MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL WEEKLY NOTES FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2016 ORTIZ EXCELLING WITH TWO STRIKES Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, who Player, Team Batting Avg. w/ 2 Strikes announced prior to the season that 2016 would be David Ortiz, BOS .309 (29-for-94) his fi nal season, has been one of the best hitters in the Majors through the fi rst third of the season. Daniel Murphy, WSH .289 (22-for-76) Ortiz is batting .335 on the year with a .415 on-base Josh Reddick, OAK .286 (20-for-70) percentage, and he leads the American League with Jose Ramirez, CLE .284 (21-for-74) 23 doubles, 51 RBI and a .730 slugging percentage. Yadier Molina, STL .275 (25-for-91) Victor Martinez, DET .275 (25-for-91) In addition, the 40-year-old slugger has proven to be one of the more diffi cult outs in the Majors, Aledmys Diaz, STL .272 (22-for-81) compiling a Major League-best .309 batting average Jose Altuve, HOU .272 (25-for-92) with two strikes. Among hitters with at least 75 plate Josh Harrison .271 (23-for-85) appearances with two strikes, the next best mark in Martin Prado, MIA .267 (27-for-101) the Majors is .289 by Washington’s Daniel Murphy. Ortiz, playing in his 20th Major League season also leads the Majors with 23 two-strike RBI, is tied for fi rst with nine two-strike doubles and is second with eight two-strike home runs, trailing only Todd Frazier of the Chicago White Sox (9). Ortiz has helped the Red Sox to a collective .224 batting average with two strikes, good for fi rst in the Majors. The nine-time All-Star’s .309 mark with two strikes is even more impressive when compared to the Major League average of .173 in two-strike situations. Team Batting Avg. w/ 2 Strikes Team Batting Avg. w/ 2 Strikes Boston .224 (221-for-987) Detroit .170 (164-for-967) Miami .210 (207-for-987) Chicago WS .168 (163-for-972) St. Louis .199 (191-for-959) San Diego .168 (174-for-1,038) LA Angels .195 (169-for-868) Minnesota .167 (161-for-966) San Francisco .192 (177-for-923) Washington .164 (148-for-905) Pittsburgh .187 (178-for-951) Cincinnati .160 (150-for-938) Arizona .186 (186-for-1,002) Tampa Bay .159 (151-for-949) Kansas City .186 (172-for-925) Toronto .158 (157-for-993) Cleveland .185 (179-for-969) NY Yankees .151 (131-for-869) Baltimore .182 (177-for-974) Houston .150 (156-for-1,037) Texas .181 (163-for-901) NY Mets .150 (140-for-934) Colorado .180 (163-for-907) Milwaukee .150 (152-for-1,010) Oakland .175 (157-for-897) Philadelphia .147 (133-for-907) Chicago Cubs .173 (161-for-930) Atlanta .144 (131-for-909) Seattle .172 (156-for-909) LA Dodgers .143 (131-for-915) CARPENTER’S HISTORIC GAME PUTS HIM ASIDE GEHRIG AND MAYS On Tuesday night, Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter went 4-for-5 with four runs scored, two triples and two RBI. It marked just the 11th such game in MLB history dating back to at least 1913, putting Carpenter alongside the likes of Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig and Willie Mays, among others. In addition, it marked Carpenter’s second consecutive game with four hits. He became the fi rst Cardinals player with consecutive four-hit games since Bernard Gilkey did so on June 30-July 1, 1993. Games with Four Hits, Four Runs, Two Triples & Two RBI, Since 1913 Player, Team Date, Opponent AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI Goose Goslin, WSH August 24, 1923 at CLE 6 4 4 0 2 0 3 Clyde Barnhart, PIT May 30, 1925 vs. STL 5 4 4 0 2 0 5 Lou Gehrig, NYY June 12, 1928 at CWS 4 5 4 0 2 2 5 Lance Richbourg, BSN August 28, 1930 at PHI 6 4 4 0 2 0 3 Earl Averill, CLE July 24, 1936 vs. PHA 5 5 4 0 2 1 5 Jim Piersall, BOS May 31, 1954 vs. PHA 5 4 4 0 2 0 2 Willie Mays, SF May 13, 1958 at LAD 5 4 5 0 2 2 4 Jose Uribe, SF September 27, 1987 at ATL 5 4 4 0 2 0 2 Lance Johnson, CWS September 23, 1995 at MIN 6 4 6 0 3 0 4 Willie Harris, ATL July 21, 2007 vs. STL 6 4 6 0 2 0 6 Matt Carpenter, STL May 31, 2016 at MIL 5 4 4 1 2 0 2 BRAD MILLER HALFWAY TO RECORD On Tuesday, Brad Miller of the Rays recorded his fourth game of the season with at least one double and one triple. Miller, who is tied for the Major League lead with four triples on the season, became the fi rst player to have a double and a triple in four of his team’s fi rst 50 games since Cincinnati’s Vada Pinson in 1959. Hall of Famer Tris Speaker holds the Major League single-season record with a double and a triple in eight games during the 1913 season. Over the last 30 years, only seven players have collected a double and a triple in more than four games of a season: Lance Johnson (6 in 1996); Chuck Knoblauch (5 in 1997); Nomar Garciaparra (6 in 2003); Chone Figgins (6 in 2004); Stephen Drew (5 in 2009); Dexter Fowler (5 in 2011); and Shane Victorino (6 in 2011). Miller’s four such games this season are already the most by a Rays player in a single season, eclipsing the previous mark of three games (done nine times). 