AROUND THE BASES
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK MLB: Philadelphia OF Rhys Hoskins
Hoskins hit his ninth home run Friday night in a 7-1 victory, making him the fastest player in MLB history to do so, needing only 54 at-bats. He is the first player since at least 1913 to hit nine homers in his first 16 games in the majors and his 21 RBI ranks third over that period.
Brewers: OF Domingo Santana
Very few hitters on the Brewers’ roster have done anything at the plate during the California portion of the three-city trip to Denver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Santana allowed the Brewers to avoid the ignominy of being no-hit Friday night at Dodger Stadium with a secondinning homer off Kenta Maeda.
BREWERS THIS WEEK
The Brewers finally are back home after their 10-day, ninegame trip but the schedule remains rugged. After a day off Monday, the home stand begins with two games against St. Louis and then four against first-place Washington.
DID YOU KNOW?
LHP Chris Sale’s luck against Cleveland didn’t change after being traded from the White Sox to the Red Sox. He has a 5.19 ERA against the Indians in 18 career starts, allowing 14 runs in two outings this season.
YOU FIGURE IT OUT
Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton has been on a crazy home-run pace, with 16 in August entering play Saturday. That surge boosted his overall total to 49, leaving him one shy of being the first NL player to reach 50 since the Brewers’ Prince Fielder in 2007. Stanton has a stated goal of reaching 62 homers, meaning he considers Roger Maris’ then-record of 61 in 1961 the gold standard, not anything Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds did. But he knows it won’t be easy. “I just want to hit the ball hard, and be in position to strike when they give me a pitch, because it’s going to get less and less,” he said. “I’ve got to be ready for that.”
QUOTE
“We mishandled far too many plays. We are in a rut here defensively.” – Boston manager John Farrell, after the Red Sox made five errors in a 16-3 loss to Baltimore.