|
Before the first meaningful pitch was thrown for the Red Sox in 2011, many wondered if this year's team could challenge the franchise record for wins, set by the 1912 World Series champs.That year, Boston won 105 games, thanks in large part to the brilliance of Smoky Joe Wood on the mound and Tris Speaker at the plate and in center field. Just 24-years-old that season, Speaker collected 222 hits, football free games led the league with 53 doubles, 10 home runs and a .464 on-base percentage and had a 1.031 OPS (for a 188 OPS+). The Red Sox cruised to the pennant that season and ended up winning an extraordinary World Series against the New York Giants, with Speaker collecting a key RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning of the winner-take-all final game.A century later, another Red Sox center fielder, Ja football free games coby Ellsbury, is putting together his own magnificent season, one that has seen this 28-year-old collect more total bases than even Speaker was able to accumulate in 1912.In the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, Ellsbury homered twice in a 3-for-4, two-run, two-RBI game. In the second game, he homered once in a 2-for-7, three-RBI game.The two home runs in the first game gave Ellsbury 30 for t football free games he season, making him the first 30-30 player in franchise history.Ellsbury, who has 38 stolen bases, is the third player in 2011 and the 57th player overall to have 30 steals and 30 home runs in a season. The three players in 2011 -- Ellsbury, Matt Kemp and Ryan Braun -- are the most in a single season since 2007 also produced three. The last time there was more than three in one year was 1997, w football free games hen four players did it.Wild Card racesThe Cardinals won while the Braves lost. With three games to play, Atlanta leads the National League Wild Card race by one game over St. Louis. The Braves host the Phillies for their final three games, while the Cardinals are in Houston for their final three-game set. For the season, the Braves are 6-9 against Philadelphia, while St. Louis has won eight an football free games d lost four against Houston.In the American League, the Red Sox split a doubleheader, while the Rays won their game and the Angels lost theirs. Boston leads the Wild Card race by one game over Tampa Bay and three games over the Angels. In their respective final series, Boston travels to Baltimore for three, Tampa Bay hosts the Yankees, and the Angels are at home for three against the Rangers. T football free games he Red Sox are 9-6 this year against the Orioles, the Rays are 6-9 against the Yankees, and the Angels are 7-9 against the Rangers.Clayton KershawThe Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw allowed two runs on four hits in 7 1/3 innings and won his 21st game of the season, striking out six and walked one. Kershaw leads the NL in ERA (2.28) and strikeouts (248) and is tied with Ian Kennedy for the league lead in football free games wins.WHIP-er snappersPitchers since 1901 to win at least 21 games and have a WHIP below 1.000 in his age-23 season or younger:PitcherYearWinsWHIPClayton Kershaw (23)201121*0.977*Roger Clemens (23)198624*0.969*Dwight Gooden (20)198524*0.965Vida Blue (21)1971240.952*Walter Johnson (22)1910250.914George McQuillan (23)1908230.984Kershaw leads the NL in ERA (2.28) and strikeouts (248), and he is tied w football free games ith Ian Kennedy for the league lead in wins. From 1901-2010, 30 pitchers have won a pitching Triple Crown, with 15 of them being National Leaguers. Kershaw could become the third different pitcher for the Dodgers franchise to achieve the feat, joining Dazzy Vance (1924) and Sandy Koufax (1963, 1965 and 1966). The most recent National League pitcher to capture the Triple Crown was Jake Peavy in football free games 2007.Kershaw, in his age-23 season, is: #149; The youngest pitcher to win 21 games since Dontrelle Willis won 22 in 2005, in his age-23 season. #149; The youngest pitcher to win at least 21 with an ERA below 2.30 since Dwight Gooden (24 wins, 1.53 ERA) in 1985. Since 1901, 18 pitchers before Kershaw have done this, with 14 of the 18 doing it before the start of the liveball era. The four others football free games since 1920: Hal Newhouser in 1944 (29 wins, 2.22 ERA), Dick Ellsworth in 1963 (22 wins, 2.11 ERA), Vida Blue in 1971 (24 wins, 1.82 ERA) and Gooden. #149; The youngest pitcher to win at least 21 games with an ERA+ of at least 160 since Roger Clemens (24 wins, 169 ERA+) in 1986, in his age-23 season. The last southpaw to do it at this age (or younger) was