In the bottom of the first at Crosley Field on July 6, 1949, Reds cleanup hitter Walker Cooper singled with two outs to move a runner to third. The inning-extending knock turned out to be both a consequential moment for the club and for the 34-year-old who had been acquired by Cincinnati only a few weeks earlier. By the time the Reds finished off the Cubs by a score of 23-4 and all the final tallies were etched into the evolving book of baseball, Cooper had produced an extraordinary design to set his page apart – a blend of curlicues and other flourishes from going yard three times, adding another three hits, scoring five runs and driving in 10. More modestly (numerically), it marked only the sixth six-hit, six-RBI showing since 1901 and the first in the modern era for both the franchise and for any catcher.
The Reds pummeled the Orioles, 24-2.
~Batting eighth in the order, Noelvi Marté drove in seven runs while doubling twice, singling twice and homering once.
*Marté is one 28 Reds since 1901 to have a seven-RBI day and one of four to do it while batting eighth. Those few others: Alex Kampouris in 1937, Joe Oliver in 1996 and Javier Valentín in 2005.
*Marté is one of 48 players since 1901 to have a line featuring at least five hits, at least seven RBI and at least three of the hits going for extra bases (see below for the list of Reds to do this). Unsurprisingly, 37 of these whopping days come from batters hitting 3-4-5 in the order. Collectively, the bottom three spots offer only three representatives, with Carl Furillo (1949) doing it while batting seventh, Marté now being the first to do it out of the eighth spot, and Jackie Bradley, Jr. (2015) reaching the bars while hitting ninth.
1901-2025: Reds With 7+ RBI, 5+ H, 3+ XBH
Walker Cooper (batting fourth) on July 6, 1949
Gus Bell (batting third) on May 29, 1956
Frank Robinson (batting fourth) on May 9, 1963
Dave Parker (batting fourth) on September 15, 1987
Scooter Gennett (batting fifth) on June 6, 2017
Noelvi Marté (batting eighth) on April 20, 2025
~Batting ninth in the order, Austin Wynns homered and singled five times while driving in six runs.
*Since 1901, there are 13 players to have a six-hit, six-RBI (or better) day at the plate. Wynns is the only ninth place hitter within the baker’s dozen and one of only two catchers, following fellow Red Walker Cooper on July 6, 1949.
*Wynns produced the 47th line since 1901 to see a ninth place batter drive in at least six runs. It’s the second in a row to see the effort produced by a catcher, after Christian Bethancourt in 2024 for the Cubs.
~Thanks to the efforts from Marté and Wynns, these Reds in 2025 made a leap many decades toward the past to connect with the New York Giants on June 1, 1923. In that particular contest, a 22-8 win over the Phillies, you’ll find the only other modern era box score featuring teammates with at least five hits and at least six RBI apiece. Batting fifth that day, Ross Youngs had five hits and seven RBI while batting seventh, Jimmy O’Connell delivered five hits (including three doubles and a home run) and six RBI.
~Cincinnati fell a couple runs shy of the franchise best in the modern era (in a 26-3 win against Boston on June 4, 1911) and tallied its most runs since defeating Colorado, 24-12, on May 19, 1999.
~All nine Reds starters had at least one hit, one run scored and one driven in. There are 67 games since 1901 where all nine starters on one team accomplished this, including three previous displays from Cincinnati: in 1943, 1957 and 2023.
In Seattle’s win on Sunday, the club got homers from Dylan Moore and Cal Raleigh.
~Moore has started 14 games this season, three of them while batting in the leadoff spot (including this game). In those three, he’s accounted for three of his five homers on the year and with his first inning blast on Sunday, has led off the game with a homer in two of these three. Incidentally, Julio Rodríguez (2022) and J.P. Crawford (2023) share the high mark for Mariners leadoff homers in a season, with six.
~Raleigh shares the Major League lead with nine homers, with eight of them coming while catching (this one on Sunday came while DH’ing). Having eight as a catcher through 22 team games has occurred only rarely in the modern era – 12 times. Raleigh is the first backstop to get to this height at this point since J.T. Realmuto in 2020. Roy Campanella (1953) and Yogi Berra (1956) share the top spot, with 10 longballs through their respective clubs’ first 22 games.
~Seattle is third in the AL in homers (32) and leads the league with 92 walks. The club had last reached these two tallies through 22 games in 2000 and before then, it’d only happened in 1996.
Batting 1-2 in Toronto’s lineup, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. combined to go 4-for-8 with a double. The Blue Jays have played 22 games, with Bichette starting in the top spot in all 22 and Guerrero, Jr. starting in the two-hole in 21 of them. Across the Majors, Toronto owns the third highest combined batting average (.304) out of the 1-2 spot but only ranks 17th in slugging (.398) in that split. Both Bichette and Guerrero, Jr. are currently slugging at least 67 points below their career marks.
