#486---CLE @ MIN, 5/21/2025

 

Gavin Williams only allowed two hits over six innings, but trailed 1-0 until Chris Paddack and Louie Varland combined to walk three straight in the visitors sixth, fueling a two-run frame. Carlos Santana added a homer in the eighth, and Cleveland tacked on two more in the ninth as each of their relievers allowed a single baserunner in a full inning of work.

#485---TB @ COL, 4/5/2024

 

Colorado’s home opener was a wonderful display of Coors Field baseball. Both starters pitched decently, Austin Gomber allowing two runs in four innings and Zach Littell just one in five. But the home team touched up Colin Poche for three runs in the fifth, including a two-run Ezequiel Tovar homer, and Kris Bryant poled a two-run homer off Jacob Waguespack in the eighth for some insurance. Staked to a 6-2 lead, Justin Lawrence allowed hits to five of the six batters he faced and the game was tied. 

Former Ray Jalen Beeks came in, and Jose Caballero was credited with a sacrifice for moving Ben Rortvedt to second because obviously it’s always the right play to make the second out at Coors Field to buy 90 feet. But it paid off when Ryan McMahon threw away Jose Siri’s grounder, allowing Rortvedt to score the go-ahead run.

Pete Fairbanks came in to try to close it out and promptly walked the bases loaded against the top of the order. Jason Adam struck out Kris Bryant on three pitches, but McMahon found quick redemption, launching a walk-off grand slam on the first pitch he saw. 10-7 Colorado, as natural as can be.

#484---LAA @ LA, 3/26/2023

This Freeway Series exhibition saw Clayton Kershaw make his final tune-up an impressive one as he needed just 74 pitches to hold the Angels to three hits and no runs over six innings, with seven strikeouts (including three of Mike Trout). Solo homers provided all the scoring, with Max Muncy and Chris Taylor going back-to-back in the second off Tucker Davidson and James Outman adding one in the eighth.

#483---CLE @ LA, 6/17/2022

 

I’m not a huge fan of the Project Scoresheet method. Its linear nature is great if you are going to be using it to input to a database, but makes it hard to follow which players are involved in action on the basepaths. One thing it handles very well, though, is the Manfred runner in extra innings. Since the top line of each scorebox records what happens before the end of the plate appearance, I just jot “A2” for automatic runner on second and proceed as if everything is perfectly normal and that I am not watching some kind of Frankenstein monster being passed off as baseball. 

Both Clayton Kershaw and Zach Plesac allowed a single run over five and six innings respectively, and both bullpens kept the game scoreless into the tenth (although the Dodgers’ relievers allowed just one walk in four innings while Guard’s relievers had to escape jams in the seventh and ninth. The latter was particularly scary as Oscar Gonzalez flat dropped a flyball that should have been the second out, putting runners at first and third before Anthony Gose struck out Gavin Lux and got Trea Turner to foul out). 

In the tenth, the Guards used an Andres Gimenez infield single and Richie Palacios pinch-hit sac fly to push across their free runner, while the Dodgers mustered a walk but never advanced theirs against Anthony Gose and Enyel De Los Santos.

#482---CLE @ CHA, 4/14/2021

 

Zach Plesac failed to escape the first inning, allowing a three-run Yermin Mercedes homer along with three additional tallies. Meanwhile, Carlos Rodon was methodically cutting down the Indians inning after inning. Through his first twenty-five batters faced he had six strikeouts and nothing else on his pitching line. But on a 1-2 count he grazed Roberto Perez with a backfoot slider. He fanned Yu Chang and got Jordan Luplow to ground to third to complete the no-hitter, but he had come oh so close to the majors’ first perfect game in nine seasons.

#481---NYA @ WAS, 7/23/2020

 It was appropriate that the very first game of the shortened 2020 season should itself be shortened, as one of the main architects of the absurd, tyrannical display of authoritarian muscle sat smugly in the stands. The only justice was that his team and the team of the New Babylon was beaten by the real America’s team. This was Gerrit Cole’s first start as a Yankee and aside from a first inning Adam Eaton homer, he was nearly flawless, allowing just a walk over the rest of his five innings. His opposite number Max Scherzer struck out eleven in 5 1/3 but dealt with traffic all night...or at least all hour and forty-three minutes of this rain-shortened affair.

