Saturday featured a full 15-game slate that included several head-to-head meetings between first place teams and postseason contenders. Here is everything you need to know about Saturday's MLB action.
Saturday's scores
- Red Sox 8, Braves 6 (box score)
- Cardinals 4, Pirates 1 (box score)
- Phillies 2, Blue Jays 1 (box score)
- Athletics 3, Diamondbacks 0 (box score)
- Rangers 4, Royals 3 in 10 innings (box score)
- Brewers 17, Mets 6 (box score)
- White Sox 8, Tigers 4 (box score)
- Rays 5, Orioles 1 (box score)
- Nationals 4, Marlins 1 (box score)
- Giants 5, Cubs 4 (box score)
- Angels 11, Yankees 4 (box score)
- Indians 8, Astros 6 (box score)
- Reds 6, Rockies 5 (box score)
- Mariners 4, Twins 3 in 12 innings (box score)
- Padres 7, Dodgers 5 (box score)
Nola flirts with no-hitter as Phillies move into first place
If there was any doubt coming into the season, it is now crystal clear Phillies righty Aaron Nola is a bona fide ace. He took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Saturday afternoon -- he had to wait out a quick 13-minute rain delay at one point -- and finished the game having allowed one run on one hit and three walks in 6 2/3 innings.
Through 11 starts and 71 1/3 innings, Nola owns a 2.27 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP. Sources confirm that is pretty great. Nola and Jake Arrieta give the upstart Phillies a 1-2 punch that can go toe-to-toe with pretty much rotation out there.
Nick Wiliams came through with a pinch-hit, go-ahead home run in the eighth inning Saturday, so while Nola did not get the win, the team did. Here is Williams' blast, already his third of the year as a pinch-hitter:
Saturday's win combined with the Braves' loss to the Red Sox moved the Phillies into first place in the NL East for the first time this season. It's only a half-game lead on May 26, but hey, first place is first place.
Trout has career night at the plate
As good as he has been in his career to date, never before has Mike Trout had a game like he did Saturday night. He went 5 for 5 with three doubles and a home run against the Yankees, setting new career hits in hits (5), extra-base hits (4), and total bases (11). He was a one-man wrecking crew.
In the span of five at-bats Saturday night Trout raised his season batting line from an excellent .293/.449/.644 to an otherworldly .313/.461/.687. The season is still young but it's not that young. Adding 55 OPS points (not to mention +0.5 WAR) in one game ain't easy, but Trout did it Saturday.
Red Sox win in Pedroia's return
For the first time this season, second baseman Dustin Pedroia was in the Red Sox's starting lineup Saturday afternoon. He missed the start of the season after undergoing offseason knee surgery. He didn't have a particularly good day at the plate in his 2018 debut.
Despite Pedroia's unproductive debut, the Red Sox rallied from behind to beat the Braves to earn their eighth win in the past 10 games. Mitch Moreland provided the go-ahead two-run double in the sixth and Andrew Benintendi tripled in a pair of insurance runs in the seventh. The win improved the Red Sox to 36-16 on the season.
The Red Sox are now a season-best 20 games above .500 (36-16). In 2017, they were not 20 game over .500 until August 23, when they were 73-53. In 2016, they were first 20 games above .500 on September 17 (84-64).
— Red Sox Notes (@SoxNotes) May 26, 2018
As well as things are going for the Red Sox right now, they still have a problem in Drew Pomeranz. He was charged with five runs on six hits and three walks in only 3 1/3 innings Saturday. He's sitting on a 6.75 ERA and hasn't looked good at all since returning from the forearm injury he suffered in spring training. At some point the Red Sox have to get Pomeranz to get back on track.
Brewers hang 17 on Mets
Well, if you're going to blow a 3-0 first inning lead, you might as well really blow it. The Mets took a quick 3-0 lead first inning against Chase Anderson and the Brewers on Saturday, and it was all downhill from there. They were outscored 17-3 the rest of the way. The Brewers scored three in the first, two in the third, two in the fourth, three in the fifth, and seven in the seventh.
Take a look at New York's pitching staff:
Eek. That makes losing on a walk-off walk Friday night seem not so bad. Been a tough go of it for the Mets lately. They are now 14-22 since starting the season 11-1.
As for the Brewers, the 17-run outburst is their largest since scoring 18 runs against the Cubs in August 2010. Fun Fact: The Brewers had two 17-run games, one 18-run game, and one 20-run game in 2010. Who knew? Four of the 20 highest scoring games in franchise history took place in the span of five months in 2010.
Marte crushes long homer in return
The Red Sox were not the only team to get an important player back from the disabled list Saturday. Starling Marte returned from his oblique injury and wasted no time having an impact for the Pirates. He clubbed a long solo homer over both bullpens at PNC Park in his first at-bat of the day.
Statcast measured that home run at 447 feet. Not a bad little poke for a guy just off the disabled list.
Also, it's worth noting the Pirates decided to keep top prospect Austin Meadows around even with Marte healthy. Jose Osuna was sent to Triple-A instead. Meadows went 13 for 29 (.448) with three home runs in seven games while Marte was sidelined.
Choo hits milestone homer
Shin-Soo Choo is now MLB's all-time home run leader among Asian players, and he set the record in style Saturday afternoon. He clubbed a walk-off home run to beat the Royals in the tenth inning. Check it out:
That was career home run No. 176 for Choo, breaking a tie with Hideki Matsui for the most among Asian players. Ichiro Suzuki is a distant third with 117 home runs. With two more seasons on his contract, Choo has a good chance to become the first Asian player with 200 big league homers.
