The Month That Was in Baseball: April 2024

Monday, April 1

It’s no April Fools’ joke in Houston: Ronel Blanco, after impressing in spring camp but only barely fitting into the Astros’ rotation because of injuries to others, fires a shock no-hitter over the Toronto Blue Jays in only his eighth career start. It’s hard to choose what’s more stunning: That Blanco throws the no-no, or that the Astros allow him to finish it, given how early it is in the season and how no other major league pitcher has yet to throw into the eighth inning of any start this year. The game, easily won by the Astros, 10-0, sees some drama play out with one out in the ninth as a sharp grounder from the Jays’ Cavan Biggio is smothered by Houston first baseman Jose Abreu; quickly recovering on the ground, Abreu fires the ball to Blanco, covering at first, to retire Biggio by a split-second. After the next batter, former Astro George Springer, draws the second walk of the night against Blanco in a six-pitch at-bat, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. battles Blanco for another five pitches before being retired on a ground ball for the final out.

Blanco’s unexpected gem is the 16th regular season no-hitter in Astros history and the third over the past three years—or the fourth, if you count the combo postseason no-hitter thrown by Cristian Javier and three relievers in Game Four of the 2022 World Series. It’s also the earliest no-hitter thrown in a regular season by date, and the first one representing the maiden victory of a managerial career, as rookie Houston pilot Joe Espada notches his first W after four losses to start the year. 

Yoshinobu Yamamoto may be hogging most of the headlines among offseason Japanese imports, but Shota Imanaga is deservedly starting to get his fair share of attention. The first-year Chicago Cub makes his regular season debut after an impressive Cactus League camp, not allowing his first hit until the sixth inning and departing with six shutout innings, nine strikeouts and no walks in the Cubs’ 5-0 win over Colorado. Nick Kingham from 2018 is the only other major league pitcher to throw at least six shutout innings with no fewer than nine K’s and no walks. Of the 92 pitches Imanaga throws, 20 of them are swung and missed at by Rockies hitters.

A strong night for Texas All-Star third baseman Josh Jung comes to a shattering end as he breaks his wrist after being hit by a pitch in the ninth inning of the Rangers’ 9-3 victory at Tampa Bay. (Even rougher: Jung swings at the pitch and has a strike called on him.) The bad break comes just after Jung had gone 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs, barely a week after he returned to action after missing most of Spring Training with a bad calf. He is expected to miss at least the next month.

In a surprising move, the Oakland A’s send down Esteury Ruiz, last year’s major league leader in steals, to Triple-A. This, despite a decent start to the year in which Ruiz has accrued a single, double, triple and stolen base over seven at-bats. Though there’s (as yet unfounded) rumors that Ruiz is being demoted because he was wearing a wristband promoting the Last Dive Bar—a group prominent in protesting embattled A’s ownership—manager Mark Kotsay states to reporters that he simply needs more minor-league seasoning to make “adjustments” and become a more complete player.

Without Ruiz, the A’s drop to 1-4 with an embarrassing 9-0 home loss to Boston before a crowd of 6,600 spectators—many of whom cheer on the Red Sox. Oakland commits five errors and falls behind 8-0 before the third inning is even completed. 

Ruiz will be recalled two weeks later.

Tuesday, April 2

Hitless in his last 15 regular season at-bats going back to the end of last year, Bryce Harper busts out with his second career hat trick of home runs, launching two solo homers and then wrapping up the night with an eighth-inning grand slam to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 9-4 win over the visiting Cincinnati Reds. It’s only the second three-homer performance by a Phillies player since 2008, and it’s the second of Harper career—having previously done it while playing for Washington in 2015. His six RBIs sets a career mark.

It’s back to the drawing board for the Kansas City Royals, who learn that a sales tax extension for Jackson County, Missouri that would have helped fund a new ballpark for the team is rejected by 58% of voters. (The measure also called for extensive upkeep to Arrowhead Stadium, home of football’s Chiefs.) The Royals would have financed $1 billion of the roughly $2 billion-plus cost to develop the ballpark and the surrounding area near downtown Kansas City. While most city residents would like to see a new ballpark, they were wary that the measure lacked financial and logistical details.

Larry Lucchino, one of baseball’s most influential executives, has passed away at the age of 78. No cause of death is reported, though it was known that Lucchino had multiple bouts with cancer over his later years. Sports and the law were intertwined in Lucchino’s life. He attended Princeton University and was a member of the 1964-65 basketball team that made it to the NCAA Final Four; after graduating from Yale with a law degree, he was employed as a top lawyer under Edward Bennett Williams, who owned both the Orioles and NFL’s Washington Redskins. Lucchino at first counted both teams among his law clients, then ended up in the Orioles’ front office, becoming team president by 1988. Lucchino’s impact on the modern game is prominent. He had a primary role in developing the throwback look of Oriole Park at Camden Yards with architect HOK Sport and urban planner Janet Marie Smith, later moving onto the Padres and Red Sox where he was highly involved in the look of San Diego’s Petco Park, and the upgrade to Boston’s Fenway Park. On the field, Lucchino oversaw the Red Sox’ first three world titles in nearly a century; he stepped down in 2015, two years after the last of those three championships.

Wednesday, April 3

It takes nine games, but Shohei Ohtani finally is in the home run column for the Los Angeles Dodgers, drilling a 430-foot blast that ends up being the ultimate winning run in a 5-4 victory over the visiting San Francisco Giants. The win finishes off a three-game sweep for the Dodgers.

There is another, albeit more short-lived, Ohtani controversy. The ball the star slugger hit for his first home run ends up in the hands of Ambar Roman, a bleacher fan who later claims that she was taken by Dodger Stadium security and aggressively pressured into giving up the ball for a token amount of memorabilia. When Roman mentions she would like to keep the ball, security tells her the Dodgers will not authenticate it—potentially jeopardizing its value (estimated at over $100,000) if she decides to auction it off. Adding to the tension, Roman’s husband is intentionally separated by security and not allowed to help her negotiate. Initially offered two caps signed by Ohtani—a remarkably underwhelming bounty, considering the circumstances—Roman is able to talk the team into adding a signed bat and ball. After the game, Ohtani tells the press through his new interpreter that he was able to “talk to the fan” and was “grateful” for getting the ball. But Roman tells The Athletic that she never met Ohtani.

Hopefully for sake of Ohtani—who’s currently under MLB scrutiny for a possible role in his former interpreter’s gambling activities—the current interpreter bungled up the translation. 

The Dodgers, in damage control, announce that Roman and her husband will get an on-field experience and two premium seats for a game on April 12, which happens to be her birthday. Some on social media, who blasted the Dodgers for their staff’s initial handling of the incident, say that’s still not enough.