#480---BOS @ SEA, 3/28/2019

Seattle crushed Chris Sale and the defending champion Red Sox on Opening Day. Sale went just three innings, allowing seven runs, including one homer from Edwin Encarnacion and two from Gordon Beckham.  Ryon Healy and Domingo Santana would homer off the Boston bullpen to extend the lead.

Boston put up some hits of their own; they had eleven to Seattle’s twelve, but Boston’s accounted for just fourteen total bases while Seattle’s were worth thirty-two, which was reflected in the 12-4 final score.

 

#479---CLE @ SEA, 3/29/2018

Corey Kluber retired the first two batters he faced, but then Robinson Cano singled and Nelson Cruz homered to put Seattle up 2-0. Felix Hernandez shut out the Indians for 5 1/3 innings, and while a two-out sixth-inning rally against Nick Vincent plated a run, they came no closer. Edwin Diaz had an adventurous ninth, striking out Yonder Alonso before plunking Edwin Encarnacion, balking pinch-runner Rajai Davis to second, and hitting Lonnie Chisenhall. Davis swiped third on the first pitch to Yan Gomes, and Chisenhall second on the last, but that was a swinging strike that left runners at second and third with two outs. Diaz struck out Tyler Naquin to save a 2-1 Opening Day win for the Mariners.

#478---SF @ ARI, 4/2/2017

For five innings it looked as if Madison Bumgarner might have a historic Opening Day. He had been perfect, striking out seven Diamondbacks and needing just 54 pitches. He had also just taken Zack Greinke deep in the top of the inning to pad his lead to 2-0.  San Francisco added a tally in the top of the sixth and led 3-0. But after MadBum fanned David Peralta to make it sixteen up, sixteen down, the wheels fell off quickly. Jeff Mathis tripled, pinch-hitter Nick Ahmed singled, and AJ Pollock homered and just like that it was tied. 

Bumgarner came right back and gave the Giants the lead back on his second homer, this one off Andrew Chafin, and held Arizona scoreless in the seventh to leave with a 4-3 lead. It was short-lived as AJ Pollock, Chris Owings, and Paul Goldschmidt greeted Derek Law with three straight singles to tie the game. But in the ninth, Joe Panik led off against Fernando Rodney with a triple and Connor Gillaspie’s sac fly put the Giants up 5-4.

Mark Melancon was summoned for the save, and things look good after he struck out Brandon Drury and Peralta grounded out. But Mathis delivered his second extra base hit with a double (he went 3-4), Daniel Descalso singled to tie it, and Pollock and Owings singled to win it.

 

#477---LA @ SD, 4/4/2016

 

Three runs was probably always going to be enough for Clayton Kershaw on this Opening Day, as he pitched seven shutout innings allowing just one hit and one walk with nine strikeouts. But then the Dodgers pummeled the Padres for five in the sixth, three in the seventh, and four in the eighth to make it a 15-0 massacre without the benefit of a single longball.

#476---CLE @ HOU, 4/8/2015

Solo homers from Carlos Santana and Mike Aviles were all Indians pitchers would need, as Carlos Carrasco turned in an excellent start (6 1/3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 W, 10 K). Nick Hagadone relieved him and allowed the first two batters to reach, so he was replaced by Marc Rzepczynski in a rare left-for-left move. Scrabble got Colby Rasmus to hit into a double play on the first pitch, and Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen each turned in scoreless innings to preserve the 2-0 win. 

#475---LA @ SD, 3/30/2014

Both starters pitched well on Opening Day (Andrew Cashner 6 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 W, 5 K and Hyun-Jin Ryu 7 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 W, 7 K), but the performance of the bullpens diverged significantly. Padre relievers retired nine of the ten batters they faced, while Brian Wilson failed to retire the first five batters he faced, allowing the Padres three decisive eighth inning runs. Chris Perez and Paco Rodriguez struck out the next three, but the damage was done and Huston Street closed the door with eleven pitches in the ninth. 

#474---CLE @ TOR, 4/2/2013

These two teams had also opened the 2012 season (see #439), but this was a very different game: different weather conditions (cold, rainy Cleveland v. the SkyDome), different Tribe skipper (Manny Acta v. Terry Francona), different length of game (16 innings and 5:14 v. 9 innings and 2:31), different outcome (Cleveland blown lead and eventual loss v. Cleveland victory). One thing that was the same was the Cleveland starter, as Justin Masterson turned in another quality Opening Day outing, this time allowing one run on three hits and four walks with four strikeouts over six innings. His opposite number was RA Dickey, making his first start for the Blue Jays after the big offseason trade with the Mets. Dickey went six allowing four runs, and neither bullpen allowed a run so it ended 4-1. 

