It's a super-sized baseball Saturday, as there are the customary 15 games plus two, thanks to two weather-induced doubleheaders in the National League. Off we go. 

Saturday's scores

Brewers on a roll

When we talk about high and low points of the season, it's worth bearing in mind that it's still relatively early and that higher and lower points may be yet to come. That said, the Brewers' 2018 nadir thus far was getting swept by the Cubs in the four-game series that concluded on April 29. The high point? Everything since then. 

Since taking it on the chin in Wrigley, the Brewers have gone 12-5 -- 11-5 in the month of May, counting Saturday's tight win in Minnesota. What's impressive is that they've played their last 11 games against 2017 playoff teams -- the Indians, Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Twins. What's also impressive is that they've gone on this hot streak without the services of leading slugger Eric Thames, who's been out since April 25 with a thumb injury. In spite of all that, the Brewers are now 10 games over .500 for the first time this season, and they've eked out a 1.5-game lead in the highly competitive NL Central. 

As for Saturday's triumph, Jesus Aguilar in the DH spot notched a two-run homer, and he's now batting .327/.391/.582 on the year. Relief ace Josh Hader notched the seven-out save. In doing so, Hader lowered his ERA to 1.32, and he's now struck out 56 batters in 27 1/3 innings. Here's one of those ... 

The "rising" fastball is actually an optical illusion, but you can see the power of said optical illusion right there. Mercy. Oh, and speaking of all those strikeouts ... 

Let that one breathe for a moment. 

Anyhow, the Brewers emerged from their rebuild ahead of schedule last season and wound up winning 86 games. Given their excellent offseason and that baseline, it's not all that surprising that they'd be looking like contenders. Sometimes, though, meeting expectations is harder than defying them. 

Scherzer makes history, but Dodgers sweep doubleheader

(See below for more on Game 1 of Dodgers-Nationals.) Nats ace Max Scherzer made a bit of history midway through the nightcap against L.A. The historical matter at hand? Strikeouts, as you may have guessed ... 

Scherzer wound up striking out 13 in this one (he allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings), which gives him 104 for the season. Given this pace and given Scherzer's history of durability (he's at five straight seasons and counting of at least 200 innings), he's got a shot at the first 300-strikeout campaign of his career. As well, he's presently striking out a ridiculous 14.25 batters per nine, which would break the all-time single-season mark for qualifiers (held by Randy Johnson, who K'd 13.4 per nine in 2001). 

Of course, Scherzer's team didn't win, thanks mostly to what happened after Scherzer departed. Cody Bellinger (playing center again) homered in the eighth, and then in the ninth the highly productive Matt Kemp came up with two on and no outs and the Dodgers' trailing by a run ... 

And about that pitch from Sean Doolittle ... 

Kenley Jansen made that fresh lead stand up (he saved both games of the doubleheader) ... 

... And the Dodgers have now won three in a row. 

Of course, it wasn't all roses for L.A., as starter Rich Hill had to leave the game after just two pitches because of blister problems. Hill, of course, has been significantly hindered by blister problems in the past, and the Dodgers already have Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-jin Ryu, and Jullio Urias on the DL. So kudos to manager Dave Roberts for getting the win despite having to use seven relievers in this one. 

Walk. Off. Sac. Fly. 

Are those the drums of war or the patter of hearts still beating after witnessing a walk-off sac fly in Queens? 'Tis the latter, people ... 

Consolation for the D-Backs? Paul Goldschmidt hit his first home run since April 15. 

Romo makes first 'start'

After 588 career relief appearances, veteran right-hander Sergio Romo made his first career "start" on Saturday for the Rays. The scare quotes are used because Romo by design was used only one inning. That inning, however, went swimmingly for the 35-year-old ... 

Yep, that's about as well as an inning can go for the moundsman. The "starter" in terms of workload was lefty Ryan Yarbrough, but Rays manager Kevin Cash wanted to limit Yarbrough's exposure to those potent righty bats at the top of the Angels' lineup. Perhaps it worked, as Yarbrough allowed only one run on four hits in 6 1/3 innings of work. That's now six straight wins for Tampa Bay. 

Oh, and before we take leave of this topic ... 

Developing!