The Miami Marlins drop to 0-7 on the year—with all losses suffered at home—as they’re thrashed 10-2 by the visiting Los Angeles Angels; the defeat extends the Marlins’ club record for their worst start ever. Taylor Ward leads the onslaught for the Angels, with three hits including his third home run of the year; rookie Nolan Schanuel, brought late into the game, is hit by a pitch in the ninth—thus extending his streak of consecutive games reaching base to begin a career to 35, the third longest such streak in major league history.

The Cleveland Guardians will continue to call their home Progressive Field for the next 13 years, as they agree to a naming-rights extension with the insurance giant through 2036. The initial contract, which began in 2008, was set to expire this season. Financial terms of the extension are not disclosed, though it’s assumed it will be more than the annual $3.6 million that Progressive currently pays to the Guardians.

Thursday, April 4

The A’s announce that Sacramento, 80 miles northeast of Oakland, will serve as their interim home starting in 2025 until a new ballpark is built in Las Vegas. This makes the current season the last for the A’s at the Coliseum, ending 57 years on the ‘other side’ of the bay. The move comes shortly after negotiations with Oakland officials to extend their current lease, which expires at the end of this year, break down. The ballpark to be utilized by the A’s in California’s Capitol is Sutter Health Park, currently the home of the Sacramento River Cats, the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate. The venue seats 10,624—or, some 4,000 more than what the A’s have averaged so far this year in Oakland. Both teams will share the ballpark starting next year.

Importantly for the A’s, they’ll get to retain a decent amount of their current regional sports network revenue through NBC Sports California—while diehard A’s fans not yet enraged enough to spit on the team will still be able to make a not-too-distant drive from the East Bay to Sacramento to watch their team in person.

Three outs away from being swept in a rain-created doubleheader—and dropping to 0-6 on the year—the New York Mets break out some ninth-inning spinach, scoring twice to defeat the visiting Detroit Tigers, 2-1. The loss is the first for the Tigers after a 5-0 start—their best since winning their first six games in 2015. Pete Alonso’s leadoff home run ties the game; Tyrone Taylor’s one-out single later scores Brett Baty (who had walked) for the game-winning hit.

On a day when the Marlins drop to 0-8 after blowing a 4-1 lead and losing 8-5 at St. Louis, the news off the field is no better as young pitcher Eury Perez—who produced a fine 3.15 ERA in 19 starts last season—will undergo Tommy John surgery and won’t return until next year. The 20-year-old Perez will join teammate and former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara (also out all season) in the TJ recovery room.

Friday, April 5

In Atlanta’s home opener, Spencer Strider is ineffective and removed after four innings as he experiences discomfort in his throwing elbow. He’s set for an MRI today; the Braves are rubbing the rabbit’s foot that this is not the beginning of a long, painful road for the star ace. (The foot will fail; see April 12.) As for the game, the Braves come from three runs down after Strider’s departure as five Atlanta relievers combine to throw six shutout innings, conceding two hits. This thus allows the Braves to climb back and defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks in 10 innings, 6-5.

In Anaheim, the Red Sox’ 8-6 win over the Angels in marred by a rough sight when shortstop Trevor Story, sprawling out to field a ground ball from Mike Trout, gets up holding his left shoulder and arm in writhing pain. Like Strider, Story is also set for an MRI today. (The rabbit’s foot won’t work here as well; see April 9.) Without Story, the Red Sox manage to outlast the Angels, 8-6, on late solo homers from Jarren Duran and Tyler O’Neill, his second of the game. Kenley Jansen pitches a perfect ninth and picks up his 423rd save, putting him ahead of Billy Wagner for sixth on the all-time list.

During the game, the Angels’ Nolan Schanuel walks to extend his streak of consecutive games to start a career reaching base to 36—or so everyone thinks. At roughly the same time, MLB is announcing that a hit Schanuel was credited with a week earlier in a game at Baltimore is rescored as an error charged to the Orioles. So, a streak that Schanuel was assumed to be working on had actually ended seven days earlier, at 30 games. The record on-base streak to begin a career remains the property of Alvin Davis, who reached base in his first 47 games for Seattle in 1984.

Finally from the House of Pain, the Chicago White Sox lose All-Star slugger Luis Robert Jr. when he limps into second base on an eighth-inning double at Kansas City. It’s a left hip flexor injury, similar to one he sustained in 2021; that setback cost him three months. The White Sox would rather that any stint on the shelf be far shorter this time around; after their 2-1 loss to the Royals, they’re at 1-6 on the year.

Coors Field opens its 30th season and proves, for the millionth time, that no lead is safe. The visiting Rays head into the ninth inning trailing the Colorado Rockies, 6-2—but pile up five runs, the last of which scores on an error by third baseman Ryan McMahon. Then it becomes the Rockies’ turn; they load the bases on three walks from Pete Fairbanks, leading to atonement from McMahon has he launches a 417-foot drive past the fence for a walk-off grand slam and a 10-7 victory.

Fairbanks, removed before McMahon’s slam, takes blame for the walks but also saves some prominent criticism for the ballpark’s humidor that typically deadens the balls to keep them from jumping about in mile-high conditions. “(The balls) were horrible,” Fairbanks says. “You can mark that down in all caps for me—HORRIBLE….I’d love to see (the balls) come out of the humidor tomorrow in a little better shape before they get rubbed up.”

Saturday, April 6

Cleveland ace and 2020 AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber will undergo Tommy John surgery, ending his 2024 campaign barely after it got started. Both Bieber and the Guardians are hurt by the news in many different ways. For Bieber, not only will he miss the rest of the year and the first few months of the 2025 season, he’ll miss out on a potentially huge payday as he’s due to be a free agent this fall. For the Guardians, not only will they not benefit from Bieber’s presence on the mound in the final year of his current contract, but they won’t have the option to trade him for prospects later this season should the team fall out of contention.

An MRI reveals that Atlanta ace Spencer Strider has a sprained ligament in his pitching elbow, tabling (for now) the possibility of Tommy John surgery. Strider is placed on the 15-day IL, but is scheduled to see a specialist to gather an opinion on whether he shoulder undergo Tommy John—and thus miss the rest of the season and the first part of next.

The epidemic in pitchers breaking down continues as Yankee reliever Jonathan Loaisiga will undergo Tommy John and be out for the rest of the season. The 29-year-old Nicaraguan has dealt with multiple injuries over the past couple of years, including extended outages due to bone spurs and shoulder inflammation.

There are currently 34 major league pitchers undergoing or recovering from Tommy John surgery. They include four former Cy Young winners (Bieber, Jacob deGrom, Robbie Ray, and Sandy Alcantara), two relievers once at the top of their game (Liam Hendriks and Felix Bautista) and rising starters (Walker Buehler, Shane McClanahan, Johan Oviedo and Eury Perez). Others aren’t officially undergoing the procedure but are nevertheless undergoing lengthy recoveries, including Clayton Kershaw, Brandon Woodruff, Lucas Giolito, Drew Rasmussen, Kendall Graveman and Alex Cobb. These lists continue to grow; it almost seems that there are fewer big-league pitchers around today that haven’t gotten Tommy John than those who’ve had. What’s causing all of this? Theories abound. Too much overwork in the Little League stage. Greater demand to throw different types of pitches. Poor pitching mechanics. Too much stress trying to maximize speed and spin. Etc., etc., etc. 

