You hear a lot of chatter, especially among baseball broadcasts, about the "first half" and the "second half", with the All-Star break generally used as the delineation point. This is, of course, just a matter of convenience, since the actual halfway point of the season comes a couple weeks earlier, and teams don't all hit that point at the same time. If you look at your favorite squad, you may see that they played their 81st game this weekend. And if they haven't, they will within the next 2 or 3 days.
It was also one of those strange weeks where a lot of eclectic things went on, but no one big theme jumped out at us. So, since we haven't done one of these yet in 2022, we're going to throw it all into our little "grab bag" of tricks and see what we pull out.
The Guards Will Walk You Out
We begin our little barnstorming tour in Cleveland, a popular area for actual barnstorming back when that was a thing. On Wednesday the Guardians took an early 3-0 lead over Minnesota before Alex Kiriloff and Gio Urshela connected for back-to-back homers in the 6th. And sure enough, when the teams combine for only three measly singles after that, we are headed off to Free Runner Land.
Eli Morgan gets the job of pitching the 10th for Cleveland, and he promptly gives up a single to Carlos Correa (scoring the free run) and a 2-run bomb to Max Kepler. The Twins have only hit two other multi-run homers in extra innings at Progressive Field, one by Kyle Garlick last May in another "zombie" situation, and the first by Corey Koskie off Rick White on August 15, 2004.
So suddenly it's 6-3 and this is exactly why MLB brought over the international rule, to make some of these "slog" games just end already. Emilio Pagán is the lucky pitcher who is still (barely) in a save situation. Cleveland's second batter, Steven Kwan, draws a walk, after which Amed Rosario doubles home their free run. This completes an interesting night for the two of them; Kwan and Rosario are #1 and #2 in the Cleveland order, and each of them collected 3 hits, a walk, and a stolen base. That's the first time the club's top two hitters have ever done that, and the last time any Cleveland teammates have done it in the same game since Carlos Baerga, Eddie Murray, and Manny Ramirez all posted those numbers in a 10-9 shootout (also with the Twins) on May 7, 1995.
Kwan is later going to score on a passed ball to make it 6-5, but that just deprives Josh Naylor of an extra RBI when he shows up and does this. The last time Cleveland hit a walkoff homer against the Twins when trailing was May 19, 1987, when Cory Snyder went deep off Mark Portugal.
Care to guess what's going to happen in the series finale on Thursday? This time it's Minnesota who jumps out to an early lead, but Andres Gimenez is going to start the flying circus by getting plunked in the 8th inning. Tyler Thornburg then showcases a wide variety of pitch locations; alas, not many of them were in the strike zone. He walks the bases loaded and Myles Straw rolls one to short which scores the tying run when Carlos Correa chucks it into right field. When the Twins do nothing in the 9th, it looks like we might be headed for another visit to you-know-where.
Ah, but someone has decided that 30 pitches and 14 strikes is a solid enough performance that we should let Tyler Thornburg stay out there for B9. And after a leadoff walk to Jose Ramirez, he does get 2 outs. Problem is, there's 3 in the inning. Andres Gimenez is up again, and as you've already guessed, this happens. Again.
Naylor's shot on Wednesday, combined with Gimenez's walkoff on Thursday, marked the first time in Cleveland team history that they'd hit a multi-run walkoff homer in consecutive games. It's also the first time the Twins/Senators franchise has lost back-to-back games in such fashion. And we can't pass up Gimenez's bizarre "feat" here. As the second batter faced by Tyler Thornburg, he got hit by a pitch. When Thornburg got left in, Gimenez came up again as his 11th batter faced and hit a walkoff homer. No Cleveland batter has ever done both those things against the same pitcher in the same game. And the last player we found to do it for any team, gets a small asterisk. Carlos Quentin of the White Sox pulled it off on May 25, 2008, but his HBP was in the 1st inning... because the walkoff homer sealed a complete-game loss for John Lackey of the Angels.
Double Trouble
We have lots more "walkoff" fun coming, but let's hang out in Cleveland for a little while longer. (Said no one ever. We kid Cleveland, don't @ us!) Because who comes to town for the weekend but the "Evil Empire", and lately it seems like the only way to not lose to the Yankees is to not play them at all. So on Friday night as a large line of thunderstorms made its way across Ohio, that's what they decided to do. Setting up a doubleheader on Saturday, and much like an old spring-loaded watch, you really don't want to deal with a Yankees offense that hasn't won a game in three whole days.
