Each night in the 2016 baseball season, we'll run down the top news, facts and highlights from action around Major League Baseball.
Friday seemed to be the day for ridiculous plays, highlighted by a steal of home by Jacoby Ellsbury, an odd triple play from the White Sox and a powerful throw from Yasiel Puig.
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Ellsbury gave the Yankees the spark they needed as they were down 3-2 to the Rays. Leading off third base with a runner at second, Ellsbury took off for home as Rays lefty Matt Moore wound up on the mound. Ellsbury slid safely into home to tie the game 3-3. The Yankees went on to defeat the Rays 6-3.
In Colorado, Puig wasn't able to snare Trevor Story's deep shot to the right-center gap. Instead, he retrieved the ball just in front of the warning track and rifled a perfect throw to get Story at third. The throw clocked in at 93.5 mph. In previous seasons, Story's hit would have been a home run, but the Rockies doubled the height of the outfield fence in front of the bullpens at Coors Field.
Puig's throw from in front of the 375-foot sign kept the Dodgers one step ahead of the Rockies for a short time, but Colorado eventually rallied for a 7-5 victory.
Player of the day
Curtis Granderson single-handedly worked over the Braves, blasting a grand slam and a solo shot for the Mets in a 6-3 road victory. It marks the 19th time he has had a multi-homer game and the sixth time he has hit a grand slam. Granderson finished the night 3-for-5 with five RBIs.
Highlight
The ridiculous triple play turned by the White Sox is one for the record books, with the scoring ending up 9-3-2-6-2-5. It's the first time the Sox have had a triple play since 2006 and is the first 9-3-2-6-2-5 triple play in history.
We're gonna need a bigger scorecard ...
— MLB (@MLB) April 23, 2016
@WhiteSox pull off insane 9-3-2-6-2-5 TRIPLE PLAY. https://t.co/hiSCSzXy9k
Three things to know
— Justin Verlander had his first double-digit strikeout game since July 2015 in the Tigers' 2-1 loss to the Indians. It's only the second time in the past three seasons that he has recorded double-digit strikeouts.
— Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer smashed the longest homer so far this season with a 466-foot shot to left-center field. Gregory Polanco slammed a 461-foot homer, which comes in as the third-longest home run so far this season. His home run was right after Sean Rodriguez's 458.5-foot shot that ranks as the fifth-longest home run this year.
— Boston's Mookie Betts was just a home run short of the cycle as the Red Sox defeated the Astros 6-2. By the fourth inning Betts had already hit a triple, double and single and finished the night with another triple. If Betts had completed the cycle, it would have been just the second one by Boston in the past 20 years.
On deck
Indians (8-7) at Tigers (7-7), 1:10 p.m. ET — The Tigers will try to even the series against the Indians as Miguel Cabrera squares off with Cleveland ace Corey Kluber. Cabrera has a .571 batting average with 20 hits in 35 appearances against Kluber. Looking for his first win of the season, Kluber (0-3) has a poor 6.16 ERA after a rough start Sunday.
Cubs (13-4) at Reds (8-9), 7:10 p.m. ET — Cubs righty John Lackey will look for the first 4-0 start of his career when he faces the Reds for the third game a four-game series. He is 13 strikeouts shy of becoming the fifth active pitcher with more than 2,000 strikeouts. The Reds will counter with Dan Straily to try to get their first win in the series.