IN THE NEWS: Detroit hurler Brian Moehler is ejected in the 7th inning for having a piece of sandpaper on his thumb against the Devil Rays. Two batters later, Randy Winn's sacrifice fly gives Tampa Bay the 4–3 win for Bobby Witt. Moehler will receive a 10-game suspension for his actions. Roberto Hernandez gets the save for the Devil Rays. It is the 200th of his career, making him the 1st Latin pitcher to reach the mark.
The Cardinals defeat the Expos, 16-5, as rookie OF J.D. Drew scores five runs for St. Louis, and 3B Fernando Tatis hits his 8th home run and drives home 3.
The Brewers signed P Hideo Nomo. Nomo will make one start for the Brewers Double-A team, which will be on Sunday, and then he'll join the team.
The AL suspend Indians P Jaret Wright (5 games) and 1B Jim Thome (3 days), and Red Sox OF Darren Lewis (3 days) and P Rheal Cormier (3 games) for participating in two brawls during an April 23 game. All appeal.
Tom Schieffer resigns as the President of the Rangers in order to spend more time developing real estate around the Ballpark in Arlington. Schieffer also says he may help Texas Gov. George W. Bush run for the White House.
IN THE NEWS: Texas DH Rafael Palmeiro has three hits, including his 2,000th, and Juan Gonzalez hits his 3rd home run in three games as the Rangers beat the Indians, 8–6.
IN THE NEWS: The Pirates score four runs in the bottom of the 9th to defeat the Giants, 9-8. Jeff Kent gets five hits for the Giants, and hits for the cycle, just the 2nd player to do so in Three Rivers Stadium. Joe Torre did it on June 27, 1973. Jason Kendall goes 5-for-5, with two doubles, in a losing cause for Pittsburgh. The Blue Jays outslug the Mariners, 16-10. Carlos Delgado goes 3-for-3 for Toronto, with two home runs, five runs scored, and five RBIs.
Boston blows a 7-0 lead, as the Athletics rally to edge the Red Sox, 12-11, in 10 innings. Boston rookie C Creighton Gubanich hits a grand slam in the 1st inning, becoming just the 4th major leaguer to swat one for his 1st major league hit.
In the 2nd game of their home-and-home series, the Cuban All-Star team handily defeats the Baltimore Orioles, 12-6, in an exhibition game played in Baltimore. Afterwards, Cuban pitching coach Rigoberto Herrera requests asylum in the U.S.
Tigers P Brian Moehler is suspended for 10 games for scuffing the ball two days ago. Moehler denies having sandpaper attached to his thumb and instead says it was dirt. But Moehler says he won't appeal.
Reds P Mark Wohlers has another disastrous outing in a minor league rehab appearance. Wohlers walks five out of the seven batters he faces, fires four wild pitches in 1/3 IP.
IN THE NEWS: The Cubs blow an early 8-2 lead, as the Rockies score three in the 6th, three in the 7th, and three in the 8th to take an 11-8 lead. Chicago bounces back with two in the bottom of the 9th, however, to defeat Colorado, 12-11. Cub 1B Mark Grace hits a bases-loaded homer in the 3rd inning, relinquishing his title as the active player with the most at bats without a grand slam (6,136 at bats). Cincinnati SS Barry Larkin is the new leader with 5,817 at bats.
Mark McGwire hit a grand slam off Greg Maddux. It is the 12th grand slam of McGwire's career and just the 2nd regular season grand slam that Maddux has allowed (the 1st was to Benito Santiago in 1996). The Cardinals scored six runs in the 2nd off Maddux, which was the 1st time he's allowed six runs in an inning. For McGwire, it is also his 100th home run with the Cardinals, becoming the 24th player to hit 100+ home run with more than one franchise and the 14th player to hit 100+ home run in both leagues.
IN THE NEWS: The Rockies defeat the Cubs, 13-6, and become the 1st team in 35 years—and only the 3rd this century—to score in all nine innings. The last team to do so was the St. Louis Cardinals, on September 13, 1964, against the Cubs.
The Dodgers defeat the Expos, 8-2, as LA P Jamie Arnold makes his major league debut by hurling 1-hit ball for six 2/3 innings. Orlando Cabrera's single leading off the 6th is the only hit allowed by Arnold.
Chatham Glenwood High (IL) junior Bill Clayton hits three homers in the 2nd inning and fires a no-hitter in the Redskins' 27-2 victory Tuesday over Taylorville High. According to the National High School Sports Record Book, Clayton become the first high school baseball player to hit three homers in one inning. Clayton knocks in eight of Glenwood's 22 runs in the second.
There are no games in either league scheduled west of Kansas City; all games are in the Eastern or Central time zone. All the West Coast teams are on the road.