#473---STL @ MIA, 4/4/2012

 This was the major league opener and the opener for Marlins Park. Both teams had undergone serious roster changes in the offseason, the defending champ Cardinals losing Albert Pujols while the Marlins hired Ozzie Guillen, pursued Pujols hard before spending  their money on Jose Reyes and Mark Buerhle, and generally tossed off those disturbing (at least for Indians fans) 1997 vibes. 

Thankfully that did not to come fruition, not on opening night and not during the season. Postseason hero David Freese picked up where he left off by driving in two with two outs in the first, and the Cards led 3-0 most of the game as Kyle Lohse no-hit the Marlins through six, broken up by Jose Reyes. 

#472---SF @ LA, 4/3/2011

Matt Kemp’s two-run homer off Barry Zito in the first helped the Dodgers break in front 3-0, but the Giants got a run back in the second on Pablo Sandoval’s homer, another in the sixth on three two-out singles, and tied it with Pat Burrell’s leadoff shot in the seventh. Los Angeles answered right back as with a four spot keyed by four hits by the five batters who faced Dan Runzler. In the top of the eighth, Hong-Chi Kuo got two outs sandwiched around a double and a walk. Matt Guerrier came on and walked consecutive batters to force in a run, but Miguel Tejada fouled out on the first pitch he saw to end the threat. Aaron Rowand led off the ninth with a pinch-hit homer off Jonathan Broxton, but Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey both grounded out as the potential tying run and the Dodgers held on 7-5.

#471---NYA @ BOS, 4/4/2010

 

One might have expected CC Sabathia v. Josh Beckett on Opening Day to be a pitcher’s duel, but it most decidedly was not. Back-to-back homers from Jose Posada and Curtis Granderson helped the Yankees break up 5-2 after five, with Beckett already out. In the sixth, Boston got a two-run triple from Kevin Youkilis to tie it and after Sabathia got Big Papi to ground out, he left as well. Adrian Beltre greeted David Robertson with a single to tie the game. The Yankees answered back with two in the seventh, but the Red Sox immediately tied it on Dustin Pedroia’s homer off Chan Ho Park and took their first lead on a Posada passed ball that scored Youkilis. Pedroia would knock in an insurance run in the eighth and the Red Sox won a long (3:46), entertaining opener 9-7.

#470---NYA @ CLE, 5/30/2009

I don’t find the dots that I used to shoehorn the pitches into this scoresheet to be visually appealing, which matches how this game went for the Tribe. Fausto Carmona allowed seven runs in four innings (including homers by Jorge Posada and Nick Swisher) and Tomo Ohka mopped up for five long relief innings. 

In CC Sabathia’s first start in Cleveland after being traded the previous summer, he went 4 1/3 hitless innings before Shin-Soo Choo singled up the middle and three of the next four added singles. It ended up as a quality start (7 IP, 3 R, 3 W, 7 K) for Sabathia and a fairly easy victory.

#469---CHA @ CLE, 4/2/2008

 

Fausto Carmona’s (sorry, Roberto Hernandez’s) 2008 season would not go like his 2007 season did, but it started that way. Carmona pitched seven innings, allowing one run on four hits, walks, and strikeouts while Cleveland’s offense chipped away for seven runs. Grady Sizemore was 3-4 with a triple, hit batter, two runs, and four RBI.

#468---TEX @ LAA, 4/2/2007

Angels pitchers held Texas to four hits on Opening Day, with Ian Kinsler’s homer providing the only run for the visitors. Los Angeles got single tallies in the first, second, fifth, and eighth and dominant work from the back end of their bullpen (Justin Speier, Scott Shields, and Francisco Rodriguez retired all eleven batters they faced) to win it 4-1.

#467---SF @ SD, 4/3/2006

Appropriately Barry Bonds started the Opening Day offense with a second inning double, scoring on Lance Niekro’s single, but it was all Padres from there. Mike Piazza led off the bottom of the second with a homer and Khalil Greene would later go deep as well as San Diego scored four off Jason Schmidt in seven innings. Other than the second, Jake Peavy was superb, going seven and allowing just the one run on four hits and one walk with five Ks.

