April 8

The Trump Administration cancels an agreement reached in the previous December between Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation that allows Cuban players to join organized baseball through a formal transfer process, as is the case with South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. The current administration objects to the fact that transfer fees are being paid to the Federation; however, the agreement’s demise is likely to lead to a return of danger-fraught defections as the only path for Cuban players to reach the U.S.

Chris Davis establishes a new futility record: by going 0-for-5 in a 12 – 4 Orioles win over the Athletics. He increases his streak of at-bats without a hit to 49, including 28 since the start of the current season, shattering the previous mark of 46 by Eugenio Velez in 2010-2011.

The legend of Shohei Ohtani will not stop growing. Today, in his second pitching start for the Angels, he retires the first 19 batters he faces before allowing a single to Marcus Semienof the Athletics with one out in the 7th. He leaves after 7 scoreless innings, having struck out 12 batters, and is credited with the 6 – 1 win, his second in as many starts.

Jameson Taillon of the Pirates pitches a one-hitter in defeating the Reds, 5 – 0. The only hit he allows is a single by his opponent, Tyler Mahle, in the 3rd.

Tommy Hansen, who did not hit a home run as a member of the freshman team last season, becomes the first high schooler in history to hit three consecutive grand slams in one game when he goes deep three times in Roncalli’s 12-1 win over Metamora Township (IL). Five other players in a high school game have also hit a trio of bases-full round-trippers in a high school contest, but none accomplished the feat in consecutive at-bats.

The Phillies have the biggest 1st inning in team history as they score 12 runs on their way to a 17 – 3 rout of the Nationals. A bases-loaded triple by Howie Kendrick highlights the frame which features 9 hits and 4 walks against Jeremy Guthrie and Enny Romero. Washington sets a team mark for most runs allowed in any inning.

Trevor Story is definitely the story of the early season: the Rockies SS hits two more homers today, to give him six in first four career games. He is the first player to go deep in his first four games, and he already was the first to do so in his first three. But the Padres, who extend their record for being held scoreless from the start of the season to 30 innings, finally get on the board in the 4th, and eventually break through for a 13 – 6 win, spoiling Colorado’s home opener. Matt Kemp and Melvin Upton hit homers, and Kemp and Yangervis Solarteeach drive in four runs.

The Cardinals set a record with three pinch-hit homers in a 7 – 4 win over the Braves. Aledmys Diaz, Greg Garcia and Jeremy Hazelbaker all go deep coming off the bench. For Diaz, it is his first homer in the majors.

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.

Yankee third baseman Yangervis Solarte becomes the first player in major league history to double six times in the first seven games of his career when he collects a pair of two-baggers in the team’s 14-5 loss to Baltimore in the Bronx. The 26 year-old rookie, who will be traded to the Padres in July, along with minor leaguer Rafael De Paula, for Chase Headley and cash, ends the day with a .429 batting average, going 12-for-28 since the start of the season.