The App is Back! Don’t forget to download the NBC Sports EDGE app to receive real-time player news, mobile alerts and track your favorite players. Plus, now you can check out articles and player cards. Get it here!
The Yankees’ winning streak ended at 13 games on Saturday; they also lost Sunday’s game, 3-1. While on surface level that sentence may imply trouble, that’s far from the case; those losses mark the first time all month the Yankees have lost two in a row. How good have the Yankees been over that two-week winning stretch? In that time frame, they were tied for second in runs scored in all of Major League Baseball, with 75. They also ranked second in team wRC+ at 128, and third in Hard-hit% at 35.5%.
The win streak was fortified by a strong start by Gerrit Cole this week: on Friday versus the Athletics, Cole gave up only six hits and two walks over six scoreless innings for his 13th win of the year. The right-hander tossed 104 pitches, 70 of them for strikes, and generated 17 swings-and-misses to contribute to nine strikeouts. Only two baserunners would reach scoring position for Oakland.
Though starting pitching has posted a solid 2.61 ERA during that winning stretch, the bullpen has been on the ridiculously good side, with a handful of members locking it down in later innings. The bullpen ERA sits at 2.25, third in the league. Jonathan Loaisiga has been especially fantastic out of the bullpen, getting Yan Gomes to swing and miss on a 1-2 count with the bases loaded, for a huge strikeout to end the bottom of the 7th inning in Sunday’s game.
Luke Voit has had a hot August, carrying a .943 OPS including three doubles, five homers, and 18 RBI. His batting average has risen to .259 after a hot stretch in August where he posted four multi-hit games in 69 plate appearances. Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge have also come up huge: Judge is up to 28 home runs on the year with a .291/.383/.532 slash line, 70 RBI, and six steals across 491 plate appearances. Stanton homered in four consecutive games this week, the last occurring in Friday’s win over the A’s. He’s now homered six times over his last 13 games since August 12. Joey Gallo has also gone deep five times, in 28 games played in a Yankee uniform. [[ad:athena]]
The 13-game winning streak was the longest for the franchise since 1961. Though New York has had an impressive August showing, they’ve only gained three games in the AL East standings. Also surging are the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, who are on a seven game win streak as of Monday; they’re also 19-6 this month. The Yankees have been on fire since the All-Star break, with a 29-11 record in the second half.
Notable Performances
Yasmani Grandal made quite a triumphant return to the White Sox lineup on Friday, after being sidelined since early July where he partially tore a tendon in his left knee. The catcher went 4-for-6, including two three-run home runs and a double plating two runs, for eight total RBI. With that performance, Grandal is the first catcher in MLB history and 13th MLB player since 1920 to record at least two eight-plus RBI games in his career.
On Sunday, Jose Abreu became the first player this year to plate 100 RBIs, as he leads all of MLB currently, with 101. August has always been an excellent month for the veteran first baseman. Abreu is a .333/.389/.600 (279-838) hitter with 57 doubles, 55 home runs and 163 RBI over 213 career games in August.
This week, Wander Franco has reached base successfully in every game he’s played, tied for the longest streak by a player under 21 in the Expansion Era (since 1961). On Sunday afternoon, Franco extended his on-base streak to 29 games, with a single in the sixth inning of the Rays’ 12-8 win over the Orioles. Among players aged 20 or younger, Franco’s streak is the sixth longest in MLB history, and the second longest in American League history. He is batting .306/.368/.497 with four homers, 10 doubles, three triples, 23 RBIs and 13 walks compared to 19 strikeouts in 37 games since the All-Star break.
Also this week, Ty France became the first player with a game-tying home run in the ninth inning (or later) in back-to-back games in Mariners history; the 27-year-old brought the Mariners back to life in Sunday’s game versus the Astros, and Monday’s game versus the Athletics. The Mariners were able to bounce back to win both games. France became the first American League player to do it since Gary Gaetti went back-to-back in the ninth inning or later, for the Minnesota Twins on May 17-18, 1989. In the month of August, France has a .934 OPS over 114 plate appearances, including 17 runs scored, three doubles, one triple, six home runs, and 15 RBI.
