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While the follow-up to his breakout season has largely been disappointing, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis gave O’s fans plenty to cheer for Monday night, hitting the franchise’s first walk-off, pinch-hit home run since 1988, per the team’s official Twitter account.

Mired in an extended slump, Davis was held out of Monday’s lineup against the Chicago White Sox while Steve Pearce got the start at first base. It marked the second time in eight games that Davis was held out of the lineup following a streak of 18 consecutive starts since he returned from the paternity list May 27.

Unfortunately for O’s fans, the birth of the slugger’s first child hasn’t sparked Davis to greatness, as he has just 16 hits in 96 at-bats (.167 batting average) since rejoining the team. He does have a respectable six home runs and 15 RBI during the stretch but with 39 strikeouts compared to just 10 walks.

Despite the recent struggles, Davis put together an excellent at-bat against White Sox closer Ronald Belisario in the ninth inning of Monday’s game. With the O’s down 4-3 and runners on first and second, Davis worked his way back from a ball and two strikes to push the count full.

The slugging first baseman then took his typical mighty hack at a Belisario slider but appeared to get a bit under the ball. Nonetheless, he got enough of it, sending the pitch about five rows deep past the short right-center porch at Camden Yards for a 6-4 Orioles win.

The last Oriole to hit a walk-off, pinch-hit homer was Larry Sheets, who did it in an Aug. 24, 1988 game against the Seattle Mariners during the worst season in Baltimore franchise history. The O’s lost an astounding 107 games that year, marking the only 100-loss season since the club moved from St. Louis to Baltimore in 1954.

Davis’ struggles and all, the O’s have fared much better in 2014, as they sit at 40-35 heading into Thursday’s action, just 1.5 games back of the first-place Toronto Blue Jays.

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Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Max Scherzer tossed the first complete game of his career in Thursday’s 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox, thus ending his record-setting run of 178 starts without a complete game to begin a career, per ESPN.com. Tony Armas, who last pitched in 2008 and has 167 starts to his name, is now the current record holder for most games at the beginning of a career without finishing an outing.

Scherzer was even more dominant than usual Thursday night, allowing only three hits and three walks over nine innings as he out-dueled Chicago ace Chris Sale for the victory. The White Sox got only one runner past second base all game, and it would have been none if not for an error by Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera.

Sale took the loss for Chicago, despite pitching nearly as well as the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. In seven solid innings, the southpaw struck out 10 Tigers and walked none while allowing just one run on a Victor Martinez solo home run to lead off the fifth inning. It was the third time in Sale’s career that he struck out at least 10 batters without allowing a walk.

Unlike Scherzer, Sale has never had a hard time going the distance, as he owns six complete games in just 68 career starts. Scherzer‘s name stands out among the pitchers who took the longest to toss a complete game, with the list mostly populated by middling starters like Armas and fellow Tiger Rick Porcello, the latter of whom started 146 contests before finally recording a complete game last season.

While keeping the pitch count down has never been Scherzer‘s strength, he’s good enough that there will undoubtedly be a few more nine-inning performances in his future.

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The Miami Marlins head into Tuesday’s game against the Texas Rangers seeking a record-tying 13th consecutive win in interleague play, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The previous two teams to piece together such a streak both reside in the American League, with the New York Yankees doing it between the 2003 and 2004 seasons, while the Tampa Bay Rays accomplished the feat in 2004 alone.

The Marlins’ surprising streak started last season with a 1-0 win over the Kansas City Royals in the second game of a mid-August series. After winning the final game of that series, the Marlins didn’t play any interleague games until Sept. 27 when they met the Detroit Tigers for a three-game set to end the season.

Having already clinched the AL Central crown, Detroit was perhaps more focused on getting ready for the playoffs than winning any more regular-season games. Thus, the Marlins swept the playoff-bound Tigers in an encouraging conclusion to an ugly 62-100 season.

Carrying a five-game interleague winning streak into 2014, the much improved Marlins didn’t need any help to sweep a three-game home series against the Seattle Mariners from Apr. 18-20. The fish outscored Seattle 18-6 in the series, which was highlighted by a Giancarlo Stanton walk-off grand slam in the first game.

The Marlins thus entered last week’s four-game series against the in-state rival Tampa Bay Rays as owners of an eight-game interleague winning streak. It wasn’t your typical four-game set, as the first two were played in Tampa Bay and the second two in Miami. 

The Marlins didn’t seem to care about the location, winning all four games against the flailing Rays by a cumulative score of 20-11. Heading into Tuesday’s action, the Marlins (33-30) are shockingly 10 games ahead of the AL-worst Rays (24-41). Tampa Bay hasn’t finished below .500 since 2007 while the Marlins haven’t finished above .500 since 2009.

Also suffering through a down season are the Rangers, who will start struggling right-hander Colby Lewis in Tuesday’s potentially record-tying game. Tom Koehler, owner of a somewhat flukish 3.33 ERA, will take the hill for Miami at the hitter’s paradise in Arlington. 

