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What’s Happening in Baseball Today
The First Pitch: May 28, 2026
The Phillies’ Cristopher Sanchez extends his streak of consecutive scoreless innings into record territory, shutting down the Padres through seven innings in a 3-0 win at San Diego to break Pete Alexander’s 1911 team mark of 41.2 straight scoreless frames. Sanchez’s current run of 44.2 innings is now the seventh longest in major league history.
In his last five games, Sanchez has thrown at least seven innings with no runs allowed—one short of the all-time record co-held by Orel Hershiser (1988) and Don Drysdale (1968), both during their record scoreless inning streaks that respectively rank 1-2 on the list of the longest.
Cubs win! Cubs win! A 10-game skid for Chicago is now past tense as the Cubs roll up a 10-4 victory at Pittsburgh. A six-run seventh, highlighted by a three-run homer from Ian Happ (who overall knocks in five runs) breaks a 4-4 tie and puts the Cubs firmly back in the win column.
It’s not a great start for White Sox pitcher David Sandlin in his major league debut. His first pitch, initially called a strike, is successfully challenged by the Twins’ Byron Buxton and reclassified as a ball. Sandlin’s second pitch is then hammered 417 feet by Buxton for a leadoff home run. From there, Sandlin settles down—to say the least. He retires the next 18 batters before being given the rest of the night off with just 61 pitches through six innings, picking up the win as the White Sox run away with a 15-2 home romp.
Offensively, Chicago is buoyed by Munetaka Murakami’s 20th homer, technically making him the first MLB rookie to reach the mark before the end of May.
A more well-known pitcher gets six no-hit—but not scoreless—innings. In Los Angeles, Shohei Ohtani gives up a run on no hits through six hitless frames, but does concede a run in the fourth to the opposing Rockies on a walk, hit batter and two well-placed ground outs which brings home the lead runner. Ohtani fuels his own cause at the plate with a leadoff homer in the first as the Dodgers take a 4-1 victory over the Rockies, who can muster up just one hit—an eighth-inning Tyler Freeman single off Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott.
The early reports of the Rockies’ return to credibility appear to have been proven premature. After starting the season at a respectable 6-6, the Rockies have gone 14-31; at 20-37, they’re still baseball’s worst team.
Ohtani’s no-hit bid isn’t even the longest of the night. Former Dodgers and current St. Louis pitcher Dustin May takes a hitless start into the eighth at Milwaukee, when he gives up a double and bunt single to the first two Brewers batters. At 87 pitches, May is promptly removed—and Jojo Romero, his replacement, can’t hold the fort as the Brewers take a 2-1 lead later in the inning on a Christian Yelich RBI single, followed by a Masyn Wynn error to bring home the go-ahead (and ultimate winning) run. The benefactor of the lead change on the Milwaukee side is reliever Aaron Ashby, who scoops up his ninth win of the year (against no losses) to lead all major leaguers.
We’re a long way—six months and change, to be exact—from the expiration date of baseball’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement between owners and players, but the players’ union goes ahead and delivers its first proposal to management. It calls for a “competitive integrity” tax on teams with payrolls under $150 million—a salary floor of sorts—a raising of the competitive balance tax threshold from $244 million to $300 million, a doubling of the minimum salary to $1.5 million which annual increases up to $2.2 million by 2031, and increased sharing of local broadcast revenue while reducing ballpark-related revenue sharing which the union believes would incentivize teams to bring more fans through the turnstiles.
The union’s proposal, basically a wish list, is rejected by MLB. “We understand their proposals are designed to benefit players,” said league spokesman Glen Caplin. “Unfortunately, they do not address and in fact exacerbate the competitive balance problem our fans are telling us we must address.”
Let the public negotiations begin. Oh, what fun that always is.
