Daily Baseball Update: 8/14

Historical Individual Seasons: Tony Gwynn 1997
Stat Line: 17 HR, 119 RBI, .372 AVG, 12 SB.  Age 37.
Gwynn held a .338 career batting average, so high marks were not surprising for him.  However, it was in 1997, at the age of 37, that he combined power and average for his best season.  He set career highs by hitting 17 home runs, driving in 119, doubling 49 times, and knocking 220 hits.  He was selected for his 13th All Star Game after a huge May, where he hit .447 with four home runs, earning NL Player of the Mont honors.  He was consistent throughout the season, never hitting below .323 or striking out more than seven times in any month.  Despite his efforts, the Padres finished 76-86, 14 games behind the Giants (90-72) in the NL West.  He led the majors with 220 hits and a .372 average, while also leading the NL with 12 sacrifice flies.  His 49 doubles finished second in the majors behind Mark Grudzielanek's 54.  He also struck out just 28 times, the least in the majors among players with at least 480 at bats (he had 592).  

News
Astros traded Wesley Wright (0-4, 3.92 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, age 28) to the Rays for a player to be named later or cash.
Twins traded Jamey Carroll (0 HR, 9 RBI, .230 AVG, 2 SB, age 39) to the Royals for a player to be named later or cash.
The Mariners' Brad Miller and the Rays' Ben Zobrist became the second pair of leadoff hitters to homer in their first at bat then homer again in the same game since 1916.
The Rangers' Yu Darvish was the first pitcher to 200 strikeouts.
Dodgers won their seventh straight game.

Game Scores
Nationals (58-60) beat the Giants (52-66) 4-2.
Red Sox (72-49) beat the Blue Jays (54-65) 4-2 (11 innings).
Yankees (61-57) beat the Angels (53-65) 14-7.
Braves (73-47) beat the Phillies (53-66) 3-1.
Mariners (55-63) beat the Rays (66-51) 5-4.
Dodgers (69-50) beat the Mets (54-63) 4-2.
Reds (67-52) beat the Cubs (52-67) 6-4 (11 innings).
White Sox (46-72) beat the Tigers (69-49) 4-3.
Top Scorer: Yankees beat the Angels 14-7.

Standings
AL East: Red Sox (72-49, .595 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (69-49, .585).  AL West: Rangers (69-51, .575).
NL East: Braves (73-47, .608).  NL Central: Pirates (70-48, .593).  NL West: Dodgers (69-50, .580).
AL Wild Cards: A's (67-51, .568) and Rays (66-51, .564).  NL Wild Cards: Cardinals (68-50, .576) and Reds (67-52, .563).
Bottom Team: Astros (38-80, .322).  Longest W Streak: Dodgers, 7 games.  Longest L Streak: Rays, 6 games.

League Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), .362 (152-420).  Home runs: Chris Davis (Orioles), 44.  RBI: Chris Davis, 112.  Stolen bases: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), 44.
Pitching: Wins: Max Scherzer (Tigers), 17.  K's: Yu Darvish (Rangers), 207.  ERA: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers), 1.88 (182.1 innings, 38 earned runs).  Saves: Jim Johnson (Orioles), 39.

Top Performers
Offensive: Paul Goldschmidt (Diamondbacks): 3-5, 2 home runs (29), 2 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .003 from .294 to .297, hitting streak to 1 game (3-5, .600 AVG).
Pitching: Jose Fernandez (Marlins): No decision, 7 shutout innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 6 K's (149), ERA drop: 0.13 runs from 2.58 to 2.45.
Worst Pitching Performance: Dellin Betances (Yankees): No decision, 0.2 innings, 4 earned runs, 5 hits, 1 walk, 2 K's (2), ERA jump: -.-- runs from -.-- to 54.00.

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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