Issue #619
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):
PIT 6, MIL 0 - Really nice game for the Pirates, as young SS Konnor Griffin hit his first major league HR on his 20th birthday! He was 3-4 with 3 RBI on the day, hitting his HR off MIL SP Brandon Woodruff (5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). Meanwhile, PIT SP Paul Skenes flirted with perfection as he retired the first 20 batters he faced, finally allowing a single to Jake Bauers in the seventh inning (7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K). Two Pirates relievers combined for a one-hit shutout.
DET 8, CIN 9 - The Tigers took an early 5-0 lead against CIN SP Andrew Abbott (4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), including Riley Greene and Javier Báez each hitting a solo HR. DET SP Framber Valdez had pitched four scoreless frames, but then allowed a 2-run HR to Matt McLain and exited in the fifth (4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 4 K). Nathaniel Lowe hit a HR in the sixth, and then McLain hit his second HR of the day in the seventh. Down 7-5, the Tigers scored three in the top of the eighth from HRs by Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter. Tigers reliever Drew Anderson struck out two in the bottom of the frame, and Cincinnati's Graham Ashcraft kept Detroit from scoring in the top of the ninth. Detroit closer Kenley Jansen came in, but gave up a walk-off 2-run HR to Lowe, his second dinger of the day.
BOS 3, BAL 10 - BAL SP Brandon Young (5.2 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) gave up three runs including a solo HR to Wilyer Abreu, but then three Orioles relievers shut down Boston the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the Orioles offense went berserk with 20 hits and 6 HR, including five HRs hit off BOS SP Brayan Bello (3.1 IP, 13 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). Adley Rutschman went 3-5 with 2 HR and 6 RBI; Gunnar Henderson was 3-5 with a HR and 3 runs; Dylan Beavers went 3-5 with a HR; Samuel Basallo was 4-5 with a HR and a double; Coby Mayo went 2-5 with a HR; and Taylor Ward was 4-4 with a walk.
CLE 8, TOR 6
COL 4, NYM 3
MIN 2, TBR 6
PHI 3, ATL 5
LAA 3, KCR 6
WSH 4, CWS 5
ATH 8, TEX 1
NYY 12, HOU 4
SEA 3, STL 2
CHC 6, LAD 4
MIA 9, SFG 4
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Today’s Trivia Question
The top three teams so far this year in HRs are the Dodgers, Yankees, and Braves. Which team is running the most and leading MLB in stolen bases so far?
(Trivia answers are provided for paid All-Star subscribers of the Baseball Buffet.)
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
John Henry Lloyd, Tony Phillips, Russ Ford
Currently active players who were born on April 25 include WSH Trevor Williams, TOR Cody Ponce, and ARI A.J. Puk.
Today’s Matchups
Today we have a full slate of games once again (15), with the following as particularly interesting matchups (see also full list):
PIT Mitch Keller vs. MIL Jacob Misiorowski - two good pitchers in this NL Central battle
SDP Germán Márquez vs. ARI Zac Gallen - first of a two-game set being played in Mexico City
PHI Zack Wheeler vs. ATL Bryce Elder - Wheeler is making his 2026 debut, while Elder has been great so far this year
Some of the additional starters on the hill today include SEA Bryan Woo, TOR Kevin Gausman, BOS Garrett Crochet, SFG Robbie Ray, TBR Shane McClanahan, TEX MacKenzie Gore, and KCR Cole Ragans.
Baseball Quote of the Day
One of today's Birthday Boys (see above) is Tony Phillips, so here are some interesting quotes from him:
"This game isn't about being nice... when I tried to play being nice I hit .240, and when I was a jerk, .280. So it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out."
"It's a screwed-up game... It keeps me baffled. You never master this game".
"If it so happens that I never play again, I know that I left everything I had out there on the field."
⚾ 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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