Tag Archives: Josh Donaldson

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. & Yuli Gurriel Make MLB History

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Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Yuli Gurriel have earned a place in the annals of Major League Baseball history…

The 24-yea-old Cuban baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays and his older brother, the 34-year-old Cuban baseball player for the Houston Astros, have become the first brothers in major league history to have multi-homerun games on the same day.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. & Yuli Gurriel

Lourdes Gurriel homered in the first and fourth innings Friday night in the Blue Jays’ 11-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. In the process, he also became the first rookie in Blue Jays history to homer in three consecutive at-bats after hitting a game-tying homer in the ninth inning of Toronto’s victory Thursday.

Lourdes Gurriel, who has 11 homers this season, is the 14th Toronto player to record home runs in three straight at-bats, and the first since Josh Donaldson on September 16-17, 2017.

Houston’s Yuli Gurrielhit a grand slam in the first inning and added a two-run shot in the third inning of the Astros’ 11-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. He has 12 homers this season.

“My parents were so happy that they didn’t know what to do with themselves, hearing the great news,” Yuli Gurriel said through an interpreter. “Sometimes I have a good game and sometimes he has a good game, but for us to have a great game together is very special.”

Added Lourdes: “I’m happy for him, but for me as well.”

Yuli Gurriel’s seven RBIs were the most for a Houston player since J.R. Towles set a franchise record with eight 11 years ago Friday.

The brothers will face off against each other for the first time as big leaguers next week when the Astros visit Toronto.

“I’m very happy, but I’m also curious,” Lourdes Gurriel said. “It’s a little bit weird.”

Escobar Named a Starter for the 2015 MLB All-Star Game

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Alcides Escobar is having a season to remember…

The 28-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball shortstop is one of four Kansas City Royals players named American League starters for the 2015 MLB All-Star Game being hosted by the Cincinnati Reds.

Alcides Escobar

Escobar, a first year pick, will be joined by his teammates Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain (outfielders) and Salvador Perez (catcher) as Royals reps for this year’s All-Star Game.

Much was said of the potential ballot-stuffing being done by Kansas City fans, but ultimately only four players from the AL Central leaders made it to the starting lineup. Long a doormat in the AL, the Royals have more starters this season than in the previous 25 years combined.

“It’s just been the support of our fans, really, over the last two years,” said Gordon, making his third straight All-Star appearance. “Winning brings attention and that’s what we’ve been doing. I think we play with a lot of energy, a lot of fun. People have noticed it.”

While the Royals may have led the way with the most players per team, the leading vote-getter came from north of the border.

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson set a new record for all-time single-season voting with over 14 million total votes cast. Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper led all National League selections by garnering 13.9 million votes.

Only two teams placed multiple players on the All-Star rosters, the Royals, who won the AL pennant last season, and the Miami Marlins, who entered Sunday eight games under .500 and 11 games back in the NL East.

Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon and outfielder Giancarlo Stanton were both voted to the NL squad, though Stanton won’t play in the Midsummer Classic.

Stanton, who signed a $325 million contract this offseason to stay in Miami, is on the disabled list with a broken bone in his hand. He’ll join Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera (calf) and St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday (quad) as All-Star starters who are on the DL.

The Reds will host the All-Star Game for the first time since 1988 and will be represented by Todd Frazier, who was voted the NL team’s starting third baseman.

“I was really nervous. I was excited. It was a huge comeback,” said Frazier, who went from trailing the Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter by 2.5 million votes in June to winning the starting nod by 2.1 million. “I’m pretty much on Cloud Nine.”

All-Star pitchers, reserves and the finalists for the Final Vote will be announced Monday.

Royals manager Ned Yost and San Francisco Giants skipper Bruce Bochy will helm the AL and NL teams, respectively, when the 2015 All-Star Game is played Tuesday, July 14.

“We’re going to have a blast,” Yost said. “The All-Star Game is an experience you never forget, and to do it with so many of our teammates there is really special.”

In addition to Escobar, Perez and Cabrera, other Latino players selected as All-Star Game starters are Jose Altuve, Nelson Cruz and Jhonny Peralta.

