, from any spot in the order, since (really) Stephen Strasburg did it on July 18, 2019.

Bronx Bombing

Vladimir Guerrero Jr had 4 hits on Wednesday as the Blue Jays rallied to beat the Yankees 6-4. By itself, nice accomplishment. But drill down on that and you find that those 4 hits were a double and three homers. At Yankee Stadium. It's one of those games that you might dream about as a kid, especially when your dad is also a big-leaguer.

Vlad Jr broke up Gerrit Cole's no-hitter (such as it was) in the 1st inning with homer #1 to straightaway center. He then dumped a 2-run shot into the bullpen in the 3rd. Although the Yankees clawed back to within 4-3, Junior led off the 8th with a shot into the stands in left for the third home run, thus becoming the first Blue Jays batter ever to have a 3-homer game in New York, at any stadium. He also had a 3-homer game against the Nationals on April 27 of last year, joining Carlos Delgado and Edwin Encarnacion as the only players in Jays history to do it twice.

Throw in the 6th-inning double, and Vladdy is the first visiting player ever to have 4 hits, including 3 homers, at the "new" Yankee Stadium. The last to do so at the old place across the street was Geronimo Berroa of the A's on May 22, 1996.

And oh yeah, care to guess how many times Vlad Senior hit 3 homers in a game? Any game? Yep, that would be... none.

Keep It Realmuto

The "universal DH" being used for two of the last three MLB seasons has started to create some interesting lineup arrangements, with "pitcher" Shohei Ohtani batting 1st, and a bunch of National League DH's batting 9th where the pitcher used to be. For a few teams this has had the ripple effect of moving the catcher higher in the lineup, since most of them tend to be larger humans with bad knees who often get relegated to the 7- or 8-hole.

The Phillies are currently backstopped by J.T. Realmuto, who found himself batting 2nd when they went to Miami this weekend. In the opener on Thursday, he batted in every odd-numbered inning, collecting singles in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 9th, plus a walk in the 7th. That would be 4 hits, since by now you've picked up on the theme. The last Phillies catcher to collect 4 hits and a walk in a 9-inning game was Carlos Ruiz at Citi Field on September 25, 2011. But the last to also tack on a stolen base was Bert Adams who did it at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn on June 1, 1919.

The Phillies lost that opener on Thursday, 4-3, also making Realmuto the team's first player with 4 hits, a walk, and a steal in a loss since Mariano Duncan did that in Atlanta on May 10, 1994.

And unless you're a pitcher, 4 hits looks a lot better in a boxscore than 4 strikeouts. Because by Saturday, Realmuto had jumped up to the leadoff spot. And even though the Phillies cruised to a 10-3 win, Realmuto became the team's first backstop since at least 1900 to bat leadoff and whiff four times. It wasn't a complete loss, though; Realmuto reached on an error and ended up still scoring a run. That was another Phillies Phirst in the modern era; they'd never before had a leadoff batter record 0 hits and strike out 4+ times but also manage to score a run.

One other bizarre Phillies note: In between, Nick Castellanos provided the team's only run in Friday's 7-1 loss with a solo homer. As mentioned, the rules have changed. Castellanos was the Phils' designated hitter. In a National League park in Miami. And strangely, it's actually the second time that a Phillies DH has gone yard for their only run in an NL stadium. The other... was a home game. And it wasn't in 2020. It was in 2010. You may vaguely remember the protests surrounding that year's G20 economic summit in Toronto. Where, over safety concerns, the Jays moved their home series with the Phillies to Citizens Bank Park instead. Creating that rare scenario (at least until the doubleheader rules changed a couple years ago) where the home team bats first in its own park. That Jays/Phils series was played with AL rules, including the DH. The Phils batter who went yard in a 5-1 loss on June 26 of that year was Ryan Howard.

A Machado Made In Heaven

Then there is Manny Machado of the Padres, who saw all these 4-hit games going on around him this week and said, hey, I know how to get into this post. On Thursday against Atlanta he singled in the 1st (scoring on Eric Hosmer's single). And the 2nd (scoring on Luke Voit's double). And the 4th. And the 6th (scoring on a Voit single). And then taking matters into his own hands by homering in the 7th. That's not four hits, it's five. And 4 runs scored. Plus 2 stolen bases along the way. Only two others in the Padres' MLB history have recorded 5 hits and 2 steals in a game-- Gene Richards (July 26, 1977) and Tony Gwynn (August 11, 1987). Five days before Gwynn did that, he also had a 4-hit game that included 2 doubles, the last San Diego batter to do it against Atlanta before... nope, not Machado. That was Eric Hosmer's line in the same game on Thursday. The previous home game where the Padres had multiple players with 4 hits was on August 1, 2014, once again versus Atlanta. Tommy Medica had 5 hits and 4 runs scored that day, the last Padres hitter to do it before Machado on Thursday. (Everth Cabrera had the 4-hit game.)

As for the trifecta of 5 hits, 4 runs, and 2 steals, no player for any team has reached all three marks in the same game since then-Pirate Andrew McCutchen at Wrigley Field on May 14, 2010.

And all this adds up to a 12-1 thumping of the Braves, San Diego's second-largest win ever against Atlanta. They dropped a 17-2 at Petco on April 12, 2010. Atlanta's lone run on Thursday came on a 9th-inning homer by Ozzie Albies. The last time a Braves hitter broke up a 12-0 shutout (or worse) with a 9th-inning dinger, they weren't in Atlanta. They weren't even in Milwaukee. They weren't even commonly called the Braves yet. Tim Jordan did it for the Boston "Beaneaters" against Brooklyn on October 3, 1906, in a game they lost 13-4.

