Thursday, April 16
Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Today’s edition is brought to you by David Adler.
Mike Trout has spent this week just tearing up the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
In today’s finale between the Angels and the Bronx Bombers, Trout smacked his fifth home run of the series — as many homers as any player has hit in a single series against the Yankees in their history.
The only other players with five homers against the Yankees in one series were George Bell in 1990, Darrell Evans in 1985 and the legendary Jimmie Foxx in 1933. But none of those guys did it at Yankee Stadium.
So Trout has the most home runs by any visiting player ever in a series at Yankee Stadium — either the current Yankee Stadium or The House that Ruth Built.
To set the stage for the series finale, Trout smacked two home runs in Monday’s series opener in a historic showdown with fellow three-time MVP Aaron Judge, one on Tuesday as part of back-to-back-to-back homers by the Angels and another yesterday.
The Jersey boy Trout loves hitting at Yankee Stadium. And now it’s fair to ask the question: Is Trout’s series this week the single best series by a visiting player at the ballpark … ever?
He’s got a great case. But other stars have had great series at Yankee Stadium, too — even just the new one, which opened in 2009. Here are five players who have come to town and crushed it against the Bronx Bombers:
1) Mookie Betts, Red Sox
Sept. 28-Oct. 1, 2015
The 2015 season was the coming-out party for a 22-year-old Mookie, and he took over this series as the Sox won three of four games against their archrivals. Betts had four straight multi-hit games against the Yanks with six extra-base hits — three homers and three doubles — the most by any visiting player in one series at the current Yankee Stadium.
2) Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
Aug. 16-19, 2010
Before Trout, only two players had hit four home runs in a series against the Yankees at the new Yankee Stadium. Miggy was the first. Cabrera, who finished as the American League MVP runner-up in 2010, belted four of the 38 home runs he’d hit that season.
3) Mark Reynolds, Orioles
Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2012
Reynolds is the other player to bash four homers against the Yankees in their stadium. He did it in a three-game series late in the season as the Yanks and O’s battled for the AL East title. Reynolds bookended the series with two multi-homer games, and the Orioles won both of those.
4) Prince Fielder, Rangers
May 22-24, 2015
This was the last great season for Fielder, who led Texas to the AL West crown by batting .305 with 23 home runs. The lefty slugger was awesome against the Yankees in New York, going 8-for-14 in the Rangers’ three-game sweep with three home runs and nine RBIs. (Programming note: Prince is this week’s guest on the 6-1-1 Podcast. Listen here.)
5) Rafael Devers, Red Sox
Aug. 18-20, 2023
Devers was always the Yankees’ nemesis, and they couldn’t get him out in this series. Devers led the Red Sox to a sweep with three consecutive three-hit games, including a pair of home runs. Devers’ nine hits are tied for the most by a visitor in any series at the new Yankee Stadium, and are the most in a three-game series.
Honorable mentions: Maikel Franco/2015 Phillies (3 HR, 10 RBIs in 3 games), Justin Morneau/2009 Twins (9 hits, 3 HR in 4 games)
1-WAY SHOHEI IS MORE THAN ENOUGH
In a surprise twist, Shohei Ohtani was only a pitcher — not a hitter — in the Dodgers’ series-sweeping win over the Mets last night.
It was the first time that Ohtani pitched, but didn’t hit, in a game since 2021. But it turns out, one-way Shohei is still pretty awesome.
Ohtani pitched six innings, allowed just one run on two hits and struck out 10. He was electric. And he brought some serious heat. Let’s take a look at three of Ohtani’s best strikeouts of the night:
1st inning vs. Francisco Lindor — 98.0 mph fastball
A day after Lindor smacked a leadoff home run against Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Ohtani — who’s no stranger to hitting leadoff home runs himself — put the kibosh on that by blowing away Lindor with a 98 mph heater to start the game.
3rd inning vs. Lindor — 99.6 mph fastball
A few innings later, Ohtani and Lindor had an even better battle. This at-bat went 11 pitches, as Lindor went down 0-2, fouled off five two-strike pitches and eventually worked the count full. But on the 11th pitch, Ohtani switched up the timing of his delivery and “snuck” a near-100 mph fastball past Lindor for an inning-ending K. Lindor could only smile.
5th inning vs. Tommy Pham — 100.3 mph fastball
The Mets had the go-ahead runs in scoring position in the fifth, but in the most critical moment, Ohtani dialed up his biggest heat of the game. He threw four straight triple-digit fastballs to get out of the jam — including this one to strike out Pham. Ohtani said afterwards: “Considering where the game was at that point, I felt like I just really had to go full-throttle.”
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Here’s what else is going on around the Majors today.
• Jackson Merrill had a night to remember
The Padres’ young star was at the center of one of the most dramatic wins of the season. Merrill first robbed Julio Rodríguez of a home run by going way up and over the center-field wall, then knocked a walk-off double to cap a wild five-run ninth-inning comeback by the Friars. The poor Mariners have now been robbed of four home runs already this season, since they were also on the receiving end of Jo Adell’s unprecedented three-robbery game.
• An electric 1st HR for the No. 1 pick
Nats prospect Eli Willits, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 Draft (and son of former big leaguer Reggie Willits), hit the first home run of his pro career yesterday. But it was no ordinary first home run — it was an inside-the-park home run. It doesn’t get any more exciting than that.
• The longest blast of the season
A’s catcher Shea Langeliers, who’s doing his best Cal Raleigh impression, just smashed his sixth home run already — and this one went the farthest of any in MLB this season. Langeliers’ 112.4 mph, 467-foot homer against the Rangers surpassed two Coors Field shots by the Astros’ Cam Smith (462 feet) and the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber (460 feet) for the longest of 2026.
• Hoerner the engine for the Cubs
Nico Hoerner batted .333 last September. He batted .419 during the Cubs’ playoff run. And now he’s batting .324 to start the 2026 season after a career-best five-RBI game yesterdayagainst the Phillies. As manager Craig Counsell said: “He’s a machine right now.”
• Breakout sluggers surge in Hitter Power Rankings
In our first in-season Hitter Power Rankings, see where breakout sluggers like Jordan Walker, Ben Rice and Andy Pages rank alongside the game’s superstars.
IT’S A KINGDOME FOR YOUR DOME
Are you a Mariners fan who’s always wished that your baseball caps were just a little more functional? Well you’re in luck.
Seattle is hopping aboard the wacky giveaway train tomorrow night, which is “Kingdome Fanny Pack Hat Night” at T-Mobile Park.
That’s right — it’s a hat that’s also a fanny pack … and also a tribute to the Mariners’ old stadium.
The light blue Mariners baseball cap has a yellow fanny pack attached to the front of it, emblazoned with the outline of the Kingdome.
The first 10,000 fans who attend tomorrow’s homestand opener against the Rangers (9:40 p.m. ET/6:40 p.m. PT) will get the giveaway hat. Get your tickets here.
BEAT THE STREAK
Can you Beat the Streak? Try to top Joe DiMaggio’s record hitting streak of 56 games by selecting a player each day to record a hit. If you get to 57, you can win $5.6 million. Plus, there’s a chance to win unique weekly prizes.
Cal Raleigh has been off to a slow start this season, but there’s no better pitcher for a get-right game for the Mariners star than tonight’s opposing starter, Walker Buehler. Raleigh’s 5-for-6 against Buehler with a homer and two doubles.
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RJ Hamster 