May 28

Derek Dietrich continues his unlikely homer binge as he hits three, all two-run shots, in leading the Reds to an 11 – 6 win over the Pirates. With 17 homers this year, he has already topped his career high, and 12 of his last 17 hits have gone over the fence. For the Pirates, rookie Kevin Newman hits his first career homer, a grand slam off Lucas Sims.

In the 3rd inning of a game against the Dodgers, Mets P Noah Syndergaard is ejected for throwing at Chase Utley, in apparent retaliation for Utley’s aggressive slide which injured Mets SS Ruben Tejada in last year’s NLDS. Umpire Adam Hamari also tosses Mets manager Terry Collins for arguing his decision, then Utley gets his revenge when he opens the score with a solo homer off Logan Verrett in the 6th and adds a grand slam off Hansel Robles in the 7th. The Dodgers hit five homers in total as they win the game, 9 – 1.

The Royals stage the biggest 9th-inning comeback in their history when they score 7 runs to defeat the White Sox, 8 – 7. With a 7 – 1 league, White Sox closer David Robertson seems to be cruising along when he strikes out Paulo Orlando to start off the bottom of the 9th, but Cheslor Cuthbert singles and Brett Eibner follows with a double. After the Royals have batted around, Eibner ends the game with a single off Tommy Kahnle, driving in Drew Butera with the winning run. One of the key hits of the rally is a two-run single by Whit Merrifield, and the win goes to Chien-Ming Wang, as players who barely contributed to last season’s World Series win do most of the damage for the Royals.

The Blue Jays are the hottest team in the majors after winning their 9th straight and 14th of 16th, 3 – 2 against the Rays. Tampa Bay hits starter Liam Hendriks hard, but a number of defensive gems by the Jays keep the score close, until the bottom of the 9th when Dioner Navarro leads off with a single off Juan Carlos Oviedo. Anthony Gose then lays a perfect bunt down the first base line, and Oviedo’s throw goes into right field, allowing pinch-runner Kevin Pillar to race all the way home with the winning run.

The Mets honor Yankees great Mariano Rivera, who has announced his retirement at the end of the year, by having him throw the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the two teams from the Big Apple at Citi Field, with retired Mets closer John Franco acting as his catcher for the occasion. However, the night doesn’t end so well for Mo, as Daniel Murphy leads off the bottom of the 9th with a double and David Wright and Lucas Duda follow RBI singles to turn a 1 – 0 deficit into a 2 – 1 win. It is the first time of Mariano’s illustrious career that he blows a save without retiring a single batter; it is also his first blown save of the year.

Hyun-Jin Ryu tosses a two-hitter for his first career shutout as the Dodgers defeat the Angels, 3 – 0. Luis Cruz hits his first homer of the year in support of the Korean’s great pitching effort.

The Angels lose their ace, Jered Weaver, after only 12 pitches when he is forced to leave his start against the Yankees with a back injury in the 1st inning, but they hold on for a hard-fought 9 – 8 win, capped by Mark Trumbo’s walk-off home run. The win puts the Angels at .500 for the first time since April 9th. Howie Kendrick and Kendry Morales drive in 3 runs each and Mike Trout homers to lead the offense. Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira homer for New York, and Russell Martin hits a two-run double in the 7th to tie the game at 8-all, but Trumbo’s 9th-inning homer off Cory Wade ends it, giving struggling closer Jordan Walden his first win of the year.

The Cubs end a 12-game losing streak, their longest since 1997, with an 11 – 7 win over the Padres at Wrigley Field. Alfonso Soriano goes 3 for 4 with a homer and 3 RBI, his 7th-inning homer putting the Cubs ahead to stay against Alex Hinshaw; Ian Stewart, Starlin Castro and Darwin Barney also homer for Chicago, while David DeJesus hits a pair of triples. For their part, the Padres hit four long balls on a day when the wind is blowing towards the fences, with Chase Headley connecting twice, and Everth Cabrera and Will Venable once each.

The Angels’ Jered Weaver is still winless since notching a 6-0 record in April, but not for lack of trying. Today, he pitches 9 scoreless innings, but ends up with a no-decision as the Twins’ Anthony Swarzak gives up only a one hit – an 8th-inning double by Peter Bourjos – and the Twins win, 1 – 0, on Danny Valencia’s bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 10th. Swarzak is filling in for a sore-armed Francisco Liriano but still manages to turn a 75-pitch pitch count limit into 8 innings of brilliant work on the mound.