Each night in the 2016 baseball season, we'll run down the top news, facts and highlights from action around Major League Baseball.
Rick Porcello's first season in Boston did not go well.
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After getting traded to the Red Sox last season from the Tigers for Yoenis Cespedes, the young right-handed pitcher went 9-15 with a 4.92 ERA. But this season has been a different story.
Porcello tossed seven scoreless innings Saturday in an 8-0 blowout of the Yankees, striking out six and giving up just five hits as he improved to 5-0 with a 2.76 ERA this year.
After giving up 10 earned runs in his first three starts, Porcello has now blanked his past two opponents (Braves, Yankees).
The Red Sox (14-10) have a chance to sweep the Yankees (8-14) on Sunday.
Player of the Day:
Mets outfielder Michael Conforto is hardly the team's biggest name. But the 23-year-old slugger has been the team's most consistent hitter throughout the first month of the season. Conforto capped April by collecting three hits, two runs scored, a home run and three RBI in a 6-5 win against the Giants on Saturday. He is batting .365 on the season.
Highlights:
Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips gets fancy:
When in doubt, flip out. https://t.co/ju3uaSoNQS pic.twitter.com/v5GH2vzxaL
— MLB (@MLB) May 1, 2016
Three things to know:
After smashing another long home run Saturday, Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton has more than twice as many 450-foot home runs over the past five seasons than anyone else in MLB.
Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz hit his 508th career home run Saturday, which puts him one shy of Gary Sheffield for 25th all-time. Ortiz also hit a home run Friday night, which was the same night he had promised a 5-year-old fan with a heart defect that he would hit a home run for him.
The Mets started the season 2-5 with a four-game losing streak. But after a 6-5 win over the Giants on Saturday, New York has won 13 of its past 15 games, including eight straight.
What's Next:
Giants (12-13) at Mets (15-7) 1:10 p.m. ET — This game features two of MLB's best pitchers as Madison Bumgarner (2-2, 3.64 ERA) faces off against Noah Syndergaard (2-0, 1.69 ERA). Syndergaard has been electrifying so far this season, but can he get Bumgarner out?
White Sox (17-8) at Orioles (14-9) 1:35 p.m. ET — Good luck, Baltimore. Chicago sends Chris Sale (5-0, 1.66 ERA) to the mound to continue his early quest for an AL Cy Young nod. He has been nearly unhittable this season. Ubaldo Jimenez (1-2, 3.91 ERA) will face him.