April 26, 2021
1. This was the biggest weekend of Fernando Tatis Jr.’s career
Three games. Five home runs.
Two off Kershaw, two more off Bauer, and then one off Dustin May — in round two of the biggest, best series baseball has seen in years.
And he followed it up with the tweet of the year:
2. Madison Bumgarner threw a “no-hitter” in a seven-inning game
Gigantic kudos to Bumgarner, whether or not it officially counts.
For what it’s worth, Bumgarner didn’t seem too bothered about it, the whole uncertainty of the situation:
3. More on the Dodgers vs. Padres — it’s living up to all of the hype
More electric than most playoff series, must-watch TV, and we’ll be bereft until June, when these two teams play next. Padres up 4–3, after winning in the 11th inning last night on ESPN, after a massive comeback:
In the Friday game, on the anniversary of his dad hitting two grand slams in one inning at Dodger Stadium, Tatis Jr. himself two HRs:
The next night, he mocked Trevor Bauer with the one-eyed trip around the bases. And the hiccup step to third. And then, the Bauer waddle strut after touching home.
4. Quote of the day — Pete Alonso: “That was such a sexy catch”
And here was the play in question, ex-Cub Albert Almora Jr. robbing ex-Cub Kyle Schwarber at the wall:
5. Bryce Harper hit two HRs and threw a guy out at the plate
He’s batting .338 on the year, 1.132 OPS, 6 HRs, with the icing on the cake this weekend being this throw:
6. Shohei Ohtani played outfield for the first time in his MLB career
The most well-liked player in the league. A haters-to-existing ratio of 0.00%. Pitching, hitting, now loping around with outfield, to questionable effect:
He’s played outfield a good amount in the NPB, but never since coming stateside, until Saturday afternoon. Over the weekend in Houston, he also hit two home runs, up to seven on the year, and did this:
7. Albert Pujols hits a very “evil” home run
Only four other men in MLB history have ever done the same. Can’t we have a “skip that number” option — like the 13th floor in hotel elevators?
8. Error of the weekend: Michael Conforto
Second pitch of the game. Playable line drive to right. And it’s a three-base roller to the wall.
Nats win the game, 7–1. Mets win the series, two out of three.
9. The A’s win streak finally ends, at thirteen games
They started the year 0–6, then 1–7. And found their way to a 14–7 record. And thirteen games “on the trot”, as they say in Australia.
And so, a eulogy for this brilliant win streak, with the words of Hunter S. Thompson:
10. A few wild stats, on the weekend of Fernando Tatis Jr.
The up and down, mercurial, bizarre, amazing, something is always happening with this guy numbers of this new “face of baseball”:
11. Trevor Bauer’s take on the Tatis Jr. antics
“I like it. I’m all for it.”
12. Clint Frazier made an insane, horizontal catch in Cleveland
Batting .146 on the year, but he’s got this going for him (“which is nice”):
13. Weird injury of the day: Breakfast accident
Not up there with Steve Trout and the stationery bike, Sammy Sosa and the sneeze, Vince Coleman and the tarp, Trevor Bauer and the drone, but — bit of a strange one:
14. Stat of the weekend — historic dominance from Jacob deGrom
101 batters. 50 strikeouts. Otherworldly.
15. Cole outdueled Bieber in the first head-to-head of the Cy Young race
Almost identical performances — but the Yankees win, 2–1.
And Bieber, for what it’s worth, has this to be proud of: tying Randy Johnson for an MLB record, his 17th straight game with more than eight strikeouts.
16. Lastly, this player in Japan has “professional” chewing gum
“Professional gum,” it says on the packaging. Unclear if that stuff is street legal — but just look at the pearly whites on that guy:
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