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Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera hit a pair of home runs in Monday’s 12-1 win over the Cleveland Indians to move into sole possession of fifth place in franchise history, per Lee Sinins of Complete Baseball Encyclopedia.

Cabrera, who previously hadn’t homered since Aug. 2, hit a two-run shot in the first inning to match Cecil Fielder’s 245 home runs with the Tigers, before passing Fielder with an opposite-field solo blast in the eighth. Both home runs barely cleared the fence, with the first a line drive to left field, while the second was a towering fly ball to right.

The two-time reigning AL MVP gingerly made his way around the bases throughout the game, as he’s been dealing with an ankle injury for the last two weeks. After sitting out Sunday’s series finale versus the Chicago White Sox, Cabrera finished the Labor Day victory with four hits, four runs and three RBI in five-at bats.

The first long ball ended a 27-game home run drought, the longest of Cabrera’s career, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The second—No. 384 for his career—not only moved Cabrera past Fielder on the franchise list, but also moved the slugging Venezuelan past Larry Walker for 61st place on the all-time major-league list as per MLB’s official website.

Though his 19 home runs this season fall far short of expectations, the 31-year-old Cabrera still looks like a near-lock to eventually join the 500-homer club, which currently has 26 members.

He hit 44 home runs in both 2012 and 2013, capping off a streak of seven consecutive 30-homer seasons that will likely end this year. Needing just 116 more to join the 500-homer club, Cabrera has hit 35 long balls per 162 games in his career, and has still never been placed on the disabled list.

He needs 154 more homers—which would give him 538 for his career—to pass Al Kaline (399) for first place on the Tigers’ all-time list.

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After hitting a home run in each of the last five games, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista enters Tuesday’s contest against the Tampa Bay Rays looking to match Jose Cruz Jr.’s franchise record of six consecutive games with a home run, per Complete Baseball Encyclopedia (via GammonsDaily.com).

Already just the second player in Jays history with a streak of five games or more, Bautista only has one non-homer hit—a single from last Tuesday’s game against the Boston Red Sox—during his historic run. Having gone hitless in his four games prior to the streak, the slugging outfielder’s hit total over the last nine contests consists of five home runs and just the one single.

Cruz Jr.’s streak came toward the end of the 2001 campaign when he homered in six consecutive games from Sep. 29 to Oct. 5. Unlike Bautista, Cruz Jr. added plenty of other hits during his streak, recording three doubles and three singles during the six-game stretch.

A talented player who never quite lived up to his top-prospect billing, Cruz Jr. set personal bests in home runs (34), RBI (88), runs (92), stolen bases (32), batting average (.272) and OPS (.856) that year.

Should Bautista extend his streak Tuesday night to match Cruz’s, he’ll sit just two games away from the all-time MLB record of eight straight games with a homer, set by Dale Long (1956), Don Mattingly (1987) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1993), per Baseball-Almanac.com.

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Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Wade Davis recently set a franchise record by recording 25 consecutive scoreless appearances, per MLB Stat of the Day.

Following a pair of scoreless innings against the Cleveland Indians over the weekend, his Royals record now stands at 27 straight appearances, covering 26.2 innings. Davis has pitched exactly one inning in all but one of those games, having thrown two-thirds of a frame July 31 against the Minnesota Twins.

Sporting a 0.75 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 90:21 K:BB through 60.1 innings this season, Davis is having one of the finest seasons for a relief pitcher in major-league history. He didn’t allow an extra-base hit until his 44th appearance of the year, which came in the aforementioned game against the Twins on July 31.

Having still allowed just two extra-base hits (both doubles) all season, Davis has held opponents to a minuscule .010 isolated slugging (ISO) mark, which is calculated by slugging percentage (.149) minus batting average (.139).

According to Baseball-Reference’s play index (via ESPN.com), only one qualified pitcher since 1957 has held his opponents to a lower ISO over the course of a full season. Doing the honors was Frank Williams, who gave up just one extra-base hit over 52.1 innings for the San Francisco Giants in 1986, good for a .006 opponents’ ISO.

Among pitchers who have thrown at least 40 innings, Davis leads the majors in opponents’ slugging percentage (.139), while ranking second in opponents’ batting average (.139) and ninth in opponents’ on-base percentage (.227). His 2.5 WAR ranks third, behind only New York Yankees rookie reliever Dellin Betances‘ 2.7 and Tampa Bay Rays closer Jake McGee’s 2.6.

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Cincinnati Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton matched a franchise rookie record Sunday, recording his 54th stolen base of the season in a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, per MLB Stat of the Day.

According to MLB.com, the record was previously set in 1909 by outfielder Bob Bescher, who led the National League in stolen bases each year from 1909 to 1912.

