Relax, this is not a math quiz.
If you're familiar with Little League Baseball, the "Major Division" is sort of their showcase, the one designed for ages 9 through 12, and which is the one you see televised by ESPN in August under the name "Little League World Series". For that reason, it's not called the Major Division as much as it used to be, but considering how often the numbers 9 through 12 came up in the acutal majors this week, we're using it as a jumping-off point for our roundup of weirdness. Okay? Okay.
Oceans Eleven
Even though, yes, technically kids as young as 9 are eligible for the "majors", the vast majority of Little League teams are made up of 11- and 12-year-olds. And if you looked at Tuesday's MLB scoreboard, you saw a lot of 11's and 12's. And they weren't necessarily in the "run" column.
We start off in Anaheim, where two of those numbers were in the "runs" column, but it also took a little while to get there. The Angels sent Reid Detmers-- who did really throw a no-hitter a few weeks ago-- to the mound against fellow rookie Jonathan Heasley, and by the time they both fight their way through 5 innings, it's 6-1 Royals. And now the bullpens get involved.
Heasley gets ushered out of the game by two walks and a 3-run homer off the bat of Shohei Ohtani. Jared Walsh greets his successor, Jose Cuas, with a double, and Max Stassi gets the Angels to within one. Bobby Witt answers that with an RBI double for the Royals. Gabe Speier takes the mound in the 7th with two on and the tandem of Ohtani and Walsh waiting for him. The former hits a sac fly, and then Walsh ties the game with a triple. New game, 7-7.
Witt cranks his second homer of the game to put the Royals back up 10-7 in the top of the 9th. He's just the fifth Royals batter ever to have 2 homers and 4 RBI in a game in Anaheim, after Joe Vitiello (1995), Steve Balboni (twice), and Tony Solaita (1975). But there is still that pesky little matter of Ohtani being up fourth in the bottom of the 9th. If Scott Barlow can pitch a clean inning, he'll be stranded on deck and Kansas City takes the win.
By now you realize he does not pitch a clean inning. Single, strikeout, walk, and then 3-run bomb from Ohtani to make it 10-10. And off we go to Free Runner Land, also meaning somebody's going to score 10 and lose. And that will end up being the Angels, but they're not going down without a fight. Whit Merrifield and Kyle Isbel combine to score a pair in the 11th and put the Royals up 12-10. So let's try this again.
Thanks to a walk in the 10th, Ohtani will have to bat this time, they can't strand him. They could walk him, but that becomes impractical when Taylor Ward hits a leadoff single to put runners at the corners. So just don't give him anything to hit. Which, with Ohtani, is near impossible. But at least when he does hit it, this one stays in the park for a lazy sac fly to left-center. It does score a run, but remember the Royals scored two, and Walsh fouls out to end the game. Which is fine, because it's already 10:30 Pacific Time, and it gives us some great "Angels in a loss" notes.
If you were following along, you remember Ohtani had a pair of 3-run homers, plus the sac fly off Speier, plus this other one in the 11th. Since sac flies became their own category in 1954, only two other players have launched 2 of them plus 2 homers in the same game: Ron Karkovice for the White Sox in 1995, and Willie McCovey in 1962. (They both won their games.) That also adds up to 8 RBI, which no Angels batter had done since Garret Anderson at Yankee Stadium on August 21, 2007. And only one other Angels batter had ever done it in a loss-- and that was in their very first season. Lee Thomas pulled it off in a 13-12 defeat in Kansas City (that's the A's, not the Royals) on September 5, 1961.
We started the narrative with the Royals already ahead 6-1, so we neglected to mention that the lone Angels run came on a Jared Walsh solo homer in the 4th. That's right before he doubled off Jose Cuas and then had that RBI triple in the 7th. He never bothered with the easy one though. Ten players in Angels history have missed the cycle by the single, and combined with Taylor Ward on April 27, it's the first time they've ever had teammates do it in the same season.
And of course, there is always the "11 runs and lose" part. Tuesday was the seventh home game in Angels history where they pulled that off; the only other one in this century happened last May, a 14=11 escapade against the Dodgers. They've done it six times on the road And the only other such game against Kansas City-- yep, was that same contest against the A's from 1961.
Inside The Padres' Studio
Just down the road in San Diego, the Padres were having their own 11-inning situation on Tuesday against the Diamondbacks. This one at least doesn't involve 11 runs. In fact, on the Arizona side it only involves 2 runs, and would you take a look at how those scored. That's Jordan Luplow hitting just the second inside-the-park homer by an Arizona player at Petco Park, which has been among the most prolific "IHR" stadiums since it opened in 2004. The other Diamondbacks IHR there was by Kelly Stinnett on August 29, 2005.
