Baseball's first full weekend of games kicked off Friday with all teams playing a 3-game series.
Here's a brief synopsis of each game in all the series from Friday April 5th - Sunday April 7th:
Detroit won their home series vs. the New York Yankees 2 games to 1.
Friday - Prince Fielder hit 2 HRs and drove in 5 runs as the Tigers won 8-3.
Saturday - Miguel Cabrera went 4-4 as the Tigers had 17 hits in the 8-4 win.
Sunday - C.C. Sabathia pitched 7 shutout innings and the Yankees beat Justin Verlander 7-0 to avoid the 3-game sweep.
Kansas City won their road series vs. Philadelphia 2 games to 1.
Friday - The Royals pounded out 19 hits in the 13-4 victory as Kansas City spoiled the Phillies home opener.
Saturday - Pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen hit a bases clearing 3-run double to give the Phillies the 4-3 walk-off win.
Sunday - Billy Butler hit a grand slam and drove in 7 runs as the Royals held on for a 9-8 win.
Cincinnati won their home series vs. Washington 2 games to 1.
Friday - The Reds smacked 6 HRs in the 15-0 rout of the Nationals.
Saturday - The Nationals won 7-6 after blowing a 9th inning lead, only to be saved by an Ian Desmond HR leading off the 11th inning.
Sunday - Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto out-pitched Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg, while Jay Bruce drove in 3 runs in the 6-3 win.
Boston won their road series vs. Toronto 2 games to 1.
Friday - Mike Napoli & Will Middlebrooks each homered in the 6-4 win.
Saturday - J.P. Arenciba homered in the 5-0 win that saw Boston pitcher John Lackey re-injure his right arm.
Sunday - Will Middlebrooks belted 3 HRs as the Red Sox routed the Blue Jays 13-0 to give John Lester his second win of the season.
Atlanta won all of their home games in a sweep of the Chicago Cubs 3 games to 0.
Friday - Mike Minor pitched into the 8th inning and Justin Upton homered for the 3rd time in 4 games as the Braves won 4-1.
Saturday - B.J. Upton's 9th inning HR tied the game and brother Justin ended it with a HR of his own as the Braves won 6-5.
Sunday - Tim Hudson pitched 6+ solid innings and Ramiro Pena drove in 2 runs as the Braves won 5-1. Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija struck out 13 in just under 6 innings, but was tagged with the loss.
The New York Mets won their home series vs. Miami 2 games to 1.
Friday - Alex Sanabia won his season debut and Greg Dobbs homered to give the Marlins their first win of the season 7-5.
Saturday - Mets catcher John Buck drove in 4 runs and David Wright knocked in 3 in the 7-3 win.
Sunday - Marlon Byrd's 2-run single in the 9th inning spoiled Marlins prize rookie Jose Fernandez's first win as the Mets won in walk-off fashion 4-3.
Minnesota won their home series vs. Baltimore 2 games to 1.
Friday - Chris Davis homered for the 4th consecutive game and had 5 RBI as his grand slam helped beat the Twins 9-5.
Saturday - Justin Morneau broke the tie with a run-scoring single in the 9th inning to give the Twins a 6-5 win.
Sunday - Morneau drove in 2 more runs to help the Twins win 4-3 and Minnesota's bullpen pitched 6 scoreless innings in relief of Pedro Hernandez..
Tampa Bay won their home series vs. Cleveland 2 games to 1.
Friday - Ben Zobrist had 3 RBI and Matt Moore allowed just 2 hits in the 4-0 shutout of the Indians.
Saturday - Alex Cobb held the Indians scoreless into the 8th inning as the Rays shutout Cleveland again 6-0.
Sunday - The Indians shutout the Rays this time out by hitting 5 HRs and rocking Rays pitcher David Price for a 13-0 victory in Tampa Bay.
The Chicago White Sox won their home series vs. Seattle 2 games to 1.
Friday - The Mariners edged the White Sox 8-7 in 10 innings thanks to a Kendrys Morales tiebreaking double and a Jesus Montero run-scoring single.
Saturday - Alex Rios hit a game-breaking 2-run HR off Felix Hernandez in the 4-3 win.
Sunday - Dayan Viciedo hit a walk-off HR to give the White Sox a 4-3 win.
Oakland swept their road games vs. Houston 3 games to 0.
Friday - Rookie pitcher Dan Straily struck out 11 Houston hitters in the 8-3 victory.
Saturday - Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie & Seth Smith each homered in the 6-3 A's victory to help Bartolo Colon win his first game since returning from a 50-game suspension for steroid abuse.
Sunday - Oakland hit 3 HRs and Brett Anderson struck out 10 as the A's completed the sweep of the Astros 9-3.
Colorado swept their home games vs. San Diego 3 games to 0.
Friday - Will Rosario & Dexter Fowler each homered to give the Rockies a 4-2 win in their home opener.
Saturday - John Garland pitched 6 strong innings and Michael Cuddyer homered in the Rockies 6-3 win.
Sunday - Fowler & Rosario each homered again as the Rockies won 9-1 as Colorado swept the Padres.
St. Louis won their road series vs. San Francisco 2 games to 1.
Friday - Barry Zito pitched 7 shutout innings in the Giants home opener for a 1-0 win.
Saturday - Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller notched the first win of his career in the 6-3 victory.
Sunday - The Cardinals exploded for 9 runs off Matt Cain in the 4th inning as St. Louis won 14-3.
