Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is on the verge of making history. A-Rod went 2 for 4 with two singles and a walk on Thursday night and is now just one hit shy of 3,000 for his career. He'll be the 29th member of the 3,000-hit club. Here are the videos of hits No. 2,998 and No. 2,999.
Rodriguez did get two chances at hit No. 3,000 on Thursday. He flew out on the first pitch in the seventh inning, then drew a four-pitch walk in the eighth. None of the four pitches were close and Marlins reliever Sam Dyson heard a ton of boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd. They wanted to see history.
The Yankees will open a three-game weekend series with the Tigers at Yankee Stadium on Friday night. Justin Verlander will start the series opener for Detroit. Verlander was scheduled to start Thursday night, but the Tigers and Reds were rained out in Cincinnati
A-Rod and Verlander have a ton of head-to-head history. Rodriguez is a career .294/.415/.676 hitter with four home runs, six walks and six strikeouts in 41 career plate appearances against Verlander. Many of those plate appearances came a long time ago though, when A-Rod was a different hitter and Verlander was a different pitcher.
The Yankees are two games into an eight-game homestand, so chances are A-Rod will record his 3,000th hit at home in Yankee Stadium. If he doesn't get it Friday, it'll probably happen some time this weekend instead. Either way, Rodriguez is now just one hit shy of joining one of baseball's most exclusive and historic clubs.
Welcome to Thursday's edition of Eye on MLB. This is your one-stop shop for everything that happens in the world of baseball. Game recaps, milestone updates, important highlights, news, notes, and lots more. Either check back for updates throughout the night or come back for the finished product in the morning.
Final scores for Thursday
Postponed: Tigers at Reds: Thursday night's Tigers-Reds game was postponed due to rain. No makeup date has been announced. It's an interleague series, so Detroit isn't scheduled to return to Cincinnati the rest of the season. Both teams will have to lose an off-day at some point to make this one up.
Phillies 2, Orioles 1 (Box score): Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer in the sixth to help Philly snap a nine-game losing streak. Manny Machado led off the first with a homer, but it was all the support the O's could muster for Bud Norris. Jonathan Papelbon locked down his 13th save. He'd look good in someone else's bullpen, yes? Yes.
Twins 2, Cardinals 1 (Box score): Joe Mauer went oppo to tie the score with a solo homer against Kevin Siegrist in the eighth, and Kennys Vargas (a David Ortiz bat-alike) connected against Carlos Villanueva in the ninth for a walkoff homer. They had played scoreless until the seventh, when Jason Heyward broke Minnesota's code with a solo homer.
Angels 7, Diamondbacks 1 (Box score): A five-run sixth inning, which included an RBI triple by Mike Trout and a two-run single by Efren Navarro, put this game out of reach. Carlos Perez also drove in two runs while C.J. Wilson held the D-Backs to one run in eight splendid innings.
Padres 3, Athletics 1 (Box score): This game was all about solo homers -- Matt Kemp, Derek Norris and Josh Phegley each hit one. Justin Upton drove in San Diego's third run with a sac fly. Ian Kennedy held the A's to one run in six innings before the bullpen allowed just one hit in three scoreless frames.
Astros 8, Rockies 4 (Box score): The Rockies took a first-inning lead on Carlos Gonzalez's three-run home run, but it didn't last long. Preston Tucker and Domingo Santana both went deep for Houston while Chris Carter drove in a pair of runs later in the game. Tucker went 2 for 3 with three RBI. Collin McHugh got the win despite allowing four hits and five walks in six innings. He is 7-3 with a 5.04 ERA. The Astros struck out 17 times in the win.
Rays 5, Nationals 3 (Box score): The Nats led this game 3-1 until Tampa Bay's four-run sixth inning. Asdrubal Cabrera's two-run single was the big blow. Chris Archer had to grind through five innings (eight hits, three runs) before turning it over to the bullpen, which tossed four scoreless innings. Bryce Harper left the game with a mild hamstring strain.
Blue Jays 7, Mets 1 (Box score): The best offense in baseball did it again. Ryan Goins, Jose Reyes, Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista all drove in runs in the five-run fourth. Chris Colabello also went deep. R.A. Dickey walked five but held his former team to one run on three hits in 7 1/3 innings. The Blue Jays have now scored 376 runs, 73 more than any other team.
