The great improv comedy show "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" occasionally had a game called "Show-Stopping Number" where the comedians would have to break into a Broadway-style song based on some otherwise-innocuous line that one of them had just uttered. (The participants generally hated it.) This week found us some numbers that would be hard to put up in MLB The Show, much less in the real thing. But hey, as we say, that's why we play the games.
In most weeks there's one game where we just know this one is getting written about. If you're a regular here, you can probably pick them out by now. It should also be said that, in most weeks, we look forward to Thursdays. Thanks to the "better" travel schedules that were worked out over the winter, there have been fewer games generally than in past years, and many of them get played in the afternoon. We've had Thursdays this year where the last game ends by 11 pm Eastern. However, with Memorial Day throwing a wrench in the schedule, this Thursday wasn't quite as kind. It dumped only one afternoon game on us, the Cubs against the Reds. But oh, did that one dump.
It all started innocently enough, with the Cubs getting a 2-run double in the top of the 1st to make sure Hunter Greene wouldn't throw another non-no-hitter. Nico Hoerner tagged him for a third run in the 2nd. So yes, don't forget the Cubs actually had a 3-0 lead for one brief moment. And they are still ahead after Kyle Farmer connects for a homer off Justin Steele in the bottom half. (2.) But then we discover the melting point of Steele is not in fact 2500° like a Google search will tell you. It's the bottom of the 3rd.
Walk. Single. Double. (3.) Another walk to load them again. Two-run single. (5.) Sac bunt. Intentional walk now that there's a base open. And then off Scott Effross, 2-run single by Albert Almora (7), 2-run triple by Matt Reynolds (9), and a single to score Reynolds (10) before Effross finally escapes the frame.
The Cubs go back-to-back against Greene to start the 5th, but he's got an 8-run lead now, so it's a long leash as they say. So long, in fact, that they pull him after 5 innings because "reasons". That barely allows Greene to get the win (change this rule!); he will become the first Reds pitcher to give up 3 homers and still collect a W since Tim Adelman on June 27, 2017. But remember, Greene also had that non-no-hitter game on May 15 that the Reds lost. So he gave up 3 homers and got a win, while also giving up 0 hits and not getting a win. Only four other starters in the live-ball era have done that in the same season: Robbie Ray (2020), Shawn Marcum (2007), Clay Kirby (1970), and Johnny Klippstein (1956).
But back to our counting exercise, which you probably realize is only half-over. Kyle Farmer answers those Cubs homers with a solo shot. (11.) By the time he bats again, Chris Martin is on the mound and has reloaded the bases. Farmer takes him for a 2-run single. (13.) Next pitcher, Rowan Wick, who also promptly loads the bases to start the 7th. Brandon Drury beats out a would-be double-play ball (14) and Tommy Pham adds a sac fly (15).
Next pitcher... um... *checks notes*... Andrelton Simmons? Well, yes, if by "pitcher" you mean "person to stand on the mound and throw baseballs". Unlike Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, Simmons became Everyman for one inning, lofting the same 40-mph softballs that you've probably thrown at Dave & Buster's. One of them even made "history" when, in Kyle Farmer's next at-bat, he whiffed on a pitch at 45. And at least Simmons was nice enough to let every batter in the Reds lineup take a shot at him. Because he faced all nine of them, and you know that's probably not good. After Farmer's humorous whiff, he ended up singling. Tyler Naquin "works" a walk. Almora singles home a run (16). Reynolds adds a sac fly (17) to join Brandon Phillips (May 2006) and Don Gullett (June 1975) as the only #9 batters in Reds history with a sac fly and a triple in the same game.
With the bases re-loaded, Brandon Drury doubles home two more (19), Tommy Pham tacks on another sac fly (20!), and finally Alejo Lopez, who took over for Joey Votto as the blowout progressed, pops one up in foul territory to end the madness. Simmons thus gave up 5 runs, the first Cubs position player to do that since Larry Biittner against Montreal on July 4, 1977. Jared Solomon gets the final three outs for the Reds in order-- also depriving Joel Kuhnel of a 3-inning save in a 15-run game-- and now we dump out some Interesting Reds Facts.
