Baseball Star(t)s From the Weekend

This weekend’s recap is baseball focused and to kick it off, Chris Sale had his first major league appearance in the last two years. Sale’s last pitch in the majors was in August 2019 - shortly after, in March 2020, Sale underwent Tommy Johns surgery. His removal from the injured list (IL) for Saturday’s game caused a palpable energy amongst Red Sox fans at Fenway. Sale gave up two homers in the third but delivered the win with eight strikeouts and no walks, pushing the Red Sox to a 16 - 2 win over the Orioles.

Another pitching star from this weekend was Tyler Gilbert. In his first major league career start on Saturday, Gilbert delivered a no-hitter for the Diamondbacks against the Padres - the MLB’s 8th no-hitter this season. Gilbert is only the 4th pitcher in league history to throw a no-hitter during their major league start, (with the most recent, before Saturday, being Bobo Holloman in 1953). His incredible performance allowed for the Dbacks to win 7 - 0 against the Padres, a team known for being powerful at the plate making Gilbert’s no-hitter that much more impressive.

Speaking of the Padres, after being put on the 10-day IL due to reaggravating a shoulder injury while sliding to third, Fernando Tatis Jr. had his first game back on Sunday against the Diamondbacks. Tatis Jr. started in right field marking his first career start in any position that wasn’t shortstop. And no surprise to most, he had quite the performance at the plate: two homers, a double, four RBI’s, and three runs scored, helping the Padres beat the Diamondbacks 8 - 2.