Just Baseball Highlight Reel: April 16, 2022

All you need to know about what took place across the league on Saturday is right here in the Just Baseball Highlight Reel.

Diamondbacks 3, Mets 2

Zac Gallen and Carlos Carrasco were engaged in a pitcher’s duel early, with neither starter giving up an earned run. Gallen only pitched the first four inning, Carrasco went five, but really this became a game that came down to the bullpens.

For the Mets, their bullpen was the first to falter, as Joely Rodriguez and Seth Lugo combined to allow three runs in the top of the seventh inning. Sergio Alcantara hit a two-run homer for the D-Backs and Ketel Marte capped the rally with an RBI double.

Ketel was not the only Marte to make an impact though. Starling Marte got the Mets back into the game in the bottom of the eighth, homering for the second day in a row.

Marte’s home run was not enough for the Mets, as Mark Melancon came on for the ninth and earned his first save of the season.

Rays 2, White Sox 3

With the Chicago White Sox trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, former MVP Jose Abreu stepped in the box with a man on first and a chance to put his team ahead. Abreu made the most of the opportunity, blasting his first homer of the season.

After Abreu’s home run, Yasmani Grandal nearly went back-to-back, but Rays centerfielder Brett Phillips had other ideas.

Grandal would get the last laugh though, as he would later come up to the plate in a tie game in the bottom of the sixth and he delivered an RBI single that proved to be the game-winning run.

Athletics 7, Blue Jays 5

After Hyun-Jin Ryu was roughed up in his second start of the season, the Toronto Blue Jays spent most of their game trying to catch up on Saturday. Ryu allowed five runs on six hits and did not make it past the fourth inning.

Oakland catcher Sean Murphy delivered the most significant blow to Ryu, crushing his second home run of the season.

The Blue Jays still found their way back in this game, scoring three runs in the sixth inning to eventually tie the game at five runs apiece. Matt Chapman and Zack Collins were responsible for those three runs, hitting back-to-back home runs off Domingo Acevedo.

That tie would hold until the top of the ninth inning, when Christian Pache hit his first home run as a member of the Oakland Athletics to put his new team up two.

Lou Trivino came on to pitch the ninth inning for the Athletics and closed the door for his second save of the season.

Braves 5, Padres 2

After getting off to a rough start in his season debut against the Reds, Ian Anderson looked much better on Saturday. The Braves 23-year-old starter struck out seven Padres over 5 2/3 innings and allowed just one run off only two hits.

Anderson received plenty of run support, as the Braves hit three home runs and scored all five of their runs in the first six innings of the game. In the fifth inning, Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna each homered and the Braves never looked back from there.

Tigers 1, Royals 3

Overall there was not much highlight-worthy in this AL Central divisional matchup. Royals starting pitcher Kris Bubic was playing with fire all game, walking six Tigers, yet he only allowed on earned run.

The game held a 1-1 score until the bottom of the sixth inning, when Hunter Dozier put the Royals up for good with a two-run homer.

Twins 0, Red Sox 4

The story of this game for the Minnesota Twins is the status of their new ace Sonny Gray. He exited after in the second inning with an apparent hamstring injury. Prior to his departure, Gray gave up a two-run homer to Alex Verdugo.

Xander Boegarts would hit a two-run homer of this own in the following inning, giving the Red Sox a commanding early 4-0 lead. Tanner Houck continued the strong start to his 2022 campaign, giving the Red Sox 5 2/3 innings of scoreless work before turning the game over to the bullpen.

Giants 4, Guardians 2

No highlights from this game, as it was a relatively uneventful affair. The Giants took a late lead on a bases-loaded groundout in eighth inning, which was followed up by a wild pitch that allowed them to win 4-2.

Anthony DeSclafani and Cal Quantrill pitched to a draw, with both starters going exactly 4 2/3 innings with two earned runs allowed.

Phillies 10, Marlins 3

After dropping the first two games of their series in Miami, the Philadelphia Phillies finally got some sweet revenge on the Marlins.

While things got really interesting in the second inning, when the Phillies hung a six-spot, it was evident in the first inning that things were not going to go well for the Marlins.

After stealing home on that play in the first, Bryce Harper came up to bat again in the second inning, this time two runners on base. Harper delivered, ripping a double to drive both of them home.

