In his final season, David Ortiz is still a master of the clutch hit. Today, he hits a two-out 9th-inning triple off Luke Gregerson to drive in Xander Bogaerts and tie the game for the Red Sox against the Astros, then hits a two-out double in the 11th off Michael Feliz that again drives in Bogaerts and gives the Sox a 6 – 5 win. The double is the 600th of his career, making him only the third player after Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds to hit 500 homers and 600 doubles; he had hit homer #513 in the 3rd inning.

Major League Baseball announces its decision in the case of SS Jose Reyes, who has been on administrative leave since spring training following an off-season domestic violence incident. While prosecutors decided to drop criminal charges, MLB comes down hard, extending Reyes’ suspension until May 31st, a total of 51 games, costing Reyes $7 million in salary.

The Red Sox’s bats are red hot as they score 11 or more runs for the fourth straight game in defeating Houston, 11 – 1. They are the first team to score in double figures in four straight games since 2007, and by also collecting 14 or more hits in all four games, match a feat last performed by the 1930 Philadelphia Athletics. Jackie Bradley extends his hitting streak to 18 games, longest in the majors so far this year. Boston has now won 14 of its last 18 games.

Today’s game between the Reds and Pirates features six hit batsmen, four ejections and four solo homers by Pittsburgh, which wins, 5 – 4, on a 9th-inning single by Jordy Mercer. Bucs OF Starling Marte and manager Clint Hurdle both get the heave-ho for arguing a caught stealing call in the 6th, but Marte’s replacement, Josh Harrison, later hits one of his team’s homers. For the Reds, P Ross Ohlendorf and manager Bryan Price are thumbed after Ohlendorf plunks David Freese following Mercer’s single.

The Cubs decide they are not going to let Bryce Harper beat them and their pitchers walk him a record-tying six times, with his other at-bat resulting in a hit-by-pitch as he does not take even one swing of the bat in the Nationals’ 13-inning, 4 – 3 loss in Wrigley Field on a walk-off homer by Javier Baez. The strategy works all series, as Harper draws 13 walks, but Chicago sweeps all three games to improve to 24-6 after 30 games.

3B Jung Ho Kang makes a successful return to the majors for the Pirates in his first game since suffering a serious leg injury in September of last year. Kang homers twice, off Tyler Lyons and Kevin Siegrist, to lead Pittsburgh to a 4 – 2 win. Francisco Liriano is the winner over Carlos Martinez, who has to leave early due to fatigue.

Pavel Budský becomes the first Extraliga player to 150 career homers (since they began tracking homers in 1993), as the veteran slugger hits a grand slam off Petru Balan for the historic hit. Draci Brno cruises to a 19 – 5 thumping of the Arrows Ostrava.

The Rockies set a team record by scoring 13 runs in the 5th inning in beating the Giants, 17 – 7. Trevor Story leads things off with a homer off losing P Matt Cain, and drives in another run with a single later in the frame. Vin Mazzaro gives up 9 runs while retiring a single batter, and the Giants commit a pair of costly errors to add fuel to the fire. Colorado starter Chris Rusin drives in a pair in the record-setting inning and has a ten-run lead when he leaves the game, but as he only manages 4 1/3 innings, he doesn’t get the win, which goes to reliever Christian Bergman instead.

Clayton Kershaw does it all by himself, as he pitches a three-hit shutout against the Padres, strikes out 14, and drives in the only run of the game with a 3rd-inning single off Drew Pomeranz. Thanks to his superhuman performance, the Dodgers end a six-game losing streak with the 1 – 0 win.