The Month That Was in Baseball: April 2025

Tuesday, April 1

Los Angeles fans are realistically hoping to see their Dodgers go 162-0 this season. It’s beginning to seem like they might just get their wish. Against the suddenly anemic Atlanta Braves, the Dodgers get five innings of one-hit ball from Dustin May—the injury-wracked pitcher making his first appearance in almost two years—and a go-ahead home run in the sixth by Mookie Betts off Braves ace Chris Sale to help clinch a 3-1 victory. With a 7-0 start, the Dodgers are the first defending World Series champion since the 1933 New York Yankees to win their first seven games. It’s their best start since moving to Los Angeles in 1958; they started 10-0 in 1955, the year they won their only World Series in Brooklyn. Meanwhile, the Braves are 0-6 with nine runs scored. They remain the lone winless MLB side to begin the 2025 campaign.

It’s not that the Dodgers are already running away with the NL West—yet. The Padres are the majors’ only other undefeated ballclub, winning the season’s first six games for the first time in franchise history with an easy 7-0 victory over the visiting Cleveland Guardians. Michael King strikes out 11 over five shutout innings, allowing the Guardians’ only two hits on the night.

The Padres’ Luis Arraez, batting champion over each of the past three seasons, finally gets his first hit after a 0-for-18 start at the plate. Only Ferris Fain—who began the 1952 season hitless in his first 21 at-bats—had a worse start after winning the batting title the previous year.

The Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi throws the first complete game of the year, allowing four hits and striking out eight over 99 pitches in a 1-0 win at Cincinnati. Wyatt Langford’s solo homer in the first inning is all the offense Eovaldi needs for his fourth career complete game and second shutout. (His career numbers say five CGs and three shutouts, but they count a five-inning blanking shortened by rain at the end of the 2022 season. We aren’t.)

No Texas pitcher went the distance for the entire 2024 season; the Rangers were one of 12 teams without a complete-game performance.

The Minnesota Twins finally wake up and grab their first win with an 8-3 triumph over the White Sox at Chicago. The eight runs scored by the Twins are more than the six they notched in their first four games combined—though they don’t erase the goose egg until racking up five runs in the sixth, the first two of those charged to White Sox starter Shane Smith in his major league debut. That ends a season-beginning streak of 28 straight innings by White Sox starters without allowing an earned run.

Victor Robles punches out a leadoff single at Seattle against the Detroit Tigers, but the Mariners will go 0-for-25 the rest of the way at the plate, dropping a 4-1 decision. Casey Mize also walks three batters in his 5.2 innings of work for the Tigers. Seattle starter Logan Gilbert strikes out 10 over five frames of work but is tagged with the loss.

Unable to secure an offseason contract, pitcher Lance Lynn announces his retirement from the game at age 37. The right-hander came off an admirable 2024 campaign in which he finished 7-4 with a 3.84 ERA for the St. Louis Cardinals. Over 13 years at the major league level, Lynn secured a 143-99 record and 3.74 ERA, earning two All-Star roster spots and a World Series ring with the 2011 Cardinals.

Wednesday, April 2

Extensions rule the day, as two very young, talented ballplayers and an established veteran each have their financial future secured.

San Diego center fielder Jackson Merrill, a week away from turning 22, is given a nine-year, $135 million extension from the Padres. The contract includes a $30 million team option for 2035, which would revert to a player option should Merrill finish in the top five of the MVP vote in any season before then. Merrill becomes the fifth active member of the Padres to be given a contract over $100 million—and thanks the Padres with two hits including his second homer of the young season in a 5-2 home win over Cleveland, improving the team’s record to 7-0.

The Boston Red Sox ink Kristian Campbell, who made his major league debut on Opening Day, for eight years and $60 million. Club options for a ninth and 10th season would total an additional $40 million for the 22-year-old second baseman, who drills two doubles and raises his early season average to an even .400 in a 3-0 win at Baltimore.

Finally, the Arizona Diamondbacks tear up their existing contract with veteran second baseman Ketel Marte and grace him with a six-year, $116 million extension. Incentives could give Marte’s deal a total value of $149 million. Marte has a single and two walks in Arizona’s 4-3 victory at New York over the Yankees, with Zac Gallen striking out 13 over 6.2 shutout innings to earn the win.

Back to the Red Sox and the sagas of Rafael Devers and Garrett Crochet. In that 3-0 win over Baltimore, Devers snaps out a horrible season-opening slump, lacing an RBI double in the fifth to bring home the Sox’ final run; it’s his first hit after starting the year 0-for-21 with 15 strikeouts. (He’ll add a second hit, a single, in his final at-bat of the day.) On the mound, Crochet—fresh off signing his own extension worth $170 million—proves his value by allowing no runs on four hits and a walk over a career-high eight innings, striking out eight. His 102 pitches are one short of a personal high.

At St. Louis, Ivan Herrera becomes the first catcher in Cardinals history to launch three homers, going deep in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings to help the Redbirds to a 12-5 pounding of the Los Angeles Angels. Herrera is the fifth Panama-born player to turn the hat trick, following Carlos Lee, Hector Lopez, Adolfo Phillips and Ben Oglivie—who did it three times for Milwaukee.

The Dodgers surpass the 1933 Yankees and become the defending champions with the longest winning streak to begin a season. It takes a comeback, as Los Angeles scores two runs in the eighth to tie, and then a one-out solo homer from Shohei Ohtani in the ninth to walk it off, 6-5. The thrilling win on the first Ohtani bobblehead night of the year (before over 50,000 at Dodger Stadium) gives the Dodgers an 8-0 record; the Braves are now 0-7.

With the Dodgers’ win, the top four teams in the NL West (Dodgers, Padres, Diamondbacks and Giants) are a combined 24-3. The last-place Colorado Rockies, who have so far managed to avoid the other four teams on the schedule, are nevertheless off to a poor 1-4 start.

