Sunday brought us a full 15-game slate with plenty of day baseball, so we've got lots to cover.
Here is Katherine Acquavella's look at what we've learned from this past week 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 schedule, scores for Sunday, April 7
FINAL - Yankees 15, Orioles 3 (box score)FINAL - Phillies 2, Twins 1 (box score)FINAL - Nationals 12, Mets 9 (box score)FINAL - Tigers 3, Royals 1 (box score)FINAL - Indians 3, Blue Jays 1 (box score)FINAL - Braves 4, Marlins 3 (box score)FINAL - Pirates 7, Reds 5 (box score)FINAL - Brewers 4, Cubs 2 (box score)FINAL - Mariners 12, White Sox 5 (box score)FINAL - Astros 9, Athletics 8 (box score)FINAL - Cardinals 4, Padres 1 (box score)FINAL - Rays 3, Giants 0 (box score)FINAL - Angels 7, Rangers 2 (box score)FINAL - Red Sox 1, Diamondbacks 0 (box score)Dodgers at Rockies, 8:37pm ET (GameTracker)Sanchez, Yankees use the long ball again Sunday
It appears the Yankees are hitting their stride after a sluggish first week and a rash of injures. They jumped out to a 2-0 second inning lead against David Hess and the Orioles on Sunday. Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier hit back-to-back solo homers. That was only the start of the home run binge in a 15-3 win that clinched a sweep.
All told, the Yankees hit seven -- seven! -- home runs in Sunday's win. Gary Sanchez had three, Frazier had two, and Torres and Austin Romine had one each. It is Sanchez's first career three-homer game and he did have a chance to hit a fourth homer. Alas, he flew out to left field against position player Hanser Alberto.
Sanchez's first home run extended a stretch in which the Yankees scored 18 consecutive runs on a home run. They hadn't scored as many as 16 straight runs on a homer since the Bronx Zoo days in 1977. The last team to score at least 18 consecutive runs on a homer is the 2013 Twins. Their stretch was 23 straight runs.
Torres (Aroldis Chapman trade with Cubs) and Frazier (Andrew Miller trade with Indians) were the prized pickups during New York's 2016 trade deadline sell-off. Sunday was the first time they've gone deep in the same game, though they haven't been in the lineup together all that often. Frazier's had some injuries the last two years and he was only called up last week when Giancarlo Stanton landed on the injured list with a biceps injury.
Dominant Hader goes long in win over Cubs
The Brewers cinched the series win over the Cubs on Sunday, and central to those efforts was lockdown relief ace Josh Hader, who was doing work on the occasion of his 25th birthday. Brewers manager Craig Counsell summoned Hader with one out and runners on the corners and the Brewers clinging to a 4-2 lead in the rubber match. Hader got Kris Bryant to pop up, and then he did this to Anthony Rizzo:
Hader, of course, wasn't done. He was pitching for the first time in five days, so Counsell felt free to stretch him out over the remaining high-leverage frames. Spoiler alert: It went well (for Milwaukee) ...
The @Brewers went to Josh Hader in the 7th inning. He faced 8 batters to end the game:
- Flyout
- Strikeout
- Strikeout
- Flyout
- Flyout
- Strikeout
- Groundout
- Groundout
Hader now has 5 saves in 2019 and hasn't allowed a run. pic.twitter.com/JyCclp2IT1
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 7, 2019
With that suffocating effort, Hader has now registered five saves on the season, and he's struck out 13 of the 25 batters he's faced without allowing a run in 7 2/3 innings. Hader's been one of the most valuable relievers in all of baseball since he debuted in June 2017, and he's been better than ever thus far in 2019. As a partial consequence, the Brewers at 8-2 at the moment have the best record in the NL.
Yes, another #TroutClout
Angels supernova Mike Trout entered Sunday's series finale against the Rangers having homered four times in his last three games. In keeping with recent history, he went out and did this:
That one left the bat at 113 mph and traveled 422 feet. Trout also three walks on the day, and now he's batting .393/.581/1.000 for the season, which is desirable from the standpoint of the batsman. He's also drawn 10 walks this season against just three strikeouts. The only knock on Trout's game is that he strikes out a bit, and if he's attacking that weakness, then, well, get ready for absurdity.
Anyhow, that's the first time in his career that Trout has homered in four straight games. There's also this:
Mike Trout has tied the @Angels record with 5 home runs this series against the Rangers.