Tony Clark, the head of the players’ union, thinks it’s mostly about what the pitch clock has created, and that the further decrease in time between pitches this year (two seconds less with runners on base) has only “intensified” the health impact upon pitchers. He writes, “The league’s unwillingness thus far to acknowledge or study the effects of these profound changes is an unprecedented threat to our game and its most valuable asset—the Players.” 

Clark’s likely concern is that his pitching constituents will find it harder to secure long-term contracts in the nine-figure range, so long as the high percentage of long-term injuries persists.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto picks up his first career win for the Dodgers, throwing five shutout innings as Los Angeles snares a 4-1 victory at Chicago over the Cubs. However, it’s the first time in 11 games this season that the Dodgers have failed to score five or more runs; their 10 games to start a season with five-plus had tied a NL record previously held by the 1903 Pirates and 1936 Reds. The all-time record belongs to the 1932 Yankees, which scored five or more in their first 13 games.

The Marlins go down again, losing at St. Louis 3-1 as Steven Matz throws five shutout frames for the Cardinals. Miami’s 0-9 record matches their worst-ever start, first established in 1995.

Sunday, April 7

Six days after throwing a no-hitter in his first start of the year, the Astros’ Ronel Blanco holds the world champion Rangers hitless two outs into the sixth inning before Adolis Garcia breaks up the double no-no bid with a single. Blanco will end his evening after the sixth, and the Rangers will pick up only one more hit (a Justin Foscue RBI single in the ninth) to wrap up a 3-1 victory.

In total, Blanco retires 45 straight opposing batters (dating back to last year) before Garcia’s single, a streak that’s tied for the fourth longest since 1990.

The Marlins finally get into the win column, ending a record-tying nine-game losing streak to start the season with a 10-3 bashing of the Cardinals in St. Louis. Two-time batting champ Luis Arraez, entering the game with a .194 batting average, breaks out with four hits and three runs scored; Miami starter Max Mayer is sharp for a second straight game, allowing a run on three hits through six innings.

Francisco Lindor, mired in a batting slump since the start of Spring Training—camp included, he’s 9-for-86 (.105)—shakes loose the cobwebs with a home run and double to lift the Mets to a 3-1 victory over the Reds at Cincinnati. Sean Manaea earns his first win as a Met in two starts, having allowed a run on four hits over 11 innings thus far.

Jerry Grote, a two-time All-Star catcher whose career stretched from the infant Astros (then called the Colt .45s) in 1963 to the 1981 Royals, passes away at the age of 81. The San Antonio native was in the middle of numerous moments in baseball history. Just six days after his 1963 rookie debut, he was part of an all-rookie team that took the field (along with Joe Morgan, Rusty Staub and Jim Wynn) for Houston, getting battered by the Mets, 10-3; he was a member of the 1969 world champion Mets, initiating a game-winning rally in the 10th inning of a crucial Game Four win over Baltimore in the World Series; and played for three future pennant winners in the 1973 Mets and 1977-78 Dodgers. In 16 years of play, Grote collected 1,092 hits and batted .252.

Monday, April 8

Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, signed by the Giants just a week before the start of the regular season, makes his first appearance on the mound for San Francisco and shows apparent rust—allowing three runs on three hits and two walks while throwing 72 pitches over three innings as Washington ultimately takes an easy 8-1 victory at Oracle Park. The Nationals’ Trey Lipscomb steals three of the four bases on the night for the Nationals, who now have 20 on the young year—while the Giants remain the only MLB team without even a single theft.

The Padres, Snell’s former team, spot the visiting Cubs eight runs through the first four innings—and punch back with seven in the sixth and two more in the eighth on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s two-run shot to complete an improbable 9-8 comeback victory. The bounce-back from the eight-run deficit is tied for the biggest in San Diego franchise history, having previously done it three times—most recently in 2021 when reliever Daniel Camarena belted a grand slam as part of the comeback.

A work of greatness in progress, the Reds’ Elly De La Cruz shows off his sensational side with two home runs—a 450-foot blast and an inside-the-parker—while adding his sixth stolen base of the year as Cincinnati bolts out to an 8-0 lead before hanging on to defeat the visiting Brewers, 10-8.

The Guardians shut down the White Sox 4-0 in their home opener, played in the late afternoon after being rescheduled from its original midday starting time because it would have coincided with a total eclipse of the sun. Jose Ramirez knocks in a pair of runs with his second homer of the year, while Triston McKenzie throws 5.2 shutout innings after a shaky first outing.

Shut out for the fourth time this year already, the 1-9 White Sox are batting .190 as a team and have scored only 16 runs; that’s the fewest runs tallied by the team in their first 10 games of a season since 1968, when they scored a franchise-low 13.

Tuesday, April 9

Shea Langeliers produces the 30th hat trick of home runs in the 124-year history of the A’s, with his third blast being a two-run shot in the top of the ninth to give Oakland a 4-3 win at Texas. The 26-year-old catcher knocks in all four of the A’s runs, belting out solo homers in the second and seventh innings.

It’s a bad day all around for the Red Sox. They get soundly beaten by Baltimore in their home opener, 7-1, garnering only two hits all day off of Corbin Burnes and two relievers. Off the field, the news is just as awful; the Sox learn that infielder Trevor Story will need season-ending surgery on his shoulder, while Nick Pivetta—one of the team’s more trustworthy pitchers over the last two-plus years—is headed to the 15-day IL with a strained right elbow.

In his first three years since signing a big contract with the Red Sox, Story will have played a total of 145 games out of a possible 486.

The White Sox finally gather up a bunch of runs and gain a victory for only the second time this year against nine losses with a 7-5 win at Cleveland. But it’s a costly triumph, as third baseman Yoan Moncada collapses just short of first base trying to beat out a ground ball in the second inning. It will later be described as a left abductor strain—and he will miss a minimum of three months and possibly the entire remainder of the season.

Wednesday, April 10

Top MLB prospect Jackson Holliday makes his major league debut for the Orioles, wearing #7—the same number as his father, Matt Holliday, when he played for the Cardinals from 2010-16, and the first Oriole to wear it since 1992 when Cal Ripken Sr. was coaching the team from third base. Batting ninth, Holliday will go hitless in four at-bats but does bring in a run on a ground ball, as the Orioles fight back from a 5-0 deficit at Boston to defeat the Red Sox, 7-5.