Our friend Josh Naylor opens the scoring with a solo homer off Gerrit Cole in the 2nd, and that's just like poking the bear, because it sets up yet another "come-from-behind win". Franmil Reyes then decides to tickle the bear by going back-to-back to make it 2-0. It's the first time Cleveland has hit back-to-back homers against the Yankees in a home game since Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis led off the game by doing it on July 8, 2016.
The bear, meanwhile, has set its sights on Guardians starter Kirk McCarty, pitching in just his third MLB game. The Yankees answer with 4 runs in the 3rd and McCarty gives way to converted outfielder Anthony Gose, who ends up giving up another 4 runs in the 6th, including a 2-run bomb by Matt Carpenter. It's 10-2 after Anthony Castro attempts to pitch the 7th, and oh yeah, there's a night game still ahead. Hey position players, we're conceding this one, who wants in?
Ernie Clement, who has already played every position except center, right, and catcher in his 83-game MLB career, says sure, I'll do it. And then, on back-to-back pitches, gives up back-to-back homers to Carpenter (again!) and Jose Trevino to make our final score 13-4. That homer made Carpenter the first Yankees batter with a 2-HR, 4-RBI game in Cleveland since Alex Rodriguez did it on August 11, 2007. And the only other "position player" for any team to pitch against the Yankees and give up multiple homers was Eddie Lake of the Red Sox on July 16, 1944. Lake gets a bit of an asterisk as well; he went into that season expressing an interest in pitching, and with the Sawx losing so many players to the military, Lake got shuttled into 6 games that season. So that was not a true one-off, we're-getting-blown-out situation such as Clement.
As for those back-to-back homers, Gio Urshela and Mike Ford hit them for the Yankees on April 25 of last year at Progressive, so that's not terribly notable. But it was the first time both teams did it in the same game there since May 29, 2017, when Carlos Santana and Edwin Encarnacion matched wits with Yonder Alonso and Ryon Healy of Oakland.
And the only reason the Guardians managed to get to 4 runs is that Aroldis Chapman was called upon in the 7th inning and threw 19 pitches, 7 of them for strikes. That's... not a good ratio. And you may have already figured out that he faced 3 batters and walked all of them. He's the first Yankees pitcher to do that since... Aroldis Chapman against Toronto on April 14. Only one other pitcher in Yankees history has managed to pull it off twice, and his weren't in the same season. That was Jim McDonald in 1952 and 1953.
Then, of course, there is still the matter of that pesky night game coming a few hours later. Amed Rosario goes yard in the 1st inning (stop doing this, it only angers them!), which of course prompts the Yankees to jam through 6 unanswered runs for a total of 19 on the day. That was their biggest single-day run total in Cleveland since another 6-and-13 doubleheader on September 18, 1983. And the turning point in Saturday's night game? That would be back-to-back homers in the 4th by Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton against Aaron Civale. Those were the first back-to-back homers hit by the Yankees in Cleveland since... yes, Matt Carpenter and Jose Trevino about 4 hours earlier. The last time the Yankees went back-to-back in both games of any doubleheader was on August 2, 1983, in Toronto, back when the Jays still played outside and occasionally had a twinbill. Those four homers were hit by Don Mattingly, Graig Nettles, Nettles again, and Dave Winfield. (Similar to Saturday, Toronto also went B2B in the first game.)
Never do the shutout notes early. It's one of our little sayings that should really be embroidered on a throw pillow (to be thrown every time someone breaks up a big one in the 9th inning). Before we leave the Yankees to another week of beating up the rest of the league (and then complaining that their one loss was the umpire's fault), we should mention the unusual circumstances that broke up their shutout against Oakland on Tuesday.
Clay Holmes is pitching the 9th and needs just 9 pitches to strike out Ramon Laureano and Christian Bethancourt. Sean Murphy is Oakland's last hope. And he grounds the first pitch right to DJ LeMahieu and everyone thinks the Yankees have won another game. Anthony Rizzo knows, however. He gets the throw and never bothers to step on first because somehow, mysteriously, the great "catcher's interference" has been called. We can't find a good replay, but either way, Murphy ends up on first base and later scores when Elvis Andrus singles. That's the first time the A's have broken up a shutout against the Yankees when down to their final out... since they were in Kansas City! Mike Hershberger singled off Mel Stottlemyre on June 9, 1965.
