MLB Performances of the Week: Jeter not only one to impress
Each Monday we’ve been bringing you the top MLB hitting and pitching performances of the week, both individual and team accomplishments. We’ve now reached the final week of the season. A week where we had to say goodbye to undoubtedly one of, if not the, most universally beloved players in the history of the game, a week where games were crucial for teams still vying for a playoff bid and a week where a strange coincidence ended in a another no-hitter. Did I mention that there were also three other complete games? It was a crazy last week of the regular season in baseball and here are the players whose performances that made it so interesting.
Pitching
1. Jordan Zimmermann, Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins, September 28
W (13-5), 9.0IP, 0H, 10K
There were only two things that stood in the way of Washington Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann having a perfect last day of the MLB regular season. Although overall one could call his day perfect. He tossed the first no-hitter in the history of the Washington Nationals and the first one by a Washington pitcher since Bobby Burke no-hit the Boston Red Sox in 1931.
The first of his two minor blemishes on the day came in the form of a walk to the Marlins’ Justin Bour in the fifth inning. The second came on Zimmermann’s 104th and final pitch of the day when Christian Yelich hit the ball so hard and far that it appeared the no-hitter was no more. However, call-up Steven Souza Jr. turned, ran and dove, making the most unbelievable catch and saving the no-hitter for both Zimmermann and the Nationals’ franchise.
Zimmerman ended the day having thrown 104 pitches, 79 of which were for strikes. While Zimmermann definitely stole the show the game was a pitchers duel with the Nationals winning by the score of 1-0. There was a very strange coincidence between the two pitchers as well. The Marlins’ Henderson Alvarez who faced off against Zimmermann in Sunday’s game 162, pitched a no-hitter of his own in game 162 of the 2013 regular season.
2. Doug Fister, Washington Nationals vs. Miami Marlins, September 26
W(16-6), 9.0IP, 3H, 9K
In the first game of a double-header between the Nationals and the Marlins on Friday, Doug Fister went the distance. Grabbing Fister from the Detroit Tigers over the offseason has been a great deal for the Nationals who sent infielder Steve Lombardozzi and pitchers Ian Krohl and Robbie Ray to Detroit for Fister. The right-hander went 16-6 with a 2.41 ERA in 2014 including his complete game Friday.
Fister used 104 pitches, 77 of which were for strikes, to finish the first of two games the Nationals and Marlins played that day. The Nationals’ tall righty struck out nine batters, did not allow a walk and gave up just three hits. The Nationals’ Anthony Redon’s 21st homer of the season was all the offense Fister needed but the Nationals added on for extra measure, going on to win the game by the score of 4-0.
3.Sonny Gray, Oakland Athletics at Texas Rangers, September 28
W(14-10), 9.0IP, 6H, 5K
24-year-old Sonny Gray of the Oakland A’s has been in pressure situations before, facing Detroit’s Justin Verlander twice in last season’s American League Division Series. Sunday’s game was no different. The A’s needed a win to finally clinch the second A.L. Wild Card spot and it was Gray who led the way with a spectacular pitching performance from a kid who was about to finish his first full season in the Majors.
Gray pitched a complete game shutting out the Texas Rangers on the day the A’s needed him most. He used just 103 pitches and his devestating curveball to shut down the Rangers offense. Gray allowed six hit but did not allow a walk and struck out five batters enroute to leading his team to the postseason. The Athletics defeated the Rangers by a score of 4-0.
*Honorable Mention: Kyle Lohse, Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds, September 24, W(13-9), 9.0IP, 2H, 6K
Hitting
1. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles, September 25
2-5, 3RBI, 1R
Derek Jeter would have held the spotlight during his final week in baseball regardless of his performances in his final games in New York against the Orioles. However, Jeter left his 20-year career in pinstripes at New Yankees Stadium in a more grand fashion than anyone imagined to be possible.
The Captain doubled on a sharp line drive to left in his first at-bat and that was good enough for the adoring crowd but not for Derek Jeter, known not just as the Captain but Captain Clutch and Mr. Novemeber. In his next at-bat he reached base on a throwing error by Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy and in the process allowed two runs to cross homeplate. The night only got better for the retiring Captain.
Jeter strolled to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning for what ended up being his final time to bat in pinstripes with the game tied 5-5 and a man on firstbase. Jeter singled to rightfielder Nick Markakis allowing pinch-runner Antoan Richardson to cross home plate, thus, ending his time in New York on a walk-off hit. Does it really get any better than that?
2. Derek Jeter, New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox, September 28
1-2, 1RBI
Derek Jeter may have just been playing in the designated hitter role but he still made his last Major League Baseball moment count as only he could. Understandably, Jeter wanted to leave his last memory of playing shortstop not at the Yankees’ rivals Fenway Park but in the glow of New Yankees Stadium. Jeter only batted twice in his final game against the Boston Red Sox but he ended his career with yet another clutch moment.
Even though the Yankees defeated the Red Sox by a score of 9-5, Jeter contributed a valuable RBI in his last ever Major League at-bat with a ground ball in the top of the third, hit just hard enough to deflect off of shortstop Jemile Weeks. Jeter made it easily to first while his teammate Ichiro Suzuki who had tripled earlier in the inning jogged home for the final RBI of Jeter’s career. Jeter did not play for the remainder of the game, but he couldn’t have left either New Yankees Stadium or the historic Fenway Park for the final time in a more dramatic fashion. So while there were other star performances this week, it was definitely Derek Jeter who stole the show.
3. Jose Altuve, Houston Astros at New York Mets, September 28
2-4, 1RBI
Jose Altuve almost didn’t play in the Astros 8-3 loss to the New York Mets on the final day of the 2014 season. He was looking to win the American League Batting Title for the first time in Houston Astros history and some wanted his batting average to remain exactly where it was.
Things changed and Altuve was put back into the Houston’s lineup and it was a good thing too. The five-foot-six dynamo went 2-4 with a RBI to leave his average at an A.L. leading .341. He had done it. With a ground-rule double to left in the top of the third and a single in the top of the fifth inning, Jose Altuve wrote himself into both MLB and Houston Astros’ history for all time.
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