Should the Marlins emerge victorious Tuesday night, they’ll go for the stand-alone record Wednesday, when Jacob Turner is scheduled to face Rangers ace Yu Darvish.

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Cleveland Indians third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall hit three home runs and knocked in nine runs during Monday night’s game against the Texas Rangers, as the Indians cruised to a 17-7 victory. The nine runs batted in match an Indians franchise record for most in a single game, per MLB.com.

Chisenhall had a night most major leaguers only dream of, getting a hit in each of his five at-bats, including the three home runs and a double. The three homers—his fifth, sixth and seventh of 2014—were a career high for Chisenhall, who previously had just one multi-homer game in his career, back in 2011.

Chisenhall‘s three home runs tied for second most in a game in franchise history, behind the four that Rocky Colavito hit in a June 10, 1959 game against the Baltimore Orioles. His combination of five hits, nine runs batted in and three home runs has never been matched by any player in franchise history, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.

The only other Tribe player with nine runs batted in in a single game was Chris James on May 4, 1991 against the Oakland Athletics, per the Indians’ official Twitter account. James, a journeyman who played for eight teams in his 10-year career, had four hits in five at-bats that night, with a pair of three-run homers.

According to ESPN’s Stats & Info blog, Chisenhall is only the fourth player to have five hits, nine runs batted in and three home runs in a single game since runs batted in became an official stat in 1920. The Cincinnati Reds’ Walker Cooper was the first to accomplish the feat in 1949, and Brooklyn Dodgers great Gil Hodges was the second in 1950. The most recent occurrence was almost 39 years ago in June 1975, when former Boston Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn had five hits in six at-bats, with three home runs and 10 runs batted in.

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In Monday’s game at Yankee Stadium, Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager became the first player in franchise history to hit a home run, two triples and a double in the same game, per ESPN Stats & Info. 

Seager was already heating up before Monday’s contest, as he had six hits—including two home runs—over the previous four games. Still, nobody could have guessed what was coming, even in a matchup against middling Yankees right-hander David Phelps.

Seager didn’t waste any time Monday night, as he hammered a triple to left-center field to lead off the second inning in his first plate appearance of the game. The ball hit the outfield wall in the air, falling just a few feet short of a home run.

The 26-year-old third baseman had just four career triples entering Monday’s game, but he recorded his second of the night in his second plate appearance. No. 2 was far different from the first, with Seager blooping one down the left-field line, then benefiting from a mental error by Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who thought the ball was hit foul.

Seager thus became the first visiting player since Shannon Stewart in 1997 to hit multiple triples against the Yankees at home, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Seager then flied out in the sixth inning, but bounced back strong with a double in the eighth. Finally, he delivered a knockout blow in the top of the ninth inning, extending the Mariners’ lead to 10-2 with a three-run homer to right field.

When the dust settled, Seager had improved his 2014 slash line from .258/.344/.453 to .272/.355/.505, while the three runs batted in brought his season total to 36, and a trio of runs left him at 24 for the year.

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Cleveland Indians pitcher Justin Masterson tossed the first immaculate inning of his career in the fourth inning of Monday’s game against the Boston Red Sox. Per ESPN.com, a pitcher must strike out all three batters on just nine pitches in order to get credit for an immaculate inning, one of the rarest single-inning accomplishments in baseball.

According to the complete list on baseball-almanac.com, Masterson‘s flawless inning was only the 74th occurrence of such a feat in MLB history. Sixty-nine different pitchers have recorded an immaculate inning, with Nolan Ryan the only one to do so in both leagues.

Only four hurlers have tossed multiple immaculate innings, and all four are legends of the game. Ryan, Lefty Grove and Randy Johnson all did it twice, while Sandy Koufax owns a record three immaculate innings.

Masterson was dominant throughout Monday’s game, striking out 10 batters over seven scoreless innings to improve his record to 3-4. 

His flawless frame started when Boston’s Jonny Gomes took a called first strike, followed by a pair of swinging strikes. 

Former Indian Grady Sizemore also took a first-pitch called strike, then fouled off the second pitch for another strike. He finally struck out swinging on a slider.

Last but not least, recent Red Sox signee Stephen Drew took the first two pitches on called strikes and then succumbed to Masterson‘s slider for a third strike, just as Gomes and Sizemore did.  

Masterson‘s immaculate inning can be relived at MLB.com, with the whole frame condensed into a one-minute clip.

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New York Mets outfielder Bobby Abreu recorded his 400th career stolen base in last Friday’s 6-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, per the Mets’ official Twitter account. 

The 40-year-old outfielder, who was out of baseball in 2013, is just the 74th player in major league history to reach the 400-steal plateau. Prior to Friday, his most recent stolen base came Sept. 27, 2012 while he was playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers during what many believed to be his final season.

Known for his plate discipline more so than his speed, Abreu was a well-rounded offensive machine in his prime and has subsequently used his trademark batting eye to hang on for a few more seasons. Despite playing late into the decline phase of his career, the Venezuelan outfielder owns a tremendous lifetime .292/.396/.477 slash line.