#466---CHN @ ARI, 4/4/2005

The Cubs pounced on Javier Vazquez for seven runs in the first two innings, and homers from Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez helped keep it going as they ruined Opening Day for the Diamondbacks, 16-6. Ramirez and Lee had the two biggest days for the Cubs as Ramirez went 3-4 with a walk, scoring three and driving in four while Lee went 4-6, scoring two and driving in five. 

#465---CLE @ MIN, 4/5/2004

 

It was Opening Day in Minnesota, exciting for the home fans as local hero, #1 draft pick, and top prospect Joe Mauer made his major league debut catching and batting eighth. He didn’t disappoint, going 2-3 with two walks. However, three solo homers (two from Travis Hafner, one from Jody Gerut) and a fine start from CC Sabathia (seven shutout innings, two hits (both in the first), four walks, and eight strikeouts) had the visiting Indians up 4-0 entering the bottom of the eighth. Jose Jimenez allowed a walk and a single and getting a comebacker to put runners at second and third with one out. Lew Ryan pinch-hit, Scott Stewart relieved, and Michael Cuddyer hit for Ryan (“NB” notation indicating Ryan “never batter” as the pinch-hitter). He singled in the runs, Doug Mientikewicz singled, and Corey Koskie hit a ground-rule double to put men on second and third with still only one out. Rafael Betancourt was greeted by a Tori Hunter single, but fanned Jaque Jones and Matthew Lecroy to preserve a 4-4 tie. 

Matt Lawton was thrown out at the plate by Jones in the tenth. In the bottom of the eleventh, Chad Durbin sandwiched two Ks around a Lecroy walk and Mauer single, but Shannon Stewart blasted a 1-1 pitch for a three-run walkoff homer. 

#464---CLE @ BAL, 4/3/2003

Rick Helling was perfect through three and had Cleveland shut out through five, but Matt Lawton’s three-run homer in the sixth opened and completed the day’s scoring. Brian Anderson had a fine start for the Tribe, pitching eight shutout innings, allowing three hits and one walk with just two strikeouts. Danys Baez got the save by fanning Gary Mathews and Jeff Conine and popping up Jay Gibbons on one pitch.

#463---MIN @ CLE, 4/9/2002

The Indians scored four in the second (homers by Milton Bradley and Matt Lawton), one in the third, and an excellent start from Chuck Finley (six shutout innings, three hits, three walks, seven strikeouts). But after Einar Diaz doubled to lead off the fourth, they failed to record another hit, and their bullpen made it interesting. Jerrod Riggan allowed two runs in the seventh and was relieved by Ricardo Rincon who stranded runners on the corners. Paul Shuey made it through the eighth, and Bob Wickman retired the first two batters in the ninth before surrendering singles to AJ Pierzynski, Jacque Jones, and Cristian Guzman. He fanned Doug Mientkiewicz to earn the save in a 5-4 Cleveland win. 

#462---BAL @ CLE, 4/8/2001

 

CC Sabathia’s major league debut got off to a rocky start as Jeff Conine took him deep for three runs in the first, but he allowed just one hit and one walk, striking out three over the next 5 2/3 innings. He would wind up with a no-decision as he left trailing 3-2 despite solo homers by Ellis Burks and Russell Branyan, but Juan Gonzalez’s two-out, two-run single off Willis Roberts in the seventh got him off the hook and gave the Tribe a 4-3 lead that Paul Shuey and Bob Wickman made stand. 

#461---CLE @ BAL, 4/6/2000

Only four of them are, but nine of the eighteen starting position players in this game could be in the Hall of Fame. Pat Rapp and Charlie Nagy had battled 2-2 through five, but the game was decided in the bottom of the sixth. After Harold Baines lined out, Cal Ripken and Will Clark singled and Charles Johnson hit a three-run homer. Apparently Tribe skipper Charlie Manuel thought one of the balls to Johnson had been a strike, as he was tossed during Mike Bordick’s at-bat. He was lucky he didn’t see Bordick’s solo homer which chased Nagy. Cleveland mustered very little against Buddy Groom who recorded a three-inning save.

#460---CLE @ MIN, 4/9/1999

The first six Indians reached off LaTroy Hawkins which set the rout for this 14-5 rout at the Metrodome. The Indians got big days from Kenny Lofton (4-5, 2 D, 2 R, 2 RBI), Manny Ramirez (3-6, D, 3 R, 3 RBI), Jim Thome (3-4, T, HR, 2 W, 2 R, 3 RBI), and Wil Cordero (3-6, 2 D, 4 RBI). Charlie Nagy allowed four runs over seven innings to pick up an easy win.