As for Trevino, that's the fifth time this season that a Yankees catcher has been called for interference, and remember, we've still only played half the season. Since the leagues started reporting CI's regularly in the early 1960s, the Yankees have never committed five such violations in a year. In that same span, Murphy is the first A's batter ever to be awarded a CI with 2 outs in the 9th. And the only other batter to do it against the Yankees was that CI machine himself, Didi Gregorius, on April 18, 2013, when he was with Arizona.
But we must think that the irony of Tuesday's call was not lost on Sean Murphy. Because rewind to Monday's series opener. Which at least looked hopeful for the A's after they scored 5 runs in the top of the 3rd. But nope, too early. You gave the Yankees too much time. We all know they're coming back, it's just a question of how.
It's 5-3 when we get to the 7th. LeMahieu walks. And then Aaron Judge gets awarded first base on a CI. Who's catching for Oakland? Why, that's Sean Murphy. He has (retroactively) just become the first Oakland catcher to commit a CI and receive a CI in the same season since Terry Steinbach in 1992. And, in that 60-ish-year span of complete knowledge of CIs, he's the first catcher for any team ever to do it on consecutive days.
Oh, but we're not done. Anthony Rizzo gets hit by a pitch to load the bases. And that brings up Giancarlo Stanton, who motions to the dugout right away. Yes, he too will be awarded a CI (and we really hope some MLB intern has gotten a stern lecture on how this is NOT a "walk" as captioned in multiple clips, but we doubt it) and thus drive in a run. This inning is predictably going to end with the Yankees ahead, and there's really nothing more to see here. But Murphy has become the first A's backstop to commit two CI's in a game since Stephen Vogt on April 28, 2017, and the first ever to do it twice in the same inning.
So you like unusual plays, do you? Yeah, us too. Let's see what went down at Nationals Park on Wednesday.
Here's your scene. Pirates have runners on second and third with 1 out. (First is not occupied, so no force.) Ke'Bryan Hayes hits a little "duck snort" that is caught by Josh Bell off his shoetops just before hitting the dirt. 2 outs. Both runners were fairly sure this thing was not getting caught and broke on contact. So Jack Suwinski has crossed the plate and Hoy Park is standing on third. Except neither of them tagged up and they are both liable to be put out.
Bell realizes this and throws over to Ehire Adrianza at third. He tags Park, who is standing on third base but is not truly safe there because of his failure to tag up. He's out. Inning over. Adrianza also steps on the base for good measure, although it's fairly obvious that he's a little confused too. Aren't we all. The Nationals quickly run off the field thinking they have their inning-ending double play. And therein lies the ultimate problem.
It is very rarely invoked, but baseball's rules acknowledge an apparent "fourth out" when there are multiple appeals on the same play. The fourth called out can actually become the third out, end the inning, and nullify any subsequent play and/or run, if it's done correctly. However, the Nationals got burned by two other rules on this one. The first-- 5.09(c)-- states basically that appeals must be obvious and deliberate, such as, oh say, Adrianza wandering over and smacking Park with the ball. The fact that he happened to step on third after doing so, was ruled to not be an obvious appeal. The comments actually address this exact situation by saying that "A player, inadvertently stepping on the base with a ball in his hand, would not constiute an appeal."
So let's get back to Jack Suwinski, the runner who started this mess on third base and "scored" without tagging up. There was never a force to begin with, but even if there was, it got removed when Bell caught the liner. So we have what is referred to as a "time play" (watch carefully, you will see umpires tap their left wrist to remind each other that such a possibility exists). In other words, if the run scores before the third out is recorded at another base, that run still counts. Thanks to the confusion of the Nationals defense, that clearly did happen, even though Suwinski never tagged up. So the Nationals could have nullified that run by appealing that he left early and invoking this "fourth out" rule, even though the umpires had already called three outs.
But guess what. In the ultimate irony around "leaving early", the Nationals already left the field. Earlier in 5.09(c) you will find that the defensive team gives up its right to appeal once they do that. Much like they lose their right to challenge after another pitch is thrown. So even when they realized what was happening and tried to run back out there and throw to third, that appeal is denied. Yes, the originally-called third out stands. But so does Suwinski's run.
