[FuzzyRussianHat]

St. Louis’s hold on the American League’s top record evaporated after going a terrible 9-16 in June. Minnesota went from four behind to three ahead of the Browns in the AL West standings at the all-star break. The Twins are 50-33 with Kansas City second at 49-34, then St. Louis at 49-34. The Royals went on a 19-8 tear in June to move to the #2 spot. Detroit meanwhile dropped to 41-42 after a 9-18 month. Defending World Series champ Milwaukee made some gains, but is still well away from contention at 38-45. Making things worse is former MVP 3B Denny Lyons suffering a strained oblique, putting him out 6-7 weeks.

Boston was able to grow their lead slightly in the AL East. The Red Sox are 49-34, five games ahead of New York (44-39) and seven better than Cleveland (42-41). The Red Sox have the AL’s best run differential at +124 and lead in scoring with 509 runs. Last year’s division champ Baltimore is 40-43. Philadelphia now has the AL’s worst record at 30-52 after a putrid 5-22 record in June. The Yankees took a blow as their first round pick SP Tom Vickery suffered bone chips in his elbow, ending his season.

Kansas City 1B Otto Schomberg took AL Batter of the Month in June with a .352 average, 7 home runs, 22 RBI, and 28 runs. Minnesota’s Bill Blair was the top pitcher with a 5-1 record, 2.65 ERA, and 37 strikeouts over 54.1 innings. Browns pitcher Frank Knauss was Rookie of the Month again with a 4-1 record in 34.2 innings, 3.12 ERA, and 24 Ks. Knauss leads the entire majors in ERA (2.08) and wins (15-1) at the all-star break.

Boston’s historic win streak continued until finally falling on June 7 at Louisville 4-2; a remarkable 24-game run for the Braves. They have the best record in the majors at 60-23, 12 games ahead of New York despite a solid 48-35 season for the Giants. Boston’s +204 run differential, 526 runs scored, and 322 runs allowed are all the best in MLB. It wasn’t all good news though for the Braves, as ace Gus Krock ruptured his UCL on June 8 and is out for the year.

New Orleans saw a strong 19-8 record in June, pulling out to a solid eight-game lead in the NL West at 52-31. Indianapolis and Louisville are both 44-39 with the Colonels making slight gains and the Clowns playing .500. St. Louis saw a collapse with an 8-18 record in June, falling to fifth place at 37-46. Despite ending the month on a six-game winning streak, Chicago still has MLB’s worst record at 26-57.

NL Batter of the Month was Boston LF Mike Tiernan with a .458 average, 13 homers, 27 RBI, and 35 runs. He also had a 21-game hitting streak during June. He has dominated the hitting leaderboards, holding the top mark for all of MLB in homers (29), RBI (90), OPS (1.237), WAR (6.6), hits (119), and runs (90). Tiernan would lead in the Triple Crown (.388 average) if not for New Orleans 2B Frank Grant at .392. Grant is also the only person keeping up with Tiernan in WAR at 6.5; no other batters or pitchers are above 5.

The Pelicans had the Pitcher of the Month Ben Sanders with a 2.49 ERA, 6-1 record, and 39 strikeouts over 47 innings. New Orleans also had Rookie of the Month Jocko Halligan as the RF posted a .310 average, 31 hits, 9 homers, and 30 RBI in June.