The Reds hadn't scored 20 runs in a game since September 4, 1999, when they beat the Phillies 22-3. That was the fifth-longest drought of any team (DET, PIT, STL, TB). You have to go back another 3 years (August 31, 1996, vs Marlins) to find the last time they did it at home.
We mentioned all of Kyle Farmer's at-bats; he ended up with 4 hits, 2 homers, and 5 RBI, the first Cincinnati batter to post that line against the Cubs since Willie Greene (no relation to Hunter) on September 24, 1996. Nick Senzel also collected 4 hits and 2 walks as the Reds' leadoff batter, joining Barry Larkin (1986), Johnny Temple (1957), and Hughie Critz (1928) on the list of players to do that in the live-ball era.
Thursday's contest was the 22nd in MLB history to land on an exact score of 20-5, and the first since the Padres won at Arizona on July 7, 2018. Amazingly, six of those 22 games have involved the Cubs franchise on one side or the other. The current-day Reds had never been in one, although their predecessor, the original NL franchise that folded in 1879, lost the very first 20-5 game in history to the Philadelphia Athletics (also not the current club) on June 14, 1876.
And you may remember how this season started for the Reds. (With the exception of Thursday, the "how it's going" hasn't changed much.) After a four-game split with Atlanta on opening weekend, they rattled off 11 straight losses to drop their record to 2-13. In those 11 losses over the span of 13 days, the Reds scored a total of 20 runs.
So it turned out to be quite handy that there was only the one day game on Thursday. Really didn't need any other games clogging up the pipeline. But we're not done with Thursday. And we're not done with Chicago either. Because the Cubs/Reds game ended at 3:45. The White Sox play at 7:10, it's just over a 4-hour drive, and remember you gain an hour changing time zones. So if you don't get too bogged down in Indianapolis rush hour, you have a legitimate chance at seeing both games. At worst, you miss part of the 1st inning. What could happen.
Well, if you were still walking into the stadium, you might have caught a home-run ball. Because Enrique Hernandez golfed the second pitch from Dallas Keuchel onto the concourse in left. It was his second leadoff homer along the sidewalks of 35th Street (remember this), joining Wade Boggs as the only Bostonians to hit two there. And Boggs did it in 1984 and 1991, so his were on opposite sides of the street because the ballpark "moved". Keuchel would give up four more hits before getting out of the 1st down only 3-0. Second verse, same as the first. A double, a walk, two strikeouts, but then a 3-run dinger to Trevor Story and it's 6-0. Keuchel is done, it's not quite as notably bad as his 10-run outing in Cleveland in April, but Keuchel now has three White Sox starts of 2 IP or less and 6 runs allowed. And it's still going to require 7 innings from the White Sox bullpen. Or, you know, maybe their infield.
Reynaldo Lopez, who has four of those 6-run starts and is among only seven Sox pitchers with more than Keuchel, gets through two clean innings. Alex Verdugo doubles in the 5th before the White Sox claw their way back to a 7-5 score. But in the 7th, here we go again. Feels like we just saw this down in Cincinnati a few hours ago.
That would be Tanner Banks on the hill, giving up a walk and three singles for a 9-5 Boston lead. Still not terrible. Let's leave him out there for the 8th. So we can watch him give up four more hits, including another one to Verdugo, and leave with an 11-5 deficit and two runners still out there. That's okay, they're both going to score too when Bobby Dalbec singles off Bennett Sousa and then Sousa does this. In a blink we went from 7-5 to 14-5, and thus it's not a huge deal that Matt Barnes literally walks in a run around a strikeout and a wild pitch. Only one other pitcher in Red Sox history had issued 4 walks and a wild pitch while getting only 1 out; Ivy Andrews also did it against the White Sox on July 14, 1932.
