May 12, 2021

1. Wall-slam bravery of the year: Albert Almora Jr.

One-run game, eighth inning, a win streak on the line — and Almora just completely went for it. It’s not even every season you see something like this, so major kudos to Almora:

2. Clutch hit of the night: Gavin Lux

The Dodgers in free fall. Losing 15 of their last 20. On track to lose again last night, to slip to .500 on the year.

And then, this from Lux — the biggest hit of his career:

3. The one-eyed player hit a HR

He lost one of his eyes from a self-inflicted suicide attempt last year, now he’s back in the minor leagues and he hit a home run.

Absolutely unbelievable, uplifting story:

4. The Oakland A’s might be moving away from Oakland

First Philadelphia, then Kansas City, then Oakland, since 1968.

And now?

5. Quote of the day, Todd Frazier: “Go grab another hot dog”

A bit aggressive, a bit edgy — but don’t you love a sports fight?

The so-called “slob” on the receiving end of Frazier’s rebuke is a radio host in Pittsburgh, who for seemingly no reason at all, tweeted this at Frazier:

“Hey… happy F**king trails, you scrub. DFA’d. Now GFY.”

You just can’t talk to players like that. And so, Frazier responded:

6. We’re going streaking: Mets and Royals

In New York, the Mets won on a comeback ninth inning walk-off, for their sixth win in a row:

And in Detroit, the had-been-great Royals just lost their ninth game in a row, after coming all the way back to tie it that inning, down three runs.

16–9 can turn into 16–18 very quickly, in this league:

7. Albert Pujols’ next roster spot may be in the Olympics

If he can’t find another MLB team, well, there’s always this:

8. Stat of the day: Shohei Ohtani

He could be the stat of the day every day, but still — wow:

9. Shane Bieber with a brilliant catch, the first pitch of the game

Just settling in, as the game starts and th — boom, line drive right at you. Caught. One out.

Also in the game, he kept his eight-strikeouts streak alive, the MLB record:

10. Baseball Reference has everything covered, even preferred foot

Paul O’Neill. Bats: left. Throws: left. Kicks: left.

If you’ve never seen the clip, here it is:

11. Some MLB roster status updates

The Rays DFA Yoshi Tsutsugo, and so MLB loses another great first name:

And then with the Padres, Tatis Jr. will have to sit out for a bit, from a positive COVID test:

12. Deep HR of the night: Jesse Winker into the Allegheny

13. Standings update: the White Sox lead the American League

14. The D-Backs are 17–19, but they’re partying like nobody else

Instant cheer-up fodder here, if you need it:

15. Lastly: the awful call of the night

Big spot. Tight game. Mookie Betts at the plate. Full count.

And he strikes out, looking, on this: