Watch: A-Rod ties Mays with 660th homer
Like it or not, history was made Friday night. Alex Rodriguez tied Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time list with his 660th career home run. Only Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762) have hit more homers in baseball history.
The home run itself was significant within the game. The Yankees and Red Sox were tied 2-2 at Fenway Park, and A-Rod hit a pinch-hit go-ahead solo homer off Junichi Tazawa in the eighth inning. That gave New York a 3-2 lead and they eventually held on to win by the same score.
Obviously Rodriguez’s performance-enhancing drug transgressions taint his career home total. We have to question its validity. At the same time, we don’t know how many pitchers A-Rod took deep over the years that were using PEDs themselves. That’s just the nature of the so-called Steroid Era.
Bonds, of course, played in the same era when he set all the all-time home run record. Babe Ruth played in the pre-integration era, so he didn’t face the best possible competition. Aaron and Mays played when amphetamine use was rampant. Players took greenies by the handful in the clubhouse on a daily basis. That was baseball at the time.
PED ties or not, A-Rod did something Friday night only four other players have done in history. It’s going to be a very long time before we see another played hit 660 career home runs — Albert Pujols is second among active players with 523 homers — and when someone does reach that milestone, I’m sure we’ll have reason to question their homer total as well.
A-Rod made history Friday night. (USATSI)
Welcome to The Eye. It is here you’ll find a monster of a daily recap post for Friday’s action. Recaps, injury news, rumors, fun stuff and a look ahead to Saturday. Make sure you check back Saturday morning just to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Friday’s MLB action (Full scoreboard)
Cubs 1, Brewers 0 (Box score): The Cubs’ offense missed lots of opportunities, running into several outs on the bases and stranding runners, throughout the game. They gathered nine hits, three walks and a hit batsman (Anthony Rizzo with his eighth of the year), but the only run was Addison Russell‘s solo homer in the third. That would stand up, as Jon Lester worked seven scoreless innings and then Pedro Strop and Hector Rondon shut the door. The Cubs are now 13-8 while the Brewers fall to 5-18.
Rays 2, Orioles 0 (Box score): Alex Colome and four Tampa Bay relievers combined to blank the O’s in St. Pete. The game was technically a home game for the O’s. The ongoing civic discord in Baltimore forced the three-game series to be relocated. For the Rays, Evan Longoria went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
Indians 9, Blue Jays 4 (Box score): Mark Buehrle got knocked around (eight runs on 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings) and saw his 2015 ERA rise to 6.75. Across the way, Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley and Brett Hayes each homered for Cleveland.
Mets 4, Nationals 0 (Box score): In a battle of aces, Matt Harvey and Max Scherzer each pitched exceptionally well. Scherzer struck out 10 and walked walked one while allowing one run over 7.0 innings, and Harvey tossed 7.0 shutout frames, walking one and striking out three along the way. The host Mets plated three runs in the eighth against the Washington bullpen to pull away.
Yankees 3, Red Sox 2 (Box score): The story of course was Alex Rodriguez, whose pinch-hit dinger tied him for fourth place on the all-time home run list with Willie Mays (660). Elsewhere, Yanks lefty CC Sabathia pitched solidly after getting battered by the Mets his last time out, and the Yankee bullpen turned in 3.0 shutout innings.
Marlins 4, Phillies 3 (Box score): The Marlins won for the eighth time in their last nine games as they walked it off against the visiting Phils. In the ninth, Giancarlo Stanton scored the winning run on Marcell Ozuna‘s third double of the night. Dee Gordon went 3-for-4 with a walk and is now batting .423/.437/.495 on the season.
Braves 4, Reds 3 (Box score): The Atlanta bullpen worked 4.0 scoreless innings, and Kelly Johnson homered. Cincy starter Anthony DeSclafani walked five in 5.0 innings of work. Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz, meantime, allowed five stolen bases.
Athletics 7, Rangers 5 (Box score): Down 5-0, the A’s plated seven runs in the eighth inning against three different Texas relievers. Outfielder Mark Canha went 2-for-4 with a homer. For Texas, Prince Fielder and Kyle Blanks each went deep. The Rangers have now lost four in a row.
Royals 4, Tigers 1 (Box score): Starter Chris Young and reliever Ryan Madson held the Tigers hitless for 7.0 innings, as the Royals have now taken the first two of this key early four-game set. The Royals’ three-four-five hitters (Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales) combined to go 7-for-12.
Cardinals 2, Pirates 1; 10 innings (Box score): Matt Adams went the other way for a bases-loaded, walk-off single in the 10th. Starter Lance Lynn struck out 10 and walked one while giving up one run in 7.0 innings. His counterpart, A.J. Burnett, blanked the Cardinals for 6.0 innings while allowed just two hits. Matt Carpenter notched his MLB-leading 14th double of the season.
Astros 4, Mariners 3 (Box score): Break up the Astros! Houston won its eight straight game Friday night, scoring all their runs on homers. Evan Gattis (two-run), Jake Marisnick (solo) and George Springer (solo) did the honors. Nelson Cruz and Logan Morrison went deep for Seattle. Jose Altuve had two more hits. He has multiple hits in nine straight games and is hitting exactly .500 during that stretch.
Twins 1, White Sox 0 (Box score): The only run of the game scored on a Jose Quintana wild pitch in the fifth inning. That was all Kyle Gibson would need — he held the ChiSox to three singles, one double and one walk in eight shutout innings. The Twinkies have won five of their last seven games and Chicago hasn’t won since Sunday due to losses and postponements.
Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 0 (Box score): A Justin Turner solo homer and a Joc Pederson grand slam gave Los Angeles a 5-0 lead in the second inning. Carlos Frias, filling in for the injured Brandon McCarthy, allowed four singles and a walk in 5 1/3 innings.