Looking back on Abreu’s underrated career—spent with six different teams—his peak essentially lasted from 1998 to 2006. During that nine-year span, he posted an on-base percentage above .400 in eight seasons, with a batting average above .300 six separate times. What’s more, he recorded at least 20 steals and 20 homers in seven consecutive seasons from 1999 to 2005. 

In that aforementioned peak of 1998 to 2006, Abreu accumulated 48.9 wins above replacement (WAR), according to Baseball-Reference’s measure of the metric. While his average of 5.43 WAR per season over that time isn’t overwhelming, the stat includes defensive value, which has never been Abreu’s strength. In an era dominated by 40-homer sluggers, Abreu was one of the elite offensive players, despite never topping 31 long balls in a single season.

All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference unless otherwise noted.

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San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval hit a solo home run in the sixth inning of Thursday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals to extend his RBI streak to nine games. Per Alex Pavlovic of the San Jose Mercury News, no Giant has pieced together an RBI streak that long since Barry Bonds also knocked in a run in nine consecutive games during the 2000 season.

Sandoval’s streak is no fluke full of sacrifice flies and RBI groundouts, as he’s been a dominant force at the plate over the last nine games. During the streak, he has five home runs and a .419 batting average, with eight runs and a whopping 14 RBI.

Known to many as “Kung-Fu Panda,” Sandoval created quite a bit of buzz before the season when it was discovered that he’d lost a significant amount of weight. Known for his large frame as much as his free-swinging approach, he was hoping that his improved fitness would play off in a contract year.

He then got off to a surprisingly terrible start, finishing April with just two home runs and a .177/.262/.302 slash line. That line actually fell to .173/.250/.276 by May 10, before Sandoval turned things around with a three-hit game against the Los Angeles Dodgers May 11. He’s now recorded a hit in 18 of his last 19 games, and six of his eight home runs this season have come in the last 11 contests.

As awful as he was earlier this season, Sandoval heads into Friday’s game against the Cardinals carrying a respectable .247/.300/.428 slash line. While the torrid pace obviously can’t continue for long, Sandoval owns a .294/.347/.473 line for his career, so his numbers should only continue to go up from here.

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Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion produced his fifth multi-homer game this May in Thursday’s 8-6 loss to the Kansas City Royals, matching the MLB record for most multi-homer games in a calendar month, per Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi.

The other two players to accomplish the feat—Harmon Killebrew and Albert Belle—were also prolific sluggers of their time. Killebrew, a Hall of Famer who played from 1954 to 1975, sits in 11th place on the all-time home runs list with 573 dingers.

Belle probably won’t ever make it to the Hall, but he was unquestionably one of the most feared sluggers in the 1990s, an era known for power-hitting behemoths. With Belle, Machiavelli’s quote that “it’s better to be feared than to be loved” comes to mind.

As for Encarnacion, the Toronto slugger’s assault on the record books may not be complete. His second long ball Thursday gave him 16 in May, matching Mickey Mantle’s American League record and pulling within one of Barry Bonds’ MLB record, per the Blue Jays’ official website.

Looking to a more notable piece of history, Rudy York set the AL mark for most homers in any calendar month with his 18 round-trippers in August 1937. Sammy Sosa holds the MLB record, having somehow crushed 20 homers in June of his historic 1998 season.

With only two games remaining for the Jays in May, Encarnacion is a long shot to match York, and would need four more homers to tie Sosa. Of course, the way he’s been swinging, would anyone really be surprised if EE hits a few more homers in the last two days of his historic month?

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The Los Angeles Dodgers recently recorded 17 consecutive innings of hitless pitching, setting a team record since the franchise moved to Los Angeles, per the team’s official Twitter account.

Dodgers hurler Hyun-Jin Ryu followed up Sunday’s no-hitter from Josh Beckett by tossing seven perfect innings to begin Monday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. The streak actually began Saturday night when Paul Maholm held the Philadelphia Phillies without a hit in the bottom of the eighth inning in an eventual 5-3 Phillies victory.

Ryu had a perfect game going through the first seven innings of Monday’s contest until Reds third baseman Todd Frazier led off the top of the eighth with a double down the third base line. Cincinnati went on to score three runs in the inning, all of which were charged to Ryu.

Reds outfielder Chris Heisey hit a sacrifice fly off of the South Korean pitcher, then reliever Brian Wilson allowed both of Ryu‘s inherited runners to score. Closer Kenley Jansen ended the threat with a four-out save in the 4-3 victory.

Prior to Frazier’s double, Maholm had allowed the last hit to a Dodgers opponent, a two-out single by Phillies outfielder Ben Revere in the seventh inning of Saturday’s game.

According to Elias Sports Bureau via ESPN, the 17 innings of hitless pitching matched the longest such streak in Major League Baseball since the Dodgers’ crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Angels, accomplished the same feat on May 1-3, 2012. As one might expect, the Angels’ 17-inning run also included a no-hitter, one courtesy of long-time staff ace Jered Weaver.

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