Max Fried (7.2 IP, 2 H) improved to 4-0 as the Yankees blanked the Rays, 4-0. The 31-year-old is one of 10 left-handers in the 21st century to have at least four wins, no losses and an ERA no higher than 1.50 through 22 team games.
| Pitcher | Year | W-L | ERA |
| Randy Johnson | 2000 | 5-0 | 1.06 |
| Randy Johnson | 2002 | 5-0 | 1.38 |
| Dontrelle Willis | 2005 | 5-0 | 1.29 |
| Cliff Lee | 2008 | 4-0 | 0.28 |
| Matt Moore | 2013 | 4-0 | 1.04 |
| Mark Buehrle | 2014 | 4-0 | 0.64 |
| Martín Pérez | 2014 | 4-0 | 1.42 |
| Dallas Keuchel | 2017 | 4-0 | 1.22 |
| Justin Steele | 2023 | 4-0 | 1.19 |
| Max Fried | 2025 | 4-0 | 1.42 |
Francisco Lindor connected on his 22nd career leadoff home run in the Mets’ win against the Cardinals. The 31-year-old is tied with Jimmy Ryan (who played from 1885-1903) and Grady Sizemore (2004-2015) for the 42nd most ever, but shoots up the ladder when just looking at switch-hitters. In that picture, he is eighth, behind Jimmy Rollins (46), Devon White and Ray Durham (34), Tony Phillips and Rafael Furcal (30), José Reyes and Dexter Fowler (26).
Brice Turang (2 H, 3 SB) was at the head of a record-setting day for Milwaukee as the club nabbed nine steals – the most ever for the franchise. There have been 11 instances in the liveball era of a team amassing at least nine steals in a game, with three of them coming in the past three seasons (the Reds had such a game in 2023 and the Red Sox did this in 2024). There were three efforts in 1976 (two by the Athletics, one by the Reds) with the other five being scattered from 1983 through 2010.
Brewers right-hander Logan Henderson authored a memorable debut, fanning nine over six innings while claiming a win. Henderson is one of 66 pitchers since 1901 to reach at least nine K’s in a debut, and the fourth Brewer inside the collection. In 2018, Freddy Peralta fanned 13, one more than Steve Woodward compiled in 1997. In 2001, Nick Neugebauer struck out nine. All three of these predecessors were younger than the 23-year-old Henderson, with Neugebauer (21 years, 35 days) among the very youngest among the complete 66. Only four were younger than him: 18-year-old Curt Simmons in 1947; 19-year-old Dave Morehead in 1963; 20-year-olds Nick Maddox (in 1907) and Rudy May (in 1965).
Arizona’s Josh Naylor contributed a pair of run-scoring singles as part of a three-hit day in the club’s win over Chicago. The first baseman/DH is slashing .333/.406/.548 with 11 walks and eight strikeouts this year. Along with Kyle Tucker and Pete Alonso, Naylor is one of three players this season with a .300/.400/500 line and more walks than K’s through 22 team games (min. 65 plate appearances). The first three weeks of a season usually sees a few players hitting these marks: last year, it was Mookie Betts and Juan Soto; in 2023, Tucker, Luis Arráez and Brandon Nimmo got the job done; in 2022, Josh Bell, J.P. Crawford and José Ramírez were the trio.
Rangers right-hander Tyler Mahle was left out of the decision despite finishing his day with seven scoreless innings (on two hits and three walks). In five starts this season, the 30-year-old carries a 0.68 ERA and is holding batters to a .112 average.
~There are 16 pitchers since 1920 to have at least five starts through their clubs’ first 22 games and to have an ERA below 0.70. By decade:
1920s Jesse Petty (1926)
1930s Lefty Grove (1936)
1940s Al Benton (1945), Spud Chandler (1946)
1950s Eddie Lopat (1951)
1960s Juan Marichal (1966)
1970s Don Sutton (1972)
1980s Fernando Valenzuela (1981, 1985)
1990s Roger Clemens (1991)
2000s Zack Greinke (2009)
2020s Jacob deGrom (2021), Logan Gilbert (2022), Shohei Ohtani (2023), Kutter Crawford (2024), Tyler Mahle (2025)
~Since 1969, there is only one pitcher who finished a March/April with at least six starts and a batting average-against lower than what Mahle currently sports. In 2023, Ohtani had a .102 BAA. The next two lowest after Ohtani: Chris Paddack (.126 in 2019) and Josh Johnson (.130 in 2011).
Fernando Tatis, Jr. was 2-for-4 with a triple, a home run and a walk and the Padres took down the Astros, 3-2.
~The 26-year-old has reached safely in all 21 games he’s played this season, the sixth-longest streak to open a year in Padres history. Adrián González’s 25-game run in 2009 provides the next rung for Tatis to reach.
~Tatis, Jr. holds a 1.128 OPS and has amassed seven steals in seven attempts this year. It’s the kind of first “month” combination rarely seen when that initial block is completed.
1901-2024: Full March/April with 1.128 OPS (or Better), 7+ SB, no CS (min. 75 PA)
1996 Barry Bonds (1.139 OPS, 7-for-7 in SB attempts)
2004 Carlos Beltrán (1.131 OPS, 7-for-7 in SB attempts)
Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.
Roger Schlueter
As Sr. Editorial Director for Major League Baseball Productions from 2004-2015, Roger served as a hub for hundreds of hours of films, series, documentaries and features: as researcher, fact-checker, script doctor, and developer of ideas. The years at MLB Production gave him the ideal platform to pursue what galvanized him the most – the idea that so much of what takes place on the field during the MLB regular and postseason (and is forever beautifully condensed into a box score) has connections to what has come before. Unearthing and celebrating these webs allows baseball to thrive, for the present can come alive and also reignite the past.