Sunday, October 1, 2017

We'll Get 'Em Next Year

Even in the final week of the season, we persist in combing through every boxscore every day because, even in a meaningless game, fun things can still happen. Since there are now only 10 teams left playing, and you'll spend all of October hearing about them, we decided to give a quick parting shot to the other 20 who didn't make it.

(Don't worry, the playoff teams get their due later, too.)


Atlanta Braves

Sometimes one player blows out every line on the boxscore, and sometimes it's more of a team effort. You could get no more "team effort"-y than the Braves did in their rain-induced doubleheader with the Mets at Citi Field on Monday. In winning the first game 9-2, Atlanta collected 10 hits, all by different players-- all nine starters (including Lucas Sims) and Matt Adams who later pinch-hit in the pitcher's spot.

It was the first game in (at least) the live-ball era where the Braves as a team had compiled 10+ hits with all of them by different players (not to be confused with "10 players had a hit"; this is where nobody had two). And seven of those 10 went for extra bases, the Braves' only game this year where seven different players had one. Their only other such game in Queens (either stadium) was a 16-0 win on July 2, 1999.


Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles spent most of June giving up five runs a game, but more recently it was the offense that sputtered its way through September. Nineteen times during the month they scored three runs or fewer (they actually won three of those games), and after starting the month two games over .500 they finished it 11 games under. So Sunday's season finale with the Rays fit right in.

It was the 5th inning before Trey Mancini got the Birds' first hit off Blake Snell, who then set down nine more batters in order. Mark Trumbo managed the second hit by beating out a grounder to second, and Manny Machado added another meaningless infield single with two outs in the 9th. Snell, meanwhile, struck out a career-high 13, marking the second time this year that Baltimore had been shut out on three hits and struck out 13 times. The other was against Jose Quintana's first start as a Cub, July 16 at Camden Yards. The Orioles had never before had two such games in the same season.

The lack of offense Sunday spoiled a serviceable outing from Kevin Gausman, who went seven innings with no walks, nine strikeouts, and only one run, a solo homer by Kurt Casali. He's just the second Oriole (i.e., since 1954) to pull off that line and take the loss. Dave McNally allowed only a 4th-inning homer to Tommy Harper of the Indians, but Sonny Siebert took a no-hit bid into the 7th and won a shutout 2-0.


Chicago White Sox

The White Sox limped their way to 67 wins this year, 15 of those in September, and the most memorable one lately was probably Nick Delmonico's walkoff home run in Wednesday's 10th inning. His two-run tater beat the Angels 6-4 and was his third hit of the game. It was the first walkoff homer in extras for the White Sox in more than two years, dating to Adam Eaton's solo shot against the Blue Jays on July 8, 2015. Only two teams had gone longer without one, and one of those was Wednesday's opponent, the Angels. (Also the Rays.) And the last multi-run extra-inning walkoff homer for the White Sox was on August 3, 2012, by Alex Rios, also against the Angels. That was also the last time any Sox batter had 3 hits, 3 RBI, and an extra-inning walkoff homer before Delmonico did it this week.


Cincinnati Reds

Ever since it opened in 2003, Great American Ball Park has been the homer-friendly paradise that Riverfront was not. In those 15 seasons, it's seen more home runs (3,150) than any other park in the majors (though the combined Yankee Stadiums are right behind it at 3,090), and this year it finished second only to Camden Yards (262 to 244).

So it's no surprise that the Reds have a lot of multi-homer games. But otherwise they, um, "underperformed" this season as they cobbled out just 68 wins. So even though they were in Milwaukee-- another homer-friendly park-- on Tuesday, they could never overcome a Domingo Santana blast in the 1st inning and lost to the Brewers 7-6 despite hitting three longballs in their comeback attempt. It marked the 13th game this season where the Reds hit three homers and lost. Not only is that the most in the majors, it ties the all-time record for such a thing. The 1999 Rockies (with the benefit of Coors Field) and the 1998 Mariners also posted 13 such contests.

Joey Votto continued the homer trend on Wednesday, opening the Reds' 6-0 shutout with a 1st-inning solo shot. It was his 11th 1st-inning home run this season, the most by a Reds batter since George Foster had 12 in 1977.


Detroit Tigers

It was not a good year for baseball along the I-75 corridor (see also: Cincinnati, Atlanta, Tampa, Miami), but at least the northernmost member of the club decided to have some fun with it on Saturday. With Brad Ausmus managing his final few games for the team, and those games meaning nothing, he recycled an idea posed by Andrew Romine a couple years earlier to pull an "all nine positions" stunt.

