Another 10-game winning streak for the Dodgers
The Dodgers extended their winning streak to 10 games with their 1-0 win over the White Sox, matching their season high set June 16-25 It’s the third time in franchise history that the Dodgers had two winning streaks of at least 10 games in the same season; the other two came when the team called Brooklyn home: in 1953 (13-game and 10-game winning streaks) and 1955 (10 and 11).
Kershaw continues to dominate
Clayton Kershaw improved to 15-2 with another stellar performance in the Dodgers’1-0 win over the White Sox. Kershaw is the fifth pitcher in Dodgers history to win at least 15 of his first 17 decisions in one season, joining Joe McGinnity in 1900 (15-2), Freddie Fitzsimmons in 1940 (15-2), Preacher Roe in 1951 (15-2) and Don Newcombe in 1955 (16-1).
Kershaw has won his last eight starts, matching the longest such streak of his major-league career. He won eight straight starts in 2014. It is also the longest streak of its kind in the major leagues this season.
Turner is the leading hitter in the major leagues
Justin Turner went 1-for-5 in the Dodgers’ win over the White Sox on Tuesday night. The five plate appearances give Turner enough to qualify for the batting leaders. When Turner wakes up on Wednesday morning his .370 batting average will be the highest in the major leagues.
The last Dodgers player before Turner whose season batting average stood at .370 or better with as many plate appearances as Turner (292) was Duke Snider in 1954. Snider’s average was still in the .370’s as of early July of that season; he finished the year with a career-high .341 mark.
Another Boston marathon
Hanley Ramirez’s 15th inning home run gave the Red Sox a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays. Boston played 58 innings over the last four days: 16 on Saturday, 18 in a day/night doubleheader on Sunday, nine on Monday and 15 on Tuesday. That’s the most innings the Red Sox have played over any four-day span since 1994 (60): 18 innings in a doubleheader on August 6, then 21 in a doubleheader on August 7, nine on August 8, and 12 on August 9. The 1994 season ended on August 11 because of a player’s strike.
Ramirez’s walkoff homer in the 15th inning was the latest for a Red Sox player since Shea Hillenbrand hit one in the 18th inning of Dave Borkowski of the Tigers on June 5, 2001.
Harper outduels Trout
Bryce Harper won the battle against Mike Trout by going 4-for-4 with a home run in the Nationals’ win over the Angels. It was the second game this season in which Harper went 4-for-4 or better with at least one home run. He went 4-for-4 with two homers in Atlanta on April 19. Only two players in Expos/Nationals franchise history had two such games in one season: Andre Dawson (1978 with the Expos) and Josh Willingham (2009).
Twins add sexy
Bartolo Colon made his Twins debut on Tuesday night with a start against the Yankees. Minnesota is the 10th major-league team Colon has started for, becoming the fifth pitcher in major-league history to start for 10 different teams. Mike Morgan holds the all-time record; he started at least one game for 12 different teams.
Judge snaps slump
Aaron Judge’s RBI single in the Yankees’ five-run fifth inning put New York ahead to stay in the team’s 6-3 win over the Twins. Judge had been hitless in his last 15 at-bats with runners on base prior to that hit, the longest such streak of his brief major-league career.
Wacha blanks Mets
Michael Wacha threw a three-hit shutout for the Cardinals against the Mets on Tuesday night. Wacha is 4-0 with a 1.01 ERA over this last four starts. It’s the second time in his career that Wacha earned a win in four consecutive starts; he also did it in April 2015 (4-0, 2.42 ERA).
Carpenter likes the first pitch
Matt Carpenter rapped out four hits, three on the first pitch of the at-bat in the Cardinals’ 5-0 win over the Mets on Tuesday night. The only other Cardinals player to produce three or more first-pitch hits in a game over the last four seasons (2014-2017) was Yadier Molina against the Mets on Aug. 23, 2016. Carpenter entered the game with only six first-pitch hits this season.
Castellanos has a big game
Nicholas Castellanos rapped out four hits, including two homers, and had five RBIs in the Tigers’ win over the Royals. It’s the second time in his career that Castellanos has had a game in which he had four hits, two homers and five RBIs, the other coming at Wrigley Field in 2015. Seven other players in Tigers history had two or more games with at least four hits, two homers and five RBIs: Hank Greenberg (three), Rudy York (three), Charlie Gehringer (two), Willie Horton (two), Kirk Gibson (two), Dmitri Young (two) and Miguel Cabrera (two).
Davis slams Rangers
Chris Davis hit two home runs, including a grand slam, as the Orioles hammered the Rangers on Tuesday night. Davis has hit eight grand slams since he joined the Orioles in 2011, the most in the major leagues over that span. Davis’s total of eight slams tied Cal Ripken, Jr. and Chris Hoiles for the second most in the history of the franchise, behind Eddie Murray (16).
Franco’s late homer wins it for Phils
Maikel Franco’s solo home run in the eighth inning off Dustin McGowan gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead over the Marlins, a lead they never relinquished. It was the fourth go-ahead home in the eighth inning or later of Franco’s major league career. Franco also hit go-ahead homers that late in a game in Washington on June 12, 2016 (off Jonathan Papelbon), at Citi Field on Sept. 22, 2016 (off Addison Reed), and on June 4 of this season against the Giants (off Derk Law). The Phillies held on to win only two of those four games.
Nova is money at PNC
Ivan Nova threw six solid innings and improved to 10-3 with a 2.67 ERA in 15 starts at PNC Park since he made his first start there on Aug. 6, 2016. That matches the most wins for any pitcher at any venue since that date. Corey Kluber is 10-2 at Progressive Field since that date.
The last Pirates pitcher to win 10 of his first 15 home starts was Zane Smith spanning the 1990 and 1991 seasons. Smith was 11-3 with a 2.04 ERA in his first 15 home starts for the Pirates.
Diamondbacks’ win is extra special
Nine different Diamondbacks cracked an extra-base hit in their win over the Reds on Tuesday night, the most they have ever had in one game in franchise history. One other big-league team had nine different players with an extra-base hit in a game this season: the Rockies against the Nationals on April 25.
Six of those extra-base hits came in the Diamondbacks’ six-run fifth inning. It was the third time this season that a team knocked out six extra-base hits in an inning, joining the Red Sox (May 6) and the Mets (June 23).
Parra is hot
Gerardo Parra went 3-for-3 with an RBI in the Rockies’ win over the Padres. Parra has driven in a run in each of his last eight games (12 total RBIs); matching the longest such streak in the major leagues this season. Marwin Gonzalez had his streak of eight consecutive games with an RBI snapped earlier this month.
Senzatela earns win #10
Antonio Senzatela pitched well enough to win and improve his record to 10-3 in 16 starts this season. Only four other pitchers in Rockies history won at least 10 of their first 16 starts in one season: Ubaldo Jimenez in 2010 (14-1), Shawn Chacon in 2003 (11-3), Aaron Cook in 2008 (10-4) and Jason Marquis in 2009 (10-5).