A’s Davis wins HR title, hits .247 4th year in row

6:02 pm | September 30, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

9:36 PM ET

Oakland Athletics slugger Khris Davis hit the most home runs in the majors with 48, and more remarkably, finished with a .247 batting average for the fourth year in a row.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no player in MLB history has had the same batting average rounded to three decimal places in four consecutive seasons, with a minimum of 10 at-bats each year.

The A’s took Davis out for a pinch hitter in the sixth inning Sunday, ensuring that he would match the batting average again this season.

Davis is amazingly consistent at the plate, with only a .279 average in his rookie season with the Milwaukee Brewers throwing his career average off. He’s a lifetime .248 hitter.

But his home run totals have gone up every year, with 27 in 2015, 42 in 2016, 43 in 2017 and 48 this year.

Since 2016 began, Davis has 133 homers, most in the majors in that span. The New York Yankees‘ Giancarlo Stanton is second with 124.

Boston Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez finished second in homers with 43, hitting a three-run shot in the fourth inning against the Yankees on Sunday before being pulled for a pinch hitter. Martinez led the league with 130 RBIs, seven more than Davis.

Martinez’s .330 average was also second in the league, behind only his teammate Mookie Betts, who won the AL batting title by hitting .346.

Among pitchers, Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell led the AL in both ERA (1.89 in 31 starts) and wins (21), while Houston’s Justin Verlander had the most strikeouts with 209, 14 ahead of his teammate Gerrit Cole.

The National League statistical leaders will not be finalized until Monday’s tiebreaker games, which count toward the regular season.