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Heading into the finale of their three-game series against the Yankees on August 19, Kendrys Morales was having a rather uneventful season.

The 35-year-old was slashing just .245/.331/.410 with 13 homers and 40 RBI in his first 101 games of the season. There were no indications that a sudden breakout was imminent or that a prodigious power surge was on the horizon.

Then, baseball.

In that finale against the Yankees, Morales slugged a first-inning homer off of Yankees' southpaw J.A. Happ. He carried that good feeling over to the next day, where he blasted a pair of home runs off of Orioles’ right-hander Andrew Cashner.

Three homers in two games. Not bad.

Then the next day, he did it again. A solo shot off of Dylan Bundy in the fifth inning as part of a three-hit night for Morales. On Wednesday, he extended the streak to four games, blasting a seventh-inning offering from David Hess into the seats in right field.

Now four games in a row, Impressive.

Then Morales went out in Friday’s series opener against the Phillies, and he left the yard again. This time it was a solo shot off of Jake Arrieta to lead off the second inning. That pulled him to within one game of the Blue Jays’ franchise record held by Jose Cruz Jr.

He would join Cruz Jr. in Blue Jays’ lore on Saturday, when he crushed a Nick Pivetta fastball over the wall in right-center field in the fourth inning. He also matched Cardinals’ slugger Matt Carpenter for the longest such streak in the big leagues this season.

All good things need to come to an end though. There’s no way that he could go out on Sunday and make it seven straight games with a home run, right?

Wrong again. On Sunday, it was a 1-0 offering from Vince Velasquez in the third inning that Morales pulverized over the right field wall in Toronto.

To put how rare this feat is into historical context, only six other players have ever homered in at least seven straight contests. Ken Griffey Jr., Don Mattingly and Dale Long hold the record with eight straight games. Kevin Mench, Barry Bonds and Jim Thome have each done so in seven straight. That’s it. For the most part, that’s some extremely impressive company.

Blue Jays’ manager John Gibbons explained to reporters that he couldn’t be happier for Morales, "It's pretty impressive… It's a surprise he still gets pitches to hit. ... I don't think any of us can comprehend how hard it is to do. It really couldn't happen to a better guy."

Teammate Curtis Granderson has also been in awe of Morales’ accomplishment, "I remember watching Griffey do it… But to see Morales do what he's been doing and just continue to do it, left-handed, right-handed, it doesn't matter who the pitchers are, it's that one thing that happens in the game when you get hot, you can be really hot, it doesn't matter what's going on."

With this massive week included, Morales is now hitting .264/.343/.484 with 21 homers and 53 RBI on the season.

All eyes will be on Morales on Monday when the Blue Jays travel to Camden Yards to take on the Orioles. He’ll be facing Orioles’ rookie right-hander David Hess, who boasts a 5.50 ERA and 1.40 WHIP across 72 innings on the season. He has also allowed 16 home runs on the season, one of those to Morales on Wednesday.

Morales has also feasted on Orioles’ pitching this season. In 11 games against the O’s he’s slashing a ridiculous .410/.452/.821 with five homers and eight RBI.

With little left to play for this season, I’d love to see Blue Jays’ manager John Gibbons move Morales up in the order on Monday in an effort to get him an extra at-bat with a chance to make history. Then again, given his ownership of Orioles’ pitching this season, he may not need it.

Down Goes Manaea

The Athletics have been one of the most surprising and uplifting stories of the 2018 baseball season. With Sunday’s victory over the Twins they now sit a season-high 27 games over the .500 mark at 79-52 and are just 1 ½ games behind the Astros in the race for the top spot in the American League West.

If they’re going to run down the Astros, they’re going to have to do so without the ace of their staff, at least for a little while.

Sean Manaea was placed on the disabled list on Sunday with what is being termed as a left-shoulder impingement. He was lifted from his last start after throwing just 67 pitches due to the injury, and his velocity has been down all season so there’s a chance that this is an issue that he has been battling for awhile.

The 26-year-old hurler is 12-9 on the season with a 3.59 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 108/32 K/BB ratio across 160 ⅔ innings in his 27 starts this season. He’s the only member of the Athletics’ current rotation that started the season there. If you’ll recall, the A’s began the year with a fearsome fivesome of Manaea, Kendall Graveman, Daniel Gossett, Daniel Mengden and Andrew Triggs. They also had Paul Blackburn on the disabled list and had recently inked Trevor Cahill to a contract, though he was set to begin the season in the minor leagues to get stretched out.

Manaea now joins Triggs, Blackburn and Gossett, as well as Jharel Cotton who was injured during spring training, on as starting pitchers residing on the disabled list.

That leaves the current rotation looking like this:

Trevor Cahill - Signed to a one-year contract as spring training was winding down

Mike Fiers - Acquired from the Tigers in a waiver deal earlier this month

Brett Anderson - Signed a minor league deal with the A’s at the end of the spring and didn’t join the rotation until May

Edwin Jackson - Signed by the A’s to a minor league contract in June after he opted out of his deal with the Nationals

Daniel Mengden - Began the season in the rotation, but was demoted to Triple-A after struggling to a 4.47 ERA and pitiful 5.46 K/9 over 16 starts.

