You know it’s early in the 2014 season, because the following statements are all true.
-Emilio Bonifacio leads the National League with a .688 batting average and four stolen bases.
-Alejandro de Aza leads the American League with three home runs.
-Casey McGehee, who didn’t even play in America last year, is tied for the major league lead in RBI with eight.
-Cubs fifth starter Carlos Villanueva has two losses, and hasn’t even started a game yet.
-Raul Ibanez has a 63.6% strikeout rate.
Big, if true.
Game of the Day: Twins 10, White Sox 9. I hate to feature the same game two days in a two, but this one was awesome, even though next to no one at US Cellular Field saw it. The Twins took a commanding 5-1 lead early on, but the White Sox bounced back, scoring three in the fifth and four in the sixth (capped off by a three-run triple by Jose Abreu) to go in front 8-5. The Twins rallied back, and tied the game at eight in the eighth with a solo homer by Josmil Pinto. In the bottom of the inning, Marcus Semien struck for Chicago, hitting a solo homer of his own to make it a 9-8 game. But in the ninth, Trevor Plouffe hit an RBI single to tie the game at nine, and Oswaldo Arcia tripled him home to give the Twins a 10-9 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Dayan Viciedo doubled and moved to third on a throwing error, but was stranded there to end the game.
Pitching Lines of the Day: Not much here, folks. Jason Hammel helped the Cubs to a 3-2 win over the Pirates, allowing one run on two hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking one and punching out five. Chris Archer gave up two runs on four hits in six innings in Tampa Bay’s 7-2 win over Toronto, walking a pair and striking out seven. And that’s about all, folks.
Hitting Lines of the Day: In the Reds’ 7-6 loss to the Cardinals, Todd Frazier went 2/5 with a pair of homers and four RBI. Ryan Zimmerman helped the Nationals to an 8-2 win over the Mets, going 4/5 with a homer and two RBI. Angel Pagan contributed to an 8-5 Giants win in Arizona, despite a bee delay, by going 3/5 with a double and a three-run homer. In that wild Twins-White Sox game, Jose Abreu went 2/4 with a double, a triple, a run, and four RBI, while Chris Colabello went 2/5 with two doubles and six RBI.
Other Games: The Red Sox edged the Orioles 4-3. The Marlins put some runs on the board late to beat the Rockies 8-5. The Yankees doubled up the Astros 4-2. The A’s walked off on the Diamondbacks 3-2.
What You Missed: Matt Adams had an incident with a fan on Friday. Umpire Tim McClelland will miss the year with a back injury. Red Sox backup catcher David Ross starred in a hilarious Major League parody.
Today’s Games: Jordan Zimmermann and the Nationals host the Braves. Anibal Sanchez and the Tigers welcome the Orioles to Detroit. Indians phenom Danny Salazar starts their home opener against the Twins. Hyun-Jin Ryu and the Dodgers will finally play in LA, taking on the Giants. Masahiro Tanaka makes his Yankees debut in Canada against the Blue Jays. Shelby Miller takse on Gerrit Cole in Pittsburgh. Mets stud prospect Jenrry Mejia gets the nod against the Reds.
National TV: Brewers-Red Sox (2 PM, MLB Network), Phillies-Cubs (2:15 PM, MLB Network), Yankees-Blue Jays (7:30 PM, MLB Network), Cardinals-Pirates (7:30 PM, MLB Network)
MLB.tv Free Game: Twins-Indians (3:05 PM)
Enjoy your day of baseball, everyone.
