Strikeout record set for 10th year in row
Through Wednesday, Yankees’ Judge led MLB with 204 K’s.
Major League Baseball hitters have again swung — and missed — into the record book.
For the 10th straight year, MLB batters have set the mark for most strikeouts in a season. They did it Wednesday, raising the whiff total to 39,168. That topped the 38,982 who fanned in 2016.
The final game of the day was at Dodger Stadium and, fittingly, the last out came when Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen got San Diego’s Jabari Blash to swing at strike three.
Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has fanned the most often, 204 times (through Wednesday). He’s also hit 50 home runs, helping MLB set a record for the highest homer total in a season.
Boston ace Chris Sale leads all pitchers with 308 strikeouts.
With four days left in the regular season, the Brewers top the majors with 1,537 strikeouts. The AL West champion Astros have the fewest at 1,050.
Athletics: Bob Melvin is set to manage at least two more years in Oakland, with his latest extension taking him through 2019.
He had been signed through 2018 in a deal he reached in September 2015. In late July, the 55-year-old earned his 1,000th managerial win.
The A’s have repeatedly expressed their commitment to having Melvin as their field leader, though they could finish last in the AL West for a third straight season following three consecutive playoff years.
A Manager of the Year in both leagues, Melvin’s 535 wins trail only Tony La Russa (798) and Art Howe (600) in Oakland history. Melvin has a 1,028-1,040 record in 14 years managing.
White Sox: Starting pitcher Carlos Rodon had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder and could miss the beginning of next season, general manager Rick Hahn said.
Hahn said the left-hander should miss six to eight months after the surgery, which revealed significant bursitis, which was removed in Wednesday’s surgery.
Rodon, 24, missed nearly the first three months of the season with shoulder and biceps problems and went 2-5 with a 4.15 ERA in 12 starts before returning to the disabled list Sept. 8.
In three seasons, Rodon is 20-21 with a 3.95 ERA.
Nationals: Bryce Harper was out of the starting lineup Thursday night because he felt sore after returning this week from a knee injury that sidelined him for about a quarter of the season, but manager Dusty Baker said, “Don’t be alarmed.”
Baker said nothing new cropped up with Harper, who hyperextended his left knee during a game in August and missed 42 games. “We decided it would be best to give him the day off,” Baker said, “and then he’ll try to play through the weekend.”
Rangers: The team held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $1.1 billion retractable-roof stadium that is scheduled to open in time for the 2020 season.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred joined Rangers ownership and city officials for the ceremony Thursday across the street from the current stadium where the team has played since 1994.
George Coetzee and Tyrrell Hatton each shot 7-under 63 to lead the British Masters in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England.
Rory McIlroy, who was a late entry after failing to qualify for the PGA’s Tour Championship, shot 67.
The U.S. Women’s National Team Players Association is donating $16,000 to help get the union for players in the National Women’s Soccer League off the ground.
The NWSL Players Association represents more than 160 players who are not paid by the U.S. and Canadian soccer federations. Those federations pay the salaries of 33 national team players who are allocated across the five-year-old women’s professional league.