Yulieski Gurriel crowns himself batting leader in the MLB

October 5, 2021

Yulieski Gurriel is making history in the MLB. Now, the Houston Astros player has just crowned himself the batting leader. Here's how it all happened.

This Sunday Yulieski Gurriel along with his teammate Michael Brantley were vying to be batting champions in the MLB. Brantley did play as a starter against the Oakland Athletics and went 2-0 when he was substituted by Yordan Álvarez, according to the specialized media outlet Swing Completo.

Gurriel was not in the starting lineup, but he entered in the ninth inning and stepped up to bat in the closing. With runners on second and third he managed to connect a ball at 68 miles per hour and sent it into foul territory between the shortstop and the left fielder.

This way Yuli was recording his 169th hit, setting a personal record with this figure. As if that weren't enough, the player from Sancti Spíritus drove in a run (81), which gave the Houston Astros the victory and closed out his year in style with a .319 average.

This offensive average was simply unreachable by his teammate Brantley and Dominican slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

With this RBI from Yuli, the Astros beat Oakland seven runs to four. The Houston team thus closes the 2021 season with 95 wins. In addition to these victories, Yuli's team had already reached the Western Division pennant and a spot in the Divisional Series.

Yuli's coronation with the title of batting leader of the Major Leagues comes exactly fifty years after another Cuban received that honor. This happened in 1971, when legend Tony Oliva achieved it with an average of .337.