Stats of the Day: Harper's multihomer effort
Nationals outfielder has eighth such game for third most all time by 22-year-old
Here are four interesting items from around the big leagues on Wednesday …
• Bryce Harper homered twice in the Nationals' 7-2 victory over the Marlins. His eighth multihomer effort came at the age of 22 years and 286 days. Those eight by this age tie Harper for the third most for any player, with Mel Ott and Eddie Mathews having 10. Joe DiMaggio and Andruw Jones also had eight. Harper has 84 career home runs, tying Mickey Mantle for the 13th most for a player through his age-22 season. Two more would tie Harper with Jimmie Foxx.
• Justin Verlander struck out 10 without a walk and allowed a run in eight innings. Opposing pitcher Chris Archer fanned 11 with no walks and surrendered two runs in seven innings. Verlander took the win and Archer the loss as the Tigers defeated the Rays, 2-1. Before this game, there had been four since 1914 to see each starter reach double digits in strikeouts while issuing no walks: July 12, 1997 (Roger Clemens' 16 K's and the Blue Jays defeated Aaron Sele's 11 K's and the Red Sox); April 9, 2003 (Mark Prior struck out 12, Javier Vazquez fanned 14 as Prior's Cubs defeated the Expos); Aug. 20, 2012 (Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw each had 10 strikeouts as the Giants came out on top); and April 22, 2014 (Jose Fernandez's 14 K's and the Marlins defeated Alex Wood's 11 K's and the Braves).
• Jon Lester fanned 14 against one walk and picked up the win as the Cubs topped the Rockies, 3-2. Lester set a modern era franchise record for K's by a southpaw, surpassing the 12 amassed by Hippo Vaughn (done twice), Ken Holtzman (done twice) and Jamie Moyer (once).
Video: COL@CHC: Lester fans 14 over eight frames
• In his Blue Jays debut, Troy Tulowitzki doubled twice and homered while scoring three times and driving in three runs. Tulowitzki became just the second Toronto shortstop -- joining Chris Woodward from Aug. 7, 2002 -- to have a game with at least three extra-base hits, three runs and three RBIs. Tulowitzki now has four of these games; since 1914, the only players with more games of three, three and three while playing shortstop are Vern Stephens and Nomar Garciaparra, each with five.
Video: Must C Classic: Tulowitzki shines in Blue Jays debut
Milestone watch for Thursday
• Jay Bruce needs one home run for 200 in his career. Bruce will be the fourth Reds player to reach 200 through his first eight seasons, joining Adam Dunn, Frank Robinson and Johnny Bench.