This year, the annual Civil Rights Game is played on “Jackie Robinson Day” with the host Dodgers defeating the Mariners, 5 – 2, in an interleague game as the memory of the man who broke the color barrier is honored before the game. Los Angeles jumps on Taijuan Walker for 5 runs in 4 innings. For Seattle, Nelson Cruz homers in his fifth straight game.

2015 – After one week of action in the major leagues, two teams are still undefeated, and both play in the AL Central. The defending American League champions, the Kansas City Royals, complete a three-game team of the Angels with a 9 – 2 win behind starter Yordano Ventura to improve to 6-0. Meanwhile, the Tigers are keeping pace as their 8 – 5 win over Cleveland also completes a week-end sweep; Miguel Cabrera hits two homers while going 4-for-4 for the day and 11-for-14 in the series.

Mets reliever Jenrry Mejia is the latest major league player to be suspended for testing positive for a steroid as he is handed an 80-game penalty. He is the fourth pitcher to incur the penalty in a two-week span, following Ervin Santana, David Rollins and Arodys Vizcaino.

At Great American Ball Park, Reds closer Aroldis Chapman throws a 101 mph fastball by Matt Holliday to get the last out in the team’s 5-4 victory over St. Louis, making the fireballer the leader in saves by a Cuban-born player with 115. The 27 year-old Holguin native surpasses Pinar del Rio’s Danys Baez, who, beginning in 2001, closed for six teams during his ten-year tenure in the major leagues.

Mound opponents Cubs Travis Wood and Tyler Matzek of the Rockies each hit eighth in their team’s lineup, marking just the 12th time in major league history that both pitchers have not batted ninth in the same game. The last time this occurred was in 2008 when the Cardinals, led by Tony La Russa, who frequently employed his hurler in that slot, played the Pirates.

The Yankees and Red Sox lock horns in a 19-inning marathon, the game ending with the Red Sox coming out on top, 6 – 5, at 2:13 AM. The game is further lengthened by a 16-minute delay caused by a power outage in the 12th inning at New Yankee Stadium. Chase Headley forces extra innings with a homer off Edward Mujica with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, then David Ortiz and Mark Teixeira exchange solo homers in the 16th, and both teams score once in the 18th as well, further extending the game. Xander Bogaerts scores the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Mookie Betts, and this time Steven Wright, in his fifth inning of relief work, keeps the Yankees from replying.

Adrian Gonzalez is the first major league hitter to hit three homers in a game this season, as he does the trick against the Padres in a 7 – 4 Dodgers win. The outburst makes him the first player in major league history to hit five home runs in his team’s first three games; he also has 10 hits over the span, and is the first National League hitter to begin a season with three consecutive games of three or more hits since Orlando Cepeda in 1963. All three long balls are hit against losing pitcher Andrew Cashner, while Brandon McCarthy earns his first win in a Dodgers uniform.