MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WEEKLY NOTES FRIDAY, JULY 28, 2017 BLACKMON WORKING TOWARD HISTORIC SEASON On Sunday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Coors Field, Colorado Rockies All-Star outfi elder Charlie Blackmon went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored and his 24th home run of the season. With the round-tripper, Blackmon recorded his 57th extra-base hit on the season, which include 20 doubles, 13 triples and his aforementioned 24 home runs. Pacing the Majors in triples, Blackmon trails only his teammate, All-Star Nolan Arenado for the most extra-base hits (60) in the Majors. Blackmon is looking to become the fi rst Major League player to log at least 20 doubles, 20 triples and 20 home runs in a single season since Curtis Granderson (38-23-23) and Jimmy Rollins (38-20-30) both accomplished the feat during the 2007 season. Since 1901, there have only been seven 20-20-20 players, including Granderson, Rollins, Hall of Famers George Brett (1979) and Willie Mays (1957), Jeff Heath (1941), Hall of Famer Jim Bottomley (1928) and Frank Schulte, who did so during his MVP-winning 1911 season. Charlie would become the fi rst Rockies player in franchise history to post such a season. If the season were to end today, Blackmon’s extra-base hit line (20-13-24) has only been replicated by 34 diff erent players in MLB history with Rollins’ 2007 season being the most recent. It is the fi rst stat line of its kind in Rockies franchise history. Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig is the only player in history to post such a line in four seasons (1927-28, 30-31). MLB Players to Post a 20-20-20 Season, 1901-Present Player, Team Year 2B 3B HR XBH Jimmy Rollins, PHI 2007 38 20 30 88 Curtis Granderson, DET 2007 38 23 23 84 George Brett, KC 1979 42 20 23 88 Willie Mays, NYG 1957 26 20 35 81 Jeff Heath, CLE 1941 32 20 24 76 Jim Bottomley, STL 1928 42 20 31 93 Frank Schulte, CHI 1911 30 21 21 72 deGROMINATION On Monday night, New York Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom won his eighth consecutive start in a 5-3 win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The 29-year-old tossed 8.0 innings, permitting two runs on fi ve hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. The 2014 National League Rookie of the Year has now pitched at least 8.0 innings in fi ve of his last eight starts dating back to June 12th. With a victory in eight straight outings, deGrom became the fi fth Mets pitcher ever to accomplish the feat. That mark ties him for the longest single-season stretch in Club history, and puts him one shy of matching Frank Viola for the all-time franchise mark. Viola won nine consecutive starts across two seasons from September 23, 1989 - May 12, 1990. In addition to Viola and deGrom, the three other Mets pitchers to win at least eight straight starts were Hall of Famer Tom Seaver (August 26-September 27, 1969), David Cone (August 23-September 30, 1988) and Bobby Jones (April 30-June 9, 1997). The eight-start winning streak is also tied with Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the longest such streak in the Majors this season. Kershaw’s streak, which dated back to June 7th, was snapped on Sunday afternoon, when he departed in the second inning with a back injury. In the eight starts, Jacob has a 1.61 ERA, allowing 11 earned runs on 39 hits with 12 walks and 58 strikeouts over 61.2 innings pitched. The last Major League pitcher to win nine consecutive starts in a single season was Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels in 2012 (Jake Arrieta won nine straight between 2015-16, and Chris Sale won 10 straight between 2015-16). Weaver went 9-0 across nine starts from June 20th-August 6th. The last NL pitcher to pick up a victory in nine consecutive starts of a single season was Houston’s Roy Oswalt from July 27-September 8, 2002. Since 1962, the fi rst year of play for the Mets, only 13 NL pitchers have compiled winning streaks of at least nine consecutive starts (full list below), and deGrom will attempt to join that group in his next start. With Monday’s victory, deGrom improved to 12-3 on the season with a 3.30 ERA. His 12 wins are tied with Boston’s Sale, Kansas City’s Jason Vargas and Arizona’s Zack Greinke for second in the Majors behind Kershaw (15). deGrom is now 9-2 