Another Tiger, Shane Halter, had done it in the final game of the 2000 season; Ausmus, in that same game, played all four "bases" (C, 1B, 2B, 3B) and remains the only player in the live-ball era to do that in a game, with the obvious exception of the "all-9"ers. The others in that club, incidentally, are Scott Sheldon of the Rangers earlier in 2000, Minnesota's Cesar Tovar in 1968, and Athletics great Bert Campaneris in 1965.

We knew all along that James McCann would probably end up giving up his DH spot and catching after Romine passed through, but it wasn't terribly clean when it happened. After a double, a single, a passed ball, and a walk, Romine was forced to abandon his signal-calling duties in mid-inning and go back to second base where he had spent the 7th. Blaine Hardy (and McCann) got out of any further damage, keeping the score at 3-2 and ensuring Romine another place in history. By waiting so long to give up the DH and have him pitch, Romine took the mound with that one-run lead in the 8th. Since saves became official in 1969, he's the first position player ever to take the mound in a save situation, and by retiring his lone batter (Miguel Sano), he also became the first position player ever to get an official "hold".

McCann, meanwhile, became the first Tiger to both DH and catch in the same game since Mickey Tettleton did it against the White Sox on September 8, 1992.



Kansas City Royals

Jason Vargas was moved back to a starting role for the Royals in 2017, and would finish tied for the major-league lead in wins (we know, pitcher wins) with 18. Some of his 11 losses, however,...

One of those came in the season's final game on Sunday when Vargas allowed six hits including two homers, walked four, gave up six runs, threw 92 pitches, and left before recording an out in the 5th. That broke a four-game win streak, and reminded us that Vargas had a stretch in August of giving up six to eight hits and four to six runs every game.

Indeed, Sunday's finale was the fifth time this season that Vargas allowed six runs, six hits, and two homers in five innings or less. (He lost five of those, and would have done it a sixth time but for giving up just one homer.) And that's the most such games by a Royals pitcher ever in a single season. Jose Lima did it four times in 2005.


Los Angeles Angels

Cam Bedrosian may never squeak out a Cy Young Award like his father did in 1987, but even Steve had a few outings in his career where he gave up five runs and blew a save. So we can at least say the apple didn't fall far from the tree; on Saturday night against Seattle, Cam started the 8th with a 4-1 lead. Fernando Salas ended up getting all three outs in the 8th, and with a 6-4 deficit. Three singles, a Kyle Seager three-run bomb, and a Yonder Alonso solo shot made Cam the first Angels pitcher to face five batters, have all of them get hits, and have all of them score, since Mark Petkovsek did it in Cleveland on August 31, 1999. And only other two pitchers in Angels history have allowed five runs and blown a save while getting zero outs; they were Eric Weaver in 2000 and Mike Holtz in 1997.

At least all those Cy Young ballots have already been mailed.


Miami Marlins
The Marlins' won-lost record (which, by the way, wasn't good) was forgotten weeks if not months ago. In September it's been the pursuit of another record as Giancarlo Stanton cranked home runs. After sitting on 57 for four games (three of them at Coors Field, even!), Stanton returned home on Thursday and took Julio Teheran deep in the 4th inning for dinger number 58. Four innings later off Rex Brothers, boom, there goes 59.

Only nine other players have hit 59 homers in a season, and only two of those nine recorded numbers 58 and 59 in the same game. Mark McGwire did it against the Marlins on September 2, 1998; and Babe Ruth hit two against the Senators on September 29, 1927, before clubbing #60 the next day to establish the record for the next three decades (or longer, depending on who you ask anymore; it seems everyone gets an asterisk for something these days).

Also, on Friday, after giving up five runs in the first two innings to Atlanta, the Marlins clawed their way back to take a 6-5 lead going to the 9th. Jarlin Garcia struck out the leadoff man but then loaded the bases, prompting a call for Brad Ziegler. Ziegler-- on one pitch-- not only got two outs and the save, but he got an assist too; it was the old 1-2-3 double play to retire the tying run at the plate. He's the first pitcher in the majors this year, and first in Marlins history, to record a two-out save while throwing just one pitch. The other only pitcher in the past five seasons to do it was David Robertson for the White Sox on September 28 of last year.