On National Sibling Day, the Guardians’ Josh and Bo Naylor become the fourth pair of brothers to twice hit home runs for the same team in the same inning, each going yard in the fourth against the White Sox. They’ll both also figure in a two-run 10th that gives the Guardians a 7-6 victory; Josh doubles home the gift runner to tie the game, and Bo singles home the game winner.

The other three brotherly tandems to twice hit homers in the same inning are B.J. and Justin Upton, Billy and Cal Ripken, and Lloyd and Paul Waner.

Thursday, April 11

Federal authorities charge Ippei Mizuhara with bank fraud, claiming that Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter made 19,000 sports bets—some 25 per day—over a two-year period that lost him over $40 million, forcing him to divert $16 million from Ohtani’s bank account to pay off his bookie of choice in the Southern California area. If convicted, Mizuhara faces a maximum fine of $1 million and/or up to 30 years in prison. Mizuhara’s first court appearance is scheduled for today, though he is not expected to enter a plea. Ohtani is not considered an accomplice to Mizuhara’s gambling issues, as authorities can find no evidence that the Dodgers’ star slugger/pitcher ever discussed the topic via text messages they scrutinized. MLB is awaiting its own investigation, if any is warranted, on the matter until “resolution of the criminal proceeding.”

According to the federal affidavit, Mizuhara averaged a $2,500 loss per bet. “I’m terrible at this sport betting thing huh? Lol…” he texted to the bookie, who was operating illegally in California and is also under investigation.

For the second straight game, the Royals hammer the visiting Astros, 13-3, doing most of their damage in the first inning—notching nine runs on a franchise record-tying 11 hits off Houston starter Hunter Brown, who logs only two-thirds of an inning. Kansas City thus finishes a 7-0 homestand, only the third time they’ve completed one of at least seven games without a loss.

In their last four games, Astros starting pitchers have combined to throw 9.1 innings, allowing 24 runs (23 earned) on 26 hits with 10 walks and seven strikeouts. Currently without Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Jose Urquidy, Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers Jr., the Astros are tied for last among AL teams with a 5.09 team ERA.

Scott Boras’ wait-it-out strategy has cost him a client, as pitcher Jordan Montgomery—who signed with Arizona just two weeks ago and has yet to make an appearance this season as he’s still getting up to speed—drops the superagent after he signed a one-year, $25 million deal with the Diamondbacks. Montgomery had been expected to snare a multi-year contract guaranteeing total income in the nine-figure range. Montgomery was one of five Boras star clients, along with Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger, Matt Chapman and J.D. Martinez, who signed during Spring Training for fewer years and much fewer dollars than anticipated. Almost all of them have opt-outs after one year.

Friday, April 12

Another ace bites the dust. Atlanta’s Spencer Strider, placed on the IL last week after damaging his elbow, undergoes surgery that will cost him the rest of the 2024 season. It’s a significant blow for Strider, the Braves and Baseball—which will be without one of the game’s more exciting young pitchers, who led the majors last year with a Braves-record 281 strikeouts.

Strider’s absence will surely intensify the already heated discussion on what can be done to prevent the recent epidemic of pitching injuries.

Shohei Ohtani cranks out two doubles and his fourth home run—tying Hideki Matusi for the most among Japanese-born major leaguers—but it’s not enough as the Padres bounce back from a four-run deficit and defeat the Dodgers at Los Angeles in 10 innings, 8-7. The three extra base hits for Ohtani give him 15 on the young year, tying a record for the most through a team’s first 16 games.

Appearing publicly for the first time since his former translator was charged with bank fraud for stealing $16 million out of Ohtani’s bank account to feed his gambling addiction, Ohtani refuses to take questions on the topic after the game.

If Angel Hernandez is trying to win over those who believe he’s one of today’s worst umpires, his performance behind the plate in Houston will not help. According to umpscorecards.com, Hernandez incorrectly calls 18 pitches in and around the strike zone, with a particular bent on extending the zone to his right—calling 10 pitches well outside the corner as strikes. In one dreadful sequence, Hernandez calls three straight strikes clearly outside the zone on the Rangers’ Wyatt Langford—with the last one missing by nearly seven inches. According to Umpire Scorecards, that’s the biggest miss of a called strike three since they began tracking such pitches. Despite the dubious strikeout on Langford, the Rangers overcome the Astros, 12-8, thanks to another awful start by a Houston pitcher as J.P. France is shelled for eight runs over four innings. Only the Marlins and White Sox are off to worse starts than the 4-11 Astros.

Fritz Peterson, a solid pitcher for the Yankees during their forgettable CBS years of the late 1960s and early 1970s, passes away at the age of 81. Among even causal baseball experts, Peterson is best known for swapping wives with pitching teammate Mike Kekich in 1973. Peterson and his new wife Susanne remained together until his death. On the mound, Peterson was a dependable asset of the New York rotation as the team went through a dry, unremarkable period that yielded no pennants. He won 109 games over nine years in pinstripes, including 20 in a 1970 season that earned him his sole All-Star roster spot; for five straight years, Peterson led his league in walks per nine innings, with a career best 1.2 figure (29 walks over 212.1 innings) in 1968.

Saturday, April 13

No other Yankee team with all that glory, legend and championship pedigree has ever gotten off to a better start than the 2024 squad, which improves to 12-3 after sweeping a day-night doubleheader at Cleveland by scores of 3-2 and 8-2. Starting pitching surprisingly carries the Yankees’ day; Casey Schmidt throws five solid innings in the opener, followed in the nighttime affair by Cody Poteet—making his first major league appearance since 2022 and taking his first win since 2021 with just a run allowed through six frames. Poteet only makes the mound because, per doubleheader rules, a 27th man can be temporarily allowed on the roster.

The Tigers’ Zach McKinstry has a 12th inning to forget in an 11-5 loss to the visiting Twins in the first game of a doubleheader. With two outs, the bases loaded and the game tied, the third baseman sees a sharp Ryan Jeffers grounder go right through his legs, allowing all three baserunners to score; perhaps for his sins, McKinstry is then asked to take the mound as an emergency pitcher, where he walks the first batter (Manuel Margot) before giving up a three-run homer to Matt Wallner. It’s McKinstry’s second stint as a pitcher, appearing in a blowout loss early last year against Boston and allowing two runs on three hits (including a home run) over one inning.

Sunday, April 14

Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes takes on his old team for the first time, allowing three runs (two earned) over five innings against the visiting Brewers and departing with a 3-3 tie. The Orioles are able to win the ensuing battle of the bullpens with a 6-4 decision, thus salvaging a win in the three-game series and keeping its streak of consecutive regular season series without being swept intact at 96—the third longest such run in MLB history.

Contributing to the Orioles’ go-ahead rally in the seventh inning is rookie Jackson Holliday, who finally gets his first career hit after going hitless in his first 13 at-bats with nine strikeouts. 

The Brewers’ loss ends a franchise record-tying streak of six straight games scoring at least seven runs. During that stretch, Milwaukee hitters were 33-for-69 (.478) with runners in scoring position.