The Nationals lost Wednesday's game by 1. And ultimately the umpires got it all right. Even if the broadcasters didn't. There is another detailed discussion of this, with video, at Close Call Sports.
No week of Kernels would be complete without some 14- and 15-run outbursts, right? Oh, hello Thursday.
Meet Graham Ashcraft. He's a 24-year-old rookie from Alabama with the clever handle @insta_graham_41. (Also, Graham is his middle name.) He's moved up through the Reds' minor-league system since being drafted out of Birmingham in 2019. His eighth major-league start would be Thursday at the "friendly confines" of Wrigley Field. Which, as it turns out, are "friendly" if you're a Cubs fan. If you're a Reds pitcher, mm, not so much.
The bottom of the 2nd begins with 3 singles and a sacrifice fly. Ian Happ draws a walk to reload the bases. And then Patrick Wisdom uncorks the Cubs' first grand slam in a home game against the Reds since Anthony Rizzo on August 16, 2017. Ashcraft departs in the 3rd after giving up two more hits and plunking Yan Gomes, such that it's already 7-0 in favor of Chicago. The last Reds starter to give up 7 runs at Wrigley while getting no more than 7 outs was Josh Fogg on April 16, 2008.
Unfortunately for the Reds it doesn't get much better. Dauri Moreta gives up two more runs in the 6th, and Wisdom already has 6 RBI-- the first Cubs batter to do that in a home game against Cincinnati since Derrek Lee in 2005. He would also end up being just the second batter in Cubs history with 2 homers, 6 RBI, and a stolen base in the same game, after Andre Dawson did it against Houston on June 2, 1987.
Ross Detwiler gets tagged for back-to-back doubles in the 7th. The Reds do fight their way back to 10-4 in the 8th, but lucky for them that they stranded Kyle Farmer at second instead of scoring that fifth run. Because with a 6-run deficit we can throw caution to the wind and hey, who wants to pitch?
Somewhere just shy of Sheffield Avenue, Max Schrock is waving from right field. "I'll do it!" Schrock actually took the mound twice for the Reds last year, and for the Cardinals once in 2020, so this is not uncharted territory. What happened next, however, is.
Single, flyout, 2-run homer by P.J. Higgins. Another liner snagged by Jonathan India at second, so we're one out away from ending this mess. Solo homer by Christopher Morel and it's 13-4. We didn't go into detail, but that was Morel's fifth hit of the game, the first Cubs batter to do that since Kris Bryant on August 18, 2016. And Morel, who alternates between batting #1 and #9 based on the pitching matchup, happened to be in the 9-hole on this Thursday in a year where pitchers don't bat anymore. No Cubs #9 batter had recorded a 5-hit game since actual pitcher Vic Aldridge did it in Pittsburgh on May 6, 1922.
One more out to get. Which Schrock will end up getting... five batters later. In the meantime, single, double, double, single leading to 2 more runs and the Cubs' total of 15. The last Reds position player to give up 5 runs on the mound was Paul Janish (who was a "go-to" position player before it was fashionable) against the Phillies on July 6, 2009.
Tommy Pham is going to throw on one last Independence Day firework with a 3-run homer in the top of the 9th. That gave him 3 hits and 3 runs scored on the day in addition to the 3 RBI. No Reds batter had done that in a loss at Wrigley since Dave Parker on September 7, 1985.
Just before the Cubs dumped 15 runs on the Reds on Thursday, another "red" team, the Phillies, found themselves immersed in a series finale against Atlanta. And Braves starter Ian Anderson found himself immersed in a fairly disastrous 2nd inning which began with five straight hits, culminating with a 2-run double from Matt Vierling. That made it 4-1 Phillies already, and then Nick Castellanos cranked a 3-run homer to right-center. Although it's fairly recent, Anderson was the first Braves starter to give up 7+ earned runs and not make it to the 3rd inning since Sean Newcomb also did that in Philadelphia on August 10, 2020.
So Jesús Cruz is the first "call to the bullpen" and gets two quick outs before issuing back-to-back walks in the 3rd. He then surrenders back-to-back homers to Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins, the first time the Phillies' #1 and #2 batters did that against Atlanta since Cesar Hernandez and Aaron Altherr on April 23, 2017. By the way, it's already 11-1 and Let's See Which Position Player Will Pitch.
