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Detroit Tigers pitcher Jordan Zimmermann has already made history during his inaugural season in Motown, becoming the first starting pitcher in 43 years to begin his tenure with a new team by throwing 20-plus scoreless innings, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

The last pitcher to accomplish the feat was Fred Norman, who was traded to the Cincinnati Reds before the 1973 season and subsequently introduced himself as a newfound member of the dominant Big Red Machine by logging 26 consecutive innings without allowing a run.

Zimmermann himself threw 24.1 innings for the Tigers before finally allowing his first run in the sixth frame of Monday’s 7-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics. He could have extended his streak even longer had Tigers outfielder Tyler Collins not lost sight of a fly ball off the bat of Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien.

After Collins misplayed the fly, fellow outfielder Justin Upton went to scoop up the loose ball, only to have it drop out of his glove, which allowed Semien to reach third base.

Oakland’s Billy Burns recorded an RBI single on the next at-bat, and just like that, Zimmermann‘s historic streak had come to a close.

Though he didn’t quite match Norman’s run from 1973, Zimmermann‘s 24.1 scoreless innings represent the longest streak by any player at the beginning of his tenure with the Tigers, per Elias Sports Bureau (via Baseball Tonight on Twitter).

Rightfully, he received a standing ovation when he left the mound at the end of the sixth inning.

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Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols moved into sole possession of 13th place on the all-time home runs list during the third inning of Monday’s 6-1 win over the Kansas City Royals, hitting career homer No. 564 to surpass Reggie Jackson (563), per MLB Stat of the Day.

With the Angels already holding a 3-0 lead, Pujols slugged a 1-1 offering from Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy over the center field fence to extend the early advantage to 4-0.

Not yet done for the night, the 36-year-old first baseman hit another solo home run off of Kennedy in the fifth inning, this time going to left field to give his Angels a 5-1 lead on the 565th home run of his career.

The run support proved to be more than enough, as Angels ace Garrett Richards struck out five batters and allowed just one unearned run in 6.2 innings to pick up his first win of a tough-luck season.

Richards owns a 2.35 ERA with 30 punchouts in 30.2 innings, but a lack of run support has left him with an unsightly 1-3 record.

It appears the tides may finally be turning for the Angels lineup, as Pujols now has three homers over the last two games after managing just two through the first 18 contests of the season.

The rest of the lineup may not offer much promise, but the Angels should at least be able to count on Pujols as well as outfielders Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun for consistent production going forward.

Trout has also heated up in a big way of late, tallying 10 hits in 21 at-bats over the last six games, with three home runs and five RBI.

Meanwhile, Pujols needs just five more long balls in order to pass Rafael Palmeiro (569) for 12th place on the all-time list.

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St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Aledmys Diaz accomplished an interesting feat during Monday’s 12-7 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, becoming the first player in baseball’s modern era (since at least 1900) to own a batting average of .500 or better at least 50 at-bats into his career, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN.com).

The 25-year-old rookie entered Monday with 24 hits in 50 at-bats, after he recorded eight hits in 10 at-bats over the previous two games.

He then singled in each of his first two at-bats Monday night, bringing his average to an even .500 (26 hits in 52 at-bats) midway through the game.

Diaz did make outs in his final two at-bats, dropping his average to just .481, which would be the best mark in the majors if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.

Entering Tuesday’s action, Washington Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy is the leader among qualified players with 25 hits in 63 at-bats, giving him a .397 batting average for his new team.

Murphy’s lead probably won’t last much longer, as Diaz is only two plate appearances shy of the qualification standard, which is 502 plate appearances in a season or 3.1 per game.

The rookie has 57 plate appearances through the Cardinals’ first 19 games, putting him at exactly three per contest.

Given that he’s swinging a hot bat and getting the majority of playing time at shortstop, Diaz will likely be qualified for the batting title within the next few days.

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Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta tossed a no-hitter in Thursday’s 16-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds, becoming just the second player ever to throw a pair of no-hitters without taking any losses in the time between, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Arrieta‘s other no-no occurred Aug. 30 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, helping him eventually take home National League Cy Young honors last season.

