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The St. Louis Cardinals set a new MLB record during Friday’s 7-4 win over the Atlanta Braves, becoming the first team ever to hit three pinch-hit home runs in a single game, per MLB Stat of the Day on Twitter.

St. Louis actually got off to a poor start in the contest, with starting pitcher Jaime Garcia allowing four runs—including three with two outs—in the bottom of the third inning thanks to five singles and an intentional walk. 

The Cardinals did bounce back to score three runs in the top of the fourth, but the game was stuck at 4-3 until the top of the seventh, when outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker came in to pinch hit for Garcia and responded with a game-tying solo home run.

A 28-year-old rookie, Hazelbaker now has two home runs and three hits through the first six at-bats of his career.

The Braves then sent out left-handed pitcher Eric O’Flaherty to start the eighth inning, which led the Cardinals to remove first baseman Matt Adams in favor of shortstop Aledmys Diaz, who responded with a go-ahead, pinch-hit home run.

Not yet done, the Cardinals got some insurance with one out in the top of the ninth when second baseman Greg Garcia provided the record-setting third pinch-hit homer, doing so as a replacement for relief pitcher Kevin Siegrist.

Two batters later, starting right fielder Stephen Piscotty extended the lead to 7-4 with the Cardinals’ fourth solo homer of the game.

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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling enjoyed a memorable MLB debut Friday against the San Francisco Giants, becoming the first pitcher in the modern era to toss more than five innings without allowing any hits in the first game of his career, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

The 26-year-old righty—who previously hadn’t pitched above the Double-A level—was a surprise addition to the Dodgers’ starting rotation after injuries eliminated a slew of more qualified candidates.

Undeterred by his lack of experience, Stripling held the Giants hitless over 7.1 innings in Friday’s game, only to be removed by manager Dave Roberts after allowing a one-out walk to Giants outfielder Angel Pagan in the eighth inning.

Though he’ll undoubtedly be criticized, Roberts made a perfectly defensible move, as Stripling’s pitch count sat at exactly 100, marking an uptick of 20 from his final spring training appearance.

Unfortunately for Roberts, the move quickly backfired, with the very next batter—Giants catcher Trevor Brown—hitting a two-run home run off of Dodgers reliever Chris Hatcher to tie the game at 2-2.

The Giants would eventually win 3-2 after shortstop Brandon Crawford hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning.

While he may not have gotten the victory, and he was even charged with an earned run, Stripling still had the longest no-hit bid in an MLB debut since 1967, when Boston Red Sox pitcher Billy Rohr came up just one batter shy of accomplishing the feat, per ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Rohr‘s no-hit bid obviously lasted longer than Stripling’s, but the former ultimately allowed a hit, whereas the latter was removed from his debut with five outs remaining.

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The New York Yankees‘ Alex Rodriguez enters the 2016 season with 687 home runs, putting him just 27 homers behind Babe Ruth.

Does A-Rod have what it takes to pass the Babe this season? Where would that put him among the all-time greats?

Watch Scott Miller break down A-Rod’s chances of passing Ruth on the all-time home run list this season.

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The 2015 Chicago Cubs are the first team since the 2011 Seattle Mariners to account for three of MLB‘s major end-of-season awards, per MLB Stat of the Day on Twitter.

Getting the honors are third baseman Kris Bryant (NL Rookie of the Year), starting pitcher Jake Arrieta (NL Cy Young) and manager Joe Maddon (NL Manager of the Year).

The 23-year-old Bryant was unsurprisingly a unanimous selection, after finishing the season with 25 home runs, 99 RBI, 87 runs, 13 stolen bases, a .275 batting average, a .369 on-base percentage and a .488 slugging percentage.

Maddon, who was previously selected as the AL Manager of the Year in 2008 with the Tampa Bay Rays, took 18 of the 30 first-place votes in this year’s NL race, with St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny (nine) and New York Mets manager Terry Collins (three) getting the others, per the Chicago Tribune. 

Arrieta was expected to be in a somewhat tighter race, but he also won his award with relative ease, getting 17 of the 30 first-place votes, ahead of Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers Zack Greinke (10) and Clayton Kershaw (three), according to the Denver Post.

Back in 2001, the 116-win Mariners also took home three major awards, with outfielder Ichiro Suzuki earning both AL MVP and Rookie of the Year honors, and Lou Pinella being named AL Manager of the Year.

Both teams lost in the LCS, with the Mariners lasting just five games and the Cubs getting swept.

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Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo was hit by a pitch for the 30th time this season during Tuesday’s 4-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, joining Don Baylor (1986) as the only two players in MLB history to hit 30 home runs and get hit by 30 pitches in the same season, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Rizzo also has exactly 30 home runs, as he has not hit one since Sept. 17 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 30 homers come as no surprise, with the 26-year-old having hit 32 last season and 23 in 2013.

His league-leading hit by pitch total, on the other hand, is rather unexpected, given that Rizzo was hit just 21 times over the previous two seasons.

He’s been hit by 30 pitches in 678 plate appearances this season, compared to 28 times in 1,827 career plate appearances prior to 2015.

Rizzo does get plunked at a far higher rate than the average batter, but even by his standards, 30 times in a single season borders on ridiculous.

Only 23 players have been hit 10 or more times this season, with Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Brandon Guyer (21) leading the way in the non-Rizzo division.

Despite the constant plunkings, Rizzo enters Wednesday with 155 games played this season, tying him with five other players for third-most in MLB.

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New York Mets first baseman Lucas Duda tied a franchise record during Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, joining Dave Kingman (1976) and Carlos Delgado (2008) as the only three players in franchise history to record seven multi-home run games in the same season, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Duda first went deep against Phillies starter David Buchanan in the fourth inning, cutting the Mets deficit to 3-1 with a blast to deep center field.

