Three MVP awards, 10 All-Star selections, 620 home runs, and now…
Make it 3,000 career hits for the historically great Albert Pujols . Well, in fact, The Machine now stands at 3,001 hits and 31st on the All-Time MLB list after capping his not-soon-to-be forgotten Friday night with a two-RBI single in the ninth inning. With 3,000 hits and 600 homers, Pujols is also now a member of an even more exclusive club that had only three members prior to Friday night – Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Alex Rodriguez.
More History
Baseball is the greatest sport in the world! (Feel free to dispute in the comments sections below). Why? If you look away for just one day, you’re likely to miss something that’s never been seen before. Never in history has a no-hitter and a 3,000th hit happened on the same night. That is, until May 4, 2018.
Dodgers’ phenom Walker Buehler took the hill in San Diego for his third career MLB start, and The Force was definitely with him on this year’s Star Wars Day. The rookie righty set the Padres down in order via two strikeouts and a grounder in the first inning, and that was just a sign of things to come. Buehler would complete five additional hitless frames before handing things over to the bullpen. Los Angeles relievers Tony Cingrani , Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore each fired hit-free innings of their own to finish the Friars off en route to the 12th combined no-no in Major League history.
Saturday on the Hill
Kenta Maeda will have the task of following up on his teammates’ achievement from Friday night, as he will take the mound in Monterrey, Mexico on Cinco de Mayo. Maeda will be making his second start of the campaign against the Padres. The first was a bit of a mixed bag with the 30-year-old hurler allowing four earned runs while punching out 10 batters over 5.2 innings back on April 18.
Can Caleb Smith make it three dominant outings in a row for the Marlins? Any time a club begins a rebuilding phase, the loyal fans must cling to any shred of early promise available. Smith fits that bill at the moment. Over his last two outings, the rookie southpaw has surrendered just two runs on four hits and one free pass while racking up 19 whiffs across 13.0 innings. He will look to keep mowing them down Saturday in Cincinnati.
In Case You Missed It
Speaking of “mowing them down”, Gerrit Cole maintained his incredibly impressive form for the Astros on Friday night, cruising through a one-hit shutout of the Diamondbacks that included 16 strikeouts. Through seven starts, Cole is 3-1 with a 1.42 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and an MLB-leading 77 Ks (13.7 K/9).
Bryce Harper is back alone atop the N.L. in roundtrippers. The Nationals’ new leadoff man - at least that’s where he has lined up in all four games so far this month – went deep in both the first and second inning of Friday’s 7-3 victory over the Phillies to give him a dozen deep drives on the year. It’s worth noting that Harper is now 6-for-17 with four homers from the top spot in the Nationals’ batting order over the past four days.
Nomar Mazara is absolutely locked in at the plate, as the third-year slugger will be looking to drive one out of the yard for the fifth straight day when the Rangers square off with Boston lefty Eduardo Rodríguez on Saturday night. Since the calendar flipped to May, Mazara has gone 6-for-18 with six extra-base hits.
Gleyber Torres has quickly found his stroke at the show. Friday night, the young second baseman put together his fifth multi-hit effort in the last 11 games and second straight three-RBI performance which included his first big-league bomb. Torres is sporting a strong .333/.367/.467 slash line after his first 13 games in Pinstripes.
You can follow Nate Miller on Twitter @Miller_RotoDad or hear him every Monday & Thursday hosting the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Podcast along with Colby Conway.