On Mother’s Day, 29 year-old Felix Hernandez becomes the fourth youngest player to strike out 2,000 batters when he whiffs A’s outfielder Sam Fuld in the Mariners’ 4-3 victory at Safeco Field. Only Walter Johnson, Bert Blyleven, and Sam McDowell have accomplished the feat at a younger age than the Seattle right-hander known as King Felix.
For his part, Michael Pineda of the Yankees strikes out a career-high 16 Orioles batters in 7 innings in picking up a 6 – 2 win. The 16 K’s are tied for second-most in Yankees history, the team record being 18 by Ron Guidry, while the Orioles set team records for most strikeouts against one pitcher, and most in a game, as they whiff two more times in the final two innings to end up with 18.
Boston’s Jon Lester pitches a one-hit shutout in a 5 – 0 win over the Blue Jays at Fenway Park. It is the 9,000th regular season victory in Sox history.
Rookie Shelby Miller of the Cardinals also pitches a one-hitter, shutting out the Rockies, 3 – 0. He allows a single to lead-off hitter Eric Young Jr., then retires 27 straight batters for his first career complete game.
Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb strikes out 13 San Diego hitters, but doesn’t make it out of the fourth inning in the Rays’ 6-3 victory at the Trop. The right-hander records 12 of his 14 outs with K’s, including four in the third frame, when a wild pitch on strike three allows the batter to reach first.
Alex Cobb of the Rays goes on a strikeout binge, piling up 13 Ks in only 4 2/3 innings. This includes 4 strikeouts in the 3rd, when Will Venable reaches on a wild pitch after striking out. However, all the strikeouts mean a high pitch count, and Cobb can’t get out of the 5th inning, leaving with a 3 – 2 deficit. The Rays come back to beat the Padres, 6 – 3, as four relievers add five more whiffs for a total of 18.
The Baltimore Orioles become the first team in American League history to lead off the game with three consecutive homers, as Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis go deep to open the bottom of the 1st; it has been done three times in the National League. The last team to homer in its first three at-bats was the Milwaukee Brewers on September 9, 2007. Hardy also was the middle man in that spree. Colby Lewis, who surrenders the three longs balls, exits with an unusual pitching line: 7 innings pitched, 5 hits – all home runs – one walk and 12 strikeouts. Adam Jones and Wilson Betemit also homer off Lewis, the latter following the lone walk, issued to Matt Wieters. Baltimore wins, 6 – 5, with Wei-Yin Chen getting the win over Lewis.
The Blue Jays sign veteran Vladimir Guerrero to a minor league contract. GM Alex Anthopoulos tones down expectations, explaining that Vlad must first prove in extended spring training that he is in condition, then play in some minor league contests before the Jays consider adding him to their roster. Indeed, Guerrero will not make it all the way back to the bigs.
Bill Gallo, the creator of colorful characters such as General Von Steingrabber, a caricature of the late George Steinbrenner, and Basement Bertha, who radiated good-humored optimism for the fans of the fledgling Mets, dies from complications of pneumonia at the age of 88. The cartoonist’s last drawing, which was published in mid-April in the Daily News, his employer for seven decades, featured Bertha window shopping with the hope of being invited to the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine.
The Blue Jays and the Red Sox play a thriller in Toronto. The Jays take an early lead with three runs off struggling starter Jon Lester in the 1st, but Boston comes back with 4 runs off Kyle Drabek, highlighted by homers by David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez. The Jays take back a 5 – 4 lead on homers by Jose Bautista and J.P. Arencibia, but the Sox tie it again. In the bottom of the 8th, David Cooper, who came into the game in the 6th inning as a pinch-runner after Yunel Escobar was hit by a pitch, belts his first major league homer off Daniel Bard to put Toronto back ahead, but Boston ties the game right back when Gonzalez hits his second homer of the game off Frank Francisco. Toronto finally wins the game in the 10th when Rajai Davis hits a single off Matt Albers, steals second and third base on consecutive pitches, and comes in to score on Cooper’s sacrifice fly. The Jays win 7 – 6, although being outhit 16 to 9.