Arizona swept their road series vs. Milwaukee 3 games to 0.
Friday - Wade Miley struck out 8 in 6 innings, allowing just 1 earned run in the 3-1 Diamondback win.
Saturday - Aaron Hill, Paul Goldschmidt & Jason Kubel each homered in the Diamondbacks 9-2 win.
Sunday - Eric Hinske hit a pinch-hit HR in the 11th inning as Arizona finished the sweep of the Brewers 8-7.
The Los Angeles Dodgers swept their home series vs. Pittsburgh 3 games to 0.
Friday - Zack Greinke allowed just 2 hits as he pitched into the 7th inning to give L.A. the 3-0 win.
Saturday - Clayton Kershaw allowed just 2 hits while striking out 9 and walking just 1 in a 1-0 shutout win.
Sunday - Adrian Gonzalez went 3-4 with 4 RBI as the Dodgers completed the sweep of Pittsburgh 6-2.
The Texas Rangers won their home series vs. Los Angeles Angels 2 games to 1.
Friday - Josh Hamilton returned to Texas to a chorus of boos as his Angels lost 3-2.
Saturday - Albert Pujols homered twice to help the Angels win 8-4.
Sunday - Lance Berkman homered early and Ian Kinsler hit one out late for the Rangers in a 7-3 win that was supposed to feature top pitchers Yu Darvish & Jeff Weaver. Both pitchers failed to reach the 6th inning, but Darvish and the Rangers hung on for the Sunday night win and the series win.
Fantasy Spin - Brett Anderson of the Oakland Athletics pitched a gem on Sunday against the Astros as he struck out 10 for his first win of the season. Anderson had Tommy John Surgery in 2011 and made just 6 starts down the stretch for the A's last season. His past elbow issues are always a concern and he has never topped 180 innings, but ride him while he's hot, or whenever he faces Houston. If he can pitch a full season there's no reason why he won't finish as a top 30 starting pitcher. Here's an obvious fantasy tip: start any pitcher against Houston. They're striking out an average 9 times per game and are an easy target for opposing pitcher wins & strikeouts.
News & Notes:
Every MLB team this season has incurred a loss, so no team will go undefeated once again since baseball was invented in the late 1800's.
Every MLB team this season has incurred a loss, so no team will go undefeated once again since baseball was invented in the late 1800's.
The Pittsburgh Pirates became the last team this season to hit a home run when outfielder Andrew McCutchen connected for one on Sunday.
The most coveted baseball card of all-time, a 1909-1911 T206 Honus Wagner card, recently sold for $2.1 million in an online public auction, making it the highest price tag ever paid for a baseball card in public sale. So check your attics & crawl spaces for any old cards. Some could be worth millions.
The Chicago Cubs demoted their closer Carlos Marmol less than a week into the season after allowing runs in all 3 relief appearances and posting a 27.00 ERA. Kyuji Fujikawa takes over the closer role.
In his first start in nearly 17 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right pitching arm, Boston Red Sox starter John Lackey re-injured the same right arm and flew back to Boston for an MRI. Not good.
The Los Angeles Dodgers traded starting pitcher Aaron Harang to the Colorado Rockies for all-star catcher Ramon Hernandez.
A.L. MVP Watch - still Chris Davis, OF/1B Baltimore Orioles, who ranks first in the A.L. in RBI with 17, is tied for the league lead in HRs with 4, and ranks 5th in batting average at .455.
N.L. MVP Watch - Justin Upton, OF Atlanta Braves leads the N.L. with 5 HRs.
Record Watch - Clayton Kershaw, starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers won his first two starts in dominating fashion, putting him on pace for approximately 70 wins which would shatter the record. See the trivia question below and venture your guess to who holds the record for most wins in a single season.
History – Philadelphia Phillies. Last week I detailed the A.L. West, this week it's the N.L. East.
The Phillies are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all major sports with their inception dating back to 1883. They have won 7 National League pennants and just 2 World Series, in 1980 against the Kansas City Royals, and in 2008 against the Tampa Bay Rays. Of all the World Series played dating back to the first one in 1903, and of the 16 teams that made up the major leagues during the first half of the 20th century, the Phillies took the longest to win a World Series (77 years) and own the fourth longest World Series drought ever, the first belonging to the Chicago Cubs who haven't won it all since 1908.
Trivia - Today’s Question – What is the modern era (post 1900) record for most wins in a season by a starting pitcher? And who is second on that list?
Yesterday’s Question - What is the record for most RBI in one season?
Answer – 191 by Hack Wilson of the Chicago Cubs in 1930. Yankee 1B Lou Gehrig has the 2nd, 5th & 6th most RBI in a season with 184, 174 & 173.
Monday 4/8 Schedule with probable pitching matchups in parentheses. My picks to win are highlighted.
Weekend Picks: 22-23 Overall 46-44. Times (EST)
Weekend Picks: 22-23 Overall 46-44. Times (EST)
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Finally, an actual Las Vegas proposition bet for
today: Which starting pitcher will pitch more innings in the Mets-Phillies game tonight: Matt Harvey for the Mets or Roy Halladay for the Phillies?
Yesterday’s Prop Bet: Over/Under: Over/Under: 2 Yankees runs scored today vs. Boston.
Result - Over. The Yankees scored 3 runs in a loss to Boston.
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