IN THE NEWS: Pedro Martinez fans 15 Angels as Boston defeats Anaheim, 6-0, for his league-leading 6th victory.
At Jacobs Field, the Indians overcome a 9-1 deficit by scoring four runs in the 6th, seven runs in the 7th, and seven more in the 8th, to defeat the Devil Rays, 20-11. Down eight and winning by nine is the biggest swing since July 8, 1990, according to historian Tom Ruane. Roberto Alomar and David Justice each drive home five runs for the Tribe, who have five players get three or more hits. Tampa Bay's Fred McGriff hits a 2-run shot off another Tampa native, Dwight Gooden. For McGriff, it is the 34th ML park he has homered in, a new ML record. He was tied with Gary Gaetti and Ellis Burks.
The Blue Jays defeat the Rangers, 9-6, as 3B Tony Fernandez strokes five hits, including three doubles.
The White Sox top the Athletics, 7-1, as rookie OF Carlos Lee shows why he is the Sox top prospect by hitting a homer in his first at bat. Lee is the first Sox player to ever hit a home run in his 1st big league at bat.
The Rockies defeat the Phillies, 8-1. In the process, they tie an NL record by extending their scoring streak to 14 straight innings before Curt Schilling stops them in the 2nd frame.
The Cubs fall to the Reds, 3-2. By holding Cincinnati scoreless in the 1st inning, Chicago P Kevin Tapani ends the Cubs' record for allowing runs in 13 consecutive innings.
The Padres edge the Braves, 4-3, as umpire Wally Bell returns to action 11 weeks after undergoing quintuple heart bypass surgery.
IN THE NEWS: The Yankees defeat the Mariners, 6-1. Relief P Mike Stanton makes his 1st major league start for NY, ending his major league record streak of 552 consecutive relief appearances prior to his 1st start. the previous record of 443 was set by Gary Lavelle of the Giants.
The Pirates defeat the Cardinals, 12-9, as SS Pat Meares gets five hits, including a double. Brant Brown adds a 3-run inside-the-park homer.
Florida St. junior 2B Marshall McDougall goes 7-7, with an NCAA record six consecutive home runs and 16 RBIs, as the Seminoles defeat Maryland, 26-2. McDougall opens the game with a single. His mark breaks the home run record set by Henry Rochelle of Campbell, who hit five homers in a game in 1985. The RBI mark was held by Jim LaFountain of Louisville who drove in 14 against Western Kentucky in 1976.
IN THE NEWS: The Red Sox pound the Mariners, 12-4, as SS Nomar Garciaparra leads the way with three home runs, including two grand slams. Garciaparra drives home 10 of Boston's runs as he clouts a bases loaded homer in the 1st, a 2-run shot in the 3rd, and another grand slam in the 8th. Nomar is the first Bosox since Jim Tabor, in 1939, to slam two slams in a game, and just the 9th in ML history. Robin Ventura last did it, in 1995.
IN THE NEWS: The Rockies beat the Mets, 10-3, as Bobby M. Jones of Colorado bests Bobby J. Jones of NY. It is the 1st time this century that two pitchers with the same name have started against one another. On April 16, 1899, John B. Taylor of Cincinnati matched up with John W. Taylor of Chicago. In 1876, George H. Bradley of Boston and George W. Bradley of St. Louis started against each other twice: G.W. Bradley started all 64 of St. Louis' games that year.
The Astros pound out 18 hits in defeating the Pirates, 19-8. CF Carl Everett drives home five runs for Houston, while 1B Jeff Bagwell and 3B Ken Caminiti plate four apiece. Pirate backup catcher Keith Osik takes one for the team when manager Gene Lamont puts him on the mound in relief instead of his overworked relief corp. With the Pirates down 15-8 in the 8th, Osik walks two, strikes out one, hits a batter and gives up two hits. He allows four runs in his inning of work.
IN THE NEWS: The Red Sox sink the Mariners, 9-2, as Boston hurler Pedro Martinez fans 15 batters for the 2nd consecutive game.
The Angels edge the Yankees, 1-0, behind the combined 3-hit pitching of Chuck Finley and Troy Percival. Finley fans 11 Yankees in his eight innings of work, including four in the 3rd inning to become the 33rd pitcher in history to strike out four in a single frame.
Tampa Bay P Jim Mecir suffers a broken elbow when he and P Rick White get tangled while shagging batting practice balls before the Devil Ray's game against the Twins. He will be out the rest of the season. Minnesota defeats Tampa Bay, 9-4. Mecir had a 0-1 record with a 2.61 ERA in 17 games.
IN THE NEWS: The Rangers score eight runs in the 4th inning on their way to a 15-7 victory over the Orioles. OFs Rusty Greer and Roberto Kelly drive home four runs each.
