Sunday in Major League Baseball was a day full of pink (for Mother's Day!) and action. Let's dive in.
Sunday's scores
- Orioles 17, Rays 1 (box score)
- Yankees 6, Athletics 2 (box score)
- Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3 (box score)
- Indians 11, Royals 2 (box score)
- Tigers 5, Mariners 4 (box score)
- Braves 4, Marlins 3 (box score)
- Phillies 4, Mets 2 (box score)
- Giants 5, Pirates 0 (box score)
- Astros 6, Rangers 1 (box score)
- White Sox 5, Cubs 3 (box score)
- Brewers 7, Rockies 3 (box score)
- Angels 2, Twins 1 (box score)
- Reds 5, Dodgers 3 (box score)
- Padres 5, Cardinals 3 (box score)
- Nationals 6, Diamondbacks 4 (box score)
Peralta's historic debut
The Brewers called up rookie Freddy Peralta to make his MLB debut on Sunday against the Rockies. It might seem a bit cruel to force a newbie pitcher into a Coors Field debut, but the Brewers' Triple-A affiliate is in Colorado Springs, so it worked out.
And, boy, did it ever work out. Peralta allowed only one hit and two walks in 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He didn't last longer than that because he was running a high pitch count, thanks in part to 13 strikeouts.
Wait, what?
Yes, Peralta struck out 13 while getting 17 total outs. That's total domination. It's also on a short list when it comes to MLB debuts.
Freddy Peralta is the fifth pitcher since 1908 to strike out 13+ in his Major League debut.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) May 13, 2018
Freddy Peralta 13, 2018
Stephen Strasburg 14, 2010
J.R. Richard 15, 1971
Karl Spooner 15, 1954
Cliff Melton 13, 1937
per @baseball_ref
What an amazing debut.
The Brewers finish off a very good week against good competition, splitting with the Indians and taking three of four from the Rockies. This moves the Brewers into first place in the NL Central.
Nats sweep D-Backs behind Reynolds
The Sunday night game ended up being a pretty fun one. The Nationals jumped out to a 4-1 lead through six innings, thanks in part to powering up with three homers (Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Mark Reynolds). The Diamondbacks rallied for three runs in the seventh to tie it, though, with the big hit being a game-tying Daniel Descalso RBI double. It was a brand new ballgame.
Well, it was temporarily. In the next half-inning, former Diamondbacks power hitter Reynolds clubbed a two-run homer and the Nats cruised from there.
Reynolds went 3 for 4 with two homers and three RBI.
First game of the season, facing his former team, Mark Reynolds put the Nats on his back. pic.twitter.com/yBRAKFTfcc
— MLB (@MLB) May 14, 2018
Funny sidebar: Reynolds was an unsigned free agent entering spring training. He was also an unsigned free agent entering the season. He didn't sign with the Nationals until April 17. He played 10 games in Triple-A and Sunday was his first appearance with the Nationals. Quite the impression on his new teammates, no?
The Diamondbacks loss meant their first series loss of the season was actually a four-game sweep and they've now lost five in a row.
Over in the other dugout, the Nationals are the hottest team in the NL. They fell to 11-16 on April 28, coincidentally, after losing two to these same D-Backs. Since then? The Nationals are 13-2. They're still 1 1/2 games behind the upstart Braves (and also trail the Phillies by a half game), but things are looking up in D.C.
The Diamondbacks maintain a 2 1/2-game lead in the NL West.
Ohtani deals again
The pitcher/hitter show that is Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani continued Sunday with him on the mound. He again had his nasty stuff and looked exceptional. Sick breaking stuff while painting the corners with 99 heat. Just look at this hook:
Shohei is silly. https://t.co/Dz3fynRV7dpic.twitter.com/sG6ckRsvAe
— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2018
It's a thing of beauty. He would strikeout 11 in his 6 1/3 innings. The only run he allowed was actually given up by a reliever after Ohtani departed. Here's where he stands right now:
Hitting: .348/.392/.652, 4 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 74 plate appearances
Pitching: 3-1, 3.58 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 43 K, 13 BB, 32.2 IP
He's a player. No doubt about that.
Dodgers keep losing
The defending NL champs have just been swept, at home, by the worst team in the NL in four games. That's rock bottom, right?
A four-game sweep at the hands of the Reds pushes the Dodgers to 16-24. The eight games under .500 is their low point this season. The current winning percentage is a pace of 65 wins for the whole season. They are only 4 1/2 games up from the worst record in baseball and only 2 1/2 up from the worst record in the NL. Yikes.
The Reds, meanwhile, accomplished something not seen since the Big Red Machine -- their first four-game sweep of the Dodgers since 1976.
The Bronx Bombers
The Yankees won again on Sunday and the offensive star was Giancarlo Stanton, who went 4 for 4 with a double, home run and three RBI.
.@Giancarlo818 wanted to give his friends in the bullpen a souvenir. pic.twitter.com/xbeRRfbcJw
— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2018
That homer was Stanton's 10th of the season, joining Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius in double digits. Yes, the Yankees have four players with at least 10 homers right now. No other team has more than two such players. Also, it's pretty historic to have four 10-plus homer guys through just 40 games.
4 Teammates with 10+ HR thru 40 Games
— James Smyth (@JamesSmyth621) May 13, 2018
1964 Twins Killebrew/Allison/Hall/Oliva
2000 Blue Jays Cruz/Delgado/Batista/Mondesi
2003 Rangers Everett/Gonzalez/Rodriguez/Palmeiro
2018 Yankees Judge/Gregorius/Sanchez/Stanton
That's a scary offense.
The Yankees remain tied with the Red Sox at 28-12 for the best record in baseball.
Just Dingers
As noted, the Red Sox kept pace with the Yankees on Sunday. Of note, J.D. Martinez hit his 10th home run of the season.
.@JDMartinez14 hit 5 HR in March/April. He already has 5 in May.
— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2018
Just Dingers, indeed. pic.twitter.com/qx8yKILHAZ
It was actually already his fifth homer in May. Is he getting "2017 second half" hot?
Nola's breakout continues
Phillies starter Aaron Nola is having a season where it all comes together and he makes the leap from pretty good to stardom. It continued on Sunday, as Nola worked six innings with his only allowed run being a solo shot from Yoenis Cespedes (and there's no shame in that). Nola is now 6-1 with a 1.99 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. All roads lead to the All-Star Game from here for the former first-round pick.
The Phillies have won five of six and move to 23-16 on the season.
Orioles hammer Rays
It's never a good day when a position player is your most effective pitcher. The O's pounded the Rays on Sunday afternoon, forcing Tampa skipper Kevin Cash to use outfielder Johnny Field on the mound. Field tossed a scoreless inning. Four other Rays hurlers combined to allow 17 runs in seven innings.
The offensive outburst will get all the headlines and deservedly so, but the bigger and more important story for the Orioles is Dylan Bundy. He rebounded from a brutal start last time out -- he was tagged for seven runs and four homers without recording an out against the Royals -- to fire seven shutout innings Sunday.
The O's have won five of their last six games -- this is a team with 13 wins all season, remember -- and have outscored their opponents 48-27 in the process. They've been waiting for a stretch like this basically since Opening Day.
Paxton's scoreless streak ends
In his first start since no-hitting the Blue Jays, James Paxton fired two more hitless innings against the Tigers before finally allowing a base hit in the third. Niko Goodrum ended Paxton's no-hit streak at 11 innings (and 38 batters) with a solid leadoff single to center.
A few base hits later, the Tigers snapped Paxton's scoreless streak at 18 innings. Remember, he struck out 16 in seven scoreless innings against the Athletics in the start before no-hitting the Blue Jays.
