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What’s Happening in Baseball Today
The First Pitch: May 2, 2026
It’s a very good night for tall Milwaukee ace in the making Jacob Misorowski—until he’s forced to depart with one out in the sixth inning at Washington with a hamstring cramp. He leaves having allowed no hits and throwing half (43) of his 86 pitches at 100 MPH-plus, topping out at 103 in the first inning; Only Jordan Hicks (2022) has recorded faster pitches by a starter in a regular season game since velocities began being officially recorded in 2008.
Aaron Ashby keeps the combo no-hit bid and shutout going until an inning later, when the Nationals scarf up their lone run on the night. The Brewers take a 6-1 victory behind the second straight four-hit effort from William Contreras—the first time that’s been accomplished by a Brewers player since 2010.
Arizona suffers a 6-5 defeat in Chicago to the Cubs, despite another impressive performance by Ildemaro Vargas—the part-time journeyman who’s suddenly hitting like a no-doubt-about-it All-Star. The 34-year-old Vargas goes 4-for-4 (all singles), increasing his season batting average to an MLB-leading .404 while extending his hitting streak going back to last year to 27 games. That breaks the old mark by a Venezuelan-born player, previously held by Wilson Ramos in 2019; it’s also the second longest streak in Diamondbacks history, behind Luis Gonzalez’s 30-game run in 1999.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
4-3-2-3—Kazuma Okamoto, Toronto
Munetaka Murakami has been making a lot of well-warranted noise so far this year by leading the majors in home runs, but don’t sleep too soundly on Okamoto, who’s also starting to turn up the volume. The 29-year-old slugger with 248 career homers back in Japan launched his sixth and seventh as a Toronto Blue Jay—and nearly hit an eighth in the ninth inning, a drive caught on the warning track. Okamoto’s blasts provided the Jays with the necessary padding to top the Twins at Minneapolis, 7-4.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
6-2-0-0-3-2—Noah Schultz, Chicago White Sox
The White Sox have already proven themselves to be a fun team to watch with Murakami, Colson Montgomery and others repeatedly flexing their muscles. Now, Schultz looks ready to give White Sox fans another reason to tune in. The 22-year-old lefty, chosen in the first round of the 2022 amateur draft, tamed the first-place Padres with six shutout innings in an 8-2 win at San Diego, improving to 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA after four career starts.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1917: In one of baseball’s most memorable games, the Reds’ Fred Toney and Cubs’ Hippo Vaughn both toss no-hitters through nine innings on a cold, dreary Chicago day. The Reds wake up in the 10th inning with a leadoff single by Larry Kopf, a two-base error awarded to Hal Chase, and a swinging bunt by famed All-American athlete and part-time major leaguer Jim Thorpe, which brings home Kopf. Toney sets down the Cubs one-two-three in the bottom of the 10th to maintain his no-hitter and win the game, 1-0.
1923: Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators blanks the Yankees, 3-0, in what is formally regarded as his 100th career shutout—although, by doing the math, every current statistical source cites his 100th shutout as occurring early in 1924. Regardless of timing, no other pitcher in history has ever reached 100. In the same game, another milestone is reached by Yankees shortstop Everett Scott, who becomes the first major leaguer to play in 1,000 straight games.
1928: Brooklyn’s superb rookie first baseman Del Bissonette, playing in just his 16th major league baseball game, is given an intentional walk by the Giants with the bases loaded—the second known instance to date. The free pass cuts the Giants’ lead to 2-1, but with two outs, Harry Riconda—the next batter—strikes out to end the game at New York.
1954: Stan Musial sets an all-time mark when he belts five home runs for the Cardinals in a doubleheader against the Giants at St. Louis. Three of Musial’s homers occur in the first game, won by the Cardinals, 10-6; his two blasts in the nightcap can’t clinch the sweep as the Giants take a 9-7 decision. The Padres’ Nate Colbert will match Musial in 1972.
1982: Giants reliever Greg Minton allows a two-run home run to the Mets’ John Stearns; it’s the first round-tripper allowed by Minton since the end of the 1978 season, a stretch covering 269.1 innings over 178 appearances. It’s the most consecutive innings pitched without allowing a home run since the Deadball Era. Minton still earns the save in a 4-2 win at Candlestick Park.
1996: The Mariners are trailing the Indians, 6-3, when a 5.0 earthquake rattles the Kingdome and the 21,711 fans inside. After 30 seconds of shaking, the game is immediately called; inspectors give the go-ahead the next day for the game to continue, won by Cleveland, 6-4.
2002: Seattle’s Mike Cameron becomes the seventh player in modern history—and the first AL player in 43 years—to hit four homers (all solo) in a nine-inning game, as the Mariners clobber the White Sox at Chicago, 15-4. His bid for an unprecedented fifth homer dies on the right-field warning track in his final at-bat.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Neftali Feliz (38), reliever of 107 saves, 2010 AL Rookie of the Year
Keith Moreland (72), catcher, outfielder and corner infielder of 12 seasons; lifetime .279 batting average on 1,279 hits; .364 average over 44 postseason at-bats
Clay Carroll (85), two-time All-Star reliever with 143 saves, including MLB-high 37 for 1972 Reds
Born on this date:
Eddie Bressoud (1932), 12-year shortstop and 1964 All-Star; TGG interview subject
George Giles (1909), Negro League first baseman of 10 seasons, batting a career .311
Eddie Collins (1887), Hall-of-Fame hit machine and speedster with .333 batting average, 3,315 hits and 741 steals—including MLB record six in a game, accomplished twice within 12 days in 1912; three-time league leader in runs; member of four World Series-winning teams, batting .328 over 34 games
Larry Cheney (1886), three-time 20-game winner for the Cubs; 116 total wins over nine seasons, six of which he led the majors in wild pitches
Shameless Link of the Day
The April Comebacker—is now live! Check out the top stories, record-breaking moments and oddities of the past month—plus, our first installment of the Best and Worst hitters, pitchers and teams from each league since Opening Day! Check it out!
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