Vida Blue in 1971. Kershaw's ERA+ curren football free games tly sits at 163. #149; The sixth pitcher since 1901 to be in his age-23 season or younger, win at least 21 games, and have a WHIP below 1.000 (Kershaw is at 0.977 - the best figure in the NL).Colorado RockiesIn Houston, on the strength of 25 hits, the Rockies beat the Astros, 19-3. The 25 hits tied for the second most for a club this season. On June 27, the Dodgers collected 25 against the Twins. football free games On July 25, the Rangers had 27, also against the Twins.The 25 hits are the most for the Rockies in franchise history, exceeding the previous record of 24. Colorado collected 24 in a home game against the Expos on May 3, 2000, and then matched that total as the visitors when playing the Pirates on Aug. 3, 2003.The 25 hits allowed are the second most in Astros history, behind the 26 the team gave football free games up in a loss to the Reds on Aug. 3, 1989.The Rockies had three players with four hits (Jordan Pacheco, Ty Wigginton, Thomas Field) and six players with at least three hits (Mark Ellis, Seth Smith and Kevin Kouzmanoff each had three). It is the fifth time in franchise history the Rockies have had a trio of four-hit players and the first time they've seen as many as six players collect at least thre football free games e hits. The last NL team to have as many as six players with at least three hits was Pittsburgh on May 13, 2004, against the Rockies.Kevin Kouzmanoff and Chris Iannetta each drove in five runs, marking the sixth time in franchise history the Rockies had a pair of players with at least five RBIs. The last time it happened was on May 12, 2009, also against the Astros.Milwaukee Brewers and Ryan Bru football free games anThe Brewers beat the Marlins 9-5 to improve to 94-65 overall and 55-23 at home. The 55 home wins are the most in franchise history, surpassing the record of 54 tallied by the 1978 club. Since the adoption of the 162-game schedule (by the AL in 1961 and the NL in 1962), 53 teams have won at least 55 home games. The 1961 Yankees, who collected 65 wins at home, hold the top mark. Milwaukee's 94 wi football free games ns are the third most in franchise history, behind the 95 collected by the 1979 and 1982 teams.Ryan Braun went 2-for-3, hit his 33rd home run, drove in his 110th run, and raised his batting average to a National League-leading .333. Braun's OPS+ stands at 167, which would be the highest ever for a Brewers player. Robin Yount (1982) and Prince Fielder (2009) share the top mark of 166.Braun's slug football free games ging percentage is currently .599. Only six players who have had 30 homers and 30 steals in a season (Braun has 31 stolen bases to go along with his 33 home runs) have ever slugged .600 or better. Those six: Larry Walker (.720 slugging percentage in 1997), Ellis Burks (.639 in 1996), Ken Williams (.627 in 1922), Willie Mays (.626 in 1957) and Barry Bonds (.624 in 1992 and .615 in 1996).Texas Ran football free games gersThe Rangers' Ian Kinsler hit his 31st home run and stole two bases to give him 29 for the season. Kinsler, who joined the 30-30 club in 2009, is one steal away from joining Alfonso Soriano as the only second basemen in history to have multiple seasons with 30 homers and 30 steals. Soriano had three such seasons (and also had a fourth 30-30 campaign as an outfielder).The Rangers' Adrian Beltr football free games e went 3-for-4 with his 30th home run of the season. Among third basemen since the start of the 2010 season, Beltre has the most RBIs (203), the most total bases (588), the most extra-base hits (142), and has hit the second-most home runs (58).In the Rangers' 12-5 win over the Mariners, Derek Holland picked up his 16th victory of the season. Holland's win gave Texas starters 73 victories in 2011 football free games -- the most in the AL and the second most in the Majors to the Phillies' 74. Brewers starters have 72, and the Diamondbacks' and Yankees' starters each have 71.The Rangers win over the Mariners gave Texas 52 victories at home this season, tying the 2011 club with the 1978 team for the most in franchise history.Roy Halladayhalladay's elite companyPitchers since 1920 to have at least 180 wins and a football free games n ERA+ of at least 130 through his age-34 season:PitcherERA+WinsPedro Martinez161206Roger Clemens149213Greg Maddux145240Lefty Grove144203Carl Hubbell141192Tom Seaver139235Roy Halladay138188Bob Gibson134190Whitey Ford133199Hal Newhouser130207Roy Halladay pitched six scoreless innings and picked up his 19th win of the season, as the Phillies defeated