Outside The Confines: A rookie does a no-no

There was some big news late on the West Coast tonight, but I imagine more of you heard about it than normal because so many of you were up watching that heartbreaking game in San Diego last night.

Also, the Angels are tied for the most wins in baseball this year, and who other than Joe Maddon predicted that?

• In only his 11th major league start, Angels left-handed pitcher Reid Detmers threw a no-hitter.
• Also in that game, Mike Trout hit two home runs and right-handed hitting third baseman Anthony Rendon did this:

• It’s funny, because earlier in the night it looked like we were going to see a no-hitter from the Astros’ Justin Verlander. Verlander lost his chance at his fourth no-hitter in the eighth inning.
• If you thought Frank Schwindel’s at-bat last night was going to be a grand slam, you weren’t alone. Jim Albertson and Alan Nathan look at why home runs are so down this year and how much is it because of the ball itself?
• Commissioner Rob Manfred says that MLB just wants to get the balls to be consistent and he also hopes that MLB will approve an official “gripping agent” for pitchers next season.
• Jay Jaffe notes that the Red Sox are off to a poor start to the year and tries to explain what’s gone wrong in Boston.
• Mike Axisa has three reasons the Red Sox are struggling.
• Ken Rosenthal also takes note of the Red Sox problems, but he thinks it’s not too late for the team to turn things around and get back in the playoff race. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• No matter how bad the Red Sox are, they shouldn’t ever wash their feet because then they’d have no socks on and they’d just be the Reds. Zach Crizer looks at what’s wrong with the Reds and how their start compares to other putrid beginnings in MLB.
• Jay Jaffe is impressed the Reds won two of three from Pittsburgh, but he also looks at how the Reds got so bad.
• That shortstop Kyle Farmer went into an 0-for-34 slump certainly didn’t help, but he broke out of that slump in a big way with a three-run home run that came courtesy of a little help from Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin. That was tied for the worst Ofer by any non-pitcher in Reds history.
• The Pirates also ended a record drought when our old friend José Quintana beat the Dodgers on Monday night. It was the first win for a Pirates starting pitcher all season, meaning the team had gone a record 27 games to start a season without a win for a starting pitcher.
• White Sox Analytics Coordinator Shelley Duncan explains to David Laurila what an Analytics Coordinator does.
• James Fegan takes note of the struggling White Sox defense. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez says he’s healing faster than expected from his torn hamstring.
• Padres manager Bob Melvin will miss some games after undergoing prostate surgery.
• A ranking of all rookies so far in MLB. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
• Big news as MLB and minor league players have reached a settlement in a lawsuit over alleged violations of minimum wage laws. We don’t have any details of the settlement yet.
• MLB commits to playing regular season games in London in 2023, 2024 and 2026. It sounds like they’re going to try to play in Paris in 2025.
• Gabe Lacques breaks down what up (and down) with attendance throughout the league this year.
• There are plans to turn the Field of Dreams site in Dyersville, Iowa into a permanent, 3,000-seat stadium.
• R.J. Anderson looks at three players off to hot starts and whether or not those players’ breakouts are “for real.”
• The staff of MLB Pipeline lists the hottest pitching prospect in each team’s organization.
• The Mets/Nationals game was interrupted by a rat.

• What exactly did Guardians broadcaster Rick Manning say?

• The Cardinals called up infielder Kramer Robertson to the majors. Robertson is the son of legendary LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey.
• The A’s Tony Kemp made a flying catch on a line drive that was so incredible, even he couldn’t believe it.
• And finally, the Mets unveiled a new statue to Tom Seaver last month. But Paul Lukas reports that there is a small error in the statue that no one caught until now. Lukas spoke with the sculptor who admits he just blew it.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.