Davis extends hitless streak to 49 at-bats
Oriole’s futility a record among MLB position players
Chris Davis went 0-for-5 to set a major league record for the longest hitless streak by a position player, extending his drought to 49 consecutive at-bats in the Baltimore Orioles’ 12-4 rout of the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.
Davis hit three flyballs before striking out in the seventh and eighth innings, leaving him 0 for 28 this season and 0 for 49 since hitting a double early in a game Sept. 14. The previous longest drought by a non-pitcher was 46 at-bats, by Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Eugenio Velez.
Davis owns a second dubious record all by himself. He hit .168 last year, the worst batting average in major league history for a qualified player.
Davis is in the fourth season of a $161 million, seven-year contract.
Jonathan Villar homered and had four RBIS, Trey Mancini went 3-for-3 with a homer, Cedric Mullins hit two triples and drove in three runs and rookie shortstop Richie Martin’s first multiple-hit game included a triple and a pair of singles. Mariners 13, Royals 5: Seattle’s Edwin Encarnacion homered twice in the sixth inning against Kansas City, becoming the fifth player to do it twice in a career. Encarnacion also accomplished the feat with the Toronto Blue Jays against the Houston Astros on July 26, 2013. The only other players to homer in the same inning twice are Alex Rodriguez, Jeff King, Andre Dawson and Willie Mccovey, per STATS. Encarnacion is the first to hit two home runs in an inning in almost three years. Mark Trumbo of the Angels did in on April 15, 2016, at Texas. The last Mariners to do it were Bret Boone and Mike Cameron, who did it in the same game at the Chicago White Sox May 2, 2002. Cameron hit four home runs in that game, tying the major league record.
Phillies 4, Nationals 3: Rhys Hoskins hit two solo homers and Odubel Herrera hit a two-run shot for Philadelphia. Kurt Suzuki and Brian Dozier went deep for Washington. Bryce Harper was 0-for-3 with a walk in his third game against his former team but helped prevent a Washington run with a perfect relay throw.
Cardinals 4, Dodgers 3: Marcell Ozuna homered to back a solid start by Miles Mikolas, and St. Louis rallied for a victory that ended Los Angeles’ five-game winning streak. For the Dodgers, the loss could be painful because of another groin injury to starting pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu, who left with two outs in the second inning. St. Louis rallied with two runs in the seventh. Jose Martinez singled off Joe Kelly (1-2) to drive in Matt Carpenter, who had singled off Scott Alexander. Paul Goldschmidt later scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Kelly.
Cubs 10, Pirates 0: Kyle Schwarber hit a tworun homer and Chicago’s beleaguered bullpen stepped up after Jon Lester departed with left hamstring tightness. Brad Brach, Brandon Kintzler, Randy Rosario and Pedro Strop combined for seven innings of four-hit ball after Lester was removed with two on and no outs in the third. Brach (1-0) pitched two innings for his first win with the Cubs. Pittsburgh had won four in a row, but it hurt itself with four errors, including three by shortstop Kevin Newman. Jameson Taillon (0-2) was charged with six unearned runs and four hits in two innings.
Rays 5, White Sox 1: Blake Snell (2-1) struck out 11 over six innings, giving up one run and six hits as Tampa Bay improved to 8-3 and kept pace with its best start since 2010. Avisail Garcia had two hits, including an RBI single in the second that made it 4-0. He also struck out three times against his former team. Tommy Pham scored two runs and extended his club-record on-base streak to 43 games.
Braves 8, Rockies 6: Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-run homer, Dansby Swanson tripled and drove in three runs and Nick Markakis went 3-for4 and drove in two runs for Atlanta. Trevor Story hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning for Colorado to close a 7-0 deficit to 7-6. But Swanson hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Acuna with an insurance run in the seventh.
Notes: President Donald Trump, reversing an agreement negotiated by the Obama administration, abruptly ended a deal between Major League Baseball and the Cuban Baseball Federation that had eased the path for players to compete in the United States without defecting from their country. The Trump administration said that the Cuban federation was part of the government in Havana, and as such, the deal constituted a violation of trade laws . ... First baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin, formerly of the Yankees, was traded to the San Francisco Giants from the Minnesota Twins for minor league outfielder Malique Ziegler.