MLB Notebook: A lot of career hits in Yanks' lineup

On Aug. 30, 1928, the Philadelphia Athletics hosted the Boston Red Sox and lost, 3-2. The A's outhit the Red Sox 9-6, with their future Hall of Fame middle of the lineup - Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons and Jimmie Foxx -- contributing four hits. But the Athletics' box score also included three other Cooperstown-bound players: pinch-hitters Ty Cobb, Tris Speaker and Eddie Collins. None of those three hit safely in their respective turns at bat.

It was Speaker's final Major League game, and that trio, with Cobb and Collins, had an astonishing collection of 11,014 hits -- 2,397 more than the current combined total of Yankees teammates Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Ichiro Suzuki.

Jeter, Rodriguez and Suzuki have a combined 8,617 hits. Among active players, Jeter owns the most hits, Rodriguez is second and Ichiro is sixth. Jeter's total of 3,212 hits ranks 13th all-time. Rodriguez's 2,871 hits rank 41st and Suzuki's 2,534 hits put him 90th on the list of career leaders.

In their first game as teammates Monday, Jeter (1-for-5), Rodriguez (2-for-4) and Suzuki (1-for-4) went a combined 4-for-13.

Rodriguez doubled, homered and drove in a run. He has 1,183 career extra-base hits (including 644 homers), leaving him three behind Frank Robinson for ninth all-time. Rodriguez has 1,937 career RBIs; only two players in the modern era -- Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth -- have driven in 2,000 runs.

Hiroki Kuroda
Kuroda allowed one run on three hits in seven innings in the Yankees' 4-1 win over the Mariners. The right-hander has made three starts this season in which he has gone at least seven innings and given up no more than three hits. Among American League pitchers, Justin Verlander, Brandon Morrow and Jered Weaver each have four such games, while Kuroda joined Kevin Millwood, Tommy Milone and Jarrod Parker with three.

Mark Teixeira
Teixeira doubled twice to increase his career extra-base hits total to 702. Among all players through their first 10 seasons, Teixeira's 701st tied Lou Gehrig for the ninth-most, and his 702nd tied Al Simmons. The players ahead of him: Albert Pujols, Ted Williams, Aaron, Joe DiMaggio, Todd Helton, Earl Averill and Stan Musial.

Jeff Samardzija
Samardzija (one hit in eight innings) and Carlos Marmol combined on a two-hit shutout as the Cubs blanked the Pirates, 2-0. Samardzija's game score was 84, tied for the second-highest by a Cubs pitcher this season. Matt Garza posted an 85 on April 12 and an 84 on April 29.

oIn his past four outings, Samardzija has allowed five runs in 27 innings (1.67 ERA) with 29 strikeouts and seven walks.

Samardzija's counterpart, Erik Bedard, allowed two hits in seven innings. It was the second time this season a game has featured both starters going at least seven innings and allowing no more than two hits. Toronto's Brandon Morrow and Cleveland's Ubaldo Jimenez each allowed one hit in seven innings on April 7. Monday's game was the 73rd since 1918 in which both starters with a line of at least seven innings and two or fewer hits allowed. It was the first to involve the Cubs against the Pirates.

Jordan Zimmermann
Zimmermann struck out six and didn't walk a batter in the Nationals' 8-2 win over the Mets, giving him a strikeouts-to-walks ratio of 3.91 this season. Zimmermann and Washington teammate Stephen Strasburg (4.38) are both in the NL's top 10 in K-BB ratio. In Expos/Nationals history, four qualifying pitchers have finished a season with a better ratio than Zimmermann's 3.91: Javier Vazquez (4.73) in 2001, Pedro Martinez (4.55) in 1997, Vazquez (4.23) again in 2003 and Jeff Fassero (4.04) in 1996.

Bryce Harper
Harper (19 years, 281 days old) went 2-for-4, with two runs scored, three RBIs, a home run and a stolen base. He is the youngest player since Andruw Jones (19.134) on Sept. 4, 1996, to hit a home run and steal a base in the same game.

Brandon Phillips
Phillips was one of five Reds players with a multihit game as Cincinnati collected 17 hits on its way to an 8-3 victory over the Astros. Phillips (3-for-6 with a double, a steal and a run) is 10-for-28 with four extra-base hits and eight RBIs in seven games in the No. 3 spot in the batting order (replacing the injured Joey Votto). The Reds are 6-1 in those seven games.

Dodgers
Los Angeles defeated the Cardinals, 5-3, for its eighth straight victory over St. Louis. The Dodgers last won eight in a row against the Cardinals in 1975-76. In 1951, they won 14 in a row -- their longest winning streak against the Cardinals in the modern era.

The Dodgers' Tony Gwynn Jr. singled as a pinch-hitter to improve to 8-for-16 in that role this season. Gwynn's eight pinch-hits are tied for the third-most in the Majors, behind the Rockies' Eric Young Jr., who has 12, and the Cubs' Reed Johnson, who has 11.

Three-run single
Kendrys Morales hit a pinch-hit, three-run single in the bottom of the eighth to give the Angels a 6-3 lead, and eventual win, over the Royals. Morales' hit was the first single to produce three RBIs since Brendan Harris of the Twins hit one on June 27, 2009.

Giants
Melky Cabrera had three hits and Buster Posey homered with four RBIs in the Giants' 7-1 win over the Padres.

Cabrera's performance gave him 135 hits through 96 team games. That total at this point is the seventh-most by any Giants player since 1918. Bill Terry had 155 in 1930, 146 in 1929 and 136 in 1935; Frankie Frisch had 141 in 1923; Dave Bancroft had 139 in 1922 and Freddie Lindstrom had 136 in 1928.

In his past 24 games, Posey is batting .393 with five homers, 24 RBIs, 12 extra-base hits (.655 slugging percentage) and a 1.130 OPS.