#459---CLE @ BOS, 4/17/1998

 

Pedro Martinez and Charlie Nagy squared off in this one and it was a doozy. Pedro went nine innings, allowing four hits without a walk and fanning twelve, but Brian Giles drove in two runs with a homer in the third and a single in the eighth. Through eight, Nagy scattered eight hits and a walk with eight strikeouts while blanking Boston. In the ninth, Nagy struck out Darren Bragg in between three singles that brought in a run and put runners at first and second for Nomar Gariciaparra. Mike Jackson came in and allowed a single that loaded the bases, bringing on Paul Assenmacher to face Reggie Jefferson. His sac fly to center tied the game, but John Valentin struck out and the game proceeded to the tenth.

Cleveland got Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez singles off Tom Gordon, but the rally ended there. Boston quickly had runners at the corners with singles from Mo Vaughn and Troy O’Leary, Damon Buford was intentionally walked, and Bragg singled to walk it off.

Some oddities in my scoresheet: The tenth was kept on a separate piece of paper in a sprawling fashion that would have been hard to maintain for a marathon game. I noted extra inning substitutions on the main sheet, and had not yet adopted the common sense solution of referring to mid-inning substitutions by referring to the lineup box (as I was already doing for pitchers, e.g. “Gordon 4-10” meaning Gordon entered the game to face the #4 hitter in the tenth inning), so instead I have clumsy notation like “2B 10 Thome” meaning that John Valentin moved to second base for Jim Thome’s tenth inning at-bat.

#458---CLE @ TOR, 5/18/1997

 

The Indians got to Chris Carpenter for seven runs in two and a third thanks to two homers from Matt Williams and one from Sandy Alomar. Solo homers from Orlando Merced and Ed Sprague off Chad Ogea in the first helped keep Toronto in touch at 7-3. The fourth and fifth were quiet with just one baserunner between the two sides before Jim Thome padded the lead with a solo homer in the sixth.

In the seventh, Alex Gonzalez doubled and Otis Nixon singled to knock Ogea out. Alvin Morman got Orlando Merced to fly out, and then Eric Plunk was summoned to face Joe Carter. Carter’s homer cut it to 8-6.

Paul Spoljaric pitched two perfect innings to keep the Blue Jays in it, while Carlos Delgado led off the eighth with a double off Paul Assenmacher. It’s cut off from the scan, but Mike Jackson (circled 5) became the next Cleveland pitcher and pitched two perfect innings of his own to record the save.

#457---Cuba v. Netherlands, 3/7/2023 (World Baseball Classic)

Cuba had just one hit through five innings, but it was a RBI double that allowed them to stay tied 1-1 with the Netherlands as the teams played in the opening round of the WBC in Taiwan. The Dutch took control of the game in the sixth with a three-spot off three singles and a walk, all coming from current or former big leaguers (Didi Gregorius, Jonathan Schoop, Josh Palacios, Chadwick Tromp). Cuba got a run back in the seventh but saw their last scoring opportunity go up in smoke on terrible baserunning by Luis Robert in the eighth. He was thrown out after getting too far off second considering an advance on a would-be wild pitch (with two outs). Cuba was retired 1-2-3 in the ninth and the Netherlands won 4-2. 

#456---Puerto Rico v. Mexico, 3/11/2017 (World Baseball Classic)

Each of Puerto Rico’s middle infielders knocked in three runs on homers (Francisco Lindor on two, Javier Baez one) to power a win over Mexico in the first round of the WBC. Baez’s shot came with two outs in the ninth off Joakim Soria to give Edwin Diaz a much more comfortable margin to work with in the ninth. After Diaz allowed two free passes and got a strikeout, the game ended on a looper back to him on which he was able to double Mexico’s Diaz off second. 

#455---Cuba v. Brazil, 3/2/2013 (World Baseball Classic)

 

Brazil made its first WBC appearance in 2013 and played competitively, ultimately losing to Japan, Cuba, and China by nearly identical scores (5-3, 5-2, 5-2). Brazil held Cuba hitless through 4 1/3, but six hits strung together with two walks and a hit batter over the next five outs would allow Cuba to plate five runs and win the game.

