TV Land

Scooter found himself heavily involved with Kernels this week.
(Catherine Bulinski on Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0)


The Muppet Show

We confess we didn't know the story behind Ryan Gennett's nickname until Tuesday night. But whether Ryan or Scooter, Gennett added his name to one of MLB's most exclusive clubs on Tuesday, becoming the 17th player ever to homer four times in one game, and very nearly the first ever to accomplish the elusive "home run cycle".

Gennett dropped a 2-out RBI single in the 1st inning for Cincinnati's first run of the night, but when he hit a grand slam in the 3rd we started paying attention. The Reds would eventually pile up nine earned runs off Adam Wainwright, tying a career high which was also set against Cincinnati (August 28, 2013) and knocking him from the game after Eugenio Suarez cleared the bases with a 4th-inning triple.

Gennett greeted Josh Gant with his second homer, a two-run blast to score Suarez, and already making him just the second Reds batter ever to have two homers and drive in seven runs against St. Louis. The other was none other than Johnny Bench in a 12-5 win on July 26, 1970, less than a month after the opening of Riverfront Stadium.

When Scooter hit a solo shot in the 6th he became the fourth player in Reds history with a 3-HR, 8-RBI game, the most recent being Forrest "Smoky" Burgess (nicknamed, most likely, after North Carolina's Great Smoky Mountains from which he hailed) on July 29, 1955. After the Reds went 1-2-3 in the 7th, Scooter would be up fourth in the next inning; two baserunners and one out would give him the chance at history.

Arismendy Alcantara grounded out. Scott Schebler walked. Alas Suarez whiffed to take the three-run homer out of play. But the walk extended the inning instead of leaving Scooter on deck to end the game. And sure enough, a liner to right-center just cleared the wall and "scooted" Gennett into the record books.

The two-run shot gave him 10 RBI, joining Mark Whiten in 1993 as the only players with four homers and ten driven in. Oddly, Whiten did it for the Cardinals against the Reds; Gennett did it for the Reds against the Cardinals. Anthony Rendon had the season's other 10-RBI game back in the Nationals' 23-5 lovefest on April 30; since RBI became an official stat in 1920, there have never been two such games in a season.

The Twittersphere couldn't help but notice that Gennett "called" his historic performance by wearing jersey number 4. Only one of the other 4-HR hitters can claim that, and that was Lou Gehrig (who hit his on June 3, 1932). (Partial credit to Mike Cameron who was #44 when he did it in 2002.)

And remember that inconspicuous RBI single from the 1st inning? That made Gennett just the sixth player ever with five hits and 10 RBI in a game (never mind the four homers). Rendon is another; before them were Fred Lynn (1975), Reggie Jackson (1969), Walker Cooper (1949), and Jim Bottomley (1924).

For a kid who didn't want to wear his seat belt, he certainly buckled down and made a name for himself.


Touched By An Angel

Anaheim leadoff batter Cameron Maybin collected three hits in Friday's 9-4 win over the Astros, but it was what he did after reaching base that got our attention. Maybin stole second base three times, and then third base once, to become just the fourth player in Angels history-- and first since Chad Curtis in 1993-- to swipe four bags in a game. He's the first of those four to also score four runs.

Oddly Maybin never had anyone on base before he came up, so he also got the dubious note of being the third leadoff batter in Angels history with three hits, four runs scored, but zero driven in. Mike Trout did it in June 2012, and David Eckstein was the first on September 5, 2002.

On Sunday Maybin was at it again, reaching three times (two singles and a walk), stealing twice, and scoring on all three trips as the Angels doubled up Houston 12-6. Add in his May 27 game against the Marlins, and Maybin has three games already this season where he reached three times, scored three times, and stole at least two bases along the way. The only other player in Angels history to post that line thrice in a season was Luis Polonia in 1991.


Wander Over Yonder

This is an animated Disney show about an "intergalactic traveler" who fights "Lord Hater"'s attempts to put the kibosh on people's fun. And what's more fun than a scheduled doubleheader? Before Saturday there hadn't been one since 2011, so the Athletics and Rays decided to even add one extra inning before Evan Longoria walked off Game 1 in the 10th. Obviously Longoria's most famous walkoff hit will forever be his line-drive homer to end the 2011 regular season, but this was his fourth in extra innings to give him the all-time Rays lead in that category. Travis Lee, Greg Vaughn, and Ben Zobrist each had three.

Although they lost the first game, Yonder Alonso went 3-for-5 with two doubles among the Athletics' 16 hits. Turns out he was just getting started. In Game 2, he recorded four singles for a total of seven hits on the day. The Athletics banged out 16 more hits, their first time reaching that mark in both games of a twinbill since August 30, 1942 (at Washington).

As for Yonder, it was only last season that Josh Reddick also had seven hits in a doubleheader (May 7 at Baltimore), but only one went for extra bases. The last Oaklander with seven hits and two extra-base knocks in a DH... wasn't an Oaklander. That would be Jerry Lumpe of the Kansas City Athletics, who also did it on August 20 and also against the Senators. That year was 1963, the Washington team was the second-iteration Sens, and Lumpe's second XBH was a walkoff home run to win Game 2 in the bottom of the 14th.


Twin Peaks

The Twins and Giants started a three-game set in San Francisco on Friday night, with Ervin Santana dominating his way to a four-hit shutout and the fourth "Maddux" of the year (a Maddux, named for Greg who did it at least 16 times, is an individual shutout on fewer than 100 pitches). Edinson Volquez's no-hitter last Saturday was one; Ivan Nova and Masahiro Tanaka have the others. Santana never faced more than four batters in a frame and never had an inning longer than 15 pitches. (For reference, most pitchers hope to average 15 an inning, not max out at it.)

Santana has already thrown three shutouts this season; no other pitcher has more than one. The last Twins hurler with three, allowing no more than four hits in any of them, was Scott Erickson in 1992. And thanks to being in the other league, only one other pitcher in franchise history ever threw an individual shutout against the Giants. That was Earl Whitehill in Game 3 of the 1933 World Series, when the Twins were the Washington Senators and the Giants were in New York.

Santana made just as many headlines on Friday for his bat. Playing in the NL park, he stepped to the plate for just the third game since joining the Twins, and the first time ever at AT&T (including his 2014 season with the Braves). In the 4th inning he ripped a bases-loaded double, the third XBH of his career, and plated three of Minnesota's ultimate total of four runs. Even in the 20 years of interleague play, no Twins pitcher had driven in three runs in a game since before the designated hitter rule was added. The last to do it was Luis Tiant against the newly-minted Milwaukee Brewers on May 28, 1970.

And Santana is just the sixth pitcher in franchise history to throw an individual shutout and drive in three runs at the plate. James "Mudcat" Grant did it against Cleveland on August 27, 1965. Since we're all about the nicknames today, "Mudcat" got his moniker at a minor-league tryout when another player thought he was from Mississippi (he's not) and called him that as somewhat of a pejorative. The other Twins/Senators to do it, incidentally: Jim Kaat (1963), Dean Stone (1954), Bob Porterfield (1953), and Irving "Bump" Hadley (1928).


Saved By The Bell
(Because we couldn't find a note involving Austin Slater and not go there.)

The Giants and Twins finished that series at AT&T Park with a Sunday slugfest in which the orange-and-black prevailed by a 13-8 count. Only once before had the Twins scored eight runs in an NL park and lost; that was an 11-10 affair at Wrigley Field in 1999.

The Giants collected 17 hits, nine of them for extra bases, but despite the hitter-friendly confines of South Beach, exactly zero of those hits were homers. The Giants hadn't had 9 XBH in a game without at least one homer since August 5, 1922, against the Cubs, and naturally at the Polo Grounds (with its 483-foot center field fence).

Buster Posey and (here he is) Austin Slater each had three hits and four runs batted in, but obviously neither of them homered. Only two other sets of Giants teammates had ever pulled that off in the same game: Marvin Benard and Matt Williams on June 5, 1996 (at Cincinnati); and Matty Alou and Harvey Kuenn in Pittsburgh on July 25, 1961.

Hunter Pence added three doubles, the first Giant to have two-baggers against three different pitchers in one game since Dave Roberts on August 3, 2007 (at San Diego).


Intermission
You know you have the theme song in your head now. Indulge the earworm.


Judge Aaron
(It may not have the title, but it's definitely a show.)

The Yankees unloaded on Orioles starter Chris Tillman on Saturday, batting around in a 6-run 1st inning that included homers by Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorius. Starlin Castro went deep in the 2nd to knock Tillman out of the game after nine earned runs and only four outs. Only one other pitcher in franchise history had that disastrous a start for the Orioles/Browns, Kurt Ainsworth against the Angels on May 14, 2004. And Tillman was only the fourth pitcher ever to allow 9 ER and three homers against the Yankees in 1⅓ or less; all did it in the Bronx. Jeremy Guthrie (2015) and Brian Bannister (2008) both did it as Kansas City Royals, and Travis Harper of the Rays was the first, in 2005.

Things wouldn't get a whole lot better against a parade of Orioles relievers; Gary Sanchez would also collect three hits and four RBIs en route to a 16-3 thumping. He, Judge, and Castro each ended with a home run, a double, at least three RBIs, and at least two runs scored. They were the first trio of Yankees to do that in the same game since RBI became an official stat in 1920. And the Yankees' total of 11 extra-base hits were the second-most by any team at the current Yankee Stadium; the Indians had 13 in the first homestand there in 2009, a game where they famously had a 14-run inning.

Court was in session again Sunday as the Yankees collected four more homers-- two by Judge-- and blew out Baltimore again, 14-3. The tallies marked the first time the Yankees had scored 14+ in consecutive games since July 21-22, 2007, against the Rays; and the first time the Orioles had given it up since June 15-16, 2001, to Philadelphia.

Just when the scoreboard operators at Yankee Stadium had put away the "6" from Saturday, they needed a "5" for Sunday's 1st inning as well. That marked the first time the Bronx Bombers had posted consecutive 5-run 1sts since August 25, 1939, when they swept a doubleheader from this same franchise (then the St. Louis Browns) at Sportsmans Park, 11-0 and 8-2.