After Eric Hosmer hits your more-traditional, over-the-wall home run in the 6th, this one did need some help from some free runners. Because we're deadlocked at 2 and it's not getting any earlier out here. Sure enough, we lead off the 10th by popping up a bunt and then having the free runner thrown out at third. This one finally limps home when the Diamondbacks intentionally walk Eric Hosmer so he can't burn them again, and then Jorge Alfaro burns them with a walkoff single. Freddy Galvis had the Padres' prior walkoff against Arizona in the 11th or later, on September 28, 2018.
Let's shoot back up the California coast to San Francisco, which the Giants (more or less) also call home. Except they're not there. On Tuesday they're in Atlanta, and with the time difference they actually started their whole "9 through 12" escapade several hours earlier.
Austin Wynns started the Giants' escapade with a 3-run homer in the 2nd. But then Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson answer that with their own multi-run dingers and the Braves are up 5-4 after 3. Oh, it's gonna be one of those games. Wynns doubles home the tying run in the 4th, but then Ronald Acuña flips the lead with another 2-run shot. 7-6 Atlanta. It's the first time since at least 1900 that the Braves have hit multiple lead-flipping homers in the same game against the Giants.
Incredibly nobody scores in the 5th. Must be halftime or something. Darren O'Day faces three batters in the 6th, the issue there being that he gave up a pair of singles and a walk. That sets up Mike Yastrzemski's bases-loaded, lead-flipping double and we're at 8-7 San Francisco. The Giants hadn't hit one of those against the Braves since Brett Butler on September 20, 1988.
Joc Pederson tacks on an "insurance" run in the 7th, which the Giants quickly cash out when Thairo Estrada drops what should have been an inning-ending forceout at second. Jackson Stephens holds the Giants at 9-8 by pitching a clean 8th, so let's toss him out there for the 9th also. Gulp.
Walk, double, intentional walk so Pederson can't make this any worse. Estrada redeems himself with a 1-out single, but it's still "only" 10-8. With 2 outs and the bases still loaded, Wilmer Flores shoots one down the right-field line, barely scoring 2 runs because he gets himself thrown out at second. But damage done, it's 12-8 and that last play looms even larger when Matt Olson cranks one more 2-run bomb in the bottom of the 9th. That otherwise could have made it 10-10 and look at all the free runners! Those would not be needed in this one, which ends 12-10 in 9. Since the Braves moved into their new(est) home in 2017, they'd never scored 10 runs in a game there and lost.
That last homer by Olson gave him a whopping 6 RBI out of those 10 Braves runs, the first Atlantan to drive in 6 in a loss since Rafael Furcal in Philadelphia on July 9, 2004. No Braves batter had posted any 6 RBI game (win or lose) against the Giants since Fred McGriff on April 3, 1996. And we mentioned Austin Wynns a couple times there. Thanks to the new world of "universal DHs", he was in the 9-hole which had been occupied almost exclusively by Giants pitchers for decades. With an asterisk for Madison Bumgarner, they don't do a whole lot of hitting. So Wynns ended up being the first Giants #9 batter with 3 knocks and 4 RBI in a game against the Braves since an actual pitcher, Johnny Antonelli, did it on September 13, 1955.
Cease And Desist
We still haven't left Tuesday's scoreboard, by the way. On which you could have easily overlooked a snoozer between the White Sox and Blue Jays that was 2-0 in the 7th. So why are we writing about it? Well, first because Dylan Cease took a no-hitter into the 6th again. And also, because the game is nine innings long... "unless extended because of a tie score". Heh.
As mentioned, Cease gets into the 6th before Lourdes Gurriel finally breaks that up with a leadoff single. That would be the only hit Toronto got off him; he promptly struck out George Springer and Bo Bichette to finish his night with 11 strikeouts. That's already the second time this year Cease has fanned 11 and allowed 1 hit in a game; it also happened May 2 against the Angels. The only other pitcher in White Sox history to do that twice in a season... is Dylan Cease last year! In fact, he's now accomplished the "feat" four times; in the previous 120 years of White Sox history, a total of five pitchers did it. Ignoring the "1 hit" part, Wilson Alvarez is the only other White Sox pitcher ever to strike out 11 Toronto batters in a game, doing so on April 9, 1997, in a loss.
But let's get to the end of this thing. Because Cease's time on the mound eventually has to, um, cease. Which opens the door for Alejandro Kirk's solo homer in the 7th. And then 3 singles and 2 walks against Davis Martin in the 8th. By the time it comes back around to Kirk, he is in position to draw a bases-loaded walk and put the Jays up 4-2. Enter Jordan Romano of 17 saves this year, bumping up against the all-time leaders in Jays history through this point of a season. And as you know, we wouldn't mention this if he had actually gotten another one.
