Health & Fitness
Daily Baseball Blog: 4/8
A 49-year-old starter made his comeback, while a second baseman fell a single short of the cycle. We dig deeper into the history of missing the cycle by a mere single.
Did You Know
Yesterday, Marlins second baseman Omar Infante missed the cycle (getting a single, double, triple and home run in the same game, not necessarily in order) by a single. Missing by a single is so rare that no player has been that close more than three times in his career. Nine players have missed thrice by single, and five of the nine are Hall of Famers: Hank Aaron, Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Joe Croninand Frank Robinson. The other four, Greg Jefferies, Brian Giles, Ellis Burks and Manny Trillo were all All Stars at least twice in their careers.
This Day in Baseball History
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4/8/1974: Hank Aaron hits his 715th career home run off Dodgers starter Al Downing. Aaron would go 1-3 in the game, then finish his 21st season in the bigs with 20 home runs in 112 games.
News
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49-year-old Rockies starter Jamie Moyer pitched in his first game since 2010. He threw five innings and gave up four runs (three earned) against the Astros.
The Mets signed Jon Niese to a five-year, $25 million extension ($5 million per season).
The Nationals rallied for five runs in the eighth inning against the Cubs to come back and win 7-4.
The Blue Jays and Indians played their second straight extra inning, 7-4 game that ended in a Blue Jays win.
Game Scores
Nationals (2-0) beat the Cubs (0-2) 7-4.
Tigers (2-0) beat the Red Sox (0-2) 10-0.
Rays (2-0) beat the Yankees (0-2) 8-6.
Pirates (1-1) beat the Phillies (1-1) 2-1 (10 innings).
Mets (2-0) beat the Braves (0-2) 4-2.
Dodgers (3-0) beat the Padres (0-3) 6-5 (11 innings).
Top Scorer: Tigers beat the Red Sox 10-0.
Standings
AL East: Orioles, Rays, and Blue Jays (2-0, 1.000 WPCT). AL Central: Tigers (2-0, 1.000). AL West: Mariners (3-1, .750).
NL East: Mets and Nationals (2-0, 1.000). NL Central: Cardinals (2-1, .667). NL West: Dodgers (3-0, 1.000).
AL Wild Cards: Orioles/Rays/Blue Jays (2-0, 1.000). NL Wild Cards: Mets/Nationals and Diamondbacks (2-0, 1.000). Bottom Team: Padres (0-3, .000).
League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Nick Markakis (Orioles) and Kendrys Morales (Angels), .714 (5-7). Home runs: Yoenis Cespedes (A's), 3. RBI: Yoenis Cespedes, 7. Stolen bases: Dee Gordon (Dodgers), 3.
Pitching: Wins: 34 tied with 1. K's: Felix Hernandez (Mariners), 13. ERA: Chad Billingsley (Dodgers), 0.00 (8.1 shutout innings). Saves: Frank Francisco (Mets), Javy Guerra (Dodgers), Brandon League (Mariners) and J.J. Putz (Diamondbacks), 2.
Top Performers
Offensive: Adam LaRoche (Nationals): 4-5, home run (1), 2 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .500 from .000 to .500, hitting streak to 1 game (4-5, .800).
Pitching: Lucas Harrell (Astros): Win (1-0), 7 shutout innings, 3 hits, no walks, 4 K's (4), ERA drop: -.-- runs from -.-- to 0.00.
Worst Pitching Performance: Josh Beckett (Red Sox): Loss (0-1), 4.2 innings, 7 earned runs, 7 hits (5 home runs), 1 walk, 3 K's (3), ERA jump: -.-- runs from -.-- to 13.50.
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Teams followed in this updates: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. BAA: batting average against. K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman