Chapman hits Bradley with 2018's fastest pitch

The good news for Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman on Tuesday night -- besides the fact that he picked up the save in a 3-2 win over the Red Sox -- was that he jumped into the lead for the fastest pitch of 2018.
The bad news was where the pitch went. With two out and nobody on in the ninth inning, Chapman whipped a 103.3-mph fastball that tailed inside and hit Jackie Bradley Jr. It was the fastest pitch of the season, according to Statcast™, by nearly a full mph. It topped a pair of 102.4-mph pitches by Cardinals rookie Jordan Hicks. Chapman's previous high this year was 102.0 mph.
Painfully for Bradley, the pitch stands as the fastest to hit a batter, at least since pitch tracking began in 2008.

Fortunately for Chapman, the mistake didn't cost him, as he got the next batter, Christian Vázquez, to ground out on a 102.2-mph heater. It was Chapman's second-fastest pitch of the year and the second fastest to record an out by any pitcher in 2018.
Here is a look at some other notable Statcast™ feats from Tuesday:
James Paxton, Mariners
Paxton made some history in Toronto, tossing a no-hitter in a 5-0 victory over the Blue Jays. Paxton leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball, throwing it 63 times out of 99 pitches, and he averaged 95.3 mph with it. The left-hander saved his best heat for last. He struck out his second-to-last opponent, Teoscar Hernández, with fastballs of 96.8, 96.4 and 97.0 mph, then went after Josh Donaldson at 98.3, 99.5 and 99.0 mph, the last of those put in play for the final out. Those final two pitches were Paxton's fastest of 2018.

Brent Suter, Brewers
Suter crushed the first home run of his career, off none other than Corey Kluber, ripping a 101.2-mph drive off the batter's eye in dead center field at Miller Park. Projected at 433 feet, it is the fifth-longest homer hit by a pitcher since Statcast™ debuted in 2015, displacing former Brewer Wily Peralta, who launched one 429 feet in 2016.

Cody Bellinger, Dodgers
Bellinger showed he's plenty capable of hustling when he reached on an infield single to start a Dodgers rally in the bottom of the 10th against the D-backs. Bellinger reached a top sprint speed of 30.4 feet per second -- above the 30-feet-per-second benchmark for elite speed -- and got down the line in 4.04 seconds to beat Nick Ahmed's throw. That was the Dodgers' second-fastest home-to-first time on a non-bunt play this season, behind a 3.95-second run by Bellinger that also came against Arizona, on April 2.