Strawberry Fields Forever

Bringing this all back to Cleveland, we find them still stuck in Cincinnati on Wednesday (there are worse places to be stuck, at least they have chili). And taking advantage of the MLB debut of Nick Lodolo, who gave up 7 hits, 5 runs, and 2 homers, the first Reds pitcher to do that in a debut since Eddie Priest in 1998. A couple of those hits belonged to Myles Straw, who ended up with four of them plus a stolen base. No Cleveland leadoff batter had posted that line in an NL park since Grady Sizemore in St Louis on June 28, 2006.

The Guardians finally returned home to guard, uh, Cleveland? over the weekend. And Straw began their defense on Saturday with some offense in the form of a leadoff triple. They hadn't hit one of those in any game since Francisco Lindor in Chicago on September 7, 2017, and had only ever hit one in a home interleague game. That was by Kenny Lofton against the Cardinals on July 8, 2001.

Straw tacked on a double later in the game, but alas, the fortress did not hold and the Giants took Cleveland (it's like "The Muppets Take Manhattan", but different) by a final of 4-2. Straw was thus the first Cleveland leadoff batter with a triple and a double in a home loss since Grady Sizemore against the Mariners on July 17, 2009.

Seiya, Say Me

Meanwhile, the Cubs' team bus had to go right past Cleveland to wind up a couple hours east in Pittsburgh. (These are jokes, we know that these days teams actually travel via wagon convoy to avoid detection.)

Tuesday proved to be another breakout game for the Cubs' latest Japanese phenom, Seiya Suzuki. Already hyped before the season started, Suzuki cranked 2 homers out of PNC Park to become the fourth Cubs batter in the modern era to have a multi-homer game within his first four MLB appearances. Jorge Soler and Javier Baez did it within a month of each other in August 2014; the only other entry on the list belongs to Brant Brown in June 1996. But the real story was the final score: Suzuki-- er, Cubs-- 2, Pirates 1. There are also only four games in Cubs history where the same player hit two solo shots and the team won the game by a 2-0 or 2-1 count. Fred McGriff did it against the Cardinals on June 21, 2002. Jose Cardenal did it against the Dodgers on May 31, 1975. And back on June 13, 1925, Charlie Grimm did it against the Braves. As an added bonus, all of those other games were at Wrigley Field, so Suzuki is the team's first-ever player to do it on the road.

In Wednesday's series finale, the Pirates responded by having Ke'Bryan Hayes get in on the 4-hit parade, but not until after Willson Contreras put the Cubs ahead with a 1st-inning homer. That meant Daniel Vogelbach led off with the Pirates already trailing. He and Hayes both singled to set up Ben Gamel's 3-run tater. It was Pittsburgh's first lead-flipping homer against the Cubs in the 1st inning since Garrett Jones took Randy Wells deep on August 2, 2011.

That would be all they needed. Kevin Newman added a 2-run triple to score Hayes and Gamel, with Hayes recording the earliest 4-hit game by a Pirate (5 games into the season) since Gregory Polanco and Starling Marte both did it in 2017. Wil Crowe shut down the Cubs for the final third of the game, becoming the first Pirates pitcher to get a 3-inning save while allowing 1 hit and striking out at least 4 since Cecilio Guante did that at Dodger Stadium on July 22, 1985.

On Thursday the Nationals came to PNC Park and collected 3 runs in the 1st off rookie Joan Adon. That meant-- wait for it-- Daniel Vogelbach leads off with the Pirates already trailing. This time, instead of singling and waiting for Gamel to homer, Vogey goes deep himself, the first leadoff homer the Pirates have hit when already down by 3 runs since Tike Redman against the Cardinals on August 12, 2003. This time it would be Vogey who went on to the 4-hit game, and he would also score 3 runs as the Pirates rallied for a 9-4 win. The last Pittsburgh batter with 4 hits and 3 runs scored, including a leadoff homer, was Andrew McCutchen, who also did it against the Nationals, on August 1, 2009.

It's A Hit... Except When It's Not

A Friend Of Kernels in the Minneapolis suburbs posted pictures of the couple inches of snow that fell in the area this week. So, no, it is not quite spring everywhere yet. (We told you we'd get back to you, Minnesota.) So if you were looking for hits, Target Field is not yet the place to find them.

The Mariners ended another of those funky wraparound series on Monday by getting shut out on 2 hits despite a gametime temp of 57� and the wind blowing out (according to MLB). One of those hits was in the 2nd inning, so we at least didn't have blaring no-hitter sirens (yet). The Mariners have played at all three variations on a Twin Cities stadium, but Target Field is the only place where they've ever been shut out on 2 hits-- and that's now happened three times. The others were August 29, 2012, a 10-0 loss to, of all pitchers, Sam Deduno; and August 1, 2010, when Francisco Liriano shut them down. Given that the Mariners also enjoy not hitting the ball in their own park, Monday's game tied them with the Tigers for the most 2-hit games (or fewer) since the start of 2019, having done it a whopping 17 times.

While the Mariners' team bus continued down I-94 to Chicago, the Dodgers made the trek to Target Field for the first time in nearly 8 years. As a housewarming gift they brought a Clayton Kershaw. And, well, yeah.

Remember last week how the Padres controversially pulled two starters with no-hitters intact? The Dodgers sent eight batters up in the 1st and already had a 2-0 lead (plus stranded the bases loaded) before Kershaw even threw a pitch. The Twins sent nine batters up in the first 3 innings combined. And then 12 through 4. And 15 through 5. And 18 through 6. Yes, we have a perfect game going at one of the four active stadiums that has never even seen a "regular" no-hitter. (Quick, name the others.) Byron Buxton goes down swinging. Luis Arraez hits a lazy fly ball to third. Gio Urshela grounds to second. Twenty-one up, twenty-one down. Kershaw has done this on only 80 pitches despite thirteen of those batters striking out (which usually requires some foul balls and "nibble" pitches). Kershaw's career high is 132 pitches, and while he's starting to age a bit, he still broke 100 four times last season. And then, what? He's done? He's done. Dave Roberts, no stranger to controversial moves, pulls Kershaw after 80 pitches with not just a no-hitter intact, but a perfect game.