the Mets, 9-4. Halladay owns a 2.35 ERA -- the lo football free games west for a Phillies pitcher since Curt Schilling's 2.35 in 1992.Halladay's ERA+ is currently at 164. If the end of the season sees it at 160 or better, he will be the first Phillies pitcher since Pete Alexander in 1915-1916 to post back-to-back seasons of at least 160 (Halladay was at 167 last year).With the effort, Halladay's career record stands at 188-92, with a 138 ERA+. In the liveball era, football free games he is one of 10 pitchers to have at least 180 wins and an ERA+ of at least 130, through his age-34 season.Here and there #149; The Dodgers' Matt Kemp went 1-for-5 with an RBI double and saw his batting average dip to .324. While Kemp still holds the outright lead in RBIs (120 to Ryan Howard's 115) and is still tied with Albert Pujols for the most home runs in the NL with 37, he trails the battin football free games g leader Ryan Braun by nine points, with Jose Reyes still second at .331. #149; Ross Detwiler (six innings, four hits) and three relievers combined on a four-hit shutout as the Nationals defeated the Braves 3-0. The game gave Washington 10 team shutouts on the season -- the most for the franchise since the 2004 Expos had 10. In their past 15 games, the Nationals are 12-3 and have a team ERA of 2. football free games 06. They are the 18th team this season to have at least 10 team shutouts. The last time that many teams reached double-digits was in 1991, when 19 of the 26 teams had 10-or-more team shutouts. #149; Dontrelle Willis allowed three runs in six innings and recorded his first win since June 5, 2010, as the Reds beat the Pirates 5-4. Willis finished the season 1-6 with a 5.00 ERA in 75.2 innings, and football free games at the plate, collected 12 hits in 30 at-bats, with three doubles, a triple, a home run and four RBIs. #149; The Rays' 5-2 victory over the Blue Jays marked the 27th win in a row for Tampa Bay when scoring at least five runs. Over the past 10 years, the longest such streak is shared by the 2003-04 Marlins and 2009-10 Braves, who each won 42 consecutive games when scoring five-plus runs. #149; Hu football free games nter Pence hit his 21st home run of the season and needs four more in the last three games to get to exactly 25 for the fourth consecutive season. #149; Starlin Castro went 1-for-4 to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 37 games. Since 1919, Castro's 37-game streak is the 10th longest for any Cubs player in a season. Those Cubs with longer single-season streaks in the liveball era: Rigg football free games s Stephenson (44 in 1928); Jerome Walton (43 in 1989); Gabby Hartnett (42 in 1937); Stan Hack (41 in 1945); Hack Wilson (40 in 1929); Jim Hickman (40 in 1970); Ron Santo (39 in 1966 and 39 in 1969); Hack Wilson (38 in 1930). Castro now has 203 hits -- the ninth most ever for a player in his age-21 season or younger.fab foursTeams in the past 10 seasons to have four pitchers with at least 20 starts football free games , 10 wins and an ERA+ of at least 110:YearTeamPitchers2011D-backsKennedy (137), Collmenter (116), Hudson (115), Saunders (110)2011PhilliesHalladay (164), Lee (162), Hamels (141), Worley (128)2011RangersWilson (150), Harrison (129), Ogando, Holland (113)2008Red SoxMatsuzaka (160), Lester (144), Beckett (115), Wakefield (112)2006TigersVerlander (126), Robertson (119), Rogers (119), Bonderman (112)20 football free games 05White SoxBuehrle (144), Garland (128), Contreras (125), Garcia (116)2002BravesMaddux (159), Glavine (140), Millwood (129), Moss (122) #149; Josh Collmenter allowed two runs in seven innings and picked up his 10th win of the season, as the D-backs beat the Giants, 5-2. With Collmenter's win, Arizona has four pitchers with at least 20 starts and 10 wins with an ERA+ of at least 110. They are the football free games seventh team in the past 10 seasons to make this claim, and one of three to do it this season. #149; Tim Lincecum struck out three to bring his season total to 220 and his five-year career total to 1,127. With the career total, Lincecum fell 28 shy of tying Tom Seaver for the most since 1893 for any pitcher in his first five years. #149; In the first game of a doubleheader, Derek Jeter went 3- football free games for-4 with two runs scored and one driven in. The three-hit game was the 907th multi-hit game of his career, leaving him four behind Carl Yastrzemski for the ninth most in the liveball era. Since returning from the disabled list on July 4, Jeter has played in 67 games and owns a .338/.387/.457/.844 slash line. football free games
|