For the first time ever, the average MLB salary checks in at over $5 million, according to data collected prior to Opening Day from the Associated Press. It represents a 3.6% increase from 2024 figures. However, the median salary—the point at which half the players make more, the other half less—decreases to $1.35 million; the all-time high still remains $1.65 million from 10 years ago, thus continuing the trend of higher-priced players taking a higher percentage of the overall money. Team-wise, the Mets start the year with the highest payroll at $322 million, followed closely by the Dodgers at $319 million. Seven other teams have payrolls over $200 million, with five under $100 million—bottomed out by the Miami Marlins at $64 million.

Thursday, April 3

The Reds lose their third straight game by a 1-0 score, getting edged out at Milwaukee on Sal Frelick’s RBI single in the fourth inning. The 1960 Phillies were the last team to drop three straight games by a 1-0 margin; before that, you have to go back to the Deadball Era when four teams similarly suffered.

The next night, the Reds will go scoreless for another seven innings before notching a pair in a 3-2 loss to the Brewers. Their run-scoring drought of 35 innings is the longest since 1946.

It’s another bizarre outing for the Rockies’ Antonio Senzatela. In a 3-1 loss at Philadelphia, the Colorado starter goes 5.1 innings, allowing 10 hits but just one run—an unearned tally in the fifth. In two starts this year, Senzatela has thrown 9.1 innings and given up 19 hits—but no earned runs; the last pitcher to allow that many hits over consecutive starts without being charged with an earned run was Jaime Navarro in 1993.

Friday, April 4

The three teams with a “0” somewhere in their record each have it erased.

The Dodgers will not go 162-0, as many of their fans had (perhaps) truly hoped. At the Phillies’ home opener, the defending champs are neutered by Jesus Luzardo, who allows just two hits and two walks through seven shutout innings. Trailing 3-0 headed into the ninth, the Dodgers finally crack the goose egg with a pair of runs off shaky closer Jordan Romano, but run themselves out of the rally when Chris Taylor is tagged out on a stolen base attempt of second to end the game.

Taylor’s deletion at second is one of three stolen base attempts ending unsuccessfully for the Dodgers. Also getting tagged out at second is Shohei Ohtani, ending a streak of 36 stolen bases without getting caught. Davey Lopes’ 38 straight from 1975 remains the club record.

Also tasting defeat for the first time this season are the Padres, who after seven straight wins bow to the Cubs in their home opener at Chicago, 3-1. Shota Imanaga goes 7.1 innings for his second win in as many starts, while the Cubs eke out their runs with 11 baserunners—only three of whom reach by hit.

The Dodgers and Padres are the first pair of teams since 2003 to begin the season winning each of their first seven (or more) games.

On the flip side, the Braves discover that there’s no place like home, blitzing the visiting Marlins 10-0 for their first win after a horrid 0-7 road swing to begin the season. Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson each hit their first homers of the season, and Spencer Schwellenbach strikes out 10 over eight shutout innings, allowing two hits and no walks.

Cleveland star third baseman Jose Ramirez becomes, already, the third major leaguer this young season to hit three homers in a game, establishing the hat trick in the Guardians’ 8-6 win at the Angels’ home opener in Anaheim. It’s Ramirez’s second career three-homer game and 26th with at least two, tying Albert Belle and Jim Thome at the top of the franchise leaderboard.

Aaron Judge continues his stellar season start, ruining the Pirates’ home opener at Pittsburgh with his MLB-leading sixth homer of the year in the Yankees’ 9-4 victory. His two-run shot in the seventh, capping the scoring for New York, gives him 17 RBIs; no player has had as many homers and RBIs through his first seven games of a season.

The home run by Judge is the 321st of his career in this, his 1,000th career game. Babe Ruth, in his first 1,000 games as a Yankee, also hit 321 round-trippers.

Saturday, April 5

The Dodgers end their one-game losing streak with Roki Sasaki looking much better to start, and Tanner Scott highly efficient to finish. In a 3-1 victory at Philadelphia, Sasaki is again limited in innings (four) but at least looks like he knows what he’s doing, allowing a run on three hits and two walks. With home runs by Michael Conforto and Kiké Hernandez providing the Dodgers with their day’s offense, Scott closes out the Phillies in the ninth with three outs on three pitches—the second a double-play grounder after Bryce Harper reached on an infield single.

Scott is the first pitcher to earn a three-out save on as many pitches since Mariano Rivera in 2003.

It’s a bad day-turned-good day for the Athletics’ Jacob Wilson at Colorado. In the second inning, the second-year shortstop hits into a classic around-the-horn triple play—the first turned by the Rockies in 10 years—and two innings later grounds out with multiple runners again on base for the third out. But in the sixth, Wilson launches a double down the left-field line, scoring two and giving the A’s a lead they’ll never relinquish in a 7-4 victory.

Wilson extends his streak of plate appearances without striking out to 55, the longest current run in MLB. He’ll strike out twice the next day to end the streak.

The Yankees continue to drill, baby, drill. After trailing early, New York piles on eight unanswered runs, three coming on Trent Grisham’s second home run on the day, handing the Pirates a 10-4 loss at Pittsburgh. Grisham’s pair of bombs give the Yankees 25 on the year, the most ever by any team through its first eight games of a season; the Rockies, Braves and Astros have each scored fewer runs at this point.

The Pirates’ 2-7 start is infuriating for Pittsburgh fans who sense another year of low-budget ineptness, with assailed ownership being the default punching bag. But young star Paul Skenes begs to differ, saying after the game that owner Bob Nutting and manager Derek Shelton “aren’t the ones playing.” He adds, “If we’re 8-0…the fans aren’t booing. We’ve got to play better.”