That would end up being Mike Ford in the 9th, and sure enough, he gave up the second homer of the game by rookie Darick Hall. How "rookie" is he? Well, this game we're talking about is on Thursday. Hall's MLB debut happened on Wednesday when he went 0-for-4. In MLB's "modern era" (1901 when the American League was recognized and we adopted our now-familiar structure), that's the earliest into a career that a Phillies batter has had a multi-homer game. Don Money (1969) and the aforementioned Rhys Hoskins (2017) both did it in career game #5.
This is all going to end with the Phillies defeating the Braves, 14-4, their highest output against Atlanta since a 14-1 win on July 10, 2011.
The National League has too many teams with red as their primary color and it confuses us. Here comes another one, the Cardinals visiting Philadelphia for the weekend. We may have to start referring to them as the Fighting Nolans. Or maybe (see header) The Cyrkle. Wait, sorry, that's "The Cykle".
Nolan Arenado gets to start his Friday by batting against Bailey Falter, which is kind of an unfortunate name for a pitcher. He connects for a triple that scores Paul Goldschmidt with the Cardinals' first run. Two innings later, Goldy has doubled ahead of Arenado, which means it's time for a 2-run homer and a 3-0 lead. Welp, got the hardest ones out of the way, didn't we?
Meanwhile the Phillies get to Miles Mikolas for 3 runs in the 5th such that our game is all tied up. Goldy struck out to end the inning, so he can't be on base when Arenado doubles to lead off the 6th. He's also not on base (because he struck out) when Arenado comes up for the final time in the 8th and does this.
That, friends, is a cykle-- er, cycle, almost in "unnatural" order. There have been only four cycles at Citizens Bank Park since it opened in 2004. David Bell has the lone entry for the Phillies, doing so against the Expos in the park's first season. Brad Wilkerson returned that favor in 2005 by hitting one in the franchise's second-ever game after moving to Washington. The other one is by Minnesota's Jorge Polanco in 2019. No Cardinals batter had spun off a cycle since Mark Grudzielanek against Milwaukee on April 27, 2005. Only five teams (Cubs, Reds, Royals, Marlins, and as mentioned the Phillies) have gone longer without one. And no Cardinals batter had ripped a cycle in a loss since John Mabry at Coors Field on May 18, 1996.
We should also mention that, around Arenado's single, Darick Hall has homered again to give the Phillies the lead; after his multi-homer outburst on Thursday, he's the team's first batter ever to connect for three dingers within his first three career games. And then Rhys Hoskins added his own solo shot in the 7th, joining Dave Hollins (1992) and Greg Luzinski (1975) as the only Phillies batters to have a homer, 2 walks, and a sac fly in a home game.
BUT that also means that, A, the Cardinals lost, and B, Arenado ended up driving in all three of their runs. Only one other batter in MLB history has hit for the cycle, recorded 3 RBI, and also had those 3 RBI account for every run his team scored. And he also did it in a loss. That was catcher Bill Salkeld of the Pirates on August 4, 1945.
Connect Four
The Phillies may not have been thrilled about giving up those 4 hits to Arenado on Friday. But looking back, maybe they'd take those 4 hits instead of the ones they surrendered to the Cardinals on Saturday. But it was nice to see Kyle Gibson, widely touted as the Twins' next pitching superstar when he was their first pick in 2009, finally make history some 13 years later.
Because history is going to reflect that Gibson was on the wrong end of this.
That's Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman (hence the name Fighting Nolans), Juan Yepez, and Dylan Carlson hitting back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs and becoming just the 11th quartet in MLB history to pull that off. On top of that, no team had ever done it in the 1st inning until Saturday. The most famous occurrence is probably the Dodgers on September 18, 2006, who did it in the 9th inning to tie their game with the Padres and force extras. The most recent instance was by the White Sox on August 16, 2020, and if you guessed it's becoming more common, you'd be right. It happened only three times prior to those 2006 Dodgers, but now eight times since then. (The Cardinals, by the way, had never done it.)