He does get two quick outs on a double play. But then there is a walk to Tim Anderson, a double by Andrew Vaughn, and a single right back up the middle by Luis Robert to tie us back up at 4. Off we go. The Jays score their freebie in the 10th, meaning Danny Mendick has to also connect for an RBI single in the bottom half. 5-5 with bases loaded. Perfect timing for Anderson to ground into a double play. Jays score another free one in the 11th. Different approach for Sox this time since we're at the bottom of the order. Let's bunt our free runner over to third (this normally only happens when the visiting team fails to score) and let Robert drive him in with a sac fly. So yes, we made it 6-6, but we just gave up 2 outs and the bases are empty. On to the next.
In which Vince Velasquez gives up three hard line drives, but as it turns out, they all head right toward where Sox outfielders are standing. The Jays finally fail to score their free runner in the 12th. And with 2 outs, Josh Harrison comes through with a walkoff single over second base, the latest walkoff ever for the White Sox against Toronto. They have had several in the 11th, the latest being an Adam Eaton homer on July 8, 2015.
But let's look at that linescore. From 9 through 12, the White Sox went 2-1-1-1. And even putting aside the walkoff, that means they tied the game in the 9th, 10th, and 11th. We found only one other game in White Sox history where they had three game-tying plate appearances in the 9th or later; that was on May 27, 1929, against Detroit. (Much like Tuesday, those comprised two hits and what we today would call a sac fly.) Now tack on the walkoff, and that's four plate appearances in the 9th or later that either tied the game or gave the Sox the lead. And that had only happened once in the past 75 years (we lost too much play-by-play to really go further back). On September 10, 1974, they scored in the 9th, 11th, 13th, and 14th of a game at Metropolitan Stadium before losing to the Twins in the 15th.
And back to our 2-1-1-1, well, that's one of those lines that is made possible by our new world of free runners. (The zombies have taken over.) We started to go down the rabbit hole of finding the last time (if ever) that the White Sox scored in innings 9, 10, 11, and 12 of the same game. We got all the way back to... uh... May 29. That was a game against the Cubs in which Jake Burger took his single "to go" in the 12th. (It was also another Dylan Cease start.) And that got us wondering whether any team had ever done that twice in the same season. With an assist from our friends at Baseball Reference (whose website is the source for most of our material and is well worth the few dollars a month if you're into this kind of thing), we not only discovered that the Sox are the first team in the modern era to do it twice, but that only two other teams had ever done it at all! Also, the fun fact that two of those happened on May 29; the Padres did it against the Astros last year in another free-runner whimsy. Before this, the only such game was by the Phillies against the Marlins on July 24, 1998 (this one pops up a lot).
By the way, the keen eye may have picked up an apparent inconsistency here. If the White Sox just did the 9-10-11-12 thing four weeks ago, how can Tuesday be their first game with three tying plate appearances? Yep, we caught that too. And a look back to that May 29 game will show that the extra-inning escapade wasn't started by a batter. David Robertson threw a wild pitch to create the initial tie in the 9th. No RBI. So no "tying plate appearance", only the ones in the 10th and 11th. We can all sleep better now.
Speaking of sleep, eventually we will bring an end to Tuesday's games. (YES, we're still there!) But not before we sneak in yet another "11". Or really two more, if you consider that the Guardians and Twins combined for 11 runs in 11 innings. This is another AL Central snoozefest that would have gone unnoticed if Luis Arraez hadn't unleashed a 3-run dinger in the 7th. And if you enjoy Forgotten Twins Players Of Yore, you'll be excited to know that the last Minnesota batter to hit a lead-flipping homer that late in a home game against Cleveland was the great Midre Cummings on May 10, 2000. (Cummings then got traded to the Red Sox at the deadline that year for an infielder who never made it above single-A; Cummings bounced around triple-A for another five seasons before retiring.)
However, our 11th inning would also not be possible without Franmil Reyes's response of a 2-run bomb in the top of the 8th. That was the second game-tying multi-run homer for Cleveland in the 8th or later at Target Field; Jason Giambi hit the other off Casey Fien on August 14, 2013. That also got Reyes out of a big zero on the day; in addition to his 2-run homer, he would end up striking out four times. He's the seventh batter in Cleveland history to do both of those things in a game; the previous was Travis Hafner on August 16, 2011.
The extra innings are uneventful; the 10th features a double play on one side and three straight strikeouts on the other. Andres Gimenez finally propels home the Guardians' free run in the 11th and Emmanuel Clase seals the deal in the bottom half. It was Cleveland's first 11-inning win in Minneapolis since September 6, 2019, when they did it the hard way by sending 10 batters to the plate against three different Twins pitchers. ("We don't need no stinkin' free runners.") But let's take a final look back at Tuesday. That 12-10 Giants/Braves game didn't even go to extras. But the other four we just expounded on, not only all went 10 innings, they all went 11. (And one went 12.) Which is still not terrible, but it's just the type of thing the free runners were supposed to "solve". And since those runners started magically appearing in 2020, we've never before had a day where four games got to an 11th or later.
