Tuesday brought us a few day games, including the Red Sox's home opener at Fenway Park. The Sox celebrated their 2018 World Series championship with a few special guests featured in a pregame ceremony. The schedule featured 11 night games. Here is everything you need to know about the night in baseball.
Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.
Baseball scores for Tuesday, April 9
FINAL - Indians 8, Tigers 2 (box score)FINAL - Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 5 (box score)FINAL - Rays 10, White Sox 5 (box score)FINAL - Reds 14, Marlins 0 (box score) FINAL - Nationals 10, Phillies 6 in 10 innings (box score)FINAL - Athletics 13, Orioles 2 (box score)FINAL - Twins 14, Mets 8 (box score)FINAL - Cardinals 4, Dodgers 0 (box score) FINAL - Astros 6, Yankees 3 (box score) FINAL - Mariners 6, Royals 3 (box score)FINAL - Braves 7, Rockies 1 (box score)FINAL - Diamondbacks 5, Rangers 4 (box score)LIVE - Padres vs. Giants (GameTracker) LIVE - Brewers vs. Angels (GameTracker)Harper goes deep against Nats (again)
It appears Bryce Harper enjoys playing against his former team. One week after his triumphant return to Nationals Park, Harper hit another home run against his former team Tuesday, this time taking Stephen Strasburg out to left field. It was a three-run opposite field shot.
Here is Harper's fourth home run of the season and his fourth home run with the Phillies:
Through that at-bat, Harper was 6 for 12 with a double, a home run, six runs driven in, four walks, and three strikeouts against Washington. Harper went into Tuesday's game hitting .345/.525/.759 on the season overall, yet he was only second on the team in OPS. (Rhys Hoskins went into the game with a .367/.513/.933 batting line.)
Despite Harper's homer, it was the Nationals who emerged victorious Tuesday night. They chipped away at a five-run deficit and Victor Robles hit a two-strike, two-out, game-tying home run in the ninth inning. In the 10th, Juan Soto clobbered a three-run homer that wrapped around the Citizens Bank Park foul pole. Check it out:
Hard to believe that kid is only 20. Harper blasted another home run against his former team. The Nationals walked away with the win. I have to think they'll trade a homer for a win every day of the week.
Sale struggles again in loss
Three starts into the season, Red Sox ace Chris Sale is 0-3 with a 9.00 ERA. The Blue Jays roughed him up for five runs in four innings Tuesday afternoon. Sale threw 75 pitches and generated 10 swings and misses, though only one on his fastball. He has thrown 88 fastballs this season with only one swing and miss (1.1 percent). Last year, Sale had a 15.5 percent swing-and-miss rate on his fastball.
As for fastball velocity, Sale's heater sat 91.8 mph and topped out at 94.7 mph Tuesday. That was his best velocity of the season but it's still down from years past. His fastball averaged 93.4 mph (97.9 mph max) in April 2018 and 95.3 mph (99.0 mph max) in April 2017. Right now he's topping out around where he used to average.
Asked Sale is he’s ever felt this lost on the mound. “Never in my life,” he said.
— Sean McAdam (@Sean_McAdam) April 9, 2019
The Red Sox said Sale was sick before his last start, which prevented him from going through his usual between-starts routine, and thus reducing his velocity. That's possible, sure, but the team also said Sale was holding back intentionally last September when his velocity was down. Coming up with explanations after the fact creates questions about what's happening in real time.
No matter the problem, Sale has allowed 13 runs in 13 innings this season. It happened and it's in the books. Sale did not allow his 13th run until his 50th inning last season. Also, the Red Sox are now 3-9. Nine losses in 12 games after suffering their ninth loss in their 31st game last year. Boston is already six games out of first place. The Red Sox haven't been that far back since the final game of the 2015 season.
Twins end deGrom's shutout, quality-start streaks
History was not made at Citi Field on Tuesday night. Jacob deGrom went into his start against the Twins with a chance to set two records. First, seven shutout innings would've given him the franchise record. Instead, Mitch Garver took deGrom deep in the second inning, ending the scoreless streak at 27 innings.