After those 4 homers, Gibson actually got to stay in the game all the way until the 5th inning, which also gave him the opportunity to hit two batters along the way. No pitcher in Phillies history (all of it, to 1883) had surrendered four taters and hit two batters in the same game. Gorman also drew 3 walks in addition to his 1st-inning homer, the first Cardinals batter to do that in Philadelphia since Ripper Collins on June 25, 1936. And in other Nolan News, Mr. Arenado would end up giving the Cardinals the 7-6 win with a solo shot to lead off the 9th. After Friday's cycle, he's the first Cardinals batter to have 3 RBI in back-to-back games in Philadelphia since Vince Coleman did it at The Vet on August 1-2, 1990.
We promised you more walkoffs. More walkoffs you shall have.
On Tuesday the Blue Jays were down a run to Boston when Tyler Danish gave up a single and a walk to start the bottom of the 9th. Hmm, what could happen. Well, he could be replaced by Hansel Robles, that's what. And then Robles could get tagged for a first-pitch, game-tying single off the bat of Bo Bichette. And then 3 pitches later, Vlad Guerrero Jr could shoot one through the left side for a walkoff. That was the Jays' first walkoff single against Boston since Brett Lawrie hit one on August 14, 2013. It was also just the second time they've ever hit back-to-back singles to tie the game and then walk off against the Red Sox. Alex Gonzalez and Raul Mondesi did that against Derek Lowe on July 19, 2001.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, the Diamondbacks gave up a 6-run 6th inning to the Padres and seemed destined for their 42nd loss of the half-season. But, channelling their inner Yankees, they rallied for 7 unanswered runs, including the team's first instance ever of back-to-back bases-loaded plunkings. Buddy Kennedy and Carson Kelly both got hit by pitches in the 8th-- by two different pitchers, no less-- to tie the game, and then in the 9th, well, this happens. That's what we call a walkoff "FCX" (fielder's choice, no out recorded) where the runner at second just beats the play being made on him without an error or misplay happening. The last time Arizona had a walkoff one of those was June 21, 2002, when Rod Barajas hit it and Quinton McCracken beat it against the Blue Jays.
The Orioles are well on their way to a 40th consecutive season of not reaching the World Series. They didn't help that cause in Minneapolis over the weekend. Oh sure, Friday's game looked like it had a chance when Jorge Mateo's RBI groundout gave them a 2-1 lead in the 8th. But then Jorge Lopez is sent out to the mound for the 9th, and all he does is give up a leadoff single to Luis Arraez, and then a walkoff homer to Byron Buxton. It was Minnesota's first walkoff homer against the Orioles since Brian Dozier smacked one on July 6, 2015. But it turns out, back on April 24, Buxton also hit a walkoff homer with the Twins trailing the White Sox. In franchise history (1901) they've never hit two such walkoff homers in the same season, much less by the same batter.
So guess what happens on Saturday. With the Twins trailing 3-0 in the 7th, Nick Gordon launches a solo homer. Then Carlos Correa hits a sac fly in the 8th. Then Jorge Polanco leads off the 9th with a game-tying solo homer, the first tying homer for the franchise in the 9th inning against that other Baltimore/St Louis franchise since Eddie Robinson hit one on August 29, 1949. Did we mention this dinger was off Jorge Lopez yet again? And Lopez gets left out there to give up three more hits, including a walkoff single by Jose Miranda. Twins win 4-3. It's their first time walking off against the same team on consecutive days since April 25 and 26 of 2016 against Cleveland. And it's the first time they've done it to the Orioles since July 19-20, 2005, at the Metrodome.
And finally in this section, if you can't poke a bear, you might as well poke a Tiger. Detroit's baseball team has been, um, not good, for years now. But on Saturday they decided to go Greene. Riley Greene, that is. If you don't know Riley Greene, that's okay; he's a 21-year-old rookie who was drafted out of high school and made his MLB debut just 2 weeks ago. But he also managed to connect for a leadoff triple, the Tigers' first against Kansas City since Austin Jackson hit one on September 13, 2013. Greene then scores on a sac fly, but Beau Briske gave up 2 runs in the top half of the 1st, so the Tigers are going to trail the entire game. Or at least until they don't anymore.
