April 29

Making his major league debut for the Pirates, Nick Kingham retires the first 20 Cardinals batters he faces before allowing a single to Paul DeJong with two outs in the 7th. He then retires the next batter, ending his day with just that hit allowed, no walks and 9 strikeouts in 7 innings, earning his first career win, 5 – 0. No pitcher had made it through six perfect innings in his debut since 1974.

Matt Kemp has a three-homer game and drives in five runs in leading the Braves to an 11 – 3 win over the Brewers. Dansby Swanson adds a two-run homer and Tyler Flowers has four hits as part of a twenty-hit attack. Jaime Garcia is the beneficiary of the offensive outburst.

Carlos Gomez of the Rangers hits for the cycle in a 6 – 3 win over the Angels.

The Mets score a team record 12 runs in the 3rd inning in defeating the Giants, 13 – 1. Yoenis Cespedes collects 6 RBIs in the frame with a two-run single off Jake Peavy and a grand slam off Mike Broadway. Steven Matz is the winner.

In his 16th career start, Marlins left-hander Adam Conley is four outs away from a no-hitter when he is replaced by reliever Jose Urena, who gives up the Brewers’ first hit with one out in the ninth in the team’s 6-3 victory at Milwaukee’s Miller Park. Miami manager Don Mattingly made the decision to go to the bullpen after the 25 year-old southpaw needed 16 pitches to get the first two outs of the eighth inning, bringing his total pitch count 116, ten more than the southpaw’s previous career high.

The Orioles win a game in eerie silence as they defeat the White Sox, 8 – 2, with no fans present at Camden Yards. The game is played without spectators present due to persistent rioting in Baltimore, MD, in order for the city not to have to commit overworked security forces to the contest. “Hopefully this was something good, something positive can come from this,” comments Chris Davis, whose long home run into the empty stands is the highlight of a six-run 1st inning, thinking about the difficult couple of weeks the city has gone through.

Robinson Cano returns to New Yankee Stadium for the first time since leaving the Yankees as a free agent during the off-season and contributes an RBI to the Mariners’ 6 – 3 win. Mike Zunino collects 4 hits for the first time of his career and Chris Young records his first win in 20 months.

Yusmeiro Petit is only a last-minute replacement for scheduled starter Matt Cain, who cuts his hand with a knife in AT&T Park’s kitchen after batting practice, but he completely baffles the Padres in a 6 – 0 Giants win. Petit allows only 3 hits and no walks in 6 innings, while San Francisco jumps on Eric Stults with 1st-inning homers by Angel Pagan and Buster Posey.

Donald Lutz, who left the U.S. as an infant, becomes the first German-developed player to appear in the major leagues when he grounds out to second as a pinch-hitter in the Reds’ 2-1 victory over St. Louis at Busch Stadium. The 24 year-old outfielder, a member of the German National Team that competed in the 2013 WBC, joins Seattle’s Alex Liddi as the second graduate of the Major League Baseball International European Academy to make a big league team.

The Brewers hit five homers and three triples in a 10 – 4 win over the Pirates; they are the first team to get that particular combination of long hits since the Giants on May 13, 1958. Jean Segura and Carlos Gomez get a triple and a homer each, while P Yovani Gallardo hits his second homer and picks up his third win in three starts since being arrested for driving under the influence earlier this month.