R.A. Dickey holds the Mets franchise record with a 32 2/3 scoreless streak set during his 2012 Cy Young season. DeGrom's streak goes into the books as the eighth longest in franchise history. The MLB record is, of course, Orel Hershiser's 59-inning shutout streak back in 1988.
Even after that home run, deGrom still had a chance at another record. A quality start (at least six innings with no more than three earned runs allowed) would've been his 27th straight, setting a new MLB record. That did not happen either. Eddie Rosario's two-run blast gave the Twins a 4-1 lead in the third inning.
Garver took deGrom deep later in that inning as well. It's the first time has deGrom given up three home runs in a game since July 7, 2017. Also, Garver joined Giancarlo Stanton and Mark Teixeira as the only players to hit two home runs in one game against deGrom.
Four runs through three innings meant deGrom's quality start streak was over no matter what happened the rest of the game. Here are the longest quality-start streaks in history:
Jacob deGrom, Mets: 26 (2018-19)Bob Gibson, Cardinals: 26 (1967-68)Jake Arrieta, Cubs: 24 (2015-16)Chris Carpenter, Cardinals: 22 (2005)Several with 21 (Johan Santana in 2004 most recently)All told, the Twins hung six runs on deGrom in four innings Tuesday. It was the first time he allowed as many as six runs in a start since Sept. 5, 2017, when the Phillies tagged him for nine runs (six earned) in 3 2/3 innings.
Reds snap losing streak, offense finally breaks out
For the first time since Opening Day, the Reds won a game on Tuesday night. They snapped an eight-game losing streak with a long-awaited offensive explosion against Jose Urena and the Marlins. The Reds scored 14 runs Tuesday after scoring 16 runs total during the eight-game skid.
Most notably, Matt Kemp, Eugenio Suarez, and Scott Schebler hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning. Jesse Winker and Kyle Farmer also went deep in the game.
Reds outfielders were hitting a combined .111/.170/.162 in 106 plate appearances going into Tuesday's game. That is really, really bad. I mean, good grief. On Tuesday, the three outfielders went a combined 7 for 14 with three home runs and eight runs driven in. That's much more like it.
Merrifield extends hitting streak to 30 games
Very quietly, Royals infielder Whit Merrifield has strung together a 30-game hitting streak. Of course, it dates back to last year, but still, getting a hit in 30 consecutive games is mighty impressive no matter how it happens. Merrifield pushed the streak to 30 games with a triple Tuesday night.
With the triple, Merrifield tied Hall of Famer George Brett for the longest hitting streak in Royals history. Brett hit safely in 30 straight in 1980, when he batted .390 and won the AL MVP. This is the 11th hitting streak of at least 30 games since the turn of the century. Here are the longest hitting streaks since 2000:
Jimmy Rollins, Phillies: 38 games (2005-06)Chase Utley, Phillies: 35 games (2006)Luis Castillo, Marlins: 35 games (2002)Dan Uggla, Braves: 33 games (2011)Several with 30 games (most recently Andre Ethier in 2011 before Merrifield)Thirty games means Merrifield is 53.6 percent of the way to Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game hitting streak in 1941. Congrats, Whit. Now you have to basically do it all over again to break DiMaggio's record.
Highlight of the night: Hamilton scores from second on sac fly
Mariners center fielder Mallex Smith learned an important lesson Tuesday night: Don't give Billy Hamilton any extra time. Smith took a bit too long to get the ball back to the infield after catching a fly ball, which allowed Hamilton to score all the way from second base on a sacrifice fly. Check it out:
Smith can laugh about the play now, though. The Mariners won Tuesday and improved to 11-2 on the young season. They have the best record and run differential (plus-40) in baseball in the early going.
Blunder of the night: Ozuna flops in left field
Marcell Ozuna, my dude, what are you doing here?
I can not un-hear the thud when Ozuna hits the warning track. Goodness. Ozuna can laugh about it -- cameras during the SportsNet LA broadcast showed Kenley Jansen cracked up in the bullpen -- because the play didn't lead to a run and the Cardinals won. That'll be a fine in kangaroo court.
Quick hits