(SunTrust/Truist Park in Atlanta, along with the current incarnations of Busch Stadium and Yankee Stadium. If you guessed Texas because it's new, remember Joe Musgrove from last year.)

Alex Vesia was a 12-year-old kid from northern California when Clayton Kershaw made his MLB debut. Probably safe to say Alex has followed him for most of his career. Here, Alex, take this baseball and finish what That Guy started. Also, by the way, there has never been a combined perfect game in MLB history. And, spoiler alert, there still hasn't been, because nobody wants to see that. Vesia got Jorge Polanco to ground out to start the 8th, but then Gary Sanchez roped a solid single to right and we're done here. But are we though?

In MLB's "modern era" (1901) there are now seven pitchers who have allowed 0 hits, 0 walks, and fanned at least 13 batters in a game. Kershaw on Wednesday was the first to not finish the game. But he was also one of the six who did finish the game. That was his no-hitter against the Rockies on June 18, 2014. The only thing that kept that from also being a perfect game was an error by Hanley Ramirez. And while we're at it, only one other Dodgers pitcher has ever struck out 13 opponents in an interleague game-- and that's also Clayton Kershaw. That was July 9, 2017, at Kansas City.

Gary Sanchez's line-drive single did not, however, open the proverbial floodgates. That would be the only hit of the game for the Twins, and though Target Field still hasn't seen a completed no-hitter, it's had its share of 1-hitters. Minnesota last posted 1 hit on September 8, 2018, against the Royals, when Jorge Lopez took a no-no into the 9th. But in 12-plus seasons at Target Field, the Twins have been held to 1 hit six times. They spent 21 years at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington (where the Mall of America now sits) and did it eight times. And in 28 seasons at the Metrodome, the Twins were held to 1 hit in a game... just once.

By the way, after checking in at Target Field for the first time since 2014, the Dodgers returned home to meet the Reds for a weekend series. In Sunday's finale Andrew Heaney watched his offense pile up 7 runs in the 4th, even as he was busy doing his best Clayton Kershaw impression. No, no perfect game. Not even a no-hitter after Kyle Farmer doubled in the 3rd. But that turned out to be the only hit Heaney allowed in 6 innings. And he struck out 11. Not quite Kershaw's line of 0 hits and 13 K, but close. And it turns out only two other sets of teammates in the live-ball era have had games where they allowed 1 hit, 0 runs, struck out at least 11, and gotten a win, within a 5-day span of each other. Think pitching staffs with two aces. Scherzer and Strasburg? Nope. Maddux and Glavine and Smoltz? Nope. But you might have gotten them. The only other pairings to pull that off so close together are Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson for the Diamondbacks in July 2001; and Nolan Ryan and Mike Scott of the Astros who did it on back-to-back days in September 1986.

Union Of The Snakes

Special recognition to Friend Of Kernels Mike Trainor (@trainonova) who threw us this question the other day. It might be springtime in most of the country, and so yes, the balls are starting to fly, but Arizona doesn't really have seasons, so they aren't quite sure when to come out of their shell and start hitting the ball. We covered their early futility last week. But it continued. By Friday the D'backs had played 7 games and not had more than 6 hits in any of them. Their team batting average was a paltry .135. Was that the worst 7-game start in MLB history?

Well, almost. The 2022 Diamondbacks were "outdone" only by the 2013 Pirates, who chunked up a .126 average over their first seven games before rebounding to finish 94-68 and actually make the postseason. Some of the most famous "awful" teams of all-time are still better, including the 2003 Tigers (.144), the 1969 Padres (.164), the 1962 Mets (.203), and the 1916 A's (.178). So anything is still possible. Hang in there D'backs fans. And stay with us for more #Kernels every Sunday night throughout the season.

Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Jake Cronenworth, Wednesday: First Padres batter to have a 1st-inning triple in San Francisco since Tony Gwynn at Candlestick, April 23, 1991.

⚾ Dylan Cease, Friday: Became second pitcher in White Sox history to strike out 8+ and get a win in each of his first two appearances of a season. Other was Jack McDowell in 1991.

⚾ Sheldon Neuse, Monday: Second batter in A's history to hit a 9th-inning grand slam with the team already ahead by 7+ runs. Other is Bob Johnson on August 3, 1938.

⚾ Caleb Thielbar, Tue/Sun: First pitcher in Twins/Senators history to give up 3+ runs while recording no more than 1 out in each of his first two appearances of a season.

⚾ Shohei Ohtani, Saturday: First Angels leadoff batter with 3 runs scored, 3 driven in, and a stolen base, since Chone Figgins at Baltimore on August 16, 2009.

⚾ Dodgers, Wednesday: First game where their 7-, 8-, and 9-hitters all homered since Wilson Betemit, Matt Kemp, and Hong-Chih Kuo all did it against the Mets on June 12, 2007.

⚾ Orioles, Friday: First game-winning walk ("shrimp" in baseball circles) of 2022. First time they've had one in extra innings against the Yankees since Chris Hoiles on June 25, 1993.

⚾ Nestor Cortes, Sunday: Third pitcher in Yankees history to allow 0 runs on 3 hits, strike out 12, and not get a win. Others are James Paxton in April 2019 and David Cone in April 1997.

⚾ Jonah Heim, Thursday: Third #9 batter in Rangers history to have 5 RBI and 3 runs scored in a game, joining Ramon Vazquez (in The 30-3 Game from 2007) and Bob Brower in 1987.

⚾ C.J. Cron, Monday: Second Rockies batter with a homer and a triple in the same game in Arlington. Todd Walker did it at the old place across the street on July 13, 2001.

