MLB Notebook: Cuddyer, Blue Jays extend streaks
On May 31, 1995, Colorado's Dante Bichette was sent up to pinch-hit in the top of the ninth inning. With two outs and a man on third, and with Bichette -- who was riding an eight-game hitting streak (and batting .444 over those eight games) -- facing lefty Tony Fossas, the slugger was walked intentionally. It would be the only plate appearance of the game for Bichette, thus keeping his hitting streak intact. Over the course of the next 15 games, Bichette would draw only two other walks, but he would hit safely in each, pushing his hitting streak to a team record 23 games.
• Colorado's Michael Cuddyer went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs and extended his hitting streak to 21 games while pushing his on-base streak to 40 straight contests.
• Cuddyer's hitting streak ties him with Larry Walker (1999) for the third longest in Rockies history. The top two marks are held by Bichette (23-game streak in 1995) and Vinny Castilla (22 straight in 1997).
• Cuddyer's 40-game streak of reaching safely is the longest for the 2013 season, and is the longest in one season since 2011, when Albert Pujols and Starlin Castro each posted 40-game runs.
• During his on-base streak, Cuddyer owns a .342/.391/.557 line. For the season, Cuddyer is at .339/.394/.573.
Blue Jays continue to soar
• The Blue Jays defeated the Orioles, 13-5, to run their winning streak to 11 straight.
• The winning streak is the longest of the season, and ties the franchise record. For the Majors in 2013, the Blue Jays had been tied with the Braves, who won 10 in a row in April. The previous 11-game winning streaks in Toronto's team history occurred in 1987 and 1998;
• The victory improved the Blue Jays' record to 15-4 in June -- a .789 winning percentage. Since 1982, the highest winning percentages for a team in June:
• 2002 Braves: .808 (21-5)
• 1991 Twins: .786 (22-6)
• 1998 Angels: .786 (22-6)
• 2010 Rangers: .778 (21-6)
• 2003 D-backs: .769 (20-6)
• 2004 Devil Rays: .769 (20-6)
• 2005 Nationals: .769 (20-6)
Wright, Harvey setting Mets' pace
• David Wright doubled twice, tripled and homered, Matt Harvey allowed two hits in six scoreless innings and the Mets defeated the Phillies, 8-0.
• Wright tied a Mets record with the four extra-base hits, last accomplished on Aug. 30, 1999, by Edgardo Alfonzo. Before Alfonzo, seven others had done it;
• Wright now has 577 extra-base hits in his career. Among third basemen through their age-30 season, that total places him fifth all-time, behind Eddie Mathews (708), Adrian Beltre (624), Ron Santo (614) and George Brett (591).
• Harvey leads the National League in hit rate, allowing 5.97 per nine innings. The lowest in Mets history for a qualifying pitcher is Sid Fernandez's 5.71 hits/9 in 1985. Fernandez's mark is the eighth lowest for any qualifying pitcher since 1893.
Cubs' Sweeney, Rizzo match longstanding marks
• Ryan Sweeney had two doubles, a homer and six RBIs in the Cubs' 14-6 win over the Astros. Sweeney is the fourth Cubs center fielder since 1916 to have a game with at least three extra-base hits and at least six RBIs. Hack Wilson did it on April 19, 1928, and then again on Sept. 12, 1930. Adolfo Phillips then matched the feat on June 11, 1967.
• In the Cubs victory, first baseman Anthony Rizzo was 3-for-3 with four runs scored and four RBIs. He joins Phil Cavarretta (July 3, 1945) as the only Cubs first basemen since 1916 to have a four-run, four-RBI game.
McCann slams way into second place
• The Braves defeated the Brewers, 7-4, with Brian McCann hitting his 10th career grand slam. With the slam, McCann broke out of a tie with Joe Adcock, and now is alone in second place on the Braves all-time list, behind Hank Aaron and his 16.
Ibanez stands out among seniors
• At the age of 41 years and 21 days, Seattle's Raul Ibanez homered twice.
• Ibanez now has 17 home runs for the season -- ninth most in history for any player in his age-41 or older season. In hitting the two, Ibanez passed Carl Yastrzemski (1982) and Graig Nettles (1986), each with 16. Carlton Fisk, who hit 18 in his age-42 season in 1990 and then another 18 in his age-43 season in '91, is next on the list.
• Dating back to 1916, Ibanez is the 27th player to have a multi-homer game after his 41st birthday. He is the first do to it since Moises Alou (41 years, 40 days) on Aug. 12, 2007.
Dunn reaches the seats
• Adam Dunn hit his 20th home run of the season, giving him 11 seasons with 20+ in his 13-year career.
• Dunn is one of 29 players in history with at least 11 20-homer seasons through his first 13 years. Only Mathews is 13-for-13, although Pujols would join him with seven more home runs this season.
• Dunn's 426 homers through his first 13 seasons are the 10th most all-time.
• Dunn is now halfway to 40, a number he's finished with (exactly) four times in his career. Looking at specific home run totals, from 20 through 40, six other players finished a season with the same number on four occasions, and one other player had the same number of home runs at the end of five different seasons.
• Bobby Abreu: finished with 20 homers five times.
• Al Kaline: finished with 27 home runs four times.
• Ken Boyer: finished with 24 home runs four times.
• Fred Lynn: finished with 23 home runs four times.
• Travis Fryman: finished with 22 home runs four times.
• David Justice: finished with 21 homers four times.
• Harold Baines: finished with 20 home runs four times.
Reds trio teams up in win
• Mat Latos tied a career high with 13 strikeouts, and picked up the win as the Reds defeated the D-backs, 4-2. Latos -- whose first 13-strikeout game came almost exactly one year ago (June 25) -- is one of five Reds pitchers since 1916 to have multiple outings with at least 13 strikeouts. Jim Maloney had 12, Johnny Vander Meer and Mario Soto each had four and Ewell Blackwell had two.
• Shin-Soo Choo had a hit (his fourth leadoff homer of the season) and two walks and has reached base safely 148 times this season -- second most in the NL. The league leader -- Choo's teammate, Joey Votto -- had a hit to raise his times on base total to 153. The high mark for a Reds player before the All-Star break is 187, by Joe Morgan in 1974.
• Cincinnati's Jay Bruce had a pair of doubles, continuing a power-surged June. Bruce is slugging .711 this month, and he has 16 extra-base hits (10 homers and six doubles). The Reds' high mark for extra-base hits in a June since 1916 is 20, shared by Gus Bell (1953) and Chris Sabo (1988).