Sunday, April 6

Count one major superstar off the free-agent market this coming winter. The Toronto Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have reached a deal in which the first baseman/slugger will be paid $500 million over 14 years. None of the money is deferred, and there are no reports of any opt-outs, though it’s likely that more details regarding the contract will be made public in the days to come. Having just turned 26 last month, Guerrero is a four-time All-Star and 2021 AL MVP runner-up when he batted .311 with 48 home runs and 111 RBIs. (Shohei Ohtani won the award because he also pitched.) On the eve of Spring Training, Guerrero said he wouldn’t negotiate with the Jays during the season and wait until becoming a free agent; many believed that $500 million would have been a starting figure that would grow with competition for his services.

Should Guerrero stay a Blue Jay through the length of the contract and not be curtailed by major injuries, he is almost certain to become the franchise’s all-time leader in virtually every major offensive statistic by the time he retires.

The Dodgers are no longer leaders in the NL West—technically, anyway. In San Francisco, the Giants win their seventh straight game with a walkoff 5-4 victory over Seattle, improving to 8-1 on the young season and putting them percentage points ahead of Los Angeles—who drop to 9-2 after suffering an 8-7 defeat at Philadelphia. After the Mariners tie the game in the top of the ninth, the game turns on its last two pitches in the bottom half of the frame. The first is struck by Patrick Bailey deep down the right-field line and results in a sensational catch by Seattle right fielder Victor Robles—whose impact with the foul netting is so jarring that he suffers a separated shoulder, leaving him in severe pain and in need of a cart to take him off the field. (He’s expected to miss 12 weeks.) The second pitch is roped into short right-center by pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores to bring home the winning run; it’s the 13th time in the last 11-plus seasons that Flores has won a game in a walkoff role, tying him with Bryce Harper during the same time span.

Monday, April 7

In advance of their three-game series in Washington against the Nationals, the reigning world champion Dodgers visit are feted by President Donald Trump at the White House. The team tries hard to quell any political drama—Mookie Betts is present after being a no-show for a similar visit in 2021 when Trump was in office, and manager Dave Roberts said there were no “formal” discussions of whether players wanted to attend or not. Trump, however, can’t help but go into Mean Girls mode by refusing to formally name Congressional Democrats from California attending the event. Other than that, the ceremony is normal.

The St. Louis Cardinals lose to the Pirates at Pittsburgh…and lose out on matching somewhat obscure, start-of-season baseball history. In an 8-4 defeat, the Cardinals rack up nine hits, leaving them short of 10 for the first time this season. Their nine games with at least 10 safeties in each to begin a season is the second longest such streak, trailing only the 1999 Cleveland Indians (10 games). Maybe it would have helped the Cardinals had they played Nolan Arenado, who came into the day with the majors’ longest active hitting streak (15 games) before having to sit out the game with a “general illness.”

Tuesday, April 8

The collapse of a roof at a popular and crowded nightclub in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic claims the lives of former reliever/closer Octavio Dotel, one-year major leaguer Tony Blanco, and the sister of former slugger Nelson Cruz. The overall death toll will eventually rise to over 200. The 51-year-old Dotel and Cruz are both pulled from the rubble alive, but later die while in transit to or at a nearby hospital. In a 15-year career, Dotel played for 13 MLB teams—the most for any MLB player after Edwin Jackson—and made 758 appearances with 109 saves, a 59-50 record and 3.78 ERA. Blanco played a small part of the 2005 season with the Nationals, but had a thriving career in Japan as he hit over 30 home runs three times—including a powerful set of numbers in 2013, batting .333 with 41 homers and 136 RBIs for Yokohama. Blanco was 43.

The Cardinals make Paul Skenes more mortal than any other team yet, pinning five runs on the young Pirates ace over six innings before his removal in St. Louis’ 5-3 win at Pittsburgh. Skenes’ previous career high in runs allowed was four last August against the Dodgers, also in six innings.

The A’s win their first game in five tries at their temporary home in Sacramento, tagging the Padres with six runs in the first inning and coasting from there to a 10-4 victory. San Diego starter Dylan Cease gives up a career-worst nine of those runs; A’s starter Jeffrey Springs survives a rough start of his own and pitches six innings for the win. In defeat, a first-inning solo home run for the Padres’ Manny Machado gives him 1,000 career runs, joining eight other active major leaguers who’ve reached the milestone. Freddie Freeman leads all actives with 1,300.

It’s too cold to score runs at Cleveland, where the Guardians and White Sox play in first-pitch temperatures of 35 degrees. It takes a bases-loaded walk conceded by former Cleveland pitcher Mike Clevinger to Nate Jones to break the ice—perhaps literally, as well as figuratively—and give the Guardians a 1-0 win. It’s the first time such a score has been determined by a walkoff walk since 2009.

Wednesday, April 9

In only the second game of the Gift Runner Era (since 2020) in which a scoreless game goes into the 12th inning, the Pirates emerge as a 2-1 winner over St. Louis on Joey Bart’s RBI single in the 13th. Bart considers himself lucky to even still be around at the end of the game given his collision with teammate first baseman Endy Rodriguez that nearly gets a run across for the Cardinals in the eighth. St. Louis starter Erick Fedde keeps the Pirates quiet through the first six innings, allowing no hits—but his four walks do necessitate his removal after 88 pitches. Fedde is the second starter this season to throw six or more hitless innings without finishing the game; you can bet there will be more such outings as the year progresses.

The Giants salvage a win and avoid a home sweep by the visiting Reds, taking an 8-6, 10-inning victory on Mike Yastrzemski’s two-run shot into the bay waters behind Oracle Park’s thin right-field bleachers. It’s Yastrzemski’s third walkoff “splash hit”; only two other players—Barry Bonds and Brandon Crawford—have done it, and just once.

Thursday, April 10

The Angels rip apart the Rays at Tampa, 11-1, behind a trio of players (Taylor Ward, Mike Trout and Jo Adell) each hitting two homers. Both of Adell’s shots are hit in an eight-run fifth inning, making him the third player in franchise history to achieve the feat. It’s also the third time ever that the Angels have benefitted from three players each going deep twice.

