THIS WEEK IN MLB
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK MLB: Texas 3B Adrian Beltre
Beltre punched a first-ballot ticket to Cooperstown last Sunday by collecting his 3,000th hit, coincidentally while the 2017 class was being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He became the 31st player in major-league history to reach that plateau and the first from the Dominican Republic.
BREWERS: RHP Brandon Woodruff
Woodruff had to wait an extra seven weeks to make his major-league debut after straining a hamstring warming up the first time but didn’t disappoint when he finally took the mound Friday night at Tampa Bay. The 24-year-old righty pitched 61⁄3 shutout innings with six strikeouts to pick up the win in a 2-0 decision over the Rays.
BREWERS THIS WEEK
The Brewers and Twins resume their regional interleague rivalry with the like-it-or-not, two-and-two format. So, the teams will play Monday and Tuesday at Target Field and then Wednesday and Thursday at Miller Park. After that, Scooter Gennett and the Cincinnati Reds come to town for a weekend series.
DID YOU KNOW?
In a complete-game threehitter against the Yankees on Thursday, Cleveland’s Corey Kluber registered 11 strikeouts. He joined Randy Johnson (four times), Pedro Martinez (twice) and Nolan Ryan as the only pitchers in the modern era to record at least eight strikeouts in 12 or more games in a row.
YOU FIGURE IT OUT
The Dodgers have been dominant in so many ways this season, which made it noteworthy when they lost to the Braves, 5-3, Wednesday night as Atlanta catcher Tyler Flowers hit a tie-breaking, pinchhit, two-run homer in the eighth inning. The loss snapped the Dodgers’ major-league-record streak of 53 victories when leading at any point of a game. They led, 1-0 and 3-2, before the Braves rallied to win. Los Angeles had not lost when leading in a game since May 15 in San Francisco, when the Giants rallied for an 8-4 victory.
QUOTE
“I’d rather go 0-for-5 and get a win.” – Cubs catcher Willson Contreras, after hitting two homers and driving in six runs in a 10-8 loss to Arizona.