Bases Covered is a daily roundup of the most interesting stories in baseball.
King Felix finds his form
After allowing eight runs in one-third of an inning versus the Houston Astros, Mariners ace Felix Hernandez returned to form Wednesday. Facing San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner, Hernandez pitched eight shutout innings; Seattle won 2–0. Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon called it a “special outing,” while Hernandez joked that he was just happy to get past the one inning.
Wada is “badass”
Cubs pitcher Tsuyoshi Wada pitched seven shutout innings Wednesday in a 17–0 blowout win over Cleveland. After the impressive performance, Wada told reporters, via an interpreter, that he is “a badass.” Turns out, he wasn’t quite sure what that meant: “There is the language barrier,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what the ‘badass’ means to start with, but you guys are laughing at it, so it must be a good thing to say.” Wada’s teammate Kris Bryant seems pretty “badass,” too: the rookie hit his first major-league grand slam in the ninth inning.
Garbage time
Though Kris Bryant got his first grand slam last night, he had some help: the guy pitching to him was Cleveland outfielder David Murphy. In fact, six position pitchers pitched in the majors in the past two nights, thanks to the number of blowouts. “I’m just trying to show my versatility, which is why I was pumped when I got the call,” Murphy joked about his pitching experience—the second time he’s stood on the mound in his major-league career. Here’s a roundup of how the other position players—including Jeff Francoeur, Jake Elmore and Nick Franklin—fared as pitchers.
Pineda goes for a no-no
Yankees starter Michael Pineda pitched six no-hit innings Wednesday. But the no-hitter bid was broken up on the first pitch of the seventh inning by a home run courtesy of Miami’s Christian Yelich. Pineda’s teammate Alex Rodriguez, meanwhile, got himself closer to the 3,000 hit mark. He’ll need three hits to get there, and it could happen it today’s matchup with the Marlins; Miami pitcher Mat Latos will face the Yankees for the first time in his career.
When a bunt becomes a home run
Tampa’s Steven Souza was going for a bunt in the eighth inning of last night’s game versus the Nationals. But it was raining, and as Souza bunted and got running, Bryce Harper and Blake Treinen both committed defensive errors. So Souza kept running, and made it all the way home.