Austin Riley capped a three-run inning on Sunday with a two-run home run, his 28th of 2021 -- and 14th since the All-Star break. Before Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2019, the last Braves player to enjoy a 30-homer season at age 24 or younger was Andruw Jones in 2001. Going back to April 18, Riley has hit .317 with 28 homers and a .963 OPS. With Sunday’s win, the surging Braves were able to take two of three from the Giants over this past weekend.
Salvador Perez has homered in five straight games this week. The Royals catcher came through once again on Sunday, homering in his fifth consecutive game by clobbering a one-out solo shot in the sixth inning of Kansas City’s 4-3 loss to the Mariners. Perez’s 38 home runs are second in the Majors this season behind only Shohei Ohtani, who currently has 41. The 38 homers are already the second most in a single season in Royals history, trailing only Jorge Soler with 48 in 2019, and tying Mike Moustakas, who hit 38 in 2017.
Editor’s Note: Drafting is only half the battle! Get an edge on your competition with our MLB Season Tools - available in our EDGE+ Roto tier for $3.99/mo. (annually) or $9.99/mo. (monthly) - that are packed with rankings, projections, a trade evaluator, start/sit tools and much more. And don’t forget to use promo code SAVE10 to get 10% off. Click here to learn more!
Injury Report
Marlins outfielder Lewis Brinson played catch and swung the bat on Saturday, according to manager Don Mattingly. Brinson was day-to-day with a left thumb sprain he suffered on Thursday, after he collided with Bryan De La Cruz while going after a fly ball. The X-rays returned negative hence the contusion diagnosis; Mattingly mentioned that he might be available to pinch hit, but it’s unclear exactly how long he’ll be sidelined.
Noah Syndergaard did not make his second scheduled Minor League rehab start on Sunday for a then-undisclosed health reason; it was later revealed that he had tested positive for COVID-19. The right-hander was expected to return to the Mets in a bullpen role to end the season, but will now be sidelined for a minimum of 10 days. He will need to pass health and safety protocols before resuming his rehab assignment.
Kris Bryant exited Friday’s series opener against the Braves after a 35-minute rain delay in the first inning. He suffered the injury in the top of the first inning while checking his swing before flying out to right field. Bryant’s MRI came back negative, and it’s likely that he won’t require a trip to the injured list. He could be back in the Giants’ lineup as early as Monday, if all continues to go well.
Brutal news for the Reds bullpen: reliever Tejay Antone tweeted on Thursday that he will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery on Friday. Antone was reinstated from the injured list on Tuesday after he missed 52 games with a right forearm strain, but threw only five pitches during the eighth inning of the Reds’ 7-4 loss to the Brewers. This will be the second Tommy John surgery to repair Antone’s right elbow. He had the procedure performed in 2017, missing an entire season at the High-A level.
Triston McKenzie was placed on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder fatigue, but it isn’t expected to be too lengthy of a stint. The right-hander has had a terrific August, boasting a 1.93 ERA and 28/2 K/BB ratio over 28 innings pitched in four starts. He’ll miss at least one turn in the rotation.
Shane Bieber threw a 36-pitch bullpen session on Friday. Earlier this week, Bieber threw a 25-pitch fastball-only mound workout, then Bieber tried out the rest of his pitches on flat ground. These bullpen sessions mark the first mound work for Bieber since he landed on the IL back in mid-June because of a right shoulder strain. It’s possible he could return in mid-late September for a handful of starts as the season winds down.
Honor Roll
Logan Webb (7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K on Saturday), Patrick Wisdom (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI on Saturday, 2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, 1 BB on Friday), Joe Musgrove (9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K on Friday), Max Scherzer (7 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K on Thursday), Franmil Reyes (3-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB on Thursday), Tarik Skubal (5 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 10 K on Wednesday), Brendan Rogers (3-for-6, HR, 2B, 5 RBI, on Wednesday), Robbie Ray (7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 14 K on Wednesday), Erick Fedde (6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K on Tuesday), Anthony Santander (4-for-5, 3 R, HR, 3 RBI on Tuesday,) Alek Manoah (6 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 5 K on Monday), Alex Verdugo (3-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 R on Monday)
That concludes the Week that Was, and the August that was. Join us next week as we break down more stories, achievements, and news from Major League Baseball -- the first week of September, the last month of the regular season. Yes, already!
