Wave of Triple-Digit Heat: Skenes vs. Ohtani Showdown Dominates MLB Headlines
June 7th, 2024 – Here’s our weekly look at 10 mind-blowing notes from the last week in baseball (May 31-June 6).
Classic Arraez: Luis Arraez had four hits on Friday, making history with his fourth four-hit game in just his 24th game with the Padres since 1900, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Leadoff Mookie: Mookie Betts’ leadoff homer on Sunday marked his 52nd career leadoff home run, ranking fifth in MLB history behind legends like Rickey Henderson and George Springer.
SOTO HOMER x2: Juan Soto’s two home runs on Sunday brought his career multi-homer game total to 20, tying with Hal Trosky for the third-most multi-homer games by a player before turning 26 years old.
King of the Gil: Luis Gil continues to impress, with his seventh straight start of at least six innings allowing one or no runs, setting a Yankees record for the most consecutive such outings.
Birthdays are important: Royce Lewis made history by becoming the first player in Twins/Senators franchise history to homer in each of his first three games played in a season.
Skenes Day: Paul Skenes made waves with 11 strikeouts of at least 100 mph in just five MLB starts, becoming the Pirates’ leader in career 100.0+ mph strikeouts as a starting pitcher.
Ohtani’s revenge: Shohei Ohtani hit a home run off a 100.1 mph fastball from Skenes, marking the fastest pitch he has homered off of in his career.
JULIOOO: Julio Rodríguez’s ninth-inning homer off a 102.5 mph pitch from Mason Miller added to the high-velocity action of the week.
High velocity: Wednesday saw 63 pitches thrown at 100.0+ mph, the fourth-most on a calendar date under pitch tracking, highlighting the trend of increased velocity in the game.
Current Ironman: Matt Olson’s impressive streak of 518 consecutive games played since May 2, 2021, puts him in an elite group of MLB ironmen throughout the years.