Once again this week, you can smell sandwiches in the air. But no, not roast-beef-and-cheddar paninis. It's time for another edition of the eagerly awaited Generic Sandwich Awards.
But first, let's snack on the …
Munchies of the Week
• It took the Astros only until May 4 to rip off two eight-game losing streaks. They're just the second National League team in history to have two streaks that long by that date. Obviously, the season starts earlier now than it used to before the 1960s. But it still isn't easy. The only other NL team to do it was the 2005 Rockies. Over in the AL, those soon-to-be 119-loss wonders, the 2003 Tigers, were the fastest ever to do it -- racking up two eight-gamers by April 22.
• OK, one more amazing Astros note, and then we'll move on. When the Diamondbacks came to Houston this week, two different players on that Arizona team (Mark Reynolds and Kelly Johnson) had as many home runs (nine) as the Astros' whole team. Last time that happened this late in any season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau: June 22, 1980, when a Mets-Dodgers series featured a Mets team with 15 homers all year (in 63 games) against a Dodgers lineup that included Steve Garvey (15) and Johnny B. "Dusty" Baker (16).
• Sadly, for the fifth consecutive year, no hitter got five hits on Cinco de Mayo. (Last to do it: Jose Reyes, a 5-for-7 in 2005.) And for the eighth consecutive year, nobody went 5-for-5 on Cinco de Mayo. (Last to do that: Omar Vizquel in 2002.)
• But for the first time in nine years, we did have a pitcher put up five walks and five strikeouts in the same game on Cinco de Mayo. Clayton Richard pulled that off for Los Padres this year. Last before him: Jose Nunez, for the Dodgers, on a night when he also got only cinco outs.
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Jayson Stark | email
Senior Writer, ESPN.com- Senior writer for ESPN.com
- 21 years at the Philadelphia Inquirer
- Author of two baseball books
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Jayson Stark
Jayson Stark has been a senior baseball writer for ESPN.com since 2000. His regular contributions include the newsy Rumblings and Grumblings column, his eclectic "Three Strikes" blog and his tilted look inside baseball's numbers and quirks, the Useless Information Department.
Stark also makes regular television appearances on "SportsCenter," "Outside the Lines" and "Baseball Tonight." He is a regular ESPN Radio guest of Mike & Mike, the Doug Gottlieb Show, the John Kinkade Show, ESPN Radio tonight and numerous other shows on the network.
Before arriving at ESPN, Stark worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer for 21 years. He was twice named Pennsylvania's sportswriter of the year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. In 2010, he was honored by the Foster Conference for Distinguished Writers for his books and other work. He is the author of two books, "The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History" (Triumph Books, 2006) and "Worth The Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies" (Triumph Books, 2009).