Friday, April 11

Much like last year, the White Sox haven’t been winning very often—but when they’ve been coming out on top, they’ve been doing it with a hammer. Chicago snaps an eight-game losing skid by crushing the visiting Red Sox, 11-1; in their three wins this year, the Sox have outscored their opponents by a 28-2 margin—while being outscored 46-18 in their 10 losses. Add it all up, and the White Sox’ run differential this season is -2 in spite of a 3-10 record.

Contributing to the White Sox’ romp is Boston’s defense, which came into the game already having committed more errors (14) than any other MLB team. The Red Sox get charged with another five miscues on the night, leading to six unearned Chicago runs.

On a miserable, cold and rainy night at New York, the Yankees and Giants barely get in an official result—and it’s one the Yankees wish they hadn’t experienced. The first pitch is delayed 26 minutes due to the wet weather, and once it’s time to play ball, the Yankees have big trouble throwing strikes. By the top of the sixth inning, the game is called with the Giants well out in front, 9-1; San Francisco amasses only six hits but is granted 11 walks by starter Marcus Stroman and four Yankee relievers. Never has an MLB team walked more batters in a game lasting less than six innings.

Saturday, April 12

The 2025 Dodgers may very well be strong enough to erase baseball’s all-time best record. But if they do, it will come with the satisfaction from haters that they did so while suffering their worst-ever shutout defeat at home. The visiting Cubs dominate by a 16-0 score, piling on 14 of their runs over the final three innings—with five notched in the ninth off emergency pitcher Mel Rojas. Roki Sasaki is absolutely fine in his third start of the year for Los Angeles, allowing one run on four hits and two walks over five innings, but he’s still looking for his first career win in America. Leading the charge offensively for the Cubs is Michael Busch, who belts out two doubles and a home run among his four hits, and Carson Kelly, who reaches base in all five of his plate appearances, including a pair of homers.

In terms of run differential, the Dodgers’ worst-ever home defeat remains a pair of games from the early 20th Century lost by scores of 20-2; their worst defeat, ever, was a 23-2 drubbing at Cincinnati in 1940.

While the Dodgers’ blowout loss ends a nine-game home winning streak in regular season play, their divisional rivals to the south continue theirs into record-setting territory. The Padres triumph at Petco Park over the Rockies, 2-0, for their franchise-best 13th straight win going back to the end of the 2024 regular season. (San Diego did lose one playoff game at home last October—to the Dodgers.) Fernando Tatis Jr.’s leadoff homer in the first is all the Padres and starter Kyle Hart (six shutout innings, one hit, no walks) need to win. It’s the second straight shutout thrown by the Padres, and their fifth overall in the young season.

Don’t blame Kyle Farmer for the Rockies’ inability to generate any offense. In their two shutout losses to the Padres, Framer gets credit for five of Colorado’s seven total hits, including three doubles. Farmer is batting .375 thus far in the season, while the rest of the Rockies are plodding along with a .213 figure.

The Braves ride the long ball late in a 5-4, comeback win at Tampa over the Rays to give them their first road victory of the year after eight losses. Sean Murphy blasts two of the homers for Atlanta, while Michael Harris II’s two-run shot in the ninth breaks a 3-3 tie.

Steinbrenner Field, the Rays’ temporary home while Tropicana Field sits damaged without a roof, is proving not only to be too small in terms of seating capacity but also field dimensions. While the Rays are 6-5 at the 11,026-seat facility, they’ve given up 19 home runs—although 14 of those have been solo. Blame cozy acreage that includes a short ride of 318 feet down the left-field line, and 314 down the right.

It takes 14 games, but the Orioles finally give closer Felix Bautista—or anyone else in their bullpen—a chance to record a save. Baltimore overcomes an early 3-0 deficit to the visiting Blue Jays—including the first home run of the year for ex-Oriole Anthony Santander, in his old ballpark—and takes a 5-4 lead to the ninth. Taking the ball, Bautista walks two but otherwise records his first save since before undergoing Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2023 season, when he saved 33 games in 56 appearances with a 1.48 ERA to earn All-Star status.

Sunday, April 13

The Padres finish off a three-game sweep of the visiting Rockies, not even allowing a run in the series as they triumph in the finale by a 6-0 score. It’s the first time that San Diego has swept a series of three or more games without allowing a run. On the flip side, it’s the first time that the Rockies have been shutout in three straight games, punching out just nine total hits in the process. Going the distance on the mound for the Padres is Michael King, who allows two hits and a walk on an MLB season-high 110 pitches. It’s the first career complete game and shutout for the 29-year-old King.

In his fourth start for Boston, Garrett Crochet faces his former team in the White Sox and lets them know how much they’re going to miss him. The 25-year-old southpaw takes a no-hitter one out into the eighth inning before Chase Meidroth’s single ends both the bid and Crochet’s night, as the Red Sox’ bullpen takes over and secures a 3-1 victory at Chicago. Only two pitchers since 1961 have taken a no-hit bid deeper into a game in their first appearance against a former team.

The Rays deliver an 8-3 blow upon the visiting Braves in a game that features one of the more unusual pitching lines you’re ever going to see. Tampa Bay starter Joe Boyle throws five hitless innings but allows two runs, both unearned. Boyle is the sixth pitcher in the modern (post-1900) era to allow two or more unearned runs, but no earned runs and hits, over five-plus innings.

The Cubs take care of the Dodgers at Los Angeles, 4-2, extending their early lead in the NL Central to two games with an 11-7 record. But satisfaction is balanced out with the somber; before the game, it’s learned that top Chicago pitcher Justin Steele will undergo season-ending elbow surgery. The 29-year-old lefty with one Tommy John procedure already in his past has been one of the Cubs’ sure and steady starters over the past three years—highlighted by a 16-5 record and 3.06 ERA in 2023—but he was off to a rough start this season, posting a 4.76 ERA despite a 3-1 record.