⚾ Ozzie Albies, Saturday: First Braves batter ever to hit a leadoff homer at Petco Park. Ron Gant (twice in 1991) and Ralph Garr (1974) were the only ones to do it at The Murph.

⚾ Cedric Mullins, Tuesday: First grand slam hit by Orioles against Milwaukee since Jay Gibbons did it on June 13, 2003.

⚾ Nick Gordon, Friday: First Twins pinch-runner to score a run in the 1st inning since Lew Ford on June 17, 2007.

⚾ Diamondbacks, Sunday: First time ever shut out on 5 or fewer hits in a road game against the Mets (either stadium).

⚾ Kolten Wong, Wednesday: First triple by a Brewers hitter at Camden Yards since Matt Mieske off Arthur Rhodes on May 5, 1996.

⚾ Brewers, Monday: First time being shut out in Baltimore since August 21, 1989, against Jeff Ballard (who managed to throw an individual shutout with 0 strikeouts).

⚾ Gavin Lux, Friday: First Dodgers #9 batter with a triple and a stolen base since Don Newcombe (who, yes, was a pitcher) on May 26, 1955.

⚾ Dillon Peters, Wed/Sat: Second pitcher in live-ball era to throw 2+ hitless innings and get a win in both of his first two appearances of a season. Tom Henke did it for Toronto in July 1985.

⚾ Phillies/Marlins, Sunday: First game in modern era where there were 6+ hit-by-pitches, all by different pitchers and all to different batters.

⚾ Mets, Tuesday: First time ever collecting 3 or fewer hits at Citizens Bank Park and winning. Last such game at The Vet was April 23, 1991.

⚾ Aroldis Chapman, Thursday: First Yankees pitcher to face 3+ batters in a home game, walk all of them, and somehow not allow a run, since Art Schallock against Washington on August 9, 1951.

Strike. Then Ball.

Not too long ago, you would hear calls for certain reporters to "stick to sports". And we do that here at #Kernels as well. In fact, even within the baseball realm, we always try to keep it on the field. In that 90° arc from foul pole to foul pole. If you want to hear commentary on players' behavior or labor disputes or whether the Mets are doing something Mets-ian (note: they probably are), there's plenty of outlets for that. And yes, we know that what happened over the winter was not technically a "strike". But then again, that marginally-calibrated "K-Zone" box tries to tell us that a lot of things are not technically strikes. And somehow we might still get a full 162-game season despite starting it a week late. So let's get to some stuff that finally happened on the field this weekend. It's a "ball" call that even a pitcher could love.

Season's Greetings

So when deals were finally struck and it was announced that the season could start on April 7, we all looked at the schedule and either got very excited or said, oh no, not this already. First scheduled game of the season: Yankees/Red Sox. Just in case every Yanx/Sawx game doesn't already get over-hyped enough by various TV networks. And then came word on April 6 that the game was being rained out in advance. Thrusting the Cubs into the spotlight. Of course, for many years, the traditional first game of the season was played in Cincinnati, so the Cubs were frequently involved. Then came the special TV windows and the advent of the single game the night before "Opening Day". Then came the international games. So Wrigley Field actually hosted the first game of the season as recently as 2015. And the Cubs played in one back in 2018 in Miami. You might remember it, because Ian Happ did this.

That was the first of three Cubs homers in that season opener. The last one was by Kyle Schwarber. Four years hence, Schwarber now bats leadoff for the Phillies. Want to take a guess at what he did on Friday? (Though not on the first pitch.) It's just the fourth time in their entire history that the Phillies' first batter of a game has gone yard; Andrew McCutchen did it in 2019, Cesar Hernandez in 2017, and Heinie Mueller way back in 1930. Other than Hernandez, all of them were playing their first game in a Phils uniform. Schwarb's homer was the first of 5 earned runs given up by Frankie Montas, the first Oakland pitcher to do that in an opener since Dave Stewart returned to his old stomping grounds in Toronto in April 1995-- also the team's first game back from a work stoppage.

You're Making Me Rizzy

We mentioned there were three homers hit by the Cubs in that opener in 2018. We didn't mention the middle one, which was by Anthony Rizzo. He is also not with the Cubs anymore. Nope, he's at first base for the Yankees after a deadline deal last July. So when New York and Boston finally did play their opener on Friday, Rizzo came up third, already with Aaron Judge on base. He then proceeded to hit a 2-run dinger, only accomplished by three other Yankees who were either the team's second or third batter of the season. The others are Giancarlo Stanton (2018), Tommy Henrich (1948), and of course Babe Ruth (1932).

And Rizzo's homer didn't even give the Yankees the lead. That's because the Red Sox had opened with a 3-run 1st inning behind a Rafael Devers 2-run bomb. And Devers one-upped Rizzo by hitting it as the second batter of Boston's season. Although several other 1- and 2-hitters have gone yard that early in a Sox season, they were all solo shots. Devers is the first in team history to hit a 2-run homer as their second batter of an entire season. It was also the first Yanx/Sawx game where both teams homered in the 1st since Gleyber Torres and J.D. Martinez traded them on August 2, 2019.

Stanton, who was on that list of Yankees to homer very early in a season, went deep in the 4th inning to put another nail in Nate Eovaldi's early exit. And none of it mattered because this became the first contest of 2022 to invoke our old friend the Free Runner Rule. The "zombie". The "Manfred Man". Whatever other choice name you have for it. We went to the 11th before Josh Donaldson "kut" short the night of Kutter Crawford with a leadoff single to score the free runner. While it comes with an asterisk, it's still technically a walkoff win. And the Yankees hadn't won a season opener in walkoff fashion since Andy Carey beat the Senators in... 1957! The only team to go longer, ironically enough, is the Red Sox (1941). And moving into second place now are the Padres, who still have never done it since joining MLB in 1969. So after Joe Musgrove's no-hitter last year, at least there's still one thing the Padres have never done.

