MLB: Dopest Moments From The First Week of Regular Season Baseball

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The books are closed for the first week of MLB games and the season is officially in full swing. Since you’ve likely been immersed in your job all week and don’t want to hear ESPN talk about the divisive nature of having both water and Gatorade in the locker room between sports highlights, you probably have a few things to catch up on. Scratch that, you definitely have some things to catch up on after the exciting collection of games that were opening week baseball.

Footnote: Water is the superior drink.

Roll the tape(s)…

Cubs Home Run on First Pitch of 2018 Season, It’s Gonna Be a Good Year

In the first game of Opening Day, the Cubs set the tone for what may be one of the most exciting opening days ever. On the very first pitch of the new season, Ian Happ drove a home run to right field off of Jose Urena. For both Urena and the Marlins, things only got worse.

It’s not out of the ordinary but the Marlins are off to a bad start this year. After giving a homer up to Happ in the first inning, Urena walked Jason Heyward with the bases loaded, bringing in Kris Bryant. To make things worse, he hit Javier Baez a couple pitches later to bring in yet another run. The Marlins were able to respond at the bottom of the inning with a run of their own thanks to Brian Anderson’s RBI single to center field. After allowing only 1 run for Chicago in the second inning and shutting them out in the top of the third, the Fins had a three-run inning to tie the game at the bottom of the inning. It was to no avail, as the Cubs scored one in the top of the fourth and three more in the top of the seventh to seal the deal.

Derek Jeter may have some moves he still needs to make as the Miami Marlins’ new chief executive to create a winning product. Hopefully, they’re nothing like the changes to how Miami counts attendance because that one is going to come back and bite them.

The Nationals Coming In Hottt

The Nats won their Opening Day game in shutout fashion as Max Scherzer collected 10 K’s in six innings, including a string of seven straight early on. Having won back-to-back Cy Young awards the last two seasons, making a total of three to date, Scherzer is already setting the tone for what may be a three-peat. Although the Reds finished the game with more hits, the Nats were able to come out on top 2-0 thanks to Adam Eaton’s score on a blown double-play opportunity in the first inning and Brian Goodwin’s sac fly to get Michael Taylor home in the 9th.

In other Nationals news, it only took Bryce Harper about two days to find his groove, hitting two home runs in the final game of the Cincinnati series along with two more in the first two outings against Atlanta this season. Even after putting pitchers on blast like this through the years, some like to call him ‘overrated’…Queue the tape.

Harper’s not the only National getting dingers. At the top of the ninth inning in the second game of the Cincinnati series, Bryan Goodwin hit his first career grand slam further increasing the Nats lead to 13-7. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could hear the sighs coming from the Reds dugout after that one. Judging by the size of the crowd that day, there must have been a really cool parade going on anywhere else in that city.

Nick Markakis Shows Up When It Counts

In their first game of the season, an Atlanta route turned into a fighting comeback as the Braves scored six in the final two innings. By the time the top of the sixth inning was over, things resembled Sherman’s March to the Sea more so than Opening Day baseball. Atlanta was able to fan the flames this time around, though, answering Philly’s four-run inning with a two-run homer from Freddie Freeman to close the sixth. With the game tied 5-5 after a three-run eighth inning from the Tomahawks — including an Ozzie Albies solo shot — Nick Markakis hit his first career walk-off home run with two on base.

The game winner…

Setting the bar really high, this guy.

White Sox Dissect the Royals

The White Sox started the 2018 season by taking a royal crap all over Kansas City, hitting six home runs off three pitchers and bringing in 14 runs by the end of it. Six home runs tied the record for Opening Day home runs, the other team being the 1988 New York Mets, knock on wood. Davidson had more than his fair share, hitting three and joining the likes of Dmitri Young as one of the only players to do so on Opening Day. Tim Anderson got himself two homers and Jose Abreu capped it all off with his own shot.

Which Davidson home run was your favorite? The one off Danny Duffy? The one off Blaine Boyer?? Or the one off Brian Flynn? Take your pick, they’re all pretty.

The Royals all-in-all had a fine day, bringing in seven runs and picking a dinger of their own. That being said, giving up 10 runs on homers alone does not normally pan out to a W.

Giancarlo Stanton Has A Great First Day

Giancarlo Stanton had 2 homers in his Yankee debut. He is the seventh Yankee to accomplish this feat, the last player to do it being Joe Pepitone in 1963. For those of you who can’t count or don’t feel the point in it, that was 55 years ago; The year the Beatles released their first studio album. It’s been a long, long, long time is what I’m trying to say.