Monday, April 14

The Pittsburgh Pirates, batting just .184—the lowest figure by any NL team through its first 16 games of a season since the 1907 Brooklyn Superbas—break out with their first double-digit run total on a season-high 14 hits as they dispense of the visiting Nationals, 10-3. The benefactor of the win is Paul Skenes, who’s sharp as usual (six innings, three hits, no walks, six K’s) and also shares in a bit of history when Henry Davis replaces injured starting catcher Endy Rodriguez in the first inning; Skenes and Davis become the first-ever battery consisting of players both selected as the overall #1 pick in the MLB Amateur Draft. Davis was selected first in 2021, followed two years by Skenes.

The Rays tee off on the visiting Red Sox, busting out to a 14-1 lead after just three innings and coasting from there to a 16-1 victory—the most lopsided winning margin in franchise history. Yandy Diaz immediately sets the tone by becoming the first Rays player to belt a leadoff homer in back-to-back games; by the time the carnage is done, every member of the Rays’ starting lineup has at least one hit, RBI and run each, the second time that’s happened in Tampa Bay history. On the mound, Shane Baz is masterful for the Rays as he strikes out a career-high 11 batters over six innings while allowing just a run on two hits.

It’s cold and depressingly empty at Target Field, where an announced crowd of 10,240—officially the smallest in the ballpark’s 16 years, outside of pandemic restrictions—sit through another Twins loss as the visiting Mets ease to a 5-1 victory. Juan Soto smashes his second homer of the year, while Pete Alonso safely reaches in all four of his plate appearances, with two singles and two walks.

Minnesota is 5-12 to start the year, which ties the worst record for the team after 17 games since moving to the Twin Cities in 1961.

It’s even worse for the Rockies, who establish their worst start after 16 games to begin a season. They do at least score, notching three runs late at Los Angeles after failing to plate in 32 previous innings. It’s all too-little, too-late for Colorado as they drop a 5-3 decision to the Dodgers and Dustin May, who fires six solid innings for his first win in nearly two years. The Rockies’ 3-13 record is the worst in MLB, as is their -46 run differential. 

Tommy Helms, NL Rookie of the Year in 1966 and an All-Star in the two seasons to follow, passes away at the age of 83. A reliable supporting member of the teams he played for, Helms was a steady contact hitter with little power, playing solid defense at second base which earned him a pair of Gold Gloves. He also figured in two large trades that helped build the teams he left; he was shipped from Cincinnati to Houston in the 1971 trade that brought Joe Morgan and Jack Billingham to the Reds, and early in 1977 was dealt from Oakland (for whom he never played a game for) to Pittsburgh in a deal that sent Tony Armas, Rick Langford and Mitchell Page to the A’s. Over 14 major league seasons, Helms batted .269 on 1,342 hits; he also served as the interim manager for the Reds late in 1989, after Pete Rose was banned from the game by commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti.

Tuesday, April 15

It takes 10 innings, but the Cubs defeat the Padres at San Diego, 2-1, ending the Padres’ franchise-record streak of 15 straight regular season home wins dating back to last year. Nico Hoerner’s leadoff triple in the 10th brings home gift runner Dansby Swanson, while the Padres leave their automatic runner 90 feet short of home plate in the bottom of the extra frame as the last out is recorded.

Leading the majors in home runs is…you guessed it, the A’s Tyler Soderstrom. For the third time this year, the 23-year-old first baseman goes deep twice in a game, knocking in six runs as the A’s derail the White Sox at Chicago, 12-3. Soderstrom has eight homers on the young year—just one short of his entire 2024 total played over 61 games.

Wednesday, April 16

Spencer Strider makes his regular season return to the Braves a year after elbow surgery—but it’s opposing Blue Jays pitchers who are doing all the striking out in a 3-1 win. In five innings of work, Strider gives up a pair of runs on five hits with five K’s, but his hitting mates are constantly swinging and missing against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt (five shutout innings, 10 strikeouts) and four relievers; by day’s end, the Jays rack up 19 strikeouts to set a nine-inning franchise record.

While the Braves’ other injured, absent star of 2024 (2023 MVP Ronald Acuna Jr.) has still yet to play this season, the top three batters in the Atlanta lineup—Michael Harris II, Austin Riley and Matt Olson—go a combined 1-for-12 with 11 strikeouts against the Blue Jays.

Strider will go back on the injury list five days later after straining his hamstring playing catch in between starts.

Switch-hitting Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh belts two solo home runs—one from each side of the plate—to account for the Mariners’ final two runs in a 5-3 win at Cincinnati. The twin blasts give Raleigh 100 career homers, while it’s the fourth time he’s gone deep from both sides of the plate in the same game. Only five other players in the history of the Mariners have enjoyed switch-hit, multi-homer games—with each of those players only doing it once.

Thursday, April 17

Oneil Cruz leads off the bottom of the first with a home run for the Pirates—and that’s all the scoring that will be seen on the day as Pittsburgh takes a 1-0 decision over the visiting Nationals. Holding up the slim lead for 7.1 shutout innings is Andrew Heaney and two relievers. It’s only the second time since 1900 that the Bucs have won a 1-0 game in which their lone run came on a leadoff homer in the first inning.

The Yankees play the role of visitors at the ballpark they normally call home during Spring Training, defeating the Rays 6-3 at Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field—currently being used as a temp home for Tampa Bay in light of the roof-shredded Tropicana Field. Ben Rice has four hits and drives home two runs for New York.

In his seventh major league start, former top pitching prospect Kumar Rocker earns his first win as he delivers seven innings for the Rangers in their 4-3 home win over the Angels. The 25-year-old Rocker had gone 0-4 in his previous six starts with a 5.87 ERA; against the Angels, he strikes out eight and walks none. After Rocker throws his last pitch in the seventh, Corey Seager helps earn him winning status with a tie-breaking homer in the bottom of the frame.

