Kinsler joins ‘200 Club’

Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler became the fifth Jewish player to hit 200 home runs. The momentous shot came in Sunday’s 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Hank Greenberg tops the list with 331, followed by Shawn Green (328), Ryan Braun (268), and Sid Gordon (202). Braun notched his 1,500th hit last month, putting him sixth among Jewish Major Leaguers to reach that milestone.

It was Kinsler’s 16th home run of the season, putting him on pace to match or break his personal best of 31 set in 2011 as a member of the Texas Rangers.

Come back soon?
The New York Yankees recently demoted Ike Davis to their AAA affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, when their regular first baseman Mark Teixeira returned from a stint on the disabled list. In his first game for the RailRiders, Davis hit a grand slam to propel his new team to an 8-1 win over the Buffalo Bisons.

Wimble-done
Four Israelis and one American were the sum total of Jewish players competing at Wimbledon. None made it past the second round of play in their respective events. The Israeli contingent included Julia Glushko, Jonathan Erlich, Dudi Sela, and Amir Weintraub, while Scott Lipsky was the lone U.S. entrant.

Birthday greetings: Taylor Mays, a safety for the Cincinnati Bengals, turns 30 on July 11.

On this date: Saul Rogovin of the Chicago White Sox pitched all 17 innings in a 5-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox on July 12.

Sources: MLB.com, Wilkes Barre Times-Leader