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The first Saturday of the 2017 regular season is upon us. Here are the notable happenings from around the league.
Scores and box scores
Tigers 4, Red Sox 1 (box score)
Cardinals 10, Reds 4 (box score)
White Sox 6, Twins 2 (box score)
Orioles 5, Yankees 4 (box score)
Royals 7, Astros 3 (box score)
Rays 3, Blue Jays 2 in 11 innings (box score)
Phillies 17, Nationals 3 (box score)
Pirates 6, Braves 4 (box score)
Cubs 11, Brewers 6 (box score)
Athletics 6, Rangers 1 (box score)
Marlins 8, Mets 1 (box score)
Rockies 4, Dodgers 2 (box score)
Padres 2, Giants 1 (box score)
Diamondbacks 11, Indians 2 (box score)
Angels 5, Mariners 4 (box score)
Yankees lose Sanchez, lose another game
At 24-8-1, the Yankees had the best record in all of baseball this spring. They’re now 1-4 to start the regular season following Saturday’s loss. And to the make matters worse, they also lost catcher Gary Sanchez to a biceps strain. He was placed on the 10-day disabled list and it’s unclear how long he’ll be sidelined.
Now, in the grand scheme of things, starting the season 1-4 doesn’t mean a whole lot. Teams go 1-4 all the time during the season. The Yankees just so happened to do it at the start of the season.
There are two reasons this 1-4 start is especially frustrating for the Yankees though:
- Blown leads. The Yankees blew a four-run lead Friday and a three-run lead Saturday. Their formula is get a lead and hold it long enough to get Dellin Betances and Aroldis Chapman in the game. They couldn’t do that Friday, and on Saturday it was Betances who blew the lead and took the loss.
- Tanaka has struggled. Masahiro Tanaka was one of the best pitchers in baseball last season. Now, through two starts, he has allowed 10 runs on 14 hits and six walks in 7 2/3 innings. Every fifth day manager Joe Girardi was supposed to feel pretty good about his starting pitcher. Instead, Tanaka has not look anything like his 2016 form.
On top of the Sanchez injury, the Yankees also lost Greg Bird for a few days with an ankle problem. He fouled a pitch off the ankle during the final week of spring training and has tried to play through it, but it’s not getting better. An x-ray confirmed no break, but the Yankees have to keep Bird out of the lineup for a few days. Simply put, everything is going wrong for the Yankees right now.
The Rays are off to the best start in franchise history
The Rays won their fourth game of the season Saturday and they did it in my favorite way possible: a walk-off walk. Brad Miller drew the free pass with the bases loaded against Blue Jays rookie Casey Lawrence, who was making his MLB debut. Here’s the walk:
With the win, the Rays are now tied for the best record through six games in franchise history:
Is that a fun fact, or a sad fact? I think it’s closer to a sad fact, like Nate Colbert being the Padres’ all-time home run leader. Four wins in six games is good -- do that all season and you’ll win 108 games -- but it’s not blow your socks off good. You’d think the Rays would have won five of their first six games at some point in their two decades as a franchise, but nope.
Bregman, Correa make sparkling plays
Is there a better infield in baseball than the one in Houston? The Astros roll out Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve, and Yuli Gurriel around the horn. The Giants are in that conversation. So are the Blue Jays, Rangers, Mariners, and Rockies. Not sure I’d take any of them over the Astros though.
Anyway, on Saturday, Bregman made this stellar grab at third base:
Hey, they call it the hot corner for a reason. There’s so very little reaction time. It’s all instinct, basically.
A few innings later, Correa turned in this gem at shortstop:
Bregman and Correa sure are going to be fun to watch on the left side of the infield these next however many years. At least five. That’s how far away Correa is from free agency.
The Royals did the eighth inning thing to the Astros again
Two years ago the Royals stunned the Astros with a five-run eighth inning in Game 4 of the 2015 ALDS. The five-run inning, which features a critical error by Correa, turned 6-2 Astros lead into a 7-6 Royals lead. They went on to win the game 9-6.
On Saturday, the Royals did it to the Astros again, though this time the stakes were a wee bit lower. Houston took a 3-1 lead into the eighth inning, then Kansas City went to town against Luke Gregerson and scored six runs. Here’s how the inning played out:
- Alcides Escobar walks.
- Mike Moustakas singles as a pinch-hitter. Raul Mondesi Jr. pinch-runs.
- Drew Butera bunts the runners up.
- Alex Gordon doubles in two runs.
- Lorenzo Cain singles in one run.