Cleveland Indians owner Richard Jacobs announces that he is putting the team up for sale.
IN THE NEWS: Tampa Bay P Alan Newman makes his big league debut, after 11+ seasons in the minors, in the Devil Rays' 8-3 loss to the Angels at Anaheim. Entering the game with the bases loaded in the 7th inning, he balks home a run before making his 1st big league pitch. 1B Mo Vaughn hits his 8th career grand slam, and drives home six runs for Anaheim.
IN THE NEWS: Rangers P Esteban Loaiza breaks his hand when a car door slams on it. He's out indefinitely.
When SS Alex Arias of the Philadelphia Phillies snags Mike Piazza's line drive in the sixth inning he starts the Phillies' 30th franchise triple play and their 10th against a team from New York City. It was just the second triple play turned in Veterans Stadium and the 237th in the National League since 1901. Arias has participated in two triple plays for the Phils, he initiated one last season against the San Francisco Giants. The Mets still win, 9–7.
IN THE NEWS: The Orioles outslug the Rangers, 16-5, pounding out 24 hits in the process. All nine Baltimore starters have two or more hits for the Orioles, with Mike Bordick leading the way with 4. Albert Belle hits a pair of homers and knocks home five runs for the Orioles.
Mark Sweeney must wonder what you have to do as Cincinnati sends him to the minors and calls up pitcher Brett Tomko. Sweeney is hitting .357 with an .857 slugging average and a .471 OBA.
IN THE NEWS: The Devil Rays outgun the Rangers, 13-3, as 1B Fred McGriff extends his major league record by hitting a home run in his 35th big league stadium—The Ballpark in Arlington.
The Mariners defeat the Twins, 15-5, as LF Butch Huskey gets four hits, including two homers, and drives home seven runs. DH Edgar Martinez also hits a pair of 4-baggers for Seattle and scores five times.
IN THE NEWS: The Yankees lose to the Red Sox, 6-3, as Joe Torre returns as Yankee manager after being treated for prostate cancer.
The Mariners defeat the Twins, 10-1, as Seattle DH Edgar Martinez clouts three home runs and drives home four runs.
1B Mark Grace's 3-run home run in the 11th inning gives the Cubs a 4-1 victory over the Marlins. SS Alex Gonzalez has all three of Florida's hits.
In Boston, Joseph Schnabel pleads guilty to stealing wills signed by baseball Hall of Famers George Wright and 1920s umpire Tom Connolly and selling them for more than $15,000. The discovery of the missing documents led authorities in other parts of the country to realize they had experienced similar thefts.
IN THE NEWS: In a record-setting outing, the Reds outslug the Rockies, 24-12, stroking 28 hits in the process. The 36 runs sets a Coors Field record. Jeffrey Hammonds hits three home runs for Cincinnati, as seven players in the Reds lineup get three or more hits apiece. Teammate Sean Casey hits a pair of 3-run homers to drive in six runs and reaches base in all seven plate appearances, tying a 20th century record. The 36 runs scored in the contest is the 3rd-highest total in the major leagues since the turn of the century, while the 81 total bases sets a new major league standard. OF Mike Cameron ties a major league mark with eight plate appearances in a 9-inning game. With 28 hits, the Reds tie a mark originally set on May 13, 1902 and tie the NL record with seven players with 3+ hits, Pirates , June 12, 1928, and Reds, August 3, 1989). The Rockies became the 1st team to score 12+ runs in a game and lose by 12+ runs in the same game since the Giants beat the Reds, 25-13 in 1901. Larry Walker extends his hitting streak to 20 games and raises his average to .431.
The Rangers top the Devil Rays, 7-6, as Texas gets three consecutive home runs in the 5th inning by C Ivan Rodriguez, DH Rafael Palmeiro, and 3B Todd Zeile.
The Giants beat the Diamondbacks, 8-3, and stop Arizona OF Luis Gonzalez' 30-game hitting streak. It is the longest streak in the NL since Jerome Walton of the Cubs also hit in 30 in a row in 1989.
IN THE NEWS: The Mets sweep the Brewers in a DH, winning the 1st game, 11-10, and the 2nd, 10-1. 3B Robin Ventura slugs a grand slam in each contest, becoming the 1st player in history to do so in both ends of a DH. Ventura also becomes the 1st player to hit a pair of grand slams on the same day on two separate occasions.
IN THE NEWS: In a long rumored move, the Twins finally trade Rick Aguilera, along with minor league P Scott Downs, to the Cubs for minor league pitchers Jason Ryan and Kyle Lohse. Tomorrow, Cubs reliever Rod Beck undergoes arthroscopic surgery on his elbow.
