MLB Daily: Ryan Zimmerman Doused with Chocolate After Walk-Off; Giancarlo Stanton vs. Bryce Harper?

Welcome to a Wednesday edition of MLB Daily, where we wonder if anyone even bothers to read the fine print…

Winner: Ryan Zimmerman hit a walk-off home run in the 10th off Yankees’ closer Andrew Miller. It’s significant since those were the first two earned runs allowed by Miller this season. Making it to May 19 without allowing a run isn’t too shabby for a relief pitcher. So far the Yankees transition away from the immortal Mariano Rivera, first with David Robertson and now the Miller/Dellin Betances combo has gone about as smoothly as possible.

The win also pulled Washington into a first place tie in the NL East. Reports of the Nationals demise after three games in April were greatly exaggerated. Who would have thought?

Washington’s postgame celebration featured something, reckon, I’ve never seen before on a diamond — Max Scherzer dumping a bottle of Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup all over Zimmerman’s head. Was this spur of the moment thinking from the former Cy Young winner? As it turns out, Scherzer has apparently made this a thing in Washington, as he explain earlier to the D.C. Sports Bog. (Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup should get the sponsorship deal ready.) The biggest losers in all of this have to be the team equipment managers. As Chief Wiggum once lamented at the Krusty 29th Anniversary Special, “nothing gets chocolate out.”

Now 30, Zimmerman’s production remains below average (.242/.294/.418), but maybe he should get used to celebrations, since he’s now tied for third for most all-time walk offs in NL history, trailing only Tony Perez and Stan Musial. Zimmerman seemed to take the celebration in stride:

May god have mercy on the person who dares try this with Jered Weaver…

Ouch: The Tigers placed Victor Martinez on the disabled list on Tuesday after it was abundantly clear the veteran designated hitter hadn’t fully recovered from a torn meniscus in the offseason. The switch-hitting Martinez has grounded into more double plays (6) than he has extra base hits (4) in 111 at bats. Not good. Not good at all for the a 36-year-old in the first year of a four-year $68 million deal.

Overall the Detroit offense still rates well on the season for runs scored, but the Tigers have scored two or fewer runs eight times in May. Miguel Cabrera might be a perennial MVP candidate, but without adequate protection in the lineup he might not see much to hit, unless J.D. Martinez or a contract year Yoenis Cespedes heat up.

Tuesday night, the Royals posted their second straight shutout, with Yordano Ventura and Wade Davis combining to blank the Reds. As a result the Tigers are closer to the third-place Twins in the division than the first-place Royals. Anibal Sanchez, meanwhile, gave up back-to-back-to-back homers to Ryan Braun, Adam Lind and Aramis Ramirez, his ninth allowed in 2015.

Broats: Pedro Alvarez smashed a home run off Ricky Nolasco out of PNC Park that landed on a boat behind the stadium. I’d venture a guess this is the most-relevant moment in the long, deep, storied rivalry between the Twins and Pirates.

Too bad it didn’t touch down in the houseboat moored behind the stadium. Houseboats are always fun. MacGyver lived on a houseboat. I’ll stop talking now.

Ouch Part II: Hyun-Jin Ryu is reportedly considering shoulder surgery which would cost him the entire 2015 season, via report in his native South Korea. The Dodgers lost Brandon McCarthy earlier this year. It leaves the Los Angeles rotation looking like: Clayton Kershaw, Zach Greinke, Brett Anderson, Carlos Frias, and Mike Bolsinger. Bolsinger is off to a nice start, with a 1.04 ERA in 17 innings, but his ERA was over five last year with the D’backs, so that is worth remembering.

Since the Dodgers are a win-now team, they’ll be linked to Cole Hamels and every other available starter on the market. Compounding the issue is Greinke could opt-out after 2015 although he’d be walking away from $24 million per year over three years. Greinke is too unpredictable to guess what he’ll do. Free agents after the season include, at the top end, Johnny Cueto, David Price and Jordan Zimmermann. The Dodgers have plenty of money and are willing to spend but if they go after one of these guys — without Greinke opting out — it means they’ll have at least $80 million per year tied up in three starting pitchers. Given the injury risk with pitching, I’m not sure that’s the best way to build a team.

Short-term, the question for Andrew Friedman and the Los Angeles braintrust is do they try to piece it together, knowing they’ve still got the Kershaw-Greinke 1-2 punch at the top end or make a move? The A’s would likely move Scott Kazmir. Kyle Lohse is an adequate Major League pitcher and the Dodgers wouldn’t have to give up a ton to acquire him from Milwaukee.

New Chase?: Bryce Harper and Giancarlo Stanton each homered Tuesday, giving them 15 and 12 respectively. Baseball executives would be giddy if a race between the two young sluggers developed into the summer months.

Fans, meanwhile would be happy enough to watch them crush the ball on a regular basis.

This & That: Jacoby Ellsbury hits the 15-day DL, with a knee injury. He’d been quite productive atop the Yankees lineup and leads the AL in stolen bases. … FanGraphs explored Mat Latos’ unnamed strikeout pitch. … Randy Choate, the Cardinals lefty specialist, got his first at bat in 11 years last night and drew a walk vs. the Mets. … If Trevor Bauer only pitched against the White Sox he might win the Cy Young. He now has 22 strikeouts in 20+ innings, allowing only three runs over that span. …

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