Daily Baseball Update: 7/1

Historical Individual Seasons: Mark McGwire 1998
Stat Line: 70 HR, 147 RBI, .299 AVG, 1 SB.  Age 34.
McGwire, who admitted to using steroids, had an incredible season in 1998.  After chasing the home run record of 61 with Sammy Sosa, he smashed the record by knocking 70.  His best month was May, when he hit 16 home runs, drove in 32, and batted .326.  He also hit 15 home runs and batted .329 in September.  Add on a strong April, and he won three Player of the Month awards.  Over the course of the season, he punished right handed pitching to the tune of 55 home runs, 120 RBI, and a .314 average in 379 at bats.  He participated in the All Star Game and the Home Run Derby.  After the season, he won the Silver Slugger for first base but missed out on the NL MVP as Sammy Sosa beat him 438-272 in points.  Sosa hit 66 home runs, drove in 158, and batted .308.  McGwire led the majors in home runs, walks (162), on-base percentage (.470), slugging percentage (.752) and OPS (1.222).  Most of the categories in which McGwire did not lead were taken by Sosa.

News
Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer extended his hitting streak to 27 games.
Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig garnered the second most hits (44) for the first month of any career in history, behind only Joe DiMaggio.
Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer became the first pitcher to start a season 12-0 since Roger Clemens in 1986.
Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Pirates won their 9th straight game, this one with a 14th inning walk-off by Russell Martin.
Orioles first baseman Chris Davis was the first player to 30 home runs.

Game Scores
Nationals (41-40) beat the Mets (33-45) 13-2.
Red Sox (50-34) beat the Blue Jays (40-41) 5-4.
Orioles (47-36) beat the Yankees (42-39) 4-2.
Dodgers (38-43) beat the Phillies (39-44) 6-1.
Rays (43-39) beat the Tigers (43-37) 3-1.
Cubs (35-45) beat the Mariners (35-47) 7-6.
Top Scorer: Nationals beat the Mets 13-2.

Standings
AL East: Red Sox (50-34, .595 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (43-37, .538).  AL West: Rangers (48-34, .585).
NL East: Braves (48-34, .585).  NL Central: Pirates (51-30, .630).  NL West: Diamondbacks (42-39, .519).
AL Wild Cards: A's (48-35, .578) and Orioles (47-36, .566).  NL Wild Cards: Cardinals (49-32, .605) and Reds (46-36, .561).
Bottom Team: Marlins (29-51, .363).  Longest W Streak: Pirates, 9 games.  Longest L Streak: Yankees, White Sox, and Brewers, 5 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), .373 (118-316).  Home runs: Chris Davis (Orioles), 31.  RBI: Miguel Cabrera, 82.  Stolen bases: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), 32.
Pitching: Wins: Max Scherzer (Tigers), 12.  K's: Yu Darvish (Rangers), 151.  ERA: Clay Buchholz (Red Sox), 1.71 (84.1 innings, 16 earned runs).  Saves: Jim Johnson (Orioles), 28.

Top Performers
Offensive: David Lough (Royals): 4-4, 3 doubles, home run (2), 3 RBI, 4 runs, AVG up .023 from .291 to .314, hitting streak to 1 game (4-4, 1.000 AVG).
Pitching: Justin Masterson (Indians): Win (10-6), 9 shutout innings, 6 hits, 1 walk, 8 K's (125), ERA drop: 0.28 runs from 3.76 to 3.48.
Worst Pitching Performance: Brandon Lyon (Mets): No decision, 0.2 innings, 6 earned runs, 5 hits, 1 walk, 0 K's, ERA jump: 1.61 runs from 3.45 to 5.06.

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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