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The First Pitch: May 31, 2026
It takes 57 games and 241 plate appearances going back to the end of last season, but the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. finally goes deep. His 451-foot home run against the Nationals, the longest hit by any Padres player this season, has got to feel good for the slugger who once belted a league-leading 42 homers—before testing positive for PEDs. Alas for Tatis and the Padres, his first round-tripper of 2026 isn’t enough as they suffer a 9-4 defeat at Washington.
Tatis’ blast leaves Tampa Bay’s Chandler Simpson as the only player with more at-bats but no homers this year.
The Athletics survive several odd moments in defeating the visiting Yankees at Sacramento, 6-4.
In the fourth inning, the A’s Tyler Soderstrom challenges a pitch that, clearly according to the broadcast, misses low and away despite being called a strike. But home plate umpire Adam Beck and the 12,361 in attendance don’t see the review of the location on the video board due to some sort of technical glitch; after more than a few seconds, Beck loses patience with the delay and announces that the pitch remains a strike as called.
Soderstrom will ultimately overcome the errant glitch and draw a walk, part of a 3-for-3 day in which he also homers. The A’s take a comfortable 6-1 lead into the ninth, but the Yankees rally thanks to five walks—three of them consecutive bases-loaded passes from Scott Barlow that reduces the A’s lead to two. But that’s as far as the Yankees get, and the A’s survive with a 6-4 victory.
Earning the victory for the A’s is J.T. Ginn, snapping a 13-game winless drought for A’s starters.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
4-3-3-4—Jake McCarthy, Colorado
After five years with the Diamondbacks, the speedy outfielder looks to be feeling at home at Colorado, even if it took him a while to get into gear. Against the visiting Giants, McCarthy collected two singles and his third home run, while stealing his 10th base in an 8-3 victory. Since his batting average sank to .184 on April 17, McCarthy has been hitting at a .327 clip.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
7-2-0-0-0-9—Bryan Woo, Seattle
The guy who always seems to guarantee a quality start on the mound has been less than automatic at times this year, such as his previous start when he gave up four runs in 4.2 innings at Kansas City. Which makes Woo’s outing in a 5-1 victory over the visiting DBacks all the more reassuring for the Mariners. It’s the third time this year that the 26-year-old right-hander has allowed two or fewer hits over six or more scoreless innings.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1937: The Dodgers rough up Giants ace Carl Hubbell for five runs over 3.1 innings, ultimately handing him his first loss after a major league-record 24 straight wins with a 10-3 romp in the first game of a doubleheader at the Polo Grounds.
1958: Milwaukee Braves sluggers Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Wes Covington homer on three consecutive pitches at Pittsburgh against Pirates pitcher Ron Kline. The Braves win, 8-3.
1964: The Giants and Mets take a record seven hours and 23 minutes to decide a 23-inning game at Shea Stadium, won by the Giants, 8-6—and that’s just the nightcap to a doubleheader that starts shortly after high noon and finishes shortly before midnight. In all, 41 players and 250 baseballs are used in the second-game marathon; 22 Mets strike out. Gaylord Perry pitches 10 scoreless extra innings to pick up the win; years later, he will claim that this was the first game in which he threw a major league spitball. The epic nightcap completes a long sweep for the Giants, who win the first game, 5-3.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Atlanta pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach (26)
Shane Bieber (31), two-time All-Star pitcher, 2020 ERA titlist and AL Cy Young winner
Jake Peavy (45), winner of 152 games; two-time leader in ERA and strikeouts; 2007 NL Cy Young winner; collector of back-to-back World Series rings (2013 Red Sox, 2014 Giants)
Japan-born Dodgers manager Dave Roberts (54), speedster of 10 seasons with 243 steals; theft of second in 2004 ALCS ignited remarkable Red Sox rebound toward first world title in 86 years
Kenny Lofton (59), six-time All-Star outfielder; all-time Cleveland stolen base leader; 622 steals over 17 years with 11 different teams; four-time Gold Glove recipient; career .299 batting average
Joe Orsulak (64), outfielder of 1,173 hits over 14-year career
Born on this date:
Socks Seibold (1895), pitcher who had two MLB tenures 10 years apart from each other
Shameless Link of the Day
In a reverse of Fernando Tatis Jr., Kirby Puckett once hit zero home runs in a full season—then, just two years later, walloped 31. Check out where the Hall of Famer places on our list of the Twins/Senators’ 10 greatest hitters.
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