in 14 starts following a Mets loss this season, which is the most wins for any Major League pitcher in starts following a team loss according to Elias. Consecutive Starts with a Win, National League, Single Season, 1962-Present Pitcher, Team Starts Dates IP H ER BB SO Bob Gibson, STL 12 June 2-July 30, 1968 108.0 63 6 16 91 John Smoltz, ATL 11 April 9-May 29, 1996 82.0 47 16 18 91 Milt Pappas, CHI 11 August 2-October 1, 1972 82.1 62 17 8 32 Bob Gibson, STL 11 May 25-July 21, 1972 97.0 62 15 22 77 Andy Hawkins, SD 10 April 12-May 30, 1985 69.2 68 21 10 28 Burt Hooton, LAD 10 August 4-September 15, 1975 86.2 57 15 28 68 Dock Ellis, PIT 10 May 27-July 17, 1971 77.0 65 19 22 42 Bob Gibson, STL 10 May 23-July 5, 1970 88.0 62 21 27 86 Roy Oswalt, HOU 9 July 27-September 15, 2002 66.1 43 9 14 49 John Tudor, STL 9 June 3-July 11, 1985 74.0 46 8 10 41 Steve Blass, PIT 9 August 15-September 24, 1968 77.2 48 6 17 60 Ken Holtzman, CHI 9 April 29-September 30, 1967 70.2 59 21 34 44 Larry Jackson, CHI 9 August 22-September 27, 1964 78.2 64 21 13 39 ALTUVE THE GREAT Entering play today, second baseman Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros is in the midst of a career-best 18-game hitting streak, dating back to July 2nd, which is the longest streak by an Astros hitter since Hunter Pence posted a 23-game hitting streak from May 19-June 13, 2011. During his torrid stretch, the 2017 All-Star is slashing .513/.552/.775 with19 runs scored, 41 hits, nine doubles, four home runs and 19 RBI. During a 15-game stretch from July 4th-24th, Altuve tallied 37 hits in 68 at-bats en route to becoming the fi rst player to accomplish the feat since Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby in July 1923 (37-for-62). Following the fi rst game of the month, Altuve has registered a hit in every July contest, logging multi-hit eff orts in 13 of 19 games. Included in his off ensive outburt were six three-hit games and two four-hit eff orts. The 27-year-old slugger entered the Midsummer Classic having recorded three hits in each of his previous fi ve contests, becoming the fi rst player in club history to do so, and the ninth in MLB history. Hall of Famer George Brett last accomplished the feat for the Kansas City Royals during the 1976 campaign. Heading into the fi nal weekend of the month, Altuve’s batting average for July is .494 (41-for-83), which would match Brett for the second-highest in the month of July. With a minimum of 80 at-bats, Hall of Famer Ty Cobb is the only player in Major League history to bat over .500 in July, hitting .521 (50-for-96) during the 1918 season. Overall, only eight players have batted over .500 in a single calendar month, including 2017 Hall of Fame inductee Iván Rodríguez (2004), Todd Helton (2000), Hall of Famers Harry Heilmann (1927), Hornsby (1924), George Sisler (1920) and Cobb (1918), as well as “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (1916, 13), who is the only player to have done so twice. MLB Players to Bat Over .475 in July, 1913-Present Player, Team Year H BA OBP SLG Jose Altuve, HOU 2017 41 .494 .538 .747 George Brett, KC 1980 42 .494 .541 .812 Rogers Hornsby, STL 1923 61 .488 .540 .824 Tris Speaker, CLE 1923 67 .489 .536 .766 Ty Cobb, DET 1922 67 .489 .536 .679 Ty Cobb, DET 1918 50 .521 .566 .677 MLB Players to Bat Over .500 in any Calendar Month, 1913-Present Player, Team Month, Year H BA OBP SLG Iván Rodríguez, DET June 2004 43 .500 .542 .733 Todd Helton, COL May 2000 42 .512 .588 1.000 Harry Heilmann, DET August 1927 49 .505 .586 .814 Rogers Hornsby, STL August 1924 54 .509 .570 .896 George Sisler, SLB June 1920 60 .526 .578 .763 Ty Cobb, DET July 1918 50 .521 .566 .677 Joe Jackson, CWS June 1916 44 .512 .571 .733 Joe Jackson, CLE May 1913 49 .505 .579 .784 2018 ALL-STAR GAME LOGO On Wednesday afternoon, Major League Baseball, the Washington Nationals and offi cials from the District of Columbia unveiled the offi cial logo of the 2018 All-Star Game presented by Mastercard. The 89th Midsummer Classic will be played at Nationals Park on Tuesday, July 17th, with the National League as the home team during the contest. Those in attendance for Wednesday’s unveiling prior to Washington’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers included Marla Lerner Tanenbaum, Principal Owner of the Washington Nationals; Baseball Commissioner Robert D.