Indians
Manager Terry Francona is a fan of Reds leadoff hitter Billy Hamilton. “The stolen bases kind of speak for themselves,” Francona said. “He has the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark, but the stolen bases are something you need to pay attention to. He can change the games with his legs for sure.”
Royals
LF Alex Gordon reached a big milestone in the fifth inning Tuesday, lining a single for his 1,000th career hit — all with Kansas City. He became the 10th player in franchise history to reach 1,000 hits and joined Billy Butler, seventh on the list with 1,231. … Nori Aoki hit 10 homers as a rookie in 2012 and eight last season, but had yet to clear the fences this season. He finally cleared the wall Tuesday, ending a streak that stretched 338 at-bats to Sept. 27, 2013. “I knew it was coming, somewhere down the road,” manager Ned Yost said. “Glad to see it today.”
Tigers
According to Baseball-Reference.com, Anibal Sanchez became the seventh Tigers pitcher in the last 100 years to strike out at least 12 hitters in a game in which he walked none. The others to do it are Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Jack Morris, Mickey Lolich (twice), Denny McLain and, back in 1918, right-hander Eric Erickson as he pitched all 16 innings of a 2-2 tie against Washington. … Former White Stripes frontman Jack White held court in the Tigers clubhouse before a recent game in New York. Instead of wearing Yankees pinstripes, the Detroit-born musician was in a Tigers home jersey with No. 3 on the back.
Twins
Manager Ron Gardenhire joked before a recent game about employing a new strategy to contain White Sox slugger Jose Abreu: “We’re thinking about trying to slip in a few more defenders in the outfield. He’s on everything. Inside, outside. We’ve tried everything. We’ve thrown breaking balls, we’ve bounced balls. The young man is a nice hitter. He’s comfortable right now, he’s swinging very good and you got to try to keep mixing it up. You can’t get into patterns on him.”
White Sox
1B Jose Abreu was named the AL player and rookie of the month for July. He is the first rookie in major league history to be named player of the month twice in one season. He won both awards in April and was also the rookie of the month in June. Abreu, 27, hit .374 with 11 doubles, six home runs, 19 RBIs, a .432 on-base percentage and .667 slugging percentage in 25 games in the month of July. He joins Frank Thomas (1994, 1996) and Albert Belle (1998) as the only Sox players in franchise history to be named player of the month twice in one season. … Outfielder Avisail Garcia, on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte, was hit by a pitch. He had left shoulder surgery in April.
Compiled by Rick Crotts from wire reports.
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