Well, as they say, anything the Cubs can do, the White Sox can do better. (Nobody says this.) For the 9th let's let Josh Harrison have a go at this. Harrison did actually record the final out of a game for the Pirates back in 2013, so he's not making his major-league debut. He's also not throwing 39 mph. He is, however, walking the leadoff batter and then surrendering a 2-run dinger to Kevin Plawecki for our final margin of 16-7. The last White Sox position player to give up a multi-run homer on the mound was Eddie Carnett at Cleveland on August 25, 1944. Thursday was also the first time in Chicago history that both teams used a position player on the mound on the same day.
As for those 7 White Sox runs, it should be noted that Andrew Vaughn drove in 5 of them with a 2-run homer and a bases-loaded double. The last Chicago batter with 5 RBI in a loss to Boston was Ivan Calderon back on May 31, 1987. And yes, while the Cubs were busy giving up 20 runs in Cincinnati, the White Sox just gave up 16 of their own. That's the first time both Chicago teams allowed 14 or more runs on the same day. And the only time they did 13 each... was against each other, in that 17-13 crosstown game last August.
We mentioned we weren't done with Chicago. And aside from your beer-league softball squad, we've run out of area teams who can give up 16 runs on Thursday. That just means we'll have to switch days. Teleport your time machine back to Tuesday the 24th instead. This time you could not have seen both Chicago teams play in person because they were at the same time. But you still could have seen Enrique Hernandez hit a leadoff homer on the south side of 35th Street. (Remember we mentioned he'd done that once before? Yeah, two days ago.) On Thursday he would join Wade Boggs as the only batter to hit two there, but on Tuesday he became the first Sawx batter to even hit one since Nomar Garciaparra took Doug Drabek deep on July 3, 1997.
This time it was Dylan Cease who couldn't seem to, um, cease giving up runs. Trevor Story had another 3-run blast later in the 1st. Hernandez doubled home another run in the 2nd. He ends up being the last batter Cease faces when he flies out to end the 3rd. It's already 7-0. Jose Ruiz is immediately greeted by a Rafael Devers solo homer to start the 4th, then tacks on 3 hits, a walk, and a sac fly such that it's 10-0 when he leaves.
Bennett Sousa, of that 8th-inning throwing error on Thursday, is already in the game by the 5th inning. He did get the leadoff man out, which is something. The next five batters, however, mmm, not so much. Single, walk, double, single, single. 13-2 with two runners still out there. And Matt Foster needs just five pitches before Christian Vazquez unloads a 3-run bomb and it is 16-2 in the 5th inning. Yes, the reason we didn't have a bunch of notes about the Sawx dropping 16 on Thursday... is because they just did it two days earlier. And that was their first-ever 16-run outburst at the current Comiskey Park. They hadn't done it at the old place since a 21-11 escapade on August 30, 1970.
With that 3-run homer, Vazquez wound up as the second #8 or #9 batter in Red Sox history to have 3 hits and 4 RBI in a game in Chicago. Rusney Castillo did it in a 5-4 win on August 24, 2015. Trevor Story, who had that 3-run homer in the 1st, wound up becoming the first Bostonian ever to have 4 RBI but also strike out 4 times in the same game. And eventually, after the Red Sox decided they had enough runs and stopped trying, Vince Velasquez managed to throw 3 hitless innings and strike out 5 batters. No White Sox pitcher had done that against the Red Sox since Big Ed Walsh threw a no-hitter on August 27, 1911.
As for the Red Sox scoring 16 runs twice in a series? They'd only done that once before in team history on the road. That was on July 4, 1939, which came up last week when Trevor Story duplicated Jim Tabor's 3-homer, 5-runs-scored line from that date. That Tabor game was part of a doubleheader in Philadelphia which the Red Sox swept by counts of 18-7 and 17-7.