By the way, on Saturday Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton both homered again, thus becoming the first teammates in Yankees history to both go deep in the team's first two games of a season.

Musgrove Love

Someone say Joe Musgrove? The kid from (close to) San Diego who made history on April 9 of last year? Guess who's pitching on April 9 again this year. You probably already guessed this, but no pitcher has ever thrown two no-hitters on the same date. Only a handful have even thrown two in the same month; Nolan Ryan has a September 26 and a September 28 to be, by far, the closest. You probably also guessed that Musgrove did not in fact throw another no-hitter. In fact Ketel Marte smashed that dream two batters into the game, the Diamondbacks' first base hit this season in the 6th inning or earlier. Did we mention it was their third game?

Yes, after our record-setting no-hitter spree in 2021, the vigil is back. On Thursday Madison Bumgarner got the Opening Day start, and you know it's just a matter of time until he throws one-- wait, hang on. That note is from about 10 years ago. MadBum is still pretty good, but he doesn't scare us as much as he once did. Plus he pitches for the other team. No, today's culprit was actually Yu Darvish, who walked four but didn't allow a hit until the 6th inning. Only two balls were even described by MLB as "deep". So in the 6th, there's that "classic" (not really) battle of no-hitter versus "pitch count". Do you let him keep going, especially after a shortened spring-training session, or do you just hope someone hits the ball so you don't have to make this decision?

Nobody hit the ball. Darvish sits on 92 pitches after 6 hitless innings and it soon becomes apparent that he's not coming out for the 7th. So at least there will not be another Marwin Gonzalez moment. Tim Hill takes the, well, hill for the 7th and suddenly the Diamondbacks realize it's April and time to play baseball again. Pavin Smith greets Hill with a leadoff single because nobody likes combined no-hitters anyway. Bob Feller certainly wouldn't like one occurring on Opening Day. And yet this is only the first drama to be had in the game.

With the Padres holding a 2-0 lead, they turn things over to Robert Suarez for the 9th. He immediately issues a 4-pitch walk, a 5-pitch walk, a wild pitch, and then hits Carson Kelly to load the bases. Buh-bye now. He's the first pitcher in San Diego history to do all that while recording no outs. He's also just the fourth in the live-ball era to do it in his major-league debut, after Austin Adams (2017), Gino Minutelli (1990), and Doc Hamann (1922). Enter Craig Stammen. Who bounces his first pitch of the season to score Christian Walker from third. And also deprive Seth Beer of hitting a walkoff grand slam on the next pitch. It's okay, though; he'll take the 3-run shot. Arizona had never hit a walkoff homer when trailing in a season opener; the last time any team did it was 2011 when Cincinnati's Ramon Hernandez beat the Brewers. And because they didn't have a hit in the first 6 innings, it became just the second home game in Chase Field history where the D'backs scored 4 runs on 3 or fewer hits. The other was August 29, 2014, when the Rockies gifted them 8 walks.

On Friday the D'backs got to face Sean Manaea, relocated after six serviceable seasons in Oakland and yes, including a no-hitter against the Red Sox in 2018. He issues a walk to Daulton Varsho in the 2nd... and nothing else. Down go the Diamondbacks in order, 13 in a row, and stop us if you've heard this one. Maybe it's something to do with the time change and Arizona being an hour off from the rest of the country, but once again we have no hits through 6. It's the first time in the modern era (1901) that a team has been held hitless that long in both of its first two games of a season. One little wrinkle this time: Manaea is only at 76 pitches because he didn't issue a bunch of walks. Out he goes for the 7th. "Out" go Marte, Kelly, and Walker. Through 7 on 88 pitches. Decision time again, and Bob Melvin has got to be thinking, I didn't sign up for this every night. Especially against one of his former teams.

Like Darvish before him, Manaea gets pulled. Like Tim Hill before him, Tim Hill comes trotting in from the bullpen to start the 8th. And incredibly, like Tim Hill before him, Tim Hill hangs a spicy meatball that David Peralta lashes into center for a base hit. We have been unable to verify, but it feels like a pretty good bet that Hill is the first pitcher ever to inherit a combined no-hitter on consecutive nights and lose both of them to the first batter. At least it made for an easy copy/paste in our new list of the deepest no-hit bids of 2022, which continues a tradition started by Dirk Lammers' NoNoHitters site in 2015. (The formatting will get spruced up a little once it gets more entries.)

At least, unlike Thursday, there was no end-of-game walkoff drama. Geraldo Perdomo also singled off Hill and those would be the only 2 hits Arizona got. The Padres had only shut them out on 2 hits at Chase once before in their history-- May 26, 2005, behind Jake Peavy. And remember they only had 3 hits in the opener. Only four teams in the live-ball era have collected 3 or fewer hits in both of their first two games of a season; the others are the 2013 A's (manager, Bob Melvin), the 1960 Cardinals, and the White Sox of 1953.

We're Number 1

Fifty years from now, someone will randomly remember the answer to the trivia question, "who got the first hit in Cleveland Guardians history?". Myles Straw will be 77 by then, and hopefully he'll still be around for someone to ask him about it. Not only did he get the renamed team's first hit, he was their first-ever batter. So no matter what you call them, it's the first time Cleveland's first batter of a season connected for a base knock since Michael Brantley did it in 2011. Straw went on to also have the first stolen base in "Guardians" history, and is the team's first player with 2 hits and a steal on Opening Day since Travis Hafner in 2003.

We started this by flashing back to Ian Happ's first-pitch-of-season homer in 2018. Happ is the only player mentioned in that paragraph who's still with the Cubs. And when they finally did play that first game of 2022, guess what he did. Spoiler alert, it's not a homer. But he did draw a walk as the team's first batter of the season. And if you're into such things, Happ did the exact same thing last season. No Cubs batter had pulled that off since Eric Young Jr in 2000 and 2001. But Happ also went on to have 3 hits and 2 RBI, good enough to be the first Cubs batter to do that in an opener since Kosuke Fukudome in 2008. The 5-4 final, while not a walkoff situation, was the first time the Cubs had won their opener by 1 run since beating the Padres in 1996.

