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Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols hit the 536th home run of his career during Tuesday’s 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, tying Mickey Mantle for 16th place on the all-time list, per MLB Milestones.

Pujols’ milestone blast came with the bases empty in the top of the fifth inning, when he hit a line drive a few rows into the right field stands off of Rays pitcher Nate Karns, giving the Angels a 5-0 lead.

It was Pujols’ eighth home run in his last 11 games, after he managed just eight through his first 44 games of the season.

He also has 12 runs and 13 RBI over the 11-game stretch, which has seen him improve his season-long slash line from .238/.294/.436 all the way to .268/.317/.531.

The 35-year-old first baseman has already moved up from 21st to 16th place on the all-time home runs list since the beginning of the season, but he’ll have to wait a while to move up any further.

Fifteenth-place Mike Schmidt hit 548 career home runs, leaving Pujols with 12 more to go to catch the Hall of Fame third baseman.

After that, 14th-place Manny Ramirez hit 555 home runs, and 13th-place Reggie Jackson had 563

Pujols is on pace for 45 home runs this season, and in the unlikely event he actually reaches that total, he’ll have 565 for his career, good for sole possession of 13th place on the all-time list.

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Texas Rangers pitcher Chi Chi Gonzalez tossed a shutout in Friday’s 4-0 win over the Kansas City Royals and set a franchise record by starting his career with 14.2 consecutive scoreless innings, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

Despite striking out just two batters, Gonzalez held the Royals to three hits and two walks over nine innings, needing 116 pitches to go the distance in his second major league start.

He previously tossed 5.2 scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox in his MLB debut last Saturday, striking out two batters while allowing two hits and five walks.

Now 2-0 through his first two big league appearances, the 23-year-old Gonzalez has found success by keeping the ball on the ground, owning a 57.1 percent ground-ball rate, per FanGraphs.

The steady stream of grounders has made up for a lack of strikeouts, with Gonzalez fanning just four batters through his first 14.2 innings.

Despite the lack of punchouts, he’s the first Rangers pitcher since Len Barker in 1976 to toss a shutout within his first two major league games, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Gonzalez will look to continue the early success in his next outing, scheduled for Thursday against the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum.

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New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez had an historic game in Friday’s 8-7 win over the Los Angeles Angels, taking sole possession of second place on the all-time RBI list, along with sole possession of eighth place on the all-time runs list, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Previously even with Barry Bonds at 1,996 career RBI, Rodriguez broke the tie with a single off of Angels pitcher Jered Weaver in the fifth inning, giving the Yankees a 5-0 lead when outfielder Brett Gardner crossed home plate.

Oddly enough, while he’s third on the list provided by MLB.com, Rodriguez is technically considered by MLB to be in second place on the official all-time list, as the RBI only became an official stat in 1920.

Per Yahoo Sports‘ Mark Townsend, both Ruth and Cap Anson would have more RBI than Rodriguez if the stat had been official prior to 1920, though Anson is only listed 11th on the list provided by MLB.com, while Ruth is second.

In any case, Rodriguez reached another milestone later in Friday’s game when he scored the Yankees’ eighth and final run on a seventh-inning single from outfielder Chris Young.

Upon crossing home plate for the 1,950th time in his career, Rodriguez broke a tie with Stan Musial for eighth place on the all-time runs list.

There’s little contention regarding A-Rod’s place on the runs list, as he’s officially considered eighth and is listed as such by MLB.com.

That being said, Rodriguez is only ninth on the list used by Baseball-Reference.com, as the site credits Anson with 1,999 career runs, compared to just 1,719 on MLB.com.

Two things that can’t be argued are Rodriguez’s upcoming milestones, with the slugger currently sitting at 1,999 career RBI and 2,991 hits.

He’ll soon reach 2,000 and 3,000, respectively—possibly even in the same game or at-bat.

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San Diego Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner recorded an unusual stat line in Monday’s 7-0 loss to the New York Mets, becoming the first pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) to allow 10 or more hits while striking out 10 or more batters over fewer than five innings, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN.com).

Cashner gave up six runs (five earned) on 11 hits and no walks over 4.2 innings, despite striking out 12 of the 25 batters he faced.

He gave up a two-run home run to Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy in the fifth inning, and of the 12 balls that Mets batters put into play, 10 fell for hits.

There was only one fielded out behind Cashner—third baseman Will Middlebrooks made an error in the third inning, and Murphy was thrown out attempting to steal.

That lone fielded out came from the bat of Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson, who led off the game with a pop out to Padres shortstop Clint Barmes.

In addition to the aforementioned record involving hits, strikeouts and innings, Cashner also became the first pitcher in modern baseball history to strike out at least 12 batters without allowing a walk while failing to complete five innings, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

Despite boasting a sterling 72-to-15 strikeout-to-walk ratio and respectable 3.46 ERA, the 28-year-old right-hander has an ugly 2-8 record, making him the MLB leader in losses.

Poor luck has been part of the problem, but Cashner has done himself no favors by allowing 10 home runs.

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Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre became the 52nd member of the 400 home run club when he hit a solo shot off Cleveland Indians pitcher Bruce Chen in the first inning of Friday’s game at Globe Life Park in Arlington, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder had just hit a two-run homer to tie the game at two apiece, and Beltre followed with a deep line drive over the center field fence to go back-to-back with his teammate.

The 36-year-old third baseman later added a double in the third inning, but the Rangers couldn’t muster any runs after the opening frame, eventually falling by a score of 8-3.

