Giancarlo Stanton (NYY): 2-3, HR, R, 4 RBI, BB.
As you’ve probably seen, Giancarlo Stanton went 2-for-3 with a walk last night, along with his 33rd homer and four RBI. Obviously, they were pretty critical RBI. What else is there to say? Just take it in. Sorry, Red Sox fans.
Let’s see how the other hitters did Saturday
Jorge Soler (OF, ATL): 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB.
Soler’s big second half continued on Saturday as Atlanta managed to stave off the Phillies in the suddenly-hot NL East race—and eliminate San Diego in the process. He’s slashed .263/.349/.511 since his trade from Kansas City, and his four RBI were tied for the highest total on the night, one of seven to do so.
Brandon Belt (1B, SF): 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.
Belt was another one of those seven and one of two plural dingers, hitting blasts of 421 and 425 feet into the Coors Field night as the Giants picked up their 101st win of the season 7-2. His 29 home runs are the most for a Giants hitter since Barry Bonds in 2004, which has long been one of my favorite bits of trivia. We wait with bated breath to see if he can crack 30 by season’s end.
Shohei Ohtani (DH, LAA): 2-3, 2 3B, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB.
The American League MVP—we’re not entertaining that discussion, come on—had himself yet another Tungsten Arm O’Doyle moment on Saturday, tripling twice, walking twice, scoring thrice, and driving in the same. It’s the third time this decade someone has walked and tripled twice, last accomplished by Dexter Fowler in 2015 and Nate Schierholtz in 2013. The last time somebody did it while driving in three runs? Joe Morgan in 1969. At least the Angels did in fact win, 14-1.
Adam Frazier (2B, SD): 3-5, 2B, HR, 2 R, RBI, SB.
Frazier is finally showing signs of life after struggling immensely in his first month with the Padres, picking up a hit in each of his last ten starts and batting .410 with just two strikeouts in that span. His homer last night was his first as a member of the Padres, raising his OPS+ with the team to 87. Too little, too late, it seems.
Trea Turner (SS, LAD): 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.
The other alliterative multi-homer performance belongs to Turner, whose pair of solo shots amounted to the Dodgers’ only offense of the night as they fell 7-2 to Arizona, falling two games back of the Giants in the winding-down NL West title race.
Harrison Bader (CF, STL): 4-4, 2B, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB.
Bader had the only perfect 4-for-4 on the night, coming a walk away from a combo meal as he stole two bases and raising his batting average to a career-high .270. His wRC+ also stands at 111, now well in line with the 114 he posted last year. He’s been worth 3.1 fWAR and 4.8 fWAR/150 games.
José Ramírez (3B, CLE): 2-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, SB.
Ramírez continued to torment the White Sox in Cleveland’s 6-0 victory over the AL Central champs. Though Cleveland has been out of the spotlight for most of the season, Ramírez may be in line for his fourth top-three MVP finish in five years. His 36 homers, 99 RBI, 26 steals, and 70 walks are all second only to his transcendent 2018 for career-bests. His demolishing of the White Sox isn’t remarkable on a rate basis—his .907 OPS against them is third against AL opponents—but the run production has been beyond a boundary: his 27 homers, 76 RBI, and 21 steals are more than any other opponent.
Brandon Lowe (2B, TB): 4-5, 3 2B, 2 RBI.
Lowe’s smoking-hot second half continued with his 27th, 28th, and 29th doubles of the season in Tampa Bay’s clincher on Saturday. Lowe has run up an .891 OPS since the All-Star break, and his counting stats now sit at a hefty 34 long balls and 88 RBI.
Miguel Cabrera (DH, DET): 3-4, 2B, R, 4 RBI.
Miggy showed once again that he still has a little left in the tank as he plays out his Pujolsian contract with his seventh three-hit outing of the season in Detroit’s 5-1 win over Kansas City. It raised his OPS+ to a perfectly league-average 100 after running at 104 last season, so it’s a little unfair to imply he’s reached the Pujols plane. He’s now 17 hits away from 3000, and with two years left on his contract, it seems likely he’ll move into the top 20 before all is said and done, with an outside chance of making the top 15.
Featured Imaged by Ethan Kaplan (@DJFreddie10 on Twitter)