With the first month of the MLB regular season officially in the books, quite a few teams looked to carry their respective hot streaks into the month of May. Four of the five National League East teams entered the day on winning streaks with the Mets having won eight straight, the Marlins seven, the Phillies five, and the Nationals two; however, only two of the four ballclubs kept those winning streaks alive after play concluded on this Sunday. The San Francisco Giants handed Mets’ Noah Syndergaard his first loss of 2016 behind six shutout innings from Madison Bumgarner and a fourth inning homer from Hunter Pence. The Milwaukee Brewers also spoiled a winning streak with a 14-5 rout of the Miami Marlins thanks in large part to a seven run bottom of the third.

Unlike their divisional counterparts, the Nationals and Phillies were able to continue streaking, and both finished off weekend sweeps with Sunday wins. Vince Velasquez continued to impress in a Phillies uniform with today’s outing by throwing six scoreless innings and striking out six Cleveland Indians along the way. The start was the third time in five chances that Velasquez hasn’t allowed a run in an outing, and his six Ks brought his season total to 39, which is good for third in the National League. The Nats also completed a sweep of the Cardinals today with a 6-1 win and a strong pitching performance from Max Scherzer. The righthander struck out nine in seven innings of work, and gave up just four hits without walking any. The Cards got a ninth inning homer from Brandon Moss but that solo job proved to be too little too late for the Red Birds who fall below .500 on the year.

IF YOU ONLY READ ONE THING…

Clayton Kershaw was masterful today in the Dodgers 1-0 win over the Padres. LA had swept San Diego the first week of the season, but the Padres were looking to return the favor today against their division rivals. The Dodgers had been struggling as of late, losing seven of their last 10, so they really needed Kershaw to be that slump buster ace in today’s contest. Kershaw dominated the Padres in today’s outing, striking out 14 in a three-hit complete game shutout. Kershaw did not walk a single batter in today’s game, and the shutout marks the thirteenth of his potential Hall of Fame career. Not only did Kershaw bring it on the bump today, but his third inning RBI single proved to be the entirety of the scoring in the game.

JUST AS WE EXPECTED…

The new faces in Chi-town have really shaken things up for the White Sox. Chicago’s southsiders are off to a great start this season, and find themselves in first place after one month of play; a dramatic improvement from where they were last year. Chris Sale continued to cement his candidacy as American League Cy Young front-runner by becoming the first pitcher in the big leagues to reach six wins. Although he struggled a bit with his command and walked four batters in 5 ⅓ innings, Sale was able to scatter five hits, and gave up just one run while striking out six. Newcomer Brett Lawrie had quite the day at the plate in today’s win, reaching base five times by going 3-for-3 with two walks and a solo homer in the fourth. Chicago’s 18 wins leads all of baseball, and they maintain their three game lead over the Detroit Tigers in their division.

WHAT WE DIDN’T EXPECT…

The Arizona Diamondbacks are not where many expected to be after a month of play. After acquiring Zack Greinke and Shelby Miller this offseason, the D-Backs were supposed to compete for the NL West crown with strong defense and solid pitching; however, the offense has really been the only bright spot for the ballclub, and both Greinke and Miller have underperformed at the top of their rotation. Today, the Colorado Rockies completed a three-game sweep at Chase Field for the first time since 2004 and outscored the Diamondbacks 20-5 in the process. Shelby Miller failed to make it out of the fourth inning for the third time in six starts, and saw his ERA continue to rise to 8.49 after giving up another three earned runs in the short outing. The Rockies got homers from Gerardo Parra and Nolan Arenado, and were able to plate six runs with just seven hits. Arenado’s home run gave him 11 on the year, and put him out in front of teammate Trevor Story for the Major League lead. Although nine of Arenado’s 11 bombs on the year have come in the thinner air of Colorado or Arizona, he continues to establish himself as one of the best overall players in the game, and added a few more shining defensive plays to his highlight reel in today’s game.

SAVE CHANCES

Jason Grilli (2)

Hector Neris (1)

Francisco Rodriguez (7)

Luke Gregerson (5)

Wade Davis (8)

Jake McGee (6)

INJURIES

Cincinnati Reds placed 26 year-old starter Raisel Iglesias on the 15-day disabled list today with shoulder injury. According to MLB Trade Rumors, felt a pinch in his right shoulder on Friday, and was sent in for further examination on Saturday. Tim Adleman was given the start today in Iglesias’ place, and the Reds were able to pull out an extra inning win against the Pirates. Iglesias has been one of the bright spots for the rebuilding Reds this season, so the ballclub will hope for a speedy recovery for the righthander. The DL placement was retroactive to last Tuesday’s outing.