Anyway, a scoreboard starting with a Stanton home run and ending with a Stanton home run is never a good sign for the other team. Brett Gardner also homered and Gary Sanchez drove in a run with a line drive double.

Shohei Ohtani is a Double-Edged Sword

The season-opening matchup between the Angels and A’s was quite notable. It came down to the bottom of the 11th inning and consisted of a multitude of long dingers — including an absolute bomb deep into the left-field stands from Albert Pujols.

The A’s were able to pull out a win in this thriller but the real story was the debut of Angles pitcher Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani didn’t make his debut pitching, though. Oh, no. Ohtani made his major league debut as a batter…a batter for an American League team, in case you don’t understand the intrigue. (If you still don’t understand then you may be on the wrong site). Although he was 1-5 at bat by the end of the day, he was able to get on base during his first plate appearance with a single that skipped by the first baseman.

It gets better. He hit a three-run long shot off Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin in his first home-game at-bat and followed that up with another one for two runs the next day. This guy is a freak of nature and I freaking love it. I don’t know how long this can last but at this rate, barring a Ruth-like transition to a different position, he will for sure end his career as the pitcher with the most home runs. The highest count right now being 38 from Dust Bowl era pitcher Wes Ferrell. Madison Bumgarner holds the record at 17 for active pitchers… at the moment. Cute.

Red Sox Bring the Heat, Rays Cool Things Down

Seeing as they play Spring ball in Fort Myers, I’m not surprised the Red Sox first game of the season was in the sunshine state. Having said that, keep in mind Florida is known for, among other things, its bath salts, salt baths, and delicious gator roadkill. So, of course, it wasn’t just about baseball on Opening Day. Before the game even started, a concession stand caught fire, causing smoke to empty out from a vent close to first base. A grease fire was said to be the cause but I’m not so sure, Voodoo is real down there and someone may have been trying to secure their bets… through any means necessary.

After the fire, Boston kept the heat up by scoring three in the second inning. Up by one, Eduardo Nunez hit a bit of a pop to left center and thanks to a near collision between fielders was able to round the bases for an inside-the-park home run. Nunez rounded the bases in 15.5 seconds.

https://twitter.com/zhummm/status/979454537126809600

By the bottom of the eighth inning, it seemed the game belonged to the Red Sox but Tampa Bay had other plans. Thanks to a good string of hits, they scored six in the bottom of the eighth and the Red Sox were never able to recover.

Also, yes… Tropicana Field is in St. Pete, not Tampa. I bet you didn’t really know about the gator roadkill either. You’re welcome.

Astros Trying to Repeat Last Year

The reigning champs pulled out the W in a battle for Texas on Opening Day. George Springer hit a lead-off home run for the second year in a row. I’m not the biggest omen guy but there’s enough there for me to mention that maybe the Astros are absolutely gonna win the Series this year too. Maybe.

Decide for yourself…

The Astros pitching was also worth mentioning. The guy who gets to sleep with Kate Upton, known in Sports Illustrated as Justin Verlander, got the win, allowing only 4 hits before leaving the game in the sixth. Chris Devenski came in afterward to pick up his first hold of the season followed by Brad Peacock for an inning. The Astros brought in closer Ken Giles for the last inning, seemingly trying to get as many pitchers some action as soon in the season as possible. They may as well have stopped at Peacock as the Rangers scored their only run on a wild pitch by Giles in the bottom of the ninth inning, allowing Elvis Andrus to score.

Adam Jones Walk-Off Anyone?

Thanks to a two-RBI hit on both sides, a triple from Caleb Joseph (O’s) in the seventh inning and a single from Robbie Grossman (Twins) in the ninth, the game went into extra innings. After a scoreless 10th, Adam ‘Not Pacman’ Jones hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th.

A low scoring game doesn’t always have to be excitement free. Had it not been Craig Gentry’s robbing of an Eddie Rosario home run in the second inning, Astronaut Ricky Arnold of Expedition55 would have never seen Jones’ gem from space.

I’m not buying it.

Thor. Throws. Fireballs.

Just as Max Scherzer did a day later, Noah Syndergaard started the new season on the right foot. He had a great showcase with 10 K’s through six innings while holding the Cards to four runs AND better yet, no walks. Yadier Molina and José Martínez both had home runs but were not able to make up for the rest of the team. With virtually the whole Mets lineup getting hits, aside from Asdrubal Cabrera at cleanup, New York was able to cruise through this game with little trouble. Mets on top 9-4.

With the first week over, we’re already one week closer to beginning the waiting period all over again. Thankfully, we have nine months of excitement to look forward to and judging by the way this first week went, we’re in for quite a ride.

CATEGORY: MLB