 

2015 MLB All-Star Game Starters
AL POS. NL
Miguel Cabrera, DET 1B Paul Goldschmidt, ARI
Jose Altuve, HOU 2B Dee Gordon, MIA
Alcides Escobar, KC SS Jhonny Peralta, STL
Josh Donaldson, TOR 3B Todd Frazier, CIN
Salvador Perez, KC C Buster Posey, SF
Mike Trout, LAA OF Bryce Harper, WAS
Lorenzo Cain, KC OF Giancarlo Stanton, MIA
Alex Gordon, KC OF Matt Holliday, STL
Nelson Cruz, SEA DH N/A

 

Perez Helps the Kansas City Royals Advance in the MLB Playoffs…

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Salvador Perez is being hailed a hero in Kansas City…

The 24-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball catcher singled home the winning run with two outs in the 12th inning, capping two late comebacks that gave his Kansas City Royals a thrilling 9-8 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the American League wild-card game.

Salvador Perez

“This will go down as the craziest game I’ve ever played,” said Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer, who sparked the final Royals rally with a one-out triple. “This team showed a lot of character. No one believed in us before the game. No one believed in us before the season.”

It was a back-and-forth epic that lasted 4 hours, 45 minutes, with the A’s losing their seventh straight winner-take-all playoff game since 2000.

Making their first postseason appearance since winning the 1985 World Series, the Royals will now open their best-of-five Division Series on the road Thursday night against the AL West champion Los Angeles Angels.

After falling behind by four runs, the Royals raced back with their speed on the bases — they led the majors with 153 steals this season. Kansas City swiped seven in this one to tie a postseason record previously shared by the 1907 Chicago Cubs and 1975 Cincinnati Reds, according to STATS.

The biggest one came in the 12th.

Hosmer scored the tying run on a high chopper to third by rookie Christian Colon, who reached safely on the infield single and then stole second with two outs.

Perez, who was 0 for 5 after squandering two late chances to drive in key runs, reached out and pulled a hard one-hopper past diving third baseman Josh Donaldson. Colon scored easily, and the Royals rushed out of the dugout for a mad celebration.

Sitting upstairs in a suite, Royals Hall of Famer George Brett put his hands on his head in near disbelief at the frenzied and jubilant scene that was unfolding below.

“It was unbelievable,” Perez said.

The A’s raced out to a 7-3 lead by the sixth inning, but the Royals countered with three runs in the eighth. Nori Aoki‘s sacrifice fly off Sean Doolittle in the ninth forced extra innings.

Kansas City squandered chances in the next couple of innings, as midnight came and went on the East Coast and the tension continued to build. Rookie left-hander Brandon Finnegan, just drafted in June, pitched two scoreless innings but walked Josh Reddick to start in the 12th.

Pinch-hitter Alberto Callaspo delivered an RBI single off Jason Frasor to put the A’s ahead 8-7, but Hosmer hit a drive high off the left-center wall against Dan Otero for a leadoff triple in the bottom half, and Colon drove him in with a bouncer that barely traveled 50 feet.

That set the stage for Perez, who lined a pitch from Jason Hammel down the third-base line.

Cespedes Wins the Home Run Derby Crown for Second Straight Year

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Yoenis Cespedes’ reign at the Home Run Derby continues…

The 28-year-old Cuban baseball star, an outfielder for the Oakland Athletics, has become the first repeat winner of the All-Star skills contest in 15 years.

Yoenis Cespedes

Cespedes powered his way past the Cincinnati Reds’ Todd Frazier 9-1 in the final round Monday night to successfully defend his title.

Ken Griffey Jr. was the last back-to-back winner, taking the title in 1998 and 1999.

With a serious, determined look on his face the entire time, Cespedes finished with 28 homers. That was four fewer than last year, when he beat the Washington Nationals‘ Bryce Harper 9-8 in the final round.

Cespedes even told Athletics teammate Josh Donaldson he was doing this wrong.

“I knew he wasn’t going to win because his mentality was to take the ball out of the stadium, and I told him that is not the way you win this competition,” Cespedes said through an interpreter.

He added: “I’m somebody who’s very conscious of the power that I have. So I don’t need to put more of a swing or more of an effort in order to hit a home run. I just have to look for a good pitch and put a good swing on it, and it usually takes care of it.”

Cespedes saved his best for last, a 452-foot blast to the third deck above left field that officially measured as the longest shot of the night.

A’s third-base coach Mike Gallego again pitched to Cespedes, who went deep 32 times in last year’s derby at Citi Field in New York. Gallego’s arm looked nearly out of gas by the final round.

“Maybe next year I’ll put up a better showing at the end,” Frazier said. “Now that I understand, maybe I’ll do a couple of more push-ups.”

Cespedes topped Toronto’s Jose Bautista and Frazier surprisingly beat Miami’s Giancarlo Stanton in the semifinals.