Here are the scores. Here are the highlights:
Tigers 4, Indians 1: Niko Goodrum and John Hicks homered off of Trevor Bauer, who was touched for ten hits and four runs and couldn’t escape the sixth. Matthew Boyd, meanwhile, came off his double-digit strikeout streak but was still effective and snagged the W by allowing one run over six. Detroit has won six of seven. They’ve played twelve games and Shane Greene has eight saves. These things are not sustainable, obviously.
Rays 9, White Sox 1: Tyler Glasnow was filthy, striking out 11 guys in six shutout innings in which he allowed only two hits. He is 3-0 with a 0.53 ERA on the year. Austin Meadows, meanwhile, was 3-for-3 with a homer and three RBI. He has four homers on the year. Gettin’ a sense that the Rays won the Chris Archer trade, folks. Tommy Pham hit two homers for Tampa Bay in the rout.
Padres 3, Giants 1: A good pitching matchup between Padres rookie Nick Margevicius (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6K) and Giants second-year starter Derek Rodriguez (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5K) but a sixth inning Manny Machado homer put San Diego on top and the Giants had no offensive answer. Kevin Pillar homered to keep his hot run alive, but there just aren’t any real threats up and down San Francisco’s order. Machado flashed some good leather in this one too, which not only helps validate his signing but validates calling Fernando Tatis Jr. up too. If they played service time manipulation with him Machado is likely playing short, where he is merely adequate, not third, where he is a significant defensive asset.
Reds 2, Marlins 1: Down 1-0, and in the process of being one-hit in the eighth, the Reds got solo shots from both José Iglesias and Jesse Winker for the lead and, ultimately, the win. Iglesias played some sweet defense earlier in this tight one as well, putting a stop to a couple of Marlins scoring threats. Long term the Reds obviously prefer Scooter Gennett, and obviously Iglesias is not some All-Star or anything, but it’s still rather amazing to me that he had to settle for a late spring training minor league deal this year given how useful a player he is.
Athletics 10, Orioles 3: The A’s smacked five homers with Khris Davis smacking two of them. The second one was the 200th dinger of his career. He drove in four. Matt Chapman drove in three. The other slugging Davis — Chris, of the Orioles — was 0-for-1 in pinch hitting duties, so his ignominious streak continues.
Nationals 15, Phillies 1: Washington scored 15 runs without the aid of a homer. Matt Adams led the way with four RBI, but everyone in the Nats lineup hit. In this they picked up where they left off on Tuesday night when they rallied to beat Philly in extras. Here they scored three in the first off Nick Pivetta and kept on rattling out hits. Seventeen in all, with seven walks. They outscored the Phillies 24-1 in the final 15 innings of the series. The only thing that went OK for Philly was an inning of decent relief — with two strikeouts and some high gas! — from outfielder Aaron Altherr.
Mets 9, Twins 6: Jake Odorizzi and Twins relievers put together what is easily the worst inning of pitching we’ve seen so far this season, allowing seven straight batters to reach base without a hit or an error in the bottom of the fifth. They walked six and hit a batter without recording an out and, at one point, threw 19 balls in a span of 21 pitches. Minnesota started the inning with a 1-0 lead and, after a one-out single, found themselves down 4-1 before another hit was allowed. Just stunning work. Meanwhile, Noah Syndergaard was shutting the Twins down, at least for a while. He’d tire later to allow the Twins to pull close and Edwin Diaz allowed them to pull a bit closer in the ninth but this game was all about that train wreck of a fifth inning.
Astros 8, Yankees 6: Two homers for José Altuve, a dinger and three driven in for Carlos Correa and a sweep of the Yankees in Houston. Collin McHugh allowed two runs on four hits while striking out nine in six innings for his second straight win. The Yankees made it closer late but leave Houston without a win for the first time ever.
Cardinals 7, Dodgers 2: Marcell Ozuna atoned for his . . . unique approach to outfield defense on Tuesday with a nice night on Wednesday. The Cards left fielder went 3-for-4 with a home and two driven in while Yadier Molina hit a two-run shot and knocked in three. Jack Flaherty was in control all evening, allowing one run on three hits over six. The Cards have won four in a row. The Dodgers have lost three straight.
Pirates 5, Cubs 2: Jordan Lyles struck out 10 in six while Francisco Cervelli and Starling Marte homered on a cold and blustery night in the Windy City. Yu Darvish allowed five runs — four earned — and five hits in 5.1 innings, but he didn’t walk anyone so I suppose that’s progress. Jason Heyward had three hits, including a homer. He has stated the season hitting .371/.452/.714 with four jacks, so I guess not all of Chicago’s high-priced free agents are doing poorly at the moment.
Mariners 6, Royals 5: It was tied at five in the ninth when Mitch Haniger hit a two-out homer that gave the Mariners the 6-5 lead that would turn into the 6-5 final. It also had the benefit of extending the M’s games-to-start-the-season-with-a-homer streak to 14, tying the season-opening mark of the 2002 Indians. Whit Merrifield broke George Brett’s team hitting streak record in a losing cause. He did it on a bunt single in the bottom of the seventh. They all count. His 31-game hitting streak is baseball’s longest since Dan Uggla hit in 33 consecutive games in 2011 with the Braves. In Swedish, “Uggla” means “owl.”
Rangers 5, Diamondbacks 2: Lynn struck out nine over six and the Rangers rallied late after being no-hit into the fifth inning. Hunter Pence hit a homer in the hot tub behind the right field fence:
Baseballs float so they should call balls hit into that pool “floaters.” I got a million ideas like this, folks. Eventually someone from Major League Baseball will call me.
Angels 4, Brewers 2: No Mike Trout, no problem, as the Angels win their sixth straight. There wasn’t a ton of offense, but they bunched it all together nicely, scoring all their runs on four hits in the third inning. Justin Bour had the “big hit” with a two-run single. This is the first time the Brewers have been swept in any series since last July.
Braves vs. Rockies — POSTPONED:
She’s long gone
Where is Mary?
She’s taken her along
But they haven’t put their mittens on
And there’s fifteen feet of pure white snow?
Where is Mark?
Where is Mathew
Now it’s getting dark?
Where is John? They are all out back
Under fifteen feet of pure white snow
Would you please put down that telephone
We’re under fifteen feet of pure white snow