Mengden two-hits D-Backs
Daniel Mengden's breakout season and the Diamondbacks' ugly skid both continued Saturday afternoon. Mengden, the mustachioed A's right-hander, struck out five in a two-hit shutout against Arizona at the Oakland Coliseum.
Mengden now owns a 2.85 ERA in 11 starts and 66 1/3 innings on the season. He has allowed no more than two earned runs in seven of his 11 starts and in each of his last five starts. The kid has a 1.07 ERA this month and figures to be in the mix for the AL Pitcher of the Month award for May.
As for the D-Backs, gosh, they're playing terribly right now. Saturday's loss was their 14th in their last 16 games, and in 12 of those 16 games, they've scored no more than two runs. Yikes. As a team, the D-Backs are hitting .213/.291/.367 this season, and they are now one game over .500 at 25-25 after starting 21-8.
Martin makes first start at shortstop
For years and years with the Dodgers, Russell Martin lobbied then-manager Joe Torre to let him play shortstop. He's a natural infielder who converted to catcher early in his pro career, and he's played some third base on-and-off over the years.
On Saturday, Martin finally got his wish. He is starting at shortstop for the first time in his big-league career.
.@russellmartin55 makes his 1st career start at shortstop as we go for the series win. https://t.co/ym3l54N3DI pic.twitter.com/p1AtOdSDwp
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 26, 2018
Martin has played 33 big leagues games at third base, including four this season, so he has some recent experience on the infield. Saturday's game is his first start at short since 2002, when he was still in rookie ball.
The Blue Jays are currently without Troy Tulowitzki (feet) and Aledmys Diaz (ankle), who are atop the team's shortstop depth chart. Gio Urshela, a natural third baseman, had been filling in at shortstop recently. The Blue Jays wanted to give Martin a break from catching Saturday without taking his bat out of the lineup though, so shortstop it is.
Indians get back to .500
The Indians continue to hug the .500 line. Saturday night's win over the Astros got the Tribe back to the break even mark at 25-25, which is good enough to sit atop the weak AL Central.
Saturday's game was a bit of a roller coaster. The Indians were down 2-1 after three innings, up 5-2 after four innings, up 7-3 after five innings, and up 7-6 after six and a half innings. The two teams combined for six homers, two by the 'Stros (Jose Altuve, Tony Kemp) and four by the Indians (Yonder Alonso, Jason Kipnis, Edwin Encarnacion, Michael Brantley). Encarnacion's two-run shot against Lance McCullers Jr. proved to be the game-winner.
Did your siblings steal the remote again?
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) May 27, 2018
In case you missed it, here is Edwin's shot to center ...#RallyTogether pic.twitter.com/LFh2mEthpT
The Indians are now 25-25. They were also 24-24, 23-23, 22-22, 21-21, 20-20, so on and so forth. You have to go back to May 4, when they were 17-15, for the last time the Indians were more than one game away from .500. Cleveland will look to get back over 500 on Sunday, when former UCLA teammates Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole square off.
Cardinals place broken Holland on DL
The Cardinals announced Saturday that reliever Greg Holland was placed on the disabled list with a hip impingement. Maybe he's actually hurt, maybe he's not, but the fact remains that the Cardinals couldn't justify continuing to run Holland out there. After again allowing multiple runs in an outing Friday night, Holland has a 9.45 ERA, 2.63 WHIP and negative-0.9 WAR, which is awfully tough to do in only 13 1/3 innings. He had a 6.38 ERA after the All-Star break last season, too.
Holland signed a one-year, $14 million deal with the Cardinals on March 31 and it's been a total disaster since. They likely don't want to give up on him just yet, but he can't get meaningful game reps until he proves in either a minor-league rehab assignment or trash time that he can reliably get outs. If this continues into, say July, they might just cut bait.
Quick hits
- RHP Alex Reyes will be activated off the disabled list and start Wednesday for the Cardinals. Reyes missed all of last season and the start of this season with Tommy John surgery. He struck out 44 in 23 scoreless innings on his rehab assignment.
- The Cubs placed RHP Yu Darvish on the 10-day DL with right triceps tendinitis, the team announced. LHP Randy Rosario was called up in a corresponding move.
- The Indians placed LHP Andrew Miller on the 10-day DL with a knee issue. Miller's been dealing with on-and-off knee problems since last season. RHP Evan Marshall was called up in a corresponding move.
- The Cardinals activated C Carson Kelly and LHP Tyler Lyons off the disabled list, the club announced. Kelly had a hamstring injury and Lyons had a back injury. C Steven Baron was sent down in a corresponding move.
- The Yankees activated 1B Greg Bird off the 10-day DL, the team announced. He missed the start of the season after having ankle surgery in spring training. IF Ronald Torreyes was sent to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
- Angels RHP Shohei Ohtani will return to the rotation at some point next week, reports the Orange Country Register. Ohtani will not start as scheduled Sunday as the team manages his workload.
- The Marlins placed IF Martin Prado on the 10-day DL, the team announced. He suffered a potential significant hamstring injury earlier this week. IF JT Riddle was called up a corresponding move..
- Pirates RHP Ivan Nova has a finger ligament injury and could be placed on the disabled list, reports MLB.com. He is day-to-day for the time being. RHP Nick Kingham will start in Nova's place this week.
- The Cubs have called up C Chris Gimenez from Triple-A, the team announced. He's served as Darvish's personal catcher with the Rangers. C Victor Caratini was sent to Triple-A in a corresponding move.
- The Athletics placed RHP Santiago Casilla on the 10-day DL with a shoulder injury, the club announced. RHP Josh Lucas was sent down and RHP Chris Bassitt and RHP Carlos Ramirez were called up in corresponding moves.
