Historic homers, mound magic highlight stats of the week
Sarah Langs
Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (Aug. 9-15).
Jackson Prime: Jackson Merrill hit a game-tying homer in the ninth inning on Friday, then did the same in the eighth on Saturday. In total, Merrill has five game-tying or go-ahead home runs in the eighth inning or later this season, tied with 1929 Mel Ott for second-most in a season at age 21 or younger since 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He trails only 1956 Frank Robinson, who had six.
Snellzilla: Blake Snell has an .097 opponent batting average over his last seven starts, through Monday. That’s the fourth-lowest over a seven-start span since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893 (min. 100 batters faced), per Elias. He trails only Shohei Ohtani (9/29/22-4/21/23: .087), Jacob deGrom (5/9-6/21/21: .091) and Johan Santana (7/1-8/1/04: .093).
Cutch: Andrew McCutchen hit two homers on Sunday. At 37 years and 306 days old, only two Pirates players have had multiple home runs in a game at an older age: Willie Stargell, six times, and Roberto Clemente at 37 years and 318 days on July 1, 1972.
Four straight: On Tuesday, Emmanuel Clase became the first pitcher to record a save in each of four consecutive days since Edwin Diaz on Aug. 9-12, 2018 for the Mariners, per Elias. The only other pitcher to do so for Cleveland since saves became official (1969) was Jose Mesa, on Sept. 7-10, 1995 and May 28-31, 1995.
What a debut: Andrés Chaparro had three doubles in his MLB debut on Tuesday. That’s tied for the most by a player in his MLB debut since 1901, with 5/24/08 Nick Evans and 9/3/97 Ben Grieve. The three extra-base hits of any kind is a record in that span as well, with 8/7/10 J.P. Arencibia, Evans, 4/6/04 Kaz Matsui, 9/14/99 Mark Quinn, 9/5/98 Craig Wilson, Grieve and 9/11/42 Ed Freed.
Smash Burger: Jake Burger hit six homers in a six-game span through Tuesday. That tied for the most in a six-game span in Marlins history, with 2017 Giancarlo Stanton, 2010 Dan Uggla, 2008 Jorge Cantú and 2001 Cliff Floyd.
Jake the Snake: In 18 games since July 27, Jake McCarthy is hitting .455 with a .486 on-base percentage and .712 slugging percentage. Over a six-game span through Tuesday, he had 15 RBIs. The only D-backs player with more RBI in a six-game span was Steve Finley, who had 18 in 1999. The only other player with 15 RBIs in such a stretch was Matt Williams, also in 1999.
Soto homer: Juan Soto had his first career three-homer game on Tuesday. It was his 23rd career multi-HR game, second-most before turning 26, behind only Mel Ott’s 24. With two homers Sunday and another one on Wednesday, Soto is the sixth Yankee with at least six HR in a four-game span, joining 2007 Alex Rodriguez, 1962 Mickey Mantle, 1948 Joe DiMaggio, 1936 Tony Lazzeri and Babe Ruth in 1921 and 1930.
All rise: Aaron Judge hit his 300th career home run on Wednesday in his 955th game. That’s the fewest games played to 300 career home runs, passing 1,087 by Ralph Kiner. Judge now has 300 career HRs, 21 more than in any other player in his 1st 1,000 career games. Judge reached No. 300 in his 3,431st at-bat, passing Babe Ruth’s 3,831 for fewest career at-bats to 300 HR, per Elias.
Current Ironman: Matt Olson has played 579 consecutive games entering Friday, dating to May 2, 2021. There have been only six other streaks of at least 500 since 2000, per Elias. They belong to 2000-07 Miguel Tejada (1,152 consecutive games), 2018-22 Whit Merrifield (553), 2010-14 Prince Fielder (547), 2000-03 Alex Rodriguez (546), 2003-06 Hideki Matsui (518) and 2004-07 Mark Teixeira (507).