Bescher‘s 81 steals in 1911 still stand as the Reds’ single-season franchise record, though Hamilton may one day have something to say about that.

The 23-year-old speedster famously stole 155 bases across two minor league levels in 2012, and he then added 88 more in 2013 between Triple-A Louisville (75) and the majors (13).

Hamilton’s minor league steals ledger is so impressive that his 54 this season can perhaps be considered a disappointment, even as he continues to break records.

Per Complete Baseball Encyclopedia’s Lee Sinins, Hamilton has already become just the second player in NL Central history with 50-plus stolen bases as a rookie, joining Tony Womack, who swiped 60 bags for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1997.

While he needs just one more steal for the Reds rookie record and seven more for the division rookie record, Hamilton will need to wait until next season to take aim at Bescher‘s single-season franchise record of 81.

Looking to even loftier goals, Hamilton could perhaps become the first player since Vince Coleman in 1987 to record 100 stolen bases in a season.

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Detroit Tigers outfielder Rajai Davis swiped his 32nd bag of the season in Saturday’s game against the Chicago White Sox, thus reaching 300 stolen bases for his career.

Stuck on 31 and 299 for nearly two weeks, the speedy outfielder recorded his milestone steal in the third inning of Saturday’s game off White Sox pitcher Chris Bassitt—who has making his first career major league appearance—and catcher Adrian Nieto.

Upon reaching 30 stolen bases for the season earlier in August, Davis became just the second active player to record a 30-steal season for three different teams, joining free agent outfielder Alfonso Soriano, per Complete Baseball Encyclopedia (via GammonsDaily.com). Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes may join the group by the end of this season, as he currently sits at 24 stolen bases and previously recorded 30-steal campaigns for both the New York Mets and Miami Marlins.

Though he’s largely been used as a platoon player throughout his nine-year career, the 33-year-old Davis ranks 12th among active players with 300 career steals. He has topped 40 stolen bases in four of the last five seasons, recording a personal-best 50 steals in 2010 for the Oakland Athletics.

While his value on the basepaths is quite apparent, Davis owns a career .255/.298/.352 slash line against right-handed pitching, which explains why 2010 was the only season in which he recorded more than 447 at-bats.

And, despite possessing excellent speed, Davis has a career UZR/150 of minus-4.0, with FanGraphs estimating that his defense has been worth 31.9 runs below average throughout the course of his career.

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San Francisco Giants pitcher Yusmeiro Petit set a major league record during Thursday’s outing against the Colorado Rockies by retiring a 46th consecutive batter, per the Giants’ official Twitter account.

Petit entered Thursday’s game having retired 38 consecutive hitters, thus needing just eight more to break the record of 45, set by Mark Buehrle for the Chicago White Sox in 2009, per ESPN.com.

Making his first start since July 22, Petit proceeded to retire the first eight batters he faced, with the record-setting out coming on a strikeout of Rockies second baseman Charlie Culberson.

Just one batter after breaking the all-time record, Petit surrendered a two-out double to pitcher Jordan Lyles, followed by an RBI single to outfielder Charlie Blackmon.

The 29-year-old righty then settled down to go six strong innings, allowing just the one run on four hits, with nine strikeouts to boot. He improved his record to 4-3 while ensuring that he’ll get another turn in the rotation.

Used as both a starter and reliever over the last two seasons, Petit has been rather successful in both roles, yet the Giants have been oddly hesitant to deploy him as a full-time starter.

It’s not as if the team’s options ahead of Petit have been great, as the Giants suffered from poor starting pitching last season, with the problem carrying over to this year. Both Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum appear to be in the decline phase of their careers, and the Giants went so far as to trade for a struggling Jake Peavy at the trade deadline.

Finally, with few other options available, the team decided to replace Lincecum with Petit, who immediately made the decision look like a smart one.

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Philadelphia Phillies pitcher A.J. Burnett struck out 12 batters in Monday’s 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals, thus becoming the first player in major league history to record a 12-K game with five different teams, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Burnett has accomplished the feat with each team he’s played for: the Phillies (2014), Pittsburgh Pirates (2012-13), New York Yankees (2009-11), Toronto Blue Jays (2006-08) and Florida Marlins (1999-2005).

Monday’s was perhaps the most surprising of Burnett’s 12-strikeout performances, as the right-hander hasn’t been particularly effective this season. Not only does he own a 7-14 record and 4.30 ERA, but Burnett’s 7.9 K/9 would be his lowest since 2010 (7.0) if it were to hold up.

In four previous starts against the Nationals this season, Burnett compiled just 17 strikeouts, failing to top seven in any of the outings.

Additionally, the Nats are the hottest team in baseball, having won 12 of their last 14 games, even after Monday’s loss.

