Bases Covered is a daily roundup of the most interesting stories in baseball.
“The impossible has happened!”
Bartolo Colon hit his first career major-league home run on Saturday, and it was every bit as glorious as you’d expect. You can watch it here; Gary Cohen, who called the homer, said later that he was “just happy to be a part of it.”
The Mets righty will be keeping the bat and home-run ball as his own personal souvenirs, but he’s agreed to donate other items to Cooperstown.
Walking hard
The Nationals faced the Cubs at Wrigley Field for a four-game series, and apart from a bit of history courtesy of Bryce Harper, things didn’t go so well for the away team. Harper walked six times on Sunday, tying a major-league record. In 19 plate appearances over the series, he walked 13 times.
Washington righty Tanner Roark said Chicago was playing “scared baseball.” Scared or not, though, the Cubs’ strategy paid off: they won on Sunday, 4–3, to earn the sweep.
#PuigYourFriend
Anyone following Yasiel Puig’s busy weekend in Toronto would have a hard time not appreciating the youngster’s apparent zest for life. Here’s a fantastic interview with Puig over at ESPN. The youngster revealed that “Bryce Harper is my idol now.” He also spoke about his off-season physical transformation, admitting that “last year it looked like I was five months pregnant.”
Aging in reverse
David Ortiz is hitting remarkably well for a 40-year-old in his farewell season. He contributed two home runs in Boston’s 5–1 victory over the Yankees on Sunday. Big Papi now has 512 career homers and 454 with Boston; he passed Carl Yastrzemski on the Red Sox all-time home run list over the weekend.
Speed erasers
There’s a startling trend emerging in the major leagues: A number of baseball’s top starters are losing their velocity, and there’s apparently no explanation. Yahoo’s Jeff Passan has a look at the phenomenon, which is affecting Mets ace Matt Harvey and Red Sox ace David Price.