We may (finally) be done with Tuesday, but we're not done with the Guardians, nor are we done with the number 11. As the sun rises on another day of baseball on Wednesday (it did, we saw it), we find Triston McKenzie and Sonny Gray on the schedule at Target Field. (Also, Sonny is his real name, not a nickname. The nickname, according to Baseball Reference, would be "Pickles", and Pickles Gray sounds like something you do not want to see in your local grocery store. But we digress.)
The Twins waste no time jumping on McKenzie for a solo homer in the 1st and then three straight hits in the 2nd. Carlos Correa, of the previous homer, hits another one to lead off the 3rd. A leadoff triple by Gio Urshela in the 4th begets two more runs, and it's 5-1 Minnesota. Max Kepler then leads off the 5th with a homer and you wonder if maybe this is going to be one of those "scored in every inning" games (we haven't had one in a few years and, spoiler alert, still don't).
Meanwhile, Pickles has gotten himself into one by allowing a leadoff homer to Austin Hedges in the 5th and then three straight singles. Just when you thought the guy who gave up 3 homers and is trailing might be the first to leave, Pickles is headed back to the brine tank, and it's up to Caleb Thielbar to balk in another run. By the time all this settles, the Twins are hanging onto a 6-4 lead and McKenzie has also exited as the first Clevelander to allow 9 hits including 3 homers in a game in Minneapolis since Jeremy Sowers did it at the Metrodome on July 16, 2006.
Now it is Cleveland's turn to lead off innings with a homer, which Amed Rosario takes care of in the 7th. And now with the Guardians down just 6-5, Jose Ramirez gets hit by a pitch and scores on a 2-run shot by Oscar Gonzalez. Yes, Franmil Reyes did hit that homer in the 9th inning yesterday, but that only tied the game, it didn't give Cleveland the lead. Their last lead-flipping homer in the 7th or later of a road game with the Twins wasn't at Target Field. It wasn't even in Minneapolis. It was July 15, 1973, by George Hendrick off Bert Blyleven at The Met.
Anthony Castro is summoned to protect this newfound lead, which he, um, doesn't do. Walk, single, single, 3-run jack by Gio Urshela. That makes Urshela the first Twins batter with a homer, a triple, and 3 RBI in a loss since Orlando Hudson in Toronto on July 7, 2010. Correa, meanwhle, is the first Twins batter with multiple homers in a home loss to Cleveland since Matt Lawton at the 'Dome on September 17, 1997.
Wait, a loss? They just went ahead 10-7. Yes, but we're not done with that pesky number 11. Emilio Pagán arrives to save the day in the 9th. And off the side of the cliff it goes. Amed Rosario leads off with a single, his fourth hit of the game. Combined with the unmentioned Steven Kwan yesterday, it's the first time Cleveland has ever had a 4-hit player in consecutive games in Minnesota. Ramirez singles. Josh Naylor doubles to make it 10-8 and put the tying runs in scoring position. Pagán heads off to join Gray in that fermentation vat. Except Oscar Gonzalez is up again. What are the odds of him hitting another lead-flipping homer in the same game after Cleveland hadn't hit one in Minnesota in half a century?
Well, we don't know what the odds were, but he didn't do it. (Sorry.) He did, however, rake a single to left and score those tying runs. That means it's actually Griffin Jax who gets the blown save out of this; Pagán could theoretically get a "hold" except for the fact that he didn't record an out. It's also Jax who ends up with the loss. Because the play at the plate on the tying run allowed Gonzalez to take second, and with nobody out, the Guardians are sure to bunt him to third. That makes Owen Miller the third Clevelander to hit a go-ahead sac fly in the 9th inning at Target Field, after Kreg Allen (2019) and Michael Brantley (2013).
1-and-0 is 10
In high school we had a local umpire who used to enjoy verbalizing the count this way. "1-and-2 is twelve." "3-and-1, thirty-one." ("3-and-2 is full", however.) We're not sure if he ever advanced up the ladder, although we're guessing not, because every umpire manual we've ever read explicitly says never to do this. But since we're coming off an 11-10 game at Target Field on Wednesday, let's drop those pesky leading 1's for just a minute.
Quick, give us a Guardians/Twins pitching matchup that's sure to result in a 1-0 duel. If you said Zach Plesac against Devin Smeltzer-- no you didn't, put your hand down. We're more inclined to think this one is less about the pitching and more about the dreadful offenses of the AL Central, combined with day-game-after-night-game blahs. The only person who managed to do anything was Nick Gordon, who, being the #9 hitter for the home team, was the last starter to finally have to bat. Guess the coffee finally kicked in. He dumps one to straightaway center for the 1-0 lead, and then... nothing. Even after our "marquee pitchers" both leave in the 7th, the teams only get two hits off each other's bullpens. The Guardians did collect 3 doubles along the way but, as mentioned, didn't end up scoring. It was Cleveland's first time doing that since another Twins game, April 19, 2008, at the 'Dome. Meanwhile, Gordon's solo homer stood up for the 1-0 win, the first player in Twins/Senators history to do that in a home game against Cleveland.
