A year ago today: Cardinals rule in win over Crew

To help fill the baseball void, we’re flipping the calendar back one year to remind us all just how awesome our great game really is. Here's a look back at the best of March 29, 2019:

Here's one way to announce your arrival as the newest player on a team: Crush three home runs in the same game. While it wasn't Opening Day, Paul Goldschmidt did just that for the Cardinals in a 9-5 victory over the Brewers at Miller Park in the second game of the 2019 season, on March 29. Goldschmidt drove in five, homering off three different pitchers -- Freddy Peralta in the first inning, Taylor Williams in the sixth and Jacob Barnes in the seventh.

Good thing his bat did the talking, because Goldy is as humble as they come.

"It's crazy," Goldschmidt said after the game. "I struck out three times [on Opening Day] and hit three homers today -- it's a weird game we play."

Goldschmidt hit only eight more homers over the next two months before an even rougher June that saw him hit .181. But he rebounded, hitting 11 homers while posting a 1.085 OPS in July alone. Overall, he slashed .260/.346/.476 with 34 homers for the year.

In the same game, Matt Carpenter recorded his 1,000th career hit, reaching the milestone with a seventh-inning RBI single to right-center field. Despite having a down year in 2019, Carpenter has a career .269/.372/.462 slash line (126 OPS+).

The best of the rest:

Pollock has four-hit night, but D-backs win thriller: A.J. Pollock had a big game for his new club as well, going 4-for-6 with a double and a homer in his second game as a Dodger, but Arizona beat Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium in 13 innings on a go-ahead double by Carson Kelly.

Cole fans 10 in Astros debut: In the opening act of what would be a tremendous season for Cole, he struck out 10 Rays at Tropicana Field for Houston. He did give up four runs, however, and Tampa Bay won, 4-2.

Red Sox outslug Mariners: Seven homers were hit in this one, but in the end, Boston defeated Seattle, 7-6, at T-Mobile Park. Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Christian Vázquez and Mitch Moreland all went deep, with Moreland's ninth-inning shot proving to be the difference. The Mariners got homers from Mallex Smith, Domingo Santana and Omar Narváez.