Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (May 1-7).
Nobody beats the Miz: Jacob Misiorowski was back at it on Friday with his high velocity. He threw 43 pitches at 100 mph or faster, the third-most by a pitcher in a game under pitch tracking (2008), behind 47 from Hunter Greene on Sept. 17, 2022, and 44 from Greene on March 30, 2023. Misiorowski now has 18 career pitches of at least 102 mph including the playoffs, six more than any other starter under tracking. He even threw a pitch 103.0 mph, the fourth-fastest by a starter under tracking including the playoffs, behind 103.2 mph and 103.1 mph from Jordan Hicks on July 12, 2022 as an opener and 103.1 mph from Justin Verlander in 2011 ALCS Game 5.
M&Ms: Friday was already the seventh time this season that Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery homered in the same game. That’s the most by any teammate duo in their team’s first 35 games of a season in MLB history, and it was only game 32, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. They broke a tie at six with 1994 COL Andres Galarraga and Ellis Burks, 1980 PHI Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski and 1956 NYY Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra.
Multi-homer Mickey: Mickey Moniak recorded his fourth multi-homer game of the season on Sunday in the Rockies’ 35th game. That is tied for the second-most multi-homer games through a team’s first 35 games of a season in MLB history, trailing only 1959 Harmon Killebrew (five). Moniak tied 2001 Carlos Delgado, 1976 Dave Kingman, 1969 Reggie Jackson, 1968 Frank Howard, 1964 Killebrew and 1951 Gil Hodges.
Walk this way: The Pirates drew seven consecutive walks in the second inning on Saturday, tying an MLB record, per Elias. It had happened twice previously: by the Braves against the Pirates on May 25, 1983 in the third inning and by the White Sox against the Senators on Aug. 28, 1909 in the second inning.
Dominance: The Yankees swept the Orioles in a four-game series that ended on Monday. They won each game by at least five runs. It is the third time they won every game of a series of at least four games by five or more runs in franchise history. They also did this in 1947 vs. the Red Sox and 1939 at the Browns.
He has power: With another homer on Monday, Murakami's first 14 MLB extra-base hits were home runs. That extended the longest such streak to start a player’s MLB career since at least 1900. The prior longest was 10, by 2016 Dae-ho Lee, per Elias. He hit his first MLB double later in the game, ending the streak. In addition to being the longest to start a career, it’s also the second-longest streak to start a season in that span, behind only 1955 Eddie Robinson (first 15).
Shotime: Shohei Ohtani made his sixth pitching start of the season on Tuesday, which was also his 20th with the Dodgers. His 2.04 ERA in his starts with the Dodgers is the third-lowest through a pitcher’s first 20 starts with the franchise since earned runs became official in the National League in 1912. He trails 1915-16 Larry Cheney (1.37) and 1918 Burleigh Grimes (1.73).
Sting(y) Rays: The Rays allowed three runs or fewer in 13 consecutive games before finally allowing four on Thursday. That is tied with the 2022 Astros, 2014 Mariners, 2013 Royals and 2002 Diamondbacks for the second-longest single-season streak in the Wild Card era (since 1995). Only the 2010 Giants at 18 straight have a longer run in that span.
Go Cubs Go! The Cubs won their first three games of the series against the Reds in walk-off fashion. It was the fourth time they won three consecutive games, all in a walk-off, against the same opponent in franchise history, per Elias. They also did this in 1943 vs. the Giants, 1932 vs. the Giants and 1932 vs. the Braves.
Current Ironman: Matt Olson has played 820 consecutive games entering Friday, dating to May 2, 2021. His streak is the 11th-longest in MLB history. The only other streaks of at least 700 consecutive games to begin in the divisional era (1969) are, of course, 1982-98 Cal Ripken Jr. (2,632 games), as well as 1975-83 Steve Garvey (1,207), 2000-07 Miguel Tejada (1,152), 1978-83 Pete Rose (745) and 1981-86 Dale Murphy (740).