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Although Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole had his way with the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night, it wasn’t always smooth sailing for him.

When Cole went to pick up the rosin bag at one point during the game, he found himself in an unusual spot. The bag exploded on him, with the rosin emptying all over on the mound.

Umm, a little help, please?

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was able to hook his pitcher up with a new rosin bag. And considering the bag survived a long toss, it looks like it was a reliable one.

Cole allowed just two hits in seven shutout innings, and he also recorded an RBI single at the plate. Behind the ace’s great performance, Pittsburgh left town with a 7-1 victory.

This isn’t the first time a Pirates pitcher has had bad luck with a rosin bag. One of Cole’s teammates, A.J. Burnett, had this happen to him—twice—a couple of seasons ago.

[MLB.com]

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Will Ferrell’s MLB career lasted just one day in spring training, but it was such a magical day that he is now a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Well, sort of.

Ferrell was honored at Petco Park after the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Diego Padres game on Saturday, when Ferrell Takes the Field made its premiere. As much as Ferrell has accomplished in his acting career, this was the greatest night of his athletic career.

National Baseball Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson conducted the ceremony that honored the actor utility man. Ferrell received a plaque (and a Hall of Fame jersey) for becoming the first player to ever play all 10 positions in one day.

Ferrell’s spring-training exploits had some wild moments. Thanks to his versatility, he now finds himself in the company of baseball legends.

[MLB]

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New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon can apparently do more than just pitch and lose his helmet while swinging the bat.

On Saturday night, he made a play in the field that will make you wonder if he’s really just Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips in disguise. 

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Miami Marlins first baseman Justin Bour hit a dribbler up the first-base line. Colon wasn’t in the greatest position to make the play by the time he got to the ball, so he improvised.

The 42-year-old pitcher made a spectacular behind-the-back toss to first base for the out. And it looked like nothing more than a routine play.

We are not worthy of the player who is Bartolo Colon.

Colon would go on to throw a complete-game shutout as the Mets blanked the Marlins, 7-0.

[MLB.com]

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Good news, San Francisco Giants fans. Joe Panik is looking healthy.

Panik, who went on the disabled list last month with a back injury, is currently on a rehab assignment. While playing for the Sacramento River Cats (Triple-A) on Thursday night, the second baseman made a ridiculous barehanded play.

In the top of the third inning, Reno Aces (Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks) right fielder Nick Buss hit a grounder to the right side of the infield. The ball hit off the glove River Cats first baseman Kevin Frandsen, forcing a sliding Panik to adjust on the fly.

Panik somehow managed to barehand the ball and get the out at first. 

If the ball gets by Panik, the Aces extend their lead to 4-1, as a run would have scored on the play. However, a nifty 3-4-1 putout ended the inning in spectacular fashion.

The Giants must be anxious to get Panik back. Not only does he bring a solid bat to the plate, but it’s obvious he also knows how to make plays in the field.

[MiLB.com]

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Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper made some history against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, and he did so without ever taking the bat off his shoulder.

In the game, Harper saw 20 pitches in four plate appearances. He didn’t swing at a single one. And yet, he scored four times. Not only that, but he also drove in a run.

According to Jacob Emert of MLB.com, Harper became the first player in modern history to walk four times, score four runs and drive in a run without having a hit or an at-bat in a game.

As ESPN noted, the four runs are the most runs that any player has scored in the Live Ball era without recording an official at-bat in a game:

The 20 pitches that Harper saw without swinging ranks second by any batter in the last decade, per ESPN Stats & Info: 

Crazily, this was the second time this season that the 22-year-old outfielder scored four runs without recording a hit. Back on Aug. 18 against the Colorado Rockies, Harper went 0-for-2 with four walks and four runs. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the two hitless, four-run games in a season is something that hasn’t been done in 55 years:

He also became the first player in Nationals history to record two four-walk games in a season:

Harper (104) currently ranks behind only Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto (116) for the most walks in all of baseball.

Harper was lifted from the game in the sixth inning on Thursday, as the Nationals would cruise to a 15-1 victory.

[MLB.com, Twitter]

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The Oakland Athletics have to be hoping State Farm covers defective wall panels.

Monday night’s game between the A’s and the Los Angeles Angels was bizarrely delayed in the bottom of the fifth inning because of an issue with the O.co Coliseum outfield wall.  