Believe it or not, Paxton took a 5.12 ERA into that start against the A's. He's since lowered it to a 3.40 ERA.
The Mariners had a tough day in all, too, losing Robinson Cano to a broken hand and losing the game to move their record to 22-17.
Duffy struggles again for Royals
Given their rebuilding state, it stands to reason the Royals will listen to trade offers for left-hander Danny Duffy at the trade deadline. He might be their best trade chip. Southpaws signed to affordable long-term deals tend to be in high demand.
For the Royals to get maximum value in a trade, they're going to need Duffy to start pitching better and soon. He got rocked by the Indians on Sunday.
Duffy has allowed at least four runs in five of his nine starts this season, and in four of his last five starts as well. Following Sunday's disaster, he's sitting on a 6.51 ERA and has allowed 12 home runs in 47 innings.
Braves finish Florida beatdown
With the Braves taking down the Marlins on Sunday, they finished the week 5-1 against the two teams from Florida. That keeps the Braves in first place in the very competitive NL East.
Keep an eye on youngster Sean Newcomb. He worked six scoreless innings and is now 4-1 with a 2.51 ERA.
Holland helps Giants break losing streak
The Giants brought a six-game losing streak into Sunday's series finale in Pittsburgh. The state of Pennsylvania was their house of horrors, as they were swept in four games in Philly before heading to PNC Park to face the Pirates. Sunday, they finally broke through behind Derek Holland's 6 1/3 scoreless innings. Offensively, Brandon Belt was 3 for 5 with two doubles. He's having a pretty nice season, slashing .286/.396/.496.
Keuchel dominates Rangers
The series between the two Texas teams was on the line Sunday in Houston and former Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel went out and took the game over. He'd go seven scoreless, allowing only three hits (just one after the first inning) while striking out eight.
After a speed bump where they lost five of six, the Astros have now won five of six.
Rough day for Wainwright, week for Cardinals
Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright couldn't make it out of the third inning in San Diego on Sunday, his first start since coming off the DL due to elbow inflammation. He'd go just 2 1/3 innings. He only gave up two earned runs, sure, but there are two glaring reasons for concern here as he's returning from injury. First off, Wainwright's fastball velocity was only sitting in the mid-80s. Secondly, the former control artist (he walked only 35 in 241.2 IP in 2013, for example) walked six. The soon-to-be 37 year old is clearly on his last legs and has re-aggravated his elbow injury.
For the Cardinals, they followed up a sweep of the Cubs by going 2-4 against the Twins and Padres.
Quick hits
- Mariners 2B Robinson Cano suffered a broken bone in his hand when he was hit by a pitch Sunday. The team has not yet announced a timetable for his recovery.
- As expected, the Mets activated RHP Jacob deGrom off the 10-day DL, the team announced. He missed one start after hyper-extending his elbow during a swing. LHP Buddy Baumann was sent to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
- The Brewers placed RHP Chase Anderson on the 10-day DL with an illness, the team announced. RHP Freddy Peralta has been called up in a corresponding move. He will start Sunday's game and make his MLB debut.
- Diamondbacks 3B Jake Lamb will begin a minor league rehab assignment Sunday, the club announced. He's missed all but four games this season due to elbow and shoulder woes.
- OF Bradley Zimmer is again not in the Indians' lineup Sunday. He has played only once in the last week after crashing into the outfield wall and suffering a bruised chest. Zimmer remains day-to-day.
- The Cardinals activated RHP Adam Wainwright off the 10-day DL, the team announced. He'd been out approximately three weeks with an elbow issue. RHP John Brebbia was sent down in a corresponding move.
- The Padres placed RHP Phil Maton on the 10-day DL with a lat strain, the club announced. RHP Kazuhisa Makita has been called up from Triple-A in a corresponding move.
- The Rangers called up LHP Brandon Mann, the team announced. Mann, 34 next week, is in the big leagues for the first time after spending the last 17 years in the minors, Japan, and independent leagues.
