Daily Baseball Update: 7/2

Historical Individual Seasons: Carl Yastrzemski 1967
Stat Line: 44 HR, 121 RBI, .326 AVG, 10 SB.  Age 27.
Carl Yastrzemski played 23 seasons in the majors, but he will always be remembered for his 1967 season.  The Red Sox were one of the worst teams in baseball, having finished near the bottom of the division and attendance the last couple seasons and expectations were extremely low.  The started the season 18-20 as of May 27th and 40-39 as of July 9th.  However, led by Yaz, the Sox went 52-31 the rest of the way to finish 92-70, win the American League, and reach the World Series.  Yastrzemski finished the year with 44 home runs, 121 RBI, and a .326 average, all of which led the American League.  Though Frank Robinson had previously won the Triple Crown in 1966, Yaz would be the final Triple Crown winner for 45 years until Miguel Cabrera won it in 2012.  He also scored 112 runs, knocked 189 hits, slugged .622, had an on-base percentage of .418, posted a 1.040 OPS, had 360 total bases, and knocked 79 extra base hits, all of which led the American League for a total of ten categories.  He also went 3-4 in the All Star Game, doubling off of Fergie Jenkins, who went 20-13 with a 2.80 ERA that year.  He also singled off Bob Gibson (13-7, 2.98 ERA) and Mike Cuellar (16-11, 3.03 ERA).  In the World Series against St. Louis, Yaz kept the Red Sox' offense alive by hitting three home runs, driving in five, and batting .400 (10-25) in the seven game series.  Ultimately, the Sox lost in seven games.

News
Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte struck out Justin Morneau to pass Whitey Ford for the most strikeouts in Yankees history.  Ironically, his only two K's of the night tied and passed Ford on the list.  He now has 1,958 in a Yankees uniform and 2,386 overall.
Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera saw his hitting streak snapped at 15 games.
In his first at bat back from the DL, Bryce Harper homered off of Yovani Gallardo.

Game Scores
Nationals (42-40) beat the Brewers (32-49) 10-5.
Yankees (43-39) beat the Twins (36-43) 10-4.
Rays (44-39) beat the Astros (30-53) 12-0.
Blue Jays (41-41) beat the Tigers (43-38) 8-3.
Red Sox, Phillies, Dodgers, and Cubs didn't play.
Top Scorer: Rays beat the Astros 12-0.

Standings
AL East: Red Sox (50-34, .595 WPCT).  AL Central: Indians (44-38, .537).  AL West: Rangers (48-34, .585).
NL East: Braves (48-34, .585).  NL Central: Pirates (51-30, .630).  NL West: Diamondbacks (42-40, .512).
AL Wild Cards: A's (48-35, .578) and Orioles (47-36, .566).  
NL Wild Cards: Cardinals (49-32, .605) and Reds (47-36, .566).
Bottom Team: Astros (30-53, .361).  Longest W Streak: Pirates, 9 games.  Longest L Streak: Brewers, 6 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), .369 (118-320).  Home runs: Chris Davis (Orioles), 31.  RBI: Miguel Cabrera, 82.  Stolen bases: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), 32.
Pitching: Wins: Max Scherzer (Tigers) and Jordan Zimmermann (Nationals), 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: Robinson Cano (Yankees): 3-4, 2 home runs (19), 3 RBI, 4 runs, walk, AVG up .006 from .287 to .293, hitting streak to 4 games (10-17, .588 AVG).
Pitching: Jose Fernandez (Marlins): Win (5-4), 8 shutout innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 10 K's (94), ERA drop: 0.26 runs from 2.98 to 2.72.
Worst Pitching Performance: Yovani Gallardo (Brewers): Loss (6-8), 3 innings, 8 earned runs, 9 hits, 2 walks, 2 K's (82), ERA jump: 0.58 runs from 4.20 to 4.78.

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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