Daily Baseball Update: 8/11

Did You Know

When his hitting streak hit 30, Dan Uggla tied the 2011 season high. Now at 31, he has the longest hitting streak since Chase Utley hit in 35 straight in 2006. Uggla also ties Rico Carty for the longest hitting streak in Atlanta Braves history. 

This Day in Baseball History

8/11/1959: Gil Carter, a minor league outfielder in the Sophomore Baseball League, hits what may have been the longest home run in major league history. The home run travels approximately 730 feet and crosses two blocks after flying over the left field fence. 

News

Dan Uggla (Braves) extended his hitting streak to 31 games, tying the Atlanta Braves record. Rays rallied back from 7-3 in the 9th to win 8-7. With his 255th save as a Twin (256th career), Joe Nathan set the Twins franchise record, passing Rick Aguilera, who saved 318 games total between the Mets, Twins and Cubs. Phillies came back from a 7-1 deficit to win 9-8. Diamondbacks passed the Giants for 1st in the NL West. 

Game Scores

Twins (52-65) beat the Red Sox (72-44) 5-2. Phillies (77-40) beat the Dodgers (52-64) 9-8.  Cubs (50-67) beat the Nationals (56-60) 4-2. Yankees (70-45) beat the Angels (64-53) 9-3. Braves (69-49) beat the Marlins (55-62) 6-2. Rays (62-54) beat the Royals (49-68) 8-7.  

Top Scorer: Indians beat the Tigers 10-3.  Longest Winning Streak: Brewers, 6 games. Longest Losing Streak: Dodgers, 4 games.  

Standings

AL East: Red Sox (72-44, .621 WPCT). AL Central: Tigers (61-55, .526). AL West: Rangers (66-52, .559).

NL East: Phillies (77-40, .658). NL Central: Brewers (67-50, .573). NL West: Diamondbacks (64-53, .547). 

AL Wild Card: Yankees (70-45, .609). NL Wild Card: Braves (69-49, .585). Bottom Team: Astros (38-79, .325). 

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Adrian Gonzalez (Red Sox), .348. Home runs: Jose Bautista (Blue Jays), 33. RBI: Adrian Gonzalez, 92. Stolen bases: Michael Bourn (Braves), 42.

Pitching: Wins: C.C. Sabathia (Yankees) and Justin Verlander (Tigers), 16. K's: Justin Verlander, 186. ERA: Jered Weaver (Angels), 1.78 (176.2 innings, 35 earned runs). Saves: Craig Kimbrel (Braves), 36. 

Top Performers

Offensive: Jason Kipnis (Indians): 5-5, double, home run (6), 3 RBI, 4 runs, AVG up .063 from .232 to .295, hitting streak to 2 games (6-11, .545).  

Pitching: Randy Wolf (Brewers): Win (9-8), 8 innings, 1 earned run, 5 hits, no walks, 1 K (99), ERA drop: 0.13 runs from 3.61 to 3.48. 

Worst Pitching Performance: Rick Porcello (Tigers): Loss (11-7), 3.2 innings, 8 earned runs, 11 hits, no walks, 3 K's (76), ERA jump: 0.44 runs from 4.49 to 4.93.  

-- 
Teams followed in this update: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves

If your team is not included or you would like to be included in the original email that I send out every morning, please leave a comment and I will take care of it.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. BAA: batting average against. K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage