Nine to Know: Hard to believe edition
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Carlos Gonzalez became the fifth player with at least three homers in a game this season matching the totals for 2007 and 2008
It’s hard to believe that the Seattle Mariners topped the Texas Rangers last night, 21-8, one night after defeating the Rangers 10-3. The Mariners had back-to-back eight-run innings in the 2nd and 3rd. The 21 runs are the most scored in a game this season, topping the Rangers and Rockies, who have each scored 18 runs.
- It’s hard to believe that there is just a 2.5 game differential between the AL East leading Baltimore Orioles, losers of five straight, and the last place Boston Red Sox, winners of seven of 10 and 14-of-20. Each team in both the AL and NL East is now at least two games over the .500 mark and all the teams, except for the Mets (-24) are in the plus run differential category. It’s hard to believe that the more Red Sox who are injured, the better the team plays.
- It’s hard to believe that the May Giancarlo Stanton outhomered the April Giancarlo Stanton, 12-1. Stanton hit his 12th home run of the month last night to tie the franchise record for a single month. Stanton hit .343 in May after hitting .247 in April. The Marlins completed a three-game sweep of the first-place Washington Nationals, 5-3.
- On the subject of the Marlins, it’s hard to believe that their April 8-14 (.364) record was followed by a franchise record 21-8 (.724) record in May, best in the majors.
- It’s not hard to believe that the Twins shut out the Oakland A’s yesterday 4-0 behind Francisco Liriano because the A’s are hitting a hard to believe .210 on the season. The lowest team BA the A’s have had in their franchise history is .223 in 1908.
- After defeating the Rays yesterday 4-3, it’s hard to believe that the White Sox have won eight straight, are in first place, and are 29-22 the same record as the Orioles and Rays and just two behind Texas for the best record in the AL.
- It’s hard to believe that a team batting .218 can have a .500 record, but the Pirates have both after topping the Reds yesterday, 2-1. The Bucs have the worst batting average in the NL, but the third best ERA in the NL at 3.25. Only Washington (3.03) and LA (3.14) have a better team ERA.
- It’s hard to believe that Melky Cabrera finished May with 51 hits, matching Randy Winn‘s San Francisco record for most hits in a month, set in September 2005. The Melk Man was 51-for-119 (.429) for the month. Mike Trout, who is off to good start, has been up 119 times this season and has 36 hits and a .303 avg.
- It’s hard to believe that Jamie Moyer lasted this long. The 49-year-old Moyer was designated for assignment by the Colorado Rockies yesterday but said he still had hopes of continuing his career. His immediate plan was to return home and attend a son’s high school graduation. Moyer was 2-5 with a 5.70 ERA and a horrible 1.733 WHIP. He also gave up 11 homers in 53.2 innings. In 1946, Bob Feller allowed 11 homers in 371.1 innings.