Kevin Gausman, doing his best Chris Tillman impression, surrendered eight hits, six walks, and seven runs, the first Orioles starter to pull that off since Rick Sutcliffe against the White Sox on April 27, 1993. Throw on two wild pitches and it was a first in Orioles history (1954). Ned Garver was the last to do it for the Browns, in a complete-game win over the Tigers on May 15, 1949.

Judge added a double and a single on Sunday to become the first Yankee since Hideki Matsui in 2009 (August 13 at Seattle) with four hits, four runs scored, and two homers. And his friends Castro and Sanchez both homered again as well, creating a first in major-league history. The trio each had a homer and 3 RBIs on Saturday, then the same three players each had a homer and 3 RBIs on Sunday. No three players had ever done that in consecutive games. In fact, only two teams (the 1950 Red Sox and 1925 Pirates) ever had consecutive games where three teammates homered and drove in three, but in both those cases it was a different set of players in each game.


Max Headroom

We were still digesting Scooter Gennett's four-homer game when Max Scherzer decided to go on another strikeout spree in Los Angeles. Although the Dodgers got two singles, an error, and an unearned run in the 1st, Scherzer would record the first six outs of the game via the K, and then have a bizarre 3rd inning that involved a passed ball on strikeout number eight. By the 4th he had pitched 3⅔ innings with 11 K, but with a Corey Seager lineout mixed in. Only four other pitchers (Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Zack Greinke, and Alex Cobb) have had 11 K through the first four innings of a game; even in Scherzer's historic 20-K game last year he "only" had nine.

Scherzer would be pinch-hit for in the 8th, finalizing his strikeout total at 14. And with that 1st-inning run being unearned, it gave the Nats their second 14-K, 0-ER performance in 11 days. Stephen Strasburg fanned 15 Padres on May 27; the Nationals are the first team in MLB history with two such games that close together.

And while last Saturday was the first day ever with a no-hitter (Volquez) and a 600th home run (Pujols), Tuesday was amazingly not the first day with a four-homer game and a 14-strikeout game. On July 6, 1986, Bob Horner of the Braves and Bobby Witt for the Rangers pulled off the same combo.

Scherzer would go on to strike out 10 more on Sunday, but wound up losing because Brian Goodwin's leadoff homer was the Nats' only scoring. It was the fifth time in his Washington career that Scherzer had fanned 10, allowed no more than two earned runs, and lost. Since the move in 2005, all other Nationals have three such games combined, and five ties the franchise "record" held, of course, by Pedro Martinez.


Chirinos, Texas Ranger

Unfortunately for the Nats, Scherzer can't pitch every single game, and the Rangers made a particular mess of the Nationals' bullpen on Saturday. Shin-Soo Choo led off the 9th with a solo homer to bring them within 1, Elvis Andrus singled, and a Nomar Mazara double sent the game to extras. It was the Nationals' 10th blown save of the year, seven of them in front of the home fans on South Capitol Street. They had only three at home all of last season, the fewest in the majors.

Robinson Chirinos then blasted a three-run homer in the 11th off Shawn Kelley to complete the comeback; it was the Rangers' first three- or four-run shot in extras since a Leonys Martin walkoff on July 30, 2013. And more notably, the last time the franchise hit any extra-inning dinger in Washington, it was the Washington team. Don Mincher's walkoff in the 15th gave the Second Senators (now the Rangers, of course) a win over Detroit on May 15, 1971.


Rio Bravo
(We know, it's a John Wayne movie, not a TV show. Don't @ us. But the title was too good not to use.)

Speaking of walkoffs, the Braves sent 23-year-old rookie Rio Ruiz up as a pinch hitter against the Mets on Friday. He promptly ripped the first pitch thrown by reliever Josh Edgin into left for a walkoff single that scored Dansby Swanson.

It was the first time the Braves had beaten the New Yorkers on a pinch hit since Cito Gaston singled home Glenn Hubbard on July 18, 1978. And Ruiz, by one day, missed becoming the second-youngest Braves player in the live-ball era with a walkoff pinch hit. Mickey O'Neil holds that mark (22 years 58 days) in the first year of said era, 1920, while Buddy Gremp (23-017) hit one to beat the Phillies on August 22, 1942.

Edgin, meanwhile, became the first Met to give up a walkoff hit on his first pitch since Mike Stanton served up a solo homer to Jose Vidro of the Expos on April 13, 2003.


Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Corey Seager, Saturday: Youngest Dodger with a walkoff double since Pee Wee Reese also did it against Cincinnati on April 30, 1941.

⋅ Matt Szczur, Friday: First Padres batter to have an extra-base hit as a pinch hitter, stay in game, and have another extra-base hit, since Ken Caminiti against the Brewers on August 23, 1998.

⋅ Kyle Schwarber, Wednesday: First Cubs batter to have three extra-base hits while batting 9th since Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander did it against the Phillies on June 20, 1925.

⋅ Steven Souza, Friday: Missed cycle by the double. Had missed it by the single on April 20, becoming first player in Rays history to record both those "near-cycles" (ever, not just in same season).

⋅ Craig Kimbrel, Tuesday: Recorded 5 K but only four outs because of a wild pitch on strike three. Also had a 4-K inning on May 25; first in (at least) live-ball era to have two games in same season with more strikeouts than actual outs.

⋅ Cubs, Friday: Scored 3 runs on only 3 total bases (nine walks helped). Last time they managed that was April 23, 1974, in a 5-3 loss to the Reds.

⋅ Rajai Davis, Wednesday: First Oaklander ever with 4 hits and 4 runs scored in a loss. Last to do it for the franchise was Norm Siebern when they were in Kansas City, August 8, 1960.

⋅ Kenta Maeda, Friday: Second Dodger this year to get a 4-inning save, joining Hyun-Jin Ryu (May 25). Last time the team had two in a season was 2000 (Alan Mills, Matt Herges).


One For The Road

How many chances will we have to link a freaky music video from 1986 that had Max Headroom in it? Not enough, is our answer. And yes, this charted.

About Last Night

You've probably seen one of those old-timey popcorn carts where the kernels hang in the middle and as they heat up and pop, they overflow the sides of the bucket and fall down into the cart below. (Your local baseball stadium might even still have one (mine does).) If your calendar had a day overflowing with Kernels, it would be June 3, 2017.


Grand Opening

It started innocently enough, with Kyle Schwarber hitting a 7th-inning grand slam to propel the Cubs to a 5-3 win against the rival Cardinals. Thanks to Joe Maddon now batting the pitcher eighth, Schwarber was the first Cubs non-pitcher to hit a slam batting ninth since pinch hitter Julio Zuleta did it on June 5, 2001, also against the Cardinals.

That, however, was a game the Cubs were already leading 8-5. Schwarber's slam was the first go-ahead version by a Cubs #9 hitter, in the 7th or later, since Earl Averill gave them a lead against the Braves on May 12, 1959.

Averill was also pinch-hitting, as were all such slams before him. Schwarber was the first starter in team history to hit such a slam out of the 9-hole.


A Long Time Coming

Edinson Volquez had already made Miami Marlins history two starts ago, specifically by losing. Again. To drop his season record to 0-7. He joined one Joe Fontenot in 1998 as the only Marlins starters ever to be 0-7; the 21-year-old Fontenot was drafted out of high school, made only eight starts in his MLB career, spent the '99 season at triple-A Calgary, and then retired.

Volquez finally won his previous start to avoid setting a dubious team record, but on Saturday it finally clicked against the Diamondbacks. Volquez issued just two walks-- and retired both runners on double plays-- to finish off the first no-hitter since Jake Arrieta's offering last April 21. That span of 408 days was the longest between NH's since we went the entire 2005 season and most of 2006 without one. Oddly, that drought was also broken by a Marlins no-hitter against Arizona, by Anibal Sanchez (September 6, 2006).

One of our favorite quirks here at Kernels is the concept of a "faced minimum". It's a 27-batter game that is not a no-hitter, and it's very rare. (A perfect game, by definition, is both.) Although Volquez's game doesn't qualify (because it was an NH), it goes down as just the ninth no-hitter in history to involve only 27 batters. Justin Verlander threw the last one on May 7, 2011... but only three of those nine have involved multiple baserunners. Volquez duplicated the feat of Warren Spahn on April 28, 1961, walking two and retiring both on double plays. The first such game belonged to Gus Weyhing of the Philadelphia Athletics (the old American Association team, not today's Oaklanders) who walked one and hit one, but had both runners caught stealing, on July 31, 1888.


Grand Central

While we were busy paying attention to Volquez's quest (which is worth a ridiculous number of points in Scrabble, incidentally), the Dodgers and Brewers were busy trading grand slams in Milwaukee. Travis Shaw hit the first one of his career in the 7th inning, but Chris Taylor answered that in the top of the 9th for a 10-8 Dodgers win. It was the third game in Miller Park history where both teams hit a slam; the last was on April 21, 2015, against the Reds. In that contest Elian Herrera had been the previous Brewer to hit one in a loss, because the Reds hit two of their own in the same game. The other contest where the teams traded was June 20, 2007, against the Giants.

Taylor added a double and a single to become the first Dodger with three hits including a slam since... Chris Taylor on May 8 against the Pirates. Combined with a similar performance last July, Taylor is already nearing the record for most such games in Los Angeles Dodgers history (1958). Mike Piazza did it five times, while Matt Kemp had four (and was also the last to do it twice in a season, in 2009).


Smashing Adams

Speaking of the Reds, they fell behind the Braves on Saturday when Matt Adams hit the team's first slam of the year in the 5th inning. However, an inning later they would hang a 4-spot (surprisingly not on a grand slam) and eventually send us to extras tied at 5. Matt Adams already has a place in baseball history for being the first player to homer twice in the 12th inning or later of the same game, a feat finally duplicated by Chris Davis a few weeks ago.