He made just nine regular-season starts between the two historic outings, which trails only Johnny Vander Meer (zero) and Warren Spahn (five) for fewest starts separating two no-hitters.

Vander Meer, of course, is the only pitcher besides Arrieta to avoid any losses between no-hitters, as he threw two in a row in June 1938.

The Cubs nearly set another record in support of Arrieta, recording the largest margin of victory in a no-hitter since 1884, when the Buffalo Bisons won 18-0 in support of Pud Galvin, per MLB Stat of the Day on Twitter.

Meanwhile, Arrieta now has 24 consecutive quality starts in the regular season, putting him in a tie for the third-longest streak in MLB history, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

Furthermore, he joined Larry Corcoran (three) and Ken Holtzman (two) as the only pitchers to throw multiple no-hitters for the Cubs, per ESPN Stats & Info.

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Detroit Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez recorded the 1,000th RBI of his career during Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals, and it made him the 280th player to reach the milestone, per Baseball-Reference.com.

After fouling out and flying out in his first two plate appearances of the contest, Martinez came to bat in the top of the sixth inning with two outs and runners on first and second.

With the count knotted up at 2-2, he smacked a line-drive single to left-center field, putting the ball just out of the reach of Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar.

The RBI single gave Detroit a 2-0 lead that would eventually stretch to 3-0 before the Royals rallied with a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Though he finished his night with just one hit in four at-bats, the 37-year-old Martinez has thus far bounced back strong from a poor 2015 campaign, as he owns a .263 batting average, .349 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage through 13 games.

Furthermore, he’s just the fifth Venezuelan-born player to record 1,000 career RBI. He joins Andres Galarraga, Bobby Abreu, Magglio Ordonez and, of course, teammate Miguel Cabrera, per ESPN Stats & Info.

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Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez survived a rocky ninth inning to pick up his 390th career save in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over the Kansas City Royals, moving into a tie with Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley for sixth place on MLB‘s all-time saves list, per MLB.com’s Jason Beck.

The 34-year-old reliever appeared to have an easy save coming, as he entered Wednesday’s contest with a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning after Jordan Zimmermann, Mark Lowe and Justin Wilson combined to keep the Royals off the board through eight frames.

The final inning started innocently enough on a groundout by Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales, but outfielder Alex Gordon and catcher Salvador Perez then hit back-to-back home runs to bring Kansas City within one run with only one out in the frame.

Royals second baseman Omar Infante followed with a groundout, but speedy outfielder Jarrod Dyson then drew a walk and proceeded to swipe second base. 

After shortstop Alcides Escobar drew another walk for the Royals, Rodriguez finally put the game away by striking out third baseman Mike Moustakas.

Although the poor outing dropped his ERA to 7.11 for the season, Rodriguez has now converted four consecutive saves since blowing one in his first appearance.

Assuming he holds onto the closer’s job for the rest of the season, he’ll have a good chance to move up to fourth place on the all-time saves list, as Billy Wagner (422) and John Franco (424) are both within striking distance.

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Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story smacked yet another home run during Monday’s 5-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, giving him eight homers through the first 13 games of his career, the most in that span since 1900, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

After going deep seven times through the first six games of the season (and his career), the 23-year-old rookie went through a bit of a drought, failing to go yard in six consecutive games, though he did still have six hits—including two triples and a double—during that stretch.

Story picked an excellent time to end his mini-drought, breaking a 1-1 lead in the eighth inning of Monday’s game with a solo home run off Reds relief pitcher Ross Ohlendorf.

The no-doubt blast to right-center field travelled an estimated 423 feet, with Story once again showing off the kind of raw power that is extremely rare for a middle infielder.

Despite striking out 23 times in the first 55 at-bats of his career, he owns a .309 batting average, .339 on-base percentage and .855 slugging percentage, with 14 RBI, 13 runs and a stolen base to complement the eight homers.