But as the Guardians depart for greener pastures (and also Cleveland), the Rockies come to town for the weekend. That doesn't happen a whole lot either, despite Minneapolis being closer to the Rockies than three of the other four cities in their own division. And Friday's opener of this series is going to be about the pitching.
German Marquez takes a no-hitter into the 5th which Ryan Jeffers breaks up with a solid double. Dylan Bundy has an acceptable start by allowing just 4 hits, the issue being that the last two were back-to-back singles in the 6th, and then lead runner Connor Joe eventually scored on a groundout. But once again, that's all. The Twins work a pair of walks from Tyler Duffey but don't score. Daniel Bard gets the last 4 outs for Colorado, joining Rex Brothers (September 28, 2013) as the only Rox pitchers ever to get a 4-out save in a 1-0 win.
The Rockies hadn't defeated any opponent by a 1-0 count since April 3, 2019, at Tampa Bay. The only team to go longer without a 1-0 win is the Phillies. (Wait for it.) Jeffers had that big double in the 5th, but it was with 2 outs, so wasted effort. He's only the third Twins batter in the last 40 years with a double and 2 walks in a game where the team got shut out; the others are Joe Mauer in 2018 and the great (and still Long Island Duck) Lew Ford in 2004.
But check out that 1-0 score. It's the reverse of Thursday's 1-0 win for the Twins. Since they moved to Minnesota, the team had never before won a 1-0 home game and lost a 1-0 home game on consecutive days, in either order. The last time the franchise experienced such a thing was at Griffith Stadium in Washington on April 20 and 21, 1955.
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
Before we leave this 1-0 kick, let's take a quick side trip back to San Diego. Whose Padres were hosting that team from the City Of Brotherly Love. Where they have some interesting ways of showing said love. But San Diego also fits this narrative, since we once heard a parent at a Padres game tell their inquisitive child that "Padre" was just, like, a slang term for "buddy" or "pal". (PSA: NOOOOOOO.)
Since the Zephyrs moved to Wichita a few years ago, there is no longer a minor-league team in New Orleans, which means Nola can't get sent to NOLA. Which is handy, because it's confusing enough having one Nola pitch for one team, and the other Nola catch for the other team. MLB Rule 27.6(c)(4)(B)(vii) requires that there be at least one Nola on the field at all times during this game. But in those rare occasions when there are two Nolas on the field, well, watch out.
Yes, that's Austin Nola dumping s single into right off Aaron Nola for a 1-0 Padres lead in the 6th. It's not the first brother-off-brother hit by any means; Bradley Zimmer homered off his brother Kyle during the final week of last season. But what if we said that would be the only run of the game?
Yes, Aaron went on to strike out 10 batters, including Austin, joining Cliff Lee (2013) and Curt Schilling (1996) as the only Phillies in the live-ball era to fan 10, allow 1 run in a road game, and lose. The Padres hadn't taken a 1-0 decision from Philadelphia since September 15, 2014, in a game where both teams had 1 run on 3 hits. Combined with the Rockies' 1-0 win in Minnesota, Friday was the first day that two current NL West teams did that since May 23, 2016.
And yes, of course, according to StatsPerform, Austin's homer was the first time since at least 1920 (when RBI became official) that the lone RBI in a 1-0 game resulted from some brother-on-brother action.
Khoff-ing Phit
Those Philadelphia fans may remember the name Jerad Eickhoff. It wasn't that long ago he was pitching for their team, if by "pitching" you mean "standing in a dirt circle holding a baseball". He was one of the players the Phillies got from the Rangers in the Cole Hamels deadline trade in 2015, and he went on to start 76 games for them (and even got 21 wins!) before becoming a free agent. He actually had a minor-league deal with those friendly Padres in 2020 before the minor-league season got cancelled.
The Mets offered Eickhoff a cup of coffee last year, but the only thing that got roasted was him. In his fifth and final start for the Mets, he served up 7 hits, 5 walks, and 10 earned runs to the Braves before departing in the 4th inning and catching a bus back to Syracuse for the rest of the season. So next stop, Pittsburgh.
After a couple decent months at Indianapolis, the Pirates decide it is time for Eickhoff to make his PNC Park debut against the Cubs on Wednesday. And because our theme for the week is all about 10's, 11's, and 12's, you might already have a guess as to how that went. Let's just say it doesn't involve pitching 10 innings.
