Hi, everyone! And welcome to Write-Up For Yesterday, BttP’s guide to what the heck happened yesterday in baseball. We’re not gonna just hand you some scores here, because we trust you know how to type the letters E-S-P-N into your internet machine. Instead, we hope to give you a fuller and richer understanding of important goings on from yesterday in baseball. The big stories, and the noteworthy performances-good and bad.Welcome to yesterday!

STORY LINES AND NEWS CYCLE EPHEMERA

Someone hit a home run off Clayton Kershaw today. That someone was Madison Bumgarner, who ripped this pitch a reported 415 feet per Statcast.

Bumgarner also led the Giants to victory on the mound, allowing no runs on 6 hits while striking out 6, walking 2 in 6 1/3 innings to Kershaw’s 4 runs allowed on 7 hits. Kershaw struck out 7 Giants, walked 1 but allowed no home runs to non-pitching members of the opposition.

Jacob deGrom continued to [*sigh*] deGrominate NL batters, striking out 11 Cardinals, while retiring 23 in a row at one point, during the Mets’ 5-0 victory. Lucas Duda provided the offensive support, hitting two home runs off left-handed pitchers.

Steve Pearce showed similarities to 2014 Steve Pearce today (remember that guy?), by hitting a 1st inning grand slam to lead-off a game Baltimore ended up winning by just 1 run over the Mariners.

In Detroit, rookie catcher James McCann launched a walk-off home run in the 11th off Tony Sipp to defeat the Yankees.

But the biggest controversy of today came from the mysterious substance that appeared on Will Smith’s right forearm:

I wonder at what point pitchers will realize that, with HD broadcasts and televisions, everybody at home can see the giant shiny spot on your skin? If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably already missed the hour or two of “everybody does it” discussion on Twitter.

The Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks pitched a 5-hit complete game shutout in which rookies Addison Russell and Kris Bryant hit home runs. The Cubs are on their way to Arizona where they’ll play the Diamondbacks who completed a 4-game sweep of the Marlins in a series that probably interests no one at BttP except the guy who wrote the D-Backs preview. What a loser.

TWEETS WE LIKED

Bumgarner’s last two homers have come off of Kershaw and Greinke.

— Alex Pavlovic (@AlexPavlovic) May 21, 2015

Will Smith has been diagnosed with adult onset marmalade wrist. (image via @bubbaprog) pic.twitter.com/W6nckHi8h5 — Productive Outs (@ProductiveOuts) May 22, 2015

Kris Bryant is now only 758 HR away from breaking Barry Bonds’ all-time HR record. #Cubs

— CubWin (@CubWin) May 22, 2015

ARTICLES WE LIKED

Banished to the Pen’s own Tyler Baber collected dozens of quotes about the baseball and cultural legacy of the Up & In podcast on the 5th anniversary of the infamous “.9” episode. We know you’re looking down on us tonight, Kevin and Jason. Thank you for making us all realize we know nothing about baseball. I recommend listening to this Trampled by Turtles track (from episode 89: Marriage Counseling) while you read this article (and weep softly).

Over at The Hardball Times, Miles Wray uncovered the 10 cheapest teams over the last decade.

At Fangraphs, Jeff Sullivan explained why Brandon Crawford has developed into a “pretty good hitter with power”.

Sahadev Sharma took a look at Kris Bryant’s prowess with full counts and two strikes at BP Wrigleyville.

TODAY’S BEST PITCHING MATCHUPS

(DRA in parentheses)

Noah Syndergaard (NYM, 3.99) vs. Gerrit Cole (PIT, 3.44)

A top pitching prospect matches up against a recent former top pitching prospect in Pittsburgh.

Lance Lynn (STL, 3.44) vs. Chris Young (KC, 3.28)

Chris Young is the most successful pitcher in 2015 with the first name “Chris”. Lynn is, likewise, the most successful pitcher in the league named “Lance” (somehow that’s way less impressive).

Andrew Cashner (SD, 4.63)vs. Zack Greinke (3.20)

Greinke enters today with the 9th lowest DRA in baseball. Cashner’s DRA is quite high, as is his FIP, but xFIP mostly lines up with his 3.29 ERA and he should improve if he can stop giving up home runs at a career-high rate.

Ryan Vogelson (SF, 5.66)vs. Kyle Kendrick (COL, 5.40)

This may not be what you’d call a “great” match-up for pitchers, but it should lead to a lot of runs, if you’re into that. Vogelsong is the 11th least valuable pitcher in baseball according to BP’s new DRA-based VORP while Kendrick is just 5 slots behind him at 16.