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Texas Rangers pitcher Yovani Gallardo extended his scoreless run to 29.1 innings during Thursday’s 2-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles, giving him the Rangers’ longest such streak since Kenny Rogers tossed 31 consecutive scoreless innings in 2005, according to the Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

Gallardo only struck out two batters during Thursday’s game yet still held the Orioles to no runs on just two hits and three walks over six innings. He didn’t pick up a decision, but the Rangers eventually scored a pair of runs in the ninth inning to walk away with a 2-0 victory.

Gallardo has now held his opponents scoreless in four consecutive starts, allowing just 14 hits over 26.1 innings during that stretch despite posting an ugly 13-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The surprising streak has sunk his ERA from 3.45 to 2.56 for the season, putting him fourth among all qualified starters in the American League.

Advanced metrics suggest the 29-year-old has been among the luckiest pitchers in the league, as his Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) sits at 3.48, with his Skill Independent ERA (SIERA) at an even 4.00, according to FanGraphs.

Although the recent level of success is likely unsustainable for a pitcher who otherwise seems to be in the declining phase of his career, Gallardo has at least proved to be the one reliable starter in an otherwise shaky rotation.

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After tossing a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates last weekend, Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning in Friday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies, making him the first pitcher since Dwight Gooden in May 1996 to throw 16 consecutive no-hit innings, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

The streak started against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 14, with Scherzer holding the Brew Crew hitless over the final two innings to finish off a one-hit, one-walk complete-game shutout that included a season-high 16 strikeouts. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning, but lost it on a single by Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez.

Scherzer then carried a perfect game into the ninth inning of last Saturday’s start against Pittsburgh, but he lost it with two outs in the final frame when he hit Pirates outfielder Jose Tabata with a pitch. The right-hander still hung on for a no-hitter, giving him 11 consecutive innings without allowing a hit, in addition to back-to-back complete-game shutouts.

Although he didn’t allow a hit through the first five innings, Scherzer wasn’t quite as dominant in Friday’s start, as the Phillies eventually got him for two runs on five hits and a walk over eight innings. The Nationals still managed to come away with a 5-2 victory, improving Scherzer‘s record to 9-5 on the season and giving him exactly 100 wins for his career, per MLB Milestones.

When all was said and done, the streak without allowing a hit lasted 54 batters, 12 days and three starts, with just one walk and one batter hit by a pitch during that span, per the Nationals’ official website.

Had Scherzer retired Tabata instead of hitting him with a pitch, he would’ve set an MLB record by tossing 15 consecutive innings, per Sportsnet Stats.

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Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis made an error during the first inning of Thursday’s game against the Washington Nationals, ending his record-setting streak of 398 consecutive games in the outfield without making an error, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The miscue allowed Nationals outfielder Denard Span to advance to second base on a leadoff single and later led to an unearned run on a groundout by Nationals infielder Yunel Escobar.

Markakis‘ previous error came back on Aug. 10, 2012, while he was playing for the Baltimore Orioles. He recently set an MLB record for an outfielder when he made it to 393 straight games without an error, breaking the old mark of 392 set by Darren Lewis to start his career between 1990 and 1994, per Ian Denomme of Yahoo! Sports.

Despite the record and his two Gold Gloves (2011 and 2014), Markakis isn’t universally recognized as one of the game’s top defensive right fielders—largely because his performance in advanced metrics has been inconsistent.

In his first Gold Glove season (2011), for example, he finished just 15th among 18 qualified right fielders in ultimate zone rate per 150 games (UZR/150), according to FanGraphs.

Although that ranking was fairly typical of his later years in Baltimore, the 31-year-old is eighth among 21 qualified right fielders in UZR/150 this season after finishing fourth out of 16 last year, per FanGraphs.

He may still draw occasional criticism for playing overly conservative defense to avoid mistakes, but it seems Markakis has struck a nice balance the past two years.

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Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant reached 10 home runs and 42 RBI for the season with a big night against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, becoming the first player in franchise history to record 10 or more homers and 40 or more RBI before the All-Star break in his debut season, per MLB Stat of the Day.

Entering Monday’s game with eight homers and 39 RBI, the former No. 2 overall draft pick (2013) was not intimidated by a highly difficult matchup against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.

After striking out in his first at-bat, Bryant hit a two-run homer in the third inning off the three-time National League Cy Young Award winner, giving the Cubs a 2-1 lead.

