@Cardinals 2, Giants 0 — Welcome to the Show, Oscar Taveras. The highly anticipated prospect broke a scoreless tie with a no-doubt home run in his second time at bat, the first Cardinal debut HR since 2010. (Steven Hill?) Michael Wacha tamed the Jints for six innings before a rain delay, and Trevor Rosenthal whiffed the heart of San Francisco’s order for the save.

• Wacha trimmed his ERA to 2.45 this year, 2.61 through 21 career starts, just twice allowing more than 3 runs.
• One other searchable debut homer in a 2-0 game: Carmelo Martinez, 1983. (Notable in that game: One of four 3-IP saves that year by NL saves leader Lee Smith. That same year, Dan Quisenberry had 11 saves of 3+ IP, of his MLB-high 45; Bob Stanley went 3+ in 9 of his 33 saves; and 14 others had at least four 3-IP saves. Last year, there were just 18 such saves in all of MLB, none by a “closer.”)
• One searchable debut homer in a 1-0 game: Don Lock, 1962, homered off Juan Pizarro to back a 3-hitter by rookie All-Star Dave Stenhouse. Lock averaged 30 HRs per 162 G in his first three seasons.
• Is that the normal swing and follow-through for Taveras? Catchers better back up when he bats.
• Non-pitchers who homered in their debut had a median career total of 31 HRs, and an average of 70. Nineteen of 194 never hit another.

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Orioles 4, @Astros 1 — Dallas Keuchel’s superb control faltered in the 5th, as three straight walks forced home two runs to break a one-all tie and sound the death knell for Houston’s 7-win streak. Nelson Cruz drew one of those scoring passes, and drove in two more with a sac fly and his 20th HR.

• Keuchel had walked just one in winning his last four starts, and hadn’t passed a man today until he missed four straight to Nick Markakis with two on and two out in the 5th.
• Cruz has 37% of Baltimore’s home runs (Chris Davis next with 7), and leads in RBI by 52-29 over Adam Jones.

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@Blue Jays 12, Royals 2 — You saw this score and expected at least three dingers for Toronto, but the homer-happiest team was contained in that particular regard. Adam Lind’s 5-4-3-2 line included two doubles and a career high in runs, and left him hitting .351/1.004 in 31 games this year, and .419 with 19 runs in his last 17 starts. Marcus Stroman earned the win in his first start, less than two years since he was drafted three picks after Michael Wacha.

• Brett Lawrie’s absurd RISP split continued. He drove in a run in each of three times up with RISP, on a single, sac fly and HBP, and grounded out with no one on. He’s hitting .167 with bases empty (17-102), .367 with RISP (18-49).
• Toronto’s averaged 2.5 HRs in home games with 11 to 13 runs since 2000.

Unfortunate history made by Royals rookie Aaron Brooks, knocked out in the 1st inning of his first start after 7 runs were in. Brooks debuted in relief back on May 3 and yielded 6 runs in 2 IP. He’s the first pitcher (at least since 1914) to allow 6+ runs in 2 IP or less in each of his first two games.

But here’s some comfort for young Aaron: In 1997, a fledgling Blue Jay served up 7 runs each of his first two games, each with 3 IP or less. It took many years, a change of teams, and a season lost to arm problems, but fortune finally smiled on Chris Carpenter: a Cy Young Award, another ERA title, and a 10-4 postseason record.

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Atlanta 9, @Miami 5 — Atlanta built a 5-0 lead, and held on. A 2-out rally in the 8th pulled the Fish within a run, all starting with a pitching change with none aboard, Atlanta up 6-3. David Carpenter served up three hits and a walk for two runs, but Shae Simmons punched out Jarrod Saltalamacchia on three pitches in his big-league debut. Sink or swim, kid. Three sloppy tack-on runs seemed to give Craig Kimbrel a day off, but he was summoned for the “save” when two reached with one out, and wound up with the bases load and a full count before Casey McGehee’s grounder closed the door.