Then, with his team trailing 4-1 in the ninth inning, Duda hit a two-run home run to left field off Phillies closer Ken Giles, cutting the lead to 4-3 with just one out left in the game.

Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud struck out to end the contest, but Duda still came away with a piece of team history in the losing effort.

Despite struggling through a midseason slump in June and July, the 29-year-old Duda owns a strong .249/.356/.497 batting line for the year with 27 home runs, 73 RBI and 66 runs in 461 at-bats (131 games).

Although the total production is pretty close to what was expected, Duda‘s path to success has been somewhat surprising, as his batting average and slugging percentage are better against left-handed pitchers than right-handed pitchers.

Prior to this season, Duda struggled badly against lefties, which often left him as part of a platoon.

If he stays healthy and continues to handle southpaws, Duda could be in for a huge 2016.

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Boston Red Sox catcher Blake Swihart hit a pair of home runs in Wednesday’s 10-4 win over the New York Yankees, becoming the first Red Sox rookie since Jason Varitek (a fellow catcher) in 1998 to hit multiple homers in a game at Yankee Stadium, per Sportsnet Stats.

Swihart started his big night in the first inning, hitting a three-run home run to right field off of Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda to cap off Boston’s six-run outburst in the opening frame.

Then, with the score sitting at 7-4 in the eighth inning, Swihart smacked a two-run home run to right-center field off of Yankees reliever Bryan Mitchell, pushing Boston’s lead to 9-4.

The excellent performance boosted Swihart‘s batting line to .272/.319/.394, which is right around the league average for the typical player, but it’s excellent for a rookie catcher.

Although he has only five home runs in 300 plate appearances, the 23-year-old Swihart has been worth 1.6 Wins Above Replacement (WAR), according to Fangraphs‘ measurement of the statistic.

Among rookie backstops, only Cubs catcher Blake Swihart (1.8 WAR) and Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto (1.7 WAR) are ahead of Swihart, with the crucial caveat that Schwarber has actually spent most of his time in left field.

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Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roberto Osuna recorded his 20th save of the season in Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles, becoming the first Blue Jays rookie since Billy Koch (31) in 1999 to record 20 or more saves in a season, per Sportsnet Stats.

Osuna faced just two batters to get the milestone save, striking out Orioles designated hitter Jimmy Paredes, then inducing a flyout to left field from Orioles catcher Steve Clevenger.

Only 20 years old, Osuna has converted 20 of his 22 save opportunities this season, posting a 2.36 ERA and 0.87 WHIP, with a 73-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 68.2 innings. He also has seven holds, all of which came in April, May or early June, before he stepped into the closer’s role.

Despite his age, and despite the fact that he’d never pitched above the High-A level, Osuna earned a spot in the Toronto bullpen right out of spring training, with the team determining that it would rather have him make an instant impact as a reliever, rather than continuing his development as a starter.

Of course, it’s still quite possible the Blue Jays will eventually want Osuna to join the starting rotation, possibly as soon as 2016 or 2017, depending on what the rest of the roster looks like.

On the other hand, there’s an argument to be made for sticking with what works, and there’s little question that Osuna is already one of the team’s most effective relievers.

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Cleveland Indians pitcher Corey Kluber may have suffered through another rough outing, but his first strikeout in Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins made him the Indians’ first right-handed pitcher since Bob Feller (1940-41) to record 500 or more strikeouts over a two-year span, per MLB Stat of the Day.

After striking out 269 batters in his Cy Young-winning 2014 campaign, Kluber entered Monday’s contest with 230 strikeouts this season, needing just one more to reach 500 over the two-year span.

He got the necessary strikeout against Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario to end the first inning, but only after surrendering an RBI double to Twins designated hitter Miguel Sano and a two-run home run to Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe.

With his team in an early 3-0 hole and the Twins getting the best of him in a second straight start, Kluber probably wouldn’t have cared about the milestone even if he had known.

He did settle down a bit after the rough opening frame, ultimately allowing four runs, seven hits, three walks and six strikeouts on 102 pitches over six innings.

The loss dropped his record to 8-16, with the 16 losses putting Kluber one ahead of Oakland Athletics pitcher Jesse Chavez for the American League lead.

Kluber’s undoubtedly been one of the least lucky pitchers in all of baseball, as his ERA estimators on Fangraphs (FIP, SIERA, etc.) are all much better than his actual ERA, and he’s also suffered through terrible run support.

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Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett reached a milestone during the first inning of Sunday’s 4-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs, becoming the 32nd pitcher in MLB history to record 2,500 or more career strikeouts, per MLB Stat of the Day.

Entering the contest with 2,499 strikeouts, the 38-year-old Burnett got off to a rocky start in the first inning, allowing four of the five batters he faced to reach base.

With one run already in and the bases loaded, Burnett got ahead in the count against Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler, who foul-tipped a 1-2 pitch into the glove of Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli for the milestone strikeout.

Burnett then induced a groundout from Cubs catcher Miguel Montero to end the inning, but Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta hit a solo homer in the bottom of the second to extend the lead to 2-0.

Burnett did settle down to hold the Cubs scoreless over the next four frames, eventually finishing with five strikeouts in six innings, allowing just two runs on seven hits and two walks.

While always above average at striking batters out, Burnett took the slow-and-steady path to 2,500 if compared to most of the other pitchers who have reached the mark.

He only has three 200-strikeout seasons among his 17 MLB campaigns, with those coming in 2002 (203), 2008 (231) and 2013 (209).

He does, however, have 12 straight seasons with triple-digit strikeouts, as he’s made 20 or more appearances every year since 2004.

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