Just Baseball Highlight Reel: April 19, 2022

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

Game One: Diamondbacks 1, Nationals 6

You know when the NFL has a game in London between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the New York Jets that is so meaningless that no one even remembers it was on until the game is already in the third quarter.

That’s sort of what Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Washington Nationals was today.

The Nats and D-Backs kicked off Tuesday’s slate of games as they played the first game of their doubleheader to make up for Monday’s rainout. Josiah Gray started for the Nationals and was rudely greeted by Daulton Varsho, who blasted an early home run in the third inning.

That home run was all the D-Backs got off Gray though, as he pitched 5 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts. The Nationals bullpen kept Arizona off the board as well and Washington found a way to score six runs in a game where Juan Soto had no hits or RBIs.

Diamondbacks 0, Nationals 1

Cesar Hernandez had an RBI double that scored the only run of what was an otherwise uneventful game. With the doubleheader sweep the Nationals are tied with Braves for second place in the NL East. Only problem is both teams are 3.5 games back from this next team.

Game One: Giants 4, Mets 5

The New York Mets are on fire.

They started their doubleheader against the Giants falling into a quick deficit, with Joc Pederson delivering an early home run for San Francisco.

Alex Cobb was looking filthy as ever for the Giants, carving up the Mets with ease while he was staked to a 4-1 lead.

Suddenly everything flipped though for the Mets in the fifth, when Jeff McNeil drove in two runs with an RBI double. Cobb injured his groin on the play and had to be pulled from the game. That put Dominic Leone on the mound to face Francisco Lindor in a big spot with McNeil in scoring position.

Lindor tied the game with his double and would later walk things off in extras, adding to the narrative of what is becoming an impressive bounce back season.

Game Two: Giants 1, Mets 3

The Mets weren’t done. They went on to sweep their doubleheader against the Giants in a much-anticipated pitching matchup of Logan Webb vs. Max Scherzer.

Scherzer got the better of Webb, as the three-time Cy Young carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Webb on the other hand was knocked out of the game in the fourth inning after the Mets put together a three-run rally in the third.

Scherzer’s no-no was broken up by Darin Ruff on an RBI single in the sixth inning, but that is all the Giants would get off the Mets ace. Despite sitting at 94 pitches, Scherzer went back out to pitch the seventh inning and gave the Mets bullpen three less outs to get, finishing his day with a 1-2-3 eight-pitch inning. He struck out the last batter faced for his 10th K of the day.

The Mets held on and have now won each of Scherzer’s first three starts. If they win today, the Mets will be the first team in baseball to reach 10 wins.

Cardinals 5, Marlins 1

The Miami Marlins were 0-for-6 hitting with runners in scoring position and only had one extra-base hit. The St. Louis Cardinals were 3-for-11, with three extra-base hits. That is basically all you need to know about how the Cardinals were able to come away with an easy victory.

Yankees 4, Tigers 2

Runs in this game were scored on the following plays: fielding error, sac fly, walk, sac fly, single.

The only highlight worth mentioning from this game was Miguel Cabrera’s milestone watch, as the future Hall of Famer got one hit closer to 3,000.

Blue Jays 1, Red Sox 2

Nathan Eovaldi played with fire against the Blue Jays, yielding seven hits in 4 2/3 innings of work, but with the help of Matt Strahm, only allowed one earned run.

Yusei Kikuchi gave the Blue Jays a strong start, allowing just one run in five innings pitched. Toronto’s bullpen was strong as well, but a throwing error by Bo Bichette proved to be the difference, allowing a runner to get on in the seventh, who would ultimately score the game-winning run on a sac fly.

Pirates 2, Brewers 5

There’s the 2021 NL Cy Young!

Corbin Burnes had a rough first start this season, allowing three earned runs in five innings pitched. But Burnes has quickly dismissed any doubts about who he is as a pitcher, as he went seven scoreless his last time out and turned in another great performance on Tuesday.

Burnes carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but finally made a mistake and Daniel Vogelbach did not miss it.

Burnes still ended up winning the game, striking out 10 batters across seven innings pitched. Rowdy Tellez and Hunter Renfroe each homered for the Brewers and Kolten Wong drove in two with an RBI double.

