Sometimes a weekend comes along that has so much interesting stuff, we can't pick out just one thing to focus on. Our weekly look at baseball oddities takes us on a weekend whirlwind tour.
Sunday funday
Josh Donaldson's walk-off home run was his third of the season, matching his 2014 total. The only other player to hit three or more walk-off home runs in consecutive seasons was Roy Sievers for the Senators in 1957 and 1958.
The Red Sox shut out the Orioles for the third straight game. It's the first time the Orioles were shut out in three straight games by the same opponent since the Browns lost consecutive 1-0 games to the White Sox in 1909.
Jake Arrieta flirted with a perfect game against the Pirates. He didn't get it, but he did hit a home run. He's the first pitcher to hit a home run on Sunday Night Baseball since Sean Marshall (also for the Cubs) in 2006.
Saturday in the Park
With apologies to the band Chicago, the Oakland Athletics got the fun of scoring 10 runs and losing Saturday, something they hadn't done in eight years. They were done in by Jarrett Parker, who in his 14th career game, became the first Giants hitter with three home runs and seven RBIs since Willie Mays in 1961.
Saturday was Chris Archer's 27th birthday. The Toronto lineup got him the gift of 10 hits, five walks, and nine runs. He joins Ryan Rupe in 2001 as the only Rays pitchers to allow nine runs twice in a season, and the "10 hits, five walks" part was a first in team history. Archer is also the first pitcher to allow nine earned runs on his birthday since June 2, 1925, when White Sox screwballer Hollis "Sloppy" Thurston did it against the Tigers. "Sloppy" had nothing to do with his pitching; he inherited the nickname from his father, a restaurant owner who would give free soup to the less-fortunate.
Speaking of birthdays, Carlos Correa turned 21 this week. On Saturday he hit two of the Astros' season-high six homers, his second multi-homer game this year Joe Morgan in 1965 is the only other one to have two such games before turning 22. On the day before his birthday, Correa had his seventh three-hit game that included a home run. Just in the nick of time, he became the eighth player in the live-ball era to have seven such games before turning 21. All the others (except the one who's still playing) are in the Hall of Fame. Correa joins a club whose other members are Orlando Cepeda, Al Kaline, Mickey Mantle, Mel Ott, Frank Robinson, Alex Rodriguez, and Ted Williams.
Fun time for many on Friday
Aaron Altherr, who's probably used to being first alphabetically, pulled off a first in this millennium Friday. With the bases loaded, he hit a line drive to center that escaped Michael Taylor's dive and rolled to the wall. Altherr (and everyone else) circled the bases for an inside-the-park grand slam. According to Elias, the last "IGS" by a Phillies batter was by infielder Ted Kazanski at (where else?) the Polo Grounds on Aug. 8, 1956. Altherr went on to record a more-traditional homer in his next at-bat, becoming the first Phillies hitter with an inside-the-park and an outside-the-park in a game since Bobby Abreu on Aug. 27, 2000.
Rich Hill continued his remarkable return to the Red Sox by throwing the team's first individual shutout of the season. Jon Lester (2010) was the last Red Sox pitcher to fan 10 in three straight games, and Friday's game was Boston's first two-hit shutout with double-digit strikeouts since Hideo Nomo one-hit Toronto on May 25, 2001. Hill is also the oldest Red Sox pitcher to throw a two-hit shutout since 40-year-old Curt Schilling took a no-hitter into the ninth against Oakland in 2007.
Carlos Carrasco made history by throwing a complete-game one-hitter with 15 strikeouts; see our separate post about that game here.
Thanks to four walks and three Detroit errors, the Twins ended up with the odd linescore of four runs on two hits, a first in the majors since 2008. The franchise had not posted a 4-2-X linescore since Oct. 4, 1914, when the Senators scored four unearned runs in the ninth at Fenway Park. Washington made five errors in that game; according to SweetSpot contributor Diane Firstman, it's still the only "4-2-5" linescore in MLB history. Eddie Rosario's triple was his 15th of the season. He's their first hitter to reach 15 triples, 17 doubles, and 12 homers since Rod Carew in 1977.
After a 4-4 first inning, Friday's Braves/Marlins tilt was destined for "slugfest" status. It was the second time this year that the Braves scored 11 runs and lost; they hadn't done that twice in a season since 1945. The Marlins, meanwhile, collected 20 hits, with every starter except for pitcher Jose Fernandez having at least two.
Other Days Ending In "Y"
Clayton Kershaw, Thursday: 17th nine-strikeout game of season, most by a Dodgers pitcher since Sandy Koufax had 21 in 1966.
Starling Marte: 13 hits at Coors Field this week, tying Pirates record for most in a four-game series. Hall-of-Famer Pie Traynor did it against the Phillies at Baker Bowl in August 1928.
Rajai Davis, Tuesday: Second walk-off triple of career (Aug. 3, 2009); first player to have two since Garth Iorg for Toronto in 1980 and 1984.
Jose Ramirez, Saturday: First Indians batter with triple, double, single, and three runs scored twice in same season since 1937 (Hal Trosky and Earl Averill both did it twice that year).
Carlos Santana, Wednesday: First home run hit by Cleveland when team is one out from being shut out since Albert Belle's walk-off slam on July 31, 1996.
Matt Carpenter, Wednesday: Second multi-homer game this year out of the leadoff spot, first Cardinals hitter with two in a season since Lou Brock in 1967.
Stephen Strasburg, Saturday: Fourth 12-strikeout game this season, second in franchise history only to Pedro Martinez's 10 such games in 1997.
Noah Syndergaard, Friday: First Mets pitcher to have two hits and an RBI while striking out 11 opponents since Tom Glavine on Sept. 29, 2005.