• Freddie Freeman snapped a season-long Miami vise with a 2-run double in his second time up, breaking a scoreless tie. He had gone 0-for-29 with 12 Ks, one walk and two DPs.
• Simmons bolted through the minors in less than two years, posting a 1.43 ERA with 148 Ks in 101 IP.

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@Yankees 3, Twins 1 — Masahiro Tanaka might have had a shutout, but Kelly Johnson’s error on the game’s first play led to an unearned run. The Unflappable One pitched around another leadoff error in the 3rd, stranding men at third and second with no outs, and lasted long enough to profit from the tiebreaking rally in the home 8th, reaping his 8th win.

Tanaka has 11 straight quality starts to begin his MLB career, better than all but Steve Rogers since 1914. Rogers had 16 straight QS in 1973, debuting in the second half, and lost the streak in his final start. He slumped to 15-22, 4.47 as a sophomore, but was outstanding over the next decade.

• The Yanks are 24-1 when leading after 8 innings, despite some time missed by both their closer and their top setup man. I defer to no one in admiration for Mariano Rivera, but there is no more overrated role in baseball.
• Not good: Mark Teixeira left the game with wrist soreness, the same malady that cost him three games earlier this week and the better part of last year. And Michael Pineda had another setback.
• In their last two games, the Bombers faced the two worst ERAs among qualified pitchers, Ricky Nolasco’s 6.12 and Kevin Correia’s 6.34. Each gave up just one run in 6 IP.
• Weird weather in the NYC area lately: There was bright sunshine in my yard, but 20 minutes away, a Bronx rain delay.

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@Nationals 10, Rangers 2 — Doug Fister won his third straight start as the Nats romped again. Eight runs in their first four raps made 17 in nine times up since Friday night. Four homers produced eight runs, with three multi-run HRs for just their second time in four calendar years.

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Mets 5, @Phillies 4 (14 inn.) — It started as a day game, first pitch set for 3:05. The last pitch came at 8:41, Chase Utley swinging over a Carlos Torres slider with two men aboard, their 17th strikeout. Twenty-eight innings over two days, with eight more games before the next day off for each team; better call for reinforcements.

New York built a 4-0 bulge off Kyle Kendrick, and Jacob deGrom sparkled for six innings, fanning 10 Phils with just two reaching base. But in the 7th, after the Mets blew another chance to grow the lead, Rollins singled, Utley walked on four, and Ryan Howard’s blow to left shaved the lead to 4-3, giving him 1,000 RBI in 1,230 career games. deGrom was lifted at 101 pitches, after whiffing Marlon Byrd for the first out of the 7th. He’s the 5th Met to start his career with four straight games of 6+ IP and 3 runs or less; only Ron Darling went longer (7). But Philly tied it in the 9th on Marlon Byrd’s leadoff double and Domonic Brown’s single on a 3-1 count, and deGrom remains winless.

Last of the 13th, winning run on third and two outs, pitcher Jeff Manship due at bat (0-9 career) and one position player left for Ryne Sandberg. John Mayberry had been in the on-deck circle, but Ryno pulled him back and sent up Manship, who had worked four perfect innings. Manship hit a chopper past the mound and tried to leg it out, but the throw nipped him and he pulled up lame crossing the bag, his day done. Antonio Bastardo walked Ruben Tejada leading off, and David Wright delivered him with two outs. Veteran Buddy Carlyle, just off the plane from Las Vegas, logged three scoreless frames for his first win since 2008. Carlyle was signed in 1996, debuted in ’99; now 36, he has about 250 IP in the majors, but over 1,400 in the bushes, including three years in Japan.

