Daily Baseball Update: 4/6

Historical Individual Seasons: Babe Ruth (1927).

Stat Line: 60 HR, 164 RBI, .356 AVG, 7 SB.

Awards/Honors: World Series Champion.

In one of the greatest offensive seasons of all time, Babe Ruth became the first of only five players ever to hit 60 home runs in a season.  At the time, it was incredible, considering nobody else had ever hit more than 42 in a season other than his teammate Lou Gehrig, who it 47 that very same season.  Ruth topped the major leagues in homers, OPS (1.258), on-base percentage (.486), slugging percentage (.772), runs (158), and walks (137), while also finishing second in RBI only to Gehrig, who got to drive in Ruth all those times.  His 60 homers would go unmatched for 34 years, and his central role in the unbeatable Murderer's Row lineup is forever ingrained in the history of the game.  Among the eight seasons of 60 home runs (one by Barry Bonds, two by Mark McGwire, three by Sosa, one by Ruth), Ruth is the only player to bat over .330, finishing at .356.  Ironically, the players who came closest, Bonds and Sosa, both hit .328 with 73 and 64 home runs, respectively, in the same season, 2001.

News

Rangers signed Elvis Andrus to an eight year, $120 million extension ($15 million per season).

Rangers starter Yu Darvish came one out away from throwing a perfect game against the Astros on Tuesday.

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has homered in each of his first four games, tying the all time record.

Tigers signed Jose Valverde (3-4, 3.78 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 35 saves) to a minor league deal.

Game Scores

Reds (3-1) beat the Nationals (3-1) 15-0.

Red Sox (3-1) beat the Blue Jays (1-3) 6-4.

Tigers (2-2) beat the Yankees (1-3) 8-3.

Royals (2-2) beat the Phillies (1-3) 13-4.

Dodgers (2-2) beat the Pirates (1-3) 3-0.

Rays (2-2) beat the Indians (2-2) 4-0.

Braves (3-1) beat the Cubs (2-2) 4-1.

Rockies (3-1) beat the Padres (1-3) 5-2.

Top Scorer: Reds beat the Nationals 15-0.

Standings

AL East: Orioles/Red Sox (3-1, .750 WPCT).  AL Central: All 5 tied at 2-2, .500.  AL West: Rangers (3-1, .750).

NL East: Nationals/Braves (3-1, .750).  NL Central: Reds (3-1, .750).  NL West: D-Backs/Rockies/Giants (3-1, .750).

AL Wild Cards: Red Sox/Orioles (3-1, .750) and A's/Mariners (3-2, .600).  NL Wild Cards: Braves/Nationals (3-1, .750) and D-Backs/Rockies/Giants (3-1, .750).

Bottom Team: Yankees/Blue Jays/Astros/Angels/Marlins/Phillies/Brewers/Pirates/Cardinals/Padres (1-3, .250).  Longest W Streak: Rangers/A's/Reds/Rockies/Giants, 3 games.  Longest L Streak: Astros/Angels/Brewers, 3 games.

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Chris Davis (Orioles), .600 (9-15).  Home runs: Chris Davis and Michael Morse (Mariners), 4.  RBI: Chris Davis, 16.  Stolen bases: Andrew McCutchen (Pirates), 4.

Pitching: Wins: 61 tied with 1.  K's: Yu Darvish (Rangers), 14.  ERA: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), 0.00 (9 shutout innings).  Saves: Sergio Romo (Giants), 3.

Top Performers

Offensive: Todd Frazier (Reds): 4-5, 2 home runs (3), 4 RBI, 3 runs, stolen base (1), AVG up .138 from .333 to .471, hitting streak to 4 games (8-17, .471 AVG).

Pitching: Zack Greinke (Dodgers): Win (1-0), 6.1 shutout innings, 2 hits, no walks, 6 K's (6), ERA drop: -.-- runs from -.-- to 0.00.

Worst Pitching Performance: Jose Quintana (White Sox): No decision, 4 innings, 6 runs (5 earned), 8 hits, 2 walks, 3 K's (3), ERA jump: -.-- runs from -.-- to 11.25.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman