Game Notes – 04/07/2025

When Reggie Jackson hit 37 home runs before the 1969 All-Star break, that explosive first half saw the youngster (he turned 23 that May) wallop in bunches, with eight multi-home run games.  Imagine that – before the Midsummer Classic that year, Jackson already had more multi-homer games than any other Athletic had ever produced in a full campaign.  Yep, Jackson’s eighth multi-homer effort – three round-trippers against the Seattle Pilots on July 2 – meant that he had established a new franchise single-season mark for games with two-or-more dingers, passing Jimmie Foxx’s seven in 1933 and 1934.  No one since has been able to topple Jackson from that perch.  It’s not all that responsible to believe that Tyler Soderstrom’s start in 2025 means he’s going to meaningfully challenge Jackson or even the MLB record for multi-homer games (11, shared by Hank Greenberg in 1938, Sammy Sosa in 1998 and Aaron Judge in 2022), but the 23-year-old has, undeniably, been one of this early season’s stars.

Tyler Soderstrom bashed two more home runs for his second multi-homer game of the year and fifth and sixth longballs of the season.

~He’s the fourth player in Athletics history to have six homers through 11 team games, joining Reggie Jackson in 1974, Tony Armas in 1981 and Jermaine Dye in 2004.  The most for any player on any club comes in at nine, with Mike Schmidt (1976) and Luis Gonzalez (2001) sharing that trophy.  

~Soderstrom is one of 51 players since 1901 to have multiple multi-homer games through 11 team contests.  Kansas City’s Salvador Perez (2022) had been the last to do this.  For the Athletics, Joe Hauser had two for the 1928 club and Jackson had a pair in 1974.

~Soderstrom is tied with Aaron Judge for the AL lead in homers and Alex Bregman for the league lead in hits (16).  No player has paced his league in both of these categories in the same season since Dante Bichette in 1995.  Over in the NL this season, Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker is tied for the league lead in longballs (five) and leads outright in hits (17).

In Detroit’s victory over New York, Casey Mize allowed a run over six innings to record his second win in as many starts.  In the past 50 seasons of Tigers baseball, he is one of five starters to have – within the team’s first 10 games – multiple wins and an ERA below 1.00.

2025    Casey Mize opens 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA  

2016    Jordan Zimmermann opens 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA

2015    Shane Greene opens 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA

2009    Armando Galarraga opens 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA

1993    David Wells opens 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA

Justyn-Henry Malloy contributed a single and two RBI in the Tigers’ win and for the first time in his game logs for the year, failed to notch a walk.  The 25-year-old has played six games in 2025 and drawn eight free passes (double his hit tally, which consists of two doubles and two singles).  The whole package has him slashing .235/.462/.353.  The last qualified AL or NL batter who ended a year with such a disparity of on-base % over slugging:  Eddie Stanky in 1943, when the Cubs’ rookie infielder posted .363 vs. a .278.  In 1995, Rockies shortstop Walt Weiss came close, with a .403 on-base and .321 slugging.

Francisco Lindor went 3-for-4 to reach 1,500 career hits.  He’s one of 27 shortstops (at least 67% of career games at short) to have at least 1,500 through an age-31 season.  Among this group, Lindor’s 119 OPS+ at this stage is ninth highest, nestled between a couple of representatives who got started in the 19th century:  Ed McKean (120) and Bill Dahlen (117).  A more recent and recognizable shortstop is just above this trio:  Derek Jeter, who had 1,936 hits and a 121 OPS+ through his age-31 campaign.

Justin Steele worked seven scoreless innings, allowed three hits with eight strikeouts, and came away with his third win of the year.  The lefty is one of 22 Cubs pitchers in the liveball era to start and win at least three of the club’s first 13 games and holds a special distinction among them as having the highest ERA (4.76).  If not for Steele and his insertion into this collection, Larry Jackson – with 3-1 record and 3.68 ERA in 1964 – would have the “honors.”  Across the Majors, Steele is one of 13 since 1920 to register all of these qualifications:  through 13 team games, at least three wins as a starter, an ERA at or above 4.50.  He’s the first to land in these waters since A.J. Burnett opened 3-0 with a 4.67 ERA for the 2011 Yankees.

