AL EAST NEWS AND NOTES

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

With the Orioles in rebuild mode, Cedric Mullins became the first player in team history to have three hits in his major league debut. But his arrival Aug. 10 signaled something even more significant.

Mullins played center field, pushing Adam Jones to right. It was the first time since 2007, his last season in Seattle, that Jones played anywhere other than center.

But he approved the move.

Jones even told Mullins to lead the team from the dugout to start the game. Mullins reached base four times, scored three runs and drove in two.

❚ Despite a season high for runs scored, the Orioles lost that game 19-12. The loss officially knocked them out of postseason contention, tying the 1932 Red Sox and 1962 Mets for the earliest date a team has been eliminated from contention, according to Stats by Stats.

BOSTON RED SOX

The Red Sox expected J.D. Martinez to provide a power bat in the middle of the lineup. But a Triple Crown? They certainly couldn’t foresee that when they gave him a five-year, $110 million contract last winter.

Martinez came into the week leading the majors in home runs (37) and RBI (104), and his .333 batting average was second behind teammate Mookie Betts ’

.350. Only Dick Stuart, with 42 homers in 1963, Jimmie Foxx (41, 1936) and Manny Ramirez (41, 2004) had more homers in their first season with the Red Sox.

Martinez hit eight homers in 17 games through Aug. 11.

❚ While Martinez and Betts have been getting more attention, Xander Bogaerts is having an impressive season as well. Eight of his first 17 homers this season came with multiple runners on base, and he had 22 extra-base hits with runners in scoring position through Aug. 12. Both marks led the major leagues.

NEW YORK YANKEES

With Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier and Jacoby Ellsbury sidelined, the Yankees are wary of losing another outfielder to the disabled list. So they have been cautious with Giancarlo Stanton, who has been nursing left hamstring tightness since a four-game series at Boston at the beginning of August.

In his first 12 August games, Stanton started four games in right field and was the designated hitter in the others. In that span, he hit .312 with six homers, 12 RBI and 11 runs scored. He planned to continue as the DH for the time being to build up the hamstring.

Shane Robinson has picked up much of the workload in right. But Neil Walker started there Aug. 11-12, his first career starts anywhere other than the infield.

❚ When right-hander Masahiro Tanaka lost to Texas on Aug. 10, it ended a career-best14-start unbeaten streak. There was more bad news on the pitching front Aug. 13 when lefthander CC Sabathia went on the DL because of a sore right knee.

TAMPA BAY RAYS

Although left-hander Blake Snell had a perfect game going, manager Kevin Cash pulled him after five innings and 47 pitches Aug. 10 at Toronto.

Snell was making his second start since missing three weeks because of shoulder fatigue, and Cash had said Snell would be limited as a precaution. It was Snell’s longest outing since going 7 1 / 3 innings July 7.

According to Baseball Reference, it was only the fourth time since 1908 a pitcher was pulled with a perfect game through five or more innings.

❚ Snell got the win in that game, the first by a Rays starter since Nathan Eovaldi, now with Boston, on July 8 at the Mets.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS

Randal Grichuk struggled mightily in the first half, missed 29 games because of a sprained right knee and was hitting .199 through July 13. But in his next 22 games, he reached base in 20 of them and hit .308 with five homers, 17 runs and 14 RBI.

Coming into this week, 51.3 percent of Grichuk’s hits in his career were for extra bases. That trailed only Mark McGwire’s 51.7 percent for the all-time mark among players with at least 1,500 plate appearances, according to MLB.com.

Grichuk also had three RBI in consecutive games for the first time in his career Aug. 8-9 against the Red Sox.

❚ When infielder Yangervis Solarte was sidelined by a strained muscle in his right side, the Blue Jays called up one of their top prospects, catcher Danny Jansen. The move allowed catchers Richard Urena and Russell Martin to get some time at third base.

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

MOOKIE BETTS, RED SOX: The MVP candidate became the first major leaguer to hit for the cycle this season when he did it Aug. 9 at Toronto. Betts became the 21st player in Red Sox history to hit for the cycle, the first since Brock Holt (June 16, 2015, against Atlanta) and just the third to do so as the leadoff hitter, joining Holt and Leon Culberson (July 3, 1943, at Cleveland).