MVP favorites doing MVP things among 10 wild stats from the week

Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (July 28-August 3).

More history for Acuña: On Sunday, Ronald Acuña Jr. stole his 50th base of the season, becoming the first player in MLB history with at least 20 homers and 50 stolen bases before August in a season. Then on Wednesday, he hit his 25th home run. He has the 12th individual season in MLB history with at least 25 homers and 50 stolen bases and first since Hanley Ramirez in 2007. Acuña reached the marks in 106 games played, the fewest of anyone on the list.

Framber’s day: Framber Valdez threw the 16th no-hitter in Astros franchise history on Tuesday and was quite efficient. Valdez’s 93 pitches were the third-fewest in a no-hitter since pitch counts have been tracked (1988), behind only Darryl Kile’s 83 on Sept. 8, 1993, also for the Astros, and David Cone’s 88 in his perfect game on July 18, 1999.

And his catcher and manager: Martín Maldonado has now caught three no-hitters, tied for the third-most in MLB history, behind only Carlos Ruiz and Jason Varitek, with four each, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He’s the 18th player to be the starting catcher in at least three no-hitters. And Dusty Baker has now managed five no-hitters, tied for fourth-most in MLB history with Fielder Jones, Connie Mack, Leo Durocher and Bruce Bochy, according to Elias. Only Walter Alston (seven), A.J. Hinch (six) and John McGraw (six) managed more.

Patty pop time: The Giants won on Tuesday thanks to a game-ending pickoff at first base by Patrick Bailey. He had a 1.39-second pop time to first on the play. That’s tied for the fastest pop time to first tracked by Statcast (since 2015) and is the fastest pop time to first on a successful pickoff in that span.

More Soto homers: On Tuesday, Juan Soto recorded his 15th career multi-homer game. That’s tied for fifth-most before turning 25, behind only Eddie Mathews (19), Hal Trosky (18), Mel Ott (17) and Bob Horner (17). And as always, it’s worth noting that Soto’s pre-25 career includes the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Breaking records: Spencer Strider reached 200 strikeouts on the season Tuesday. He did so in 123 1/3 innings, the fewest to 200 strikeouts in a single season since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893. He broke his own record of 130 innings from last season. Strider induced 31 swings and misses in the game, his third outing with at least 30 this year. That’s the most games with at least 30 swings and misses in a single season in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008, including playoffs). He broke a tie at two with Jacob deGrom in 2020 and Clayton Kershaw in 2015.

Good start: Josh Bell, one of the Marlins’ Trade Deadline acquisitions, made a strong first impression on Wednesday with four hits. That’s tied for the most hits by a player in his Marlins debut, with JB Shuck (April 13, 2018), Emilio Bonifacio (April 6, 2009), Carlos Delgado (April 5, 2005) and Jeff Conine (April 5, 1993) in the first game in franchise history. That also means it's the most by an in-season acquisition Marlin in his debut.

And still unswept: Teams enter each series trying to win the series, but even just avoiding being swept is worth noting. To that end, the Orioles have now gone 74 straight series without being swept, entering the weekend. That’s tied with the 1904-06 A’s for fourth-most consecutive series of multiple games without being swept, per Elias. They trail only the 1942-44 Cardinals (125), 1903-05 Giants (106) and 1922-24 Yankees (83).

Mounted quite the effort: Part of how the Orioles extended that streak in their most recent series against the Blue Jays was a strong showing from Ryan Mountcastle, who went 11-for-13 with three walks and two sac flies over the four games. That .846 batting average was the second-highest in a series of at least four games since 1900, according to Elias (minimum 15 plate appearances). Only Adalberto Mondesi had a higher average, at .857 in a 2020 series against the Tigers.

Another unique Ohtani day: Shohei Ohtani threw four scoreless innings on Thursday before his pitching day was cut short due to cramping in his hand. But because he’s Ohtani, he was still in the game as DH and stole a base and homered. Ohtani became the first player with a home run and a stolen base in a game he started on the mound since Mudcat Grant on May 7, 1964. With his pitching results, it gets even rarer. Ohtani became the third player since 1900 with a home run, stolen base and scoreless pitching outing in the same game, per Elias. He joined Pablo Sandoval (May 6, 2019, 1 IP) and Christy Mathewson (May 23, 1905, 9 IP).