Following a walk in his third plate appearance, Bryant hit a solo shot off Dodgers reliever Adam Liberatore in the eighth inning, extending the lead to 4-1.

The 23-year-old has yet to miss a game since making his big league debut Apr. 17, and he’s already proved more than capable of hitting major league pitching.

Bryant owns a robust .282/.384/.485 batting line through 60 games, with 40 runs, 35 walks and five stolen bases to go along with the 10 homers and 42 RBI.

With his defense also grading out as solid by both advanced and traditional metrics, Bryant ranks 19th among all position players at 2.7 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs’ measurement of the statistic.

What’s more, each of the 18 players ahead of Bryant has played more than 60 games. If not for the dominant seasons being put together by Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper and Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, it’s possible Bryant would be a part of the National League MVP discussion.

Instead, he’ll likely have to duke things out with Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson in the race for NL Rookie of the Year.

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New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez recorded the 3,000th hit of his career on a solo home run off of Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander in the first inning of Friday’s 7-2 win, joining Derek Jeter as the only players to reach the 3,000-hit mark in a Yankees uniform, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Surprisingly enough, Jeter’s milestone hit was a blast to deep left field, while Rodriguez reached 3,000 on an opposite-field homer over the short right field porch that Jeter so often took advantage of. It wasn’t a cheap home run by any means, but it also wasn’t an especially impressive one by Rodriguez’s lofty standards.

In addition to Jeter and Rodriguez, former Yankee Wade Boggs is the only other player to swat a home run for hit No. 3,000, although he did it in a Tampa Bay Devil Rays uniform, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Rodriguez is also just the second player to record his 3,000th hit off of a former Cy Young Award winner, joining another former Yankee, Dave Winfield, who accomplished the feat against Dennis Eckersley while playing for the Minnesota Twins in 1993, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

It should come as no surprise that Rodriguez took Verlander deep, as the 39-year-old has an impressive track record of success against the 2011 American League Cy Young Award winner.

Even after Verlander retired Rodriguez in each of his next three trips to the plate Friday night, Rodriguez has 11 hits in 32 career at-bats (.343 batting average) against the right-hander, with five home runs and 10 RBI.

Now sitting at 667 career home runs, Rodriguez has homered for 22 percent of his 3,000 hits, tops among the 29 members of the 3,000-hit club, per the New York Times.

Hank Aaron’s 755 homers lead the club in that department, and while Rodriguez is enjoying a surprisingly excellent bounce-back season, he still needs 88 more long balls to catch Hammerin’ Hank.

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The Baltimore Orioles set a single-game franchise record by hitting eight home runs in Tuesday’s 19-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, per Sportsnet Stats.

It didn’t take long for the onslaught to start, with Orioles third baseman Manny Machado leading off the bottom of the first inning with a solo shot to deep left field.

Although the Orioles didn’t hit any more homers in the frame, they still managed to plate six runs, knocking out Phillies starter Jerome Williams after just two-thirds of an inning.

Williams was replaced by relief pitcher Dustin McGowan, who served up another solo homer to Machado to lead off the bottom of the second inning.

The Orioles added two more solo homers in the frame, courtesy of designated hitter Jimmy Paredes and outfielder Chris Parmelee, the latter of whom was making his first big league appearance of the season.

Outfielder David Lough then stretched the lead to 12-0 with a three-run home run in the third inning, and first baseman Chris Davis tacked on a solo blast in the bottom of the fourth.

After the fourth, the team removed McGowan, who allowed seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and two walks over 3.1 innings. He became just the fifth reliever to allow five home runs in a big league game—and the first since Andrew Lorraine in 2002, per Sportsnet Stats.

Following McGowan’s removal, Parmelee hit a solo homer in the sixth inning. Second baseman Ryan Flaherty then tacked on the eighth and final homer in the bottom of the eighth.

All in all, Parmelee and Machado hit two homers apiece, with Davis, Flaherty, Paredes and Lough each chipping in one.

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The Toronto Blue Jays extended their winning streak to 10 games with Saturday’s 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox, marking the fifth double-digit win streak in franchise history, per Sportsnet Stats.

Following Friday’s remarkable comeback from an 8-1 deficit with the help of a nine-run seventh inning, Toronto again beat Boston in dramatic fashion Saturday afternoon.