While one former Cy Young winner pitches decently against his old team, another does not. In St. Petersburg, the Giants’ Blake Snell faces the Rays, whom he pitched for from 2016-20, and is rocked for seven runs over four innings in a 9-4 loss. It’s the first time in Snell’s last 25 starts that he gives up more than three earned runs in a game; in two starts this year, he’s allowed 10 runs in seven innings.

Andrew McCutchen joins 10 other active major leaguers with at least 300 career homers, as his two-run blast—his first of the year—in the ninth caps the scoring for the Pittsburgh Pirates (11-5) in their 9-2 victory at Philadelphia. McCutchen also scores the Pirates’ first run in the fourth on a steal of home; it’s his third lifetime swipe of the plate.

The Padres walk their way to a 6-3 victory at Los Angeles, with four of a nine-inning, club-record 14 bases on balls ultimately crossing the plate. For the Dodgers, the 14 walks are the most they concede since 1962. The big hit for the Padres comes in the seventh with a tie-breaking, bases-clearing double from Jurickson Profar—whom Dodgers catcher Will Smith dismissed as “irrelevant” the night before after the two verbally clashed at home plate. All three baserunners that Profar brings home had been walked.

Monday, April 15

The traditional Patriots’ Day morning game at Fenway Park goes sideways, head-on and upside-down down for the Red Sox. They’re shut out by Xzavion Curry and three Cleveland relievers, netting only three singles in a 6-0 loss—and worse, they watch in horror as their biggest star (Rafael Devers) and hottest player to start the season (Tyler O’Neill) crash heads colliding on a pop-up in short left field. O’Neill suffers the worst of it, requiring eight stitches to fix up a gash in his forehead; they both undergo concussion protocol.

Another day, another loss—and for all practical purposes, another shutout—for the White Sox. At Chicago, the Hitless Blunders manage just four hits (all singles) in a 2-0 loss to the Royals, who improve to a surprising 11-6. It’s the sixth time in 16 games this year that the White Sox have been blanked, matching the 1907 Brooklyn Superbas for the most shutouts within a team’s first 16 games of the year. With the loss, Chicago drops to an MLB-worst 2-14; they’ve scored only 34 runs—or just over two per game.

Sonny Gray picks up his second win as a St. Louis Cardinal—and the 100th of his career—pitching six shutout innings against the A’s at Oakland. He’s now one of 13 active pitchers with at least 100; in 11 innings thus far for the Cardinals in 2024, he has yet to allow a run.

Broadcaster John Sterling, who’s provided radio play-by-play for the Yankees since 1989, announces that he’s retiring from the job—effective immediately. As loved as he is chuckled at for his colorful and sometimes over-the-top catchphrases, the 85-year-old Sterling steps down amid health issues which have curtailed his ability to call every game—something he managed to do from the beginning of his Yankee tenure through 2019.

Whitey Herzog, the brilliant and often tempestuous manager and front office force, dies at the age of 92. A common part-time outfielder for four AL teams from 1957-63, Herzog eventually stepped down as a player and stepped into a front office role, making an immediate and critical mark as director of player development for the Mets—turning them from expansion laughingstocks into world champions in just three seasons under his watch. Mission accomplished, Herzog turned to managing in the 1970s; after an unsuccessful one-year stint with Texas, he found himself in Kansas City where he turned the Royals around, unseating the dominant A’s in the AL West and making three straight ALCS appearances—losing all three times to the turbulent Yankees. But Herzog is best known for his time serving as both manager and GM of the Cardinals during the 1980s, winning three pennants and his lone World Series trophy as manager—though St. Louis fans gnash their teeth and feel it should have been two, losing a controversial 1985 Fall Classic on arguably baseball’s most infamous blown call by first base umpire Don Denkinger in Game Six. Herzog’s Cardinals were full of contact-rich switch-hitters, blazing speed, solid defense and stout pitching, all of which blended well with Busch Memorial Stadium’s fast artificial turf. In 19 years of managing, Herzog won 1,281 games and made six playoff appearances; he was named to the Hall of Fame in 2009.

Ken Holtzman, an ace-level pitcher almost forgotten amid the galaxy of star names from the A’s champion teams of the early 1970s, passes away at the age of 78 after being hospitalized with heart issues. The St. Louis-born southpaw split the bulk of his career almost evenly between the Cubs and A’s, with a lot of eyes cast upon him in just his second season as a 21-year old, shooting out to a 9-0 start for the Cubs in 1967—only to then be called up for military service at the height of the Vietnam War. Back on the mound, Holtzman in 1969 threw his first of two no-hitters for Chicago, oddly striking out no one while walking three against the Braves. With the A’s, Holtzman reached his workhorse zenith from 1972-75, winning at least 18 games per season—topped with a 21-win campaign in 1973 that earned him only his second All-Star roster spot. In the last of three straight world championships won by the A’s in 1974, Holtzman not so much starred on the mound as he did, unexpectedly, with his bat; he doubled in his first start, then belted a solo homer against the Dodgers in World Series Game Four. But on a team with more colorful names such as Catfish Hunter and Vida Blue, Holtzman succeeded almost in anonymity; when star slugger Reggie Jackson was shipped to Baltimore in 1976, it was almost forgotten that Holtzman was sent with him. Overall, Holtzman posted a 174-150 record with a 3.49 ERA, 127 complete games and 31 shutouts.

Tuesday, April 16

Michael Busch enters Tuesday’s game against Arizona having hit home runs in five straight games—tying both a Cubs record and an MLB mark for rookies—and one would think before looking at the box score of a 12-11, 10-inning loss at Arizona that he might had broken both records. But no—Busch goes hitless in five plate appearances with a walk, while Ian Happ has the big day batting right behind him. Randal Grichuk’s RBI double in the 10th wins it for the Diamondbacks.

The Phillies’ Ranger Suarez throws the majors’ second shutout (and complete game) of the season, scattering seven hits and a walk with eight strikeouts over 112 pitches as Philadelphia takes a 5-0 home win over Colorado. Bryce Harper, mired in a 3-for-30 slump, produces both a double and home run while driving in three for the Phillies.

This is Suarez’s second shutout, blanking the Pirates on four hits late in 2021.

In a game that lasts 13 innings—a rarity in the gift runner era—the Rays tally twice in the final frame to defeat the visiting Angels, 7-6. Jose Caballero’s two-out, two-run triple in the ninth sends the game into extras; in defeat, Mike Trout draws his 971st career walk to pass Tim Salmon for the most in Angels franchise history.

