This had to feel good for Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez.
After getting drilled in the head by a pitch during Sunday’s game against the New York Mets, the two-time All-Star returned Monday and hit a leadoff home run to start the game against the Detroit Tigers.
It was the fourth home run of the season for Gomez, but all things considered, I’m sure he’s just happy he’s still playing after such a scary incident on Sunday.
[MLB.com]
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A day after Texas Rangers veteran Adrian Beltre hit his 400th career home run, another star joined the elite club of sluggers.
In the top of the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera launched a ball toward center field. Despite the pouring rain, the ball sailed out of play for Cabrera’s 400th career home run.
At 32 years old, we should see plenty more homers from the Tigers first baseman before his career is over.
[MLB.com]
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Giancarlo Stanton is locked in.
After hitting two home runs against the Atlanta Braves on Friday, the Miami Marlins slugger crushed another on Saturday. In the bottom of the third inning, Stanton crushed a no-doubt home run to center field.
Perhaps even more impressive was the Marlins fan in the second deck who made a great barehanded catch.
Stanton now has 11 home runs on the season, and this latest one probably gave that fan a nice bruise along with a souvenir.
[MLB.com]
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Texas Rangers veteran Adrian Beltre is nearing the end of what has been a very successful career, and the four-time All-Star hit a major milestone on Friday.
In the bottom of the first inning against the Cleveland Indians, Beltre clobbered a home run to dead center. The solo shot was the 400th of his MLB career, which began all the way back in 1998 for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Once it landed, spectators jumped onto the grass to try to snatch the home run ball. Meanwhile, the Globe Life Park crowd went crazy for Beltre as a banner dropped to congratulate him.
There are still plenty more games to be played this season, but this will be one of the biggest highlights of the year for Beltre.
[MLB.com]
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I thought that the smokestacks at Great American Ball Park were just for show.
During Friday night’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants, one of the smokestacks in the outfield caught fire.
According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, the fire forced fans to be evacuated from the bleachers:
Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming provided another view of the burning smokestack:
The flames were eventually put out, but fans never would have predicted they’d be starting their weekend like this.
[Twitter]
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Poor Gregory Polanco.
The Pittsburgh Pirates were able to overcome a large deficit on Friday against the Chicago Cubs to force extra innings. In the bottom of the 12th inning, Polanco had a chance to field a routine fly ball, with the bases loaded and one out.
Instead, Polanco appeared to do his best impression of the Stanky Leg before falling over and letting the ball hit the ground. You can see a GIF of the incident below:
Starlin Castro was then able to safely run home for the 11-10 walk-off win, giving the Cubs their fifth straight win.
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Chicago Cubs phenom Kris Bryant has had a strong start to his MLB career, but it took him a while to hit his first major league home run.
Bryant was finally able to get that monkey off his back Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers. With two runners on in the third inning, Bryant crushed a shot to left-center field to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead.
Once Bryant rounded the bases, he returned to an empty dugout, so he went into the tunnel to find his teammates, who eventually returned to the bench.
It may have taken Bryant some time to hit his first home run, but we’ll be seeing plenty more from the 23-year-old in the future.
[MLB.com]
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Triple plays happen every now and then during the MLB season, but none have ever happened like this.
In the top of the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday, the Pittsburgh Pirates were able to turn a triple play, thanks to some heads-up fielding from Neil Walker and Jung Ho Kang.
According to Bob Pompeani of KDKA TV, it was the first 4-5-4 triple play in MLB history:
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I think it’s safe to say that Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper is hitting his stride.
In the bottom of the ninth inning of Saturday’s game against the Atlanta Braves, the 22-year-old crushed a walk-off home run to give his team the 8-6 win.
That was Harper’s sixth home run in the last three games, and his teammates celebrated his latest one by dousing him in chocolate syrup.
Fox Sports provided a picture of Harper after the celebration on Twitter:
The Washington Nationals tweeted another photo of the post-homer chocolate sauce.
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Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jered Weaver tossed his first complete-game shutout of the season Friday against the Houston Astros. After the game, Weaver’s teammates attempted to douse him with the jugs from the dugout during his postgame interview.
But Weaver’s teammates didn’t stop there. One ended up hitting Weaver square in the chest with a water bottle, causing him to cast a death stare at the offender before quickly ending the interview.
The Angels are only 14-16, so perhaps Weaver was trying to send a message to his teammates that they have work to do before they can start messing around.
[MLB.com, h/t The Big Lead]
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