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As is the case on every blessed Saturday, MLB offered us a full slate of action, including day games. As we get ready to see Derek Jeter's number retired on Sunday in Yankee Stadium, let's dig into Saturday's baseball events ... 

Final scores

Red Sox 6, Rays 3 (box score)
Blue Jays 7, Mariners 2 (box score)
Cardinals 5, Cubs 3 (box score)
Giants 3, Reds 1 (box score)
Twins 4, Indians 1 (box score)
Nationals 6, Phillies 4 (box score)
Brewers 11 Mets 4 (box score)
Braves 3, Marlins 1 (box score)
White Sox 5, Padres 4 (box score)
Royals 4, Orioles 3 (box score)
Rangers 6, Athletics 5 (box score)
Dodgers 4, Rockies 0 (box score)
Pirates 4, Diamondbacks 3 (box score)
Tigers 4, Angels 3 (box score)
Astros at Yankees rained out (doubleheader Sunday)

Berrios dominates in return to MLB

At this time last year, Twins right-hander Jose Berrios was considered one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. He made his MLB debut later in the season and gosh, it went poorly. He was historically bad, really. Berrios made 14 starts and had an 8.02 ERA in 58.1 innings. Here is the full list of rookie starters to throw at least 50 innings with an 8.00 ERA or worse:

  • Jose Berrios, 2016 Twins

That's it. Only Berrios. Like I said, he was historically awful last season. No rookie starter had ever pitched that poorly.

The Twins sent Berrios to Triple-A to start this season and he dominated, striking out 39 batters with a 1.13 ERA in 39 2/3 innings. Of course, Berrios has dominated Triple-A before -- he had a 2.51 ERA in 111 1/3 innings at the level in 2016 -- so it was tough to tell whether he'd made any real improvement in his game.

On Saturday, Berrios returned to the big leagues, and he turned in what is unquestionably his best MLB start. Berrios held the high-powered Indians to one run on two hits and one walk in 7 2/3 innings. He struck out four. His previous career high was 5 1/3 innings pitched, which he did only once in those 14 starts last season.

Trackman data says Berrios averaged 95.2 mph with his fastball Saturday, up from 94.2 mph last year, and he threw a ton of them. A whopping 83 of his 104 pitches were fastballs Saturday. 83! Berrios has a quality curveball and changeup as well, but hey, when the fastball is working as well as it was Saturday, why mess around with the other stuff?

Can the extreme fastball approach work long-term? That remains to be seen. Bartolo Colon has thrown almost nothing but fastballs the last few years, so it is possible. For now, the goal has to be getting Berrios comfortable and rebuilding his confidence. Once he does that, he can begin to work in his secondary pitches and become a more complete pitcher. 

Saturday's outing was both very encouraging and only step one for Berrios. Folks are going to be skeptical after the season he had in 2016. He's talented, but it's going to take Berrios more than one good start to prove he belongs in the show.

Harper celebrates new contract with walk-off homer

Prior to their game against the Phillies, the Nationals announced they have signed franchise player Bryce Harper to a one-year contract extension. The deal does not change the timetable for his free agency -- Harper will still hit the open market following the 2018 season -- but it does lock in his salary for next season. His $21.625 million salary next year is a record for a player eligible for arbitration.

Harper celebrated his new contract by clubbing a walk-off, two-run home run against the Phillies on Saturday night. Here's the video:

With that blast, Harper is now hitting .368/.493/.726. He's back to being the monster he was in 2015, when he was named NL MVP unanimously.

Goldschmidt homers on 100 mph fastball

Paul Goldschmidt did something Saturday that had never been done before in the PitchFX era. He hit a home run on a 100 mph fastball from Felipe Rivero. Well, technically it was a 99.8 mph fastball, but we're going to round up. Here's the video. Not surprisingly, Goldschmidt hit the ball out to the opposite field. Tough to get the bat around fast enough to pull triple digit heat.

Prior to Goldschmidt, the fastest pitch to be hit for a home run was a 99.1 mph Frankie Montas fastball. Raul Mondesi Jr. took him deep on that pitch earlier this year. Since PitchFX was implemented back in 2008, the Mondesi and Goldschmidt blasts are the only home runs hit on pitches that measured 99 mph or better.

Betts is playing like an MVP again

Last season, Red Sox right fielder Mookie Betts in his age-23 campaign finished second in the AL MVP balloting while also winning a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger. In other words, Betts was one of the best players in baseball. 

Thanks to his standout fielding in right and excellent base-running, he's the kind of player who adds value even when he's not hitting at his customary level. For a chunk of 2017, that was indeed the case. Roughly two weeks into the season, Betts was batting just .250/.333/.281.