Friday, April 18

A full house at Wrigley Field stands and stretches for the seventh inning stretch with their Cubs up 2-1 over the Arizona Diamondbacks—unaware of the offensive explosion both teams are about to light the fuse to. Over just the next inning and a half, both teams will combine for 21 runs on 20 hits, including six home runs—two of those grand slams, by Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez and the Cubs’ Ian Happ. The Cubs’ 2-1 lead becomes 7-1 at the end of the seventh; the Diamondbacks rebut with 10 in the top of the eighth to grab an 11-7 advantage; the Cubs then respond to the response, notching six more runs in the bottom half of the inning to make it 13-11 in their favor. That score will stick to the end.

It’s the first time in MLB history that both teams each score 10 or more runs after the sixth inning of a nine-inning game. It’s also the seventh time that a team has won despite allowing 10 or more runs to an opponent.

An Arlington crowd of 38,623 is disappointed to learn that the visiting Dodgers are without Shohei Ohtani, who’s back in Los Angeles to be with his wife for the birth of their first child—and more disappointed that the Rangers can’t take advantage. Tommy Edman channels Ohtani from the leadoff spot with three hits including a home run, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto is excellent in throwing seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks in the Dodgers’ 3-0 win. Taking the loss for the Rangers is Jacob deGrom, who is worthy of earning victory by allowing just a run on three hits through seven innings; it’s the most frames he’s pitched since April 11, 2023.

Saturday, April 19

Last season, there were nine MLB games in which both teams scored 10 or more runs. In the past two days, there have been three such games alone—the first three of the young season.

In Philadelphia, the Phillies build up a commanding 11-4 lead after eight innings and, with a seemingly safe lead, hand the ball in the ninth to struggling reliever Jordan Romano. The former Toronto closer nearly blows the whole thing up, allowing six runs on six hits (including two home runs) before being removed to a rain of boos from home fans; Jose Alvarado comes in to clean up the mess, get the final out, and pin down an 11-10 victory for the Phillies.

Later in a chilly Denver, the Nationals enter the seventh inning stretch with a 12-2 lead thanks to Dylan Crews’ two homers and Mackenzie Gore’s 13 strikeouts over six dominant frames. On paper, the 10-run advantage looks comfortable—but as has been said countless times, no lead at Coors Field can ever be considered comfortable. Sure enough, the Rockies make a game of it by plating eight runs in the bottom of the seventh—then threaten anew in the ninth, bringing home one more run and putting the tying run on third before Kyle Finnegan strikes out Jordan Beck to end it.

For the Rockies, who drop their seventh straight game, their 17 strikeouts against the Nationals are tied for the most they’ve ever suffered at Coors Field.

The struggling Braves get a boost from Alex Verdugo, the veteran outfielder who signed late in Spring Training with Atlanta and began the season in the minors. In just his second game since being called up to the parent team, Verdugo cranks out four hits from the leadoff spot—scoring the Braves’ first run and, in the sixth, knocking home the eventual game-tying tally as Atlanta clips the visiting Twins, 4-3. It’s the first time all year that the Braves (7-13) have won back-to-back games.

The home runs come in bunches for the Orioles in a 9-5 home win over Cincinnati. Cedric Mullins and Gunnar Henderson hit back-to-back smashes to start the first inning against Reds ace Hunter Greene—who for the first time this season looks mortal—and in the seventh, Ramon Laureano and Jordan Westburg also go deep in consecutive at-bats to keep the Reds at arm’s length. The homer for Laureano is his second of the game, making him the sixth player in franchise history to hit multiple homers in a game he did not start; he had replaced Heston Kjerstad, who left after getting plunked on the elbow by Greene.

Sunday, April 20

The Brewers are in a running mood, stealing six bases in a four-run first against the visiting A’s—then swipe three more bags over the next three innings to set a team mark with nine overall. The only reason the Brewers don’t try more in the latter innings is that they’re so far ahead, as they’ll finish the day winning a 14-1 romp. Brice Turang leads Milwaukee with three steals, followed by Sal Frelick’s two; Frelick attempts a 10th stolen base in the fifth inning, but is gunned down—the only time on the day that a Brewers runner is caught stealing.

It’s not a typo: The Reds really do defeat the Orioles at Baltimore, 24-2. A seven-run second puts Cincinnati well ahead to stay, adding more and more as the day wears on; during the final two innings, the Reds pound away at not one but two position players-turned-pitchers (shortstop Jorge Mateo and catcher Gary Sanchez), both making their major league debuts on the mound. Mateo gives up five runs in his one inning of work, while Sanchez allows four on two hits and a walk; they each hit a batter as well. The bottom of the order reigns most prodigiously for the Reds; eighth-place batter Noelvi Marte is 5-for-7 with two doubles, a home run and seven RBIs; Austin Wynns, batting ninth, goes 6-for-7 with five singles and a homer. The combined 11 hits from the 8-9 batters set an MLB record; the 13 RBIs between Marte and Wynns is one short of another mark.

The 24 runs are the second most plated by the Reds in a game; their 22-run margin of victory ties a franchise record previously set in 1902. Conversely, it’s the second highest amount of runs allowed by the Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards; the top tally remains the all-time-record 30 plunked upon them by the Texas Rangers in 2007.

The Padres squeeze out a 3-2 win at Houston on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s tie-breaking solo homer in the seventh, but the moment everyone is talking about is a brutal collision at first base between perennial batting champ Luis Arraez and Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubon in the first inning, as the latter races over to cover the bag on a bunt attempt. Arraez is out, in more ways than one; after the crash, he remains virtually motionless on the ground, is carried off the field on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital. (Dubon, meanwhile, somehow survives the collision without pain.)

Surprisingly, Arraez is released from the hospital and reappears in the Padres’ clubhouse shortly after the game, walking under his own power. He will stick around Houston overnight for observation, and will return to action eight days later.