Haniger makes catch of the day

Let's go to the fifth inning in Seattle, where Mitch Haniger -- at great personal hazard -- is about to run down a Jose Iglesias pop-up ... 

The M's prevailed thanks also to James Paxton's complete game and Jean Segura's seven total bases. 

Betts back on top in homers

The O's-Red Sox tilt in Fenway featured the two MLB home run leaders -- Mookie Betts of the hosts and Manny Machado entered the game with 14 apiece. Machado went 1-for-3 with a walk but did not homer. Betts, meantime, went 1-for-4 but did indeed make the most of his lone hit ... 

Betts, in addition to being a standout defender and baserunner, is now batting .368/.439/.767 on the year. To hear many tell it, he's also in front in the AL MVP race at this relatively early juncture. 

Odubel the on-base machine

Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera is playing like an MVP this season. He entered Saturday hitting .358/.427/.550 (168 OPS+) with nine doubles, a triple, six homers, 27 RBI, 23 runs and a pair of steals. He had also gotten on base in 44 consecutive games played, stretching back into 2017. In the third inning in St. Louis on Saturday, Herrera extended the streak in style: 

Getting on base in 45 straight games is impressive, but it's not yet historic. The Phillies record is 56, which Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt pulled off in 1981-82. The MLB record? The late, great Ted Williams got on base 84 straight games in 1949. Herrera's past the halfway point there, but not even close overall. 

Herrera was an All-Star in 2016, but he came into the season hitting .288/.344/.430 (108 OPS+) for his career. He's taking the leap to stardom this season at age 26 for the upstart, contending Phillies.

Kluber first to seven wins

We don't tend to pay much attention to pitcher won-loss records in this space, but we'll take time to note that Indians ace Corey Kluber on Saturday became the first to seven wins this season, and he did so thanks to a gem against the defending champs ... 

player headshot
Corey Kluber
BOS • SP • #28
vs. HOU, 5/19
IP7
H6
R2
SO10
BB0
View Profile

On the season, Kluber now owns an ERA of 2.36 in 72 1/3 innings with 71 strikeouts against just 10 walks. Entering Saturday, he led the majors in ERA+, WHIP, and K/BB ratio. Kluber is of course the defending AL Cy Young winner, and he's looking like a good bet to win the hardware for the third time in his career. 

On the other side of things, take a look at this beautiful snare by Houston's Tony Kemp ... 

These two division leaders will play the rubber game of this series on Sunday night. 

Hicks goes (inside the) yard again

Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks did this in the early innings against the Royals on Saturday evening in K.C. ... 

Like the tweet says, half of Hicks' 2018 home runs have been of the inside-the-park variety. On that note ... 

Yes, the luminous name of Mickey Mantle has been invoked. And on the more general topic of Yankee home runs, here's a tantalizing one from young phenom Gleyber Torres from this same game ... 

Torres is just 21 years of age, and in this his rookie season he's now batting a robust .333/.393/.533 with seven extra-base hits in 85 plate appearances, all while playing a nifty second base. Torres was billed as a future star coming into the season, and he's done nothing to disappoint thus far. 

Crawford stays hot

As recently as May 1, Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford was batting a listless .191/.238/.298, but he's clicked into gear this month. Coming into Saturday, Crawford owned a line of .438/.449/.594, and then in the win over Colorado he went 3-for-5 with a double, homer, and four RBI. Here's that homer ... 

Thanks to a tip from teammates, Crawford's starting with his hands a bit higher these days, and it's certainly paying off. For the season, he's now hitting .302/.333/.453, which is nice production for a shortstop who can still pick it in the field. 

Benches clear in Cincy

As noted, the Reds on Saturday nipped the Cubs in 11 innings in the first game of their doubleheader in Cincinnati. Scooter Gennett had two hits and drove in a pair for the victors, and Billy Hamilton sealed it with a walk-off, bases-loaded walk.

The big story, however, was the benches-clearing near-brawl that took place after Amir Garrett struck out Javier Baez to end the top of the seventh. Here's a look ... 

Spirited baseball! Here's more on the hostilities in question.   

