SCOREBOARD
Tuesday, April 17
Boston at Toronto (7:07 p.m. EDT). Daisuke Matsuzaka starts for the Red Sox.
Monday
STARS
– Ivan Rodriguez, Tigers, had a grand slam and six RBIs in Detroit’s 12-5 victory over Kansas City.
– Morgan Ensberg, Astros, singled in the game-winning run in the ninth inning to lift Houston to a 4-3 victory over Florida.
– Bill Hall, Brewers, hit his first career grand slam to lead Milwaukee to a 10-6 victory over Cincinnati.
– Ian Snell, Pirates, threw seven innings of three-hit ball in a 3-2 victory over St. Louis.
GRAND-STANDING
six RBIs to back Justin Verlander’s first win of the season in the Tigers’ 12-5 victory over the Royals.
SECOND CHANCE
Florida right fielder Joe Borchard crashed into Dan Uggla, knocking Morgan Ensberg’s ninth-inning, bases-loaded foul pop out of the second baseman’s glove. Given another chance, Ensberg singled to left on the next pitch, giving the Houston Astros a 4-3 win over the Marlins on Monday night.
RARITY
The Indians are the first team in nearly 55 years to win a game with their only hit coming in their first at-bat. Grady Sizemore led off Cleveland’s 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday with a double. On April 23, 1952, the only hit for the St. Louis Browns in a 1-0 win over Cleveland was a first-inning leadoff triple by Bobby Young off Bob Feller. Young later scored on an error by Al Rosen, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
NOT THIS TIME
Salomon Torres refused to let the St. Louis Cardinals beat him again. The Pittsburgh closer, who had a loss and a blown save during St. Louis’ three-game sweep in Pittsburgh last week, got Albert Pujols to foul out with the bases-loaded for the final out in a 3-2 victory on Monday night.
SPEAKING
“I’m one guy who basically lives for this. And I don’t know if I would have made it to the ballpark today as a fan. I was surprised at the amount of people who showed up. The plan was, hey, we’ve got to be out there, so we might as well give it all and win the ballgame.” – Washington manager Manny Acta on the weather during the Nationals’ 5-1 win over Atlanta. He called it a 40-40 night – 40 degrees, 40 mph winds.
SEASONS
April 17
1892 – In the first Sunday game in National League history, Cincinnati defeated St. Louis 5-1.
1932 – New York first baseman Bill Terry tied an NL record with 21 putouts as the Giants beat Boston 5-0 behind Hal Schumacher’s two-hitter.
1951 – In his first major league game, Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4 as the New York Yankees defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-0.
1953 – Mickey Mantle cleared the bleachers at Griffith Stadium with a 565-foot home run off Chuck Stobbs. The shot came in the fifth inning of a 7-3 win over the Senators.
1964 – The New York Mets lost their first game at Shea Stadium to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3. Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell hit the first homer at Shea.
1969 – Bill Stoneman of Montreal pitched a 7-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies in the 10th game of the Expos’ existence.
1976 – Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hit four consecutive home runs and a single in an 18-16, 10-inning victory over the Cubs in Wrigley Field. Hitting .167 going into the game, he connected twice off Rick Reuschel, once off Rick’s brother, Paul, and once off Darold Knowles. He drove in eight runs.
2001 – Barry Bonds became the 17th major leaguer to hit 500 home runs. Bonds’ two-run, eighth-inning drive off Terry Adams went into San Francisco Bay to lead the Giants over the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2.
2006 – Albert Pujols of St. Louis tied a major-league record with a home run in his fourth consecutive at-bat in a 2-1 win over Pittsburgh. A day after hitting three homers, Pujols homered to center off Paul Maholm in the top of the first to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
Today’s birthday: Gary Bennett, 34.
