Bases Covered is a daily roundup of the most interesting stories in baseball.
Streaking Twins
The Minnesota Twins, currently at the bottom of the American League Central, swept the Seattle Mariners over the weekend, and the team has now won four in a row.
Miguel Sano has homered in each of the team’s last four games. According to Twins manager Paul Molitor, Sano has made some adjustments at the plate that have led to better results.
Angry Cueto
The Giants hit eight doubles during their 8–2 win over the Rockies on Sunday. Johnny Cueto allowed two runs on five hits over six innings, striking out five. The 30-year-old is carrying an ERA of 2.31.
Cueto got a little annoyed during the game: In the third inning, he faced Colorado’s Gerrardo Parra with the bases loaded. Parra took not one but two timeouts before Cueto could deliver a single pitch, and Cueto threw his arms up in exasperation, exchanging some heated words with his opponent.
Parra eventually hit into a double play to end the inning.
Dugout danger
Marlins second baseman Derek Dietrich had a fantastic day at the plate on Sunday, hitting a home run and driving in four runs in Miami’s 7–3 victory over the Braves.
The 26-year-old had a terrible day in the dugout, though: He was hit in the head by a foul ball.
“He didn’t lose consciousness,” said Miami manager Don Mattingly. “There was really no blood. He just got hit really good. The ball was coming in hot and probably gained speed off the wall.”
The arm is back
Yu Darvish made his first major-league start since 2014 over the weekend. The 29-year-old went five innings, allowing one run on three hits.
The radar gun recorded three pitches over 98 mph, including one that was Darvish’s fastest pitch as a big-league hurler. Here’s why Darvish, back from Tommy John surgery, is looking better than ever.
Syndergaard ejection: Good or bad?
Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard was ejected during a weekend game for throwing behind Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley (an act of revenge, it seems, for what happened in last year’s post-season).
Here’s Ken Rosenthal on why the ejection shows a lack of consistency amongst MLB umpires.