Marlins starter Trevor Rogers allowed seven earned runs and was knocked out of the game in that second inning. Home runs by Avisail Garcia and Jorge Soler brought little solace to a Miami crowd that watched their team allow 10 runs in the first six innings.

Nationals 4, Pirates 6

Is it rude to assume that no one cares about any game played between the Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates right now?

These are supposed to be two of the worst teams in the NL and their early-season results have not disproved that notion. Still, any team in baseball is capable of a highlight-worthy play and that is exactly what we got from Ben Gamel in the fifth inning.

Yankees 5, Orioles 2

The Baltimore Orioles took the early lead against their division rival New York Yankees, as Cedric Mullins hit an absolute tank in the third inning.

Mullins homer would only stand up for a few innings, before the Yankees put together a rally in the fifth that ultimately decided the game. A pair of walks put runners on for Anthony Rizzo, who continued the hot start to his season by driving in Aaron Hicks with a single.

Rizzo was later thrown out trying to score from first on a double by Giancarlo Stanton. Stanton’s double still plated one to tie the game and Josh Donaldson then put them ahead for good with a two-run homer.

Angels 7, Rangers 2

Noah Syndergaard is proving to be a great addition to this Los Angeles Angels rotation, as he has now turned in two strong starts to begin the season. On Saturday, Syndergaard gave the Angels six innings and allowed just two earned runs off five hits. He struck out four batters.

With the Angels leading 4-2 in the top of the seventh, Shohei Ohtani provided the insurance for them to cruise to a comfortable win with his third home run of the season.

Cardinals 2, Brewers 1

Pitching duels between groundball pitchers generally don’t produce many highlights and that was exactly the case in the matchup between Steven Matz and Adrian Houser.

Matz needed to bounce-back after giving up seven earned runs in three innings during his first start as a Cardinal. The left-hander certainly looked much better on Saturday, as he went 5 2/3 innings without allowing a run. The Cardinals scored a run off Houser and another off the Brewers bullpen to complete the 2-1 victory.

Cubs 6, Rockies 9

Whenever you start running low on highlights, check in on whatever is going on at Coors Field.

The Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs played another slug fest today, with each team reaching double-digit hits. Jonathan Villar got the scoring going in the top of the third by hitting an RBI single. In the bottom half, the Rockies got that run back and then some.

Connor Joe’s RBI triple tied the game, but it was CJ Cron who would put the Rockies ahead big when he hit a two-run homer to cap off the Rockies four-run rally. Cron would homer again in the seventh inning as well.

Astros 4, Mariners 0

It was not a good day at the ballpark for the Seattle Mariners.

Justin Verlander was in peak form, striking out eight batters across eight scoreless innings pitched. He allowed just three hits.

Chris Flexen put together a quality start, but still gave up three runs across six innings of work. While Flexen did not receive any run support, he did get some defensive support from rookie Julio Rodriguez, who made an incredible catch running down a ball in the gap.

Reds 0, Dodgers 5

The Cincinnati Reds have themselves something special with Hunter Greene. The 22-year-old rookie starting pitcher is routinely pumping in fastballs over 100 MPH, making some of the best hitters in the game look overmatched.

Greene went toe-to-toe with Julio Urias, as the two young studs put up zeroes through the first five innings.

The Dodgers went to their bullpen first, pulling Urias to start the sixth inning despite the fact that he had only thrown 65 pitches. Meanwhile the Reds let Greene take the rubber in the sixth inning and L.A. was finally able to get to him.

Trea Turner put the Dodgers ahead first, turning around a 99 MPH fastball that sparked a rally.

Chris Taylor later drove in two runs in the bottom of the sixth and Freddie Freeman got an RBI of his own in the seventh, hitting a sacrifice fly. The Dodgers carried a 5-0 lead into the ninth inning, but the bullpen could not complete the shutout.

Mitch White entered the game for Los Angeles in the top of the eighth inning and gave them a scoreless inning of relief. White stayed on for the ninth and the wheels quickly came off. The right-hander walked the leadoff batter, then gave up a base-hit to put two runners on. He then threw a wild pitch that allowed both runners to advance into scoring position.

Both runners would score, but Daniel Hudson was able to come into the game and close the door, picking up his first save of the season.