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The First Pitch: April 16, 2026
The Detroit Tigers have seen enough of rookie Kevin McGonigle—not to send him back to the minors, but to lock him up with an eight-year, $150 million extension. It’s the latest lucrative, long-term deal for a player who’s barely gotten his feet wet in the major league waters.
The 21-year-old McGonigle has shown that, early into his rookie season, he belongs. Playing in each of the Tigers’ 18 games, he’s batting .313 with six doubles, a home run, eight RBIs, and more walks (12) than strikeouts (10).
While McGonigle will still be paid the minimum $780,000 this year, his salary will jump in the years to follow per the contract; with escalator clauses, he could make $28 million during the final year of his deal in 2034.
What a night, and what a homestand it’s been so far for the San Diego Padres. They’ve already walked off two victories—one with a grand slam, the other a three-run homer—but Wednesday against Seattle, there’s an extra layer of heroism provided by center fielder Jackson Merrill. In the third inning, Merrill leaps above the outfield wall to rob a two-run homer from his opposite number (the Mariners’ Julio Rodriguez); in the ninth, with the Padres having already rallied for three runs to cut the Seattle lead to one, Merrill shoots a liner down the opposite line, doubling in the final two tallies needed to complete a 7-6, comeback win—the Padres’ seventh straight.
According to STATS, the Padres are the first team with three multi-run walkoff homers in a span of a week since the world champion Reds in 1975.
An exhausted but still pumped Merrill concludes his on-field interview on Padres.TV by yelling, “Let’s f**king go, San Diego!”
The day is not all full of sunshine for the red-hot Padres. Nick Pivetta, coming off an excellent 2025 campaign, will miss “weeks and maybe months” with a right elbow strain, according to manager Craig Stammen. Pivetta is 1-2 through four starts this year with a 4.50 ERA.
Shohei Ohtani proves that he’s not immortal on the mound—he gives up one run, not none—but he’s still sharp enough to easily temper the struggling Mets in the Dodgers’ 8-2 win at Los Angeles. Over six innings, Ohtani allows the one run—ending a streak of 33 consecutive innings without conceding an earned tally—and strikes out 10. Interestingly, Ohtani is left off the batting order, but rookie Dalton Rushing has him covered at the DH spot—launching his fourth homer of the year, an eighth-inning grand slam, to pull the Dodgers away late.
Mike Trout continues to dazzle with his fourth homer in three games at Yankee Stadium, a two-run shot in the fifth that gives the Angels a 4-3 lead that holds until the bottom of the ninth. That’s when his teammates spit the bit.
With one out, the Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. hits a pop fly to the left side of the infield that looks routine—except that third baseman Oswald Peraza and shortstop Zach Neto each thinks the other will catch it; the ball drops between them for an infield single. After Jordan Romano walks Austin Wells, Jose Caballero wins it for the Yankees, 5-4, on a two-run gapper to left-center.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
4-2-2-6—Sal Stewart, Cincinnati
With all the bright new faces populating MLB to start the 2026 season, the 22-year-old Miami native has jumped in singing, in the immortal words of Simple Minds, “Don’t you forget about me.” Against the visiting Giants, Stewart opened the scoring for Cincinnati in the first inning with a three-run homer against former Reds pitcher Tyler Mahle, then launched another three-run shot in his next at-bat to send the Reds into runaway territory with an 8-3 victory. Including his September call-up last year, Stewart has 12 homers and 25 RBIs over his first 36 major league games.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
6-2-0-0-2-5—Carmen Mlodzinski, Pittsburgh
Pulling the heavy work on the mound after Mason Montgomery’s cameo as opener, the 27-year-old righty inherited a 2-0 lead over the visiting Nationals and made it stand up for the next six innings, extending his streak of consecutive scoreless frames to 12.2. It’s the most innings Mlodzinski has thrown in any of his 20 big-league starts.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1940: Cleveland’s Bob Feller gets out to a near-perfect start by no-hitting the White Sox 1-0 on Opening Day at Chicago. Feller walks five in what is the only Opening Day no-hitter thrown in major league history.
1959: Dave Philley—playing for, appropriately, the Phillies—hits safely in his ninth consecutive pinch-hit at-bat in a 7-3 loss at Milwaukee. The streak is a major league record, one that Philley began at the end of the 1958 season. Rusty Staub will eventually match Philley in 1983.
1983: Steve Garvey, playing his first year at San Diego after 14 years with the Dodgers, sets the all-time National League record for most consecutive games played, breaking Billy Williams’ mark of 1,117 at Dodger Stadium against his old teammates. Garvey will extend the streak to 1,207 before his season ends prematurely from a dislocated finger.
2004: In an at-bat that personifies the Steroid Era, The Giants’ Barry Bonds faces off against Dodgers closer Eric Gagne—both of whom will be tagged as having taken PEDs—in an epic showdown at San Francisco’s Pac Bell Park. Gagne throws five pitches at or over 100 MPH—“straight cheddar,” as Bonds later describes it—and on the final offering Bonds drills a searing, tape-measure blast into the center-field bleachers. Bonds’ two-run smash in the ninth isn’t enough to bring the Giants back, losing 3-2 to Los Angeles.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Arizona third baseman Nolan Arenado (35), superb fielder with 10 Gold Gloves (all consecutive); eight-time All-Star; paced league three times in home runs, twice in both RBIs and total bases
Antonio Alfonseca (54), reliever of 129 saves, including MLB-high 45 in 2000
Fernando Vina (57), 12-year second baseman of 1,196 hits and on 1998 NL All-Star roster spot; once violently flattened by Albert Belle, trying to break up a double play
Bruce Bochy (71), France-born back-up catcher who won four World Series as manager despite career record below .500
Jim Lonborg (84), 15-year pitcher with career 157-137 record; 1967 AL Cy Young winner
Born on this date:
Pete Suder (1916), 13-year infielder for the A’s from 1941-55, accumulating 1,268 hits
Paul Waner (1903), Hall-of-Fame hit machine who racked up 3,152 hits over 20 seasons; surpassed 200 in a season eight times; three-time batting champ; career .333 batting average
Dutch Leonard (1892), southpaw pitcher of 11 years; posted lowest modern-era season ERA with 0.96 figure in 1914
Shameless Link of the Day
Kenley Jansen may still be climbing up the list of all-time saves leaders, but Mariano Rivera is safe at the #1 spot with 652. Here’s where Rivera stands on our list of the Yankees’ 10 greatest pitchers.
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