Holland continues to struggle for Cardinals

The signing of veteran reliever Greg Holland, which cost the Cardinals $14 million and a draft pick, continues to look like a big mistake. On Saturday, St. Louis mounted a comeback against the visiting Phillies and handed Holland a 6-5 lead to start the eighth. Here's how his latest appearance went ... 

  • C. Santana: Ball, Strike looking, Strike swinging, Ball, Foul, Ball, Santana grounded out to first
  • Aaron Altherr hit for Tommy Hunter
  • A. Altherr: Strike looking, Strike swinging, Ball, Strike swinging, Altherr struck out swinging
  • N. Williams: Ball, Ball, Foul, Ball, Ball, Williams walked
  • S. Kingery: Ball, Pickoff attempt, Strike swinging, Strike looking, Pickoff attempt, Kingery tripled to deep left, Williams scored
  • Jorge Alfaro hit for Andrew Knapp
  • J. Alfaro: Ball, Ball, Foul, Ball, Strike swinging, Alfaro singled to shallow center, Kingery scored
  • Bud Norris relieved Greg Holland

Here's a relevant point about Norris, who's been excellent out of the bullpen this season ... 

Indeed. As for Holland, he's now worked 16 games, and over that span he's put up an ERA of 7.30 with 14 walks and nine strikeouts. On Saturday, he worked a high-leverage situation, and he blew up. The front office signed him late, and then rushed him onto the active roster. He's pitched not unlike someone who had nothing close to a normal spring training. Moreover, he's pitched not unlike a decline-phase reliever who's leaking velocity, who mostly struggled in the second half of the prior season, and who can't command his pitches.

It's too early to cut bait, but Holland doesn't need to come anywhere close to a game that's still in doubt until he proves he can get major-league hitters out. 

Jays waste good replacement work

With Jaime Garcia and Marcus Stroman on the disabled list, the Blue Jays were forced to plug Sam Gaviglio into the rotation for Saturday's matinee against the A's. The 28-year-old righty would perform beautifully, working 5 1/3 scoreless innings. He scattered six hits while striking out six and walking just one. 

Alas, the bullpen couldn't make a 4-0 lead stand up, and the A's stormed back for the 5-4 win. A five-run eighth did the trick, with the booming blow being a Chad Pinder grand slam. 

The Jays really needed this one, too. Heading in, they were limping through May, having lost 10 of their last 14. In fact, going back to April, they've been struggling for a bit. They started 13-6 and have gone 9-18 since. 

The loss Saturday pulls the Blue Jays two games below .500. 

On the flip-side, the A's have won five of their last six and have matched their high-water mark for the season by getting to two games over .500. 

New-look Bryce? 

Check out Bryce Harper wearing glasses!

It appears to be an issue with his contact lenses ... 

In the (Game 1) loss, Harper went 1-for-4 with a ribbie and two strikeouts. On the winning side, Ross Stripling came through once again for the Dodgers ... 

player headshot
Ross Stripling
ATH • RP • #36
vs. WAS, 5/19
IP6
H4
R1
SO9
BB1
View Profile

Stripling this season has been a highly valuable swingman for L.A. In 11 relief appearances, he's pitched to a 0.59 ERA while averaging more than an inning per appearance. In four starts, the 28-year-old right-hander has registered a 3.26 ERA and 23 strikeouts against just two unintentional walks. Things haven't gone the Dodgers' way thus far in 2018, but they'd be in an even worse spot right now if not for Stripling. 

Quick hits

  • The Braves activated SS Dansby Swanson (wrist inflammation) off the DL. As a corresponding move, they sent pitcher Matt Wisler to Triple-A. 
  • The A's placed left-handed starter Brett Anderson on the DL with a left shoulder strain. 
  • Catcher Jose Lobaton was designated for assignment by the Mets. 
  • The Indians announced that Lonnie Chisenhall will begin a minor-league rehab assignment on Monday. He's currently on the DL with a calf injury. 
  • The Rangers placed lefty starter Matt Moore on the disabled list with a knee injury. Rookie Ariel Jurado takes his spot in the rotation. 
  • The Twins placed 1B Joe Mauer on the DL with a cervical strain and concussion-like symptoms. 
  • Howie Kendrick of the Nationals suffered a ruptured Achilles' on Saturday night and will undergo season-ending surgery. Read more here. 

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