Guerrero Jr. powers up; Astros streaking again
Baltimore Orioles on May 19. Bieber needed just 107 pitches to reach the milestone.
Detroit Tigers
The Tigers haven’t had many reasons to celebrate this season. However, 1B Miguel Cabrera is providing something for fans to track as he continues to move up the career hits list.
Cabrera’s single in the ninth inning May 18 in a loss to the Oakland Athletics was the 2,722nd hit of his career, putting him ahead of Lou Gehrig and into 63rd place. That also left the 36-year-old 278 hits shy of 3,000.
Cabrera, who was limited to 38 games last season before undergoing biceps surgery, was hitting a team-high .291 through 43 games but had only one home run. He averaged 33 home runs a year from 2004 to 2016 but has hit only 20 homers since then.
❚ The loss was the Tigers’ 15th straight against the Athletics. Thar marked the most consecutive games the Tigers had lost against one team since dropping 14 in a row to the Los Angeles Angels in 2002-03.
Kansas City Royals
2B Nicky Lopez made a good first impression after being called up from Class AAA Omaha (Papillion, Nebraska) by going 8-for-25 (.320) with three doubles in his first six games.
Lopez made his major league debut May 14 after hitting .353 with three home runs and nine stolen bases in 31 games with Omaha. Last season, Lopez won the George Brett Award as the top hitter in the Royals’ farm system.
He was drafted in the fifth round in 2016 out of Creighton and reached Class AA in 2017.
The Royals shifted IF-OF Whit Merrifield from second base to right field following Lopez’s promotion. OF Jorge Soler had been the starting right fielder but became the primary designated hitter instead.
❚ RHP Jakob Junis has allowed nine first-inning runs in his 10 starts this season. Opponents are 14-for-42 (.333) with four home runs against him in the first.
Minnesota Twins
DH Nelson Cruz is expected to return to the lineup May 24, when he first can be activated from the injured list.
Cruz was placed on the IL because of a strained right wrist retroactive to May 15. The Twins were hoping to keep Cruz on the active roster but decided to make the move once he missed four straight games.
3B Miguel Sano, who returned from the IL last week after being sidelined by a lacerated right heel, has been getting most of the at-bats at DH. IF-OF Marwin Gonzalez has been playing third base.
❚ The Twins cut their losses with RP Addison Reed and designated him for assignment after he allowed eight runs, including four homers, over five one-inning appearances on a rehab assignment at Class AAA Rochester (New York). Reed was in the second year of a two-year, $16.75 million contract.
AL WEST
Houston Astros
After their second 10-game winning streak of the season, the surging Astros continued to pull away from the rest of the division. They matched the 1941 St. Louis Cardinals and 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers as the only teams to win 10 games in a row twice before June 1.
Houston’s bad start this season — it lost five of its first seven games — is a distant memory. Through May 19, the Astros’ 3116 record led the majors.
“Obviously, it’s a huge accomplishment,” manager AJ Hinch said. “You put these streaks together and they’re fun.”
❚ The Astros continued to show patience with 2B Jose Altuve’s left hamstring injury. The former AL MVP, mired in an 11for-68 (.162) skid before he was hurt, didn’t return from the injured list when he was eligible, and the team is hoping his downtime gives him a chance to reboot his season.
Los Angeles Angels
IF Tommy La Stella’s swing path is different, and so are the results.
Even though he has Mike Trout, a two-time AL MVP, as a teammate, La Stella’s 11 home runs led the Angels through May 19. In La Stella’s 947 career plate appearances before the season, he had hit 10 homers.
Not only has La Stella developed a more elevated swing, he’s getting consistent playing time with 3B Zack Cozart (neck) battling an injury and continuing to struggle. La Stella, who has spent most of his career as a backup scratching for at-bats, has flourished in a more consistent role.
❚ Rookie RHP Griffin Canning, a former first-round pick, continues to provide a boost to a struggling rotation. Canning pitched seven scoreless innings May 18 in a win over the Kansas City Royals. It was the longest stint of his pro career, including the minors.
Oakland Athletics
RHP Daniel Mengden was called up to give the starters a blow but made it difficult to send him back to the minors when he limited the Detroit Tigers to one run in seven innings May 18.
That gave the A’s three straight starts of at least seven innings, following similar outings by RHPs Chris Bassitt and Frankie Montas.
With a fastball barely above 90 mph, Mengden relies on a wide-ranging repertoire of pitches to keep hitters offstride.
❚ RHP Jharel Cotton, who underwent Tommy John elbow surgery last year, continued to make progress. He could return before the All-Star break.
Seattle Mariners
The Mariners sought positive news after their 13-2 start was followed by a 4-15 skid. So they welcomed back LHP Wade LeBlanc (strained muscle in right side) while saying goodbye, for now, to their top prospect, RHP Erik Swanson.
However, LeBlanc gave up seven runs in 21⁄3 innings against the Minnesota Twins in his first start in five weeks. Several sour performances punched Swanson’s ticket back to Class AAA Tacoma (Washington).
The Mariners then sought help for their equally shaky bullpen by swapping relievers with the Braves. Seattle sent RHP Anthony Swarzak and cash to Atlanta for LHP Jesse Biddle and RHP Arodys Vizcaino, who is out for the season after shoulder surgery last month.
❚ 3B Kyle Seager is expected to make his season debut May 25. He underwent surgery in March to repair a torn tendon in his left hand.
Texas Rangers
Now that he has improved his secondary pitches, RHP Ariel Jurado’s primary role will be as a starter.
Jurado pitched out of the bullpen eight times before getting his first start of the season May 18. And even though he gave up four runs (two earned) in 41⁄3 innings and took the loss against the St. Louis Cardinals, he showed that his off-speed pitches — which he uses in any count — are an effective complement to his power game of sinkers and fastballs.
When scuffling RHP Shelby Miller was demoted to the bullpen, it presented an opportunity for Jurado, who went 5-5 with a 5.93 ERA in 12 games, eight of them starts, for the Rangers last year.
Since going 6-17 despite a 3.02 ERA for the Atlanta Braves in 2015, Miller began the week with a 6-21 record and 6.90 ERA since then for the Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks.
❚ RHP Shawn Kelley had two lumps removed from his neck but was expected to resume as the closer. Kelley said he felt fine and his arm was OK as he awaited test results.