Rafael Ortega leads off the game with a single. Ian Happ gets plunked but Eickhoff gets out of the 1st with no damage. The 2nd, however... damage. Dougle, single, hit batter, hit batter (another!), double by Ortega, strikeout, single, 2-run homer by Happ. That's going to add up to 7 runs, the Cubs' biggest frame at PNC Park since September 8, 2009.
All right, so maybe that's the One Bad Inning. Plus we're short on pitchers (why Eickhoff got called up to begin with), so we'll leave him out there and hope it improves. Plus Diego Castillo gets a run back in the 3rd with a homer, so you're saying there's a chance. Until Ortega walks to start the 4th and Patrick Wisdom cranks another 2-run shot. Jonathan Villar then starts the 5th with a triple and Nick Hoerner promptly hits a sac fly to make it 10-1. After two more singles, we have to throw in the towel on this one. Eickhoff departs in favor of Chase DeJong (not to be confused with Paul DeJong, since you're probably expecting a position player by now), with a final line that includes 10 hits, 10 earned runs, and those 3 hit batters. He's the first pitcher for any team to hit those lofty numbers in one game since Bill Swift of the Mariners, well, wasn't (swift, that is) on May 1, 1998.
Eickhoff is also just the second pitcher in Pirates history to give up 10 earned runs in his first appearance for the team. And if the first one had been on an American League team, his game wouldn't count either. You see, the NL adopted earned runs as an official stat beginning in 1912, and that was the year it happened. (The AL finally bought in and started reporting earned runs in '13.) The pitcher was Leonard "King" Cole on June 4 of that year, appropriately enough against the Phillies.
But it was our Twitter friends at @MLBWhoSharted who alerted us to Eickhoff having also given up 10 earned runs in that final start for the Mets last July. And now we have something historic. The "Shart Tracker" (we'll spare you the "distinguished" names for its various dumpy performances) has certain innings limits that a pitcher must also fail to meet in order to qualify. We threw those out for our purposes and discovered that, since 1912, Eickhoff is the first pitcher ever to give up 9+ earned runs in two consecutive starts, but do it for two different teams. If you bump that up to 10 ER, the last pitcher to do it at all was Chubby Dean of the A's in September 1940. And not only has no pitcher done it for two different teams in those starts, no pitcher has done it with the starts coming in two different seasons. So there's that.
Meanwhile, yes it is 10-1 but we still have some more innings left to play. You wanted a position player pitching, did you? Okay, we can do that. After DeJong retires 10 of his 12 batters, plus another on a double play, it is Diego Castillo Time. (This isn't a thing. Yet!) Castillo did us a favor back on April 23 by also entering a game against the Cubs and turning a 17-0 blowout into a 21-0 history-making affair. He can't quite duplicate that on Wednesday, but still, he could find some way to give up 4 runs, couldn't he?
Why yes, yes he can. He issues 2 walks and hits Jason Heyward with a "pitch" (if you can call them that) around a pair of outs. So it is up to Alfonso Rivas to either hit a weak grounder and end the inning, or do this. Grand slam off a position player? Sure, the Cubs have only hit one other of those in their history, by Kris Bryant off Cleveland's David Murphy on June 17, 2015. Turns out that game comes up twice more in our searches: Murphy was also the last position player for any team to give up a grand slam and also hit a batter. And in the past 50 years, Bryant's slam off Murphy was the only other one hit by the Cubs in the 9th inning when they already had a lead of 9 runs or more.
Remember, though, that Castillo hit a homer of his own in the 3rd, albeit a solo shot. The last time a Pirates position player hit one and allowed one in the same game was by Keith Osik against the Cardinals on May 20, 2000. And did we mention Rivas was in the 9-hole thanks to our new universe of universal DHs? He's just the second #9 batter in Cubs history to have 2 hits, 2 runs scored, and 5 RBI in a game, joining outfielder Thad Bosley (who got there as a result of a double-switch) against the Expos on August 12, 1985.
A Pirates Life For Me
Let's rewind our Cubs/Pirates series to the start of the week on Monday, where we also find a 10, an 11, and a 12 in our boxscore. The first of those would be the number of hits the Cubs collected, and 10 is generally pretty acceptable. You're not going to win every game in which you get 10 hits, but it's a decent haul and it usually results in at least 4 or 5 runs. Except when it doesn't, because six of them came with 2 outs. And three of the other four were in the same inning, which is the only reason the Cubs pieced together 1 run. Their last game with a 1-on-10 linescore (or worse) on the road was July 6, 2014, at Washington, and the only other time they did it at PNC Park was May 25, 2012.
Meanwhile, the 11 and the 12? Why, those are in the Pirates' linescore in the form of 12 runs on 11 hits. Hoy Park chipped in a pair of sacrifice flies, the second Pirates #9 batter ever to do that after Steve Blass in Cincinnati on May 24, 1968. And we're always happy to see new Pirates join the armada. ("Pirate", we're told by the Bureau Of Labor Statistics, is declining as a career choice among millenials. We check these things.) Oneil Cruz, who found his way into two games last year, also got a bus ride from Indianapolis and cranked out 4 RBI in Monday's 12-1 win. Only one other batter in Pirates history has had 4 RBI in his first appearance of a season, where said appearance was not on Opening Day. It was Walter Mueller in his MLB debut at Wrigley Field on May 7, 1922.
