5 Things: Midwest And West Coast Baseball Is Where It's At
By Sam McPherson
Another week has flown by in the 2016 Major League Baseball season, and now there's just one week to go before the All-Star Game in San Diego. Here's what you may have missed last week in MLB action!
Bryant bags 16 total bases in Cincinnati
The Chicago Cubs have been the best team in baseball all season, and now one of their players has added a historic feather to his blue cap. Third baseman Kris Bryant became the first player in baseball history to hit three home runs and two doubles in the same ball game last Monday against the Cincinnati Reds on the road.
Bryant went 5-for-5 with six RBI as even the Cincy crowd gave him an ovation (and out of respect for the Reds players, he refused to come out of the dugout). He's also the only the third player to slug an extra-base hit in every at-bat in one game. Joe Adcock pulled it off first in 1954, and Josh Hamilton matched the feat in 2012.
Oakland win Bay Bridge interleague series again
The San Francisco Giants may have won three World Series since 2010, but the Oakland Athletics still hold the head-to-head edge against them in interleague play. The last-place A's aren't good this year, and the first-place Giants probably are a bit overrated due to their very weak schedule. It showed last week, as Oakland trounced S.F. in three straight games—combined score of 28-15 in three wins—before the Giants salvaged the fourth game for some pride. Overall now, since interleague play began in 1997, the A's have a 57-53 record against the Giants, and Oakland has held that H2H edge since 2005. The A's haven't been to the World Series since 1990, but they're still usually good enough to annually best the Giants, evidently.
Melvin Upton Jr. giveth, and then he taketh away
The Padres are hosting the Midsummer Classic on July 12, but the team is going nowhere this season in the National League West Division. No sweat, because Melvin Upton, Jr. is reviving his career before our very eyes. After a disastrous two-year stint in Atlanta (2013-2014), Upton is showing us just how much he likes San Diego.
Even though his team lost the game to the Baltimore Orioles, Upton did everything he could. He hit a HR to leadoff the first inning, and later in the game, the center fielder made an amazing, over-the-fence grab of a potential HR for the opponent—and fired the ball to first base as well for an unlikely double play. With 13 HRs and 19 stolen bases currently, we think it's safe to say Melvin is back.
First Cleveland and now Detroit!
The Midwest had some streaking teams last week, and that's a good thing. First, Cleveland pushed its win streak to 14 games before finally dropping a game to Toronto, but it was the Detroit Tigers that ended up with a perfect 6-0 week in the end. The boys from Motown entered the week with a 38-38 record, and then the Tigers took two games at home from the Miami Marlins—scoring 17 runs in the process. Then it was off to face the other team from Florida on the road: In a four-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, the Tigers outscored their hosts, 28-12, and took all four games as Detroit gained two games on Cleveland in the American League Central Division standings. Justin Verlander won his eighth game of the season last Saturday, and he looked like the Verlander of old in the process.
The Angels make like the Los Angeles Rams at Fenway Park
Los Angeles 21, Boston 2. No, that's not an American Football League score from the 1960s between the Chargers and the Patriots. That was the score Saturday night at Fenway Park in Boston as the visiting Halos absolutely went crazy at the plate against the host Red Sox. An 11-run seventh inning did most of the damage for the Angels in this one, as they were already up 9-1 before that fateful inning.
Three different L.A. hitters drove in at least five runs each: First baseman C.J. Cron went 6-for-6 with five RBI; catcher Carlos Perez went 5-for-6 with six RBI; designated hitter Albert Pujols went 2-for-5 with five RBI. The best hitter in baseball—Mike Trout—strangely did not have an RBI on the night, although he did score three runs and lace two hits of his own against Boston pitching.
Sam McPherson is a freelance writer covering baseball, football, basketball, golf and fantasy sports for CBS Local. He also is an Ironman triathlete and certified triathlon coach. Follow him on Twitter @sxmcp, because he's quite prolific despite also being a college English professor and a certified copy editor.