So given all of the turmoil, the laundry list of injuries and salvaging of veteran arms off of the scrap heap, it’s remarkable that the Athletics have the stellar record that they do and remain in the thick of the race in the American League West.

It’s even more remarkable that as a unit, the Athletics’ starting pitchers own a 4.03 ERA and 1,21 WHIP on the season, both marks better than the league average. It’s fair to say that A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson deserves a raise for the job that he has done patching things together this year.

So without Manaea for an indeterminate amount of time, I anticipate that Mengden will once again fill in for the ailing hurler and the machine will continue chugging along toward a playoff berth.

American League Quick Hits: USA Today's Bob Nightengale reports that Josh Donaldson (calf) is slated to begin a rehab assignment with High-A Dunedin in the next 48 hour. The Blue Jays’ hope is that he can prove his health and potentially be dealt to a contender before the trade deadline at the end of the month… Tigers’ manager Ron Gardenhire indicated that Daniel Norris (groin) would pitch out of the bullpen if he’s able to make it back before the end of the season… Mallex Smith (illness) was released from the hospital Sunday and is "doing considerably better," Rays manager Kevin Cash said… Jorge Soler (toe) went through baserunning drills without issue on Sunday and is expected to head out on a minor league rehab assignment this week…Ian Kennedy (oblique) will begin his minor league rehab assignment on Wednesday…  George Springer missed his sixth straight start on Sunday due to a sore left quad. He’s still considered day-to-day and is tentatively expected to return to the lineup on Monday… Lance McCullers is not expected to throw from a mound anytime soon, and if he does return this season it will be out of the Astros’ bullpen… Juan Nicasio was forced to undergo season-ending surgery on his ailing right knee… Cedric Mullins was held out of Sunday’s lineup after tweaking his hip on Saturday. He’s considered day-to-day… Blake Snell delivered another outstanding start, striking out eight over six innings of one-run ball in a victory over the Red Sox. He’s now 16-5 on the season… Michael Kopech earned his first big league victory on Sunday, striking out four over six innings of one-run ball against the Tigers… Jason Kipnis went 4-for-5 with an inside-the-park home run, four RBI, three runs scored and a stolen base in the Indians' 12-5 win over the Royals… Matt Chapman clubbed a pair of home runs, giving him 20 on the season, as the Athletics topped the Twins… Tyler Austin blasted a pair of home runs on the losing side in that contest… Luis Severino became the first 17-game winner in major league baseball with a victory over the Orioles on Sunday night… Luke Voit went 3-for-3 with a homer, leaing the Yankees to a four-game sweep over the Orioles.

National League Quick Hits: Kelvin Herrera had to be carted off of the field after suffering a serious foot injury during the ninth inning of Sunday’s game against the Mets… Roman Quinn was held out of action on Sunday after tweaking his left hamstring while diving for a ball on Saturday… Cody Reed will work out of the Reds’ starting rotation for the remainder of the season while Sal Romano and Robert Stephenson move to the bullpen… Joey Votto wasn’t activated from the disabled list on Sunday as originally planned, and he may not return after Monday’s off-day either as his foot injury is “way worse” than originally thought according to interim manager Jim Riggleman… Martin Prado is expected to be activated from the disabled list on September 1… Kolten Wong missed Sunday’s game with a strained hamstring, but the Cardinals are hopeful that he’ll be able to avoid the disabled list… Mike Montgomery (shoulder) will rejoin the Cubs' rotation Thursday in Atlanta… The Giants officially put Buster Posey on the disabled list in advance of his season-ending hip surgery on Monday… Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said Sunday that Josh Harrison (hamstring) "is going to need an extended period of down time before his leg is 100 percent."... Jeff Samardzija is seeking a second opinion on his ailing right shoulder… Kevin Gausman fired five scoreless innings in a victory over the Marlins… Adam Eaton went 4-for-6 with a two-run homer and a stolen base in a rout over the Mets… Wilson Ramos went 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBI as the Phillies clipped the Blue Jays… Kyle Hendricks hurled seven scoreless innings in a victory over the Reds… Matt Carpenter went 4-for-5 with four doubles as the Cardinals slaughtered the Rockies… Tyler O’Neill homered for the third time in his past four games and remains an interesting mixed league addition while Marcell Ozuna is sidelined… Zack Greinke didn’t allow an earned run over 6 ⅔ innings in a victory against the Mariners… Paul Goldschmidt slugged his 30th homer to pace the D’Backs offense in that win… Manny Machado slugged his 31st home run as the Dodgers toppled the Padres… Justin Turner went 3-for-5 and drove in five runs in that one



14. What is circumference of baseball? 9 inches
A – 7 inches
B – 8 inches
C – 9 inches

 True or False? The size of pitching rubber is 24 inches by 12 inches.

Ask the Beaver

 
 Answer :  9 inches
Answer :  False the pitching rubber is 6 inches