That said, the Nationals do have a pit of a weakness for the punch-out, with their 21.1 strikeout percentage ranking 24th in the majors. Of the six teams behind them, only the division-rival Atlanta Braves (22.5 percent) and Miami Marlins (23.3 percent) have a realistic shot at the playoffs.

As for Burnett, the 37-year-old hurler is widely expected to retire after the season, after he contemplated the move heading into this year. Among active players, Burnett’s 2,337 career strikeouts trail only the 2,437 compiled by injured New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia.

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Though he gave up five runs and lasted just four innings, Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg recorded his 200th strikeout of the season during Sunday’s 14-6 win over the San Francisco Giants.

He entered Sunday’s contest with 198 strikeouts, looking to hit 200 for the first time in his career. The 26-year-old righty reached the milestone in the second inning when he caught Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong looking.

Strasburg had already surrendered a pair of runs at that point, and he’d later exit with a 5-2 deficit, only to watch his teammates storm back for a blowout victory. With no part in the decision, Strasburg still owns a 10-10 record, though his ERA (3.59) and WHIP (1.20) took a hit.

The right-hander became the fifth pitcher to hit the 200-strikeout mark this year, joining David Price (221), Max Scherzer (209), Corey Kluber (205) and Felix Hernandez (204), all of whom play in the American League.

Strasburg‘s closest competitors for the National League strikeout crown are Johnny Cueto (191) and Clayton Kershaw (184), the only two remaining candidates for Cy Young honors.

While his other statistics have been a bit disappointing this year, Strasburg is already tied for ninth place on the Nationals/Expos single-season strikeout list, with his 202 matching the total accumulated by Floyd Youmans in 1986.

Pedro Martinez, who struck out 305 batters in 1997, is safely perched atop said list. However, with Bill Stoneman (251 in 1977) sitting well below Martinez in second place, Strasburg has a shot to grab the No. 2 spot on the list.

It will take an impressive effort, as Strasburg needs 50 more strikeouts to pass Stoneman and will likely make just six, or perhaps seven, more starts this season. The NL strikeout crown is a much easier goal, though Kershaw is closing in fast.

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New York Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury recorded the 1,000th hit of his career in Monday’s 8-1 win over the Kansas City Royals, per MLB Milestones on Twitter.

Entering the game with 998 career hits, the 30-year-old outfielder singled off Royals pitcher James Shields to open the contest but then went hitless in his his next two at-bats. Facing Shields for a fourth time in the seventh inning, Ellsbury laced an RBI single to right field, reaching 1,000 career hits while extending the Yankees’ lead to 4-1.

The speedy outfielder then made No. 1,001 count, hitting a two-run homer off Royals reliever Francisley Bueno in the top of the ninth inning. With 11 homers this season, Ellsbury already has the second-best single-season total of his career, trailing only the 32 that he shockingly hit for the Boston Red Sox in 2011.

Set to turn 31 on Sept. 11, Ellsbury is only now reaching 1,000 career hits in his eighth season because of the number of games he’s lost to injury. Following his late-season 2007 debut, Ellsbury averaged just 113.7 games per season for the Red Sox from 2008-2013. He logged just 18 games in 2010 and 74 in 2012 sandwiched around his outlier near-MVP season in 2011.

Though it may take a while for the injury-prone label to wear off, Ellsbury has played in 126 of the Yankees’ first 129 games this season after playing 134 games for the rival Red Sox last year.

The early career injuries killed Ellsbury‘s chances of ever reaching 3,000 hits, but 2,000 should be doable.

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Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton hit his 150th career home run in Monday’s 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels, thus becoming the 12th player in major-league history with 150 homers through his age-24 season, per MLB Stat of the Day.

Stanton, who turns 25 in November, hit his milestone homer in the fourth inning off Angels reliever Cory Rasmus, lining a ball well over the left-center-field fence in Anaheim for a 428-foot blast. The three-run homer helped Miami get back to .500, with a 65-65 record leaving them three games back of the San Francisco Giants for the second wild-card spot.

Stanton’s 33 home runs are tops in the National League this season, four ahead of the 29 hit by Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo. With the next closest challengers being New York Mets first baseman Lucas Duda (26) and Atlanta Braves outfielder Justin Upton (25), Stanton has an excellent chance to lead the league in homers for the first time in his career.

Among players who started their careers in the expansion era (since 1961), Stanton—at 24 years, 290 days—is the sixth-fastest to reach 150 homers, per ESPN Stats & Info. The expansion-era record belongs to Andruw Jones (24 years, 158 days), who is followed by Ken Griffey Jr. (24-180), Albert Pujols (24-212), Alex Rodriguez (24-255) and Johnny Bench (24-288).

Off to an historically fast start in his young career, Stanton is already just four home runs away from Dan Uggla’s franchise record of 154.

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