- Eric Hosmer cracks a two-run home run.
- Salvador Perez cracks a solo home run.
- Cheslor Cuthbert grounds out.
- Paulo Orlando strikes out.
Six runs on five hits, including three for extra bases, and one walk. Gregerson was charged with all six runs. Here is Hosmer’s two-run home run:
The eighth inning has not been kind to the Astros when they’ve played the Royals in Houston the last few years.
Arroyo’s return to MLB goes poorly
Earlier in the day, the Cincinnati Reds purchased the contract of Bronson Arroyo. On a related note, he started the Reds’ afternoon game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Just like old times, huh?
Alas, Arroyo has seen better days. He finished his four innings having allowed six hits, six runs, three walks, and two home runs -- both versus Aledmys Diaz.
Shaky performance aside, Arroyo did make some history:
Arroyo also suffered through some indignity:
Don’t feel too bad for Arroyo -- this was his first appearance in the majors since 2014, and the poor results are to be expected. He’s simply around to give the Reds’ younger arms additional seasoning time in the minors.
Guthrie’s return to MLB goes very, very, very poorly
Jeremy Guthrie did not play in the big leagues last season, but he went to camp with the Nationals as a depth arm, and he was able to show enough that they club gave him a spot start Saturday. It did not go well. Not at all. To the line score:
Oof. To be fair, Guthrie was charged with only 10 of those 12 runs in the first inning. The other two went to reliever Enny Romero. Guthrie allowed those 10 runs in two-thirds of an inning. And believe it or not, that is not his career high in runs allowed. He allowed 11 runs in one inning in a game back in 2015.
Saturday, by the way, is Guthrie’s 38th birthday. I’m guessing he’s had better birthdays.
The Padres shifted on Bumgarner
As he reminded us with his two home run effort on Opening Day, Giants southpaw Madison Bumgarner is the best hitting pitcher in baseball. He commands so much respect at the plate that, Saturday night, the Padres used an infield shift against him:
Bumgarner, an extreme pull right-handed hitter, struck out in that particular at-bat, so the shift wasn’t needed. Still though, that’s some serious respect.
The Rockies made history against Kershaw
By nearly any measure, Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher on the planet right now. Yes, he’s had some issues in the postseason, but when it’s all said and done, he’ll be in the inner circle of the inner circle of the Hall of Fame. First ballot. No doubt about it.
Anyway, on Saturday the Rockies did something to Kershaw that no team had ever done in his previous 266 career MLB appearances. They hit back-to-back home runs. Mark Reynolds and Gerardo Parra took Kershaw deep in consecutive at-bats in the sixth inning. Here is video of the Reynolds homer and the Parra homer.
Kershaw gave up three home runs total Saturday -- Nolan Arenado took him deep as well -- for only the third time in his career. He had previously given up three homers to the Padres on April 17, 2013, and to the Rockies on May 2, 2012.
Trout and Felix had an epic battle
Mike Trout has faced Felix Hernandez more than any other pitcher in his career -- it’s not even close either, Trout has faced Felix 85 times and no one else more than 55 times -- and, going into Saturday’s game, he was a career .382/.424/.763 hitter with seven home runs against Hernandez. Remarkable.
On Saturday Trout and Felix locked up in an epic 14-pitch battle. It was the longest at-bat of both their careers in terms of total pitches. Hernandez won the battle with a called strike three:
Just two all-time greats doing their thing.
Prepping for fantasy baseball week 2
- Chris Towers looks over the storylines worth knowing before you set your lineup, including the Braves’ schedule and possible changes in bullpen roles.
- Scott White ranks every two-start pitcher, including No. 1 option Chris Sale and last week’s breakout Brandon Finnegan.
- White also touched on some potential Week 2 sleepers.
Finally, Adam Aizer and the gang cover difficult Week 2 decisions, Matt Harvey, winners and losers and more on the latest Fantasy Baseball Today Podcast.
Quick hits
- The Astros got some bad news on Collin McHugh -- he’ll be shut down for the next six weeks due to elbow trouble. That’ll give Joe Musgrove and Mike Fiers an extended chance to make their case to stick in the rotation.
- The Nationals watched Trea Turner exit Saturday’s game with a hamstring injury. He hurt himself rounding third base. Manager Dusty Baker thinks Turner will miss only a few games.
- The Giants are reportedly signing outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. Upton was unable to make the Blue Jays’ final 25-man roster but does have power and speed upside, and there should be playing time available at the major-league level if he can perform.