The Rangers did not need to be told that it's April and it's time to play ball. Brad Miller opened their season with a home run, joining Ian Kinsler (2011) and Oddibe McDowell (1987) as the only players in team history to do that. And for Jose Berrios it went even further downhill from there. Walk. Single. Wild pitch. Walk. Single. 2-0 with two on, both of whom would also later score. But not off Berrios, he's done after facing seven batters and getting one of them out. Only one other Opening Day starter in Jays history had given up 4 runs while lasting ⅓ of an inning, Mark Bomback against Milwaukee in 1982. And it's okay if you forgot that 4-run 1st inning, because this turned into a classic Rogers Centre slugfest which the Jays eventually won 10-8. Last year Texas lost its opener as well, to the Royals. Score? Nope, not 10-8. But 14-10. That's two seasons in a row that the Rangers scored 8+ runs in their first game and lost. No team had pulled that off since the Red Sox of 1925-26.

And finally, Mookie Betts always seems to put his own spin on things. He was the Dodgers' first batter of the 2022 season and he also reached first base. But not by doing something silly like getting a hit. Nope, Betts struck out on a wild pitch from Kyle Freeland, and the ball got far enough away that he scampered to first in time. No Dodgers batter had done that to start a game since Mark Ellis, also at Coors Field, on August 28, 2012. And in the available play-by-play on Baseball Reference, which includes every season opener back to 1948, Betts is the first player ever to do it as his team's first batter of a season.

Homeward Bound

In the first 20 years of this century, a total of 28 teams won their season openers in walkoff fashion. Some years don't have any, and the most in the Expansion Era (1961) had been three. Then last year happened and four teams did it, almost certainly an all-time record because prior to 1961 there were only eight openers. Then this year happened and four more teams did it. (Oddly, the eight participants-- four winners and four losers-- are all different from 2021.) We already covered the Yankees and D'backs. So let's head off to the Motor City.

Lucas Giolito of the White Sox lasted only 4 innings in the opener on Friday, so wouldn't have qualified for a win anyway (the rule we love to hate), but he gave up only 1 hit and struck out 6. No Sox pitcher had ever done that on Opening Day, regardless of how many innings he threw. And the win wouldn't have mattered anyway, because Miguel Cabrera took care of that with a bases-loaded 2-run single in the bottom of the 8th. Friday was Miggy's 318th multi-RBI game with the Tigers, leaving him one behind Hank Greenberg. (Al Kaline had 380, and Ty Cobb's numbers are disputed.)

Andrew Vaughn gave Chicago the lead back with a solo homer in the 9th. The Sox hadn't hit such a round-tripper in a season opener since Ron Blomberg walked off against Boston in 1978. It was also the first one they'd hit in the 9th or later at Comerica since Melky Cabrera did it on April 29, 2017. But the Tigers still have one more chance against Liam Hendriks. Eric Haase belts his own home run to re-tie the score at 4. And just when it looks like our free runners are going to show up again, Austin Meadows gaps a triple to right-center. That was after drawing 3 walks earlier in the game, becoming the first Detroit batter to do both in the same game since Carlos Guillen on August 7, 2008. Meadows also became the first batter in the modern era to record the weird combo of 3 walks and a triple in his first game with a new team (any team, not just the Tigers).

Two pitches later, Javier Baez sends everybody home with a blooper to right to score Meadows. The White Sox hadn't lost a season opener via walkoff since 2004 when Carlos Beltran of the Royals homered. And the Tigers had only won five others in their history-- 2014, 2012, and 1921 were on singles, while 1914 against the Browns looked eerily similar to 2022. Ty Cobb tripled in the 9th and scored on a ball to the outfield by Bobby Veach that would today be counted as a sac fly. The one remaining walkoff opener for Detroit was in their very first game as a franchise. On April 25, 1901, one day after the founding of the American League, they amazingly scored 10 runs in the bottom of the 9th to beat Milwaukee 14-13. It's a game that's been written about extensively.

Elsewhere on Friday, you can ride Joey Bart to either baseball stadium in the Bay Area. (How he hasn't done commercials for BART the transit agency yet, we're not sure.) This time we'll get off at Embarcadero station and take a leisurely walk to Whatever The Giants Stadium Is Called This Year. That's where we find Joey Bart becoming the fourth #9 batter in team history to homer on Opening Day. The others, naturally, are pitchers: MadBum in 2017, Johnny Antonelli in 1956, and Larry Benton in 1929.

Bart's homer wasn't of much consequence, other than it gave the Marlins one more run of deficit to come back from. It thus caused Jazz Chisholm's homer in the 9th to flip the lead instead of just take it. Oh by the way, thanks to the universal DH and pitchers not batting anymore, Jazz was also in the 9-hole. The only other lead-flipping homer in Marlins history hit by a number-9 batter in the 9th inning was a Ross Gload walkoff against the Braves on July 28, 2009.

That left things to Thairo Estrada in the bottom of the 9th, which he led off with another home run to tie the game back up at 5. So it's off to Free Runner Land, which is rendered moot when Maurice Dubon gets himself thrown out trying to get back to second on a ball he thought would drop for the game-winner. That left Darin Ruf in the position of being the game-winner; he walked and then scored when Austin Slater doubled. The only other walkoff double that the Giants hit in extra innings against the Marlins was by Yorvit Torrealba on May 2, 2004, scoring Barry Bonds (no doubt hustling all the way). And we mentioned the Yankees' drought of winning a season opener via walkoff. The Giants were fairly high on that list as well. Their last one came in 1987 when Chili Davis singled off the Padres' Dave Dravecky.

