Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (Aug. 22-28).
This is 50: Paul Skenes made his 50th career start on Sunday. He finished the day with a 2.02 career ERA. That’s the second-lowest ERA through 50 career starts of any pitcher in the live ball era (1920), behind only Vida Blue at 2.01.
On the verge of 40: Junior Caminero hit his 38th and 39th homers of the season on Monday. He will be 22 years and 85 days old on the final day of the season. He’s the fifth-youngest player with at least 39 homers in a season, by age at the end of the season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The only younger players to reach that mark are 1929 Mel Ott (20y 218d, 42 HR), 2019 Ronald Acuña Jr. (21y 285d, 41), 1953 Eddie Mathews (21y 349d, 47) and 2017 Cody Bellinger (22y 80d, 39).
Skuuuub: Tarik Skubal notched his seventh outing this season with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks. That tied Gerrit Cole in 2019 for the most such outings in a season in at least the last 125 seasons. It was his 10th outing with at least 10 strikeouts this year, tying Mickey Lolich in 1969 for the second-most 10-strikeout games in a season in Tigers history, behind only Lolich’s 11 in 1971.
Star(ling) performance: Starling Marte had quite a day on Saturday, with a home run, two stolen bases and an outfield assist. Marte was the first player with at least a homer, outfield assist and two stolen bases in a game since Luis Robert on Aug. 5, 2023. At 36 years and 318 days, he became the second-oldest player to do this in at least the last 50 years, younger than only Tony Gwynn on May 2, 1997 at 36 years and 358 days.
It’s how you finish: The Braves entered the ninth inning in Miami on Tuesday tied, 2-2. By the time they were done in the top of the inning, it was 11-2. Their nine runs were tied for the third-most in the ninth inning of a game that was tied entering the frame, per Elias. The only teams with more runs were the Tigers on Aug. 8, 2001 (13) and Boston Braves on May 3, 1950 (11).
Green(e) eggs and slam: Riley Greene crushed a grand slam on Tuesday over the batter’s eye in Sacramento. The home run traveled 471 feet, the longest home run by a Tigers player under Statcast (2015). It also tied Giancarlo Stanton on April 5, 2021 for the second-longest grand slam in that span, behind only Kyle Schwarber’s 473-foot grand slam on July 28, 2019.
Four, four and four: The Yankees hit four home runs in the third inning against the Nationals on Wednesday, the third time they hit at least four home runs in an inning this season. They became the first team in MLB history with three different innings with at least four home runs in a season.
Geno: Eugenio Suárez hit his 42nd home run of the season on Wednesday. He now has sole possession of the third-most home runs in a season by a player to play for multiple teams in MLB history, trailing 1997 Mark McGwire (58) and 2017 J.D. Martinez (45). Suarez broke a tie at 41 with 2000 David Justice and 1996 Greg Vaughn.
Roman Empire: Roman Anthony hit a leadoff home run on Monday, becoming the youngest player in Red Sox franchise history with a leadoff home run at age 21 years and 104 days, per Elias. Then, on Wednesday, he did it again. He became the fourth-youngest player with multiple leadoff homers in a series since 1900, older than only Fernando Tatis Jr. in 2019 (20 years, 208 days), Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2018 (20 years, 238 days — three leadoff home runs) and Mike Trout in 2012 (21 years, 31 days).
Current Ironman: Matt Olson has played 754 consecutive games entering Friday, dating to May 2, 2021. There have been only five other streaks of at least 600 to begin in the divisional era (1969), per Elias. They belong to 1982-98 Cal Ripken Jr (2,632 consecutive games), 1975-83 Steve Garvey (1,207), 2000-07 Miguel Tejada (1,152), 1978-83 Pete Rose (745) and 1981-86 Dale Murphy (740).
