This Week In Baseball (April 3- April 9)

MLB Notes

Trout on a roll:

Although the Los Angeles outfielder was highly criticized for the 12-year, 426.2 million dollar deal he signed during spring training, he has been backing that up with some superior play. On Saturday, he smashed his fourth homer in three days, a grand slam which brought his RBI total to eight. After homering again Sunday, he managed to rob reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich’s near-home run during Tuesday’s game against Milwaukee, an excellent defensive play which added to his 2 for 2 game. Currently, Trout is hitting .406 with 13 walks and a hits to strikeouts ratio of 3:1.

Astros use big inning to win a three game series against the Yankees

In an early season battle between two projected AL Pennant contenders, the Houston Astros stood strong at home, refusing the power hitting Yankees the series win. The first two games were won by Houston in close contests. On Monday, Robinson Chirinos got the rally going in the seventh, hitting a long line drive to the wall, scoring runners from first and second to tie the score at three. Then in the bottom of the eighth, Carlos Correa hit a short grounder with two outs and beat the throw, allowing the go ahead run from third to easily cross the plate and score what would be the game’s final run. Tuesday night was much of the same story. After New York went up on a solo homer from Luke Voit, the Astros quickly countered with a run in both the second and third innings. By the eighth it was knotted at three when George Springer walked to the plate with one out and the bases loaded. The Houston outfielder promptly wacked a liner down the left field line to bring two runners home. Jose Altuve followed Springer’s lead, hitting a sacrifice fly ball deep into center, scoring Tony Kemp. The three run eighth was ultimately the deciding factor in a thrilling Astros’ victory. On Wednesday afternoon, the two teams clash for the final game in the series. First pitch at 4:40 central time.

Indians’ Trevor Bauer Makes History

In a breakout game for Cleveland Pitcher Trevor Bauer, the Indians beat the Blue Jays 4-1 on Thursday evening. Bauer threw a no-hitter through seven innings, striking out eight while walking just six. One of the most nerve wracking moments came during the third in which Bauer quickly walked two batters and hit one, loading the bases with no outs. However, as all great pitchers do, he settled in and threw two consecutive strikeouts to go along with a fly out to end the inning and rescue him from trouble. Combined with his seven inning, one hit outing on March 30, that makes him the first pitcher in MLB history to go five-plus innings in the first two starts of the season without allowing a hit.

Orioles’ Davis Sets MLB’s longest hitless streak

It wasn’t a good Tuesday for Chris Davis of the Orioles as he set the MLB’s record for the longest streak without a hit. Frustration has been evident for the first baseman as he hasn’t been on track so far for a breakout season. The hitless streak, which started back during September of last season, is now at a whopping 49 at bats.

This Week’s Top Performers: (Stats are this week’s stats, Wednesday, April 3 to Tuesday April 9)

Batting

Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels, .500 batting average, 5 HR, 9 RBI

Dansby Swanson, SS, Atlanta Braves, .363 Batting Average, 12 RBI, 5 runs scored

Pitching

Jack Flaherty, SP, Arizona Diamondbacks, 1 start (v.s San Diego), 6 strikeouts, 2 walks allowed

Blake Snell, SP, Tampa Bay Rays, 1 start (v.s Chicago White Sox), 11 strikeouts, 0 walks allowed, 1 earned run

360 Sports’ Top 10 Weekly Ranking for NCAA D1 College Baseball

1. UCLA (23-6)

2. NC State (29-4)

3. Stanford (20-5)

4. Georgia (27-6)

5. Oregon State (23-6-1)

6. Vanderbilt (24-8)

7. LSU (23-10)

8. Mississippi State (27-6)

9. Texas A&M (25-8-1)

10. Arkansas (24-8)

Enjoy this week in baseball! Every Wednesday, we will publish “360 Sports’ This Week in Baseball”.