The White Sox, continuing to rewrite the depths of their futility even after losing a record 121 games in 2024, finally win on the road for the first time this season with a come-from-behind 8-4 victory at Boston. Of the six unanswered runs scored by Chicago over the final three innings, two come on an eighth-inning homer from Andrew Vaughn against Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks—making his first appearance in nearly two years as he endured an especially long recovery from Tommy John surgery. The eight road losses to start a season had set a White Sox nadir.

Monday, April 21

A day after scoring 24 runs in Baltimore, the Reds head to Miami and run into a brick wall by the name of Max Meyer. The 26-year-old Marlins pitcher with 17 major league starts and a career 4.97 ERA to his credit shuts down the Reds with six shutout innings, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out 14 batters in a 6-3 home win. Only three other pitchers in Marlins history had previously struck out 14 with no walks: Sandy Alcantara, Dan Straily, and the late Jose Fernandez—who did it twice.

The Guardians’ Jose Ramirez knocks in three runs on a first-inning home run, then caps the scoring with an RBI single in the sixth to give Cleveland a 6-4 win over the visiting Yankees. Ramirez’s homer gives him 668 career extra-base hits, moving him past Tris Speaker for second on Cleveland’s all-time list; he has a shot of surpassing #1 Earl Averill (724) by season’s end.

The Red Sox defeat the White Sox 4-2 in their traditional Patriot’s Day morning game at Fenway Park, with Walker Buehler allowing a run on four hits through seven innings for his third win in a Boston uniform. Buehler spends the night before at a nearby hotel so he doesn’t have to deal with the distraction and difficulty of nearby traffic and street closures related to the Boston Marathon, also taking place on the day.

Tuesday, April 22

The wind is blowing out at Wrigley Field as the Cubs and Dodgers take the field, and those salivating for abundant offense are not disappointed—as will Cubs fans with the outcome. The over/under of 8.5 total runs is exceeded before the second inning is done, as six home runs are eventually parked over the fence—the last being Miguel Amaya’s ninth-inning shot that sends a 10-10 game into extra innings. In the 10th, it will be Ian Happ’s leadoff single that will bring home the gift runner and hand Chicago a 11-10 victory.

The Cubs have scored 10 or more runs in seven of their first 25 games this season, the best such start for the club in the post-1900 modern era.

The Rays and Diamondbacks, even steven in debuts (1998), all-time regular season wins (2,100) and even all-time playoff wins (28), face off in Phoenix where the DBacks will go one up with a 5-1 victory. Brandon Pfaadt (six innings, one run allowed on four hits) and Pavin Smith (ninth double, fourth home run) continue their hot starts for Arizona.

The news goes from bad to worse for the White Sox—if that was considered possible. The Pale Hose receive news during the day that veteran starting pitcher Martin Perez, off to a good start (1-1, 3.15 ERA in four outings) in his first year at Chicago, will undergo elbow surgery that will end his 2025 season. Later in the evening, the Sox go out and lose at Minnesota, 4-2, dropping their record to 5-18. That mark ties for the second worst 23-game start in franchise history—bested (or worsted) by the 3-20 pratfall out of the gate just last season.

Wednesday, April 23

The Rangers lose at Sacramento to the A’s, 5-2, but there’s a silver lining for Texas outfielder Joc Pederson as his pinch-hit double snaps a dreadful 0-for-41 slump—the longest in Rangers history. During his long slide, Pederson had walked three times and struck out 13.

Thursday, April 24

German Marquez becomes the first pitcher in Rockies history to reach 1,000 career strikeouts, whiffing three in an otherwise short and unimpressive outing giving up six runs on eight hits over four innings as Colorado falls to the Royals at Kansas City, 7-4. Marquez is 0-4 on the year with a 9.30 ERA; with this loss and a later evening defeat (6-2), the Rockies drop to 4-20 on the year. That’s the worst start in franchise history through 24 games.

Friday, April 25

Facing the team he had his least impressive start against last year as a rookie, Paul Skenes revs up and silences the Dodgers at Los Angeles with 6.1 shutout innings, nine strikeouts, no walks and a career-high 108 pitches in a 3-0 win. Even after the departure of Skenes—who improves to 3-2 with a 2.39 ERA—the Dodgers fail to rally against the Pittsburgh bullpen, as three relievers limit the Dodgers to just a hit and walk over the final 2.2 innings.

Do the Marlins have the second coming of Aaron Judge…or Rece Hinds? In just his third game at the major league level, 23-year-old Agustin Ramirez doubles and, in the eighth, connects on a two-run homer that’s the first of his career to pull Miami away from the Mariners at Seattle, 8-4. In his three games with the Fish, Ramirez is 7-for-10 with five extra-base hits, four of them doubles. No major leaguer had previously collected as many hits (and extra-base hits) over his first three games.

A day after hitting his first three homers of the season in a rain-created doubleheader at Kansas City, second-year Colorado outfielder Jordan Beck belts two more round-trippers in the Rockies’ 8-7 home loss to Cincinnati. He’s the second player since Ty Cobb (in 1925) to hit his first five homers on the year within a two-day period.

Saturday, April 26

For the 19th time in major league history, a player blasts four home runs—and for only the third time, the team that he does it for loses. Arizona slugger Eugenio Suarez goes deep in the second, fourth, sixth and ninth innings—his last bomb tying the visiting Braves, who rebound in the 10th to prevail, 8-7. Three of Suarez’s homers are solo shots; he shares historical irony with Ed Delahanty (1896) and Bob Horner (1986) as the only players to hit four homers in what will end up as a losing effort.

The last player to go four-deep was also a Diamondback: J.D. Martinez, who achieved the feat in 2017. Only the Phillies have had three players with four homers in a game—Delahanty, Chuck Klein (1936) and Mike Schmidt (1976). 

Suarez’s fourth homer is his 10th of the year, making him the first MLB player this season to reach double figures. Seattle’s Cal Raleigh will join him with his 10th a day later.

