Welcome to another season of our weekly look at the interesting and unusual in Major League Baseball. Since we've had five months off, we'll start the 2015 campaign with a "double" helping of oddities.

• Seth Smith of the Seattle Mariners started his season slugging percentage at 2.333 with two doubles and a triple in Monday's opener. The last Mariner to have a triple and two doubles in any game was Alex Rodriguez, who did it against the Twins on April 19, 1998. Only eight players in the live-ball era have done it in a season opener, the last being Kevin Youkilis in 2010.

• Two pitchers-- Henderson Alvarez of the Miami Marlins and Kyle Kendrick of the Colorado Rockies-- hit two-baggers in their season openers on Monday. It had been six years since any pitcher doubled on Opening Day, and there were two that season as well (Jeff Suppan and Adam Wainwright).

• Kendrick's was one of six Rockies doubles on Monday; on Tuesday they hit six more. Only one team in 2014 had at least six doubles in back-to-back games, and that was... the Rockies, who did it against Texas on May 5-6 at Coors Field. No team (including the Brewers) had ever had back-to-back six-double games at either of Milwaukee's ballparks, and according to Elias, the Rockies are also the first since at least 1900 to do it in each of their first two games of a season. They ended the week with 25 two-baggers, the most through six games since Cleveland pounded out 31 in 1999.

• The Blue Jays collected eight doubles en route to a 12-5 romp over the Orioles on Friday. That was the team's most since July 2010, and it matched the most doubles ever by a visiting team at Camden Yards. Toronto was the first visiting team with eight doubles, pounding those out in a 6-0 win on July 16, 1996; two others teams did it since. Meanwhile, Adam Jones had four hits and drove in two runs, the first Orioles batter to do that in a home loss since Melvin Mora-- also against the Jays-- in July 2008.

• Arizona's Jake Lamb had a three-run pinch-hit double Monday, but the Diamondbacks still lost 5-4. Lamb is only the third player ever to record 3+ pinch-hit RBI on Opening Day without a home run. The others were then-Pirate Ryan Church in 2010, and the Giants' Candy Maldonado, who had a bases-loaded triple against the Astros in 1986.

• Non-double sidebar: The Cincinnati Reds scored their first run of 2015 on a balk Monday, the first team to do that since the Twins and Athletics both did so in 1988. On Wednesday and Thursday the Reds walked off on a Joey Votto single and an error, marking the first time since 1975 that they've won two of their first three games via walkoff. George Foster and Dave Concepcion had the winning hits that year. This was just the third season out of the past 22 that no team won its opener via walkoff.

• And how could we start this season without a tribute to Ernie Banks? The Red Sox and Yankees decided to "play two" in the longest game between the rivals since 1967, and one that by itself increased this season's average game length by almost 4 minutes (small sample size!). David Ortiz's home run in the top of the 16th was the latest for Boston, by inning, since April 1, 2003, when Kevin Millar went deep to lead Boston to a 16-inning win at Tampa Bay. Similarly, Mark Teixeira's home run in the bottom half was the latest for the Yankees since two months later (June 1, 2003), when Alfonso Soriano and Jorge Posada both went deep in the 17th against Detroit. It is the first time that both teams have homered in the 16th or later of the same game since June 27, 2003, when Jason Michaels of the Phillies and Luis Matos of the Orioles matched dingers in the 17th inning. Michaels', however, was a three-run shot, and Philadelphia won the game 4-2.

Pablo Sandoval (4-for-9) and Xander Bogaerts (4-for-8) had the most notable lines for the Red Sox in Friday's marathon victory, but all eight of those hits were singles. They are the first set of teammates to have at least eight at-bats, four hits, and no extra-base hits in the same game since July 4, 1985, when Wally Backman and Gary Carter did it for the Mets. And if that date looks familiar, yes, it's the 19-inning game in Atlanta where pitcher Rick Camp homered and they shot off the fireworks at 4:15 am.

We leave you this week with a few other nuggets from the week that weren't doubles, but which are just better in pairs:

• Dustin Pedroia and Hanley Ramirez: First Red Sox with two home runs on Opening Day since Carlton Fisk in 1973; first teammates to do it since Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark of Arizona in 2009. First teammates in Red Sox history to hit two homers in an opener>

• Mark Trumbo and Sam Fuld: Recorded triples in each of season's first two games, first to do it since Craig Counsell of the Marlins in 1998.

• Chicago Cubs: First time winning game with two or fewer hits since September 1, 1999 (Sammy Sosa HR at Padres).

• Dexter Fowler: Two triples, two walks, two runs, two RBI on Saturday, first Cub to hit all those in a game since Danny Taylor in 1931.

• Detroit Tigers: Recorded back-to-back shutouts to start season for first time in their history; last AL team to do it was 1977 Angels.

• Travis Wood and Tyler Matzek:12th pair of starting pitchers in live-ball era to both hit eighth; the other 11 were in 2008 and all involved Tony La Russa.