Since that low point, though, Betts had a line of .316/.393/.589 coming into Saturday's home tilt against the Rays. He's particularly rebounded in power department, as seven of his 13 doubles and four of his six homers have come in May. Speaking of doubles and homers in May, Betts on Saturday tallied a two-bagger and also did this against the Rays:

At this writing, Betts is now batting .308/.384/.546. Considering how well he performs at the other aspects of the games -- he's still got the glove, and he's 4 for 4 in steals this season while taking the extra base a remarkable 75 percent of the time --  that's an MVP-caliber slash line. Expect more of the same from the Sox's young star. 

Happ homers for first MLB hit

Prior to Saturday's game against the rival Cardinals, the Cubs called up top prospect Ian Happ, the ninth overall selection in the 2015 amateur draft. Happ hit .298/.362/.615 with nine home runs in 26 Triple-A games this year prior to the call-up.

The Cubs inserted Happ into the starting lineup as their right fielder Saturday, and batted him second in the lineup. He rewarded their early faith with a two-run home run in the seventh inning for his first MLB hit. Here's the video:

Overall, Happ went 1 for 3 with a walk and a home run in Saturday's game. The Cubs have called up a small army of excellent young players in recent years, and Happ is the latest to go deep for his first MLB hit.

It is entirely possible Happ's call-up will only be temporary. Jason Heyward (finger) is on the disabled list, and Kris Bryant (illness), Jon Jay (back), and Addison Russell (shoulder) are all day-to-day. Once everyone is healthy, there may not be enough room on the roster for Happ. Of course, if he plays well and keeps socking dingers, the Cubs will find a way to keep him around.

Yes, another Seattle starting pitcher is hurt

As noted in this space, the Mariners reportedly learned on Saturday that they'll be without right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma for the next four to six weeks. Earlier this week, Iwakuma joined fellow Seattle starters Felix Hernandez (shoulder), Drew Smyly (flexor strain), and James Paxton (forearm strain). For those counting, that's 80 percent of the Mariners' planned-for rotation that's on the DL right now. 

In related matters, the M's did this on Saturday morning ... 

The 26-year-old Weber is a bit of a retread, but he entered his Saturday start with excellent 2017 numbers for Triple-A Tacoma. Against the Blue Jays, Weber didn't disappoint in the early going, as he allowed only one run through 3 2/3 innings. But then ... 

It was later announced that Weber left his start with tightness of the throwing shoulder. "Tightness" doesn't sound all that concerning, but that's a preliminary diagnosis. It could be something worse. 

As for the M's, their rotation is presently populated by Ariel Miranda, Yovani Gallardo, Chase De Jong, and Christian Bergman. Weber was a part of that mix, but now his status can safely be regarded as uncertain. Another pitching injury is about the last thing Seattle needs right now, suffice it to say.

Sale strikes out 10-plus batters (again)

For the seventh consecutive start, Red Sox lefty Chris Sale struck out 10-plus batters Saturday. He struck out 12 Rays in seven innings. Sale is only the fourth pitcher in history with double-digit strikeouts in seven straight games.

Oddly enough, Sale allowed two hits Saturday, and both were home runs by left-handed batters (Logan Morrison and Kevin Kiermaier). Sale had yet to allow a home run to a lefty this season, and from 2013-16, he allowed only five homers to lefties. Going into Saturday's game, Sale had faced 967 left-handed batters in his career, and only eight had taken him deep. Then two did it Saturday. Weird.

Bautista starting to turn things around?

The 2017 season has not started the way Jose Bautista hoped. The Blue Jays are in last place and Bautista himself went into Saturday's game hitting .176/.304/.298 overall. He did, however, hit home runs on Wednesday and Friday. Then he added another one Saturday. This was a go-ahead three-run shot in the seventh inning.

Saturday's home run was part of a 2-for-4 effort for Bautista, who raised his season batting line to .185/.309/.333. The Blue Jays also won their fourth straight game, and they've won seven of their last nine overall.

Toronto is still only 16-21 and stuck in last place in the AL East, but at least now they're showing signs of life, starting with Bautista. 

Twins, Tigers delayed by squirrel

The sixth inning of Saturday's game between the Twins and Tigers at Progressive Field in Cleveland was delayed nearly five minutes by squirrel. The squirrel made its way down to the field, then ran wild until the grounds crew caught up with it. Here's the video:

Eventually the grounds crew was able to catch the squirrel and set it free outside the park.

Quick hits