Each year we get to conjure up a new song about starting over or grand openings or something fanfare-ish to amuse you with. Happily there's no shortage of them. Strike up the '22 season, it's Intermission time!

New Rules

Back to that universal DH thing: Since it's been adopted for at least this season as part of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, MLB has tweaked the rules a bit. Just as we have The Buster Posey rule about collisions at home plate, or The Pat Venditte Rule about switch-pitchers, we now have The Shohei Ohtani Rule. Although really it's been the college rule for years.

Since the pitcher no longer occupies a spot in the batting order, the Designated Hitter is technically no longer batting for the pitcher. Thus, just like in college, they are treated as two independent positions. A superhuman who can throw the ball and also hit the ball can occupy both of those positions at the same time, but can also leave one of them without affecting the other. So a pitcher who also hits (see: Ohtani, MadBum, Ken Brett a few times in the '70s) can now leave the mound but keep his place in the batting order.

For Ohtani that place was the leadoff spot. On Thursday. In the Angels' season opener. Care to guess how many pitchers (or, pitcher-as-DH's) have ever been their team's first batter of an entire season? Yeppers, in the modern era that would be one, Shohei Ohtani in 2022. He grounded to short and spared us any further notes on the offensive side. But on the mound, Ohtani struck out 9 and allowed only 1 run. The only other Angels pitchers to do that in an opener are Jered Weaver (2012), Frank Tanana (1977), and Andy Messersmith (twice).

Did we mention he also lost the game? That one run, plus back-to-back homers in the 8th after Ohtani The Pitcher was long gone, was enough to propel Houston to a 3-1 victory. No Angels pitcher had struck out 9, allowed 1 run, and taken a loss in any home game since Jered Weaver also turned that trick against the Orioles on August 29, 2010.

Hammer Throw

It could be a nostaglic year in St Louis with Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina on the verge of retirement, and Albert Pujols added back on a special 1-year deal for just that same purpose. As he has for quite a while now, Waino threw the Cards' first pitch of the 2022 season and eventually blanked the Pirates while issuing 0 walks and striking out 6. He also had a 6-K, 0-BB, 0-run outing in 2015, as part of that previous "first game of season" at Wrigley Field. No other pitcher in the live-ball era has posted that line on two different Opening Days.

Wainwright wasn't even really the big story of that game on Thursday. Tyler O'Neill connected for 5 RBI, just the third player in Cardinals history to do that in an opener. And all of them did it against the Pirates; the others are Wally Roettger in 1928 and Del Gainer in 1922. The 9-0 final score was the Cardinals' largest-ever shutout in a season opener, topping an 8-0 against Louisville (Colonels!) in, appropriately enough, 1888.

Less of a household name is Tylor Megill of the Mets, who got their Opening Day nod. He posted the same line as Wainwright, with 6 strikeouts, 0 walks, and 0 runs allowed against the Nationals. With a few guesses you'd probably get the other two Mets to do that in an opener: Noah Syndergaard in 2017 and (of course) Tom Seaver in 1972.

Earlier we detailed the Giants winning their opener via walkoff. Their second game had some fun nuggets too, this time from the pitching side. Carlos Rodon got the call for this one, and he got plenty of calls from umpire Lance Barrett as well. In five innings, Rodon threw 89 pitches, which feels like a lot until you notice that he racked up a dozen strikeouts against only 3 hits. Turns out he did 9-and-3 in his first game last year, and is just the seventh pitcher in the live-ball era to do it in consecutive season debuts. Trevor Bauer also has an active streak; the others are Brandon Finnegan, Matt Harvey, Rich Harden, Curt Schilling, and Sam McDowell. Most notably for Rodon, that first start in 2021... was for the White Sox, where he had spent his entire career before being granted free agency on the day of the lockout (and signing with the Giants on the day it ended). He is thus the first pitcher to record 12 strikeouts in his first game with San Francisco since Juan Marichal's MLB debut on July 19, 1960.

Kyle Gibson was the up-and-coming star for the Twins when he was drafted in the first round in 2009. He did okay but never ended up as the next Johan Santana, found himself in Texas, then found himself in Philadelphia as the other half of a trade for Ian Kennedy last year. Ironically, the Phils had drafted him way back in 2006 at age 18 but he didn't sign. He did get some signs from catcher J.T. Realmuto on Saturday, which led to Gibson striking out 10 A's batters and walking zero. Only three other Phillies pitchers in the modern era have done that in their first appearance of a season: Zack Wheeler last year, Cliff Lee in 2011, and Chris Short in "the year of the pitcher" 1968. Meanwhile Cole Irvin got the start for Oakland and would probably like to forget it. He made it to the 6th but gave up 3 homers along the way. The last time an A's pitcher gave up three dingers in a game in Philadelphia... yep (we love these)... they were the home team. Dutch Romberger pulled it off against the Red Sox in their final season at Shibe/Connie Mack, July 11, 1954.

And while it might have taken a couple guesses to get to Noah Syndergaard in that Mets list above, remember he's no longer a Met. After 6 years of shooting lightning bolts at planes over LaGuardia, "Thor" is now unleashing thunder on Orange County. (Or maybe that's an earthquake.) He and some friends shut out the Astros on 2 hits on Saturday, the first time that's ever happened to Houston against the Angels. And Syndergaard is only the fourth pitcher ever to allow 0 runs, 2 hits, and get a win in his first appearance for the Halos. The others on that list are Billy Buckner (no relation) in 2013, Mark Langston in 1980, and Don Sutton in 1985.

Sundays Are For Football

We respectfully disagree, but we get it. And when your scoreboard alerted you that Cleveland defeated Kansas City 17-3 on Sunday, you might have said, okay, this seems normal. Then you remembered it's April.