He is also the first player in AL history to hit 5+ home runs in his team's first 4 home games of a season.#TheHaloWay
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) April 7, 2019
So Trout now has five home runs on the season, and every other Angel has, oh, a total of four. One-man gang, this guy.
Astros get weird to complete sweep of A's
The Astros pulled to .500 and completed a sweep of the visiting Athletics with their win on Sunday. Houston trailed 8-6 going into the home half of the eighth. Tony Kemp homered for just eighth time in his career to bring Houston a run closer, and then George Springer made it to second on a pop-fly double and eventually scored the tying run on a sac fly.
In the bottom of the ninth, elite closer Blake Treinen ran into trouble and wound up facing Jose Altuve with the bases loaded and two outs. Here's how that went:
Yep, it's the rarely-glimpsed-in-captivity walk-off walk. This is also a game that included one foul ball off the Minute Park roof and one two-run double off the Minute Maid Park roof.
Davis approaching historic hitless streak
While the Yankees were busy hitting home runs, Chris Davis took another 0 for 4 at the plate for the Orioles. Davis is now riding an 0 for 44 stretch dating back to last season, and he's two away from tying the longest hitless streak by a non-pitcher in MLB history.
Here is the futility list:
Eugenio Velez, 2010-11: 0 for 46Bill Bergen, 1909: 0 for 45Dave Campbell, 1973: 0 for 45Craig Counsell, 2011: 0 for 45Chris Davis, 2018-19: 0 for 44Davis last recorded a base hit last September 14, when he doubled against James Shields. He is 0 for 44 with six walks and 27 strikeouts since his last hit, including 0 for 23 with four walks and 13 strikeouts so far in 2019. Dating back to last season, Davis is in a 1-for-62 slump.
The Orioles still owe Davis approximately $92 million through 2022. The team has not yet indicated they are willing to release him and eat all that money.
Braves walk off with fifth win of the week
A week ago Sunday, the Braves were 0-3 and already facing an early crisis. They rebounded to win four straight games, including a three-game sweep of the Cubs, and they won their fifth game of the week Sunday.
Curtis Granderson hit a game-tying home run against Arodys Vizcaino in the top of the ninth, then, in the bottom half, Freddie Freeman reached on a catcher's interference and Dansby Swanson brought him home with a walk-off single. To the video:
Swanson hit a home run earlier in the game, already his third of the season. He has 21.4 percent of last year's home run total in 6.4 percent of the plate appearances.
It's early, but Swanson has shown several encouraging signs so far this season. Going into Sunday's game his average exit velocity (89.9 mph) and hard-hit rate (44.4 percent) were up considerably from last year (86.8 mph and 34.0 percent). It usually doesn't take too long for batted ball rates to stabilize. Swanson's potential breakout is something to keep an eye on.
As for the Braves, they are now 5-4 after starting the season 0-3. Some home cooking in SunTrust Park did them some good. They'll return home for seven more games following a quick three-game road trip to Colorado this coming week.
Reds, Pirates brawl
Derek Dietrich admired his home run against Chris Archer a little too long for Archer's liking on Sunday. The next time up, Archer threw behind Dietrich, and that led to a bench-clearing brawl. Yasiel Puig and four others were ejected.
The best revenge? Hitting another home run. Dietrich hit his second dinger of the game a few at-bats after the brawl. He was not facing Archer, however. The second homer came against Nick Kingham. They all count the same though.
Unfortunately for Dietrich, Archer and the Pirates walked away with the win Sunday. The Reds are 1-8 and they haven't won since beating the Pirates on Opening Day.
Quick hits
The Mets have activated C Travis d'Arnaud off the injured list, the club announced. He has completed his Tommy John surgery rehab. C Tomas Nido was sent to Triple-A in a corresponding move.Brewers closer RHP Jeremy Jeffress is expected to join the team next weekend, reports the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Jeffress has been slowed by a shoulder issue since spring training.Yankees LHP CC Sabathia will make a minor league rehab start Sunday, according to the New York Post. If all goes well, he'll join the team next week. Sabathia is working his way back from offseason knee and heart surgery.Twins 3B Miguel Sano could begin a minor league rehab assignment within a week, according to MLB.com. Sano is working his way back from a right heel laceration suffered in spring training.Tigers LHP Matt Moore may need surgery on his injured knee, reports the Detroit News. Moore exited Friday's start with the injury and was placed on the 10-day injured list after the game.