The Mariners tie a franchise record with their most lopsided shutout, smashing the visiting Marlins by a 14-0 count. Jorge Polanco drills two of Seattle’s four homers, while Luis Castillo allows just one hit through six shutout innings. Three times in the past, the Mariners had won games by a 14-0 score—the last two taking place in the 2000 season.

The largest baseball crowd of the year doesn’t take place between two MLB teams, but rather an exhibition game in South Carolina featuring the Savannah Bananas with a sold-out crowd of 81,000 fans at Memorial Stadium, home to Clemson’s college football team. The Bananas, baseball’s answer to the Harlem Globetrotters and recently profiled by 60 Minutes, wins its game—but the huge crowd is really on hand to be entertained by the Bananas’ theatrics, which includes crazy stunts, dancing, and fan interactions. There are at least 37 more games on the schedule for the Bananas this season, most of them at big-league ballparks and NFL-sized stadiums; almost all of them are expected to sell out.

Saturday, April 27

The Giants maintain their slim lead in an incredibly competitive NL West with a wild finish at home against Texas. In the bottom of the ninth with the game tied at 2-2, Rangers closer (and former Giants reliever) Luke Jackson’s first pitch to Heliot Ramos is a soft grounder to the side of the mound that Jackson picks up and throws wildly past first base. Ramos races to second and briefly stops, before seeing third base coach Matt Williams frantically motioning to him to bolt for third. Ramos does, and the attempted throw to nail him also goes wild—allowing Ramos to get back up and scamper the final 90 feet for a game-winning Little League home run. (The play is actually ruled as an infield base hit with two errors.) The walkoff win improves San Francisco’s record to 19-10.

For the first time since 2020, an MLB team steals home in consecutive games as Boston’s Remy Gonzalez turns the trick in the Red Sox’ 13-3 rout of the Guardians at Cleveland—a day after Jarren Duran had swiped the plate. But things get ugly in the seventh when Duran confronts a fan in the Progressive Field stands allegedly taunting him about Duran’s attempted suicide in 2022, something he revealed in the Netflix documentary detailing the Red Sox’ 2024 season. Duran is restrained by teammates and umpires, then stands at the top dugout step as he watches security apprehend the fan—who had been trying to escape among the crowd of 24,621. He is thrown out of the ballpark, and the Guardians later release a statement apologizing to Duran and the Red Sox.

Monday, April 28

The Mets’ Brandon Nimmo ties a franchise record by driving home nine runs in New York’s 19-5 romp over the Nationals at Washington. Nimmo, who entered the game with 12 RBIs over his first 27 games, collects his ribbies with a grand slam, three-run homer and two-run double; the only other Mets player to drive home nine in a game was Carlos Delgado in 2008.

The 19 runs give the Mets nine games in team history in which they’ve scored at least 18—with all of those games taking place away from their home park.

Jose Altuve, now playing left field after years at the second base spot, is granted his wish to move from the leadoff role to the #2 slot in the batting order to reduce his chances of having to run further off the field and spending reduced time prepping to bat leadoff. In his first game in the #2 role, Altuve smacks a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth—then, an inning later, bunts home another run as the Astros take an 8-5 victory over the visiting Tigers.

Tuesday, April 29

For an unprecedented second time in a season, the Yankees hit home runs in each of their first three at-bats, as Trent Grisham, Aaron Judge and Ben Rice tee off on Baltimore’s Kyle Gibson. The fifth batter of the New York first, Cody Bellinger, also goes deep; Rice will add a second homer of his own in the second, as Gibson—making his first start back with the Orioles since spending last year with the Cardinals—is removed in the fourth, having allowed nine runs. The Yankees will ultimately win in a 15-3 rout, giving plenty of support to starter Carlos Rodon—who doesn’t allow a Baltimore baserunner until the sixth.

There had been nine previous instances of a team going three-deep to start a game; none of them did it twice within a season. 

Over their storied history, the Yankees have hit four homers in the first inning of a game twice—both in 2025. Overall this year, they’ve smacked 14 bombs in the first inning—one more than the Kansas City Royals have hit in all innings so far this season.

Wednesday, April 30

With ace Cole Ragans on the shelf, the Royals call up Noah Cameron for his first major league appearance—and he takes a no-hitter into the seventh inning before the opposing Rays notch a hit off him, ending his night at 79 pitches. The bullpen will take over and complete a 3-0 shutout at Tampa. The 25-year-old Cameron is the first southpaw to take a no-no into the seventh inning of a major league debut since the Red Sox’ Billy Rohr in 1967. In that game, Rohr was a strike away from completing the no-hitter before conceding a single to the Yankees’ Elston Howard. Rohr would go on to win three games in a short two-year career.

The Rockies end an eight-game skid as rookie Chase Dollander keeps a lid on the visiting Braves and outduels Chris Sale in a 2-1 victory. The win helps Colorado avoid matching the 1988 Orioles for the worst 30-game start in MLB history, triumphing for only the fifth time against 25 losses. Brenton Doyle’s solo homer in the third ends up being the winning run as neither team scores thereafter; between the Rockies and Braves, hitters are 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Tony Gonsolin returns to the mound for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks with nine strikeouts over six innings as the Dodgers pummel the Marlins for the second straight game, 12-7. (They won the previous game by a 15-2 count.) Gonsolin last pitched on August 18, 2023, also against Miami—getting battered for 10 runs over 3.1 innings before going under the knife.

In Pittsburgh, a shirtless fan falls uncontrollably from the top of the 21-foot right-field wall onto the warning track at PNC Park just as the Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen is reaching second base on a two-run, seventh-inning double that will ultimately give the Bucs a 4-3 victory over the Cubs. Medical personnel from both dugouts quickly race out to assist the man, who lies motionless with his face bloodied. After five minutes, as players from both teams take a knee and somberly look on or look down in prayer, the fan is rushed to a local hospital where he is listed in critical condition with a broken neck, clavicle and back.