Oakland’s Danny Valencia hit a drive to the wall in left field, causing Los Angeles outfielder Shane Victorino to crash into the wall while trying to make the catch. Not only was Victorino unable to make the catch, but after he slammed into the wall, a panel also popped loose.  

The grounds crew went to work and tried to fix the wall as quickly as possible. After a 10-minute delay, the game resumed. The A’s would go on to win the game, 11-5.

Rain delays are fairly common at MLB games. Wall-malfunction delays? Not so much.

[MLB.com, Los Angeles Angels]

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There was an unusual scene in the Los Angeles Dodgers dugout during Monday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants, with Enrique “Kike” Hernandez morphing from a baseball player into a human banana.

Hernandez—who is currently on the disabled list with a hamstring injury—was spotted in the dugout in the 14th inning wearing a banana outfit. Questions should immediately start popping into your head.

Um, what? Whose idea was this? Why?

According to the player himself, via J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News, Hernandez was just following Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman’s orders:

According to Hernandez, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spotted him in the 12th inning wearing the banana suit. Hernandez said “Andrew saw me and said, ‘you’ve got to go down there.’ I said, I’ll get fined. He said, ‘I’ll pay your fine.’

“Gotta do what the boss says.”

It sounds like Hernandez donned the banana suit on his own.

When Friedman saw it, he decided it’d be a fun idea to send Hernandez to the dugout like that. When a game reaches the 12th inning, a team has to take extreme measures to try to get a run and put an end to things.

Behind the “Rally Banana,” the Dodgers walked off with a 5-4 victory in 14 innings. Hernandez celebrated the victory appropriately on Twitter:

Hernandez may have to keep breaking out the banana suit until the Dodgers lose.

[MLB.com, h/t HardballTalk]

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Major League Baseball team logos have undergone many makeovers through the years, and thanks to Eric Orvieto of Yahoo Sports, there is an awesome GIF that shows all of those changes.

Orvieto compiled all the logos MLB franchises have used since 1876 and created a fascinating time-lapse GIF. Every time a logo was changed or an expansion franchise joined the league, the GIF updates to reflect it.

Feel free to share which teams you believe have had the best and worst logos through the years in the comments below.

In case you missed it, NBA (here) and NFL (here) team logos have also received the evolution treatment this summer.

[Eric Orvieto, Big League Stew]

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Counting to four really isn’t that hard, but it is occasionally an issue in Major League Baseball.

Earlier this season, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto worked a three-ball walk. On Monday night, Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez had to be more patient than usual to draw a base on balls.

Hernandez was the first batter New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom faced on the night. There was a bit of confusion on the 1-1 pitch, when Hernandez hit a weak grounder up the first-base line. Once the play was over, the umpires ruled that the ball hit the batter in the box, making it a foul ball.

At that point, there had already been one ball thrown in the at-bat. Keep that in mind.

DeGrom and Hernandez would proceed with their eight-pitch battle. The Mets right-hander threw a ball—ball four—on the seventh pitch, which should have led to Hernandez jogging down to first. However, the batter never moved, and nobody noticed four balls had been thrown.

The next pitch wound up being a ball as well, so Hernandez did end up drawing a walk, even if it took five pitches out of the strike zone.

Hernandez was the leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning. Everyone was still settling in, so when there was some confusion about a foul ball, there may have been a lapse in concentration.

Hernandez came around to score on a three-run homer by Ryan Howard. The Philadelphia second baseman later drew a four-ball walk in the bottom of the third inning.

Despite scoring seven runs in the first three innings, the Phillies were not able to walk away with the win. The Mets powered their way to a 16-7 victory.

[MLB.com]

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After lining a ball right into the New York Mets’ shift in the bottom of the eighth inning of Monday’s game, Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard gave up on the play.

The problem with that is the ball did not end up being caught. It was still a live play as Howard started to make his way back to the dugout.

Mets second baseman Wilmer Flores gave a great effort to try to snag Howard’s liner, but when his glove hit the ground, the ball popped out. Seeing that the runner thought the play was over, he threw to first base from the ground.

Out.

Howard attempted to beat the throw but was unable to get to the bag in time. After he was called out, the slugger threw up his hands in disbelief.

It’s hard to get on Howard—a 12-year MLB veteran—too much for giving up on the play. It did appear as though Flores caught the ball. However, there’s a reason youth baseball coaches teach their players to run out every play. You never know what can happen.

Howard did hit a three-run homer earlier in the game, so despite this play and his team’s 16-7 loss, he did have a highlight on the night.

[MLB.com]

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