MLB Weekend Winners and Losers: Fernando Tatis Jr. clubs five home runs against the Dodgers; bad day for the bats of the Braves

Another Major League Baseball weekend is on the books. We come together every Sunday to reward the winners and losers after every weekend of MLB action this season. Here are the big winners and losers of the past few days, including Oakland Athletics’ impressive winning streak, Fernando Tatis Jr.’s homerun and a young hooky fan.

Winner: Oakland A’s

Technically, the As could be the losers as their 13-game winning streak was interrupted in Baltimore on Sunday. But it was still a solid weekend for the As, who changed things completely. Not only did they go from last to first in the AHL in the blink of an eye, but they also recorded a 13-game streak in a row.

Athletics lost their first six games of the 2021 season, parted the next two, and then notched 13 straight wins. During the winning streak, Oakland beat opponents 81-36 and off teams 24-7. The A’s, of course, are best known for their winning streak in Moneyball in 2002, when they went 20-0 from late August to early September.

Weekend bonus winner in Cleveland, whose 22-game winning streak in 2017 remains the longest winning streak in MLB in over 100 years.

Loser: Braves Sunday bats

Bad news for the Atlanta Braves: They were held to a hit and didn’t score in a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.

Worse news for the Atlanta Braves: they had to play another game.

The Braves weren’t officially touched by Madison Bumgarner in seven innings in Sunday’s second game of the twinbill. The veteran left-hander allowed just one baserunner (on an error) and faced the minimum through seven frames. MLB doubles are limited to a pair of seven-innings due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so Bumgarner’s “no-hitter” will not appear in the MLB Super Official Record Book.

However, the Braves were officially horrible at the plateau on Sunday. In their loss pair, they’ve collected just one shot. Zac Gallen held the Braves without a hitting for the first five innings of Game 1 before Freddie Freeman made a single in the sixth. It was the offensive peak of the day for Atlanta, which fell to 9-12 with the loss pair.

Loser: Jays’ injuries

The Toronto Blue Jays didn’t quite get the start to the season they were hoping for, starting with their off-season hit, George Springer. The center-back has been sidelined with a quad injury and has yet to make his season debut. There was optimism that Springer would make his debut this weekend, but it’s still not quite 100%, manager Charlie Montoyo said, with the race as Springer’s last hurdle ahead. a potential return. Toronto has also been without outfielder Teoscar Hernández, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month. Beyond these major absences, the Blue Jays struggled offensively all around.

Everywhere in the lineup, withdrawals are up and markets are down. The team’s base overall percentage of .299 is ranked 24th in the league entering Sunday. It’s a trend the club will need to correct if they hope to remain relevant in the AL East. Apart from Randal Grichuk and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., no one else plays home plate. Cavan Biggio, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Rowdy Tellez and Danny Jansen hit well below .200.

Injuries also accumulate on the pitch front. Jays ace Hyun-Jin Ryu left his start on Sunday with a gluteal injury, in the final issue for a Toronto starter.

Winner: Fernando Tatis Jr.

Apparently, hitting home runs at Dodger Stadium is a family tradition for Tatis parents. On Friday night, at the opening of another (!!) Padres-Dodgers series, San Diego shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. did something really cool. In fact, he did it twice.

Here’s his home run against Clayton Kershaw in the third set to give the Padres a 2-0 lead:

He added another blast off Kershaw in the fifth:

The circuits covered 431 and 419 feet respectively.

But that’s not even the coolest part. Tatis Jr.’s two home runs came at age 22, the day his father, Fernando Tatis Sr., hit two Grand Slam tournaments at Dodger Stadium in the same inning. They became the first father-son duo in MLB history to each record a multi-home run match in the same location on the same calendar date.

“Oh, I really knew it was the day,” Tatis told reporters. “I was like, ‘If I could just hit two home runs today, that would be so crazy.’ I think the baseball gods were in my favor. “

Tatis truly earned his status as the weekend winner with two more long balls on Saturday night off Trevor Bauer. Here’s a look at the first, which featured a one-eye celebration that mocked Bauer:

Bauer had pitched against the Padres in spring training with one eye closed, so after Tatis knew it was lost, he covered an eye as a recall to Bauer’s antique.

Oh, did you think he was done? No. Tatis took Bauer to the bottom again in the same game. The solo homeroom tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning, although the Padres ultimately fell on Saturday night:

Tatis vs Bauer spilled over onto social media, where the Padres shortstop also had the final say.

Tatis punctuated his weekend in LA with another blast – his fifth of the weekend – on Sunday in the Padres’ 8-7 extra-inning win.

Baseball is so much more fun with the drama, intensity, and personality, and we love when Tatis puts it on full screen.

Loser: participation in Zoom courses

Record it in the latest edition of How Things Are Slowly Coming Back To Normal: Schoolchildren Are Playing Ballyard Again. Fans are back at every stadium in Major League Baseball this season, and that includes this kid who, instead of learning the schedules through video chat, secured a front row spot for the Cubs demolition of the Brewers. Friday afternoon at Wrigley. Field.

The North Siders scored 10 points in the first two innings of a possible 15-2 win, making it easy for this young fan to calculate Milwaukee’s non-existent probability of a win.