Carl Erskine, who pitched 12 years for the Dodgers in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles and threw two no-hitters at fabled Ebbets Field, passes away at the age of 97. The Indiana-born Erskine was a mainstay of the Brooklyn teams of the mid-1950s, peaking in 1953 with a 20-6 record and a then World Series-record 14 strikeouts in Game Four against the Yankees. For his career, Erskine posted a 122-78 record and even 4.00 ERA. His death leaves only two living ex-MLB players (Tommy Brown and Bobby Shantz) who began their careers in the 1940s—and only one living member (Sandy Koufax) from Brooklyn’s lone World Series-winning team in 1955.

Wednesday, April 17

Pitcher Michael King, one of several players sent from the Yankees to the Padres in exchange for star slugger Juan Soto over the offseason, takes a no-hitter into the seventh inning at Milwaukee before the Brewers’ Willy Adames strokes a two-out single to break it up. King will stick around into the eighth, where he gives up his first and only run of the day on a Blake Perkins RBI single; it’ll turn out to be the game’s only run, as the Brewers hold on to defeat the Padres, 1-0.

The Red Sox’ Tanner Houck needs only 94 pitches to shut down the visiting Cleveland Guardians on three hits in a 2-0 victory at Fenway Park. It’s Houck’s first complete game of his five-year career, striking out nine and walking none. The time of game is an hour and 49 minutes, the first MLB game this season to be played under two hours; in fact, it’s the quickest since the pitch clock and other time-saving rules were put in place at the start of last season.

Stick a fork in another pitcher who’s done for the year. Angels reliever Robert Stephenson, who signed a somewhat eye-opening three-year, $33 million contract during the offseason and has yet to pitch this season, will miss the rest of it as well as he undergoes elbow surgery. A clause in Stephenson’s contract gives the Angels an added $2.5 million team option for a fourth year if he spends 130 straight days on the IL with an “elbow ligament injury,” which apparently is now going to happen.

Friday, April 19

The last two top free-agent pitchers to sign during the spring face off at San Francisco, with Jordan Montgomery—making his first MLB appearance of the year for Arizona—easily getting the better of the Giants’ Blake Snell, battered in his third start before his bullpen mates totally implode in a 17-1 loss. Montgomery allows a run on four hits through six innings in his Diamondbacks debut; Snell is charged with five runs on nine hits through 4.2 frames before being removed to a mild chorus of boos at Oracle Park. The reigning NY Cy Young winner has an 11.57 ERA so far for the Giants. The Diamondbacks support Montgomery and two relievers more than adequately, racking up franchise record-tying numbers in hits (22) and run differential (+16); the latter mark ties a 2019 game in which Arizona won 18-2 at—wait for it—San Francisco over the Giants.

The silver lining for San Francisco is that their only run comes on a solo homer from Jorge Soler—the first round-tripper by a Giants player at Oracle Park in this, their eighth home game of 2024.

Justin Verlander, whose own 2024 season has been delayed not be free agency but injury, returns to the mound for the first time this year and looks sharp in Houston’s 5-3 win at Washington. Over six innings, the 41-year-old future Hall of Famer allows two runs on four hits, picking up his 258th career victory—tops among all active pitchers. His four strikeouts give him 3,346 lifetime K’s, breaking a 12th-place tie with Phil Niekro on the all-time list.

The Braves topple the Rangers at Atlanta, 8-3, behind the strength of three home runs from catcher Travis d’Arnaud, with his final blast a sixth-inning, tie-breaking grand slam that gives the Braves the lead for keeps. It’s the second hat trick for d’Arnaud, joining Johnny Bench and Gary Carter as catchers with multiple three-homer games.

It’s the first three-homer effort by an Atlanta player since September 2020, when it occurred three times within a nine-day period—two of those coming from Adam Duvall. 

The Orioles have a four-game win streak snapped with a 9-4 loss at Kansas City, also falling one game short of their own MLB record by failing to hit three or more homers for the sixth straight game. Baltimore gets one round-tripper from Adley Rutschman, but the Orioles play catch-up all evening as the Royals break the ice in the fourth and pound away at Baltimore relievers, scoring eight runs between the sixth and seventh innings.

Saturday, April 20

For the second straight night, a Philadelphia pitcher holds the visiting White Sox hitless beyond six innings—in the latter case, seven innings, as Zack Wheeler doesn’t concede his first hit until one out in the eighth. He’s immediately removed after the hit—a Korey Lee single—and the Chicago offense goes on a late splurge after his departure, but it’s too little, too late as the Phillies take a 9-5 victory.

The loss drags the White Sox’ record down to 3-17, as they continue with the worst start in their 124-year history.

Two veteran closers make moves on the all-time saves list. In Pittsburgh, Kenley Jansen wraps up a 4-2 Red Sox win over the Pirates with his 425th career save, moving him into sole possession of fifth place past John Franco. Meanwhile in Kansas City, the Orioles’ Craig Kimbrel puts the brake on a late rally by the Royals (who trailed, 7-0) and earns his 422nd lifetime save, tying Billy Wagner for seventh on the list as Baltimore holds on for a 9-7 triumph.

The Reds defeat the Angels at Cincinnati, 7-5, in a game that features a first-inning grand slam from Tyler Stephenson, a 0-for-0 night (with four walks) for Elly De La Cruz, and yet another injury to beleaguered Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon, who pulls up in pain holding his hamstring while running down the first-base line. A few days later, it will be revealed the hamstring is torn, and that Rendon will likely miss a large chunk of time to recover. This is not the news neither Rendon nor the Angels want to hear, given that he’s being handsomely paid ($245 million over seven years) but has yet to play more than 58 games in any of five injury-riddled seasons thus far in Anaheim.

Sunday, April 21

Shohei Ohtani’s fifth home run of the season for the Dodgers is the 176th of his career—surpassing Hideki Matsui for the most by a Japanese-born player in major league history. His two-run shot in the third inning breaks the ice for the Dodgers in a 10-0 romp over the visiting Mets; Tyler Glasnow keeps the Mets off the scoreboard with eight shutout innings, striking out 10 with no walks.

For all it’s worth: Trevor Bauer, exiled for now, strikes out 14 batters—including a Mexican League record-tying nine in a row—over six shutout innings as the Diablos Rojos del Mexico defeat the Bravos de Leon, 4-0.

Monday, April 22

The Yankees lose at home to the underdog A’s, 2-0, but the even weirder part of the game takes place right up front when Yankee manager Aaron Boone receives one of the strangest ejections in major league history. In the top of the first, Oakland leadoff batter Esteury Ruiz is hit by a pitch and Boone, from his dugout, complains to home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt that Ruiz swung at the pitch. Wendelstedt barks back at Boone that he got the call right, and warns him, “You got anything else to say, you’re gone.”

After the next pitch, Wendelstedt suddenly ejects Boone—who quietly appears to be minding his own business. When Boone realizes what’s happened, he throws his hands up and points to the stands, claiming that it was a fan behind the dugout heckling Wendelstedt. Boone goes out to plead his case, but Wendelstedt isn’t having any of it. “I don’t care who said it,” he tells Boone, “You’re gone!” After the game, Wendelstedt tells a pool reporter that he believed a player in the Yankee dugout, not a fan in the stands, was responsible for the heckling that got Boone ejected—and that he refused to go over and find out who, instead putting the onus on Boone.

