Page 18 - ARUBA TODAY

A18
Wednesday 25 september 2019

Injured
Yelich still

in the STING
hunt for

batting

title RAYS

By NOAH TRISTER
AP Baseball Writer
The Milwaukee Brewers are
charging toward a play-
off spot without Christian
Yelich. And even while in-
jured, Yelich is inching clos-
er to a nice individual hon-
or. Yelich is currently the
National League’s batting
leader, although he’s out
with a fractured kneecap
and can only watch as his
team chases a postseason
berth. The batting race
may not be foremost on
his mind, but that’s com-
ing down to the wire too —
with Yelich’s .329 average
holding the lead.
Ketel Marte is also batting
.329, but he’s been shut
down for the season with
back problems. With an
additional decimal place,
his average of .3286 trails
Yelich’s .3292. Washing-
ton’s Anthony Rendon
went 1 for 3 on Monday
night and is at .325.
It would be the second
straight batting title for
Yelich, who also won NL
MVP honors last year. The
last player to win back-to-
back NL batting titles was
Larry Walker in 1998 and
1999. Yelich winning twice
in a row would be particu-
larly impressive given that
he has to compete against
Colorado players hitting
at altitude. Since their first Playoff-contending Rays score
season in 1993, the Rockies
have won 11 of the NL’s 26 6 in 4th, beat Red Sox 7-4
batting titles. (Trivia ques-
tion: Name the nine differ-
ent Colorado players who Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier
have won one.) The Ameri- makes a sliding catch on a flyout by Boston Red Sox’s
can League batting race
is pretty much down to Tim Mookie Betts during the sixth inning of a baseball
Anderson of the White Sox game Monday, Sept. 23, 2019, in St. Petersburg, Fla.
(.334) and DJ LeMahieu of Associated Press
the Yankees (.329). Page 21

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