First pitch: Everything you need to know from the week in MLB

Welcome to theScore's roundup of everything you need to know from around MLB. Here we'll touch on the notable storylines, biggest trends, most shocking plays, and some other cool things from the week. Let's dive in!

What everyone's talking about 👇

Ohtani, Judge star in World Series rematch: The two stars became the first pair of reigning MVPs to homer in the first inning of the same game. It was quite the display in the first meeting between the Dodgers and Yankees since last year's World Series. Read more ...

Bad times in Boston: The Red Sox are stuck in the mud after entering the season as a popular pick to win the AL East. Injuries and inconsistency have amounted to a team punching well below its weight. A lot needs to change for this group to turn things around. Read more ...

Tarik Skubal is on another level: The reigning AL Cy Young winner was utterly dominant in May. He struck out 59 batters while issuing just two walks across his six starts, one of which was a complete-game shutout of the Guardians. Read more ...

Who's hot? 🔥

Cal Raleigh: The Mariners star continued his remarkable season by becoming the first catcher in MLB history to hit 20 homers before the end of May.

Christian Yelich: The former NL MVP is crushing everything in sight. Yelich hit .472/.513/.917 with five homers and 13 RBIs from May 22nd to 31st.

Chris Sale: The reigning NL Cy Young winner has finally found a groove. Sale owns a 0.90 ERA over his last three starts and made history Thursday by becoming the fastest pitcher to reach 2,500 career strikeouts.

Who's not? 🥶

Royce Lewis: The Twins slugger has just one home run on the season and is 9-for-69 (.130) with 11 strikeouts in 20 games.

Colin Rea: The Cubs right-hander probably won't want to see the Reds again. Rea lost consecutive starts against Cincinnati, allowing four home runs with a 10.13 ERA and 17 hits in 10 2/3 innings.

Trevor Story: The Red Sox shortstop has gone ice cold after a promising start to the season. He slashed .158/.200/.232 with a 13 wRC+ in May while striking out nearly 35% of the time.

Player who deserves more attention 🔎

The Cubs appear to have a new closer in right-hander Daniel Palencia. He saved five games in May, using an excellent fastball to neutralize opposing hitters. He's rostered in 38% of Yahoo! Fantasy leagues.

You love to see it 😍

Mariners kid reporter Elena did a fantastic job interviewing Julio Rodríguez - in English and Spanish.

Red Sox prospect Jhostynxon Garcia found new fame as a clue on "Jeopardy!" because of his fitting nickname.

A young Blue Jays fan let the chance of a lifetime slip through his fingers when he dropped Ernie Clement's home run. But just a few batters later, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed one right into that same fan's glove.

We can't believe this happened 🤯

Tyler Holton apparently hates squirrels. The Tigers reliever got spooked when one of the rodents squeezed into the bullpen midgame.

Talk about a hole-in-one. Twins utility player Kody Clemens somehow sent this ball through a small hole in a center-field camera tent.

A's rookie and Toronto native Denzel Clarke put on a show for his family and friends at Rogers Centre, scaling the wall to rob Alejandro Kirk of a homer in remarkable fashion.

The LSU-Shreveport Pilots won the NAIA World Series to complete a historic 59-0 season. They're the first confirmed undefeated team in college baseball history.

George Springer was tagged out at third base after losing contact with the bag while jumping up and down. Oops.

Sound smart among your friends 🧠

Kyle Schwarber, who blasted 10 home runs in May, sits in the 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, xwOBA, and expected slugging percentage. The Phillies slugger already has 19 homers on the season, not to mention June has famously been his more prolific month.

They said what? 🗣️

After starting Javier Báez at third in front of umpire Phil Cuzzi, who ejected Báez the day before, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch joked: "It's like parenting. I got to put them in a corner and tell them they've got to sort it out and play nice."

Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. has no issue moving to third base: "I'm a team guy. I'm here to win a ring. I'm not here to fight over positions."

Paul Goldschmidt is in awe of teammate Aaron Judge: "What he's doing is amazing. It's like almost Barry Bonds-ish where it's like he's getting one pitch to hit a game and he's hitting it."

70-year-old Rangers manager Bruce Bochy channeled his inner Gen Z to praise reliever Jacob Latz's performance: "He was bussin', wasn't he?"

Nationals manager Dave Martinez on reliever Jose A. Ferrer learning saxophone using YouTube videos: "He's not quite Kenny G yet, but he'll get there."

What to watch this week 📺

Mets-Dodgers, Part 2: The Mets took two of three from the reigning champions at Citi Field last weekend. Now, they'll try to take a second series from the Dodgers when they visit Chavez Ravine for four games starting Monday.

Tigers welcome Cubs: Chicago versus Detroit is a sports rivalry that's always juicy - especially when both cities have winning teams. The league-best Tigers welcome the NL Central-leading Cubs for an intriguing three-game showdown which could be a potential World Series preview, something few could have predicted back in March.