Boone has been tossed from 35 ballgames since taking over the Yankees’ managerial reigns in 2018. No other manager has been ejected more since in that period.

Milwaukee pitcher Jakob Junis is struck in the neck from a batting practice liner hit by teammate Alika Williams before the Brewers’ 4-2 loss at Pittsburgh, and is taken away by an ambulance to a local hospital where he’s undergoing further evaluation. Junis, who’s on the injury list with a shoulder issue, is alert and responsive while awaiting transport.

Tuesday, April 23

Atlanta’s Max Fried needs little time and few deliveries to throw his third career shutout, dispensing of the visiting Marlins on 92 pitches in a 5-0 win that takes one hour and 54 minutes. It’s the first nine-inning, complete-game effort by a Braves pitcher since 2022—and the first by any major leaguer throwing 92 or fewer pitches since…Max Fried, in 2021.

For the first time since 2020, Mike Trout bats leadoff for the Angels—and in his first at-bat belts his AL-leading ninth homer of the year, setting the pace for a 7-4 home win over Baltimore. Trout had only logged 15 at-bats at the top of the order since 2013—and hadn’t homered from the spot since 2012, when he hit leadoff throughout much of his breakout season for the Angels.

Alas, poor White Sox. Leading 5-2 going into the bottom of the eighth at Minnesota, the White Sox surrender two runs to see their lead trimmed to a single run; in the ninth, Steven Wilson—looking for his second career save—can’t find it, giving up a leadoff homer to Byron Buxton and, five batters later, a walk-off single to Alex Kiriloff as the Twins snatch a 6-5 victory over Chicago.

The White Sox are now 3-20; only four other teams—the 1988 Orioles, 1936 St. Louis Browns, 2003 Tigers and 2022 Reds—have also lost at least 20 of 23 games to start a season. Only the ’36 Browns (57-95) ended up the season with less than 100 defeats—but if they had 162 decisions instead of the 152 they ended up with, they might had gotten there, too. 

Wednesday, April 24

In the Phillies’ 7-4 loss at Cincinnati, speedster Trea Turner steals his 41st straight base without getting caught, good for the third longest such streak in major league history—then later sees the streak come to an end when he’s caught in a pickle and tagged out between third and home on a double-steal attempt. Only Ichiro Suzuki (45) and Vince Coleman (50) have stolen more consecutive bags without getting caught.

Mike Trout goes deep for his second straight game in the leadoff spot, becoming the first MLB player this year to have 10 on the year; as for his Angels, a ninth-inning rally against Baltimore comes to an abrupt and controversial end when Jo Adell, representing the tying run, is called out attempting to swipe second base for the game’s final out. The Angels appeal the call and, it appears, they have a case—but the umpires along with the video war room back in New York disagree, upholding the call to the disgust of 20,000 fans at Angel Stadium.

The Orioles’ 6-5 win is barely preserved by closer Craig Kimbrel, who notches his 424th career save to tie #6 John Franco on the all-time list. 

Though no MLB players have more homers than Trout, 55 of them do have more RBIs than his 13.

Thursday, April 25

Chicago Cubs rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong, hitless in his first 16 career at-bats, delivers the ultimate game-winning blow when his two-run homer in the sixth inning unlocks a 1-1 tie and sends the Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Astros. The victory improves the Cubs’ record to 16-9, while the Astros drop to 7-19—their worst 26-game start since 1969. (Yes, they weren’t even this bad to start during any of their three consecutive seasons losing 106 or more games in the early 2010s.)

Friday, April 26

The Tommy John epidemic continues. Milwaukee’s Wade Miley announces he’ll undergo the procedure after two wobbly starts in which he allowed five runs over seven innings. The 37-year-old right-hander has a $12 million mutual option for 2025 with the Brewers, who may now feel inclined to pass on their end of exercising the option.

Jackson Holliday’s much hyped major league debut has turned into be a big-time bust, as the game’s top prospect is sent back down to Triple-A after a disastrous start in which he collected just two singles and two walks over 36 plate appearances with 18 strikeouts. No other player in Orioles/St. Louis Browns franchise history has had a worst start over his first 10 career games.

Saturday, April 27

The Red Sox dismantle the visiting Cubs by a 17-0 count, Boston’s third largest shutout victory—and its second biggest ever at Fenway Park, after a 19-0 blanking of the Philadelphia A’s in 1950. Conversely, it’s the second worst shutout loss in Cubs history, surpassed only by their 22-0 home defeat to the Pirates in 1975—yes, the game where the Bucs’ Rennie Stennett went 7-for-7. Starring for the Red Sox from the #9 spot, Ceddanne Rafaela has four hits with seven RBIs and a stolen base; the only other rookie major leaguer to collect as many of each in a game was Bo Jackson in 1987.

In its second year playing international host to MLB teams, Mexico City welcomes two teams struggling with 7-19 records and, not surprisingly, more inflated offense at over 7,300 feet—as the Astros power their way to a 12-4 victory over the Rockies. Going very deep, twice, for the Astros is Yordan Alvarez, who cranks out two of Houston’s three homers at 461 feet apiece; it’s only the third time since 2006 that a player has sent two long balls that far in the same game.

Besides the twin-powered homer performance by Alvarez, catcher Yainer Diaz belts the Astros’ first triple of the year. Houston was the last team without a three-bagger to start the 2024 season.

Tyler Glasnow picks up his first career win over the Blue Jays, riding four early Dodgers runs while allowing a run on two hits over six innings in a 4-2 victory. In nine previously starts against Toronto—all while pitching for Tampa Bay—Glasnow was 0-4 with a 6.86 ERA, 20 walks and nine home runs over 39.1 innings.

Sunday, April 28

About those new MLB uniforms derided by players and fans alike since the start of Spring Training? Kiss them goodbye—and start to see their value as collector’s items jump up on eBay. All of the players’ complaints will be addressed; the names on the back of the jerseys will be enlarged to their previous size—pleasing fans who cited it as their biggest beef—the uniforms will be more sweat-resistant, and the quality of the fabric will be improved so they don’t tear as easily as seen early this season. There is no timetable on exactly when the new ‘old’ jerseys will be put into play, but it won’t be any later than Opening Day 2025.

Although Nike and Fanatics, which partnered to create the new jerseys, have placed the blame for the fiasco upon one another, a memo from the players’ union has its mind set. “This has been entirely a Nike issue,” it says. “At its core, what has happened here is that Nike was innovating something that didn’t need to be innovated.” 