After hovering at a 3-2 score for the last 3 innings, Joel Payamps is summoned to close things out for the Royals. And all he does is surrender a game-tying homer to Victor Reyes, and then 2 pitches later, a walkoff homer to Riley Greene. Detroit hadn't recorded back-to-back homers to tie a game and then walk off since September 9, 1952, when Cliff Mapes and Joe Ginsberg did it in the 11th against Boston. And we found no other instances in Tigers history of any player starting a game with a leadoff triple and then ending it with a walkoff homer. (There were at least two instances of the reverse.) The last time any player did it for any team was on September 19, 1972, when Cesar Tovar of the Twins pulled off the trick against the newly-formed Texas Rangers.
And finally, you knew this game was going to come out of our bag of tricks eventually. You can't get away with throwing up 19 runs in a game and have us not notice. Hi Brewers!
Roansy Contreras of the Pirates made one appearance during the final week of the 2021 season. It lasted 3 innings. The Pirates have attempted to make him into a starter since sending him down to Indianapolis in April and then bringing him back in late May. So far he's only gotten into the 6th one time, but let's call it a work in progress. At least it was progressing... until Friday.
Good: Roansy started with a clean 1st inning against Milwaukee. Bad: The 2nd inning. Single, double, 3-run homer by Luis Urias. Another homer by Keston Hiura. Back-to-back walks. And finally after getting 2 outs, the Brewers bat around and Rowdy Tellez clocks a 3-run homer to make it a 7-0 blowout already. Contreras thus becomes the third starter in Pirates history to give up 7+ runs, 3+ homers, and not escape the 2nd inning; Jordan Lyles did it against the Cardinals on July 2019, and Shawn Chacon posted that line against Houston on August 9, 2006.
Tellez tacks on two more runs with a double in the 4th. And by the 8th we are turning the ball over to Cam Vieaux, making his fifth MLB appearance. His first four outings were basically to get through an inning in the 5th or 6th. On Friday he did also (finally) get through an inning. But along the way, mmm, well, yeah.
Double. Walk. Single. Walk. Single. Grand slam by Willy Adames, the first hit by a Brewers batter at PNC Park since Jonathan Villar on September 4, 2016. Adames also joined Tellez in the 4-RBI club; the only other pair of Brewers teammates with a homer and 4 RBI in the same game against the Pirates were Orlando Arcia and Christian Yelich on June 1, 2019. Tellez then reaches on an error, Andrew McCutchen singles, and now Vieaux is just taking one for the team. Mike Brosseau doubles in both of those runs to make it 17-1. Amazingly Vieaux then gets three straight outs, but he has still become the first Pirates reliever to allow 8 runs in 1 IP or less in a home game since Mel Queen did it against Brooklyn on May 9, 1948.
You know the question by now. "Who wants to pitch?" For the Pirates it is first baseman Josh VanMeter, who gave up 5 runs against the Cardinals back in May. So at least this time he's only going to give up 2, but that still makes him the first Pirates position player to give up multiple runs in multiple pitching appearances since... oh look, Diego Castillo's done it twice this year as well. It's the first season in Pirates history where they've had four such exemplary outings from position players.
And remember Mike Brosseau of the multi-run double in the 8th? Well Milwaukee now has a 17-run lead, so why would they waste a pitcher either? If you're scoring at home, Brosseau gets the unusual notation of "PH/5/1", which is amazingly NOT a first in Brewers history. Trent Durrington also pinch hit, stayed in the game at third, and ended up pitching against Houston on April 17, 2004.
As for the 19-2 final (Brosseau actually retired the Pirates in the 9th without a run), it's the first time Milwaukee has racked up that many runs in a game since September 9, 2020. You might remember that because it was The Story when the Brewers shut out Detroit 19-0 in an afternoon game... but then got thrown to the back page when the Braves and Marlins played The 29-9 Game later that night. It's also not the Brewers' largest score or largest win at PNC Park; that came from a 20-0 back on April 22, 2010. But it is the first time in franchise history that the Brewers recorded multiple 7-run innings in the same game. The grab bag keeps on giving.
Bottom Of The Bag
⚾ Jharel Cotton, Monday: Second pitcher in Twins/Sens history whose wild pitch broke up a shutout of 11 or more in the 9th inning. Dutch Leonard uncorked one against Boston on August 12, 1938.
⚾ Astros, Thursday: First time in team history having 3 or fewer hits against the Yankees and winning.
⚾ Abraham Toro, Saturday: First bases-loaded walkoff single for Mariners against Oakland since Jose Lopez on May 3, 2009.
