East W L GB Last R RA
Boston 33 24 - 17-12 2 7t
Keystone 31 26 2 19-10 1 17t
Brooklyn 30 27 3 13-16 5 7t
Toronto 29 28 4 14-15 8t 13
Washington 27 30 6 13-16 13 7t
Manhattan 27 30 6 13-16 11 17t
Havana 26 31 7 15-14 3 14
Montreal 24 33 9 14-15 15 12
Florida 20 37 13 10-19 17 16
West W L GB L10 R RA
Los Angeles 37 20 - 19-10 16 1
Cleveland 34 23 3 15-14 14 2
Detroit 31 26 6 15-14 6 6
Minneapolis 31 26 6 15-14 8t 10t
Atlanta 30 27 7 17-12 10 4
St. Louis 30 27 7 19-10 7 5
Chicago 28 29 9 10-19 12 3
Denver 27 30 10 14-15 4 10t
Seattle 18 39 19 9-20 18 15
Keystone was tied for the hottest team in the league in May, going 19-10 to climb to 2nd in the East behind the top offense.
Brooklyn's Matt Williams tied the single-game RBI record with 9 on May 1.
Washington's Jason Giambi hit the season's first home hat trick in Detroit May 12, but his feat was upstaged by Howard Johnson's walk-off grand slam for a 6-4 Detroit win.
Pedro Martinez authored a two-hit, 13-K shutout on May 30, one week after John Smoltz delivered a one-hit shutout of Toronto.
Denver's Tim Raines became just the third player in UL history to steal 800 bases on May 25, and Detroit's Howard Johnson became the 20th to hit 400 home runs on May 10.
ATL SS Jose Valentin (7 mo)
MAN 2B Mickey Morandini (4 mo)
STL SP Joe Magrane (4 wk)
SEA RP Mariano Rivera (5 mo)
SEA 2B Glenn Hubbard (4 mo)
WAS SP Frank Viola (3 mo)
May 10 - DET Howard Johnson
400 home runs (#20 all-time)
May 16 - CLE Rich Gedman
1,000 RBIs (#52 all-time)
May 25 - DEN Tim Raines
800 stolen bases (#3 all-time)
Starlings Rise
Keystone Slugs Into 2nd Place
After a slow start, the highly-touted Keystone Starlings went on a tear in May, winning 19 of 29 games to climb within two games of 1st place in the East Division.
Keystone has the #1 offense in the league, averaging a stratospheric 6.3 runs per game. The lineup features three of the league's top eight home run hitters (Jeff Bagwell 18, Tim Salmon 18, and Wil Cordero 16). Cordero is also third in RBIs with 53 and Carlos Baerga is fourth in batting with a .354 average. Even 36-year-old John Shelby is getting in on the act. The 1985 MVP hit .344-6-16, .987 in May, winning Player of the Week May 25.
Keystone scored in double digits five times in May, but the club has also won with gritty pitching performances. Butch Henry beat L.A. 7-1 on May 8, Jose DeLeon won 5-1 at Washington May 16, and William Van Landingham anchored a shutout of Montreal May 31.
Williams Ties RBI Record
Matt Drives in Nine
TORONTO (May 1) - Matt Williams had one of the best months at the plate in April, batting .381-11-34 with a 1.231 OPS. Surely, he must slow down in May. Think again.
Williams tied the UL record for RBIs in game on May 1, driving in nine with a 3-6 performance at the plate, including seven RBIs in back-to-back innings. Williams drove in three with a bases-clearing double in the ninth, then hit a grand slam in the 10th to give Brooklyn a 15-12 win.
The game witnessed some wild swings. Toronto led 8-4 going into the ninth, trailed 11-8 going into the bottom of the ninth, when they scored three to tie it, then lost on Matty's grand salami.
According to the sloppily-maintained UL single-game record book,
Reggie Jackson had 9 RBIs on Sep. 16, 1979 and Fred McGriff repeated the feat on Sept. 6, 1992.
