Weighted Average

The most unlikely 13-game hitting streak in baseball belongs to Carlos Zambrano. (Caveat: That’s unofficial, since he’s hit in 13 consecutive starts, with two pinch-hitting assignments in between.) The “deceptively huge” Cubs hurler is batting .365 this season (.001 away from being the game’s best average among players with 75 ABs), including .429 in since May 23. On Tuesday, he became the first pitcher since 1920, when RBI became an official stat, to drive in a run in eight straight starts. Asked his secret, Z (who has four homers) replied, “I’m 6-foot-5, 200-some pounds.” We deem “some” to be a codeword for “60.” At least.

Twins Feeling a Bit Randy

He’s the newly minted International League Rookie of the Year. He’s on the verge of winning a batting title in his third different minor league. This summer he set a Rochester record with a 24-game hitting streak. He’s raked .318 in his first month in the bigs, including his initial home run on Tuesday. So why has this man been employed by 10 different organizations (three in 2007 alone), and why did the calendar turn on his 30th birthday before he ever was even invited to a major league spring training camp (where, this past March, he hit .407)?

Because Randy Ruiz is the quintessential “4-A” player — and the quintessential designated hitter. He’s never met a pitch that didn’t look rope-able. He’s iron-handed, immobile and overweight. (In fact, he was at a restaurant when he got the call to report to The Show.) Think David Wells on muscle relaxers. Oops, sore subject. It hasn’t helped Ruiz’s cause that teams, while enamored of his pure swing, have been less certain of his character. In 2005, a second failed drug test carried with it a 30-day suspension that probably cost him the Eastern League triple crown. He denied the allegations. “I only tried Viagara once, just to try it,” was his explanation.

The past few weeks, it’s the Twins who’ve gotten a little “lift.” They’ve yet to let Ruiz even in the same room with a fielder’s mitt, but the New Yorker who came through the same youth program as Manny Ramirez has responded to the opportunity with a hit or two every day. Just Randy being Randy.

E7s

On August 20, the teams with the two best records in the majors lost a game because their left fielder allowed a catchable ball to drop in front of him in the late innings. The culprits: the Rays’ Justin Ruggiano (who had just been inserted as a defensive replacement) and the Cubs’ Alfonso Soriano. Since then, Ruggiano has been returned to the minors — and Soriano has dropped a routine fly.

Hit and Run

Short Hops’ recurring installment of slapdash observation and imprudent opinion:

The Rangers made Detroit’s Nate Robertson the only pitcher of at least the last half-century to allow at least five home runs and walk at four or more batters in a start of less than four innings.

Until Sunday, Mariners starting pitchers hadn’t won a game in August.

A-Rod bounced into nine double plays between August 16 and 26.

The Pirates key return on their Jason Bay trade is looking worse by the day. Third baseman Andy LaRoche is hitless in his last 24 at-bats, and has made six errors since being acquired from the Dodgers less than four weeks ago.

QUOTABLES

“It’s a beautiful thing, ain’t it? Kind of an alien invasion.” — Southpaw reliever Alan Embree on Oakland’s new all-lefty starting rotation.