We had a full 15-game slate lined up for Sunday, but the Mariners-Twins tilt got banged because of inclement weather. The game will be made up on May 14. As for the 14 contests left standing, let's dig in ... 

Sunday's scores

Red Sox stun Rays for best start in franchise history

The Red Sox, as you see above, nipped the Rays by a single run in Fenway on Sunday. This, however, wasn't your garden-variety one-run triumph. The Rays went into the home half of the eighth and permitted this to happen ... 

  • H. Ramirez: Strike looking, Ball, Foul, Ramirez singled to left
  • J. Martinez: Foul, Foul, Ball, Foul, Ball, Foul, Ball, Ramirez to second, Ramirez to second on wild pitch, Foul, Foul, Strike swinging, Martinez struck out swinging
  • B. Holt: Strike looking, Ball, Holt flied out to left
  • M. Moreland: Strike looking, Foul, Foul, Ball, Moreland doubled to deep left, Ramirez scored
  • E. Nunez: Ball, Strike looking, Strike looking, Nunez singled to center, Moreland to third
  • R. Devers: Strike looking, Devers doubled to deep left, Moreland and Nunez scored
  • Alex Colome relieved Matt Andriese
  • C. Vazquez: Ball, Strike looking, Foul, Foul, Foul, Vazquez singled to center, Devers scored
  • M. Betts: Ball, Vazquez to second on wild pitch, Ball, Betts singled to left, Vazquez scored, Betts to second
  • A. Benintendi: Strike looking, Ball, Benintendi doubled to left center, Betts scored
  • H. Ramirez: Strike (foul tip), Ball, Strike swinging, Foul, Strike swinging, Ramirez struck out swinging

Not that the damage -- six runs in the frame -- occurred after there were two outs. After Brock Holt struck out, the Rays had a 98.5 percent chance of winning the game ...


Source: FanGraphs

Those odds? Defied. 

Here's the Andrew Benintendi capstone double: 

That's a Red Sox lead. Three Craig Kimbrel outs later, it was a Red Sox win. That means the hapless Rays are now 1-8. The Red Sox, meantime, are now 8-1, which leads us to this: 

Yep, the Sox have been around a long time and produced some great teams. None, however, has enjoyed a start like this. 

Next up for the history-making 2018 Red Sox? A three-game home set against the Yankees starts Tuesday. 

Ohtani hurls gem

Shohei Ohtani made his first home start for the Angels on Sunday, and boy was it a good one. Ohtani took a perfect game into the seventh inning, and finished with 12 strikeouts over seven shutout innings. Read the full story here.

Arrieta makes Phils debut

The Phillies received some preseason buzz as potential wild-card contenders in part because they swooped in and signed veteran right-hander Jake Arrieta to a three-year, $75 million contract less than a month ago. Arrieta, to get up to speed, made a pair of spring training appearances and then worked a simulated game on Monday. 

Against that backdrop, Arrieta on Sunday made his Phillies debut against the punchless Marlins. The second batter of the game, Miguel Rojas, did this to an Arrieta sinker ... 

That was part of what wound up being a three-run first for Miami in which they worked Arrieta for 31 pitches. The right-hander wound up settling down, but it was hardly an optimal debut with his new club ... 

player headshot
Jake Arrieta
SD • SP • #49
vs. MIA, 4/8
IP4
H3
R3
ER2
SO5
BB2
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Obviously, the Phils need him to be a stabilizer alongside Aaron Nola at the front of the rotation. Arrieta, who turned 32 just before he inked with Philly, hasn't been able to repeat his Cy Young excellence of 2015, but he's still been a standout starting pitcher since then. Over the past two seasons, Arrieta has made 61 starts and pitched to a 3.30 ERA (129 ERA+) while striking out roughly a batter per inning. As well, he hasn't been on the disabled list since early in the 2014 season. His fastball velocity was down overall last season, but part of that was an intentional effort to pitch to contact more often. It'll be interesting to see whether Arrieta's radar gun readings show further signs of decline as we get deeper into 2018. Even if that's the case, though, Arrieta has enough movement and a deep enough repertoire to get outs even in the presence of velo loss. Another promising sign is that the Cubs were very much interested in bringing Arrieta back before they signed Yu Darvish, and the Cubs of course know more about Arrieta's near-term outlook than any other team. Better days ahead. 

Taillon twirls one-hitter

Jameson Taillon blanked the Reds on Sunday and in doing so registered the first complete game of his career. To boot, it was a one-hitter. Here he is, in a fetching throwback, getting some help from left field Corey Dickerson to retire Joey Votto for the final out of the game: 

On the day, the 26-year-old right-hander struck out seven and walked a pair. He also tallied an RBI single at the plate. After two starts, Taillon now boasts a 1.26 ERA for the season. His Pirates remain atop the NL Central standings. 

Benches clear in St. Louis

We had a near-brawl during Sunday's Diamondbacks-Cardinals game, and the hostilities appeared to center around ... Yadier Molina's pitch-framing. Read about it here. 

Indians walk it off vs. Royals

The Indians on Sunday felled Kansas City thanks to a strong start from Mike Clevinger and this walk-off homer from Yan Gomes:

That's the third walk-off home run of Gomes' career and his second of 2018. The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the fifth and held it until the eighth, when Bradley Zimmer worked his way around the bases to tie it following a leadoff walk. Then came Gomes' game-ender in the ninth. 

Reds lose Suarez to thumb injury

Bad news for the Reds, who on Sunday lost third baseman Eugenio Suarez to a fractured right thumb. Suarez sustained the injury when he was struck on the hand by a Jameson Taillon pitch.

Suarez, 26, was off to a hot start in 2018 (.296/.424/.630), and last month he inked a seven-year contract extension with the Reds. It's not certain yet how long Suarez will be sidelined, but it figures to be a significant absence. Suarez's injury will raise the possibility that the Reds will promote top prospect Nick Senzel, but that seems unlikely because of service-time considerations and the fact that the Reds are still rebuilding.

With Sunday's loss, the Reds dropped to 2-6 on the young season. 

Angels' rotation rocked by injuries

So here's a Sunday transactional update from the Angels ... 

The big one here is starter JC Ramirez, who hits the DL after being lifted from his start on Saturday. That's significant on its own, but it's especially the case since the Angels also have lefty Andrew Heaney (elbow inflammation) and righty Matt Shoemaker (forearm strain) on the DL. As well, Alex Meyer is still sidelined following September shoulder surgery. So that's a big hit to the rotation. 

Compounding those concerns is the fact that the Angels are trying to make a go of it with a six-man rotation so as to ease Shohei Ohtani's transition and keep his workload manageable. In-house options include Parker Bridwell, Nick Tropeano, and Miguel Almonte. None of those, though, are particularly inspiring for a team that aspires to contention and shares a division with the reigning champs. Maybe they'll have to go back to a traditional five-man arrangement sooner than they hoped? It's either that, make do with spot starters, or get healthy in a hurry. 

Mike Wright punched the wall, but he was smart about it

Orioles right-hander Mike Wright drew the start against the Yankees in the Bronx on Sunday. While he wasn't facing a full-strength opposing lineup ... 

... That didn't prevent him from getting ritually abused. Please witness his very brief afternoon: 

player headshot
Mike Wright
LAD • SP • #98
vs. NYY, 4/8
IP2/3
H5
R5
SO1
BB1
Pitches39
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Just two of those five runs were earned, but that was because Wright himself committed a throwing error. In any context, this is an outing that justifies acts of violence against inanimate objects. As you're about to see, that's precisely how Wright consoled himself back in the visitor's dugout ... 

While Mr. Wright does not keep his hands up and chin tucked during the course of this brawl, he does -- to his enduring credit -- first test the wall for sufficient cushioning. Yes, it's a padded wall, but you don't want to lay into, say, a concealed load-bearing column with your money-maker. No, it wasn't a good day for Mike Wright, but not even the burdens of baseball failure can compromise his sensible devotion to Tantrum Best Practices. 

Quick hits

  • Giancarlo Stanton was booed after making the wrong kind of history.
  • Indians OF Lonnie Chisenhall is expected to miss the next four to six weeks with a calf strain.
  • The Brewers have placed OF Christian Yelich on the 10-day DL with a minor oblique injury. 
  • The Cardinals have placed LHP Ryan Sherriff on the 10-day DL with a fractured big toe.
  • The Marlins have designated RHP Jacob Turner for assignment. 
  • The A's will place OF Boog Powell on the DL with a knee sprain.
  • According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Royals are willing to trade LHP Danny Duffy. 
  • Coming into Sunday's action, Nationals OF Bryce Harper has as many home runs as the Marlins and Rays combined. 
  • There still appears to be some tension between Rangers 2B Rougned Odor and the Blue Jays. That much was apparent on Saturday.

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