Tom Milone made has Major League debut yesterday, starting on the mound for the Nationals against the Mets. And what an eventful debut it was; 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR. The Nats ended up with the win (with Ryan Zimmerman delivering the walk-off hit), but it was more despite Milone’s pitching instead of because of it. That wasn’t the interesting part – the interesting part was what Milone did when he came to the plate in the bottom of the second inning. On the first he saw in the majors, Tom Milone hit a home run. That is not something that happens every day.
Coming into this season there were all of 26 players to have homered on the first pitch they ever saw, including 6 pitchers interestingly; Bill Lefebvre, Don Rose, Clise Dudley, Jim Bullinger, Gene Stechschulte, and Adam Wainwright. So Milone is following in relatively well trod footsteps here, as over 23% of guys who had done this were pitchers (which is much higher than I expected).
Not all of this pitchers were making their debuts when they had their first plate appearance though. Off the 10 who went deep in their first games, only Dave Eiland, Dan Bankhead (I think), and the aforementioned Lefebvre did so in their first trips to the plate. Which makes Tom Milone and Bill Lefebvre the only pitchers in major league history to hit a home run on the first pitch they saw in their Major League debuts. But, the latter came in to pitch the last four innings of a blowout.
So that leaves Tom Milone as the only starting pitcher to ever homer on the first pitch in his first plate appearance in his first game. And now you know.
Also last night: Derrek Lee hits a game-winning grandslam in the 9th inning to lift the Pirates over the Cubs in his first game off the DL; Ian Kennedy out-dueled Tim Lincecum to become the NL’s first 18 game winner; George Kottaras hit for the cycle as the Brewrs beat the Astros 8-2; the Tigers extended their lead over the White Sox with a win via a Miguel Cabrera walk-off homer; and much more.
What to watch tonight: Good pitching match-up in Florida as Roy Halladay takes on Anibal Sanchez; Clayton Kershaw tries to move into a tie for the NL lead in wins against, the Braves; and CC Sabathia goes for the Yankees, who hold a slim AL East lead over the Red Sox. Full schedule with probable pitchers here.
