[FuzzyRussianHat]

At the end of May, it was the Chicago White Sox with the best record in all of MLB. They opened the month on a ten-game winning streak and went 22-6 overall, moving into first in the American League West at 34-17. Among their wins was a four-game sweep of Detroit, who had a three-game lead entering the month. The Tigers are now six back at 28-23 with Kansas City a distant third at 25-26. The White Sox have the fewest runs allowed in MLB at 167 with starters Tony Mullane and John Clarkson both with sub-two ERA.

Boston had MLB’s best record through April, but the Red Sox struggled to 10-19 in May to drop to fourth in the AL East. No one team has a big lead, but Philadelphia’s six-game winning streak to end the month put them in first at 28-23. However, Washington and Baltimore are both one back, Boston two back, and both New York and Cleveland are three away.

White Sox RF Dennis Casey was the AL’s Batter of the Month with a .305 average, 10 home runs, 32 RBI, and 24 runs scored. Casey is the AL leader in both homers (15) and RBI (49). Baltimore’s Guy Hecker was Pitcher of the Month with a 0.98 ERA, 40 strikeouts, and 6-1 record over 64.1 innings. Hecker has a 1.94 ERA and 2.8 WAR, both second in the AL behind Kansas City’s Pud Galvin, who sits at 1.84 ERA and 4.1 WAR.

In the National League, the top two teams are battling atop the West with Chicago at 32-18 and Cincinnati 31-20. The Reds ended the month on an eight-game winning streak. Cincinnati is the top-scoring team thus far at 270 runs. St. Louis has the fewest runs allowed in the NL at 197, but sit third in the West at 27-24. Buffalo’s subpar May dropped them from eight above .500 to only three, but the Bisons still hold the lead at 27-24. Brooklyn is two behind at 25-26, while Boston, New York, and Pittsburgh are each three back at 24-27.

Cincinnati’s Bud Fowler was Batter of the Month with a .386 average, 34 hits, 9 homers, 28 RBI, and 23 runs in May. Boston’s Ed Morris was Pitcher of the Month with a 1.52 ERA, 6-0 record, 43 strikeouts, and 59.1 innings in seven starts.



May had MLB’s first-ever three home run game. Philadelphia Athletics SS Ri Jones did it on May 9 against Boston. On May 25, Detroit 2B Ross Barnes was the first to hit for the cycle, doing it against Milwaukee. Baltimore’s Bid McPhee had the first-ever hitting streak exceeding 20 games, snapped at 21 on May 25. Detroit’s Billy Taylor passed him and carries a 27-game streak into June.