Here are yesterday's top stories:
In Pittsburgh, highly anticipated rookie Jameson Taillon made his sixth career start for the Pirates. In the second inning, Taillon was met with an unwelcome surprise:
In an unfortunate turn, Taillon gets drilled in the back of the head by a 105 mph line drive. Adding insult to injury, the play resulted in a base-hit to left field. This certainly isn't the first time we've seen a pitcher hit in the head with a comebacker, but it might be the first to result in a base hit reaching the outfield. Watching a pitcher take an Aroldis Chapman fastball off the back of the dome provides some shock-value entertainment, but it's never fun watching a pitcher crumble to the ground in legitimate pain.
But Taillon handled the situation like a champ. Most pitchers would immediately exit the game, but Taillon, in an impressive display of toughness, remained in the game and pitched six solid innings, allowing only 1 run. This kid definitely has potential, and could develop into one of the leagues top aces over the next few years. The Pirates also went on to win the game in dramatic fashion with this crazy, walk-off inside-the-park home run:
Out west, Albert Pujols reminded us why his is one of the greatest first basemen of all time by launching two 3-run bombs against the Rangers:
Like Taillon, Pujols fell victim to some high cheese when the Rangers' Tony Barnette hurled a 92-mph heater straight at his face:
My instincts tell me this had to be intentional. Pujols just dropped two bombs, and he definitely took some time to admire that second one. The Rangers are also just a dirty team (Odor). But honestly, this looks to have been nothing more than an errant pitch. The catcher is set up high and inside to begin with, and no team wants to issue a free pass to the opposing teams' hottest hitter, especially when he's down 0-2. It would have been fun to see some fists, but in this case, it was simply unwarranted.
-Beats