Myles Straw, memorialized as the first batter in "Guardians" history, walked to start the game. But when three more singles followed around two lucky pop-ups, Kris Bubic's season debut was over. Cleveland blew up for 6 runs total and made Bubic the second pitcher in Royals history to give up 5+ and not escape the 1st inning, in his first start of a season. Aaron Brooks did it in Toronto on May 31, 2014, and that gets an asterisk because Brooks made a relief appearance as his MLB debut a few weeks earlier.

Ah, but how did those runs end up scoring? Yes, that would be a grand slam by Oscar Mercado off Bubic's replacement, Taylor Clarke. The only other 1st-inning slam that Cleveland has hit at Kauffman Stadium was by Jason Kipnis on July 27, 2019. And while Clarke eventually gets out of the inning, he's not a long reliever. He pitched 43#&8531 innings in 43 appearances for Arizona last year. So let's let Jackson Kowar take his chances with the 2nd inning and hope our offense can climb back into this.

Mmm, nope. Your 2nd goes single, single, walk, lineout, single, double, single, double play to finally end things after another four runs. And now Kowar is taking one for the team. He ends up staying out there until the 5th, surrendering 11 hits and 7 runs to turn this into a Cleveland blowout. Only two other relievers in Royals history have been left in the game long enough to give up 11 hits, and you might already be having flashbacks to one of them. Bill Castro did it against Boston on April 13, 1983. The other is The Vin Mazzaro Game from May 16, 2011, where he gave up fourteen runs to solidify his place in baseball lore.

By the time this drubbing is over, Steven Kwan has 5 hits for Cleveland, in only his third game in the majors. In the live-ball era only two other players have done that so quickly in their careers: Yermin Mercedes of the White Sox last year, and Cecil Travis for the Senators in 1933. Kwan was the eighth player in the modern era with 5 hits, a hit-by-pitch, and 4 runs scored in a single game; the previous entry on that list was from the Royals-- Angel Berroa on September 13, 2004. And in the last five seasons Cleveland has seen a player get 5 hits in a game four times. All of those are against the Royals (Amed Rosario in 2021, Franmil Reyes in 2020, and Oscar Mercado in 2019).

Speaking of Mercado, he wasn't done after that 1st-inning slam. He tacked on an RBI triple in the 4th off Kowar, giving him 5 RBI out of the 8-hole. No other hitter in team history had posted a homer, a triple, and 5 RBI from that low in the order, and their last to do it from anywhere in the lineup was Roberto Alomar on May 7, 1999.

As for that 17-3 final, not only is it the highest score in the majors in our few short days of the 2022 season, but it's the first time Cleveland's won a game by that exact score since April 28, 1996, in Toronto. And if you flip over to football, you'll find that neither incarnation of the Cleveland Browns (one of which is now the Baltimore Ravens) has ever won a game by a 17-3 count. So now we're making history in two sports.

And into the 2022 season we plunge. Join us here every Sunday night.

Bottom Of The Bag

⚾ Byron Buxton, Sunday: Second player in Twins/Senators history to lead off both the 1st and 2nd innings of a game with homers. Brian Dozier did it against Texas on August 4, 2017.

⚾ Cubs, Saturday: Largest home shutout ever (9-0) against Milwaukee. Any franchise. Including the original Brewers of the 1870s.

⚾ Robbie Ray, Friday: First Opening Day starter in Mariners history NOT named Randy or Felix to go 7+ innings and allow no more than 3 hits.

⚾ Nolan Arenado, Saturday: First Cardinals batter with 3 doubles and 3 RBI in a game since Pete Kozma at Dodger Stadium, May 26, 2013.

⚾ Nolan Arenado, Fri-Sun: Second player in Cardinals history to have multiple RBI in each of the team's first three games of a season. Other is Mark McGwire in 1998 and, well, you may have an opinion on that.

⚾ James McCann, Thursday: Second Mets batter to get hit by multiple pitches in a season opener. Gary Carter did it against the Cardinals in 1985.

⚾ Spencer Howard, Sunday: Second pitcher in Rangers/Senators history to give up 4 homers in his first outing of a season. R.A. Dickey did it against Detroit on April 6, 2006.

⚾ Royals, Saturday: Second 1-0 walkoff win in extra innings in team history. Willie Wilson scored Danny Garcia in the 15th to beat Minnesota on May 23, 1981.

⚾ Orlando Arcia, Friday: Second DH in Braves history to bat 9th and have 2+ RBI in a game. Keith Lockhart did it at Fenway Park on June 6, 1999.

⚾ Seiya Suzuki, Sat-Sun: First player ever to make his first three MLB appearances in a Cubs uniform and have at least 3 RBI in two of them.

⚾ Tyler Mahle, Thursday: Second Opening Day starter in Reds history to strike out 7+ and allow 0 earned runs. Johnny Cueto did it against the Pirates in 2015.

⚾ Jurickson Profar, Sunday: Second Padres batter ever to hit a grand slam in Phoenix. Other was Phil Nevin against Steve Randolph on August 27, 2003.

⚾ Pete Alonso, Saturday: Third grand slam ever by a Mets designated hitter, joining Wilmer Flores (September 2, 2017, at Houston) and Carlos Delgado (June 27, 2008, at Yankees).

⚾ Max Scherzer, Friday: First pitcher with 6+ strikeouts and no more than 3 hits allowed in his Mets debut since Collin McHugh on August 23, 2012.

⚾ Ty Blach, Sunday: Third pitcher in Rockies history to record a 4-inning save while allowing only 1 hit. He joins Kevin Ritz (September 12, 1995, against Atlanta) and Keith Shepherd (June 8, 1993, at Pittsburgh).

⚾ Byron Buxton, Saturday: First lead-flipping homer for Twins in 8th or later against the Mariners since Kirby Puckett hit a walkoff on August 15, 1995.