And speaking of debuts, it is completely appropriate for the Pirates to have a player named "Bligh". (You may know "Captain Bligh" as the officer-in-charge of the HMS Bounty during the mutiny of same. Or you may know it as a modern-day brand of rum. Either way there are pirates involved. Arrrr.) Bligh Madris also made that bus ride from Indianapolis and got slotted in right field for Monday's game. And all he managed to do was collect 3 hits, the first Pirates batter to do that in a debut since Jason Kendall on Opening Day 1996.
And finally, remember Alfonso Rivas's grand slam off Diego Castillo in the 9th? That earned him the honor of not starting in Thursday's series finale. Pittsburgh held a 6-2 lead going to the 8th, and saw most of that evaporate when Will Crowe gave up 2 hits and 2 walks. Eventually Rafael Ortega draws a pinch-hit walk to load the bases with 2 outs and the Pirates still clinging to a 6-5 score. Hey, Rivas seems to be good at this late-inning thing, let's wake him up from his nap over at the end of the bench and see if he'll do something.
No, it's not another grand slam. But it is a 2-run single to turn that 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 lead. Amazingly, the Cubs hadn't had any pinch-hit, lead-flipping single that late in a game since Manny Trillo hit one off Roger McDowell of the Mets on June 4, 1988. And even more incredibly, there are still three other teams (Detroit, Minnesota, Oakland) who have gone even longer without one.
Ah, but there is always Michael Chavis to contend with. The Cubs now lead 7-6 with David Robertson trying to nail down the win but Chavis leading off the bottom of the 8th. First pitch, wham. We are tied up again and end up back in Free Runner Land. Where Chavis will be up again in the bottom of the 10th. After Diego Castillo, who only hits home runs when he's also pitching, strikes out against Scott Effross, Chavis drops a walkoff into no-man's land behind first. That scores free runner Ke'Bryan Hayes and the Pirates walk off 8-7 in the 10th. Chavis is the first Pirates batter with a tying hit in the 8th or later, plus a walkoff hit in the same game, since John Jaso did it against the Mets on May 27, 2017.
As it turns out, however, Thursday's game would be just the start of a Weekend Of Walkoffs for the Pirates. Which sounds great, until you realize that starting on Friday they were the road team. In our continuing series of "strange bedfellows", Pittsburgh made a rare visit to Tropicana Field over the weekend, and Michael Chavis is along for this ride as well. After the Rays scrounge together 3 runs off Mitch Keller in the 2nd (the last one scoring on a balk!), Chavis unloads a solo homer in the top of the 4th to put Pittsburgh on the board. Diego Castillo follows two batters later with another, and he will not be pitching tonight, so our earlier comment stands corrected. That also makes Friday the first time the Pirates have ever hit multiple home runs in a game at Tropicana Field. The Cubs and Rockies are the only remaining teams who've never done it there.
That note ages for about 10 minutes before Hoy Park, of the 2 sac flies on Monday, finally puts one over the fence to tie the game in the 5th. But that leaves us tied at 3 while the bullpens throw a parade of 1-inning guys out there. So naturally nothing else happens and we are destined for the 10th. Park leads off for the Pirates and singles their free runner over to third. But then two strikeouts and a foulout fail to get anything done. And then Yerry De Los Santos-- who also gave up that lead-flipping single to Rivas on Thursday-- watches Harold Ramirez roll a walkoff single through the hole at short. It was the Rays' first-ever walkoff win against the Pirates, extra innings or not, and it leaves just four opponents (ARI, ATL, CHC, LAD) against whom they've never had one.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Isaac Paredes decides he's going to channel his inner Michael Chavis. Or something like that. It is 5-3 in the 8th when Paredes unloads a 2-out homer against Chase DeJong. So it's not a game-tying homer, but it gets the Rays within a run. DeJong gets a little rattled and gives up a single and a walk, which is only going to bring this full-circle. David Bednar gets two quick outs in the 9th, but then can't get that final out. He walks Ji-Man Choi and Vidal Brujan, then gives up a little nubber to pinch-hitter Jonathan Aranda. Bednar fields it, but quickly realizes the chance of making the play to end the game is much less than the chance of uncorking a wild throw and allowing the tying run to score. So he "puts it in his pocket", as they say, and will just have to work on getting Paredes with the bases loaded.