Rays 6, Cubs 5

The Tampa Bay Rays Ray jumped out to an early lead against the Cubs and never looked back. They scored four runs in the first three innings, with Wander Franco’s first home run of the season being the best highlight from the early scoring.

The Chicago Cubs got back into the game in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs as Patrick Wisdom capped off the rally with a two-run homer.

Each team scored two runs in the seventh, but the lead never changed hands, as the Rays finished with the narrow victory.

Angels 7, Astros 2

The Los Angeles Angels beat up Framber Valdez in this one, scoring six runs on eight hits against the Astros starter. The Angels finished the day with 13 hits and scored seven runs to beat Houston with ease.

Twins 3, Royals 4

The Minnesota Twins started the scoring off in the fourth inning, plating two runs off three hits. Gary Sanchez capped off the rally with an RBI double.

The Kansas Royals got one back in the bottom half when Salvador Perez hit his third home run of the year.

Perez did not wait long to homer again, hitting his fourth of the season in his next at-bat.

Hunter Dozier’s home runs proved to be the difference, as the Royals beat the Twins 4-3.

Phillies 5, Rockies 6

Kyle Freeland was minted with five-year, $64.5 million contract extension earlier in the day and then got to take the mound to face the Philadelphia Phillies. It didn’t look pretty early, as Freeland allowed a triple to Rhys Hoskins in the top of the first.

Freeland ultimately settled down and was able to make it through five innings at Coors Field having allowed just two runs. Freeland was in line for the win thanks to three runs scored by the Rockies in the bottom of the fourth. But Kyle Schwarber spoiled Freeland’s big day, blasting a two-run homer off left-handed reliever Ty Blach in the top of the sixth.

The Rockies would not stay down for too long, as MLB’s current home run leader C.J. Cron blasted a three-run shot an inning later.

Schwarber tacked on another RBI in the eighth, but the Rockies held on to win and improve their record to a shocking 8-3 on the season.

Reds 2, Padres 6

All Tommy Pham needed to get his season going was to play one of his former teams, as the Ex-Padre has exploded in his return to San Diego.

Pham was hitting .038/.194/.038 prior to this series, going 1-for-26 to start his season. In this series, Pham is 4-for-8, with two home runs.

The Padres did not take long to overtake the lead though, as Manny Machado hit a two-run shot himself in the bottom half.

The Padres added another two runs in the fourth inning and eventually cruised to the 6-2 victory.

Rangers 2, Mariners 6

Jon Gray had some problems keeping the ball in the yard tonight, as the Texas Rangers starter gave up two home runs. In the first inning, Eugenio Suarez hit a three-run shot off of Gray. Then in the bottom of the second, Jarred Kelenic blasted his second homer of the season.

Marcus Semien drove in two runs for the Rangers to draw his team closer, but Seattle extended the lead back to four in the bottom of the seventh and never looked back.

Orioles 1, Athletics 2

If once in a lifetime catch happens in an empty stadium did it really happen?

Luckily for Christian Pache, they were rolling the cameras in that barren Oakland Coliseum, because this was the one moment that needs to be remembered from an otherwise meaningless game.

Braves 3, Dodgers 1

The Atlanta Braves vs. Freddie Freeman series will need a third game to be decided, as Atlanta beat the mighty Dodgers to even things up. After falling behind 6-0 in the first game on Monday, the Braves took the early Tuesday lead thanks to a Travis d’Arnaud moonshot.

For a long time, that one run looked like it could hold up by itself considering how well Max Fried was pitching. The left-hander carried a perfect game into the sixth inning, retiring the first fifteen batters he faced in order.

Fried allowed a hit in the sixth, but erased that baserunner with an inning-ending double play. 18 up, 18 down. Trea Turner singled in the seventh, but Fried struck out the other three batters he faced to complete seven scoreless inning for the Braves. He racked up eight strikeouts.

Tyler Matzek allowed a run in the eighth inning, before former Dodgers closer Kanley Jansen came on and got the save in his old ballpark to give the Braves the 3-1 victory.