#454---Japan v. Korea, 3/9/2009 (World Baseball Classic)

 

The WBC employed a double-elimination format for pool rounds in 2009, which wasn’t a bad idea except that two teams advanced out of each pool, yet the final game was played for seeding purposes (and maybe for the purpose of keeping the winner’s bracket team sharp as well). Additionally, there was no crossing of teams from pools until the final round. Thus in each round, Japan and Korea finished first and second in the pools, then both advanced to the championship meaning that they played five times against each other and only four times against other countries.

This was the first meeting in Pool A, and Japan’s victory ensured their advancement while Korea would have to defeat China in the loser’s bracket final. Japan invoked the mercy rule, powered by homers from Shuichi Murata and Kenji Johjima. Ichiro had three hits and steal, while Daisuke Matsuzaka started and allowed a two-run homer in the first but nothing further.

#453---Taiwan v. China, 3/4/2006 (World Baseball Classic)

A two-out, fourth-inning grand slam put Taiwan up 5-0 and a four-run eighth salted away a 12-3 win over their mainland rivals. Hong-Chi Kuo, at this point just coming off his rookie season in the majors, struck out three in the ninth but did allow a run as a double came around on a passed ball and a wild pitch.  

#452---LA v. CHN, 3/18/2025

This was the (literal) global MLB opener for 2025, played at the Tokyo Dome and featuring two Japanese starters on each side, including the starting pitchers. Shoto Imanaga pitched four no-hit innings for the Cubs, but he walked four with just one strikeout. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was touched up for a run on a two-out Miguel Amaya double in the second, but he walked just one and fanned four over five frames, enough to earn the win as Ben Brown quickly coughed up three runs in his first inning in relief of Imanaga. Seiya Suzuki was 0-4 but Shohei Ohtani was 2-5, so it was a pretty good showing all around for the Japanese players. Matt Shaw made his MLB debut batting seventh for Chicago, going 0-4.

#451---OSU v. Nebraska, 5/21/2024 (Big Ten Tournament)

The Buckeyes got off to a great start in the Big Ten Tournament, highlighted by an eight-run fourth and a four-run fifth and winning the game by the run rule after seven. Unfortunately, it would be the last victory for OSU on the season as they would drop their next two games to be eliminated. This brought a surprising end to tenure of coach Bill Mosiello, who resigned to accept his old job as an assistant at TCU after two seasons in Columbus.

#450---ARI @ CLE, 3/5/2023

Corbin Carroll had a perfect day at the plate with three walks and a double, scoring two and driving in one to help Arizona down Cleveland 6-4 in Goodyear. Madison Bumgarner started for Arizona, allowing two runs in three innings, while Triston McKenzie allowed the same in an inning and two-thirds. Deyvison De Los Santos drew walk as a pinch-hitter for the D-Backs in the seventh; he would be plucked by Cleveland in the subsequent offseason’s Rule 5 draft.  

#449---LA @ CLE, 3/30/2022

 

The Guardians fielded a fairly representative lineup in this game, but were using some of the “B” pitchers and it blew up in the ninth, with the Dodgers first ten batters reaching base. The first two Guards pitchers of the inning, Krauth and Alvarez, each failed to record an out but Marman retired all three batters that he faced. Cleveland only managed seven baserunners for the entire contest. 

#448---LA @ COL, 4/1/2021

If you follow the progression of my scorekeeping style over time, you will see that my early scoresheets (late ‘90s/early ‘00s) have a lot more notes scrawled on the page then my later efforts. Some of this was due to my notation evolving to allow information to be recorded more effectively (for example, early scoresheets have notes indicating on what pitch events like steals or wild pitches occurred, which I later captured in the scorebox more efficiently), but in general after scoring literally thousands of games there is less that I find so noteworthy that it needs to be specially recorded. Sometimes you can’t help it though, and the Dodgers’ third is a good example. Cody Bellinger hit a fly to the warning track in left that bounced off Raimel Tapia’s glove and over the wall, but Justin Turner who had started from first and rounded second thought Tapia had caught it and ran back towards first, being passed by Bellinger in the process. The notation (Bellinger single to wall in left and out “PR4” – passed runner with putout credited to second base) and) gives some indication, but on an unusual play like this it helps to add the color that the ball bounced out of Tapia’s glove, which I have no code for, or exactly what Turner was doing on the basepaths.

The game saw German Marquez constantly in trouble; he only allowed one run (although it should have at least been two minus the confusion described above), but gave up six hits and six walks stranding two runners in each of his four innings. The Dodgers hade more luck converting baserunners to runs off the Rockies bullpen, getting four runs over five innings while stranding six, but it wasn’t enough. To add insult to injury, the last big LOB inning came in the ninth where they loaded the bases against Daniel Bard with one out (tying runs on base), but Matt Beaty struck out and the game ended on Mookie Betts’ looping liner to second. The only inning the Dodgers did not strand a runner was the sixth and a baserunner was wiped out by a double play in that frame.

Meanwhile, the Rockies put up four two-run innings, the first three spoiling Clayton Kershaw’s afternoon. Chris Owings had a big day for the Rockies, going 3-3 with a triple, walk, two steals, three runs scored, and a RBI. 

#447---CLE @ MIN, 8/1/2020

There was not much offense in this “early season” divisional matchup, as the Twins got solo homers off Carlos Carrasco in each of the third through fifth to account for all the scoring (Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, Sano again). Kenta Maeda held the Tribe hitless through 4 2/3 before Bradley Zimmer got an infield single. Their only hit off the Minnesota pen would come on the first batter that unit faced, another infield hit, this time by Francisco Lindor. 

#446---CLE @ MIN, 3/30/2019

Jake Odorizzi pretty well-controlled Cleveland’s offense over six innings, but the only hit he allowed was a Hanley Ramirez homer in the fourth. Jorge Polanco scored after tripling in the bottom of the inning, and a tense affair continued until the ninth. Carlos Santana singled off Blake Parker with one out, then moved up on two wild pitches and eventually scored on Greg Allen’s sacrifice fly. In the bottom of the inning, Brad Hand yielded a leadoff double to Byron Buxton, retired the next two hitters, then intentionally walked Nelson Cruz and walked Eddie Rosario. (Aside: Cruz was lifted for a pinch-runner after the fifth pitch to Rosario (notation PR 4-9(AE)), as that made it a 3-2 count and ensured that runner, the winning run, would be off with the next pitch). Hand then coaxed CJ Cron to pop to shallow right to finish the save.

#445---CHN @ MIA, 3/29/2018

At 12:43, Jose Urena delivered the first pitch of the MLB season to Ian Happ, and he blasted it to right for a home run. The Cubs added two more runs in the first and another in the second, but the Marlins fought back with one in the first and three in the third. Willson Contreras’ two-out double in the fourth put Chicago ahead, and they would add three runs in the seventh to pull away to an 8-4 win. Cubs relievers allowed just one hit over 5 2/3 shutout innings. 

#444---NYA @ TB, 4/2/2017

The Rays did all of their Opening Day scoring against Masahiro Tanaka, battering him for seven runs in 2 2/3, while Chris Archer went seven allowing two runs. Note Aaron Judge starting his official rookie season batting eighth in the Yankee lineup. 

#443---STL @ PIT, 4/3/2016

This was the first MLB game of the season, which means that the first RBI in the majors in 2016 belonged to Francisco Liriano, who would drive in more runs than he allowed this day. Liriano worked six shutout innings, fanning ten and walking five. The Pirates scored three in six innings against Adam Wainwright and each bullpen allowed a single run.

Note that I marked Colton Wong’s popout in the top of the 6th as “IF4” (subscript 9S indicating shallow right field). The IF designation means it was an infield fly, which I only indicate when the catch is not actually completed. 

#442---SF @ ARI, 4/6/2015

Each team scored their first run of the season in the third inning, then a pair of big innings decided it. San Francisco struck first with Brandon Crawford’s two-out, two-run double capping a four-run fifth. Madison Bumgarner held Arizona down for seven innings, but they jumped on his bullpen, getting three of four runners who faced Javier Lopez and Jean Machi aboard before Chris Owings greeted Sergio Romo with a bases-clearing double. But Romo and Jeremy Affeldt got strikeouts to retire the side and Santiago Casilla had a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.

#441---LA @ ARI, 3/22/2014

I got up early to watch this season opener, played in Sydney with first pitch at 5:00 AM Eastern. Scott Van Slyke’s two-run homer in the fifth was all Clayton Kershaw and bullpen would need. Kershaw went 6 2/3, allowing one run on five hits and one walk while fanning seven.