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Los Angeles Dodgers’ Trea Turner and Houston’s Yuli Gurriel won their first batting titles on Sunday in a boom and bust season that saw four teams lose 100 games for just the third time, and four 90-game winners. in the only AL East.
Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani has been a singular sensation with a superlative two-way street, unmatched even by Babe Ruth.
Turner hit .328 to outplay reigning NL batting champion Juan Soto of Washington, who hit .313.
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“It’s consistency, which I’m proud of and proud of every day,” said Turner, 28, traded from Washington to Los Angeles in late July. “You have to qualify for certain prizes and have a certain number of batting appearances, and it’s tough if you’re not on the pitch. It’s part of the preparation and the luck. From a health standpoint.”
Gurriel hit .319 to lead the AL; His Astros teammate Michael Brantley was second at 0.311, just ahead of Torontonian Vladimir Guerrero Jr., also at 0.311. Gurriel came in as a defensive substitute in the ninth inning on Sunday and hit a late-game single that beat Oakland 7-6.
“This is something really important,” Gurriel said through a translator. “I think everyone knows it’s a big deal and it’s tough to win a batting title.”
At 37, he was the second oldest batting champion behind Barry Bonds, 38, in 2002.
“It says a lot that veteran players still have a lot to offer in this game,” said Gurriel.
Ohtani, 27, was second in the AL behind Guerrero Jr. with a .592 shot percentage. Ohtani led the AL with eight trebles and was third in the major leagues with 46 homers. He reached 0.257 with 100 RBIs and 26 bases stolen.
On the mound, he paced the AL pitchers with an opponents batting average of 0.122 with runners in scoring position. Hitters hit 0.087 (11 for 127) against his divisor, the lowest for any major pitch with a minimum of 110 home plate appearances.
On basic trails, his house-to-first sprint time of 4.09 seconds was the fastest in the big leagues.
Kansas City wide receiver Salvador Perez and Guerrero tied for the major league home run title with 48 apiece, two more than Ohtani, and Fernando Tatis Jr. of San Diego dominated the NL with 42. Perez a also led the AL with 121 RBIs and Adam Duvall led the NL with 113 for Miami and Atlanta.
The standings reflected the tendency of teams to go all-in or bail and win. San Francisco (107), Los Angeles Dodgers (106) and Tampa Bay (100) gave the major leagues three 100-game winning streaks for the fourth straight full season. Before this race, this only happened in 1942, 1977, 1998, 2002 and 2003.
The Dodgers set a record for most wins by a second-place team, surpassing 104 for the Chicago Cubs of 1909 and the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1942.
Every AL East team other than the Orioles has won at least 90 games, the first time since the leagues split into three divisions each in 1994 and only the second time after the 1978 AL East with New York, Boston, Milwaukee and Baltimore. .
Arizona and Baltimore (both 110), Texas (102) and Pittsburgh (100) made it their second straight full season with four 100-game losers. Before that, it only happened once, in 2002.
Julio Urías of the Dodgers was the lone winner of 20 games, the least in a full season since there was none for the fourth time in 2017. Gerrit Cole’s 16 wins for the Yankees were the fewest in lead the AL in a full season.
Toronto southpaw Robbie Ray became the first pitcher to lead the AL in innings without hitting 200 in a full season, at 193 1/3. Ray led the AL with 248 strikeouts and a 2.84 ERA. Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler paced the NL with 247 strikeouts, and Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes led with a 2.43 ERA.
Mark Melancon of San Diego led the NL with 39 saves, and Chicago’s Liam Hendriks had the most in the AL with 38.
Starling Marte led the majors in interceptions with 47 for Miami and Oakland.
There were nine postponements for COVID-19 reasons out of 2,430 scheduled games, up from 45 in last year’s shortened 900-game schedule.
This season, 233 games have been played in extra innings, compared to 78 in last year’s shortened season. The longest season two of the pandemic rule of putting a runner on second in each extra frame was the Dodgers’ 16 innings victory over the Padres on August 25.
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