May 20

With his bench depleted with two outs in the 13th inning, Padres manager Bud Black turns to P Clayton Richard to pinch-hit against the Angels’ David Pauley. Breaking out of an 0-for-16 slump for the season, Richard singles, then scores from first base when LF Howie Kendrick bobbles Will Venable’s hit to give San Diego a 3 – 2 win. Kendrick is also playing in an unfamiliar role, having been moved from his usual 2B after injuries to OFs Vernon Wells and Ryan Langerhans.

Max Scherzer strikes out 15 batters in 7 innings to lead the Tigers to a 4 – 3 win over the Pirates. The strikeouts are one shy of the club record of 16, held by Mickey Lolich, and represent the highest total in the major leagues so far this season.

The Chicago Cubs make their first visit to Fenway Park since the 1918 World Series, but the Red Sox prove to be poor hosts, whacking them, 15 – 5. The Cubs commit 4 errors and give up 19 hits, while the Sox take advantage of the Green Monster to launch 6 doubles and a pair of homers in its direction. Adrian Gonzalez has 4 hits and 4 RBI in the Sox’s 7th straight win.

After being shut out by the Mets in back-to-back games, the Nationals have their biggest offensive game since moving to Washington, DC in 2005. They beat the Orioles, 17 – 5, launching 6 homers. Jayson Werth hits two of the long balls, and Danny Espinosa, who collects 6 RBI, Roger Bernadina, Wilson Ramos and Laynce Nix hit the others. Both the 17 runs and the 6 homers are team marks since the move to the nation’s capital.

The Braves score a 9th-inning touchdown to overtake the Reds, after trailing 8 – 0 earlier and being down by 6 when the fateful inning starts. After another good start by rookie Mike Leake, reliever Mike Lincoln gives up four consecutive singles to start the 9th, scoring two runs. He is replaced by Nick Masset, who walks Cody Ross to load the bases; Martin Prado follows with a apparent double play grounder, but 3B Miguel Cairo fails to get the ball out of his glove and the score is now 9 – 6. Arthur Rhodes strikes out Jason Heyward for the first out and Francisco Cordero comes out to face pinch-hitter Brooks Conrad. Conrad hits a drive to deep left field which deflects off the glove of Laynce Nix and falls in the stands for a walk-off grand slam. It is only the second time in major league history that a pinch-hit grand slam overcomes a three-run deficit to end a game; the first was on July 8, 1950, by Jack Phillips of the Pirates. Joey Votto also hit a grand slam earlier in the game for the Reds, and Craig Kimbrel earns his first big league win.

Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies flirts with his second no-hitter of the year, allowing only an infield single to Humberto Quintero before leaving the game after the 7th inning because of leg cramps. The Rockies win, 4 – 0, and Jimenez is now 8-1 with an ERA of 0.99.

Trailing the Reds 9-3 starting the bottom of the ninth, Brooks Conrad’s pinch-hit grand slam gives the Braves an amazing 10-9 walk-off victory at Turner Field. The seven-run frame’s big blow by the 30 year-old journeyman barely clears the fence, with the ball deflecting off Laynce Nix’s glove when the left fielder reaches over the top of the wall at the 380-foot sign.

David Ortiz ends the longest home run drought of his career when he connects for the first time this season off Brett Cecil of the Blue Jays in an 8 – 3 Boston win. Red Sox centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury ties a major league record by recording 12 putouts behind pitcher Brad Penny.

The wife of Diamondbacks pitcher Scott Schoeneweis, Gabrielle, is found dead of a drug overdose at their home, leaving Schoeneweis in sole charge of four children under the age of 16.