Bases Covered is a daily roundup of the most interesting stories in baseball.
Up and down in the desert
Paul Goldschmidt” width=”100%” />
Shelby Miller made his regular-season debut for the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, and he was far from sparkling. The 25-year-old right-hander lasted six innings, allowing six runs—including three homers—on eight hits and a walk.
Miller came away with a no-decision, though, because his team put up 11 runs, good for an 11–6 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt contributed a home run and a bases-loaded triple. Ever a good guy, the 28-year-old recently gave his locker to teammate Rickie Weeks, saying the MLB veteran deserved the more spacious digs.
Bad eggs
Matt Harvey has had his share of medical concerns. No, this isn’t another stupid dissection of Harvey’s bladder health. But the 27-year-old Mets right-hander sat down with The Observer recently and talked about a recently diagnosed food allergy: After suffering from stomach problems for ages, it turns out he’s allergic to eggs.
“I’ve had bad stomach issues from when I was a kid,” Harvey said. Now that he’s off the eggs, he’s apparently feeling better. “I don’t feel bloated all the time. I was constantly feeling bad and I kind of got used to it over the years, but now that I’ve been off of eggs, now I know how feeling good feels.”
Syndergaard vs. Sanchez
Aaron Sanchez continued to make hi case for a spot in the starting rotation on Sunday. (Nathan Denette/CP)” width=”100%” />
Two members of the ol’ “Lansing 3” got the start for their respective MLB teams on Tuesday. Noah Syndergaard led the New York Mets to a 2–0 win over the Kansas City Royals, allowing three hits, one walk and zero runs over six innings, and throwing nine strikeouts. The six-foot-six starter known as “Thor,” who landed with the Mets via the R.A. Dickey trade to Toronto, showed off his nasty slider, and even Royals manager Ned Yost had high praise for the 23-year-old: “His stuff was absolutely spectacular,” Yost said. “His stuff was unhittable.”
Aaron Sanchez, meanwhile, went seven innings, allowing five hits, zero walks, eight strikeouts and one home run. The Blue Jays ended up losing to the Rays in bizarre fashion, 3–2, but Sanchez, who got the no-decision, impressed. It’s a shame the spotlight was stolen by the outcome of the game.
Texas tempers
Seattle Mariners‘ Nelson Cruz reacts at the plate after he hit a two-run home run. (Ted S. Warren/AP)” width=”100%” />
Tempers flared when the Seattle Mariners faced off against a former teammate, reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, in the eighth inning of their second game at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
A few former Texas Rangers now playing with Seattle made their mark in the game: Nelson Cruz hit a home run, and Leonys Martin hit the tie-breaking double.
Already leading 4–2, the Mariners had a monster eighth inning, scoring six runs. At one point in the inning, Seattle catcher Chris Iannetta stepped to the plate and got a Wilhelmsen fastball delivered to his thigh, which the Mariners took as retaliation for the runs they were putting up.
Wilhelmsen was swiftly ejected by umpire Marvin Hudson, and the Mariners won, 10–2.
“It’s ugly and I’m embarrassed,” said Wilhelmsen after the game.
Stating the obvious
David Price made his long-awaited regular-season debut for the Red Sox on Tuesday after some bad weather called off Monday’s Opening Day at Progressive Field in Cleveland. The lefty was good but not brilliant: He allowed two runs on five hits over six innings, throwing 10 strikeouts and offering up two walks.
But—obviously—he’s Boston’s ace. Red Sox pitchers apparently get asked to talk about Price’s position in the rotation—”what it means to have an ace”—and Clay Buccholz (who started for Boston on Opening Day last year) explained that having a clear No. 1 takes some pressure off the rest of them.
“Not having to talk about it is probably the best thing that’s happened for the simple fact of, yeah, we have our No. 1 and then everybody else falls where they may after that,” he said.
Price gets his next start versus the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Sunday.