Davis takes MLB lead with 39th home run

MINNEAPOLIS -- Khris Davis came into Thursday's 6-4 A's loss as one of the hottest hitters in baseball and didn't take long to add to his home run tally vs. the Twins.
Davis launched a solo homer off of Minnesota starter Kohl Stewart to give the A's a 1-0 lead in their series opener. The blast traveled an estimated 396 feet, according to Statcast™.
It was Davis's 39th homer of the season, giving him the Major League lead. Thursday's long ball pushed him one ahead of Boston's J.D. Martinez. Davis has 103 RBIs, six behind Martinez, who leads the Majors.
Over the past five games, Davis is 8-for-15 with five homers and eight RBIs. It was his 10th homer in the month of August, tying him with Atlanta's Ronald Acuña Jr. for most in the big leagues this month.
Davis hit a career-high 43 home runs in 2017, and he's on pace for historical numbers this year. Projections have him finishing with 47 homers and 125 RBIs, totals reached by the same player in one season only twice in A's history -- and not for 85 years. In 1933, Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx hit 48 homers and drove in 163 runs, which was actually a dropoff from the 58 long balls and 169 RBIs he had in '32. Double X won the AL MVP Award both years.
• Jimmie Foxx's career stats
With one more home run, Davis will have his third consecutive season of 40 or more homers and 100-plus RBIs. Foxx is the only other Athletic to do that, from 1932-34. Mark McGwire also did it three times, though not consecutively, in 1987, '92 and '96.