The early games on Thursday included what will end up likely being the biggest baseball news of the day: Albert Pujols joined an elite club that includes either three or five players, depending upon who you ask. Yeah, we'll get to that.
We'll actually get to a lot more once the dust has settled here on this fine Thursday. It started in the 1:00 p.m. ET hour and will run at least 12 hours later. Stick here throughout and we've got you covered.
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Baseball schedule and scores for Thursday, May 9Angels power up, Pujols joins 2,000 RBI club
The milestone of the day was Angels slugger Albert Pujols reaching rarefied air in driving home the 2,000 run of his career. The 2,000-RBI club includes Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, A-Rod, Cap Anson and Pujols, though MLB officially only recognizes Aaron, A-Rod and Pujols since RBI wasn't an "official" stat until 1920. For more on Pujols, the full story is here.
Here's the blast that was home run 639 and RBI 2,000:
Pujols must have inspired his teammates to drive in some runs, notably via the long ball. The Angels' 13 runs was their highest output of the season. Their 16 hits matched a season high (April 18). They clubbed five home runs, also a season high.
How about Tommy La Stella? He hit two homers in this one, giving him nine in just 105 plate appearances this season. Coming into this season, he had 10 homers in 947 career plate appearances. His previous totals by year and plate appearance:
2014: 1 (360 PA)
2015: 1 (75 PA)
2016: 2 (169 PA)
2017: 5 (151 PA)
2018: 1 (192 PA)
Not only that, but La Stella previously only had one two-homer game in his career. The one Thursday marked the third of this season.
Also of note: Shohei Ohtani picked up his first hit of the season and grabbed another, going 2 for 4 with an RBI.
The Angels have won eight of their last 12 and head to Baltimore looking to keep the momentum going.
Carrasco bounce-back outing cut short by rain
Indians starter Carlos Carrasco has been knocked around a few times this season. His numbers through three starts were brutal, but then he had two straight scoreless outings. His last two times out, though, he was back on the negative side, giving up eight runs on 13 hits in 14 1/3 innings (5.02 ERA).
On Thursday afternoon, he looked great and was cruising before the game was called due to pretty heavy rain. Originally, it seemed like the delay would be too long for him to continue past his five scoreless innings (which included two hits and six strikeouts against zero walks). But the game was then called, meaning Carrasco will receive credit for a complete game.
Giants, Rockies play in the snow
The Giants and Rockies entered Thursday's contest with identical 16-20 records. As such, it's fair to write their contest was safely flying underneath the radar.
Still, anytime a baseball game played in May features snow, well, we're going to at least highlight it. Take a look at the scene from Coors Field:
That is, as the kids say, quite cold. Thankfully, the Rockies whipped up an appropriate image to commemorate the occasion (snow-ccasion?):
Quick hits
