THIS WEEK IN MLB
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK MLB: New York Yankees RF Aaron Judge
Judge established a home run record for rookies by getting to 50, continuing an amazing season in which he now is hearing MVP chatter. Judge’s 51st homer was his 32nd at Yankee Stadium, tying Babe Ruth’s record for home runs at home set in 1921 at the Polo Grounds.
BREWERS: RHP Chase Anderson
Anderson capped a brilliant regular season (12-4, 2.74) with seven innings of three-hit ball Friday night in a 5-3 victory over St. Louis. His .750 winning percentage (minimum 15 decisions) is the highest by a Brewers pitcher since Moose Haas went 13-3 (.813) in 1982.
BREWERS THIS WEEK
The Brewers went into Saturday needing to win their last two games in St. Louis and have the Rockies lose their last two at home to the Dodgers to force an extra game in Denver on Monday for the second wild-card berth. Otherwise, it was back home to take solace in a better-than-expected season.
DID YOU KNOW?
The 15 strikeouts in seven innings by the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka on Friday matched Washington’s Stephen Strasburg (May 27 vs. San Diego) for the most in a game this season. It also matched Yu Darvish’s 2013 mark for most strikeouts in a game by a Japanese pitcher.
YOU FIGURE IT OUT
There’s no better team story in 2017 than Minnesota making the postseason a year after losing a major-leaguehigh 103 games. Not to mention the fact management sold off parts before the trade deadline, when it looked as if the team was going nowhere.
“I’ve never been so proud of a group of guys in my entire life,” second baseman Brian Dozier said.
The turnaround began in early August when the Twins won four straight from the Brewers, en route to going 2010 that month. That put them back in the hunt and energized the team.
“Everybody stepped up,” manager Paul Molitor said. “We’re headed to October, and who knows what can happen from there?”
QUOTE
“It’s a big number. It takes six months to get there. I’m proud of our guys, obviously.” – Astros manager A.J. Hinch, on the team’s 100th victory.