Reynolds Wrap
Nope, still not done with the Windy City. If you could teleport instead of making that 4-hour drive around Indianapolis, you might have been able to catch a much more favorable game, at least if you're a Chicago fan. While the White Sox were getting blown out 16-3 on Tuesday, back in Cincinnati the Cubs were playing the second contest of that four-game series with the Reds. And unlike Sunday morning, when he took a no-hitter into the 7th inning, Tyler Mahle on Tuesday took a no-hitter into the... um... 7th pitch. Cubs leadoff batter Chris Morel sliced a single to left-center and later scored on a sac fly. Frank Schwindel, 2-run homer. Joey Votto and Tyler Stephenson get a couple runs back, only to have Mahle give up a 2-run triple in the 3rd. After Schwindel homers again in the 5th, Mahle has given up 8 runs, the first Reds pitcher to do that against Chicago since Asher Wojciechowski on August 23, 2017.
Thanks to our New Rules, Schwindel is listed as the Cubs' Designated Hitter. He would wind up being the second of those in team history with 3 hits, 3 runs, and 3 RBI in a game, after Roosevelt Brown did it in Detroit on July 6, 2001.
By the time Robert Gsellman takes the mound in the 7th, it's 10-2, so Tyler Naquin's solo homer off him isn't a huge deal. However, he does become the first Cubs pitcher to "earn" a 3-inning save while allowing 4 hits since Sean Gallagher against the Giants on July 18, 2007. And Andrelton Simmons-- who won't make his pitching debut for two more days-- was just the second Cubs player in the live-ball era who was not a pitcher to have a 3-hit game out of the 9-hole. Manny Alexander did it after an early double switch against the Reds on September 7, 1999.
No, Simmons would not be the designated Position Player Pitching in this one. With the Reds losing 10-3 they turned to their own shortstop, Matt Reynolds, to loft some gopherballs toward home plate and try to finish this thing off. We can accurately say that his pitches were in the direction of home plate. Over the plate, not so much. He managed to hit both P.J. Higgins and Chris Morel to load the bases (whereupon Rafael Ortega's sac fly provided the final margin of 11-4). Only one other Reds "position player" in the modern era had plunked two opponents while pitching, and we use the quotes because Buck Fausett was a wartime replacement player who only appeared in 8 games for Cincinnati. So it's hard to know if he was really a pitcher or an infielder or what. Either way he hit a pair of Phillies batters on June 1, 1944.
In all the movement of Reds infielders, Brandon Drury started the game at second base (that's a "4" if you're scoring at home), moved to third base ("5") when Joey Votto departed this blowout in the late innings, then went to shortstop ("6") when Reynolds was summoned to pitch. He's the first Reds player to cover all three positions in the same game since Juan Castro against Cleveland on July 4, 2004, and their first since at least 1900 to do it in the "natural" order of 4/5/6 on your scorecard.
Okay, we're done with Chicago. We're not done with either Tuesday or Thursday however.
We got a 16 out of the Red Sox on Tuesday. We got an 11 out of the Cubs. Let's knock out 12 and 13 in the same game.
Giants fans got stuck waking up at 8:30 am on Sunday for that "Peacock" game in Cincinnati. Not ideal, but at least it's Sunday. Mets fans, however, had to stay up until 1:30 am on Tuesday night, slash Wednesday morning, if they wanted to see their team win in San Francisco. And then, oh yeah, they didn't.
If you had to pick a matchup of great pitchers in Mets/Giants history, you would not pick Chris Bassitt against Logan Webb. No you wouldn't, put your hand down. Even if you're related to one of them, you wouldn't pick the other as their opponent. So this is a fairly low-key, ho-hum game until Tommy La Stella connects for a 3-run homer off Bassitt in the 4th. That balloons the Giants' lead to 6-1 and then Joc Pederson adds a 2-run shot in the 5th having already hitting another off Bassitt in the 3rd.
