Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez join an elite club
When Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez of the Royals homered in the second inning of the All-Star game, they became only the second pair of teammates to homer in the same All-Star inning. Who were the first? Answer at end of these notes …. With the All-Star game win, the American League gets home-field advantage in the World Series. The team with home-field advantage has won 24 of the last 30 World Series …. David Ortiz, 40, is the oldest player in history to lead the majors in extra-base hits at the All-Star break .… Robinson Cano has hit 21 home runs so far this season for Seattle. He hit 21 in all of 2015 …. San Diego’s Wil Myers became the first player to get an All-Star game extra-base hit in his home stadium since Seattle’s Mike Cameron in 2001 .… Toronto’s Josh Donaldson is only the sixth player in AL history to have at least 20 homers and 80 runs scored at the All-Star break. The other five: Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Reggie Jackson, Frank Thomas and Alex Rodriguez …. According to fangraphs.com’s playoff probabilities page, the six teams with the greatest chance to win the World Series are: 1. Cubs (16.9% chance to win); 2. Nationals (13%); 3. Red Sox (11.7%); 4. Indians (11.4%); 5. Giants (8.6%); 6. Dodgers (8.1%). The teams with no chance: Rays, Twins, A’s, Angels, Phillies, Braves, Brewers, Reds, Padres, Rockies and Diamondbacks …. How good is Clayton Kershaw? Here are the top 10 active pitchers ranked by earned-run average (minimum 1,000 innings pitched): 1. Kershaw, 2.39; 2. Madison Bumgarner, 2.93; 3. Chris Sale, 2.97; 4. Adam Wainwright, 3.08; 5. Felix Hernandez, 3.11; 6. David Price, 3.19; 7. Johnny Cueto, 3.23; 8. Cole Hamels, 3.31; 9. Zack Greinke, 3.36; 10. Jordan Zimmermann, 3.37 …. The five active pitchers with the worst ERA? 1. Colby Lewis, 4.68; 2. Kyle Kendrick, 4.63; 3. Jorge De La Rosa, 4.61; 4. Edwin Jackson, 4.59; 5. Ricky Nolasco, 4.58 …. Going into this year, of the 120 teams leading their division at the All-Star break since 1996, 73 have gone on to win their division …. The Kansas City Royals have released former Dodgers left-hander Joe Beimel …. Some believed Arizona became NL West favorites after signing Zack Greinke and trading for Shelby Miller. Instead, Greinke is on the DL and the Diamondbacks sent Miller to the minors Friday with a 7.14 ERA …. Answer: Steve Garvey and Jim Wynn of the Dodgers in 1975.