Alas Stanton would fall short of his asterisk, going 5-for-14 over the remainder of the series, but with four singles and a double. Don Mattingly even put him in the leadoff spot Sunday to try and get him one more at-bat (he did the same thing last season), to no avail. Stanton finished his season with a slugging percentage of only .631 despite all those homers; that's the second-lowest by anyone in the 59-HR club. Roger Maris, who is also prone to asterisks, slugged .620 in 1961.


Milwaukee Brewers

As mentioned, Miller Park is fairly hitter-friendly, ranking in the top 10 in home runs this season (217). The Brewers cranked 120 of those at home, one shy of their team record from ten years ago, and just one more homer would have broken up this note. Twice this week-- Monday against the Cubs and Thrusday against the Reds-- Milwaukee got shut out and managed no more than four singles in front of their home fans. They did the same thing against the Pirates on September 11 (notice these are all divisional opponents and the Brewers missed the playoffs by one game).

Only once before in team history had the Brewers/Pilots suffered three such defeats (home shutouts on four hits or fewer) in as little as 17 days. The nice part is that it might be a while before they break this mark. The Tigers' Woodie Fryman started August 1974 by one-hitting the Brewers (Bobby Mitchell's single broke up the big in the 7th), and then on the 6th and 7th they were shut out by Boston with five hits combined. So back then it was three times in seven days, not seventeen. Of course, those Brewers finished 10 games under .500 and 15 back.


New York Mets

That previously-mentioned Monday doubleheader against the Braves opened up the chance for some strange lineup quirks, especially in the nightcap, and Terry Collins didn't let us down. We found Nimmo-- that's Brandon, and that's actually his Twitter handle-- in the leadoff spot for the first time in a month. He came through with three hits including two doubles and a run scored.

Nimmo is among the younger "pups" in the Mets lineup, as a former co-worker used to call them, so we thought there might be a note to that effect. We headed over to his Baseball Reference page and it wasn't the age that caught our eye, but the fact that he's from Cheyenne, Wyo.

It turns out only 16 major-leaguers have ever hailed from Wyoming, a state which doesn't even have a professional team anymore since the Casper Ghosts (no, really) hit the trail for Grand Junction, Colo., in 2012. The most recent was Zach Walters, who did cups of coffee with three teams but spent this past season in the Royals' minor-league system.

But that makes it pretty easy to "find" some Nimmo notes. The last Wyomingite (yes, we had to look up the demonym) to play regularly was Jays catcher John Buck, and your catcher doesn't generally bat leadoff because most of them aren't, well, fleet of foot. No Wyoming native had posted a three-hit game from the leadoff spot since Mike Lansing for the Rockies on April 11, 1998. And the last with two extra-base hits was also Lansing, in his previous stint with Montréal, May 13, 1994.

While Nimmo did hit a triple on Saturday, it was Asdrubal Cabrera who stole that show with a 3-run homer in the 11th to beat the Phillies 7-4. It was the Mets' first 3- or 4-run homer in extra innings this season; their last had been by... Asdrubal Cabrera last September against the Phillies. Cabrera joins Kevin McReynolds (1990 and 1991) as the only Mets ever to hit two such homers.

And symbolic of Terry Collins' final game as manager, the Mets limped across the finish line on Sunday by giving up 11 runs to the Phillies and only managing two hits of their own. They became the first team in (at least) the live-ball era to be held to two hits and shut out by 11-0 or more in a season finale. The previous "record" was held by the 2006 Orioles, whose 9-0 score was on the other end of Devern Hansack's famous rain-shortened no-hitter-that-doesn't-count.


Oakland Athletics

We enjoy making fun of the AL West because the vast majority of their games are so dull and boring and end with scores like 3-1 where absolutely nothing interesting happens. Once in a while, however, an exception sneaks through. That was Monday's Mariners/Athetics game where Seattle hit four home runs before finally chasing Daniel Gossett in the 5th inning. The last A's starter to surrender seven runs including four homers, in any number of innings pitched, was Gio Gonzalez-- now considered one of the Nationals' aces-- on July 20, 2009, in a 14-13 win over the Twins. Gossett is the first ever to do it in a home game against Seattle.


Philadelphia Phillies

Not only were the Phillies victimized by Asdrubal Cabrera's 11th-inning homer on Saturday, but starter Henderson Alvarez didn't help out much either. Alvarez-- who famously backed into a walkoff no-hitter three years ago-- did his A.J. Burnett impression by walking six and striking out zero before departing in the 5th inning. He allowed three runs and escaped the loss when Rhys Hoskins tied the game in the 7th. But he became just the third Phillies starter in the past 30 years to walk six (or more) and strike out zero in a game. J.A. Happ did it against the Nationals on April 15, 2010, but it took him six innings. Kyle Kendrick pulled it off (along with seven runs) on April 9, 2008, also against the Mets, in the second game of Shea Stadium's final year.