Indians 4, Cubs 3 (Box score): Kyle Schwarber's first career home run tied the game 3-3 in the fifth inning, then, two innings later, Giovanny Urshela drove in the go-ahead run with a single. The Cleveland bullpen was fantastic after a rain delay knocked Danny Salazar out of the game after only 4 2/3 innings -- four relievers combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings. They allowed one hit, one walk and struck out nine.
Yankees 9, Marlins 4 (Box score): Two-run home runs by Brett Gardner and Carlos Beltran led the comeback for New York. They scored six runs in 2 1/3 innings against Miami's bullpen. Alex Rodriguez recorded his 2,998th and 2,999th career hits. Giancarlo Stanton hit a home run for the Marlins and Dee Gordon recorded his MLB leading 15th three-hit game. He leads baseball with 99 hits.
Red Sox 5, Braves 2 (Box score): The BoSox scored three runs on a single, a double and a double play in the sixth inning. The Braves made a run at making it a game in the seventh inning thanks to Clay Buchholz's two-run throwing error, but the comeback fell short. Brock Holt, Mookie Betts and Alejandro De Aza each had two hits for the Red Sox. Buchholz allowed just those two unearned runs in seven innings.
Pirates 3, White Sox 2 (Box score): It's now an eight-game winning streak for the Pirates. (They've won 21 of their last 26 games overall.) Jung Ho Kang (infield single), Josh Harrison (sac fly) and Gregory Polanco (ground out) drove in Pittsburgh's three runs. Gerrit Cole allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in seven innings. He improved to 11-2 with a 1.78 ERA. Cole is baseball's first 11-game winner in 2015.
Royals 3, Brewers 2 (Box score): Kansas City did all their damage early -- Lorenzo Cain (sac fly) and Kendrys Morales (single) drove in runs in the first, Mike Moustakas (single) drove in a run in the second -- then Jeremy Guthrie and HDH made it stand up. Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland (HDH!) allowed one hit in three shutout innings.
Giants 7, Mariners 0 (Box score): The Giants did all their damage in two innings -- three runs in the second and four runs in the eighth. Matt Duffy and Joaquin Arias both drove in two runs. Ryan Vogelsong turned in one of his best starts of the season, chucking 6 2/3 scoreless frames.
Dodgers 1, Rangers 0 (Box score): Balk-off! Enrique Hernandez coaxed Keone Kela into a walk-off balk by dancing off third base. Starters Anthony Ranaudo (6 2/3 innings) and Zack Greinke (seven innings) were both masterful in their scoreless efforts. No player on either team had more than one hit.
Milestone Watch
Longest active hit streak: Kris Bryant went 1 for 4 on Thursday to make it 15 straight games with a hit. That's the longest active hit streak. He's a little more than one-quarter of the way to Joe DiMaggio!
Freddie's streak ends: One streak ended on Thursday. Freddie Freeman sat out the Braves game because of a sprained right wrist. At 234 straight games, Freeman's was the longest active consecutive games streak, which began Sept. 24, 2013. Cal Ripken's record of 2,632 remains safe!
A-Rod watch: Alex Rodriguez came into Thursday three hits shy of 3,000 for his career. He laced an RBI single back up the middle in his first at-bat, flew out in his second at-bat, singled through the left side of the infield in his third at-bat, flew out in the fourth at-bat, and walked in his last at-bat. Last plate appearances, I should say. He's now only one hit away from 3,000.
Daily Awards
Mascot revenge of the day: Inflatable dude eats umpire after he messes with the Phillie Phanatic:
Leadoff home run of the day: Get it started, Manny Machado.
Game-ending homer of the day: Walk 'em off, Kennys Vargas.
Dugout move of the day: Both Taylor Featherston and Johnny Giavotella went deep for the Angels on Thursday afternoon, and both received the silent treatment in the dugout. It was Featherston's first career homer.
Hustle of the day: C.J. Wilson hit a single, then he got greedy. He hustled to try to stretch it into a double, but it didn't work.
Collision of the day: Billy Burns and Josh Reddick collided while pursuing a Melvin Upton fly ball on Thursday, and Reddick got the worst of it. Here's the video. Note the, uh, unfortunate placement of Burns' knee with regards to Reddick's manly regions:
Pitch of the day: Gerrit Cole has what baseball people would call a "live arm."
