Weâre nearing the end of the first week of baseballâs new regular season, and that means the daily grind is upon us. Hereâs a look at some of the notable events from Thursdayâs slate of action.
Final scores and boxes
Pirates at Red Sox (postponed)
Mets 6, Braves 2 (box score)
Marlins 4, Nationals 3 in 10 innings (box score)
Dodgers 10, Padres 2 (box score)
Cubs 6, Cardinals 4 (box score)
Blue Jays 5, Rays 2 (box score)
Rockies 2, Brewers 1 (box score)
Athletics 5, Angels 1 (box score)
White Sox 11, Tigers 2 (box score)
Reds 7, Phillies 4 (box score)
Twins 5, Royals 3 (box score)
Mariners 4, Astros 2 (box score)
Diamondbacks 9, Giants 3 (box score)
Schwarber goes deep in a hurry
Kyle Schwarber isnât known foremost for his production against left-handed pitchers -- he entered Thursday with a sub-.500 OPS versus left-handed pitchers. All the same, he delivered a timely home run off Brett Cecil to put the Cubs ahead for good:
The win means the Cubs leave St. Louis having taken two from the rival Cardinals to start the season. The defending champs are certainly off on the right foot.
Harvey makes long-awaited return
In his first start since last July 4, Matt Harvey held the Braves to three hits and two runs over 6 2/3 innings. Harvey struck out four batters and topped out around 96 mph.
Wilmer Flores provided some offense for the Mets, delivering a two-run shot off Braves starter Jaime Garcia:
Harveyâs velocity was on point, with the righty getting as high as 95 mph in the start. With the Mets already dealing with a couple injuries in the rotation, they can ill afford to have Harvey as anything but 100 percent healthy.
Cardinals get in a sticky situation
In case you missed it, the Cardinalsâ battery of Brett Cecil and Yadier Molina provided us with a new source of jokes on Thursday. Cecil bounced a pitch, which struck Molina in the belly portion of his chest protector. But rather than deflect off, the ball stuck to a bewildered Molina.
Afterward, neither Cecil nor Molina provided many answers.
Puig keeps rolling with two blasts
The Dodgers keep batting Yasiel Puig near the bottom of the order, and Puig keeps punishing the Padres. On Thursday, Puig homered twice against Jered Weaver, pushing his seasonal line to .417/.563/1.250
Weâll see if the Dodgers move Puig up the order anytime soon.
Springer shows he can do it all
Another outfielder having a good first week? Astrosâ right fielder George Springer, who finished off the Mariners on Wednesday night with a walk-off three-run home-run, then began Houstonâs half of the first inning on Thursday with a solo shot. Overall, he exited the game hitting .313/.389/.938. Itâs early, but sheesh. Springer later added a fancy catch.
Braves sign longtime rival
Throughout his career, Ryan Howard terrorized the Braves, hitting .280/.362/.573 with 52 home runs -- the most he hit against any team. On Thursday, Howard signed a minor-league deal with the Braves, ostensibly to serve as insurance against a Freddie Freeman injury. Howard homered 25 times last season, but did so while posting a .257 on-base percentage. In other words, thereâs a reason why he was available at this point in the year.
Quick hitters
- The Redsâ bullpen put up a strong effort in support of Rookie Davis, fanning eight batters over six innings and issuing only one hit. Thanks to the collaborative effort, the Reds were able to defeat the Phillies.
- The Indians would like to extend Carlos Santana.
- The Yankees wonât have interest in Masahiro Tanaka if he opts out of his contract.
- Collin McHugh suffered a setback in his latest rehab start, lasting only an inning.
- The Christian Bethancourt Experiment struggled in his second appearance of the season, walking four batters and allowing four runs in a third of an inning.