The Cubs’ box score in Monday’s win featured four players with the same Hits-Runs-RBI line, as Kyle Tucker, Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch and Miguel Amaya all collected two hits with one run scored and one RBI.  There have been five other contests since 1901 where at least four Cubs all had these exact numbers, with the last occurrence before this one taking place in 1968. In a 1960 win against the Phillies on June 12, the team had five such efforts.

Shohei Ohtani fell a double shy of the cycle in a three-hit, one-walk day at the plate.  In 2024, Ohtani tied Barry Bonds from 2001 for the 16th most total bases ever (411) and fell one double or triple or homer shy of becoming the 16th player with at least 100 extra-base hits in a season.  In the two categories, his start this season is not too dissimilar from his first 12 games last year.  In 2024, he had eight extra-base hits (five doubles, a triple and two homers) and 29 total bases.  This year, he’s at six extra-base hits (one double, one triple, four homers) and 29 total bases.  He’s drawing a lot more walks this season compared to 2024, 10 to four.

Logan Gilbert took a no-decision on Monday after going the first five-and-two-thirds innings and allowing one run on one hit and two walks.   He was in line for the win when he left.

~Since the start of the 2024 season, Gilbert has 27 starts in which he’s failed to record a win.  Those 27 tie for the third most in the Majors over this stretch and he’s one of 55 since then to have at least 20 of them.  Among the 55, only Justin Steele (3.81 ERA in 20 starts) owns a lower ERA than Gilbert and his 4.08 in his 27.

~Since the start of the 2024 season, Gilbert is one of 71 pitchers with at least 30 starts.  He owns the lowest WHIP among them, the 13th lowest ERA, the second lowest hits per nine, the fourth lowest BB/9, the 15th best K/9 and third best K:BB ratio.  He also ranks 58th with a .409 winning percentage.

Hunter Greene allowed four hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over eight-and-two-thirds scoreless innings as Cincinnati defeated San Francisco, 2-0.  On the other side, the Giants’ Logan Webb ended his day with seven scoreless innings and 10 strikeouts with no walks.  

~Greene’s effort in this win marked the fifth time since 2023 his line has produced a Game Score of at least 80 (this game mathed out to an 82).  Those five since then tie for the most in the Majors, pairing the right-hander with Framber Valdez, Blake Snell, Bailey Ober, Logan Gilbert, Nathan Eovaldi, Gerrit Cole, Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease.

~Webb’s line marked the second time in his career he’s posted one featuring no runs or walks and 10-or-more strikeouts.  In the 125 seasons comprising the modern era, Webb is the sixth Giants hurler to claim more than one of these games.  Madison Bumgarner had three, while Atlee Hammaker, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Carlos Rodón all had two.  In all, there are 24 such efforts within the franchise, including no-hitters from Jonathan Sánchez and Chris Heston and Cain’s perfect game.

~Webb’s line gave him a Game Score of 79.  Coupled with Greene’s 82, this contest was the first of this season and first since August of 2024 to see both starters get to a 79 or better.  That 2024 game also featured the Reds.  On August 10, the Brewers came out with a 1-0 victory, mostly courtesy of the work done by Tobias Myers (81 Game Score for Milwaukee) and Nick Martinez (82).

Manny Machado doubled twice in San Diego’s win and now has 728 extra-base hits in his career.  That tally currently settles the third baseman into a tie with Goose Goslin and Todd Helton for the 36th most ever for any player through his age-32 season.  Another 22 this year would bring Machado into a tie with Ted Williams for 26th most.  

Pittsburgh’s Thomas Harrington pitched the final four innings to record his first career save.  Before Monday, Jason Christiansen in 1998 had been the last Pirates hurler to post a four-inning save.  Pittsburgh had three of these efforts in the 1990s, 22 in the 1980s and 16 in the 1970s.

Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.