Issue #617
The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!
⚾ Welcome! ⚾
Yesterday featured a full slate of games (15). Here are the results (link to all game box scores):
ATH 4, SEA 5 - Cal Raleigh hit his fifth HR in the third inning, and the Mariners built up a 4-3 lead through eight innings. They brought in their closer, Andrés Muñoz, but Nick Kurtz hit a one-out solo HR to tie the game. The A's brought in Joel Kuhnel for the bottom of the ninth, and he allowed a single but then induced a double play. With two outs, the Mariners got three consecutive singles by Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez, and ultimately the walk-off winner by Josh Naylor. Of note, this game featured a line-drive by Carlos Cortes that somehow went between the buttons and lodged in SEA SP Logan Gilbert's jersey (see video). The official ruling was that it was a base hit, as a defensive player cannot "catch" the ball using his clothing.
PIT 8, TEX 4 - PIT SP Braxton Ashcraft did well (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), giving up a 2-run HR to Josh Jung in the second inning. The Pirates were up 4-2 when the Rangers tied the game in the bottom of the eighth when Jake Burger hit a single that drove in Andrew McCutchen and Brandon Nimmo. In the top of the ninth the Bucs scored one, and then Oneil Cruz hit a 3-run HR that amazingly hit the top of the foul pole in right (see video). Dennis Santana came in for the bottom of the ninth and struck out two to close it out.
MIN 2, NYM 3 - MIN SP Connor Prielipp made his MLB debut and had 6 K in 4 IP (4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB). NYM SP Clay Holmes pitched well (7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K), giving up a solo HR to Byron Buxton in the sixth. The game was tied 2-2 through seven, and in the bottom of the eighth Juan Soto, who had just come off the IL, got things going with a single. Unfortunately, Luis Robert Jr. flew out, and then Soto was picked off trying to steal second. Walks to Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez put a runner into scoring position, and Mark Vientos hit a single that drove Baty in for the lead. Mets reliever Luke Weaver allowed a single in the top of the ninth, but also struck out three to close out the victory for the Mets, ending their 12-game losing streak.
CWS 7, ARI 11 - Both teams had three HRs in this one, but the early lead for the D-Backs was the difference. For Chicago, Miguel Vargas went 2-4 with a walk, a HR, and 3 runs and Colson Montgomery had his 7th HR of the year. Munetaka Murakami had his 10th HR, and has now hit a HR in five consecutive games. For Arizona, Ildemaro Vargas extended his hitting streak to 17 games by going 2-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI. Nolan Arenado went 4-4 with a walk and a HR; Geraldo Perdomo went 3-4 with a walk and 2 triples; and Corbin Carroll went 3-4 with a walk, a triple, and 2 runs.
STL 1, MIA 4
HOU 2, CLE 0
CIN 1, TBR 6
BAL 8, KCR 6
TOR 3, LAA 7
MIL 2, DET 5
ATL 8, WSH 6
NYY 4, BOS 1
PHI 2, CHC 7
SDP 3, COL 8
LAD 0, SFG 3
Pardon the interruption!
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Game summaries for every game
Current MLB standings
Notable player transactions… injuries, call-ups, free agent signings, trades, etc.
Rotating statistical leader lists
Current hitting streaks of seven or more games
On this day in baseball history…
Career summaries for each of The Birthday Boys
Daily Hitter Watch and Pitcher Watch lists - who has historically done well or poorly against their matchup today?
Good Reads… my favorite recent baseball articles from other writers
… and the answers to the daily trivia questions!
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Today’s Trivia Question
One of today's Birthday Boys (see below) is Warren Spahn. He is the all-time leader for innings pitched by a left-hander with 5,243.2. He led the NL in strikeouts four times, but he pitched during a time when strikeouts were less of a focus, so he only ranks tenth all-time in strikeouts by LHP with a career total of 2,583. How many of the nine LHP with more strikeouts than Spahn can you name?
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Warren Spahn, Andruw Jones, Jim Bottomley, Dolph Camilli
Currently active players who were born on April 23 include SDP Gavin Sheets, PIT Evan Sisk, and TBR Garrett Cleavinger.
Today’s Matchups
As is typical for a Thursday, we have only a partial slate of games, as some teams are travelling or otherwise have the day off (see also full list):
PIT Bubba Chandler vs. TEX Jacob deGrom - the rookie vs. the veteran
PHI Cristopher Sánchez vs. CHC Edward Cabrera - a nice pitching matchup
LAD Tyler Glasnow vs. SFG Logan Webb - same here, a good pitching matchup
NYY Cam Schlittler vs. Payton Tolle - Schlittler grew up in Massachusetts and was a Red Sox fan, and Tolle is making his 2026 major league debut
Other starters toeing the rubber today include DET Tarik Skubal and MIN Joe Ryan.
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of today's Birthday Boys (see above) is Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, so here are some quotes from him, curated from the collection at The Baseball Almanac:
"A sore arm is like a headache or a toothache. It can make you feel bad, but if you just forget about it and do what you have to do, it will go away. If you really like to pitch and you want to pitch, that's what you'll do."
"Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing."
"I'm probably the only guy who worked for (Casey) Stengel before and after he was a genius."
"Once (Stan) Musial timed your fastball, your infielders were in jeopardy."
"You don't just throw the ball - you propel it."
"What is life, after all, but a challenge? And what better challenge can there be than the one between the pitcher and the hitter."
⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.
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