San Francisco actually set the record a couple days ago, but with Jeff Keppinger’s home run yesterday in the Giants-Marlins game*, the team has now hit 21 consecutive longballs that were of the solo variety.
* Big Time Timmy Jim went 7 scoreless with 10 K’s in the 3-0 win.
The streak goes back to July 6th, when Nate Schierholtz hit his second home run of the game; the first was a two-run shot, but the second – which was a walk-off blast in the bottom of the 14th inning – came with the bases empty. Since then, 10 different batters have gone deep for the Giants – Keppinger, Brandon Belt, Chris Stewart, and Miguel Tejada once each; Schierholtz, Aaron Rowand, Cody Ross, and Eli Whiteside twice each; Aubrey Huff three times; and Pablo Sandoval six times – but each time it’s been with nobody on base. The record dates all the way back to the 1914 Phillies, who had 19 straight.
This feat by San Fran isn’t completely surprising, as the Giants rarely homer – their 77 is 23rd in baseball, and they’re as close to 30th as they are to 21st – and don’t tend to have many men on base in general (their .320 OBP is 29th). And unlike the average team, the Giants actually hit worse with men on base than with the bases empty.
Men on base: .237/.306/.334 with a homer every 75 plate appearances
Bases empty: .244/.301/.376 with a homer every 51 plate appearances
So congratulations to the Giants on making it into the record books. There’s a decent enough chance they’ll extend it even further – then maybe it’ll stand for a full 100 years.
Also last night: Yuniesky Betancourt provided the only run in the Brewers 1-0 win over the Pirates with a solo homer; the Reds went deep 8 times as they blew out the Padres 13-1; another home run for Dan Uggla, as he extended his hitting streak to 33 (in a losing cause versus the Cubs, though); and much more.
What to watch tonight: Ryan Vogelsong (2.48 ERA) takes on Chris Volstad (5.58 ERA), which is interesting since they have identical 3.79 xFIPs; and from the battle of the V’s to the battle of the M’s, as Charlie Morton (3.56 ERA) takes on Shaun Marcum (3.62). Full schedule with probable pitchers here.
