Angels
Kole Calhoun leads the American League’s leadoff men with a .477 slugging percentage and is third on the team in slugging, behind only Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. So why is this stocky, 200-pound sparkplug at the top of the lineup?
“He’s a guy that can give you a 1-0 lead,” hitting coach Don Baylor said.
The Arizona State product is hitting .278 this season with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs. When Calhoun scores a run in the first inning, the club is 16-5, and they are 36-10 when he scores a run at any point.
Astros
Tom Lawless, who first entered professional baseball in 1978 as a 21-year-old in the Cincinnati Reds organization, got the call from manager Jeff Luhnow last Sunday that he was going to be the interim manager for the remainder of the season. It was a surprising call for the 57-year-old, who will take his first big league managerial job and joked that he had to “find that sport coat and shake off the dust” for Tuesday’s introductory news conference.
“It’s what you work for. It’s what you stay in the game (for) — it’s why I’ve been in the game for 25 years. You just keep pounding the pavement and do your work, and someday, you get recognized for doing your work.”
Athletics
Adam Dunn hit a two-run homer on Monday with his very first swing as a member of the A’s, becoming the 12th player in Oakland history to homer in his first at-bat with the club. In the process, he appeared to breathe new life into an offense that has lost its mojo in recent weeks.
“It had a little bit of a storybook type of thing to it,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve really been lacking early in games, energy, runs. He comes up to the plate and you’re thinking to yourself, ‘Boy, wouldn’t it be something?’ And he delivers. You got goosebumps.”
Mariners
Pitchers James Paxton and Erasmo Ramirez were added to the roster Tuesday as Seattle finalized its September callups. Both players had to wait until Tuesday to be added because they were optioned to Triple-A Tacoma last week. Optioned players aren’t eligible to return for at least 10 days, unless the minor league club ends its season before then.
Rangers
When left-hander Derek Holland took the mound against the Royals on Tuesday night, he became the 60th player that Texas has used this year, breaking a tie with three other teams for the most used in a single season in major league history. The Indians and Padres each used 59 players in 2002, as did the Padres in 2008.
The Rangers also tied the record for most pitchers used with 37, shared with the 2002 Padres. To put that into perspective, the Brewers have used 35 players total this season.
The biggest reason for the turnover has been injuries. The Rangers has used the disabled list a league-leading 26 times with 14 players currently on it.
Compiled by Rachel Lister from wire reports.