2016 SIRIUSXM ALL-STAR FUTURES GAME MANAGERS ANNOUNCED San Diego Padres legend Trevor Hoff man and six-time All-Star outfi elder Moises Alou will return to the fi eld as managers in the 2016 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game on Sunday, July 10th at Petco Park in San Diego. Hoff man, who currently works as Senior Advisor of Baseball Operations for the Padres, will manage the U.S. Team, while Alou, who serves as San Diego’s Special Assistant of Player Development, will lead the World squad. The SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, which is now in its 18th year, features the top Minor League prospects competing in a nine-inning contest as part of All-Star Sunday. The U.S. Team leads the all-time series, 11-6. As part of its live All-Star Week programming, MLB Network will exclusively televise and MLB.com will live stream the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at 4:00 p.m. PT/7:00 p.m. ET, with Matt Vasgersian, Dan Plesac, Heidi Watney and MLB.com prospect expert Jonathan Mayo on the call live from Petco Park. Hoff man, who ranks second all-time with 601 career saves, played 18 seasons in the Majors, including 16 with San Diego from 1993-2008. The seven-time NL All-Star, who was drafted by Cincinnati in the 11th round of the 1989 Draft, also played one season with Florida (1993) and two with Milwaukee (2009-10). In 1,035 career appearances, the right-hander posted a 2.87 ERA and 1,133 strikeouts over 1,089.1 innings pitched. The NL’s all-time leader in saves was a cornerstone of San Diego’s 1998 NL Pennant-winning team, notching a career-high and league-leading 53 saves along with a career-best 1.48 ERA. Hoff man, who is also an offi cial spokesperson of the 2016 MLB All-Star Game presented by MasterCard, fi nished in the top 10 in NL Cy Young voting on four occasions. In 2011, the Padres retired Trevor’s number 51, and in 2014, he was inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame. Also in 2014, MLB announced that it would annually honor the top NL relief pitcher with the “Trevor Hoff man National League Reliever of the Year Award.” Following his retirement, the California native worked three seasons (2011-13) for the Padres as a Special Assistant to the President and Chief Executive Offi cer, and one season (2014) as the club’s upper level pitching coordinator, before moving into his current role. Alou, who was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the second overall pick in the 1986 January Draft, played 17 seasons in the Majors as an outfi elder for the Pirates (1990), Montreal Expos (1990-96), Florida Marlins (1997), Houston Astros (1998-2001), Chicago Cubs (2002-04), San Francisco Giants (2005-06) and New York Mets (2007-08). The right-handed-hitting slugger compiled a .303 career batting average with 2,134 career hits, 332 home runs, 421 doubles and 1,287 RBI. Alou was a key contributor of the 1997 Marlins World Championship team, contributing a .321 batting average with three home runs, two doubles, six runs scored and nine RBI over the thrilling seven-game Fall Classic against the Cleveland Indians. The two-time Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger winner (1994, 1998) fi nished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 1992, and fi nished third in NL Most Valuable Player voting twice (1994, 1998). Following his playing career, Alou became general manager of Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Winter League, and under his watch, the club won four national titles in the Domincan Republic (2010, 2012-13, 2016) and two Caribbean Series crowns (2010, 2012). In addition, Alou assembled the 2013 Dominican Republic World Baseball Classic team that went undefeated en route to its fi rst WBC title.