After 26 regular season games to start his career, Texas rookie Wyatt Langford—who led Spring Training with six home runs—finally connects on his first round-tripper. But it’s not what you think; Langford’s deep line drive caroms off the wall in right center at Arlington’s Globe Life Field and eludes outfielders towards the right-field line, allowing him to round the bases. Langford’s sprint caps a four-run first inning, which is just enough for the Rangers as they ultimately hold on and edge the visiting Reds, 4-3.

The White Sox sweep the Rays in a three-game series at Chicago and, in the process, double their win count for the entire season to six. Their 4-2 victory, combined with Miami’s 12-9 home loss to Washington, means that the Marlins now own MLB’s worst record at 6-23, as opposed to the Sox’ 6-22. On the mound, Chicago gets a lift from Erick Fedde, who allows two runs on seven hits and no walks over 8.1 innings to give the Sox their first three-game sweep in nearly 11 months.

For the second straight game, the Yankees score 15 runs against the Brewers at Milwaukee, the first time the Bronx Bombers have scored at least 15 in back-to-back road contests since 1936. Anthony Rizzo goes 4-for-4 with two doubles and a home run to lead the Yankees, while Aaron Judge, with three hits and a homer himself, plays a big role in a seven-run seventh as he breaks up a double play when an attempted throw from the Brewers’ Willy Adames strikes his hand. The Brewers argue that Judge should be called out for interference, but umpires confirm the initial ruling, keeping the inning alive and opening the floodgates for the Yankees to turn the game from a close battle into another rout. After the game, crew chief Andy Fletcher admits that, after seeing the replay, interference should have been called.

Monday, April 29

The Orioles take the first game of an important, early-season home series against the Yankees thanks to second-year third baseman Gunnar Henderson, who leads off the Baltimore first with a solo home run—then scores the game’s other run on an Anthony Volpe error after reaching base on an HBP. Henderson’s homer is his 10th of the season; at age 22, he’s the youngest player in MLB history to reach double figures before the end of April.

No-hit into the eighth inning against the Braves, the Mariners finally get a pair of singles against Atlanta reliever Joe Jimenez—and then in the ninth, Mitch Garver sends the T-Mobile Park fans home happy with a no-doubt-about-it, two-run, walk-off homer to bag a 2-1 victory. Both starting pitchers—the Braves’ Max Fried and the Mariners’ Bryce Miller—take no-hit bids through the sixth inning, the first time that’s happened in nearly three years when Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes and Minnesota’s Jose Berrios similarly dueled. Fried is removed after six hitless innings, having thrown 100 pitches, while Miller makes it through seven, giving up a run on two hits in his final frame.

The Mariners, along with the Cubs—also no-hit through seven innings at New York against the Mets’ Luis Severino—both win their games, as Chicago grabs a come-from-behind, 3-1 victory. Per Sarah Langs’ research, it’s the first time since at least 1961 that two teams have prevailed after being no-hit through at least seven frames on the same day.

In their first meeting against the team that knocked them out of the postseason last year, the Dodgers defeat the Diamondbacks at Phoenix, 8-4, collecting 10 hits, eight walks—and no strikeouts. It’s the first time that Los Angeles avoids whiffing since 2006, and the 44 plate appearances without striking out are the most by any team since Cleveland sent up 46 batters and avoided the K in 2017.

Tuesday, April 30

The Rockies finally play a game in which they don’t trail—and yet they still lose. Or maybe they did trail and thus set a major league record for most consecutive games to start a season in which they are behind at some point—or maybe, they still haven’t set the record. Confusing? Let us explain.

Playing at Miami against the Marlins—the only team in the NL with a worse record than the Rockies—Colorado jumps out to a 5-0 lead in the first inning. From there, Ryan Feltner takes over and keeps the Marlins silent for eight innings, entering the ninth with a chance to secure the Rockies’ first complete-game shutout in two years. That’s when the first three Marlins reach base, with one scoring. Justin Lawrence attempts a rescue from the Colorado bullpen, but the first four batters he faces all reach as well; when he finally gets an out, it’s a sac fly from Emmanuel Rivera to tie the game. The 10th inning eventually ensues, and after the Rockies get their gift runner across the plate, so do the Marlins—and then a second run on Dane Myers’ RBI single to win the game, 7-6, and end Miami’s seven-game losing streak.

Many claim that the Rockies officially trailed by virtue of losing the game, but were they really ever behind? They never actually trailed during the game, just at the end of it. If indeed that’s the official story, then the Rockies have trailed in each of their first 29 games at some point this year—which is said to break the MLB record previously held by the 1910 St. Louis Browns. Or is that the record? The 1957 Washington Senators began their season having trailed in each of their first 32 completed games; their sixth contest of that year, in which they never trailed, was suspended and finished later on May 27, after they had completed 38 earlier games to begin the season. Where’s Ford Frick when you need him?

The Angels simply can’t get a break these days. Less than 10 days after losing oft-injured, high-priced (and underwhelming) Anthony Rendon for a good chunk of the year, it’s announced that superstar slugger Mike Trout will also miss significant time after suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee that will require surgery. How much time Trout will miss isn’t exactly known, but the Angels will say that it’s not a season-ender. Trout was off to a productive start—despite a .220 average, he was co-leading the majors with 10 home runs, while his six steals were already more than he’s collected in any full season since 2019—and hopes were that he could finally put together an injury-free campaign after missing more than half of the Angels’ games over the past three seasons. Now, this.

The Brewers ease to an 8-2 victory over the Rays at Milwaukee, but they can’t seem to get the Rays’ Jose Siri out of their angry little heads. In the third inning with the Brewers already up, 3-0, Siri drills a 452-foot solo homer to straight-away center—and takes his time admiring the drive, angering the Brewers. In his next at-bat, Freddy Peralta drills Siri; Peralta, along with Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy, will both be given the thumb. Two innings later, Siri grounds out, with Brewers reliever Abner Uribe covering at first base; Uribe has a few words for Siri, who hangs around before the two get entangled in a nasty few seconds of brawling which gets quickly broken up. Suspensions and fines are upcoming.

Detroit’s Jack Flaherty, facing off against his former team in the Cardinals, strikes out the first seven batters he faces to tie an AL record. He’ll finish the day with 6.2 shutout innings and a career-high 14 K’s, allowing just two hits—but the Tigers can’t hold on to the slim 1-0 lead he leaves behind, as St. Louis rallies for a pair of ninth-inning runs against closer Shelby Miller to take a 2-1 result in the first game of a doubleheader.

The Dodgers-Diamondbacks game at Phoenix’s Chase Field is delayed over 90 minutes when a swarm of bees settles onto the top of the protective netting behind home plate. A beekeeper eventually arrives and takes care of the issue, allowing the game to go on with Arizona taking a 4-3 decision in 10 innings. Officials are so appreciative of the beekeeper’s efforts that they allow him to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The appearance of bees in the springtime is not uncommon in the Phoenix area; there have been multiple instances of bees interrupting Spring Training games in the Cactus League in recent times.