This week in baseball
Everything you need to know to get caught up

There's a lot of baseball every day. It's part of what makes the sport so great. But we get it, you can't possibly keep up with everything that happens in a week. That's where we come in. Here's a quick refresher on the six most fun moments you may have missed.
1. The year of the no-hitter continues
Thought no-hitters were done? Think again. Last week saw two more no-hitters thrown, bringing the total for the season up to six. That's pretty impressive considering the modern record in a season is just seven, which happened in 1990, 1991, 2012 and 2015. That means the record isn't just in danger of being broken but being absolutely demolished.
The first one thrown last week came from the Tigers' Spencer Turnbull, who is one of the more unlikely players in the Majors to pull it off. Two years ago, Turnbull led the Majors in losses with 17. He turned in a strong performance in the shortened 2020 season, leading the Tigers pitching staff with a 3.97 ERA, and clearly had everything working when he went up against the Mariners:
He then celebrated in absolute style by posing with a wrestling belt while doing his postgame interviews.
One night later, Corey Kluber tossed another one. Signed by the Yankees over the offseason, the 35-year-old Kluber tossed his first career no-hitter against the Rangers. We'd call it a revenge game, but we're not sure how much emotion was in this one since Kluber pitched only one inning with Texas last season before getting injured and missing the rest of the year.
“I’ve never been part of one [or] witnessed one, let alone thrown one,” Kluber said about his no-hitter. “So, more than anything, it was a lot of fun to be a part of.”
2. Albert Pujols' first home run as a Dodgers player
When the Angels designated Pujols for assignment on May 6th, few expected that he would wind up with the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers, who play just a short drive up the I-5 highway from Anaheim.
While we were all still getting used to seeing the future Hall of Famer wearing Dodger blue -- Pujols had previously only played for red teams in his career with the Cardinals and Angels -- he promptly went deep in just his fourth game with his new team. It was the 668th home run of his career, though he will likely fall short of becoming the fourth big leaguer with 700 career homers.
He will almost certainly make the Hall of Fame when his career is over, but Pujols doesn't forget the kids who idolize him, either.
3. Everyone loves Shohei Ohtani
The two-way star kept his relentless pursuit of the MVP Award going this past week, even starting a game on the mound and then moving to right field when he was lifted for a reliever against Cleveland. Sure enough, stars around the sporting world can't stop sharing their admiration for the Angels pitcher/outfielder/designated hitter/all-around-superstar.
Mets starting pitcher Marcus Stroman called him a "mythical legend."
NFL star J.J. Watt got in the action, too:
And even Kevin Durant shared his admiration. The Nets star even traded for Ohtani in the "MLB: The Show" video game.
4. Jacob deGrom has a second career as a base coach
The Mets ace may be back on a big league mound this week after recovering from injury, but he has a few skills up his sleeve when he's not pitching. Like, odd as it may seem, helping to position the opposing team’s first baseman
This was what deGrom pulled when the Mets faced the Braves last week and reigning National League MVP Award winner Freddie Freeman was trying to hold the runner on. Seems like Freeman was paying more attention to the pitcher in the dugout than the one on the mound:
The right-hander also made a rehab appearance against the Minor League Palm Beach Cardinals, who play in Low-A. That means a bunch of young, inexperienced kids had to face the greatest pitcher on the planet.
Not surprisingly, it was a struggle:
5. The Marlins unveil new uniforms
This season, seven Major League teams are unveiling "City Connect" uniforms that, like the NBA city jerseys, will give the club a brand new look that highlights the region and city they play in. The Red Sox were first and the Marlins just joined them with some spiffy red-and-blue uniforms. Because of Miami's large Cuban population, the uniforms draw inspiration from Cuba's national team with the red jersey and script font. The hats are also a modern update of the old Havana Sugar Kings logo -- a popular Minor League team that played from 1946-60.
6. Fernando Tatis brings back "Slam Diego
Whether he's off the field and dressed in his Sunday best, or on the field and ready to launch another furious bat flip, don't ever take your eyes off the Padres' star shortstop.
He also brought the "Slam Diego" nickname back to the forefront with his first grand slam of 2021. The Padres earned that moniker last season after hitting a bevy of grand slams and Tatis capped off a torrid hot stretch with his "grand salami."
That meant he got to show off a new piece of jewelry in his postgame interview. This time, Tatis went old school and seemingly drew inspiration from Flavor Flav. Let's just hope he doesn't pull a muscle trying to keep this around his neck.
Michael Clair writes for MLB.com. He spends a lot of time thinking about walk-up music and believes stirrup socks are an integral part of every formal outfit.