So of course Adams comes up in the top of the 12th and hits his second homer of the game, a solo shot that stood up for a 6-5 win. He thus became the first hitter in Braves team history (1876) to have a grand slam in "regulation" and a second home run in extra innings. The last to have a 2-HR, 5-RBI game, with the second homer in the 12th or later, was Wally Berger-- also against the Reds-- on July 23, 1935. (Berger had a 3-run, a solo, and an RBI single, no slam.)


Intermission
At some point Ian Desmond hit a slam in San Diego too. We don't have any great notes about that, but props.


More Zeroes In The Hit Column

Of course most of those slams are going to drift off into dusty scorebooks, but when Albert Pujols came up with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 4th on Saturday night, you just knew this day was about to become unmatched. With one swing Pujols created three pieces of baseball history, becoming not just the first player to hit a grand slam for his six hundredth career homer, but no player had ever done it for five hundred either. (And Carlos Delgado is the only one to hit a slam for #400.) Combined with Volquez earlier, it was the first day in major-league history that had seen a no-hitter and a player hit career HR #500, 600, or 700.

Pujols would end the game with just that one very notable hit, the third time in his career (2,477 games) that's happened. His other games where his only hit was a slam were against the Mets on August 10, 2002 (career homer #62) and the Cubs on April 25, 2009 (#326).

And if you've been counting along, it was the sixth grand slam of Saturday's slate, tying the major-league record for a single day. That was set back on May 21, 2000, when the coincidences included one hit by the Angels in Anaheim (Garret Anderson), one hit by the Dodgers (actually two, Adrian Beltre and Shawn Green), and one hit at Miller Park (J.T. Snow of the Giants). Shawn Green, of course, would go on to have a four-homer game at Miller Park a couple years later, but never hit a slam there.

Grand Total

And alphabetically last but not least, just when it looked like things might be calming down, Mike Zunino of the Mariners put the bow on the package with the seventh slam of the day, setting the all-time record that had been tied just 18 minutes earlier. It was the first slam of his career, and it makes him the second-to-last player alphabetically ever to hit one. And for once the answer is not Dutch Zwilling, who never hit one in his seven-year career from 1910-16. It's outfielder Bob Zupcic who played most of the 1992 and 1993 seasons for the Red Sox and hit two slams, 10 days apart, right before the '92 All-Star break.

Zunino already had a two-run double and an RBI single prior to the slam, making him just the second player in Mariners history to record a 7-RBI game while batting 9th. Brian Giles had a slam and a three-run homer at Rogers Center on May 17, 1990.

Logan Morrison capped the scoring in that game for the Rays with a meaningless 9th-inning solo shot. Meaningless except for it being his one hundredth career homer. Let's hope that 500 homers from now, we can match the excitement of June 3, 2017.


Bottom Of The Bag
Still more just from Saturday!

⋅ Jason Grilli: First pitcher in Jays history to allow four homers and record fewer than three outs. Last in the majors was Travis Harper of the Rays, also versus Yankees, June 21, 2005.

⋅ Ryon Healy & Jed Lowrie: Second Athletics teammates in live-ball era to each have a homer and two doubles in same game. Reggie Jackson and Sal Bando did it in Anaheim on the day of the moon landing (July 20, 1969).

⋅ Ben Lively, Phillies: First pitcher (for any team) to throw 7+ innings in his MLB debut, strike out zero, and get the win, since Anthony Telford of the Orioles on August 19, 1990.

⋅ Tyler Chatwood, Rockies: Second pitcher in team history to throw 8+ innings, strike out 8+ opponents, have two hits at the plate, and score two runs. Other was John Thomson in a five-hit shutout of Milwaukee on September 30, 2001.


Did You Know?

If Logan Morrison continues to play the same number of games each season (an average of 101 not counting his rookie half-season), and hit homers at the same pace (one every 7.7 games), the date you want to circle for his 600th is July 17, 2055. He will be 67.

Who Wants To Know?

We do. Kernels wants to know. And you want to know what we popped up this week (thanks, as always, and among other sources, to the incredible Baseball Reference Play Index).


Are You Johnny Ray

If you were a sports fan in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, you doubtless had everything all planned out. Pirates play a getaway game with Arizona at 12:30, that will end by like 4, that's plenty of time to eat and get from PNC to PPG for the hockey game at 8. It's gonna be great. Ah, baseball and mother nature.

The Pirates trailed by one going to B9, but after two walks and an error they manage to score the tying run on a double play. Hmm. Still not bad, it's only 3:45, we can stay for an extra inning or two and still have plenty of time. Nick Ahmed unties things with a two-out homer in the top of the 11th, but they strand the bases loaded and, as we like to say here at Kernels, "any number but 1" will do.

Enter Jordy Mercer, who with two outs in the bottom of the 11th-- in the rain, no less-- cranks his fifth homer of the year to make it 5-5. It's now 4:30. And did we mention it's raining? Welcome, tarp.

As it turns out, this was the first time teams had traded two-out solo homers in an extra inning in more than 35 years. Jack Clark of the Giants and Steve Garvey of the Dodgers did so in the 10th inning at Chavez Ravine on September 9, 1981. After an hour and a half of rain and three more innings-- by which time you've probably given up and are on the way to the hockey game-- Chris Owings finally singles in a run in the 14th to give Arizona the 6-5 win. Counting the delay, the game lasted 6 hours 13 minutes, ending at 6:50 pm, and the longest single game in Pittsburgh since June 30, 2013 (another 14-inning affair that featured a delay of more than 2 hours).

T.J. McFarland got the win for Arizona by pitching three hitless innings, the first Diamondback to do that in extras since Leo Rosales won an 18-inning affair with the Padres on June 7, 2009. On the offensive side, Jake Lamb became the first Diamondback with a triple and two doubles since... Jake Lamb last July 16. That made him just the second player in Arizona history to post that line twice, joining Stephen Drew.

And for Pittsburgh, as we say around here, there's always one guy left out. Adam Frazier went 0-for-7, the first Pirates leadoff batter to do that in a loss since Johnny Ray in Philadelphia on June 21, 1985.

At least the Penguins won. If you made it there.


Are You Robbie Ray

In Tuesday's game between Arizona and Pittsburgh, there was no rain and no doubt that no extra innings would be needed. Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray dominated the Pirates, allowing just four hits, no walks, and striking out 10 in throwing his first career shutout. (His first career CG, in fact.) The walk-free shutout with 10 K's was the first in the majors this year, and the first one thrown in Pittsburgh since another notable Diamondback did it. That would be Curt Schilling on May 9, 2003.

If you ignore the 10 strikeouts, Ray is the first Diamondback to throw any walk-free shutout since Josh Collmenter did it against the Reds three years and one day earlier. That May 29, 2014, game is a favorite of ours since it remains the last "faced minimum" in the majors. Collmenter gave up three hits, but retired all three baserunners on double plays-- leading to a 27-batter complete game that is not a perfecto. There have been just 57 such games since 1920; there have been 204 no-hitters.


Are You A Tampa Bay Ray

Corey Dickerson provided a ray of hope in Sunday's game in Minnesota when his two-out single in the top of the 14th inning brought home Michael Martinez. Alas, Kevin Kiermaier's error to start B14 ended up leading to an unearned run for the Twins and we play on.

Evan Longoria pulled the old "let's try this again" by homering to lead off the top of the 15th. Since one run wasn't enough last time, on the very next pitch, Logan Morrison went to right-center for the ultimate final of 8-6. It was the first time in Rays history that the team had hit two extra-inning home runs in the same game (never mind the back-to-back part). The last team to hit two homers in the 15th or later of the same game was the Yankees on June 1, 2003, when Alfonso Soriano and Jorge Posada both went deep in T17 at Comerica Park (which was handy since the Tigers got one back in B17). And the last team to start an inning numbered 15 or higher with back-to-back jacks was the Astros, for whom Brian Hunter and Craig Biggio did it on June 16, 1995, against the Mets.

On Wednesday night Kiermaier redeemed himself with a tying home run in the top of the 9th at Texas. Morrison then did his part by leading off the 10th with a solo shot, which Derek Norris would later follow with a two-run job. That contest thus became the second time the Rays had ever hit two extra-inning homers in the same game, and LoMo is the fourth Ray to hit two in a season. The others are Carlos Peña (2008), Desmond Jennings (2011), and Jose Lobaton (2013), though none of theirs were anywhere close to three days apart.

It was the fourth time in team history that the Rays had hit a tying homer in the 9th and a go-ahead homer in extras. The other three were all at Tropicana Field, and the most recent was the epic final game of the 2011 season where Longoria's walkoff knocked the Yankees out of the final playoff spot.

By the way, in that 15-inning affair on Sunday, Kennys Vargas became the first Twins batter to go 0-for-8 since Danny Thompson and Bobby Darwin both did it in a 22-inning game with the Brewers on May 12, 1972.


Are You Hal McRae

The Royals wound up losing to the Tigers in a 10-7 jamboree on Monday, but Whit Merrifield certainly did his part. Kansas City's 2B went homer-triple-double, scoring three runs and becoming the fifth player this year to miss the cycle by the single. (There were just three last year, but the 20-year average is right at seven, so not really abnormal.) He's the first Royal to do it since Billy Butler on August 9, 2012, but the first for any team to do it while scoring three runs in a loss since Ian Stewart of the Rockies on April 6, 2010.

The only other Royals hitter to go homer-triple-double and score three runs in a loss was Hal McRae against the Red Sox on May 28, 1977 (Merrifield missed the 40th anniversary by one day).


Are You Charlotte Rae

You take the good, you take the bad. (Google it, young'uns.) Although the Dodgers handily beat the Cardinals on Tuesday, Cody Bellinger-- like Adam Frazier and Kennys Vargas-- was left out of the party, drawing an 0-for-6 collar with four strikeouts. He's the third-youngest player in the live-ball era to do that, behind Bryce Harper in 2012 and Lloyd Moseby, who did it for the Jays in 1980 at age 20. He's also the first Dodger, of any age, to go 0-for-6 with 4 K's in a win since Kirk Gibson posted that line against the Mets on August 25, 1990.

