MLB by the numbers: Nationals drop 7th straight
The Washington Nationals' recent woes continued Saturday at Miller Park, where the putative division favorites dropped their seventh consecutive game with a 6-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, extending their season-long losing streak.
Washington's seventh straight defeat wasn't the only notable numeric from Saturday's slate of the games, though, as the AL Central leaders continued their winning ways in June while one of their rivals put on a dubiously distinct power display. Here's the night in numbers:
-10: The Nationals' run differential since June 14 following a seventh straight loss. Over the past week, the Nationals have watched their lead over the New York Mets in the National League East dwindle to two games, their smallest edge since June 5.
7: Home runs hit by the Chicago White Sox, tying the MLB record for long balls in a losing effort. Despite going deep four times off knuckleballer R.A. Dickey and spanking another three bombs off Toronto's relief corps, the White Sox still fell to the Blue Jays 10-8.
5.63: The 2016 ERA of St. Louis Cardinals reliever Trevor Rosenthal, who was removed from the ninth-inning role Saturday after blowing his third save of the campaign the evening prior.
26: Runs scored by the Houston Astros over their last two games, having followed up Friday's 13-4 shellacking of the Kansas City Royals with another 13-5 drubbing at Kauffman Stadium. Throughout their ongoing six-game winning streak, the Astros have outscored their opponents 50-25.
.438: Reigning American League MVP Josh Donaldson's batting average since June 11 following a 2-for-4 performance against the White Sox - second-best in the majors over that span.
8: Consecutive games won by the Cleveland Indians, who rode a shutout from Carlos Carrasco and a two-homer effort from Francisco Lindor to a 6-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers (now winless in eight games against Cleveland in 2016).
50: Games between multi-homer performances from slumping Pittsburgh Pirates star Andrew McCutchen, who went deep twice Saturday - his first multi-homer effort since smashing three home runs April 26 in Colorado - to propel his team to a second straight victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
99.1: Average fastball velocity from Aroldis Chapman's scoreless ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins, one night after the New York Yankees' vaunted closer hit 103 mph on the radar gun six times in 11 pitches.