Cesar Hernandez also took some walks in Wednesday's win over the Nationals; the Phillies' leadoff man drew three of them and stole a base, but got forced at second twice and stranded once. Their last leadoff hitter with that line was Jimmy Rollins against the Cardinals on August 1, 2008.


Pittsburgh Pirates

Don't try telling Andrew McCutchen that the Pirates got mathematically eliminated from the playoffs on September 16. "Cutch" drove in the Pirates' first run on Tuesday with a 1st-inning double, but he was nowhere near done. After two hits and two walks, McCutchen came up again with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 2nd, and sure enough. Did we mention this was an interleague game against the Orioles? No Pirate had ever hit a grand slam against the current Orioles/Browns franchise (including postseason), and Pittsburgh had only recorded one prior grand slam against "Baltimore". That was by George "Chappy" Lane on August 14, 1882, when both cities had teams in the old American Association. (We cannot find any surviving info as to the origin of his "Chappy" nickname.)

And back to Tuesday, in the 6th McCutchen came up again with two runners on base and the Pirates already holding a 7-1 lead. He didn't care. Boom, three-run homer-- which would ultimately be the 10-1 final-- and an 8-RBI night. Only two other players in Pirates history have recorded 4 hits, 4 runs scored, and 8 RBI in a game; they are Johnny Rizzo on May 30, 1939, and HOF'er Ralph Kiner at Brooklyn on June 25, 1950. But Cutch is the third player this year with that line, joining Anthony Rendon and Scooter Gennett. MLB hadn't seen three players do that in a season since 1950 either; Kiner was one of those, along with "only" Gil Hodges of the Dodgers and Bobby Doerr of the Red Sox.

The last Pirate to hit a grand slam and a 3-run homer in the same game was Bob Skinner at Crosley Field in Cincinnati on May 31, 1959. And ignoring the four hits, McCutchen is the fifth player this season to have an 8-RBI game (add Mookie Betts and Chris Iannetta to the list above). That ties the MLB record for most 8-RBI games in a season; it also happened in 1999, 1977, and 1961.

By the way, the 10-1 final? That was the biggest victory for the Pirates against "Baltimore" since July 24, 1897.


San Diego Padres

The Brewers were not the only ones hanging a lot of zeroes this week. On Wednesday the Padres concluded their season series with the Dodgers by getting swept, 10-0, at Chavez Ravine. San Diego managed just two hits against Rich Hill, who also struck out 10, plus one against Kenley Jansen in the 9th. It was the third time in team history that the Padres had suffered a double-digit shutout at Dodger Stadium, and this note has even more impact when you remember that the Padres gained major-league status in 1969. The only other times San Diego was blanked by double digits in Los Angeles were June 17, 1969 (11-0), and April 15, 1969 (14-0).

It was the sixth time in 2017 that the Padres had been shut out on three hits or fewer, the most in the majors. Over the last five seasons (2013-17), they have a wide lead on the field; San Diego's done it 34 times, versus the Mets' 29 and the Phillies' 26.

Rich Hill-- by one day-- became the oldest Dodgers pitcher to allow ≤ 2 hits and strike out 10, against any opponent, since Dazzy Vance did it at Ebbets Field on September 21, 1928. We hoped that the only reason Vance was one day older was because 1928 was a leap year, but alas, he was born in March.

After an off-day on Thursday, the Padres went to AT&T Park on Friday and proceeded to get shut out by the Giants as well. That 8-0 score was just the third time in the Padres' major-league history (again, 1969) that they'd suffered back-to-back shutouts by at least eight runs; the Diamondbacks did it to them on July 25-26, 2002; and those pesky Dodgers blanked them 8-0 in each of the first two games (April 5-6) of the 1974 campaign.


San Francisco Giants

It not being an even year, the Giants weren't expected to be good, but they weren't expected to be quite as bad either. (Perhaps that odd/even thing has run its course.) They epitomized that on Tuesday when starter Matt Moore faced 13 Diamondbacks and got three of them out. He did get one more on a caught-stealing, but the damage was done and Arizona cruised to an 11-4 win. It was the 13th time this season that a Giants pitcher had given up seven earned runs in an outing (starter or reliever, regardless of innings); that's one shy of the team "record" which dates to 1930.

