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Derek Norris probably had his head down for most of the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night. The San Diego Padres catcher struck out four times leading up to the bottom of the ninth inning. 

Norris stepped up to the plate with the score tied 2-2, bases loaded and two outs. What happened next was truly unexpected.

Norris smashed a home run, giving his team a 6-2 victory. 

So just to look back: Norris struck out four times during the game, came up to bat with two outs and the score knotted at two apiece and then smacked a walk-off grand slam to win the game. He also made history. 

Oh yeah, and of course he got the victory shower.

[Twitter, MLB]

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It’s your first major league start. Your entire family is watching. All eyes are on you. Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers knew this would be a moment to remember for the rest of his life.

So, he came prepared.

During Monday night’s game against the Oakland Athletics, McCullers donned some sweet Batman cleats on the mound. They were all black with the Bat-Signal on the back and the Under Armour symbol on the front.

Here’s a closer look:

McCullers finished with five strikeouts and allowed one run on three hits in 4.2 innings. The Batman cleats weren’t enough to get the win, as the Athletics pulled out a 2-1 victory.

[MLB, MLB.com]

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You know the feeling of seeing a spider in your kitchen when it’s nighttime and you’re barefoot? It seems Baltimore Orioles outfielder Delmon Young experienced that emotion Thursday night.

As Young fielded a hit from the Yankees, his facial expression went viral. It looked like he saw a ghost or the baseball was a bunch of bees coming after him after he broke their hive.

Nonetheless, Young fielded the ball like a champ.

We’ve all been there, Delmon. Don’t worry.

Oh yeah, he also did this to rob Alex Rodriguez of his 661st career home run:

A-Rod homered later in the game, passing Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time list.

[Twitter]

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When an opponent hits a home run, sometimes the fan who catches the ball will throw it back onto the field. 

It looks like this young fan had no idea what was happening and just wanted to throw a baseball.

During Monday’s game between the Seattle Mariners and the Houston Astros, the ball girl gave a young Seattle fan a foul ball off a Robinson Cano hit. The youngster immediately tossed the ball back onto the field.

You can see the people he’s with react in awe and shock.

The ball girl gave him another chance, and this time, he kept it. 

[MLB]

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It was 67 degrees when the St. Louis Cardinals lost their home opener to the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4. With that type of weather, it’s OK (sometimes) to take your shirt off. 

One Cardinals fan bared it all, showing off a mural of Busch Stadium painted on his belly. Per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jeff Rearden got it painted on at a bar before the game. You would assume it would take a couple of drinks to agree to this, but Rearden was up for anything.

“I just let the artist do whatever she wanted. And she painted this.”

He did attract some attention, though. 

In all honesty, it is pretty sweet. 

[Twitter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

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Posterized! In baseball? Yep.

The Miami Marlins topped the Tampa Bay Rays 10-9 in 10 innings thanks to a Christian Yelich walk-off single Friday night.

In the postgame interview, teammate Dee Gordon, who scored the game-winning run, decided to change things up from the celebratory “shaving cream to the face” stunt. With help from Mat Latos, Gordon dunked on Yelich right in the middle of his interview. His response was perfect.

“I completely forgot the question; I just got dunked on.”

Yelich gave the Marlins their first win, and blooper, of the season. 

[MLB]

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Baseball is back!

The Detroit Tigers‘ Yoenis Cespedes hopped on the highlight train with an incredible leaping grab in the top of the third inning against the Minnesota Twins. 

The 2014 All-Star made the sensational catch while slamming into the wall, robbing Minnesota’s Kurt Suzuki of the long ball. His pitcher, David Price, was more than happy.

The Tigers went on to win 4-0.

[MLB]

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Imagine arguably the best prospect in MLB, who has belted more home runs than any other player in spring training, starting the 2015 season in the minors.

Doesn’t make sense, right?

Kris Bryant has been sensational for the Chicago Cubs. The 23-year-old finished spring training with a .425 batting average, nine home runs and 15 RBI.

However, the Cubs announced Monday that they sent him to the minor leagues despite his ridiculous stats. Holding off on adding Bryant to the roster for the first 12 days of the season guarantees the Cubs another year with the slugger, until the end of the 2021 season.

Big companies aren’t as patient. Adidas, which signed Bryant to an endorsement deal, unveiled a billboard outside of Wrigley Field with the caption “Worth The Wait.”

ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell spoke with Aaron Kahn, the director of baseball for Adidas. Kahn downplayed the billboard, saying it wasn’t meant as a shot toward the Cubs:

“We just wanted to make sure to tell the folks in Chicago that they have a great thing coming.”

Kahn said his team had long decided to buy a billboard and feature Bryant on it, though he admitted the text changed going into this week. Kahn said Adidas did not have any conversations with the Cubs about it.

The billboard is perfectly placed right outside Wrigley Field’s entrance:

Your move, Cubbies. 

[Adidas, h/t ESPN]

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Ever wonder what a batter sees when a 90 mph four-seam fastball is barreling to the plate?

Check out this helpful infographic of how different pitches appear to hitters. From the slider to the curveball, you can see what the baseball looks like as it approaches the plate. As a side note, the red dot that shows up on the slider is pretty interesting.

Not too sure how much this will help your game, but it’s very cool nonetheless.

[Twitter; h/t Ann Frazier]

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This season, the Yankees will join the Mets on New York’s PIX11. In honor of the Pinstripes joining the network, the station created a Seinfeld-themed commercial to show its excitement.

Now you can watch both teams on one station. It’s a Festivus miracle!

[YouTube]

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