A factor in Tuesday's win was Chase Utley's line, which included a triple, a double, a single, and a hit-by-pitch. He was the first Dodger to do all that since the great Hee-Seop Choi against the Marlins on August 20, 2005.

Meanwhile, Boston cleanup man Hanley Ramirez was still dirty after Tuesday's game despite the Red Sox scoring 13 runs as a team. Hanley's 0-for-4, with zero runs scored and zero driven in, was a first for a Boston cleanup hitter in such a game (team scoring 13+) since George Scott did it against the Senators on June 26, 1966.

It was the bottom of Boston's lineup that chipped in most of that 13-run outburst Tuesday, with Jackie Bradley and Deven Marrero combining for three homers and nine RBIs while batting eighth and ninth respectively. It was the first time since RBIs became official in 1920 that the eight- and nine-hitters for the Sawx each had two extra-base hits and drove in four. And the only other time in team history that those two spots had generated 3 HR and 9 RBI was on July 29, 2003... when Bill Mueller had both those numbers by himself!


Intermission
We never actually get the answer to the question, do we?


Are You Carly Rae

Even though Memorial Day isn't observed in Canada, it's always a good time when your team scores 17 runs. The Blue Jays did that on Monday in an absolute rout of the Reds that knocked starter Lisalverto Bonilla out of the game in the 3rd inning. It didn't get any better from there; Robert Stephenson and Jake Buchanan each gave up 10 hits, the first pair of relievers to pull that off since Luther Roy and June Greene for the Phillies on July 6, 1929. That game-- a 28-6 Cardinals win-- remains among the highest-scoring games of all time. Fred Frankhouse, staked to a 24-run lead at one point, pitched a complete-game 17-hitter. Oh by the way, it was the second half of a doubleheader; the first game was "only" 10-6.

Monday's offense came from, well, pretty much everywhere, but Devon Travis and Ezequiel Carrera were especially prolific. The Jays' eight- and nine-hitters both had four hits, the first time a Toronto lineup has ever done that. Combined with Kendrys Morales, Justin Smoak, and Russell Martin as the middle third, it was the first home game in Jays history (either Rogers or Exhibition) where five different players collected three hits.

The 17 runs were Toronto's most ever in an interleague game, and all four teams to have 17+ runs and 23+ hits in an interleague contest have been the AL participant. It was last done by the White Sox in St Louis on June 20, 2006.


Are You Sonny Gray

The Land of Oaks and the Land of Cleves (?) faced off this week and Tuesday's game was not particularly Sonny. Athletics starter Gray gave up nine hits and seven runs before leaving in the 5th inning. He's the first Athletics pitcher to give up 7 ER and only fan three batters in Cleveland since... Sonny Gray last July 31. He's the first Oakland pitcher ever to do it there twice; the last to have two such games at the lakefront was a Kansas City Athletic: Art Ditmar, whose both came in 1955.

To be fair, though, Gray and the offense had very little chance against the stuff Trevor Bauer was throwing for the Indians. Bauer finished the game with a career-high 14 strikeouts and one walk in his seven innings, the first Clevelander in (at least) the live-ball era to end a game with that line. (Others have had 14 K through 7 and kept going.) He was the first Indians pitcher to strike out at least a dozen Oaklanders since Gaylord Perry did it on July 8, 1974. The last to reach 14 K's against them was Sam McDowell on July 12, 1968.

Tuesday was also the first time in the live-ball era that the Athletics' top two hitters in the lineup each struck out four times. In fact no team had done that since Kurt Abbott and Edgar Renteria of the Marlins matched 4-K games against the Cubs on April 8, 1997.


Are You Michael Kay

The Yankees started Tuessday's game at Camden Yards with a Brett Gardner leadoff homer, their seventh one there since it opened in 1992. That ties for their most prolific park over that span (with Arlington); they've only had 10 at the new Yankee Stadium despite playing more than three times as many games there so far.

Two batters later Matt Holliday hit a solo shot for a quick 2-0 lead en route to an 8-3 win. The Yankees hadn't had hit two 1st-inning homers in a road game since July 7, 2012, at Fenway Park; all 29 other teams had done it at least once since then.

The same pair then led off the 3rd (Holliday) and 4th innings (Gardner) with more solo homers, the second time this year multiple Yankees had multiple homers in a game. Gardy teamed with Aaron Judge against Toronto on May 2. It hadn't happened twice in a year since 2005, and not twice in a month since July 1962. Although it was the year after their epic chase, those two games 55 years ago (July 3 and 6) were both posted by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.


Are You Charles Comma Ray

Speaking of hitting some road jacks, we can't leave out the Astros' series in Minneapolis this week. It didn't look good at first, especially when the Twins hung a 7-spot in the 5th inning Monday. But after starter Ervin Santana left in the 8th, Houston went to work on the bullpen, getting five runs off Ryan Pressly, then three off Craig Breslow, then it freakin' rained for 10 minutes, and finally three more off Matt Belisle. All told it was an 11-run, 14-batter, 46-minute half-inning that led to a 16-8 final score. It was just the fourth 11-run inning in Astros history; their last was July 18, 1994, against the Cardinals. (They also had a 12-run frame in 1975 and another 11 in 1969 against the Mets.)

Although the Mariners started a game a few years ago with back-to-back 8's, it was the first game where both teams had a seven-run inning since August 12, 2008, when the Rangers and Red Sox got themselves into a 19-17 mess that surely taxed the number cards on the Fenway scoreboard. And those three Twins relievers-- who each got just one out-- were the first trio in team history (at least since the AL made earned runs official in 1913) to give up 3 ER each while retiring only one batter.

After a "ho-hum" 7-2 win on Tuesday, the highlight of which was Jose Altuve's four singles, the Astros took one last parting shot at the Twin Cities on Wednesday. They homered in six different innings, scored in seven, collected 19 hits, and somehow even topped Monday's game with a 17-6 final score. George Springer had two solo homers among his four hits, becoming the first Astro with four hits, four runs scored, and at least 2 RBI since... George Springer did it in Kansas City on May 26, 2014. The only other Houstonians to do it twice are Kevin Bass and Cesar Cedeño.

Evan Gattis only homered once, but he did tack on a double and two singles, making he and Springer the second Astros teammates ever to have four hits, a homer, and three runs scored in the same game. Brad Ausmus and Geoff Blum managed that against the Mets on July 30, 2002. Not only was it the first time in Astros history that they had scored 17 runs while hitting at least six homers, it was the first time the Twins/Senators franchise had ever allowed such a game.

The Twins chipped in three home runs of their own as part of that 17-6 final, making Wednesday's affair just the second one ever played in Minnesota to have nine total homers. Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington never saw it, and Target Field hadn't until this game. The other 9-HR affair was at the Metrodome against the Mariners on June 10, 1996. Ken Griffey, Edgar Martinez, Paul Molitor, and Ron Coomer were among the longballers in a 13-6 Twins victory.

And as for scoring 16 runs twice in three days? The Astros had never come close to doing that; in their history, the previous closest 16-run games were nine days apart on June 25 (19 vs Cubs) and July 4 (16 at Rockies) of 1995. The last team to do it on the road was those pesky Mariners, who had back-to-back wins of 17-6 and 19-7 in Toronto on April 15-16, 2000.

Twins fans might be having flashbacks about that 17-6 score as well. They lost another game by that exact count to the Red Sox on May 7. Specific to that exact score, it's the first time any stadium has hosted two such games since Anaheim did it in 1996. And it's the first time there have been two 17-6 games in any calendar month since July 1890! One of those games also featured Boston, although it was the "Reds" of the one-year Players League defeating (really) the Cleveland Infants. The other game, six days earlier, involved the two NL teams in Pennsylvania, and The Pittsburgh Press had a bit of a chip about "the Quaker boys".

Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Dinelson Lamet: Third pitcher in live-ball era to get the win and strike out at least eight batters in both of his first two MLB appearances. The others are Stephen Strasburg (2010) and Karl Spooner for the Dodgers in 1954.

⋅ Chad Pinder, Wednesday: Joined Walt Weiss (April 5, 1989) as the only players in Athletics history to have three hits, including two homers, while batting ninth.

⋅ Eric Skoglund, Tuesday: First pitcher in Royals history to work 6+ scoreless innings and allow just two hits in his major-league debut.

⋅ Zack Cozart, Tuesday: First Reds batter ever to have a multi-homer game in Toronto. Their last in Canada was by Russell Branyan in Montreal, September 27, 2002. (Aaron Boone did it against the Expos in 2003, but in Puerto Rico.)

⋅ Alec Asher, Sunday: First Orioles starter to allow six earned runs, hit a batter, and throw a wild pitch in no more than 2 IP since Milt Pappas against the White Sox on July 22, 1961.

⋅ Ryan Zimmerman, Wednesday: First time in Nationals history that they scored all their runs on a single 1st-inning homer and had it stand up for a victory. A three-run shot by David Segui at Shea Stadium on August 15, 1995, was the last for the franchise.

⋅ Ben Gamel, Tuesday: First player in Mariners history with a single, double, and triple in a game he didn't start (entered in 2nd after Nelson Cruz was injured). Last for any team was the Phillies' Greg Dobbs on June 27, 2007.

⋅ Zach Eflin, Sunday: Third straight start allowing nine hits and seven earned runs. First Phillies pitcher to do that within the same season since Claude Willoughby in May and June of 1930.

Hit Or Miss

Really the only two things that can happen when you swing. (Except for maybe this.) We had a lot of both this week.


Upon returning home from a local indie-ball contest on Friday night, the first tweet that caught our eye was this one by Friend Of Kernels and fellow former-ESPN-er Katie Sharp.

That middle game, 17 years ago tonight (and also on the Sunday before Memorial Day), will always remain one of, if not the, greatest pitching performances we've ever seen in person. A badly-faded (and possibly-laundered) ticket stub seems to indicate §601 E 7, and the announced crowd of 55,339 remains the largest in the personal record book.

