Stats of the Day: Cole fuels red-hot Bucs staff
Pirates ace notches 11th win; team has posted 1.75 ERA in June
Here are five interesting items from around the big leagues from Thursday:
• Cast your Esurance All-Star ballot for #ASGWorthy players
• Gerrit Cole (seven innings, two runs), won his 11th game, and the Pirates won their eighth straight as they defeated the White Sox, 3-2. Cole is the first Pirates pitcher since Vern Law in 1960 to have at least 11 wins through the club's first 66 games. During the Bucs' winning streak they have posted a 0.69 team ERA, and their ERA for June stands at 1.75. The most recent team to finish June with an ERA below 2.00 was the 1965 Orioles, who posted a 1.83 mark.
• Carlos Correa stole three bases and added a double to help lift the Astros to an 8-4 win over the Rockies. At 20 years and 269 days old, Correa was the youngest player since 1914 to have a game with at least three steals and an extra-base hit. At 20 years and 354 days old on Aug. 15, 2009, Elvis Andrus had been the youngest player since 1914 to sculpt this line. Like Correa, Andrus was at shortstop for his game.
Video: Must C Classic: Correa speeds into record book
• Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with an RBI to creep to within one hit of 3,000. Rodriguez owns a career .557 slugging percentage. There are six members of the 3,000-hit club to also have a career slugging percentage of at least .500: Stan Musial (leads with .559), Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Rafael Palmeiro, Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker.
Video: MIA@NYY: A-Rod ropes a single for hit No. 2,999
• R.A. Dickey, 40, allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings, while 42-year-old Bartolo Colon surrendered seven in 4 1/3 frames in the Blue Jays' 7-1 win over the Mets. The matchup was the third in the past eight seasons to feature a pair of starters in their 40s. On June 25, 2008, Boston's Tim Wakefield got the better of Arizona's Randy Johnson, and on Aug. 15, 2008, Jamie Moyer's Phillies beat Greg Maddux and the Padres.
Video: NYM@TOR: Dickey gives up one run, fans seven in 7 1/3
• Ned Yost's Royals defeated his former team, the Brewers, 3-2, giving Yost his 411th career victory with Kansas City. The win made the 60-year-old skipper the winningest manager in Kansas City history, giving him one more victory than Whitey Herzog had during Herzog's five-year tenure from 1975-79. Herzog posted a .574 winning percentage, while the Royals have gone 411-427 (.490) under Yost.
Video: MIL@KC: Yost on becoming winningest Royals manager
Milestone watch for Friday:
• Rodriguez needs one hit to reach 3,000 for his career. When he does become the 29th player in the club, he will also join Mays and Aaron as the only members of the 3,000-hit, 600-homer club.
• Dee Gordon is one hit shy of 100 for the season. If it comes Friday, it will happen in the Marlins' 69th game. No player in franchise history has reached 100 hits through 69 team games, and the most recent player to do so in the Majors was Melky Cabrera in 2012.