The Blue Jays jumped out to an early 4-0 lead behind RBI singles from outfielder Kevin Pillar, second baseman Ryan Goins and shortstop Jose Reyes.

The Red Sox then tied things up at four, scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, before designated hitter David Ortiz hit a game-tying solo home run off Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey to lead off the bottom of the sixth.

The game remained tied until the top of the 11th, when Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin hit a game-winning solo home run off Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes.

The Blue Jays easily have the American League‘s best run differential at plus-63, but they own a modest 33-30 record and still finished Saturday’s contest a game and a half behind the New York Yankees (33-27) for first place in the AL East.

Boston is the only AL team that has allowed more runs than Toronto this season, but the Jays are also the league’s only team with 300 or more runs, having plated a whopping 343 through 63 games (5.4 per game).

The Blue Jays enter Sunday with a shot to tie the franchise record of an 11-game winning streak, previously set in 1987 and matched in 1998.

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Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz hit the 474th home run of his career during Saturday’s 5-4 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, moving past Carlos Delgado for sole possession of 31st place on MLB‘s all-time home runs list, per MLB Milestones.

The Red Sox fought back from an early 4-0 deficit Saturday afternoon, eventually tying the game on Ortiz’s emphatic blast to deep right field off of Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning.

The run was Boston’s last of the game, as both bullpens dueled to a stalemate in the late innings until Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin provided the winning run on an 11th-inning solo homer off of Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes.

Although the Red Sox are stuck in a five-game losing streak, the 39-year-old Ortiz may finally be breaking out of his season-long slump with four hits, two home runs, four RBI, four runs and two walks over the last three games.

It shouldn’t take long for him to move higher up the all-time home runs list, as Ortiz’s next homer will move him into a tie with Hall of Famers Stan Musial and Willie Stargell for 29th place at 475.

After that, Ortiz will need 18 more homers to tie Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff in 27th place at 493.

Assuming he overcomes a terrible start—at least to some extent—and ultimately decides to play another season, Ortiz should eventually become the 27th member of the 500-home run club.

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Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols achieved yet another milestone (or two) in Thursday’s 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, taking sole possession of 16th place on the all-time home runs list and tying Manny Ramirez for 14th place (1,122) on the all-time extra-base hits list, per Sportsnet Stats.

Pujols entered the game even with New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantle at 536 career home runs, and it appeared he’d have to wait at least another day to break the tie.

But, after managing just a lone single through his first four at-bats of the night, Pujols hit a two-run blast to left field—the 537th home run of his career—off Rays pitcher Preston Guilmet with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.

The homer extended the Angels’ lead to 6-2, but it did rob closer Huston Street of the opportunity to pick up his 18th save of the season.

In any case, Pujols is arguably the hottest hitter in all of baseball, with nine home runs, 15 RBI and 13 runs in his last 13 games.

Despite starting the season slow, he’s now on pace for 46 home runs, 86 RBI and 89 runs, to go along with a .267/.318/.534 batting line.

While the runs and RBI aren’t overly impressive, it’s not Pujols’ fault that he and outfielder Mike Trout are the only Angels batters enjoying above-average seasons. No other regular has an OPS above .724 (third baseman David Freese) or an on-base percentage above .337 (second baseman Johnny Giavotella).

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Chris Heston threw an unusual no-hitter in Tuesday’s 5-0 win over the New York Mets, becoming the first player in major league history to hit three batters in a no-no, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports.

The 27-year-old right-hander turned in a truly remarkable performance, needing just 110 pitches to make it through the game even though he struck out 11 batters, including the last three he faced.

Despite what the three hit batsmen might suggest, Heston otherwise had surprisingly excellent control, allowing zero walks on the night.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, he’s the “first rookie to throw a no-hitter since Boston Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz in 2007.”

Of course, Giants fans are no strangers to the no-no, with their team having accounted for five of MLB‘s 25 such performances since the start of the 2009 season, while no other squad has produced more than two, per Stats LLC.

The feat has arguably lost some of its luster in a pitcher-dominated era, but you’d hardly know it from the reaction of Heston and his teammates.

A group that included star catcher Buster Posey mobbed the rookie around the mound, and while the game-ending ball was initially dropped to the ground, first baseman Brandon Belt made sure to pick it up for Heston, per Rich Herrera of MLB Network.

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