Since 1900, only two other players recorded seven homers in their first 13 career games, with Carlos Delgado (1993-94) and Dino Restelli (1949) doing the honors.

Delgado went on to enjoy a remarkable career that included 473 home runs, whereas Restelli ultimately retired with just 13 homers in 270 at-bats.

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Baltimore Orioles outfielder Mark Trumbo slugged a pair of home runs during the seventh inning of Friday’s 11-5 win over the Texas Rangers, becoming just the second player in franchise history to homer twice in the same inning, per Elias Sports Bureau (h/t ESPN Stats & Info).

The only other player to accomplish the feat was Ken Williams, who did so in 1922 when the team was known as the St. Louis Browns.

Trumbo‘s two-run and three-run homers accounted for five of the RBI in a nine-run seventh inning, with the Orioles quickly turning a 5-1 deficit into a 10-5 lead.

Acquired this offseason in a trade with the Seattle Mariners, the 30-year-old slugger is now the first player in Orioles history to hit five home runs in his first 10 games with the team, per Elias Sports Bureau (h/t ESPN Stats & Info).

Trumbo is also the first player to hit two home runs in the same inning of any MLB game since July 26, 2013, when Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion accomplished the feat, per Sportsnet Stats.

Known for his massive power and equally prodigious strikeout totals, Trumbo also hit five home runs through the first 10 games of a season in 2014 while playing for the Arizona Diamondbacks, per ESPN Stats & Info.

History suggests his current .400 batting average will likely dip well south of .300 sooner rather than later, but for now, the Orioles can largely thank Trumbo for their unexpected 8-2 start and spot at the top of the American League East standings.

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When the Boston Red Sox‘s designated hitter David Ortiz cracked his third home run of the season Tuesday, he pulled within three home runs of Gary Sheffield for 25th on the career home run list, per Baseball-Reference.com.

The 40-year-old has already announced 2016 will serve as his farewell season, but he’s not showing any signs of slowing down. On the season, Ortiz owns a .321/.406/.786 slash line, with his nine RBI placing him eighth on the list after Wednesday’s action. Of the 17 others tied or ahead of him in the category, all but one (Starlin Castro) have played in more games.

Boston has started the season a bit shaky, owning a 3-1 record out of the gate before dropping three of the last four games. Considering the campaign is just eight games old for the Red Sox, it’s definitely not time to declare the sky falling, but the team likely envisioned a better start.

Ortiz will almost assuredly surpass Sheffield this season, barring a long-term injury of some kind. If Ortiz can remain on par with his past couple of years—35 and 37 home runs—the veteran slugger could challenge Mickey Mantle (536 career home runs) for 17th on the all-time list by season’s end.

A well-respected player around the league, Big Papi will likely receive treatment similar to what Derek Jeter got in his 2014 farewell tour. While some of his most memorable moments have come off the field—i.e. his post-Boston Marathon bombing speech—Ortiz has certainly made a name for himself as a pure hitter as well. If the team can turn it around, there’s a good chance he will be at the heart of some more in his last go-around.

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Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story added two more home runs to his impressive ledger during Friday’s 13-6 loss to the San Diego Padres, thus becoming the first player in MLB history to hit six home runs through his team’s first four games of a season, per Sportsnet Stats.

Four other players hit five homers in their team’s first four games, with Adrian Gonzalez (2015), Chris Shelton (2006), Barry Bonds (2002) and Lou Brock (1967) doing the honors.

Story is also one of just five players to homer in each of his team’s first four games of a season, joining Chris Davis (2013), Nelson Cruz (2011), Mark McGwire (1988) and Willie Mays (1971), per Nick Groke of the Denver Post.

Of course, none of the aforementioned players accomplished these feats as rookies, making the 23-year-old Story all the more impressive.

Per Sportsnet Stats, he’s the first player to hit a home run in each of his first four MLB appearances.

Furthermore, Story joins McGwire as the only rookies in MLB history to hit six home runs over any four-game stretch of a season, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info). 

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