IN THE NEWS: Mo Vaughn's single in the 8th snaps a tie and rescues Steve Sparks wild knuckler as the Angles beat the Devil Rays, 8–6. In the 3rd inning, Sparks hits Paul Sorrento to load the bases, then plunks the next two batters with a knuckler. He is the 4th pitcher to hit three batters in a row, joining Houston's C.J. Nitkowski (1988), White Sox Wilbur Wood (1977) and Pittsburgh's Dock Ellis (1974). He also plunks Jose Canseco in the 1st inning to tie the ML mark for HPB. Sparks only allows five hits, but walks six in addition to hitting 4.
The Yankees defeat the White Sox, 10-2, in the 1st game of a DH. Roger Clemens gets the win for NY, giving him an AL record 18 consecutive victories over the course of two seasons. The White Sox come back to take the 2nd game by a score of 2-1.
Reds P Pete Harnisch hits his 1st ML home run and hurls his 2nd shutout of the season, 3–0, over SD.
IN THE NEWS: Down 4-1 going into the 8th inning, the Milwaukee Brewers score five runs in the 8th and seven runs in the 9th to defeat the Expos, 13-4.
The Red Sox defeat the Blue Jays, 10-8, as Tom Gordon extends his major league record to 50 consecutive saves in 50 chances.
Tampa Bay rookie P Ryan Rupe holds the Angels to one hit in nine innings, but leaves the game in a scoreless tie. Anaheim scores four runs in the 10th off Roberto Hernandez to win the game by a score of 4-0. Chuck Finley hurls nine scoreless frames for Anaheim as Troy Percival gets the win in relief.
The Orioles defeat the Rangers, 15-6, scoring 10 runs in the 1st inning. Baltimore OF Brady Anderson is hit by a pitch twice in the 1st to set an AL record.
Kansas City 1B Jeff King announces his retirement, suggesting that his heart is no longer in the game.
The Mets rally for five runs in the bottom of the 9th inning to defeat the Phillies and Curt Schilling, 5-4.
IN THE NEWS: The Mariners score eight runs in the 4th inning and go on to defeat the Twins by a score of 15-5.
In Arizona's 5–4 win over San Diego, the D'backs Damian Miller becomes only the 8th ML catcher to participate in three double plays in a 9-inning game, tying the NL record for DPs and tying the major-league record for DPs started by a catcher. The last N.L. catcher to participate in three DPs was Ebba St. Claire of the Boston Braves in 1950. Chris Hoiles was part of four double plays for the Orioles on April 9, 1998.
IN THE NEWS: In the Devil Rays 8–6 loss to Texas, Rays P Tony Saunders breaks the humerus bone in his left arm while throwing a pitch in the 3rd inning. It is the same injury that Dave Dravecky suffered to end his career and Saunders is out for at least the rest of the season. Saunders gets a no decision as he allows three runs on four hits and a walk in two 2/3 IP.
IN THE NEWS: The Tigers defeat the White Sox, 10-5, as Detroit DH Luis Polonia strokes five hits, including a pair of doubles. Polonia was called up from the minors yesterday.
IN THE NEWS: The Red Sox defeat the Indians, 12-5, despite five passed ball by C Jason Varitek, who has trouble catching Tim Wakefield's knuckleball. Varitek, who has three PBs in the 1st inning, falls one short of the major-league record for a single game. He atones for his fielding sins by stroking three hits, including a home run.
Yankee OF Darryl Strawberry pleads no contest to cocaine possession and solicitation charges, and is sentenced to 18 months probation.
IN THE NEWS: The Padres score eight runs in the 3rd inning on the way to a 12-3 win over the Brewers.
Arizona's Byung-Hyun Kim, 20-year-old Korean, makes his ML debut against the Mets. Relieving in the 9th, he strikes out Mike Piazza to end the game and preserve the 8–7 win.
IN THE NEWS: Seattle defeats Baltimore, 10-6, hitting four home runs in the process. With the 4-baggers, the Mariners tie the major-league record for most homers in a month with 58 for May.
The Cardinals defeat the Marlins, 5-2. With St. Louis leading 4-1 in the 5th inning, Marlin OF Cliff Floyd doubles off the scoreboard. When Florida argues that the ball cleared the wall, the umpires change and rule the hit a home run. The Cardinals then protest and the game is delayed for five minutes while umpires Frank Pulli and Greg Bonin study replays of the hit on videotape. The call is eventually reversed and ruled a double. The Marlins play the game under protest, though there is no mention of replay in the rule books.
George Brett and his brothers purchase half ownership of TriDiamond Sports, a bat company, which will be renamed Brett Brothers Bat Co. The company makes bats of composite wood which is supposed to be stronger than the traditional woods.