First Base: Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox hit for the cycle on Thursday in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Despite his tremendous performance, the Red Sox ended up losing 8-5. It was the first cycle in Major League Baseball this year and Betts became the first Red Sox player to do it since Brock Holt on June 16, 2015. Betts is having the best season of his young career so far, and will likely be battling Mike Trout for the AL MVP award, with Jose Ramirez and teammate J.D. Martinez also in the mix.
Second Base: Bartolo Colon of the Texas Rangers threw seven innings on Tuesday night against the Mariners, allowing four runs on eight hits, and earned the win in a 11-4 Rangers victory. It was the 246th win of his career, passing Dennis Martinez to become the all time wins leader among Latin American-born pitchers. Colon, a fan favorite, is the oldest player in the league at the age of 45. He has pitched in the Major Leagues since 1997, toeing the rubber for 11 different teams. Over the course of his career he has made four All Star teams, along with winning the AL Cy Young in 2005 for the Angels. Colon has transformed himself from a hard throwing power pitcher when he first came up, to more of a finesse pitcher as he has gotten older. This year, he is 6-10 with a 5.18 ERA in 23 games pitched for the Rangers.
Third Base: Following a 19-12 loss to the Red Sox in Friday, the Orioles were officially eliminated from AL East contention on August 10th. It was the earliest a team has been eliminated since the infamous 1962 Mets, who were eliminated in August 7th in their inaugural season. The Mets went on to lose 120 games. After losing both games of a doubleheader on Saturday, the Orioles are 48.5 behind the the first place Red Sox. The Orioles have committed themselves to a full-on rebuild, something the organization has been reluctant to do in years past. They traded Manny Machado, Zach Britton, Jonathan Schoop, Kevin Gausman and several others to various teams at the trade deadline, in exchange for prospects and international slot money. They will be looking to follow in the footsteps of other recent successful rebuilds, such as the Cubs, Astros and Brewers.