NEW YORK – The Los Angeles Dodgers ‘Trea Turner and the Houston Astros’ Yuli Gurriel won their first batting titles Sunday in a season of contrasts in which four teams lost more than 100 games by third time in history and four others exceeded 90 victories, only in the East Division of the American League.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels was a sensation with an incredible season being a double threat, pitching and hitting, even above Babe Ruth’s level.
Turner hit .328 by beating National League batting champion Juan Soto of Washington, who finished with a .313 average.
“It’s a matter of consistency, which I take pride in and show daily,” said Turner, a 28-year-old player who came to the Dodgers from the Nationals in late July.
For his part, Gurriel leads the American League batting .319 with the Astros. Teammate Michael Brantley was second with .311, just ahead of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who also hit .311 with Toronto. Gurriel came in as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning Sunday and singled as the Astros beat the Oakland Athletics 7-6.
At 37, the Cuban is the second-oldest batting champion, behind Barry Bonds, who got it at 38 in 2002.
Ohtani, 27, was second in the American League with .592 in slugging percentage. The Japanese led the American League with eight triples and was third in the major leagues with 46 home runs. He hit .257 with 100 RBIs and 26 stolen bases.
On the mound, he led AL pitchers by limiting opponents to a .122 batting average with running backs in scoring position. He held a .087 average (of 127-11) against his splitter, the lowest of any major league pitch with a minimum of 110 plate appearances.
Venezuelan wide receiver Salvador Pérez of Kansas City and Guerrero tied for the top on the Major League Baseball home run list with 48 each, two more than Ohtani. San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. led the NL with 42. Pérez also led the AL with 121 RBIs and Adam Duvall the NL with 113 for Miami and Atlanta.
San Francisco (107), the Los Angeles Dodgers (106) and Tampa Bay (100) gave the majors three teams with at least 100 wins for the fourth consecutive full season. Prior to this run, it had only occurred in 1942, 1977, 1998, 2002 and 2003.
The Dodgers set the most victories for a team that finished second in their division, beating the 104 for the Chicago Cubs in 1909 and the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1942.
Every AL East team except the Orioles won at least 90 games, the first time since the leagues were split into three divisions each in 1994 and only the second time after 1978 with New York, Boston. , Milwaukee and Baltimore.
Arizona and Baltimore (both with 110), Texas (102) and Pittsburgh (100) caused four teams to lose at least 100 games in a full season for the second full season in a row, something that had only happened once, in 2002.
Julio Urías, the Dodgers ‘Mexican, was the only pitcher with 20 wins, the lowest number since there were none in 2017. The Yankees’ Gerrit Cole’s 16 wins were the fewest for the winningest pitcher in the United States. the American League in a full season.
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