What’s Happening in Baseball Today

The First Pitch: May 2, 2024

The Minnesota Twins are the first team this season with a 10-game winning streak, reaching double figures with a 10-5 triumph at Chicago against the abysmal White Sox (6-25) before a crowd much smaller than the 12,216 officially reported. It’s the longest win streak for the Twins since 2006; even despite the impressive run, they’re still in fourth place within the suddenly competitive AL Central with a 17-13 record. 

The news is not all good on the day for the Twins. In the second inning, oft-injured Byron Buxton suffers a leg injury on an attempted steal of second, not even bothering to slide as he feels the pain; in a bizarre epilogue to the moment, first base umpire Rob Drake shouts at Buxton, shown gingerly and slowly walking off the field, to hurry up and get back to the dugout—apparently unaware that he’s hurt. The severity of the injury to Buxton is not yet known. 

Alex Call’s RBI single in the second inning is all the Washington Nationals need to defeat the Texas Rangers at Arlington, 1-0, bringing their record to an even .500 at 15-15. Nationals starter Trevor Williams performs not one but two Houdini acts, escaping a pair of bases-loaded, no-out jams without allowing a single run as he ultimately tosses five shutout innings and improves to 3-0. 

Jacob Young, the Nationals’ second-year center fielder, is caught stealing in the ninth; it’s the first time he’s failed to steal a base after being successful in 25 previous attempts, which left him four thefts short of the all-time record to start a career held by Tim Locastro.

Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)

4-2-2-4—Willy Adames, Milwaukee
The Dominican-born shortstop has been a reliable source of power for the Brewers since they acquired him from Tampa Bay early in 2021; with two more homers in a 7-1 home win over those same Rays, Adames now has six on the year and looks to be on pace to hit at least 20 for a fourth straight season at Milwaukee.

Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)

7-3-0-0-1-7—Shota Imanaga, Chicago Cubs
Is it time for Shotamania? The first-year Cub from Fukuoka, Japan impressed once again, silencing the Mets for seven shutout innings in a 1-0 victory at New York. Imanaga is now 5-0 with a 0.78 ERA; no Cubs pitcher has posted a better ERA over his first six starts since the stat became officially recognized in 1912.

It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today

1917: In one of baseball’s most memorable games, the Reds’ Fred Toney and Cubs’ Hippo Vaughn both toss no-hitters through nine innings on a cold, dreary Chicago day. The Reds wake up in the 10th inning with a leadoff single by Larry Kopf, a two-base error awarded to Hal Chase, and a swinging bunt by famed All-American athlete and part-time major leaguer Jim Thorpe, which brings home Kopf. Toney sets down the Cubs one-two-three in the bottom of the 10th to maintain his no-hitter and win the game, 1-0. 

1923: Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators blanks the Yankees, 3-0, in what is formally regarded as his 100th career shutout—although, by doing the math, every current statistical source cites his 100th shutout as occurring early in 1924. Regardless of timing, no other pitcher in history has ever reached 100. In the same game, another milestone is reached by Yankees shortstop Everett Scott, who becomes the first major leaguer to play in 1,000 straight games. 

1928: Brooklyn’s superb rookie first baseman Del Bissonette, playing in just his 16th major league baseball game, is given an intentional walk by the Giants with the bases loaded—the second known instance to date. The free pass cuts the Giants’ lead to 2-1, but with two outs, Harry Riconda—the next batter—strikes out to end the game at New York. 

1954: Stan Musial sets an all-time mark when he belts five home runs for the Cardinals in a doubleheader against the Giants at St. Louis. Three of Musial’s homers occur in the first game, won by the Cardinals, 10-6; his two blasts in the nightcap can’t clinch the sweep as the Giants take a 9-7 decision. The Padres’ Nate Colbert will match Musial in 1972. 

1982: Giants reliever Greg Minton allows a two-run home run to the Mets’ John Stearns; it’s the first round-tripper allowed by Minton since the end of the 1978 season, a stretch covering 269.1 innings over 178 appearances. It’s the most consecutive innings pitched without allowing a home run since the Deadball Era. Minton still earns the save in a 4-2 win at Candlestick Park. 

1996: The Mariners are trailing the Indians, 6-3, when a 5.0 earthquake rattles the Kingdome and the 21,711 fans inside. After 30 seconds of shaking, the game is immediately called; inspectors give the go-ahead the next day for the game to continue, won by Cleveland, 6-4. 

2002: Seattle’s Mike Cameron becomes the seventh player in modern history—and the first AL player in 43 years—to hit four homers (all solo) in a nine-inning game, as the Mariners clobber the White Sox at Chicago, 15-4. His bid for an unprecedented fifth homer dies on the right-field warning track in his final at-bat.

You Say It’s Your Birthday

Closer of 107 saves Neftali Feliz is 36; 12-year utility guy Keith Moreland is 70; two-time All-Star reliever Clay Carroll is 83. Born on this date is 12-year infielder and TGG interview subject Ed Bressoud (1932), Negro League first baseman George Giles (1909), Hall of Famer with 3,315 hits and 741 steals Eddie Collins (1887) and 116-game winner Larry Cheney (1886).

Shameless Link of the Day

Check out our April Comebacker, our daily baseball diary of the month that was along with our first installment of the Best and Worst for the past month (plus those late-March games that counted).

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