⚾ Willson Contreras, Wednesday: Second Cubs batter in modern era to collect a homer, 2 doubles, and a hit-by-pitch in the same game. Kevin Roberson did it against the Mets on September 10, 1993.
⚾ C.J. Cron, Sunday: Third player in Rockies history to have 6 RBI and drive in every run for the team in a game. Others are Jason Giambi (May 19, 2011)(7x) and Ryan Spilborghs (June 10, 2007).
⚾ Lourdes Gurriel, Friday: Second Jays batter to record 3 hits and 3 runs scored on Canada Day. Other was Jesse Barfield against Oakland in 1984.
⚾ Shohei Ohtani, Tuesday: Second batter in Angels history with a homer, 2 doubles, and a walk in a game the team lost. Chad Curtis did it in Detroit on July 9, 1992.
⚾ Isaac Paredes, Saturday: Second batter in Rays history to homer in both games of a doubleheader, joining Ben Zobrist at Minnesota on April 28, 2011.
⚾ Bryan Reynolds, Wednesday: First Pirates batter ever to have a 3-homer game in Washington (including the 19th-century NL teams).
⚾ Anthony Santander, Monday: First Orioles batter ever to hit a home run and a sac fly in the same game at Safeco/TMobile. Last to do it at the Kingdome was Bobby Bonilla on August 31, 1996.
⚾ Starling Marte, Sat-Sun: First Mets batter ever to homer in the 1st inning at Citi Field on consecutive days. Last to do it at Shea was David Wright in its final month (September 13-14, 2008).
⚾ Gilberto Celestino & Luis Arraez, Tuesday: First time Twins hit a triple in both games of a doubleheader in Cleveland since Lenny Green did it by himself on July 16, 1961.
⚾ Tigers, Sunday: First game where all nine starters had exactly 1 hit since June 14, 1996, at Minnesota.
⚾ Brewers, Thursday: Second game in team history where they collected 6 doubles and a triple in a loss. Other was August 5, 2007, against the Phillies.
⚾ Kyle Tucker, Tuesday: First Astros batter to hit a 3- or 4-run homer in the 1st inning at Citi Field. Last at Shea was Jeff Bagwell off Paul Wilson on April 17, 1996.
⚾ Tony Kemp, Friday: First A's #9 batter with a hit-by-pitch, a stolen base, and an RBI in the same game since F.P. Santangelo did it against Detroit on August 25, 2001.
⚾ Kole Calhoun, Saturday: First Rangers batter ever to have a multi-homer game against the Mets. Leaves three opponents (CIN, PIT, STL) against whom they've never had one.
⚾ Rhys Hoskins, Wednesday: First Phillies batter to homer and double in a game where the team only scored 1 run since Gary Matthews at San Diego, June 2, 1983.
⚾ Dansby Swanson, Fri-Sat: First Braves batter with 3 hits in back-to-back games in Cincinnati since Chipper Jones, August 22-23, 2007.
⚾ Bryan Reynolds & Michael Perez, Wed-Thu: First time in Pirates history (1882) that they've had a batter hit 3 homers in consecutive team games.
⚾ Spencer Strider & Charlie Morton, Sat-Sun: Second pitching teammates in live-ball era to allow 1 hit and strike out 10+ on consecutive days. Nolan Ryan and Mike Scott did it for the Astros in September 1996.
⚾ Trevor Story, Monday: Second sac fly in Red Sox history that broke up a shutout of 7-0 or more in the 9th inning. Dustin Pedroia hit one against the Rays on April 18, 2010.
⚾ Ronald Acuña, Friday: Second Braves leadoff batter in modern era to have 2 hits and 2 hit-by-pitches in same game. Lonnie Smith, also in Cincinnati, October 2, 1991.
⚾ Mariners, Wednesday: First time hitting 3 sac flies as a team since April 16, 2010, against Detroit. Had gone longest of any team without doing it ("honor" now passes to the Padres).
⚾ Jack Suwinski, Sunday: Second Pirates batter to have multiple extra-base hits in a game at PNC Park where the team got shut out. Matt Lawton did it against the Phillies on July 6, 2005.
⚾ Framber Valdez, Sunday: First pitcher for any team to strike out 13 but also issue 5 walks in the same game since A.J. Burnett, also on July 6, 2005.
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