Hits have been coming all season for Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Adam Frazier. Entering Monday night’s games, the former Diamond Dawg had the 11th-highest batting average in Major League Baseball, boasting an average of .323.
But the power had yet to arrive. Until Tuesday. Frazier hit his first home run of the season against Cincinnati relief pitcher Sean Doolittle, which continued a 12-game hitting streak for him that was snapped the next night.
“I try not to [pay attention to stats], but a lot of people text me all the time and tell me how good I’m hitting,” Frazier told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “And I’m just going to knock on some wood because I know how baseball is. Feel great one day and forget how to even touch a ball the next. I know how the highs and lows of the game come just as quick as they go. So I’ve got 120 or so games left, so I’m not worried about that right now.”
Frazier is getting on base at a .390 clip, has driven in 13 runs and stolen three bases for the Pirates this season.
An impressive streak ended Friday for Texas Rangers first baseman Nate Lowe. Entering the matchup against the Houston Astros, Lowe had reached base in 25 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors at the time.
“I guess I’m just playing my game,” Lowe told MLB.com on Monday. “I like to get my best swing off. More times than not, the balls just spin away and those are the balls that I really try to get extended on, so it just happening on accident, honestly. Sometimes I can’t get to the pitch inside and sometimes it works out right and it goes the other way, but you know there’s never intent to really, like, hit it over there. It’s just how it happens.”
In 156 at-bats this season, Lowe is batting .269 with an on-base clip of .365 while hitting seven home runs and accumulating 26 RBIs.
Another week has gone by, another week MLB hitters have failed to score on Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Kendall Graveman. The right-handed hurler has thrived in late-game situations this year, notching five saves while not allowing a run in 16.2 innings of work with 17 strikeouts. He’s also posting a sparkling 0.54 WHIP.
Brandon Woodruff continues to be pure filth on the mound for the Milwaukee Brewers, as the dominant starting pitcher held the St. Louis Cardinals to one run on three hits in 7.2 innings of work on Wednesday. This season, Woodruff is 2-1 with a 1.64 ERA in 49.1 innings of work with 61 strikeouts and a 0.73 WHIP.
While he hasn’t reached the majors yet, Ethan Small was part of a combined no-hitter for the Biloxi Shuckers, a minor league affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. On Saturday, Small pitched five no-hit innings and struck out six batters. It was his second start of the season.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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