A look at some of the action this week.

Braves@Reds – Reds take two of three in closely contested set

• In the opener, the Braves prevailed 2-1, getting to Reds’ closer Aroldis Chapman in the 9th inning of a tie game. Philip Gosselin was the hero, posting a .508 WPA after he delivered a one-out pinch-hit single, advanced to second on a following single by Nick Markakis, stole 3rd base, and scored on a two out wild pitch. It’s only the second searchable game that a Brave pinch-hitter has posted a WPA above 0.5 with a hit, run and stolen base.

More after the jump.

• In the middle contest, with the score tied at 3-3 after 8 innings, both managers went to their closers to pitch the 9th, with the Reds prevailing on a walk-off RBI double by pinch-hitter Devin Mesoraco. It’s the first walk-off pinch-hit for the Reds against the Braves since Ken Griffey Sr. provided the heroics on Sep 10, 1989.
• In the finale, Raisel Iglesias, making his second career start, took a no-hitter into the 6th inning and held Atlanta to just two hits over 8 innings in a 5-1 win. Both Brave hits were by pinch-hitters, only the second time since 1914 that the Braves were not no-hit in a game in which their starters were held hitless (the first was 60 years ago, on May 21, 1955, when George Crowe‘s 9th inning pinch-hit home run broke up Warren Hacker‘s no-hit bid)

Twins@Tigers – Tigers take two of three to cool surging Twins

• The Tigers took the opener 2-1 as Ian Kinsler provided the heroics with an extra-inning walk-off RBI single to score Anthony Gose from second base.
• Minnesota squared the series with a 6-2 win as three Twins tripled for just the second time in the past 27+ seasons. Joe Mauer‘s three-bagger was the key hit, delivered with the bases loaded in a 5-run third inning.
• Detroit launched a 20-hit attack in the finale for a 13-1 win. With two home runs, Miguel Cabrera was one of three Tigers with multiple extra-base hits, the Tigers’ 5th such game since 2013, trailing only Boston’s 6 games over that period. Cabrera posted a 5-3-3-5 box score line, only the 15th by a Tiger since 1914, but the third of Cabrera’s career.

Marlins@Dodgers – LA takes two of three to continue hot start

• In the opener, Christian Yelich delivered a two-run homer in the 9th to give Florida a 3-2 lead, but Scott Van Slyke did Yelich one better with a 3-run walk-off blast for a 5-3 Dodger win. Other times both teams have taken a 9th inning lead with a come-from-behind home run (showing the walk-off hero):
  • 2012-05-08 – Rod Barajas
  • 2005-05-11 – Jason Varitek
  • 1999-09-08 – Tom Lampkin
  • 1995-09-24 – Tino Martinez
  • 1979-05-09 – Carl Yastrzemski
  • 1975-09-26 – Steve Garvey
  • 1975-06-30 – Bobby Darwin
  • 1974-05-03 – Rick Monday
  • 1967-08-31 – Rich Reese
  • 1967-07-05 – Don Mincher
  • 1947-08-17 (1) – Paul Lehner

What is perhaps notable about the list above is how relatively infrequent these games have become (even with more teams, games and home runs) since relief specialization became more widely practiced in the 1980s.

• The Dodgers took the first two games to reach the 22-10 mark, the 13th time since 1914 that Dodger teams have won 22 of their first 32 games. Those twelve earlier times include 7 pennant-winning seasons.

Mets@Cubs – Cubs sweep four as Mets come back to pack

• It’s the Cubs’ eighth 4-game sweep of the Mets, but the first since Aug 6-9, 1992.
• In the middle two games, Jake Arrieta and Jason Hammel each went 8 innings allowing only one run, just the second time since 2003 that Cub starters have done that in consecutive games against the same opponent.
• Matt Harvey‘s 7 shutout innings in game 3 was his third scoreless start of 6+ IP, matching Dillon Gee‘s performance in the Mets’ first 35 games last season. It’s the first time ever that the Mets have had such a pitcher in consecutive seasons.

Cardinals@Indians – Cards stay hot, take two of three from Indians

• In the opener, Cleveland scored three in the 7th to make it close at 4-3, but St. Louis got all those runs back with a 4-spot in the top of the 8th, highlighted by Matt Holliday‘s 3-run blast to greet reliever Scott Atchison.
• Corey Kluber was lights out in game 2, striking out a career high 18 batters in 8 innings of one-hit ball. It was the first win of the season for Cleveland’s ace who had been struggling with a 7.43 ERA over his previous four starts. Eighteen strikeouts in an 8 inning start has been accomplished only once before, by Randy Johnson on 1992-09-27. Eighteen strikeouts with only one hit allowed has also been accomplished just once before, when Kerry Wood struck out 20 in shutting out the Astros on 1998-05-06.
• In the finale, Cleveland took a precarious 1-0 league into the 8th inning. When starter Trevor Bauer issued a one-out walk to Peter Bourjos, Terry Francona went to the bullpen for southpaw Marc Rzepczynski to face Matt Carpenter who, as we learned in the post-season last year, is pretty lethal against lefties. As in game 1, Francona’s chosen reliever was greeted with a home run, this one a game winner for a 2-1 St. Louis victory.

Royals@Rangers – Teams split 4 game set

• Shin-Soo Choo had multiple hits in each game of the series, extending that streak to 5 games and his hit streak to 14 contests. One more multi-hit game will tie Choo with Mark McLemore‘s 1996 streak, the longest within a season by a Ranger lead-off hitter. Choo slashed .096/.254/.173 for April but has turned that around with .345/.383/.709 so far in May.
• Choo wasn’t the only Ranger heating up. Prince Fielder was 7 for 15 for the series and, like Choo, belted a pair of homers. Fielder has hit safely in 29 of 35 games this season for a league-leading total of 48 hits.
• Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer isn’t far behind Fielder with hits in 28 of 35 games, including the last 11 contests and 17 of the last 18.

Yankees@Rays – Tampa takes three of four to close within game of division leading Yanks

• New York took the opener 11-5 as C.C. Sabathia won his first game of the season. Sabathia’s W comes more than a year after his last victory and follows 7 consecutive losses and 9 consecutive winless starts, both career highs.
• In the three Ray wins, New York was held scoreless in 24 of 27 innings, including 16 straight goose-eggs over the last two contests. It’s now 5 years in a row that Tampa Bay has beaten the Yankees in 3 straight games in the same series.

Nats@D-Backs – Washington takes 2 of 3 with 9th inning heroics in deciding game

• In the opener, Washington led 10-0 after two innings and coasted to an easy 11-1 win. Max Scherzer got the win and lowered his ERA to 1.99.
• The shoe was on the other foot in game 2 as Arizona jumped to an 8-2 lead after four, and 14-4 after six. Stephen Strasburg took the loss, his first career start allowing 8+ runs in fewer than four innings.
• The Snakes took a 6-5 lead into the 9th inning of the finale, but Addison Reed couldn’t close the deal, loading the bases before Michael Taylor, a 7th inning defensive replacement for Bryce Harper, went deep to give the Nats a 9-6 win. Taylor’s 7.87 aLI and 2.726 RE24 per PA in this game are both second highest of the 2015 season. The 9th inning grand slam was the 6th in Expos/Nats history when behind by 1, 2 or 3 runs.
• In last place and 8 games back on April 27th, a 12-3 run has left Washington only a game-and-a-half back of the Mets.