It was Moore's third such game this season out of the 13; his teammate Matt Cain, who announced his retirement this week, has done it four times, the most by a single pitcher since... Matt Cain in 2013. Cain has 17 career games with 7+ ER allowed, the most in team history. (Freddie Fitzsimmons, part of that 1930 group, has 14.)

And one of Cain's outings (August 27) came on just two outs, when he entered another game with Arizona in the 8th inning and turned a 2-0 deficit into a 10-0 deficit. That makes him and Moore the first pair of Giants with a 7-ER-on-less-than-4-outs game in the same season since Mike LaCoss and Trevor Wilson did it in 1991.

In one bright spot, the Giants took that opener with San Diego by an 8-0 count on Friday, as mentioned above, but piled up 17 hits in doing so. It was the first game where one Giant (in this case, Joe Panik) had four singles and another (Buster Posey) had three doubles since Whitey Lockman and Bobby Thomson (respectively) did it at Crosley Field in Cincinnati on July 14, 1952.

Cain did go out on a good note Saturday, throwing five scoreless innings and allowing just two hits before the bullpen blew the game again. Since moving to San Francisco in 1958, only five pitchers have thrown that line (5+ IP, 0 R, ≤ 2 hits) in their final game with the Giants; the others are Mike Leake (who's still active, just not with San Fran), Livan Hernandez (2002), Wilson Alvarez (1997), and Vida Blue (1986).

And you can't fault Pablo Sandoval for trying to hit the ball, but his walkoff homer in the season finale Sunday actually cost the Giants the worst record in the majors and next year's number-1 draft pick. The last time San Francisco won its season finale via walkoff homer was in 1987, when Bob Brenly went deep against the Braves. The last time any team hit a walkoff homer to close the regular season was... well, yeah. That one.


Seattle Mariners

A few minutes ago we mentioned Monday's game between the Mariners and Athletics in which Daniel Gossett gave up four home runs. On the Seattle side, however, Andrew Albers was summoned out of the bullpen for the 7th, and proceeded to retire nine of the 11 batters he faced en route to his first save of the year. He also struck out three, making him the first Seattle pitcher to earn a 3-inning save with at least three strikeouts since Julio Mateo did it, also against Oakland, on September 26, 2003.


St Louis Cardinals

The Cardinals hung in for most of September, still a long shot to catch the Cubs in the NL Central. Then last weekend happened and, mm, not so much. In losing three straight to the Pirates and Cubs-- in the process getting jumped by the Brewers for second place-- the Cardinals had to watch the Cubs celebrate on their own field Thursday night for the first time since 1935. (The Cubs also claimed the pennant in St. Louis in 1938, but not with a victory; they backed in because the Pirates lost first.)

Monday's 10-2 loss to the Cubs was over early when starter Lance Lynn gave up eight runs and didn't come out for the 4th inning. Kris Bryant and Javier Baez both took him deep. That followed the 11-6 loss in Pittsburgh last Saturday in which Lance Lynn gave up eight runs and didn't make it out of the 1st. Since earned runs were first official-ized by the National League in 1912 (the AL came along in '13), it's the first time in Cardinals history that starters had given up 8 of them in 3 innings or less, twice in a three-game span. Let's just say late September isn't a good time for that to happen.

That Monday game also featured The Great Nacho Incident where Addison Russell dove into the stands and disrupted a fan's situation. At the suggestion of Joe Maddon, and with the help of some stadium personnel, Russell made it right during the next inning break, which the Kernels Rules Desk pointed out, (a) is technically illegal, and (b) could never have happened if there was a big net all the way to the foul pole, as has been a big topic this month.

It's probably time to get rid of this one, right?
(Official Playing Rules, Office of the Commissioner of Baseball)


Tampa Bay Rays

With the Yankees and Red Sox chasing each other, the Rays were mathematically eliminated from the AL East about two weeks ago, but they could still go to the Bronx this week and play spoiler, since wins (Yankee losses) would clinch things for Boston that much sooner. They... didn't.

Blake Snell was handed the ball for Tuesday's opener, and 35 minutes later he handed it back, having allowed four hits, four walks, a stolen base, four runs, and failed to record an out in the 2nd. He was the first Rays starter to allow eight baserunners while getting just three outs since J.P. Howell did it in a 15-4 meltdown against the aforementioned Red Sox on July 5, 2007.

