Batting title comes down to final series

The 2019 batting crown will come down to the final series of the season with two players almost identically tied.

J.D. Martinez of Vancouver had held about a 3-point lead over Tucson's Jose Altuve as recently as earlier this week. Heading into Saturday's matchups, however, the two sluggers are in a dead heat, tied at .319.

In fact, both have 206 hits but are separated by just one at bat. Martinez is technically ahead, batting .319379 (206-for-645 in 160 games) while Altuve is batting .318885 (206-for-646 in 156 games). Altuve has three games remaining for Tucson while Martinez has two games left on Vancouver's schedule. Marietta's Justin Turner ranks 3rd, batting .306, and holds a slim league lead in hits (207). Turner edged out Altuve for the 2015 batting title, qualifying in the final weeks.

The defending champion Kingsnakes (93-66) wrap up the season at home against Philly (87-72). Both teams still have something to play for. Tucson currently is the No. 3 seed but only 1 game back of Hoboken (94-65) for the 2nd seed, which entails a 1st round bye. Philly currently is No. 6 but just a game back of Marietta (88-72) for No. 5. If those current seeds hold, Tucson and Philly would face off again in the first round as the No. 3 v. No. 6 matchup.

Vancouver (83-77) was recently eliminated from the wild card race and after an off day Saturday will play two games at No. 1 Livingston (106-54).

Altuve and Martinez are among only six batters hitting at least .300 with three games remaining in the season. Three others are tied at .297 so they would need a big final series to push over .300.

Martinez is coming off a big 2018 season in which he ranked 2nd in the league in home runs and finished 2nd to Mike Trout in Mitchell Award balloting. Altuve has been no slouch either, finishing 4th in Mitchell Award voting in 2017 and 12th last year when Tucson beat Hopactong to win its second title.

Barring a barrage of long balls this weekend, the home run crown is safely in the hands of Khris Davis of Arkansas. With 52 home runs, Davis leads by four homers over Tucson's Nelson Cruz and Hillsborough's Joey Gallo, both with 48.

It's not an insurmountable lead but it would take a hefty dose of slugging to overtake him. Gallo has only two games left, against Poovey Farms, while Cruz has three games remaining for Tucson. Davis and the Golden Falcons close out with three against last-place Hopatcong (56-103).

On the pitching side, Livingston's Gerrit Cole (19-9) could be the lone potential 20-game winner as his final start lines up for Game 162 at home against Vancouver on Sunday. He'll also have the chance to join Tucson's Max Scherzer (320) and Hillsborough's Justin Verlander (301) as the only pitchers to reach 300 strikeouts this season. Cole has 297 heading into his final start.

Unless Nate Eovaldi (19-6) of Poovey Farms goes on short rest on Sunday, or comes out of the bullpen, he's likely to fall short of 20 wins, winning No. 19 on Thursday night at El Paso. The best that Scherzer (18-8) can do is match Eovaldi's win total in his final start of the regular season on Sunday against Philly. He'll also aim to catch Corey Kluber for 4th-most strikeouts in a season:

1. 367, Chris Sale, San Francisco, 2018
2. 349, Randy Johnson, Newark, 1996
3. 347, Pedro Martinez, Arkansas, 2000
4. 330, Corey Kluber, Sardine City, 2018
5. 320, Max Scherzer, Tucson, 2019
6. 308, Clayton Kershaw, Hoboken, 2015
7. 308, Randy Johnson, Newark, 2001
8. 304, Hideo Nomo, Louisville, 1996
9. 301, Justin Verlander, Hillsborough, 2019
10. 301, Nolan Ryan, Austin, 1992