By the time we reach the 7th, it is 8-2 Giants when Francisco Lindor bops a 2-run homer off Dominic Leone to give the Mets a glimmer of hope. After all, they did have that 7-run comeback just a few weeks ago. Ya gotta believe. And it appears Tyler Rogers will oblige. Four straight singles to start the 8th and it's 8-6. A fielder's choice to retire the next run at the plate. Then two more singles to make it 8-7 with the bases still loaded. And Francisco Lindor is up again.
That's a 3-run, lead-flipping triple. The Mets have hit only six of those in their history, and only two of them came after the 8th inning. Wayne Garrett hit one off Tug MgGraw in Philadelphia on May 27, 1976; and Danny Napoleon had one at Candlestick on April 24, 1965. That also gave Lindor 6 RBI in the game, a first for a Mets batter in San Francisco since Todd Hundley on May 18, 1996. No player for any team had accumulated a homer, a triple, a sac fly, and 6 RBI in the same game since Sammy Sosa on May 16, 1997. Pete Alonso scores an 11th run with another sac fly, meaning Tyler Rogers got charged with all 7 of those runs while getting just 1 out. He's the first Giants pitcher to do that since Vin Mazzaro on May 5, 2016. It also means the comeback is complete and Chris Bassitt is the first Mets starter to give up 8 earned runs and not get a loss since Dillon Gee against Atlanta on June 14, 2015.
But what have we forgotten? Oh yeah, the Giants still have two more chances to bat. And Drew Smith can't find the plate against Darin Ruf, issuing a 4-pitch, 2-out walk to bring up (gulp) Joc Pederson. Yep, suddenly that's an 11-11 tie, making Joc the third Giants batter ever to have a 3-homer game against the Mets. And the other two are both named Willie McCovey, from September of 1963 and then again in September of 1966.
Dom Smith, whom we're guessing you didn't realize was still a Met, leads off the 9th with a triple. That sets up Brandon Nimmo to take the lead once more with the Mets' third sac fly of the game. Their last go-ahead SF in the 9th inning of a road game was by Kevin Plawecki at Dodger Stadium on July 3, 2015. And even though this game is happening on May 24, the Mets apparently like hitting sac flies on July 26 as well. In 2018 against the Pirates, they recorded the prior game where they had three of them. And the only other times they had 3-SF games in "SF" were also both on July 26, and exactly a decade apart at that (1977 and 1987).
So finally it's around 1:30 back east and the Mets have a 12-11 lead to protect. For this we turn to... Edwin Diaz. May want to read about this one in the morning, Mets fans. The double play was a nice touch. But with 2 outs, walk, single, game-tying single to Joc Pederson, and then two words: Brandon Crawford. That's his fourth career walkoff single; the only players in San Francisco history (1958) to have more are Willie Mays, Jim Davenport, and Benito Santiago. (There's a logjam at 4 each.) It's also the first walkoff for the Giants against the Mets since they won three times in a four-game series in July 2019.
More notably, it's the first time in Mets history that they scored 12 runs in a game and lost. That leaves the two newest franchises-- the Rays and Diamondbacks-- as the only active teams who've never done it.
When the Reds hit on 20 on Thursday, our original thought was to do this post countdown-style. After all, we already had multiple 16's. Because of the timing, we didn't really do justice to that 18-4 game from last Sunday where Yadier Molina ended up pitching. We just covered 13, 12, and 11. So wherefore do we get 14 and 15? Did we mention we weren't done with Thursday?
So of course 20-5 and 16-7 pop out on that scoreboard from May 26. Hiding just off to the side is another late game between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. And an "epic" battle between Humberto Castellanos and Mitch White. Yeah, nothing that makes you want to stay up and watch this. Fortunately, we take care of that for you. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman hit back-to-back doubles to start the game, and the Dodgers quickly go ahead 2-0. Cody Bellinger leads off the 2nd with a single and Chris Taylor doubles him around, so it's 3-0. When Freeman shows up again in the 2nd and cranks a 3-run homer to make it 6-0 already, yeah, you probably went to bed at this point. There's stuff to do on Friday. Castellanos gives up two more hits in the 2nd and two in the 3rd before departing after the 4th. He's the first Arizona starter to allow 10 hits and 6 runs in a home game without making it to the 5th inning since Archie Bradley on August 1, 2016.