• Phils got the leadoff man aboard in the 10th, 12th, 13th and 14th, three times with the first two men reaching, but couldn’t break through. They also wasted Ben Revere’s one-out triple in the 8th.
• Last time a team went 14+ innings two days in a row was 2003, Pittsburgh hosting Cleveland. The Bucs won both in the 15th, first on a Randall Simon homer (good to get him mentioned for something besides you-know-what), then on a wild pitch. Last in the NL was 1996, a pair of Giants walk-offs in the 15th, also on a wild pitch and a homer.
• In all games of 14+ innings since 1914, home teams are 783-681, a .535 W%, about equivalent to an 87-75 season. Since 1994, home teams are just 168-161 going 14+ innings. Seems like the home edge should be bigger, no?
• Tejada homers every two years, whether he needs one or not. More heartening to Mets fans were his next two trips, an RBI single and a walk, each on a full count; he tied his career best by reaching five times. There’s no future in fly balls off Ruben’s bat.
• Manship came in with a 7.53 ERA this year, 6.54 in six separate big-league trials — and promptly put down 12 straight Mets, fanning six, for his first-ever scoreless outing of more than 3 IP.
• Carlyle joined Hal Reniff as the only relievers to win their Mets debut with 3+ scoreless innings. Reniff (nicknamed Porky) was bought from the Yanks in mid-’67, and earned 3 wins and 4 saves in his first 9 Mets outings. But he got hurt that September, released in October, and his big-league career was done at 28.
• How close was Daisuke Matsuzaka to being out of chances last September? After posting a 5.53 ERA in his last four years with Boston, he’d signed a minor-league contract with Cleveland last spring, but they cut him loose without a look when the deadline came. He was clobbered in his first three Mets starts, 0-3 with a 10.95 ERA. But Matt Harvey’s injury kept the door open — and since then, he’s worked 55.2 IP with a 1.94 ERA, 52 Ks, 1.01 WHIP, and just 2 HRs.

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@Cleveland 7, Colorado 6 — Cleveland blew a 6-2 lead in the 7th, but Mike Aviles capped his big day with a tie-breaking single in the 8th, and Cody Allen got a 6-4-3 DP to end it after issuing a leadoff walk. Aviles spanked a 3-run HR in the 3rd, and Lonnie Chisenhall’s 2-run shot built the cushion up to four in the 6th. But Charlie Blackmon’s 3-run blast tied the game, and snapped a 15-game drought of extra-base hits since his last home run. Chisenhall, who also drove in the first run with a single, bunted up Jason Kipnis after his leadoff walk to set the table for Aviles. The #8-9 hitters drove in all 7 Cleveland runs.

• Carlos Gonzalez fanned in all four trips, once with the tying runs in scoring position and one out. He’s hitting .182 away from Coors, with 29 Ks in 110 ABs.

Chisenhall is the third big-leaguer born in Morehead City, North Carolina, birthplace of my brother, Al. (The pitching brothers Jake and Ben Wade were the first; Ben appeared for Brooklyn in the ’53 World Series.) The odd thing about Chisenhall’s hot start this year is the reversal of his prior pattern of good power, poor BA. Chisenhall batted .244 with a .284 OBP in about one year’s full play from 2011-13, but with 23 HRs and 60 extra-base hits. This year, just 3 HRs in about 150 PAs, but a BA pushing .370. There might be some luck in his .430-ish BAbip, but his line-drive rate is 33%, 10th-best of all those with 100+ PAs. Although he’s facing mostly RHPs, the lefty Chisenhall is 9 for 16 against southpaws, including 2 for 3 today, just his second start against those slants.

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Padres 4, @White Sox 2 — Will Venable’s 4 hits included ribby knocks his first two trips, Tyson Ross improved to 6-4, 2.85 with six solid stanzas, and San Diego’s bullpen set down 9 of 10 to keep a streak alive. They’re 18-0 when leading after 7 innings, about two wins better than the MLB average for that many games. They’ve had just two blown saves in 44 save situations, none by closer Huston Street or setup man Joaquin Benoit.

• Top of the 3rd, men on the corners and one out, Everth Cabrera was caught stealing second, on a 1-0 count to Seth Smith — who’s hitting .313/.976, bats left-handed, and rarely hits into a DP. Not a smart play.

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Cubs 8, @Brewers 0 — Jason Hammel squelched Milwaukee on 4 singles through 7 innings, while Anthony Rizzo rocked a pair of 2-run homers off Wily Peralta, who allowed more than 3 ER for the first time this year. The only Crewman to advance past first was Carlos Gomez, who swiped second after a 2-out plunking. Hammel finished with 8 Ks, no walks, whiffing three straight after a 5th-inning leadoff bingle, then started Chicago’s 5-run 6th with just his second hit this year.

• It’s hard for a Cubs pitcher to get noticed for actually winning with regularity, but Hammel should show up on the radar any minute now, at 6-3, 2.78 through 11 starts.

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@Red Sox 7, Rays 1 — Rubby returned with seven scintillating chapters, Brock got Holt of one for his first big-league dinger, Jackie Bradley, Jr. banged his first this year to the same spot, Grady Sizemore scored twice, and Xander Bogaerts reached three times, including his 15th double. Thank you, BoSox, for fueling my name fetish.

At May’s outset, the Rays took 2 of 3 in both Boston and New York, and seemed to be weathering their early injuries, standing just two games out of first place in the surprisingly weak AL East. But they’ve gone 8-16 since then, falling 9.5 games back in the division, and 7 games from the nearest wild-card spot.

• Kevin Kiermaier’s second career home run was the first intramural Fenway job since 2011 (Jacoby Ellsbury), first by a visitor since 2004 (David Newhan off Pedro).

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@Dodgers 12, Pirates 2 — The 4-4-4-5 line by Hanley Ramirez tied career highs in runs and RBI, with his first 4-run game for LA, and his first time this year with more than 3 hits or 2 RBI. Hyun-Jin Ryu allowed 10 hits over 6 innings, but no walks and just 2 runs.

Into each life … Brandon Cumpton was about due for a stinker, after working to a 2.72 ERA in his first 8 big-league starts despite a sub-par 15% K rate. And a stinker he put up, 3.2 IP with 11 runs on 11 hits — the first such “double” this year, and the second since 1951 in a pitcher’s first 10 games.

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@Mariners 3, Tigers 2 — With Robby Cano sitting out again, Seattle got just 8 singles and a walk, but a pair of 2-out ribby knocks by his replacement, Willie Bloomquist, made the difference. Detroit went hitless in six chances with RISP, thanks to some fine outfield defense by Cole Gillespie and Endy Chavez that stopped potential extra-baggers. Gillespie added two hits and his first RBI, and Fernando Rodney settled in to notch the save after letting the first two men reach safely.

Chris Young won for the 5th time in his last 7 starts. He hadn’t given up a hit with one out in the 4th, but he made the mistake of getting two quick strikes on Miguel Cabrera, who homered on the next pitch. Miggy’s 7 for 18 on 0-2 counts this year, with 2 HRs, 2 doubles. (He’s also 11 for 27 on 0-1 counts, and hitting .356 overall when behind in the count.)

• Andrew Romine doubled, reaching 9 for his last 29, with 3 extra-base hits. I’m getting this note in now, because such a streak may never come again.
• Drew Smyly gave up just 3 runs, but used 105 pitches on just 20 batters in just 4 innings. First time ever for that combination — Pitches>=105, BF<=20, R<=3, IP<=4 — with pitch data going back to 1988.
• Miggy in Safeco: 34 for 100, 6 HRs, 20 RBI in 24 games.

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Reds 5, @Diamondbacks 0 — Did we forget about Johnny Cueto after a couple of losses? Another scoreless outing, 7.1 IP on 5 hits, one walk, dialed his ERA back down to 1.68. Twelve straight starts with 5+ IP and no more than 6 hits; just two longer season-starting streaks, 14 by Dave McNally in 1968, 13 by Orel Hershiser in 1998. (McNally actually improved after the streak, starting 8-6, 2.11 and finishing 22-10, 1.95.)

