Elias Says...
Special to ESPN.com
NBA
DURANT/WESTBROOK MATCH ERVING/COLLINS
From Elias: Kevin Durant (36 points) and Russell Westbrook (27), both making their NBA Finals debut, combined for 63 points in the Thunder's win over the Heat in Game 1. That matches the most combined points in a game by teammates who were both making their NBA Finals debut in league history. Julius Erving (33) and Doug Collins (30) combined for 63 points for Philadelphia in their NBA Finals debut in 1977 against Portland.
Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat
DURANT SCORES 36 POINTS IN HIS NBA FINALS DEBUT
From Elias: Kevin Durant scored 36 points in Oklahoma City's win over Miami in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Durant is the ninth player in NBA history to score at least 36 points in his NBA Finals debut. The last two to do it were Michael Jordan in 1991 (36 points) and Allen Iverson in 2001 (48, a record for a player in his first NBA Finals game).
Oklahoma City Thunder, Miami Heat
MLB
AROD TIES THE IRON HORSE
From Elias: Alex Rodriguez hit a grand slam in the Yankees' six-run eighth inning Tuesday night, the 23rd slam of his career tying him with Lou Gehrig for the all-time lead in that category. Gehrig had sole possession of the grand slam record since July 5, 1934, when he hit his 17th to pass Babe Ruth. Gehrig went 4-for-4 with two homers and seven RBIs in that game against the Senators, with both homers coming off Wally Stewart.
New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves
MADISON DOES IT WITH HIS BAT AND ARM
From Elias: Madison Bumgarner hit a home run and struck out 12 batters for the Giants Tuesday night. Bumgarner is only the third Giants pitcher since 1900 to hit a homer and strike out at least dozen in the same game. Juan Marichal did it against the Mets in 1963 (HR, 13 SO) and Mike Krukow did it against the Astros in 1985 (HR, 12 SO).
San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros
BRAVES SUFFER FIRST LATE BLOWN LEAD
From Elias: The Yankees erased a 4-0 Braves' lead with a six-run eighth inning in their victory Tuesday night. Entering Tuesday's action, the Braves (34-0) and the Brewers (28-0) were the only major league teams that had not lost a game this season in which they led in the seventh inning or later.
New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves
HARPER HAS BACK-TO-BACK THREE-HIT GAMES
From Elias: Bryce Harper went 3-for-4 in the Nationals' win over the Blue Jays, his second-consecutive three-hit game. Harper is the first teenager with consecutive three-hit games since Robin Yount went 3-for-5 in both games of a doubleheader for the Brewers against the Angels on June 15, 1975.
Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays
DODGERS ARE THE FIRST TEAM TO 40 WINS
From Elias: With their win over the Angels Tuesday night, the Dodgers became the first major league team to 40 wins this season. It's the sixth time since the team moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958 that the Dodgers were the first major league team to 40 wins. They also did it in 1965, 1974, 1977, 1983 and 2009.
Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels
VALDESPIN THE DH
From Elias: Jordany Valdespin knocked in four runs as the designated hitter in the Mets' win over the Rays. Valdespin is the fourth Mets player to knock in four or more runs in a game as the DH. The others to do it were Bernard Gilkey in 1997 (4 RBI), Cliff Floyd in 2003 (5) and Carlos Delgado in 2008 (9).
METS EXCEL WITH TWO OUTS
From Elias: The Mets scored nine two-out runs in their win over the Rays, the most two-out runs in a game for a National League team this season. The Mets have scored 134 two-out runs this season, the most for any major-league team.
CUETO CG WITHOUT A BB
From Elias: Johnny Cueto did not walk a batter in his six-hitter against the Indians Tuesday night. It was Cueto's second-complete game this season in which he did not walk a batter; he also did it at Pittsburgh on May 4. Cueto is the only pitcher in the major leagues with two such games this season and the first Reds pitcher with two or more in a season since Aaron Harang in 2006.
Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians
KONERKO PILING UP THE HITS
From Elias: Paul Konerko went 3-for-4 in the White Sox win over the Cardinals, giving him 75 hits in 55 games this season. Konerko is the second White Sox player since 1960 with that many hits in his first 55 games of a season. Frank Thomas had 76 hits in his first 55 games in 1997.
Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals
LEWIS PITCHING BETTER THAN HIS RECORD INDICATES
From Elias: Colby Lewis improved his record to 5-5 and lowered his earned-run average to 3.13 with his performance Tuesday night. Lewis has the lowest ERA for any American League pitcher with at least five starts this season that does not have a winning record.
Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks
THREE TWINS GO DEEP
From Elias: Trevor Plouffe, Josh Willingham and Denard Span all homered in the Twins' win over the Phillies at Target Field. It was only the third time in the 192 games at their new home that the Twins had three players hit a home run. The two other occurrences were August 17, 2010 against the White Sox (Delmon Young, Jim Thome and Orlando Hudson) and April 12, 2012 against the Angels (Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer).
Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies
BUCHHOLZ HEATING UP
From Elias: Clay Buchholz allowed only one run on five hits in seven innings against the Marlins Tuesday night, his fourth straight start in which he pitched at least seven innings and allowed no more than two runs in any of them. It's the first time in Buchholz's career that he has had four consecutive starts like that.
REYES HAS ANOTHER LEAD-OFF TRIPLE
From Elias: Jose Reyes led off the bottom of the first inning with a triple in the Marlins' loss Tuesday night, the second consecutive game he has done that. Reyes is the first player to hit a lead-off triple in consecutive games since he did it himself on June 21-22, 2008. For his career, Reyes has 15 leadoff triples, tying him with Ichiro Suzuki for the most among active players.
BUTLER ENDS DROUGHT
From Elias: Billy Butler's single drove in Alex Gordon from third base with the winning run in the Royals' win over the Brewers Tuesday night. Butler had been hitless in his previous 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position prior to that at-bat, the longest such drought of his major-league career.
Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers
SCHERZER GIVING MAX EFFORT
From Elias: Max Scherzer threw 116 pitches in six innings in the Tigers' loss to the Cubs (19.3 per inning). Scherzer is averaging 18.7 pitches per inning this season, the highest in the major leagues.