Luis Frias has a calm 5th for the D'backs so, yes, let's have him throw the 6th also, starting with the top of the Dodgers order. Let's see how that went. Betts single. Freeman double. Wild pitch. Trea Turner triple. Will Smith single. Edwin Rios single. Suddenly it is 9-0 and the only thing saving this from being worse is Justin Turner hitting into a dobule play. But then Cody Bellinger bounces an automatic double into the seats and it's a comfortable 10-0 lead.
Freeman already has 3 extra-base hits, joining Chris Taylor as the only Dodgres batters ever to do that at Chase Field. Taylor missed the cycle by the single on July 15, 2016. And when Freeman singles again in the 7th-- but gets stranded-- he's the first Dodgers batter ever to have 4 hits and 5 RBI in a game in Phoenix. But they're not done.
Caleb Smith, who is actually a pitcher by trade, gets the 8th and gives up another 2-run homer to Chris Taylor. That makes Taylor the first #8 or #9 batter in a Dodgers lineup with 3 hits, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored on the road since Howie Kendrick in Philadelphia on August 16, 2016. Jake Hager, who is not actually a pitcher by trade, then gets the 9th and becomes the second D'backs position player to give up multiple runs to the Dodgers. J.R. Murphy did that in an 18-5 blowout on March 30, 2019, in the third game of the season. Your final score after Cody Bellinger's single in the 9th: 14-1. But just as prominent as the 14 runs, the Dodgers did that on twenty-four hits, of which ten were for extra bases. They hadn't collected 24 total hits since September 13, 2014, in San Francisco (a 17-0 win), and had only accumulated 10 XBH at Chase Field on one other occasion. That was September 2, 2002, in a 19-1 win which, along with another 14-1 on July 3, 2010, are the only 14-run games the Dodgers have ever recorded at Chase.
Since moving to Los Angeles in 1958, the Dodgers have only two games where every starting batter had at least 2 hits. One was Thursday in Phoenix. The other was June 27, 2011, in a 15-0 win at Target Field in Minneapolis.
So that leaves us to come up with a 15. There were no teams who scored exactly 15 runs this week. But as you probably know, we peruse every boxscore every night. And on Thursday, there were a couple of 15's that caught our attention.
While the Dodgers were busy dropping 14 runs in Phoenix, the other "Los Angeles" team (although it plays in neither Los Angeles city nor county) was busy sending Shohei Ohtani to the mound for its game against Toronto. That's probably going to result in a few strikeouts. And it did. Ten of them in fact, but not until George Springer uncorked the Jays' first leadoff homer in Anaheim that was not against Chuck Finley. Finley allowed two there, to Jacob Brumfield on June 13, 1996, and Devon White on April 17, 1994. That also put Springer in a tie with Ian Kinsler for the second-most leadoff homers in MLB this century; only Alfonso Soriano (54 to their 48) has more.
Bo Bichette connected for a 2-run double against Ohtani in the 3rd to put the Jays up 4-0. From there it was just a matter of which pitcher could outlast the other. Ohtani registered those 10 strikeouts but still got a loss, the first Angels pitcher to do that against the Jays since Ervin Santana on May 4, 2012. Meanwhile, proving strikeouts aren't always all that, Hyun-Jin Ryu only fanned 1 batter but still got a win. No Jays starter had pulled that off since R.A. Dickey's famous knuckleball at Detroit on June 8, 2016.