Lost and found of the day: Doug Fister lost his wedding ring on Thursday. Then he found it on the mound.
Defensive play of the day: Check out this stellar glovework by LSU shortstop Alex Bregman, who was the second overall pick in the 2015 First-Year Player Draft by the Astros last week.
Foul ball of the night: I don't know if this is a press box window or something else, but one poor minor league park needs a new window:
Stolen food of the day: Anthony Rizzo took some kid's peanuts. He gave them back, but still:
Rain delay fun of the day: Ah yes, the old Slip 'N Slide on the tarp trick:
News, injuries and rumors
Diamondbacks SP Archie Bradley throws in spring game
Indians C Yan Gomes leaves game with tightness in neck
Twins release OF Jordan Schafer
Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia (knee) not a DL candidate for now
Rangers activate pitcher Anthony Ranaudo from Triple-A
Rangers 1B Kyle Blanks headed to disabled list
Brewers SP Wily Peralta (oblique) throws off flat ground
Nationals' Bryce Harper injures hamstring, leaves game vs. Rays
Astros OF Jake Marisnick leaves game with hamstring injury
Reds' pitching rotation shuffled after rainout
Hobbled Brewers OF Carlos Gomez could return to DL
Blue Jays 2B Devon Travis will regain starting role upon return
Reds SP Jon Moscot (shoulder) likely done for rest of year
Cole Hamels scratched from Friday start due to hamstring injury
Pirates: Jameson Taillon throws in extended spring 'without issue'
Rockies' Justin Morneau optimistic he will return this season
White Sox place Hector Noesi on waivers, recall Scott Carroll
Mariners ready to put Fernando Rodney back in closer's role?
Dodgers not ready to push aside Rollins for prospect Corey Seager
Click here for more player news
Looking ahead to Friday
| AWAY | HOME | TIME | AWAY STARTER | HOME STARTER | NATL TV |
| Pittsburgh | Washington | 7:05 pm | Burnett (6-2) - 1.89 ERA | Scherzer (7-5) - 1.93 ERA | |
| Detroit | N.Y. Yankees | 7:05 pm | Simon (7-3) - 2.58 ERA | Warren (4-4) - 3.78 ERA | MLB |
| St. Louis | Philadelphia | 7:05 pm | Lyons (1-0) - 5.00 ERA | Hamels (5-5) - 2.96 ERA | |
| Baltimore | Toronto | 7:07 pm | Wright (2-2) - 4.13 ERA | Estrada (4-3) - 4.24 ERA | MLB |
| Miami | Cincinnati | 7:10 pm | Haren (6-3) - 3.22 ERA | DeSclafani (5-4) - 3.36 ERA | |
| Tampa Bay | Cleveland | 7:10 pm | Karns (3-3) - 3.67 ERA | Carrasco (8-5) - 4.38 ERA | |
| N.Y. Mets | Atlanta | 7:35 pm | deGrom (7-4) - 2.33 ERA | TBD | |
| Texas | Chi. White Sox | 8:10 pm | Lewis (6-3) - 4.37 ERA | Sale (6-3) - 3.01 ERA | |
| Boston | Kansas City | 8:10 pm | Rodriguez (2-1) - 3.55 ERA | Ventura (3-6) - 4.68 ERA | |
| Chi. Cubs | Minnesota | 8:10 pm | Hendricks (2-2) - 3.80 ERA | Hughes (4-6) - 4.79 ERA | |
| Milwaukee | Colorado | 8:40 pm | Jungmann (1-1) - 2.25 ERA | De La Rosa (4-2) - 4.91 ERA | |
| L.A. Angels | Oakland | 9:35 pm | Shoemaker (4-5) - 4.85 ERA | Gray (8-3) - 1.60 ERA | |
| San Diego | Arizona | 9:40 pm | Shields (7-0) - 3.59 ERA | De La Rosa (5-3) - 5.27 ERA | |
| San Francisco | L.A. Dodgers | 10:10 pm | Heston (6-5) - 3.76 ERA | Bolsinger (4-1) - 2.25 ERA | |
| Houston | Seattle | 10:10 pm | McCullers (3-1) - 2.00 ERA | Elias (3-4) - 3.67 ERA |