He's still working on that. Because three pitches later, Paredes has dumped a 2-run single into right for the Rays' second consecutive walkoff. The only other time in team history that they did that against a National League opponent was May 19-20, 2006, against the Marlins. It was the third walkoff single in Rays history when the team was down to its final out; Paredes joins Austin Meadows (last July) and Tim Beckham (2015) on that list. And we should mention that our friend Diego Castillo homered again, despite still not pitching. Since they don't visit St Petersburg often, he's the first batter in Pirates history to go yard in back-to-back games at The Trop.
Bottom Of The Bag
⚾ Gerrit Cole, Monday: Second pitcher in live-ball era to strike out 12+ while allowing 1 hit in a road game, and NOT get a win. Jack Flaherty of the Cardinals did it in Milwaukee on June 22, 2018.
⚾ Jarren Duran, Saturday: First leadoff batter for any team to have 4 hits and 2 stolen bases, but not score a run, since Juan Pierre of the White Sox on August 18, 2010.
⚾ White Sox, Thursday: Second game at current stadium where they had 9+ hits but scored 0 runs. Other was June 11, 1992, against the Angels. Toronto is the only team to go longer without doing it in a home game.
⚾ Tyler Mahle, Tuesday: First Reds pitcher to give up 12 hits and throw a wild pitch in a home game since Kip Gross against the Giants on August 1, 1991.
⚾ Edward Olivares, Friday: First #8 or #9 batter to hit 2 homers against the A's in Kansas City since... yep, they were the home team. Dick Brown of the Orioles did it on July 31, 1964.
⚾ Rowdy Tellez, Sunday: Second player in Brewers history to hit a multi-run homer in both the 1st and 2nd innings of the same game. Robin Yount did it in Detroit on June 19, 1982.
⚾ Austin Hays, Wednesday: First batter in MLB history to hit for the cycle in a game that did not go the full 9 innings (because of rain).
⚾ Austin Pruitt, Tuesday: First pitcher in A's history to give up 3 homers while getting no more than 1 out in a game.
⚾ Matt Olson, Friday: First Braves batter to have a double, single, and a sac fly, in a game where the team only scored 1 run, since Joe Torre on June 28, 1963.
⚾ David Bote, Sunday: First Cubs #9 batter with a hit and 2 walks against the Cardinals since Gene Hiser on September 11, 1975.
⚾ A.J. Puk, Thursday: Second pitcher in live-ball era to wild-pitch in 2 runs in the same game and have those be the only runs the opponent scores. Dave Sells of the Angels did it on July 14, 1973.
⚾ Padres, Wednesday: First game ever at Petco Park where they committed 4 errors and won.
⚾ Red Sox, Sunday: First time drawing 11+ walks in a game against Cleveland since April 15, 1979.
⚾ Michael Harris, Monday: Second Braves #9 batter in modern era to have 3 hits including a triple in a home game. Brian Hunter did it against Pittsburgh on May 13, 1992.
⚾ Orioles, Friday: First team to steal 5 bases on offense while allowing only 1 hit on defense since June 9, 1987, when the A's also did it in Chicago.
⚾ Trevor Story, Tuesday: First Red Sox batter with a lead-flipping 3- or 4-run homer against the Tigers at Fenway since Bob Zupcic's walkoff grand slam on June 30, 1992.
⚾ J.T. Realmuto, Thursday: Latest 3- or 4-run homer hit by Phillies in San Diego since Dave Hollins slammed Dennis Rasmussen on July 19, 1991.
⚾ Royals, Monday: First time collecting 4 stolen bases in a game in Anaheim since June 13, 1990.
⚾ Giovany Gallegos, Saturday: Second time blowing a save and committing a balk while doing it (also September 21, 2019). Only pitcher in Cardinals history to pull this off twice.
⚾ Alex Bregman & Yordan Alvarez, Wednesday: Second back-to-back homers ever hit by Astros in the 1st inning against the Mets. Terry Puhl & Dickie Thon both went deep off Tom Seaver on July 9, 1983.
⚾ Orioles, Tuesday: First time shut out on 3 hits in a home game against Washington since May 27, 1959. Camilo Pascual took a no-hitter into the 7th for the Senators.
⚾ Evan Longoria, Saturday: First Giants batter with a homer and a sac fly in a home game against the Reds since Jeff Kent at Candlestick, July 26, 1988.
⚾ Orlando Arcia & Adam Duvall, Mon-Wed: First time Braves had multiple walkoff wins over Giants in the same series since August 15-16, 2011.
⚾ Alejandro Kirk, Friday: First 4-hit game by a Jays batter in Milwaukee since Robert Perez on July 13, 1996.
⚾ Cody Bellinger, Thursday: First batter in Dodgers history with 3 hits, 3 runs, 3 RBI, a stolen base, and a sac fly in the same game.
⚾ Aaron Judge, Sunday: First walkoff homer ever hit by the Yankees against the Astros. Had been only remaining AL opponent (including Milwaukee) against whom they'd never hit one.
