The Upper Deck: Heyward Reaches 1,000 Hit Mark, Trout Lurks At 999

Welcome to The Upper Deck, Baseball America’s daily look at the biggest stories around the game and some lighter fare.

WELCOME TO THE 1,000 CLUB

Jason Heyward collected his 1,000th career hit in style Sunday afternoon, as the Cubs right-fielder went 3-for-4 against the Washington Nationals to become the 88th active player to reach the 1K plateau.

After recording career hit No. 998 and No. 999 on a second-inning single and sixth-inning double, respectively, Heyward roped a two-out double down the left-field line in the eighth to reach 1,000 career hits. Heyward, who is hitting .247/.304/.387 with eight home runs and 39 RBIs this season, notched his 1,000th career hit off of Nationals reliever Ryan Madson.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout approached the 1,000-hit mark Sunday against the Oakland Athletics with his solo home run in the third inning, but ended the day 1-for-4 with 999 career hits. Trout and the Angels face off against the Baltimore Orioles tonight, as Trout tries to become the fourth player in MLB history with 1,000 hits, 500 RBIs and 500 walks by his 26th birthday.

RETURN AND RESCUE

There’s no place like home. 🏡💪

Welcome back, @SeanJRodriguez1! #WALKOFF #RAISEIT pic.twitter.com/96fLWGH9Tj

— Pirates (@Pirates) August 6, 2017

In his first game back with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Sean Rodriguez crushed a walk-off home run in the 12th inning of Sunday’s game against the San Diego Padres to give his new — and old — team the 5-4 extra-inning victory.

After signing a two-year, $11.5-million contract with the Atlanta Braves this past offseason, Rodriguez was reacquired by the Pirates in a trade on Saturday. The trade, which sent minor league first baseman Connor Joe to the Atlanta organization, returned Rodriguez to Pittsburgh, where he played in 2015 and 2016.

The game-ending homer was the third career walk-off hit for Rodriguez, who missed the first three months of the season after suffering a shoulder injury as a result of an offseason car accident.

THREE’S COMPANY

One. Two. Three.

The @Orioles are flying! pic.twitter.com/o3MEWHkw5U

— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2017

The Baltimore Orioles got off to a quick start in Sunday’s 12-3 win over the Detroit Tigers, thanks to back-to-back-to-back home runs from Jonathan Schoop, Chris Davis and Trey Mancini in the bottom of the first inning off against Tigers’ righthander Anibal Sanchez.

It was the first time the Orioles hit three consecutive home runs since Aug. 19, 2016, when Machado, Davis and Mark Trumbo went back-to-back-to-back against Astros’ righthander Collin McHugh. Both instances occurred in the first inning.

TWO DEEP, AGAIN

For the second time in four days, Cubs catcher Willson Contreras hit a pair of home runs in the same game. Roughly 72 hours after Contreras hit two home runs and recorded a career-high six RBIs against the Diamondbacks on Thursday, the right-handed catcher sent two more hits over the fence in Sunday’s game versus the Washington Nationals.

With five home runs in the past four days, Contreras has now hit 10 homers since the All-Star break, which is tied with Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton for the most in the National League.

Contreras’ offensive outbreak wasn’t enough for the Cubs, however, as the Nationals received an eighth-inning grand slam off the bat of Matt Wieters and came from behind to beat Chicago 9-4 on Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

FINE NINE

A grand slam from Jose Martinez and a two-RBI triple from Matt Carpenter propelled the St. Louis Cardinals to a seven-hit, nine-run fourth inning in a 13-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday afternoon.

Every position player in the Cardinals’ starting lineup scored a run, recorded a hit and reached base at least twice against the Reds. In total, the Cardinals notched a season-high 16 hits and the nine-run fourth was their most productive inning of the year.

HAPPENINGS AT BA

On Sunday, we analyzed a pair of trades involving the Seattle Mariners, including one that landed them All-Star first baseman Yonder Alonso, and Carlos Collazo produced a notebook from the final day of East Coast Pro.