The matchup was not just Red Sox/Yankees in the Bronx, which is big enough, but it was Roger Clemens against Pedro Martinez. Through eight innings they combined for 21 strikeouts, one walk, zero runs, and just four over the minimum, with neither pitcher facing more than four batters in a frame. It was finally a Trot Nixon two-run homer in T9 (scoring Jeff Frye, who has never been a trivia answer because of this) that decided things in favor of the Bostonians.

Scoresheet. Proof!
So it was on Friday with Masahiro Tanaka, who (as noted above) became the third pitcher in Yankees history to strike out 13+ and lose. Clemens did issue a walk in that 1999 contest, so if you add the "walk-free" qualifier, the other two games stand alone in Pinstripes history.

Tanaka wasn't the only one to collect a 13-K performance on Friday either. Max Scherzer of the Nationals matched that total against the Padres, and got the win by lasting 8⅔ innings and not needing to involve those pesky bullpens. It was the fourth time Scherzer had fanned 13+ and allowed no more than one run, now the most in Nationals/Expos franchise history. The pitcher who did it three times? Pedro Martinez.

As for a pair of 13-K games on the same day, it's unusual but not rare. Happened three times last season. But Friday was the first day where one pitcher had a 13-K win and another had a 13-K loss since September 29, 2007, when John Maine of the Mets (W) and Aaron Harang of the Reds (L) both did it on the next-to-last day of the season.

The next day Stephen Strasburg topped Scherzer's performance with a career-high 15 Ks (his old mark of 14 had been set in his MLB debut). It's the first time in Nats/Expos team history that pitchers have recorded 13+ strikeouts in back-to-back games. The last for any team were Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber on July 1-2, 2015.

By the way, back in 2000, the next day, on Memorial Day, the Yankees and Oakland played another double complete game, this one between Andy Pettitte and Omar Olivares. Not only did Randy Velarde turn the 11th unassisted triple play in baseball history (there have been four since, and major props to Jim Kaat for recognizing it right away), but it remains the last time a team participated in double-CGs on consecutive days. Other teams, including the Yankees, have thrown back-to-back CGs on their own, but never since as part of a double.


Bases Come in Twos

Conditions were ripe for the first double-CG of the 2017 season on Tuesday between Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn; both struck out 10 in eight innings, Lynn allowed a 1st-inning homer to Yasmani Grandal for the game's only run... and then.

The rare two-base wild pitch uncorked by Kershaw not only tied the game, it sent us to extras and knocked both starters out. Trevor Rosenthal took over in B9, Kenley Jansen in T10, and it took a Logan Forsythe double in B13 to score Enrique Hernandez with the walkoff.

By inning, Forsythe's was the latest walkoff double for the Dodgers since Frank Howard beat the Mets, also in the 13th, or June 28, 1962. (That was loss #52 of the famous 120 in the Mets' inaugural season.) They hadn't hit any 13th-inning walkoff against the Cardinals since April 24, 1967, when Lou Johnson's single scored Wes Parker.

And as for Kershaw, he's the first Dodger in 33 seasons to work 9 innings of 1-run ball, strike out at least 10, and get a no-decision. None other than Fernando Valenzuela did that in a 2-1 extra-inning loss to the Reds on August 5, 1984 (he also surrendered the tying run in the 9th).


The Johnson Connection
(You don't think we mean Randy, do you?)

Although he didn't threaten us with a no-hitter, 26-year-old Brian Johnson of the Red Sox dazzled the Fenway faithful on Saturday with a five-hit, walk-free shutout of the Mariners on 109 pitches. And Johnson managed to find a way to bring Roger Clemens and Pedro Martinez together (again) in this post. The last Red Sock to throw a home shutout with zero walks and at least eight K's? Yep, Pedro against the (Devil) Rays on August 12, 2004 (won 6-0). And tossing out the 8-K limit, Johnson is the youngest Boston pitcher to throw a walk-free shutout at Fenway since... 25-year-old Roger Clemens did that against Milwaukee on April 14, 1988. (Clemens also did it three times as a 24-year-old in 1987.)

Of course, the Red Sox also had quite a week in the strikeout department, with Craig Kimbrel capping a 20-strikeout performance Thursday against Texas. Starter Drew Pomeranz fanned 11 in his six innings, becoming just the third Sox pitcher to finish with that line. Although others have fanned 11 in six innings and kept going, the others to end there were John Lackey against the Orioles (July 5, 2014) and... mm-hmm, Pedro Martinez, against the Royals on August 30, 1999.

Aided by a controversial (and botched) replay review of a hit-by-pitch on Nomar Mazara, Kimbrel officially recorded four strikeouts in the 9th inning to finish the game. That made him the second pitcher ever to have two four-strikeout 9ths in his career; he also did it for the Braves on September 26, 2012.

Ignoring the length of the game, it was the sixth time Red Sox pitching has struck out 20+ in a game, the most of any team. The Cubs (thanks, Kerry Wood) have done it four times, and surprisingly, so have the Diamondbacks. The last time four different Rangers struck out thrice was July 29, 2009, against Justin Verlander's Tigers.


Smooth

Ervin Santana started our week with a shutout of his own on Tuesday, two-hitting the Orioles at Camden Yards while walking two and fanning six. It marked the first time Minnesota held the Orioles to two hits since June 8, 1973, when Bert Blyleven traded CGs with Dave McNally at Memorial Stadium (Twins won 2-0).

Santana also one-hit the White Sox on April 15, the lone blemish being a 3rd-inning single by Omar Narvaez. That gave Santana and Blyleven something else in common: Since the move in 1961, they are two of only three Twins pitchers ever to throw a two-hit shutout (SHO-2) and a one-hit shutout (SHO-1) in the same season. Blyleven's SHO-1 was against the Royals on May 24. The third pitcher to do it was Mudcat Grant in 1965.

Santana is among several active pitchers (Kershaw, Verlander, Felix, etc.) who have thrown an SHO-2, an SHO-1, and a no-hitter; ironically Santana's NH was not also an SHO-0. He gave up a 1st-inning run on an error, a steal, and a wild pitch against Cleveland on July 27, 2011; it remains the last NH where a pitcher allowed a run.


Intermission
Bringing this full-circle, guess what song was #1 on May 28, 2000, when we took in our Clemens/Pedro game. Nope. But close.


Steeling Home

Whichever Pennsylvania team you follow, it was a fascinating week in the "hit or miss" department. The Pirates rallied to tie Wednesday's game in the 9th on Jose Osuna's two-run, bases-loaded single off the Braves' Jose Ramirez (who had loaded said bases on two singles and a walk). After a scoreless B9 it was off to extras again.

Pittsburgh wasted no time, exploding for a seven-run 10th off Josh Collmenter that included the first-ever back-to-back-to-back extra-inning homers in team history. Only once before had the Pirates ever clobbered three extra-inning homers in the same game, and those were in different innings: On July 15, 1971, they traded runs with the Padres in both the 13th (Willie Stargell) and 16th (Richie Hebner) before Roberto Clemente finally walked off in B17.

After a three-run homer in the 2nd, Adam Frazier walked four times, including intentionally in the seven-run 10th, and thus became another notable line in the Pirates' 12-5 win. The last leadoff batter for any team with a home run and four walks was Rickey Henderson for Oakland on June 26, 1993. And the last for the Pirates was only Barry Bonds, who did it as a rookie on August 30, 1986, in a 13-3 Pittsburgh win in Houston.

The Pirates would go on to host the Mets over the weekend; Saturday's game ended when John Jaso hit a bases-loaded single to drive home David Freese in the bottom of the 10th. That was an inning after Jaso also singled to drive in Gift Ngoepe from third with the tying run off Mets reliever Addison Reed. Jaso thus became the first Pirate with a tying hit (any value) in the 9th, and a walkoff hit in extra innings, since Al Oliver on May 1, 1977. Oliver homered off the Astros' Ken Forsch to lead off the 9th, and then singled home Omar Moreno with the game-winner in the 10th.


Keystone Light

Meanwhile, over in the southeast corner of the state, the Phillies managed to put together the following six hit totals beginning last Sunday: 3-3-8-3-8-3. They scored no more than two runs in any of those games, and lost all but one of them (more on that in a second). Although we don't have easy access to full linescores before about 1909, it was the first time in the live-ball era (and probably much longer) that the Phillies managed three hits or fewer four times in a six-day span. In fact, it shattered their "record" for such a thing; the only comparable stretch of hitting futility was a 10-day span from June 19 to 28, 1966 (and they won one of those three-hit games).

In between, though, it was sometimes sunny in Philadelphia; Thursday's eight-hit game and then Saturday's seven-hit game were both won on walkoff singles by Tommy Joseph. The last Phillie to have two walkoff anythings in a three-day span was the great Rico Brogna, who singled and then hit a sacrifice fly against the Marlins on July 24 and 26, 1998.

Odubel Herrera found the "miss" column on Thursday, going 0-for-5 with five strikeouts (the "platinum sombrero") despite Philadelphia's walkoff win over the Rockies. It was the first 5-K game in the majors this season; the Phillies also had the last one (by Roman Quinn, September 24, although he went 1-for-6 with a single). Only five Phillies in the live-ball era have done the traditional sombrero of 0-for-5 with 5 K's, and four of them did it in a victory! Pat Burrell (September 16, 2008, at Atlanta) was the last; Larry Hisle did it in 1970, Dick Allen in 1964, and Scott Rolen in a loss to San Diego on August 23, 1999.


California Love (/Hate)

The Cubs also got into both themes this week, starting on Tuesday when Jon Lester threw a four-hit CG against the Giants. The lone run scored on a Brandon Crawford double in the 5th, and Lester struck out 10 but walked zero. That made him the first Cubs pitcher to throw a walk-free CG against San Francisco since Dennis Eckersley did it at Candlestick Park on July 8, 1986. (He won by the same score, 4-1.) Johnny Cueto allowed three homers, becoming the first Giants pitcher to do that at Wrigley since Mark Gardner on April 20, 1996. And at 2:05, Tuesday's game ranks as the shortest one of the season by a full 8 minutes.

