AROUND THE BASES
THIS WEEK IN MLB
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK MLB: Colorado 3B Nolan Arenado Arenado has been on another of his insane offensive binges, batting .467 with five home runs and 16 RBI over his last seven games entering Saturday. For the season, he was batting .313 with 23 HRs and 89 RBI, most in the majors. Brewers: LHP Brent Suter Just when the sagging Brewers needed it most, Suter delivered a pitching gem Friday night in a 2-1 victory over the Cubs at Miller Park. Continuing to shine as a fill-in for injured Chase Anderson, Suter pitched seven shutout innings, allowing only four hits and one walk with five strikeouts.
BREWERS THIS WEEK After their huge weekend series at home against the Cubs, the Brewers face another NL Central rival when St. Louis comes to town for three games. After that, they go on the road to face another upstart contender in an interleague series in Tampa Bay.
DID YOU KNOW? Four of the first five hits for J.D. Martinez after joining Arizona were home runs, including a grand slam Thursday in a 4-0 victory over St. Louis.
YOU FIGURE IT OUT When you’re on deck, apparently you need to stay in the on-deck circle. Texas’ Adrian Beltre learned that the hard way Thursday night. For 20 years during his career, Beltre had stood away from the designated circle, lining up more behind the hitter at the plate. He did that because he had been struck by foul balls while in the on-deck circle. In the eighth inning of a 22-12 rout by Miami, second base umpire Gerry Davis instructed Beltre to get in the circle while waiting to hit. Beltre dragged the heavy mat to the place he wanted to stand and was immediately ejected by Davis. “I wasn’t being funny,” Beltre said. “He said you need to be on the mat, so I pulled the mat where I was and he threw me out. Why was that a problem today? I’ve been staying in the same spot the whole series.” Exactly.
QUOTE “I've been on winning teams before, and when you come to the ballpark, it's all smiles. Guys are joking around a lot. When you win, good stuff happens." – Todd Frazier, after being traded to the Yankees.