• Snakes skunked six times at home this year, tied with Philly for the MLB high. Still looking for their first winning homestand, which would come with a Sunday victory.

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@Athletics 11, Angels 3 — Four hits in the 2nd for the Angels, but Yoenis Cespedes kept them scoreless by cutting down two men at home.

Last of the 7th, Angels clinging to a one-run lead, A’s on third and second with one out, Jed Lowrie up and the boppers behind him. Mike Scioscia ordered a pass, hoping Joe Smith could throw a double play. Smith got the grounder from Josh Donaldson, but they couldn’t turn two, and the inning exploded: 2-run triple by Cespedes, walk to Norris, 2-run double by Callaspo, 7-3 A’s. Cespedes would add a 3-run blast, lacking just the single from a cycle.

Oakland is 15-2 in games decided by 5 runs or more, an .822 W% that would trail only the 1909 Cubs (35-4 in such contests, 104-49 overall). It’s a season pace of 43-6 in blowouts. Nine prior teams won at least 42 such games; their average season record equates to 106-56 in today’s schedule, with 4 World Series champs, 3 other pennant winners (one when no WS was played), and just one team that missed the dance (1931 Yankees).

Some folks still say that Oakland’s 8-7 record in one-run games is more telling of their future. Well, maybe; the 15 teams that played at least .700 ball in one-run games weren’t quite as successful as the blowout kings, but they averaged a 102-60 equivalent, with 3 WS champs, 6 other pennants, and 3 that lost in the playoffs. But the last 10 World Champs averaged .532 in one-run games, with just one team above .600 and three under .500. They averaged .623 in blowouts, with none below .566. I know which category I’d like my team to excel in.

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At current rates (through Friday), Dee Gordon would lead the majors in stolen bases by 98-58 over Billy Hamilton and Jose Altuve. Not quite Maury Wills territory, but let’s check the largest margins for MLB steals crowns. Just five times in MLB history has the margin been 32 steals or more:

1. +72, Maury Wills, 1961: 104-32 over teammate Willie Davis.
2. +59, Lou Brock, 1974: 118-59 over Davey Lopes.
3. +52, Rickey Henderson, 1982: 130-78 over Tim Raines.
   (In Rickey’s first 100-SB season, 1980, he topped Ron LeFlore by just 3.)
4. +49, Vince Coleman, 1987: 109-60 over Harold Reynolds.
   (This is the last margin greater than +16.)
5. +41, Ty Cobb, 1915: 96-55 over Benny Kauff of the Federal League.
   (For a bona fide big-league comparison, make it +45 over Fritz Maisel.)
6. +31, Wills, 1965: 94-63 over Brock.
7. +30, Coleman, 1985: 110-80 over Rickey.
8. +30, Sliding Billy Hamilton, 1895: 97-67 over Bill “Little Eva” Lange.
   (Hamilton’s other four SB crowns came by margins of 22, 12, 5 and 5.)
9. +29, Luis Aparicio, 1959: 56-27 over Willie Mays.
   (Aparicio’s other four SB crowns came by margins of 16, 4, 1 and 0.)
10. +28, George Case, 1939: 51-23 over Pete Fox and Mike Kreevich.
    (The forgotten steals king, Case led the majors five straight years, 1939-43, averaging 45 SB and 11 CS. His 349 career steals trailed only Frankie Frisch in the live-ball, pre-expansion era.)
11. +28, Ben Chapman, 1931: 61-33 over Roy Johnson.

By the way, if someone had predicted before the season that someone not named Billy Hamilton would lead the majors by more than 30 steals, how hard would we have laughed? As for Gordon himself, his prior career rate (majors and minors) was 65 SB per 650 PAs. So far this year, he’s 50% above that rate, averaging 97 SB per 650 PAs.