Weekend baseball never fails to disappoint, and when you see the slate headlined by yet another Dodgers and Padres duel on Sunday Night Baseball then you can’t help but smile. We explore the great, the fun, the weird and the wonderful in today’s all-you-need-to-know best moments from yesterday’s action.
When Does the NLCS Start?
We were treated to yet another classic matchup between two of the most exciting teams in baseball, the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the “New Kids On The Block” San Diego Padres. In true Fernando Tatis Jr. style, he kicked things up a notch with yet another homer in the fourth inning. How many is that this weekend, do you ask? Let us tell you.
FIVE homers in three games for El Niño. pic.twitter.com/5SYJLRPFkX
— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2021
The Dodgers were impressive at the plate all night, however, and took a six-run lead into the seventh, mainly thanks to bombs from former A’s infielder Sheldon Neuse and everyone’s favorite utility hitter, Chris Taylor.
Sheldon Neuse homers on the first pitch he sees tonight! pic.twitter.com/dYQaqGVOV3
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 26, 2021
Chris Taylor – Los Angeles Dodgers (4)
pic.twitter.com/3ToewAHLQV— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) April 26, 2021
One lucky Dodgers fan caught this home run ball and the previous one from Tatis Jr. However, in true blue fashion, he wanted none of the opposition’s glory.
He caught two home runs in the same game‼️
This fan kept Chris Taylor's homer, but threw back the one from Tatis Jr. 😅 pic.twitter.com/wtUeNULE4K
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 26, 2021
The Padres battled all the way back in an astonishing sequence of events that saw them punish Dodgers reliever Jimmy Nelson across the eighth and ninth inning. Trent Grisham and Manny Machado doing the damage in the top of the ninth as the Dodgers didn’t have Kenley Jansen available for the save situation.
The @Padres have come all the way back from down 6 runs to tie it in the 9th.
THIS SERIES! pic.twitter.com/wZSmRno0EQ
— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2021
They then won it in the 11th. And who else but Tatis Jr. to run in the winning play. Incredible!
Seven unanswered runs and the @Padres take the lead in the 11th. pic.twitter.com/s6aW8j6xhr
— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2021
There were plenty of comments today asking for Major League Baseball to replace all the Rockies and Diamondbacks games with more, more, more Dodgers-Padres matchups. Who could argue with that sentiment, right now? When we do eventually get to watch the NLCS series between these two teams, it’s going to create all kinds of memories. We’ll let Mike Clevinger have the last words on this one.
— ❂ Mike 𝕊𝕌ℕ𝕊ℍ𝕀ℕ𝔼 Clevinger ❂ (@MikeClevinger) April 26, 2021
Diamondbacks Dance Off
They won’t be entering any synchronized dance contests anytime soon but this is pretty impressive from the Arizona Diamondbacks squad, led by dance master Eduardo Escobar. There are some intriguing and varying styles here with some dubious moves that look more like light exercise than dancing but I have to credit choreography that allows the ensemble to also express themselves individually while still achieving the goals of the entire troupe.
LET ‘EM DANCE. 🕺🕺🕺 pic.twitter.com/aka4Iado9u
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 25, 2021
The dancing could be in celebration of Madison Bumgarner’s unofficial no-hitter in the second game of the Diamondbacks’ doubleheader against the Braves. The wily veteran rolled back the years against an aggressive Atlanta lineup and was inspired after teammate Zac Gallen, who started the first game, also pitched a complete game, allowing just one hit in his outing. It was an electric day at the office for the two heads of that rotation.
.@zacgallen23 & MadBum in today's doubleheader: 14 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 13 Ks 🔥 pic.twitter.com/CaDgxwdnvd
— MLB (@MLB) April 25, 2021
Jazzy Bling
We know ballplayers love to sport lavish jewelry on occasion, but young Marlins infielder Jazz Chisholm took that to a whole new level yesterday with some serious weight around his neck. Chisholm has been a bright spark in the Marlins lineup this year, and he clearly wants to show us just how much swag-ger he is going to bring to baseball in 2021.
the fit tho pic.twitter.com/oYECEo6vwD
— Hannah Keyser (@HannahRKeyser) April 25, 2021
Luis Patiño debuted for his new club, the Tampa Bay Rays, today and marked the special occasion with his own significant neck accessory to rival Chisholm. Patiño became the first player in franchise history to be born after their inauguration in 1998. Are you feeling old yet, Tampa?
Luis Patiño was born on October 26, 1999.@RaysBaseball played its first game in 1998.
That means he's the first player in team history to be younger than the franchise.🤯 pic.twitter.com/AUJNQSnjAg
— Cut4 (@Cut4) April 25, 2021
Google Strikes Out
It was another entertaining day in the Closed Captioning team at Major League Baseball. Here is the best of what we saw today. Striiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike 3, Google!
Google strikes out pic.twitter.com/RGrQN6tHcj
— MLB Closed Captioning (@mlb_cc) April 26, 2021
And Beaverhead struck out three pic.twitter.com/Vg3PKZ1Hxh
— MLB Closed Captioning (@mlb_cc) April 25, 2021
60 seconds of his career worth the effort pic.twitter.com/m7ejWJ3QeZ
— MLB Closed Captioning (@mlb_cc) April 25, 2021
Back the Safe. pic.twitter.com/UCa2oUq02J
— MLB Closed Captioning (@mlb_cc) April 26, 2021
Sunday Swings!
The Sunday swings are back – did someone say dingers?
See. You. Later. pic.twitter.com/3hqj52QMIU
— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2021
Photo by Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)