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Health & Fitness

Daily Baseball Update: 8/18

Stephen Strasburg made another rehab start, but it didn't go as he planned. Bill Bergen is remembered for his prolonged lack of ability to wield a bat, and Allen Craig had a day to remember.

Did You Know

The record for the lowest career batting average (minimum 3,000 at bats) is held by Bill Bergen, a light hitting catcher who batted .170 over his 11-year career. He set a career high in 1903 by batting .227, but would never bat over .190 again. He also only hit 2 home runs, the first coming in his rookie year in 1901 and the second in 1909.  

This Day in Baseball History

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8/18/1967: Tony Conigliaro is hit by a Jack Hamilton pitch, throwing his entire career off-track. The pitch break's Conigliaro's jaw, and he would never be the same. He had hit 104 home runs in 495 games, but would only hit 62 home runs over his final 382 games, including sitting out the entire 1968, 1972, 1973, and 1974 seasons before returning in 1975.  

News

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Diamondbacks snapped their 7-game winning streak. Stephen Strasburg went only 1.2 innings, giving up 5 earned runs on 4 hits and 2 walks in his start for Class A Hagerstown. Astros finally won their 40th game.

Game Scores

Rays (66-56) beat the Red Sox (74-48) 4-0. Royals (51-73) beat the Yankees (74-47) 5-4. Reds (60-63) beat the Nationals (58-63) 2-1. Phillies (79-42) beat the Diamondbacks (69-54) 9-2. Astros (40-84) beat the Cubs (54-70) 4-3. Brewers (73-51) beat the Dodgers (55-67) 3-1. Giants (67-57) beat the Braves (72-52) 7-5. 

Top Scorer: Rockies beat the Marlins 12-5. Longest Winning Streak: Rangers and Brewers, 6 games. Longest Losing Streak: Angels, 5 games. 

Standings

AL East: Yankees (74-47, .612 WPCT). AL Central: Tigers (65-58, .528). AL West: Rangers (72-52, .581). 

NL East: Phillies (79-42, .653). NL Central: Brewers (73-51, .589). NL West: Diamondbacks (69-54, .561). 

AL Wild Card: Red Sox (74-48, .607). NL Wild Card: Braves (72-52, .581). Bottom Team: Astros (40-84, .323). 

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Adrian Gonzalez (Red Sox), .346. Home runs: Jose Bautista (Blue Jays), 35. RBI: Curtis Granderson (Yankees) and Ryan Howard (Phillies), 95. Stolen bases: Michael Bourn (Braves), 45.

Pitching: Wins: Justin Verlander (Tigers), 18. K's: Justin Verlander, 204. ERA: Johnny Cueto (Reds), 1.89 (128.1 innings, 27 earned runs). Saves: John Axford (Brewers) and Craig Kimbrel (Braves), 36. 

Top Performers

Offensive: Allen Craig (Cardinals): 4-5, double, 2 home runs (6), 3 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .021 from .310 to .331, hitting streak to 1 game (4-5, .800). 

Pitching: David Price (Rays): Win (11-10), 8 shutout innings, 3 hits, 3 walks, 6 K's (164), ERA drop: 0.17 runs from 3.76 to 3.59. 

Worst Pitching Performance: Ricky Nolasco (Marlins): Loss (9-9), 3 innings, 11 earned runs, 11 hits, 1 walk, 2 K's (119), ERA jump: 0.53 runs from 3.72 to 4.25. 

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Teams followed in this email: 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 on the original email that I send out every day, 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

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