MLB Nightly 9: Yoenis Cespedes hits grand slam, drives in six; Tigers, Mets first to 10 wins

Alec Brzezinski
and others
• 7 min read
Cespedes-Yoenis-041915-USNews-Getty-FTR

Each night we'll provide you with the nine top story lines from the day's action, beginning with the stars of the day, and look ahead to the next day's matchups.

The Tigers, led by outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, responded to their 12-3 drubbing at the hands of the White Sox on Saturday with a 9-1 win over Chicago. Cespedes went 2-for-4 with two home runs and six RBIs for his new team. The Mets won their eighth straight game Sunday, despite losing two players to injury. The two teams became the first to 10 wins on the season, and are in fine form after the first two weeks.

MORE: Lawrie upset with Royals' Herrera | Rightful marathon winner honored in St. Louis | Franchise Fours

Here's a look at what else happened across MLB on Sunday:

Impact players

C — Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers: The Brewers have been abysmal thus far, but Lucroy showed a little life, going 2-for-4 with an RBI in Milwaukee's 5-2 loss to the Pirates.

1B — Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals: Zimmerman went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in a 4-1 win against the Phillies.

2B — Robinson Cano, Mariners: Cano reached first base five times in an 11-10 win against the Rangers. He went 3-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and two walks.

SS — Hanley Ramirez, Red Sox: Ramirez bashed his fifth home run of the season in a 2-for-4 effort. He finished with three RBIs, but the Red Sox lost 8-3 to the Orioles.

3B — Justin Turner, Dodgers: Turner went 4-for-5 with an RBI in a 7-0 win over the Rockies.

OF — Adam Jones, Orioles: Jones is on a mission this season. He's now hitting .444 with five home runs and 15 RBIs after going 4-for-5 with a home run and 5 RBIs in an 8-3 win against the Red Sox.

DH — Victor Martinez, Tigers: Martinez must have taken umbrage to the beating the White Sox handed the Tigers Saturday, as the veteran went 3-for-3 with three runs and an RBI in a 9-1 win against the White Sox.

SP — Brandon McCarthy, Dodgers: McCarthy blanked the Rockies in six innings of work. He allowed just three hits and struck out six batters to move to 2-0 on the season as the Dodgers won, 7-0.

Key injuries

Blue Jays second baseman Devon Travis left the game after getting hit by a pitch in the ribs. He left in a great deal of pain, and the initial diagnosis is a rib contusion. Travis came to Toronto via a trade from the Tigers in the offseason for Anthony Gose and is hitting .356 with three home runs this season.

Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud left Sunday's game against the Marlins after being hit on the right hand/wrist by a pitch. He has a .317/.356/.537 slash line to start the season, but will likely be out for a while as X-rays showed a fracture to his right hand.

Adding to the Mets' injury woes, X-rays revealed relief pitcher Jerry Blevins has a fractured left forearm after he was hit by a line drive off the bat of Dee Gordon.

Diamondbacks starting pitcher Patrick Corbin (elbow) will throw live batting practice on Tuesday for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2014.

Surprise performers

Good: Nelson Cruz went 3-for-6 while belting his MLB-leading seventh and eighth home runs in an 11-10 win over the Rangers, in which he hit the game-winner. These were Cruz's first home runs at home, and while his performance wasn't surprising, we're just shocked pitchers keep giving him good pitches to hit.

Bad: The White Sox bounced Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez after 3 1/3 innings on Saturday. But Sunday, it was Sox starter Jose Quintana getting lit up. Quintana gave up nine runs in four innings as the Tigers exacted their revenge.

Web gems

Jon Lester's creative toss to first base definitely earns him a spot here. The grab itself was pretty impressive as well.

Facts of the day

The Tigers and Mets became the first teams to 10 wins; the Mets did so while riding an eight-game win streak.

Indians first baseman Carlos Santana belted the 100th home run of his career in a 7-2 loss to the Twins.

Reactions

The saga between the Athletics and Royals continued when A's pitcher Scott Kazmir hit Lorenzo Cain in the lower leg. Players stayed in the dugout, but both benches were warned and Royals manager Ned Yost was ejected. All of it stemmed from Brett Lawrie's poor-intention slide into second base that injured Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar on Friday.

I think we get the point, guys.

David Ortiz got ejected from the game after arguing balls and strikes, and made sure he yelled at every ump before leaving.

This would be a two-stroke penalty in golf.

Even if you count calories, this brilliant food combo might be too hard to pass up.

Off the field

The Mets have moved quickly in replacing injured catcher Travis d'Arnaud, recalling Kevin Plawecki from Triple-A Las Vegas. Manager Terry Collins has already confirmed that the 24-year-old backstop will serve as the Mets' primary catcher for as long as d'Arnaud remains sidelined.

Pitching phenom Carlos Rodon will join the White Sox on Monday, and will start out of the bullpen.

Scores

Here's a look at Sunday's scores across MLB:

A look ahead

All times ET

Cardinals (8-3) at Nationals (6-7) 7:07 p.m.: Lance Lynn and the Cardinals head to the Nation's capital to take on Gio Gonzalez and a Nationals team that's starting to get healthy.

Yankees (6-6) at Tigers (10-2) 7:08 p.m.: The Tigers have been offensive juggernauts through the first two weeks and have had the Yankees' number in recent seasons.

Braves (8-4) at Mets (10-3) 7:10 p.m.: The Mets are riding an eight-game win streak and are heading home to face the surprising Braves, who will be sending struggling starter Trevor Cahill to the mound.

Author(s)
Alec Brzezinski