The next day the Cubs gave up runs to San Francisco in the 2nd and 3rd, but got them back in the 2nd and 4th, both on solo homers by Anthony Rizzo. There's not much drama involved in a "game-tying homer" in the 2nd inning, but still, Rizzo became the first Cub to hit two tying solo shots in the same game-- in any inning-- since Ron Santo on June 27, 1973. Santo's were a bit more dramatic, coming in the 9th and 13th innings before Chicago eventually lost to Montréal in 18.

The Cubs ended the week at Chavez Ravine, however, and the hit parade was abruptly shut down. Alex Wood and two relievers shut them down on two hits Friday, their first "0-2-X" line at Dodger Stadium since August 8, 1969. That was a game which the Cubs even protested when the umpires awarded Willie Crawford home plate on an overthrow by the second baseman, saying he was running with the pitch and had already crossed second base before the wild throw. (The protest was denied, with NL President Warren Giles saying it did not affect the outcome of the 5-0 game. More in this snippet of a book; scroll down for a page or two.)

On Saturday it was zero runs on three hits for the Cubbies in Los Angeles, their first time pulling that off in back-to-back games since losing 5-0 and 1-0 in Atlanta on April 27-28, 1992.


Balks Make Everything Funner

The Padres must have read our last post while killing time during their series in New York this week. (There are literally thousands of better ways to kill time in New York. We know.) On Wednesday they decided to sumbit a late entry when starter Jarred Cosart and reliever Jose Torres both committed balks in San Diego's 6-5 win. It was the first time two different Padres had balked in the same game since Andy Benes and Calvin Schiraldi did so in Cincinnati on April 17, 1990.


Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Dallas Keuchel, Saturday: Third pitcher in Astros history to start a season 8-0. Roger Clemens won his first nine decisions in 2004 and Juan Agosto set the mark with a 10-0 start in 1988.

⋅ Mike Montgomery (CHC) and Hyun-Jin Ryu (LAD), Thursday: First pitchers to earn 4-inning saves on same day since Esteban Yan (DET) aand Kevin Gregg (ANA) on April 23, 2004.

⋅ Mariners, Thursday: First-ever win at Nationals Park (2008), leaving the Athletics as the only team without one. Seattle's previous win in "the other Washington" was by the Pilots on August 9, 1969.

⋅ Royals, Wednesday: First time being shut out in the Bronx since a 1-0 game on April 5, 2001. That also made them the last American League team to be shut out at the new Yankee Stadium.

⋅ Amir Garrett, Tuesday: First Reds pitcher to allow four home runs in a game since Bronson Arroyo did it two days earlier. Last time two Reds did it in three days was September 6 & 8, 2004, by Aaron Harang and Jose Acevedo.

⋅ Charlie Blackmon, Tuesday: Eighth career multi-homer game. Three of those have been at Citizens Bank Park. Only two have been at his home stadium, Coors Field.

⋅ Dinelson Lamet, Thursday: First Padres pitcher to strike out 8+ in his MLB debut since Bob Shirley at Cincinnati, April 10, 1977.

⋅ Mitch Moreland & Josh Rutledge, Wednesday: Each had a pinch hit that drove in a run. Last pair of Red Sox to do that: Mike Lowell and Alex Cora at Atlanta, June 18, 2006.

It Takes Two

In a week that began with the Yankees retiring Derek Jeter's number, it sure popped up a lot.


Twinbill In The Twin Cities

When the Twins got rid of that pesky roof in 2010, they opened themselves up to rainouts and doubleheaders. Sure enough, those happened Saturday and Sunday (respectively) with the Royals in town. Although the teams split the results, the Royals had two players hit two home runs in a twinbill in the Twin Cities. Brandon Moss did the honors in the first game, his 10th career multi-homer game, and easily the most among current members of the Royals.

However, it was catcher Salvador Perez who caught most of our attention; he opened the Royals' scoring in the first game and then homered again in the second, becoming the 15th Royal ever to homer in both halves of a DH. Six of those belong to Amos Otis and Bob Oliver, who did it thrice each in the '70s. Steve Balboni, John Mayberry Sr., and Lou Piniella are on the list as well. Prior to Perez it was Eric Hosmer on August 16, 2013.

When Perez hit another homer in the 4th inning of game 2, he created two more notes. Only once before has a Royals batter homered three times in a doubleheader; Bill Pecota did that against the Yankees on July 14, 1989. And combined with Moss, it was the second time the Royals have gotten a two-homer game in both games of a DH. Jermaine Dye and Mark Quinn teamed up against the Angels on September 14, 1999.


Paging Mr. Martinez

The Tigers notably have two Martinezes in their starting lineup, but this week J.D. didn't need Victor's help. He got on the "two-fer" list by himself, recording a home run and three walks on Tuesday against Baltimore, and then repeating that line on Thursday in the series finale. No Tiger had posted two such games in a month (much less a week) since Charlie Gehringer in August 1937.

As for that Tuesday homer, that was the Tigers' 13-inning, 13-11 escapade with the Orioles, and J.D. would end up collecting two homers and four walks (two intentional) by the time it was over. Only three other players in the live-ball era have done that, all in extra-inning games: Derrek Lee in 2002, Mike Schmidt in 1979, and Eddie Robinson in 1948.

Tyler Collins came along on Wednesday and chipped in a two-homer game, the first time the Tigers had a player hit two homers in two straight games since Ramon Santiago and Gary Sheffield pulled it off in September 2008.


It's Just A Little Crush

Remember when we bought entire albums just to get the one song? Gosh, that was silly.


Now back to that 13-11 mess on Tuesday. It began with a seven-run 3rd inning by the Orioles, their largest in Detroit since September 21, 1995, a frame capped by a Cal Ripken three-run double. (That was game 2145 of The Streak; Cal had broken the record just two weeks earlier.) The Tigers put together a four-run 7th before Mark Trumbo hit the first tying or go-ahead homer of his career when down to the last out (i.e., he was "the last hope", as they say). The last Oriole to hit such a homer in the Motor City was Floyd Rayford at Tiger Stadium on June 10, 1985.

So we play on. Chris Davis shone a light on the end of the tunnel with a homer in the 12th inning, just the second of his career hit that late in a game (June 25, 2009, in Arizona). Detroit amazingly answered with a three-run B12, marking the first game in nearly four years where teams had traded 3's (or more) in the 12th or later. The White Sox and Mariners matched 5's in the 14th on June 5, 2013.

So we play on. And here's Crush's chance to get into the "2" column. Deciding "let's try this again", Davis homered again in the 13th, matching the feat of Matt Adams of the Cardinals (September 4, 2013) as the only two players ever to hit two homers in the 12th or later of the same game. Davis was also just the second player in Orioles history (which is 1954) with two extra-inning homers in one game; Mike Young went deep in the 10th and 12th to beat the Angels on May 28, 1987.

It was the first time in Comerica Park history that the Tigers had scored 11 and lost.


Paging Mr. Garcia

The White Sox, of course, counter the Tigers' Martinezes with two Garcias of their own (it was briefly three early in the season).

Avisail hit two home runs off Yovani Gallardo (more on him later) in Saturday's 16-1 thumping of the Mariners, and then added two doubles off Dillon Overton. That's four extra-base hits and six RBIs, both career highs, and just the third such game in White Sox history. Robin Ventura had the same combo of two and two against Milwaukee on July 19, 1991; while Pat Seerey has the only four-homer game in Sox lore, July 18, 1948, in Philadelphia.

The last cleanup batter with 4 XBH and 6 RBI was Matt Holliday, then with Oakland, on July 20, 2009. And Avisail's 6 RBI, along with the team's 16 total runs, both set Chicago records (including the Cubs) for any game ever played in Seattle.

Meanwhile, Willy Garcia earned himself a Kernel on Friday by being the first White Sock with a home run and two sacrifice flies (and honestly, aren't sac flies just balls that wanted to be homers but didn't make it?) since the great Lyle Mouton did it in Baltimore on April 23, 1997.


900 Feet ≈ 166 Altuves

Avisail, however, was the second player just this week to have four extra-base hits in a game. Jose Altuve accomplished it on Wednesday, and none of his even left the yard. Altuve became the first player in Astros history with two doubles and two triples in a game, and the first in the majors since Carl Crawford of the (still-Devil) Rays on August 2, 2005.

Unfortunately, three of Altuve's hits came with two outs and he never advanced even one base. He thus became the third player in the last 100 years to have four extra-base hits and not score a run. Matt Murton had that dubious honor for the Cubs on August 3, 2006, and Willie Jones did it for the Phillies in Boston on April 20, 1949.


Intermission
More baseball in just a second, but I wanna rock right now.


Down With The Ship

The pitching side was not without its 2's this week, mostly in the form of two players having equally bad outings.

Chris Heston, making his first start for the Mariners on Sunday, surrendered a five-run 1st inning to the White Sox, who eventually rolled to an 8-1 win. Jeremy Bonderman (June 2, 2013) was the last pitcher to allow 7 ER in his first start with the Mariners, and Hector Noesi (April 9, 2012) was the last to do it in under four innings.

(Noesi, incidentally, would later become the first pitcher ever to make starts for three different teams before the end of April, when he was traded twice in 2014.)

Aside from the "first start" qualifier, Heston also became the first Mariners starter to allow seven earned runs in less than four innings since... Yovani Gallardo did it on Saturday. That's the game from above where the Garcias did their thing. Not only was it Chicago's most runs ever scored in the Pacific Northwest, but it exactly matched the largest home losses in Mariners history. Oddly, all three 15-run decisions have been by 16-1 counts; the Reds won there in June 2007, and the Royals did it on April 24, 1977.

