Toonstruck 1 » CHASING HISTOR

A look at what’s happening around the majors today:YKendrys Morales has homered in seven straight games for Toronto Paul Molitor Jersey , one short of the major league record. He can match Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey Jr. when the Blue Jays face rookie David Hess (2-8, 5.50) and the Orioles in Baltimore. “It’d be something if he gets (the record). I don’t think any of us can comprehend how hard it is to do,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said. Morales has already connected off Hess during the streak, and the Cuban slugger said the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, has requested one of his bats. “It’s amazing what I’ve been doing,” he added. One of seven players in big league history with a streak this long http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-robin-yount-jersey , Morales has six home runs in 116 career at-bats at Camden Yards. He has 21 homers this season and is batting .500 (17 for 34) with eight home runs and 15 RBIs during a 10-game hitting streak.WILD WESTOakland plays at Houston in the opener of a three-game series between the top two teams in the AL West. Gerrit Cole (11-5, 2.73 ERA) pitches for the World Series champion Astros, who have won five straight and lead the division by 1½ games. Cole is 2-0 with a 2.92 ERA in four starts against the A’s this season. Athletics lefty Brett Anderson (3-3, 3.47) is 3-1 with a 2.11 ERA in eight starts since coming off the disabled list, and opponents are batting just .218 since his return. Houston expects to have All-Star outfielder George Springer (quadriceps) back in the lineup.MURPHY’S LAWThree years ago, Daniel Murphy powered the Mets into the World Series by going 9 for 17 (.529) with four home runs to win NLCS MVP honors in a four-game sweep of the Cubs. Now, he’ll face his former team for the first time as a member of the Cubs when they host Noah Syndergaard (9-3, 3.68 ERA) and the Mets at Wrigley Field. Murphy has tormented New York since leaving town as a free agent Matt Garza Jersey , batting .390 with 11 homers, 43 RBIs and a whopping 1.162 OPS in 44 games against the Mets for the Washington Nationals, who traded him to Chicago last week. Jon Lester (14-5, 3.64) starts for the Cubs.EYE ON THE PRIZESuddenly back within striking distance of first-place Boston in the AL East, the banged-up Yankees send Masahiro Tanaka (9-4) to the mound at home against the White Sox. Carlos Rodon (5-3) starts for Chicago, which has won nine of 12.SECOND CHANCEStephen Strasburg (6-7, 4.23 ERA) pitches for the Nationals in Philadelphia against Zach Eflin (9-4, 3.93) and the Phillies. Strasburg came off the disabled list last week after missing more than a month with a neck problem and gave up five runs in four innings vs. Philadelphia. His velocity dipped in his last inning.GRAY’S DAYSRockies right-hander Jon Gray faces Mike Trout and the Angels with his club a game back of Arizona for the NL West lead. Gray hasn’t lost a start since June 12 http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-stephen-vogt-jersey , a span of 10 outings. He’s allowed four earned runs or fewer in his past seven starts — no small feat, with four of those games at Coors Field — and Colorado has won each of his past nine outings. The Angels have dropped six straight, including a three-game sweep by Houston over the weekend. BOSTON (AP) — So much for the Red Sox only beating up on baseball’s weaklings.After Yankees general manager Brian Cashman cast doubt on the quality of Boston’s record heading into their series at Fenway Park, the Red Sox swept four games from their AL East rivals to expand their lead in the division to a season-high 9 1/2 games.Noting that the Red Sox had been 4-5 against New York before the series Cashman said, “You wonder what their record would be if they weren’t playing us.”The words made their way around the Boston clubhouse.“Yeah, we saw it,” outfielder Mookie Betts said. “We weren’t paying it any attention. We know what we are, we know what we can do and we went out and showed it.”J.D. Martinez singled in a pair of runs to key a ninth-inning rally and Andrew Benintendi drove in the game-winner in the 10th on Sunday night to help the Red Sox complete the sweep. After coming to Boston with hopes of closing the gap in the division Christian Yelich Jersey , the Yankees left with a renewed focus on the wild-card race.“Everybody knew how big this series was,” Benintendi said. “We came in and did what we wanted to do. Kind of stole this one. Every win counts the same, but now again we have to re-shift our focus toward Toronto.”The Red Sox had the day off on Monday before opening a three-game series against the Blue Jays. That gave them a little extra time to enjoy their best-in-baseball record of 79-34 — 45 games above .500 (and just one game below .700) for the first time since Ted Williams returned from World War II to lead the 1946 team to a 104-50 record.The Yankees are stuck in a season-high five-game losing streak. It was just the seventh time they have been swept by the Red Sox in a series of four or more games in the last 100 seasons. (Of course, they also lost four straight in the 2004 AL Championship Series.)“A tough way to obviously end a tough weekend,” New York manager Aaron Boone said. “But we can’t let this define what’s been a great season.”The Yankees were on the verge of snapping their skid on Sunday night before closer Aroldis Chapman walked the bases loaded in the ninth and then, with two out, J.D. Martinez singled in a pair of runs. Jackie Bradley Jr. scored from first on a throwing error by third baseman Miguel Andujar to send the game into extra innings.In the 10th, Benintendi bounced one up the middle to score Tony Renda http://www.brewersfanproshop.com/authentic-corey-knebel-jersey , who came in as a pinch runner to make his major league debut, to win it.Boston improved to 7-3 in extra-inning games and has four walk-off wins in its last 13 games at Fenway. The Red Sox have a best-in-baseball 11 sweeps this season while not getting swept themselves at all.They are 8-5 against the Yankees, putting to rest any doubts Cashman might have had when he said: “You wonder what their record would be if they weren’t playing us. Because when we go head to head, we do some damage against them and it doesn’t seem like anybody else is capable.”Asked about the comments before the series, Red Sox manager Alex Cora avoided adding to the controversy.“Don’t lead me into that one,” he said. “He also said that he would love to be in our position, that he respects the way we’re playing. I leave it at that.”