Stats of the week: Verdugo sets tone, Elly's arm, 20-20 for Volpe and more

Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (August 25-31).

Leadoff prowess: Last Thursday, Alex Verdugo led off the game for the Red Sox with a home run. On Friday, he did the same. And on Saturday, he did yet again. He became the third player with at least three consecutive games with a leadoff home run since 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He joined 1996 Brady Anderson, who did so in four straight, and 2018 Ronald Acuna Jr.

Speed vs. speed: Elly De La Cruz made a 99.7 mph throw to the plate on Sunday to thwart Corbin Carroll’s bid at an inside-the-park home run. Carroll had elite, 30.4 ft/sec sprint speed on the play. De La Cruz’s throw was the second-fastest tracked assist by an infielder tracked by Statcast (since 2015), and he has the fastest, too (7/20/23: 99.8 mph). He now has eight 95.0+ mph assists as an infielder, twice as many as anyone else in a career under Statcast (Fernando Tatis Jr.: 4).

Grand events: Royce Lewis hit grand slams in back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday, marking his ninth and 10th career home runs. His first career homer, on May 13, 2022, was also a grand slam. Lewis became the 10th player with three grand slams within his first 10 career home runs, joining Dom Dallessandro, Russ Derry, David Eckstein, Brian Johnson, Justin Maxwell, Brian Roberts, Shane Spencer, Jim Tabor and Chris Taylor.

JULIOOO: Julio Rodríguez’s 28 hits in his last 10 games, through Monday, are the most by a player in a 10-game span since Kenny Lofton in 1997. Rodríguez’s five four-hit games are the most by a player in a 10-game span since 1900, per Elias. His five four-hit games in August tied for the second-most in a calendar month since 1901, behind May 1921 Ty Cobb’s six. Rodríguez’s five four-hit games were the most in a calendar month since August 1938 Zeke Bonura also had five.

Cobb’s gem: Alex Cobb had the performance of a lifetime on Tuesday, coming within an out of a no-hitter and finishing with a complete-game one-hitter. At 35 years and 326 days old, Cobb became the third-oldest Giants pitcher since 1901 to allow one or no hits in a complete game. He was younger than only Carl Hubbell in two one-hitters, on June 5, 1943 at age 39 years and 348 days old and on May 30, 1940 at 36 years and 343 days.

Dodgers’ winning ways: The Dodgers won 24 games in August, the third-most in a calendar month in franchise history, behind only August 1953 and July 1947, when they had 25 wins each. 21 of those wins were by multiple runs, tied for the sixth-most in a calendar month in MLB history, behind only the 1916 Giants in September (25 multi-run wins), 1938 Yankees in August (24), 1929 A’s in July (23), 1939 Yankees in May (22) and 1891 Beaneaters in September (22).

20-20: With his ninth-inning, game-tying homer on Thursday, Anthony Volpe became the sixth player with at least 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in his first MLB season. He joined 2022 Bobby Witt Jr., 2022 Rodríguez, 1995 Marty Cordova, 1987 Ellis Burks and 1977 Mitchell Page. He’s the 15th rookie overall to do so – remember, not every rookie is in his first year – and the second this year, with Corbin Carroll. The only other seasons with two 20-20 rookies were 2022, with Rodríguez and Witt and 1987, with Burks and Devon White.

Historic feat from Acuña: On Thursday, Ronald Acuña Jr. hit his 30th home run of the season, becoming the first player in MLB history with at least 30 homers and 60 stolen bases in a season. While the round-number feat is 30 homers and 60 stolen bases, Acuña was already in an exclusive club before his grand slam. On Monday, he hit his 29th home run of the season, while also adding his 60th and 61st stolen bases. He was in a group all his own the moment he got to 29 homers and 59 stolen bases, which nobody else has ever done.

Tight race: The top three teams in the AL West are all separated by a game or fewer. This is the third time since divisions began in 1969 that three teams in the same division were within a game or fewer of the lead entering September, joining the 1980 NL East and 1969 NL West.

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 82 straight series without being swept, entering the weekend. That’s the 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).