Saturday was just the second 10-run outing of Gallardo's career, the other being back in 2007 (August 8, and at Coors Field, so does it really count?). But he and Heston became the first pitchers in Mariners history to give up 7 ER in under 4 IP in consecutive home games.

Gallardo's exit on Saturday, and the blowout nature of the game, had us wondering by the 7th inning which position player was going to pitch. That would be 2B Mike Freeman, who never even pitched in college, much less the minors. Sure enough, he gave up three hits and a sacrifice fly, topping out at 78 mph, but he did spell Dillon Overton, whose own outing of 4⅓ innings and 5 ER was a first for the Mariners since Paul Abbott lasted that long on April 30, 2002.


Dream Nightmare? Weaver
Freeman was the first position player to pitch for the Mariners since Luis Sardiñas on July 29. That's only 10 months ago, BUT guess who took the mound the night before on Friday. That would be Luis Sardiñas, now with the Padres, after Jered Weaver surrendered seven runs and couldn't escape the 1st inning against the Diamondbacks. Weaver was the first San Diego starter to not finish the 1st (aside from injuries) since Tim Stauffer also gave up seven runs to the Diamondbacks in a spot start on May 28, 2014.

Sardiñas was the second Padres Position Player Pitching (that's four P's instead of our usual three) this season; Erick Aybar got the final out of another Diamondbacks blowout on April 18. It's the first time in Padres history that two different position players have taken the mound in the same season, and it's the first time in MLB history that it's happened in west-coast games on back-to-back nights (stay up late with us!).


Tim Stauffer Fans, This Is Your Week!

In between Weaver and Sardiñas, there was the interesting line of Craig Stammen, picked up by the Padres as a free agent in December. Stammen gave up two more runs, both on solo homers, but recorded seven K's among his 10 outs of work. He also issued zero walks (since, clearly, everything's over the plate). The last Padres reliever to strike out seven and walk zero... why, that's Tim Stauffer against the Cardinals on May 22, 2013.


The Nightmare Continues

Weaver's outing on Friday was promptly followed by Luis Perdomo giving up 11 hits and eight runs (although he spread them over 3+ innings) to Arizona on Saturday. The last Padres starters to give up 7 ER in back-to-back games were Cesar Carrillo and Mat Latos in August 2009, while Perdomo was the first San Diegan to allow 11 hits and eight runs in front of his home fans since Jake Peavy did it on April 9, 2006, against the Rockies.

In that 2006 game, Rockies 2B Jason Smith collected three hits and drove in four runs while batting 7th; that feat also hadn't been duplicated in a Rox road game until Alexi Amarista did it against Weaver et al. on Friday.

And in case our pitchers weren't connected enough, in Perdomo's previous start (Monday), he stuck around long enough to also have a triple and a double while batting. Only one other Padres hurler had done that in a game... and of course it's Jake Peavy. Chase Field in Phoenix, April 19, 2007.


Bridge
(Because this is pretty long and there are other songs with the same title.)


It Takes One

(Former New Britain Rock Cat) Danny Valencia led off Friday's 2nd inning for the Mariners with a triple and crossed that game off our no-hitter watch for the evening. To be honest we kinda forgot about it. Until the teams played to a nine-inning tie and Valencia still had Seattle's only base knock. Melky Cabrera's double in the 10th gave the White Sox the lead, and when the Mariners went 1-2-3 in the bottom, we had some notes that were even more fun than if Jose Quintana had thrown the NH.

It was the first time in Mariners history that their only hit of a game was a triple, and the first time they'd been one-hit in an extra-inning contest. They do have two extra-inning games where they've been two-hit, one by Melido Perez (!) and the Yankees on April 24, 1993; and the other against Tampa Bay on August 6, 2004.

Tony Zych, who in 2015 replaced Dutch Zwilling as the alphabetically-last player in MLB history, had finished a handful of games before, but they were all blowouts. Because Zwilling had been last since his own debut in 1910, and saves weren't official until 1969, that also made Friday the first time that the alphabetically-last player had been the last pitcher in a game and gotten the traditional "closing" stat, a save.

By the way, if you're thinking the Mariners do this a lot, you'd be right. Since the start of 2011, it's the 11th time Seattle's maxed out at one hit, more than any other team. The Pirates have done it 10 times, while the Padres and Twins are still chasing them with eight each.

Speaking of Mariners triples, Ben Gamel hit one in the 1st inning of their Wednesday game with Oakland. That was notable because Gamel is the only active player born on May 17, and is now the fourth Mariner with a triple on his birthday. The others are Darnell Coles (1989), Ken Phelps (1987), and Dave Henderson (1986).


It Takes Three (Or 17)

For years there's been a superstition about the Yankees being historically bad at Tropicana Field. That seemed to hold true again this week when they lost two out of three and salvaged the final game on Sunday by a 3-2 score despite striking out (on offense) 17 times.

It's the third time already this year that the Bombers have fanned at least 17 times in a game... and they've won all three of them. One was the record-setting 18-inning game with the Cubs on Sunday Night Baseball, and the other was April 15 in a 3-2 win over the Cardinals. They are (already!) the first team in the live-ball era (1920) to win three 17-K games in the same season, and equally strange, the rest of MLB has only done it once. The Nationals held on to beat the Phillies on April 7. The only other team with a pair of 17-K games so far is the Padres, and all other teams (including the Nationals) have a combined record of 1-8 when they do it.


Balks Make Everything Funner
(We know "funner" isn't a real word. Don't @ us.)

⋅ Julio Urias added to our parade of bad pitching lines on Saturday by giving up seven runs to the Marlins before leaving in the 3rd inning. Seven runs on seven hits barely registers one pop on our Kernel-meter; Hyun-Jin Ryu did it two weeks ago (but again, at Coors Field) and Brock Stewart had such an outing for the Dodgers last August.

Even tack on Urias's wild pitch and you only get back to Mike Bolsinger in September 2015. BUT toss in his balk and we have a winner. The last Dodger to do all that in a game (7 H, 7 R, 1 WP, 1 BK) was rookie Leo Dickerman in Boston on June 1, 1923.

⋅ Phillies reliever Joely Rodriguez got rocked for seven runs while getting just two outs on Thursday, becoming their first with that line (< 1 IP) since Hector Mercado against the Astros in 2002. But throw on the balk, and J-Rod is not just the first Phillies reliever ever to do it, he's the first for any team since the immortal Tanyon Sturtze on September 13, 2004.

⋅ Tanner Roark was pulled in the 6th inning of the Nationals' loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday having allowed seven earned runs and two homers. That by itself wasn't too rare; even the stars like Gio Gonzalez and Max Scherzer did that last season. Add one (1) balk to the search and Roark is the first ever for the Nationals. The only two pitchers in franchise history with 7+ ER, 2+ HR, and a balk were both Expos: Mark Leiter in 1996 and Bill Gullickson in 1982.


Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Pirates, Sunday: Won 1-0 game thanks to bases-loaded hit-by-pitch of David Freese in 6th inning. Last 1-0 game decided by an HBP: July 5, 1998, when Scott Erickson of the Orioles plunked the Yankees' Chad Curtis in the 3rd.

⋅ Kyle Freeland, Sunday: Third pitcher in Rockies history to homer and double in the same game. Two have come in Cincinnati (Denny Neagle at Cinergy, August 12, 2001), and the first was journeyman Brian Bohanon in Montréal on August 11, 2000.

⋅ Carlos Martinez, Saturday: First Cardinals pitcher to work 9 scoreless innings and get a no-decision (because tie game) since Matt Morris against the Cubs on May 2, 2004.

⋅ Ben Taylor, Saturday: First Boston pitcher to allow two homers, not record an out, and eat the loss for it since Herb Hash against the Yankees on July 4, 1940.

⋅ Mark Canha, Friday: First player with a double, a triple, and an extra-inning walkoff homer in the same game since Dwight Evans did it for the Red Sox on June 28, 1984 (Evans also got the single to hit for the cycle).

⋅ Dansby Swanson, Friday: First Braves player in live-ball era with a homer, a double, and two walks while batting 8th or 9th. Youngest to do it from any spot in the order since Ryan Klesko on April 15, 1994.

⋅ Hector Velazquez, Thursday: First Red Sox pitcher to give up three homers in major-league debut since Pete Smith in Detroit, September 13, 1962.

⋅ Braves, Wednesday: Scored six runs before making an out; team's first time doing that since August 15, 1984.

Plate Tectonics

You probably learned in some science class years ago (and have since forgotten) about the movement of continents over millions of years. This isn't about that. You may remove your safety goggles.


Not too long ago, it was easy to tell from a pitcher's line whether he was finding the plate or not. Those who had a lot of pitches and a lot of walks, well, weren't. The overpowering ones would drop 18 strikeouts in a complete-game three-hitter (does anyone other than Ben Sheets remember that Ben Sheets did this?).

Then there are the kind who just throw it over the plate and see what happens.


Instant Bargain

Chris Sale, arguably off to one of the best starts ever with a new team, and certainly in this century (because we needed a Sale of the Century reference), struck out 12 more batters on Saturday to notch his seventh double-digit-strikeout game of the season. No one else has more than four (Jacob deGrom), and the rest of the Red Sox staff has one (Drew Pomeranz). The last pitcher in the majors to have seven 10-K games by May 13 was Randy Johnson in 2001; he would finish that season with 23 such games, again tying the major-league record he already shared with Nolan Ryan.

Sale did leave a couple of balls close enough to the plate to be raked for home runs (by Logan Morrison and Kevin Kiermaier); equally strange is that those were the only two hits Sale allowed. The last Boston pitcher to strike out 12+ and give up two dingers were Bruce Hurst against the Rangers on May 16, 1986 (he actually gave up three, including a leadoff shot to Oddibe McDowell). And only one other Sawx hurler has fanned 12 and had every hit allowed be a homer: Pedro Martinez, in his 17-strikeout one-hitter against the Yankees on September 10, 1999. The one hit was a solo home run by Chili Davis.

(For those who remember Sale of the Century, we were *at* Jim Perry Stadium just two weeks ago, though it's named for the 1970 Cy Young Award winner, not the Canadian game-show host.)


