FOUR-CYCLE
Aaron Hill hit for the cycle against the Seattle Mariners on Monday night and became the 10th major-league second baseman aged 30 years or older to accomplish the feat. Hill, who plays for the Arizona Diamondbacks, was 30 years and 89 days old when he became 298th player in the bigs to garner a single, double, triple and home run in one game. The oldest second baseman to accomplish the feat was Chris Speier who was 38 years and 11 days old when he cycled for the second time in his career in 1988 while playing for the San Francisco Giants. The 10 oldest second basemen to hit for the cycle were (age in years and days):
Player Team Year Age
Chris Speier Giants 1988 38.011
Craig Biggio Astros 2002 36.115
Charlie Gehringer Tigers 1939 36.016
Mark Grudzielanek Cardinals 2005 34.301
Jimmy Johnston Dodgers 1922 32.166
Mike Lansing Rockies 2000 32.076
Frank White Royals 1982 31.333
Damion Easley Tigers 2001 31.209
Orlando Hudson Dodgers 2009 31.122
Aaron Hill Diamondbacks 2012 30.089
AROUND THE HORN
… In his consecutive one-hitters for the Mets on June 13 and 18, R.A. Dickey threw 220 pitches, 160 for strikes, which included 194 knuckleballs, 21 fastballs and five curves.
… Melky Cabrera (batting .363 through Thursday) could join Barry Bonds (2002, 2004), Rogers Hornsby (1927), Freddie Lindstrom (1930) and Bill Terry (1929, 1930) as the only Giants since 1920 to qualify for a batting title and hit .360 or better.
… The Rays, since 2008, are 32-13 when facing a Cy Young Award winner; in that span, the club has faced Bartolo Colon, Zack Greinke, Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee, Jake Peavy, CC Sabathia, Johan Santana and Justin Verlander.
… Ichiro Suzuki recorded the 48th four-hit game of his major-league career on Tuesday night; the Mariner superstar has registered the most four-hit efforts in the bigs since 2001 (the year he debuted) with Albert Pujols of the Angels second during that time with 37.
… Jake Peavy became the first pitcher since Roy Halladay in 2009 to lose two, nine-inning complete games in a season; Peavy lost to the Cubs on Tuesday, 2-1, and to the Red Sox, 1-0, in April while pitching a full nine frames each time.
… The Yankees' 10-game winning streak that ended Tuesday night was the 30th time that the club had won 10 or more in a row since its inception in 1901.
… Ryan Braun of the Brewers has hit in 25 consecutive interleague games; the reigning N.L. MVP needs to hit in 13 more in a row to break Matt Lawton's record of hits in 37 straight interleague contests between 1999 and 2001.
… Indians outfielder Johnny Damon joined Ty Cobb, Paul Molitor and Tris Speaker as the only major-leaguers to register at least 2,700 hits, 1,000 walks, 500 doubles, 400 stolen bases and 100 triples when he drew his 1,000th base on balls June 16 against the Pirates
… After homering for the 100th time as a Phillie, Jim Thome joined Darrell Evans, Reggie Jackson and Alex Rodriguez as the only big-leaguers to hit 100 or more long balls with three different teams.
… Tom Ruane of Retrosheet notes that when the Yankees played the Nationals last weekend it was the first matchup between two teams that were each on winning streaks of six games or more since the Phillies met the Marlins on September 19, 2008.
… Jason Hammel of the Orioles became the first visiting pitcher to beat the Braves on the strength of a complete-game one-hitter since the team moved to Atlanta in 1966; the club had been no-hit three times over that span but had never lost a one-hitter.
… Jason Kipnis could join Roberto Alomar as the only second basemen in Indians history to register at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in a season; Alomar did it in 1999 and 2001 and through Thursday, Kipnis had 11 homers and 17 stolen bases.
… The day after he turned 40, Andy Pettitte of the Yankees joined John Smoltz as the only 40-year-old major-leaguers to strike out a teenager at least three times in a game; Pettitte whiffed the Nationals' Bryce Harper three times on June 16 and, in 2007, Smoltz K'd 19-year-old Justin Upton thrice in a game.
… The Rangers had produced five runs or more in 15 innings this season through Thursday to lead the majors; the Colorado Rockies had the second most five-run-plus frames with 11.
… Ben Revere of the Twins is the only active position player who has played more than 100 games in the bigs but has yet to hit a homer.
… The Nationals are the first Washington, D.C., team to win at least 40 games in their first 67 in a season since the Senators turned the trick going 43-24 to start their 1933 campaign.
… The Indians had the fewest homers hit by right-handed batters (nine) in the majors through Thursday.
… Yu Darvish is the only pitcher in the majors with at least three starts at home to have won all of them; the Ranger rookie is 6-0 in six starts in Arlington.
… Two N.L. West teams, the Giants and Padres, were the only clubs in the bigs through Thursday that had no player with at least 10 home runs.
… The Rockies, through Thursday, had posted only one win in 12 games against A.L. teams this season and could set a record for fewest wins during interleague play if they fail to post a victory in their final three contests with the Junior Circuit; no club has posted fewer than two wins in a season's interleague games.
… Adam Dunn of the White Sox is on a pace to hit 54 homers and drive in 129 runs in 2012 which would both be career highs; he's also on track to strike out 256 times which would shatter Mark Reynolds' record of 223 set in 2009.
… The Rangers need two more sellouts to break the team's record for most in a season (21) set in 1994, their first season at Rangers Ballpark.
… The Reds are the only team in the majors that has a winning record (7-5) against the Yankees.
… Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals struck out eight batters on June 15 to become the first pitcher in the majors to reach 100 K's in 2012; the last Washington, D.C., pitcher to reach 100 before anyone else in a season was Walter Johnson for the 1919 Senators.
… According to the Elias Sports Bureau, when Reds reliever Aroldis Chapman failed to record a strikeout on Tuesday night against the Indians, it snapped his streak of 34 consecutive relief appearances with at least one whiff; in 1977, Bruce Sutter set the record of 39 straight appearances in relief with at least one K.
… SABR member Bill Carle notes that, through Thursday, the Royals in the month of June had gone 0-3 when scoring seven runs or more but 6-3 when scoring two runs or fewer.
Other writers and sources contribute to Beyond the Box Score
Copyright 2012, Sports Features Group