Typically one of the more consistent players in baseball, Beltre is off to an unusually slow start this season, with just five home runs and 13 RBI through 36 games, along with a modest .250 batting average and .291 on-base percentage.

He is still one of just seven players born in the Dominican Republic to reach 400 career home runs, joining Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero and Alfonso Soriano, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Beltre should have a solid case for the Hall of Fame either way, but if he can eventually reach 500 career home runs, he’d be a lock to get in.

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Washington Nationals third baseman Yunel Escobar had five hits in Monday’s 11-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, making him the first player since Ichiro Suzuki in 2004 to record multiple five-hit performances over a span of seven or fewer games, according to Elias Sports Bureau, via ESPN Stats & Info.

Escobar singled in each of his five at-bats Monday night, finishing with two runs and an RBI in a game that saw the Nationals carry a 10-0 lead into the third inning.

Batting second in the lineup, Escobar had three hits by the end of the third inning and four hits by the end of the fifth. It appeared he would likely get a sixth at-bat when he singled with two outs in the top of the seventh, but the Nationals then made seven consecutive outs to finish off the game.

The 32-year-old previously had five singles in five at-bats during last Monday’s 6-4 win over the Miami Marlins, finishing that game with a run and two RBI.

While he owns an impressive .410 batting average through his first 10 games in March, Escobar has not recorded an extra-base hit since April 22, when he smacked a three-run double in a 7-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Just five of his 38 hits this season have gone for extra bases, as he has 33 singles, three doubles and two home runs.

Escobar‘s .342 batting average and 13-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio are both impressive, but his .423 slugging percentage is rather ordinary, and his .371 BABIP, via FanGraphs, is unsustainable.

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Seattle Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez became the fourth-youngest pitcher in major league history to record 2,000 career strikeouts when he hit the mark during the fifth inning of Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Oakland Athletics, per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN Stats & Info).

At 29 years and 32 days, Hernandez entered Sunday’s start with 1,995 career strikeouts, needing just five more to become the 73rd player in MLB history to reach 2,000.

After striking out four batters through the game’s first four innings, King Felix caught Athletics outfielder Sam Fuld looking to start the top of the fifth.

Hernandez would later notch another strikeout on his final pitch of the game, ultimately finishing with six strikeouts over seven innings, having allowed just two runs on five hits and a walk to improve to 6-0 on the season.

His 2,001 career strikeouts are good for 72nd on the all-time list, with only Bert Blyleven, Sam McDowell and Randy Johnson reaching 2,000 at a younger age.

An early favorite for the Cy Young Award in the American League, Hernandez has a 1.85 ERA, 0.84 WHIP and 50-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 48.2 innings to complement his 6-0 record through seven outings.

While a strong candidate to eventually reach 3,000 career strikeouts, the 29-year-old has yet to pitch in the postseason.

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New York Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda struck out 16 batters in Sunday’s 6-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles, setting a franchise record for the most strikeouts without any walks in a single game, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The 26-year-old improved to 5-0 on the season, allowing one run on six hits over seven innings, with a second-inning home run off the bat of Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy responsible for that lone run.

Pineda threw 81 of his 111 pitches for strikes, getting 21 called strikes, 22 swinging strikes, 27 foul balls and 11 balls in play.

He struck out every member of Baltimore’s starting lineup besides Hardy, notching either two or three punchouts in each inning he pitched.

A one point, Pineda struck out six consecutive batters, starting with the final out of the fourth inning and ending with the second out of the sixth.

He tied David Cone and David Wells for the second-highest single-game strikeout total in franchise history, falling short of only Ron Guidry’s 18 strikeouts from a June 17, 1978 contest against the California Angels, per MLB Stat of the Day.

After pitching just 76.1 combined innings over the previous three seasons (all in 2014), Pineda looks like an early challenger for Cy Young honors in the American League, boasting a 5-0 record, 2.72 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 54-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio through seven outings (46.1 innings).

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Alex Rodriguez stands alone in fourth place on the all-time home run list after hitting his 661st bomb against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankees Stadium on Thursday, passing Willie Mays.

The majority of the focus, and controversy, surrounding A-Rod has been about the long ball and performance-enhancing drug use. Lost in the shuffle is the fact that the Yankees slugger can surpass a handful of other lofty milestones this season as well.

Stephen Nelson and Scott Miller break down A-Rod’s assault on the record books in this video, presented by Jim Beam.

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Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Chris Archer tossed seven shutout innings during Sunday’s 5-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, setting a franchise record by going a fourth consecutive start without allowing an earned run, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Going back to 2000, the 26-year-old righty is one of just six American League pitchers to go four straight starts without surrendering an earned run, with Cory Lidle of the 2002 Oakland Athletics the only hurler to extend such a streak to five starts.

The list includes Zack Greinke (2009) and Johan Santana (2004), both of whom won the Cy Young Award during the respective seasons in which they put together their streaks.

While few had Archer pegged as a Cy Young candidate heading into this season, his early statistics are impossible to ignore.

He owns a 3-2 record, 0.84 ERA and 0.74 WHIP through five starts, with the traditional numbers backed by a superb 37-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Since allowing four runs (three earned) in an Opening Day loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Archer has surrendered just one unearned run in his subsequent four starts, though the unearned run did lead to his second loss of the season, with the Rays falling 1-0 to the Boston Red Sox back on April 21.

The right-hander was untouchable during the three starts that led to victories, as he allowed two or fewer hits over exactly seven scoreless innings in each game. Per Elias Sports Bureau (via ESPN.com), Archer is the only player in the modern era (since 1900) to toss three outings of seven or more scoreless innings with two or fewer hits allowed within his first five starts of a season.

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