After losing a 6-1 game on Wednesday, it looked like Thursday's finale was on the way to "sweep" status when Brett Gardner and Aaron Judge led off the game with back-to-back homers off Jake Faria. That marked the fourth time in (Devil) Rays history that they had allowed back-to-back homers to start a game, and three of those happened this season. Alen Hanson and Yolmer Sanchez of the White Sox took Chris Archer deep on September 2; and back on May 23 it was Cameron Maybin and Mike Trout off Alex Cobb. (The other game was against the Yankees on April 6, 2003.)

The Rays roared back, however, with a 7-run 5th inning, just their second such frame this year (May 14 at Boston) and their fourth ever at Yankee Stadium (two at each park, most recent September 23, 2010). Former New Britain Rock Cat Trevor Plouffe provided the final margin with a pinch-hit solo homer in the 6th, the first pinch-hit tater in Rays history at either Yankee Stadium.



Texas Rangers

Only one is earned. The problem is that they all still count. In Monday's 4th inning, Rangers starter Andrew Cashner had two outs and the bases loaded, but a 2-1 lead which would be safe as long as he (or his defense) could get that third out. Mmmm, nope. George Springer of the Astros grounded one to Elvis Andrus at short who booted it. Tie game. But more notably, a two-out error that should have ended the inning. No problem, next batter will get us out of this. Bases-loaded walk to Jose Altuve. Rangers down 3-2. No problem, it's only the 4th and plenty of time left. Another error, this one by Will Middlebrooks at third. Then a two-run single to knock Cashner out of the game, then an Evan Gattis double to clear the bases of Cashner's runners, then finally a foulout to really actually end the inning. Cashner's line: 3⅔ innings, 8 runs, one earned.

No other pitcher in Rangers history had ever given up eight total runs with only one of them earned. In the previous 10 years, only two others in the majors had pulled it off, the more recent being then-Blue Jay Mark Buehrle in a meaningless season finale against the Rays in 2015.

The Astros' 8-run inning was their sixth this season, topping Milwaukee's five for most in the majors. They'd had five 8-run frames total in the previous 14 seasons (2003-16).


Toronto Blue Jays

The Jays played spoiler for at least one day on Tuesday, winning a 9-2 game at Fenway Park to allow the Yankees to close within 3 games of the AL East. Josh Donaldson started things early with a solo home run as the second batter of the game, and then gave the Jays the lead again with a 3rd-inning solo shot. It was the third time this year that Donaldson had homered in both of his first two plate appearances, tying the Jays' record for such a thing. Carlos Delgado also had three such games in 2003.

After hitting a leadoff homer against the Yankees on Sunday, Teoscar Hernandez would join the party with a 5th-inning homer off Chris Sale and another off Heath Hembree in the 8th. Only once before had two Blue Jays had multiple homers in the same game at Fenway; they were Jesse Barfield and Rance Mulliniks in an 8-5 win on July 3, 1986. And by batting one-two in the order, Hernandez and Donaldson became the first pair of Blue Jays ever to post a multi-homer game from both of those spots in the same contest.


Bottom Of The Bag

⋅ Masahiro Tanaka, Friday: First pitcher in Yankees history to strike out 15, walk 0, and allow 0 runs in a game.

⋅ Marwin Gonzalez, Monday: Seventh different Astros batter this year with a 4-hit, 3-run, 3-RBI game. First team ever to have seven different players do it in same season.

⋅ Aaron Hicks, Tuesday: Third Yankee leadoff hitter this year (Ellsbury, Gardner) to draw three walks in a game. Last season where three different Yankees did it was 1953 (Gil McDougald, Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto).

⋅ A.J. Cole, Saturday: First Nats/Expos pitcher to throw 3⅔ innings or more of hitless relief, and also get a hit himself at the plate, since Dan Schatzeder at Mets, June 10, 1983.

⋅ Astros, Mon-Thu: First team to win four consecutive games, each by 9 runs or more, since the Detroit Wolverines in June 1887.

⋅ Brian Dozier & Eduardo Escobar, Friday: First time in Twins/Senators history that top two batters in order each had a homer, a double, and 3 RBI. Also second game in team history scoring 6+ runs with all of them driven in by those two spots (other was April 28, 1938).

⋅ Jose Ramirez, Sunday: Finished season with 56 doubles, 6 triples, and 29 homers. Only three players have ever reached all those marks in a season, and the others are both in the Hall of Fame. Joe "Ducky" Medwick did it in his triple-crown year of 1937, and Chuck Klein recorded those hits for the Phillies in 1930.

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