Daily Baseball Update: 7/3

Historical Individual Seasons: Brady Anderson 1996
Stat Line: 50 HR, 110 RBI, .297 AVG, 21 SB.  Age 32.
Brady Anderson had never hit more than 21 home runs in a season, nor had he batted over .271 or driven in over 80 runs in any of his first eight years in the majors.  In 1996, his ninth season, he just took off at the plate, smacking 50 home runs, knocking in 110, and batting .297 to earn his way into the Home Run Derby.  He started the season off with a bang, hitting eleven home runs in April while batting .320.  While playing on the road, he managed 31 home runs, 64 RBI, and a .315 average in just 279 at bats.  He also tagged right handed pitchers for 37 home runs and a .319 average in 392 at bats.  Despite his great offensive insurgence, he could only lead the AL in extra base hits (92) and hit-by-pitches (22) due to great seasons from Mark McGwire (52 HR, 113 RBI, .312 AVG) and Alex Rodriguez (36 HR, 123 RBI, .358 AVG).  He didn't win a Silver Slugger or MVP, but he played in the All Star Game and won a Player of the Week award in April.  

News
Reds pitcher Homer Bailey tossed the second no-hitter of his career in a victory over the Giants.
Cubs traded Scott Feldman (7-6, 3.46 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, age 30) and Steve Clevenger (0 HR, 0 RBI, .125 AVG, 0 SB, age 27) to the Orioles for Jake Arrieta (1-2, 7.23 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, age 27), Pedro Strop (0-3, 7.25 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, age 28), and $338,100 in international signing bonuses.
Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer saw his hitting streak end at 27 games after going 0-4 against Clayton Kershaw.
The Indians' Jason Kipnis and the Dodgers' Hanley Ramirez both extended their hitting streaks to 13 games.
Pirates snapped their nine game winning streak, while the Angels won their 7th straight.

Game Scores
Brewers (33-49) beat the Nationals (42-41) 4-0.
Red Sox (51-34) beat the Padres (40-44) 4-1.
Yankees (44-39) beat the Twins (36-44) 7-3.
Phillies (40-44) beat the Pirates (51-31) 3-1.
Rays (45-39) beat the Astros (30-54) 8-0.
Dodgers (39-43) beat the Rockies (41-43) 8-0.
A's (49-35) beat the Cubs (35-46) 8-7.
Tigers (44-38) beat the Blue Jays (41-42) 7-6.
Top Scorer: Braves beat the Marlins 11-3.

Standings
AL East: Red Sox (51-34, .600 WPCT).  AL Central: Indians (45-38, .542).  AL West: A's (49-35, .583).
NL East: Braves (49-34, .590).  NL Central: Pirates (51-31, .622).  NL West: Diamondbacks (42-41, .506).
AL Wild Cards: Rangers (48-35, .578) and Orioles (47-37, .560).  NL Wild Cards: Cardinals (49-33, .598) and Reds (48-36, .571).
Bottom Team: Astros (30-54, .357).  Longest W Streak: Angels, 7 games.  Longest L Streak: Astros and Diamondbacks, 5 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), .368 (119-323).  Home runs: Chris Davis (Orioles), 31.  RBI: Miguel Cabrera, 85.  Stolen bases: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), 33.
Pitching: Wins: Max Scherzer (Tigers) and Jordan Zimmermann (Nationals), 12.  K's: Yu Darvish (Rangers), 151.  ERA: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), 1.93 (130.1 innings, 28 earned runs).  Saves: Jim Johnson (Orioles), 28.

Top Performers
Offensive: Kendrys Morales (Mariners): 3-5, 2 home runs (11), 6 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .005 from .277 to .282, hitting streak to 5 games (9-21, .429 AVG).
Pitching: Homer Bailey (Reds): Win (5-6), 9 shutout innings, no hits, 1 walk, 9 K's (111), ERA drop: 0.31 runs from 3.88 to 3.57.
Worst Pitching Performance: Chien-Ming Wang (Blue Jays): No decision, 1.2 innings, 6 earned runs, 8 hits, 1 walk, 1 K (11), ERA jump: 1.89 runs from 5.24 to 7.13.

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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