However, Ohtani gave way to Jaime Barria in the 6th, and while he did allow a homer to Danny Jansen, he continued the strikeout theme by fanning five more Toronto batters. He can't get a 3-inning save because the Angels lost, but still that means the Jays struck out 15 times in a game they won. They hadn't done that in a 9-inning road game since August 17, 2016, at Yankee Stadium.
Meanwhile, a few hours up the coast, we saw Frankie Montas take the hill for Oakland. He's been known to strike some people out; in fact, last year he became the first A's pitcher to have a 200-K season since Barry Zito in 2001. So his line of 11 whiffs and 1 run allowed over 7 innings against the Rangers wasn't a real surprise.
The problem is that Montas only went 7 innings. Lou Trivino started the 9th and gave up a go-ahead double to Adolis Garcia. The Rangers hadn't hit one of those so late in a game in Oakland since Brad Wilkerson on April 16, 2006. That also denied Montas a win, the fourth time in his career he's fanned 11 and not gotten a W. He's tied with Eddie Plank for the second-most such games in A's history, although they've got a ways to go to reach Rube Waddell's total of 13. (Also, Eddie Plank died in 1926, so it's unlikely he'll be adding to his total anytime soon.)
As for the Rangers, Nate Lowe put the game away with a 2-run homer, but they also struck out four times against the Oakland bullpen. That means the Rangers also had a game where they fanned 15 times and won, their first on the road since June 11, 2019, in Boston, and their first ever in Oakland. And the last time two teams did it in 9-inning games on the same day was September 12, 2019, by the A's (in Houston) and Royals (at Chicago).
The Big A Stands For Action
And since we had a 13-12 walkoff game earlier, why not end the week with an 11-10. This one, not a walkoff because everything happened early on. Shohei Ohtani hit yet another 1st-inning homer for the Angels, the 22nd of his career and already just one away from joining the top 10 10 in team history. As it turns out, it was also the 999th 1st-inning homer in team history, and the 500th hit at Anaheim Stadium.
Lourdes Gurriel countered with a 2-run double for the Jays, then Luis Rengifo tripled and scored, then Alejandro Kirk single home a run in the 3rd, and we've already got the RBI "cycle" (which we just made up). Gurriel works a bases-loaded walk that scores Kirk and the Jays are up 6-2.
Ah, but Ohtani is up again too. He knocks a second homer to make it 6-4 and spell the beginning of the end for Jose Berrios. Who puts two more runners on before being removed, with those two runners then removed by a Max Stassi game-tying single. Taylor Ward then adds a 2-run homer in the 4th and a double in his next at-bat in the 6th and the Angels are up 9-6.
In the 7th, however, Oliver Ortega loads the bases with 1 out, leaving Gurriel to draw another bases-loaded walk. Raimel Tapia advances everyone with a single, and then Teoscar Hernandez also gets a free pass that ties the game. It's just the seventh time in Jays history they've drawn three bases-loaded walks in a game, and the first since September 12, 2015, from the Yankees. Gurriel is their first player to receive two in the same game since Joe Carter on June 25, 1997.
Stassi isn't quite done yet, however. He puts the Angels back on top with a solo shot in the bottom of the 7th. Which Bo Bichette promptly matches in the top of the 8th. So somebody's going to have 10 runs and lose this game, and it might very well involve zombie runners. (This is not the type of game that needs them, because the teams seem to be able to score at will.) Ah, but it will not, because after Alejandro Kirk greets Jose Quijada with an automatic double, Gurriel strikes again with a double off a diving Jared Walsh to ultimately win the game. That gave Gurriel the Jays' first 5-RBI game in Anaheim since Josh Donaldson in 2015, and it made Kirk the second Jays batter ever to have 4 runs but only 2 hits in a game against the Angels. Raul Mondesi pulled that off on April 27, 2001.
We mentioned somebody's gotta score 10 runs in this game and lose, and sure enough it was the Angels. They'd only done that once before against the Jays at The Big A, a 13-11 slugfest on May 5, 1998. And between Ohtani, Ward, and Stassi, the Angels actually hit three go-ahead homers in Sunday's game... and lost. They've only done that three other times in team history, the previous being when the Rangers walked them off on May 13, 2007.
Bottom Of The Bag
⚾ Bobby Witt, Friday: Second player in Royals history to have a homer, a triple, a single, and a stolen base in a loss. Carlos Beltran did it against the White Sox on Augsut 22, 2001.
⚾ Mookie Betts, Monday: First Dodgers leadoff batter ever to have 2 hits, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch all in the same game.
⚾ Dane Dunning, Sunday: First Rangers pitcher to give up 7 hits, 3 walks, 2 wild pitches, and hit a batter, since Vicente Padilla against the Angels on Sepember 20, 2009.
⚾ Dodgers, Tuesday: First time in franchise history (1884) where they homered in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings of the same game.
⚾ Corey Seager, Saturday: Second batter in Rangers/Sens history to have a homer, a double, a single, and a walk in Oakland. Toby Harrah, April 21, 1975.
⚾ Nationals, Wednesday: Second 1-0 win (since the move) against the Dodgers. Other was April 25, 2010, on Adam Dunn's groundout in the 1st inning.
⚾ Bruce Zimmermann, Tue & Sun: First pitcher to give up 4+ homers in consecutive outings since Dan Haren of the Diamondbacks in May 2010.
⚾ Odubel Herrera, Wed-Thu: First Phillies batter with 2 hits & 2 RBI in back-to-back games in Atlanta since Mike Lieberthal, June 25-26, 2003.
⚾ Trent Grisham, Sunday: First walkoff homer for Padres against Pittsburgh since Derek Norris slammed Bob Scahill-- also 7 years ago to the day.
⚾ Orioles, Friday: First time scoring 10+ runs in the 7th or later at Fenway Park since July 31, 1941 (W 16-11).
⚾ Giants, Wednesday: First time hitting 4 homers in the first 2 innings of a game since May 13, 1954, against the Cubs.
⚾ Pete Alonso, Friday: First Mets batter with a homer, a double, and a sac fly in the same game since Angel Pagán on August 1, 2009. First in team history to also have a walk.
⚾ Zach Logue, Monday: First A's pitcher to give up 3 homers, 4 walks, and 7 runs since Tommy Milone at Coors Field on June 13, 2012.
⚾ Nationals, Saturday: Second time in franchise history collecting 7 extra-base hits in both games of a doubleheader. The Expos did it on July 4, 1977, at Wrigley Field.
⚾ J.D. Martinez, Wednesday: First Red Sox batter to have 2 hits and 2 walks in a loss in Chicago since Coco Crisp on July 9, 2006.
⚾ Brewers, Thursday: First game where their starting 7-, 8-, and 9-batters all homered since Keon Broxton, Orlando Arcia, and Zach Davies did so in Atlanta on June 25, 2017.
⚾ Ke'Bryan Hayes, Saturday: Second lead-flipping homer in Pirates history in the 9th or later against San Diego. Richie Hebner walked off against the Padres on May 27, 1974.
⚾ Bryce Harper, Tuesday: First Phillies batter to hit a lead-flipping homer in the 9th or later of a road game against the Braves since Ron Northey off Jim Tobin in Boston, August 25, 1944.
⚾ David Peralta, Sunday: First time any team hit a pinch-hit triple to break up a shutout when down to its final out since Clevelane's Ryan Raburn did it against Seattle 7 years earlier to the day.
⚾ Charlie Blackmon, Thursday: 53rd career triple, tying Dexter Fowler for the Rockies' all-time lead.
⚾ Amdy Ibañez, Friday: First go-ahead pinch hit for Rangers in the 9th or later against Oakland since Mike Lamb walked them off on May 5, 2000.
⚾ Paul Goldschmidt, Monday: Thirteenth walkoff grand slam in Cardinals history. The first went so far that "nobody looked for it".
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