Giants 3, Angels 2 (Box score): The Giants and Angels traded runs from the top of the seventh through the top of the eighth innings, with David Freese‘s sac fly in the eighth tying things at 2-2. A Buster Posey leadoff single in the ninth set the game-winning rally in motion. He walked, was replaced by pinch-runner Gregor Blanco, who was bunted to second. Blanco moved to third on a wild pitch then scored on Joe Panik‘s walk-off pinch-hit single.
Padres 14, Rockies 3 (Box score): San Diego scored four runs in the fourth but really blew things open in the eighth. The first nine men they sent to the plate in the inning reached base, leading to eight runs. Poor Jorge Rondon gave up all eight runs (seven earned) and recorded zero outs. San Diego has scored 119 runs in 24 games this season. They didn’t score their 119th run until game 42 last season.
Milestone Watch
First homer: Addison Russell hit his first career home run, giving the Cubs a 1-0 lead early (watch it here).
Here’s the victimized cowhide orb in question …
Two leadoff homers: Both Josh Donaldson and Jason Kipnis led off the first inning with a home run on Friday. I figured it would have been a while since one game featured two leadoff homers, but apparently not:
As implied above, yes, Josh Donaldson of the Jays is batting leadoff, and he’s doing so for the first time in his career. Perhaps some measure of proof is called for in this instance …
As it turns out, yes, that’s the first time in his career that Donaldson has batted leadoff. Donaldson, with his 19 career steals, is of course not your prototypical leadoff hitter. However, teams are increasingly prioritizing on-base skills over speed in the first hole, and on that front it’s worth noting that Donaldson, since his breakout season of 2013, has run an OBP of .363.
Daily Awards
Internet-created image of the day
This is pretty great.
Nostalgia of the day
The Nationals have an Expos sticker on one of their old equipment trunks.
First step of the day
Let’s admire the quick reflexes of Jacoby Ellsbury, with an assist from Statcast …
Throw of the day
Jason Heyward, in a tight contest between NL Central contenders …
Catch of the day
Juan Lagares doing things in the manner of Juan Lagares …
Contract of the day
Here is Sandy Koufax’s contract for the 1959 season, which paid him $15,000. The CPI Inflation Calculator tells me that is $120,990.72 in 2015 dollars.
Koufax had not yet hit his peak in 1959. He had a 4.48 ERA (93 ERA+) in 158 2/3 innings 1958 and a 4.05 ERA (105 ERA+) in 153 1/3 innings in 1959. It wasn’t until 1962 that Koufax went his on historically great five-year run before retiring at age 30.
Injuries, News & Rumors
Blue Jays: A collarbone injury has Devon Travis out of the lineup. Also, Daniel Norris has been optioned to the minors.
Brewers: Carlos Gomez will likely return to the lineup Saturday (Adam McCalvy).
Diamondbacks: Archie Bradley will throw in the bullpen this weekend. (Jack Magruder)
Dodgers: Yasiel Puig (hamstring) will begin a minor league rehab assignment soon. Top prospect Corey Seager is headed to Triple-A.
Giants: Hunter Pence (forearm) took batting practice Friday. Matt Cain (elbow) will begin throwing off flat ground in 7-10 days. Jake Peavy (back) will throw a bullpen session this weekend. (CSN Bay Area)
Indians: T.J. House has landed on the DL.
Mariners: Hisashi Iwakuma is throwing, but he’s still three to four weeks from a return (Greg Johns).
Mets: Matt Harvey says he’s feeling the best he’s felt all year.
Nationals: Denard Span has felt some soreness since returning from a core muscle injury (washingtonpost.com).
Phillies: Ryan Howard will qualify for 10-and-5 no-trade protection Saturday. (Philadelphia Daily News)
Carlos Quentin: He’s in the process of retiring, reports Ken Rosenthal.
Rays: Jake McGee (elbow) is not expected to return until late May. (Tampa Bay Times)
Reds: Homer Bailey will undergo Tommy John surgery.
Red Sox: Ryan Hanigan suffered a broken bone in his hand when he was hit by a pitch that ricocheted off the batter. The team will call up top catcher prospect Blake Swihart.
Royals: Alcides Escobar has been placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list. Also, Greg Holland will throw a 25-pitch simulated inning Saturday (Josh Vernier).
White Sox: Adam Eaton is out of the lineup due to illness (Daryl Van Schouwen).
Looking Ahead to Saturday’s MLB action (all times ET)
It’s Saturday, so obviously we get a full 15 games. Gotta love baseball.
Yankees (Nate Eovaldi) at Red Sox (Wade Miley), 1:35
White Sox (Hector Noesi) at Twins (Ricky Nolasco), 2:10
Pirates (Francisco Liriano) at Cardinals (John Lackey), 2:15
Brewers (Mike Fiers) at Cubs (Jake Arrieta), 2:20
Angels (Hector Santiago) at Giants (Tim Hudson), 4:05
Blue Jays (Aaron Sanchez) at Indians (Corey Kluber), 4:10
Phillies (Cole Hamels) at Marlins (Dan Haren), 4:10
Tigers (David Price) at Royals (Edinson Volquez), 7:10
Nationals (Gio Gonzalez) at Mets (Jon Niese), 7:10
Reds (Jason Marquis) at Braves (Eric Stults), 7:10
Mariners (Taijuan Walker) at Astros (Collin McHugh), 7:10
A’s (Drew Pomeranz) at Rangers (Nick Martinez), 8:05
Rockies (Jorge De La Rosa) at Padres (Brandon Morrow), 8:40
Diamondbacks (Jeremy Hellickson) at Dodgers (Scott Baker), 9:10
The Last Word
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