For the record, Williams did cool off after the May 1 game. He batted just .250-4-16 with a .799 OPS in his last 25 games.
Batting Average
Tony Gwynn ATL .370
Ivan Rodriguez MON .359
Jerry Browne MAN .355
+Carlos Baerga KEY .354
+Raffy Palmeiro HAV .340
+Barry Bonds STL .337
Kirby Puckett KEY .332
+David Bell MAN .330
+Frank Thomas LA .328
+Willie McGee WAS .328
RBIs
+Barry Bonds STL 62
Matt Williams BRO 59
Wil Cordero KEY 53
Gary Sheffield CHI 53
+Ryan Klesko DET 51
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 49
+Jeff Bagwell KEY 48
+Tim Salmon KEY 47
+Raffy Palmeiro HAV 44
Infield Zone Rating
Eric Young CLE 9.0
Rey Sanchez LA 8.7
Alan Trammell CHI 7.1
+Robin Yount CLE 7.1
+Cal Ripken Jr ATL 6.7
Home Runs
Barry Bonds STL 23
Eric Karros TOR 21
Jeff Bagwell KEY 18
Tim Salmon KEY 18
+Ryan Klesko DET 17
Wil Cordero KEY 16
+Frank Thomas LA 16
Matt Williams BRO 16
+Raffy Palmeiro HAV 15
Gary Sheffield CHI 15
bWAR
+Barry Bonds STL 3.9
+Raffy Palmeiro HAV 3.1
Matt Williams BRO 3.0
+Jeff Bagwell KEY 2.8
Albert Belle CHI 2.8
+Frank Thomas LA 2.7
+Gary Sheffield CHI 2.7
+Rich Gedman CLE 2.7
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 2.7
Carlos Baerga KEY 2.6
Outfield Zone Rating
Michael Tucker ATL 7.2
Ken Griffey Jr BRO 6.9
Mike Devereaux FLO 5.8
+Rondell White ATL 5.5
+G. Anderson MPS 5.4
Earned Run Average
Pedro Martinez ATL 2.17
+Erik Hanson CHI 2.39
Rene Arocha TOR 2.52
Hideo Nomo DEN 2.59
+Kelly Downs HAV 2.65
+Floyd Youmans LA 2.66
+Shane Reynolds FLO 2.68
Rheal Cormier LA 2.83
Ismael Valdez CLE 2.84
Angel Miranda STL 2.97
Strikeouts
Pedro Martinez ATL 84
Erik Hanson CHI 75
+Hideo Nomo DEN 72
Floyd Youmans LA 71
Mike Mussina FLO 70
Aaron Sele KEY 69
Steve Cooke CHI 66
Pat Hentgen MAN 65
W VanLandingham KEY 64
Wins
Rene Arocha TOR 7
Frank Castillo MPS 7
+Erik Hanson CHI 7
Donovan Osborne CHI 7
+Roger Salkeld STL 7
+Floyd Youmans LA 7
pWAR
Erik Hanson CHI 3.0
Pedro Martinez ATL 2.9
+Mike Mussina FLO 2.3
+Floyd Youmans LA 2.2
Bret Saberhagen BOS 2.2
+Hideo Nomo DEN 2.0
+Steve Cooke CHI 2.0
Ismael Valdez CLE 2.0
+Scott Sanderson TOR 2.0
+Dwight Gooden TOR 1.9
Batter of the Month
APR Matt Williams BRO
MAY Barry Bonds STL
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
Pitcher of the Month
APR Hideo Nomo DEN
MAY Erik Hanson CHI
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
Rookie of the Month
APR Hideo Nomo DEN
MAY Roger Salkeld STL
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
Player of the Week
4/10 Matt Williams BRO
4/17 Ryan Klesko DET
4/24 Wil Cordero KEY
5/1 Jerry Browne MAN
5/8 Frank Thomas LA
5/15 Raffy Palmeiro HAV
5/22 Reg Jefferson STL
5/29 John Shelby KEY
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