The Match Game

A few hours later, Nate Karns of the Royals matched Sale's line by recording a career-high 12 strikeouts of his own, and doing so in just five innings of work against the Orioles. He became the second pitcher in Royals history to fan a dozen or more in the first five innings of a game (regardless of final line); Kevin Appier did that against the Rangers on May 25, 1994.

Like Sale before him, however, Karns also left two balls in just the right spot, and Francisco Peña tagged both of them. He became the first Oriole to hit two homers at Kauffman Stadium since Melvin Mora on May 18, 2005, and also gave Karns a unique spot in Royals lore. Zack Greinke (June 13, 2010 at Cincinnati) and Danny Jackson (May 26, 1987, at White Sox) are the only other pitchers in team history to fan 12 but also allow two homers.

And as for two pitchers doing it in the same day? That had happened just once before in the live-ball era... and it was two weeks ago! Jacob deGrom and Charlie Morton both pulled it off on Friday, April 28.


Danny Jackson Fans, This Is Your Week!

Jackson's 12-strikeout game was not enough to overcome his 9-18 record with the Royals in '87; they traded him to the Reds after the season for middle-infielder Kurt Stillwell and a Power pitcher. (No, literally. Ted Power, who bounced to six other teams before retiring in 1993).

Anyway, in Jackson's first start with the Reds, the second game of the '88 season, he tossed a complete game in beating the Cardinals 8-1. That feat was finally duplicated on Saturday as well; although Lisalverto Bonilla had made one relief appearance, he became the first pitcher since Jackson to throw a CG (win or lose-- and he did lose) in his first Cincinnati start.


Hit(s) The Fan(s)

Jeff Samardzija finally won a game on Sunday, but it didn't exactly come easy. Continuing our theme, Samardzija struck out eight Reds batters but also allowed eight hits, something he's already done four times this year. Corey Kluber is the only other pitcher to have even done it twice. The last Giants hurler with four such games in an entire season was John "Count of" Montefusco in 1975.

Stephen Strasburg got in on this theme on Wednesday, allowing eight hits but also recording eight K's in the Battle of the Beltways against the Orioles. It was his fifth game with that line, now the most in Nationals history (2005). Gio Gonzalez has done it four times and Max Scherzer three.

Rick Porcello had a slightly different split on Friday, allowing nine hits and five runs but also striking out seven in Boston's loss to the Rays. Since the start of 2015, Porcello has had five such games (9+ H and 7+ K), beating out five others, including Sale, Gonzalez, and Scherzer, for the most in the majors.


Ineffectively Wild

Mike Clevinger started Saturday's game with three no-hit innings for the Indians. Those darned 4th innings. Although it could have been much worse, Clevinger issued his fourth and fifth walks of the game, uncorked two wild pitches, had the no-hitter broken on a bunt single, then threw the ball away trying to field said bunt single. He has some good company though; the last Cleveland pitcher with five walks, three earned runs, two wild pitches, and a fielding error was Sam McDowell who pulled all that off (and also had a balk!) against the White Sox on September 12, 1964.

If you're into heat maps (which we're not), Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers offers us this gem to back up his line from Thursday's game. In his return from the DL following a "hip contusion", Ryu allowed eight hits, six walks, and 10 runs, becoming the first Dodgers pitcher to reach those levels since one Lee Pfund did so on May 30, 1945 (and won!). The Nationals' Jason Bergmann (August 13, 2008) was the last to do it for any team, and Ryu was the first in (at least) the live-ball era to also hit a batter and commit a balk.

Over the weekend it was announced that Ryu's next start will be pushed back two days.


Fault Lines

Speaking of heat, the friction between the catcher's glove and the batter's backswing usually results in the former getting "faulted" with an interference call. Not only was this weekend's Astros/Yankees series a matchup between the two best records in the American League, it matched this season's leader in CI awards against the active career leader.

Josh Reddick earned his fourth such call of the year in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader, already tying him with Andujar Cedeño (1993) for second place on the Astros' all-time list. Their team record is held by longtime catcher Alan Ashby, who had six in 1987.

In the series opener on Thursday, Jacoby Ellsbury moved one overextended backswing closer to history, garnering his 28th career CI award and putting him one shy of Pete Rose's all-time record. (Rose is regarded as the record-holder, although some are lost to history, since the batters who received CI awards weren't officially reported by both leagues until 1963.)

That Ellsbury call was the first of his 28 to occur with the bases loaded and force in a run; the Yankees hadn't had that happen since August 18, 1992, when Pat Kelly got one against the Athletics. The Astros have committed two this year with the bases loaded (albeit with different catchers); the 2010 Mariners and Rose's 1986 Cincinnati Reds are the only other teams known to do that twice.

And although he got an RBI for the bases-loaded CI (which apparently even confused the official scorer until he reviewed the rule book after the game), Ellsbury's chance at tying the game was cut down at the plate when he was thrown out by LF Jake Marisnick for the final out. It was the first time the Yankees had the potential tying run thrown out at home to end a game (at least on a ball in play) since August 12, 1987, when Wayne Tolleson got nailed by Royals LF Lonnie Smith while trying to score on Roberto Kelly's double.


Intermission

We've had some dozen-strikeout games, but not a baker's dozen in a while. For that we have to bring in the fourth question ever asked by Jim Perry on Sale of the Century (at 3:15). (Also, if you have no reason to leave the house this week, the rest of that playlist lasts over 76 hours.)


Busterin' Loose

After 17 innings of squatting behind the plate, Buster Posey had enough and decided to shake things up (veiled earthquake reference!) with a walkoff home run to defeat the Reds on Friday (actually 12:43 am Saturday). It missed being the latest finish this year by two minutes, and was 43 minutes from being the latest in San Francisco history (June 21, 1983, also against the Reds).

Posey's homer was just the fifth ever hit by the Giants in the 17th or later, and the first walkoff. Larry Doyle holds the record with a 21st-inning inside-the-parker (back when such things were common) in Pittsburgh on July 17, 1914. George "High Pockets" Kelly hit one in the 18th inning in 1922, while Jim Davenport gave them a 17th-inning lead against the Mets on May 13, 1966. More recently, and more memorably, Brandon Belt's 18th-inning shot signalled the beginning of the end for the longest postseason game in MLB history, Game 2 of the 2014 Division Series against Washington.

As for that walkoff, however, Posey wrote his name next to one of the all-time greats. The team's previous record for latest walkoff was set when Willie Mays defeated the Milwaukee Braves at Candlestick Park on July 2, 1963. That game, which Hank Aaron called "the finest exhibition of throwing [he'd] ever seen", was a double complete game between Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn; there hasn't been even one CG of 15+ innings since then.

Some 5½ hours earlier, Denard Span had led off the festivities with his own solo homer. Posey's game-winner thus made the Giants the only team in major-league history to both start and end a game of 17 innings or longer with a home run.


Park Rangers

The Rangers didn't wait for extra innings, with Mike Napoli hitting a three-run jack in the bottom of the 9th on Thursday to walk off against the Padres 5-2. It was Napoli's second homer of the game; his other one came just an inning before to start the Texas scoring. He was the first Ranger to homer in the 8th and 9th innings of the same game since Mark Teixeira did it on July 13, 2006, and the first to do it where the second homer was a walkoff.

On Friday it was Joey Gallo's turn, with his three-run 9th-inning blast giving the Rangers a 5-2 win over Oakland (who of course won three straight walkoffs of their own last week). The last time Texas hit back-to-back walkoff homers was July 29-31, 2013, when they nailed three straight against the Angels. But it was the first time in team history that both homers had been at least three-run shots. The Angels' offense was the last to do that; on May 29, 2010, Kendrys Morales hit the infamous walkoff where he broke his leg jumping on home plate and was done for the year; the next day on the 30th, Howie Kendrick came through with a walkoff slam.

And the last known team to pull off back-to-back three-run walkoffs against different opponents was the 1947 Giants; Willard Marshall beat the Cardinals on June 6 of that year, and after Marshall was intentionally walked in their next game on the 9th, Walker Cooper hit the three-run shot to beat the Pirates. (Games on the 7th and 8th were rained out.)


Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Matt Szczur (Fri) & Manuel Margot (Sat): First occurrence of a team homering on the first pitch it saw in consecutive games since Alfonso Soriano did it for the Cubs on September 19 & 21, 2007. In the era of complete pitch counts, which is to about 1988, no road team (i.e., first pitch of game) had ever done it.

⋅ Michael Conforto, Sunday: Third player in Mets history with a homer, a triple, a double, and four runs scored (also Kevin McReynolds 1989, Darryl Strawberry 1987). Third in past 100 years to do it in a loss for any team, joining Hal McRae (Royals 1977) and Ty Cobb (Tigers 1921).

⋅ Astros/Yankees, Sunday: First teams to trade 6-run innings in a doubleheader (Yankees did it in G1, Astros in G2) since the Indians and Red Sox on September 21, 2000.

⋅ Rockies, Saturday: First home game in team history where they scored 0 runs and struck out at least 14 times.

⋅ Trevor Cahill, Saturday: Third pitcher in Padres history to throw four wild pitches in a game. First for any team to throw three in one at-bat since Stephen Strasburg on August 17, 2013.

⋅ Josh Lindblom, Friday: First Pirates reliever to give up seven hits and four runs since... Josh Lindblom on Monday. First Pirate to do it twice in a season since Mark Petkovsek in 1993.

⋅ Miguel Sano, Friday: First player in Twins/Senators history (1901) to hit a solo homer in the 1st inning and have it stand up for a 1-0 victory.

⋅ Gregory Polanco, Thursday: First Pirate to homer for team's only hit of game since Joe Randa on September 22, 2006 (his final career HR broke up a 9th-inning no-hit bid by Chris Young of the Padres-- who still have never thrown one).

⋅ Luis Perdomo, Wednesday: First pitcher in Padres history to balk in a run and wild-pitch in a run in same game.