Is this the end of the road for Andrew McCutchen? The 39-year-old outfielder and former MVP made the Texas Rangers’ Opening Day roster after signing a minor league contract with the team this past offseason, but he hasn’t impressed enough since, batting .192 with one homer and a .537 OPS in 37 games. As such, the Rangers have designated him for assignment.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
4-1-3-6—Blaze Alexander, Baltimore
His name shouts speed worthy of 100 steals, but Blaze was more Brawn in the Orioles’ 11-2 blistering of the visiting Rays. Alexander brought home two runs on a single to cap a five-run first, doubled in two more in the fifth, and hit his first home run of the year in the seventh, a two-run shot to complete the Orioles’ scoring on the night. The six total RBIs establish a personal best.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
7-6-0-0-0-9—Cristopher Sanchez, Philadelphia
In the 12 years we’ve been doing our Comebacker’s Best & Worst on a monthly basis, we’ve never had a starting pitcher who went an entire month without allowing a single run. That’s about to change. Sanchez continued his impressive run of form on the mound, silencing the Padres in a 3-0 win at San Diego, lowering his season ERA to an MLB-best 1.47—and 0.00 for the month of May. Please O Baseball Gods, exercise any Tommy John gremlins that may be attempting to peck away at Sanchez’s elbow ligaments.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1900: In an era where wooden ballparks still rule—as do the fire hazards that accompany them—the bleachers at Cincinnati’s League Park are crippled by a nighttime fire that forces the Reds on the road for a month. When they return, the field is redirected so that the surviving bleachers sit behind home plate—but batters complain about the sun shining in their eyes. The ad-hoc set-up will remain until 1902, when it will be replaced by the unique, Romanesque Palace of the Fans.
1925: It took 11 years, but someone finally powers a home run over the left-field fence at Boston’s voluminous Braves Field. The homer comes courtesy of Frank Snyder, whose 430-foot blast lifts the Giants to an 8-6 win over the Braves. Braves Field will remain one of the toughest ballparks to launch a home run from until 1928, when the wall distances are considerably shortened.
1951: After going hitless in his first 12 at-bats, Willie Mays earns his first major league hit with a first-inning solo home run against the Braves’ Warren Spahn at New York’s Polo Grounds. It’s the only run the Giants will score in a 4-1 loss. Spahn will later say of Mays’ homer: “For the first 60 feet, it was a hell of a pitch.”
1989: The Blue Jays play their final game at Exhibition Stadium, defeating the White Sox in 10 innings, 7-5. They’ll play their next home game at luxurious, modern Skydome (currently Rogers Centre).
1995: The Tigers and White Sox set an all-time record when they combine to hit 12 home runs at Detroit. Despite out-homering the White Sox 7-5, the Tigers lose the game, 14-12. Nine doubles are added to the offensive display, setting another one-game record with 21 total extra-base hits. Seven years later, the same two teams will group up to tie the home run mark, which is broken in a 2019 game between Arizona and Philadelphia.
1998: Arizona has an 8-6 lead at San Francisco in the bottom of the ninth, but with two outs the Giants have the bases loaded—and Barry Bonds is coming to the plate. Diamondbacks manager Buck Showalter gives the command to closer Gregg Olson: “Walk him.” It’s the first time in 54 years that a player has been given an intentional pass with the bases full. The move is more than curious; it puts the winning run at second and brings up Brett Mayne, a good left-handed contact hitter, against the right-handed Olson. Showalter’s daring gamble pays off, but barely—as Mayne’s sharp liner to right field is snared by Brent Brede for the final out of an 8-7 Arizona victory.
2003: Jeff Austin, who didn’t make it out of the first inning of his previous start for the Reds, fails to do so again at Atlanta—and worse, allows home runs to the first three Braves batters (Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield) to tie a major league record. It’s the first time since 1992 that a pitcher has failed to survive the first inning in back-to-back starts.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Tampa Bay reliever Craig Kimbrel (38), currently ranked #5 with 440 career saves; 2011 NL Rookie of the Year; nine-time All-Star; four-time league leader in saves, all consecutively (2011-14); only pitcher with 1,000 career K’s in one particular inning (the ninth)
Jhonny Peralta (44), shortstop of 15 years; 1,761 career hits including 202 home runs; three-time All-Star
Duane Ward (62), nine-year Toronto reliever; 121 career saves include AL-high 45 in 1993; injuries afterward all but ended his career
Bill Doran (68), second baseman for the 1980s Astros; 209 career steals
Kirk Gibson (69), hustling outfielder of 17 seasons and many injuries; anchor of 1984 champion Tigers, hit one of baseball’s most famous home runs in 1988, year he won NL MVP for Dodgers; never named to an All-Star team; five-year manager at Arizona, winning 2011 NL Manager of the Year honors
Born on this date:
Willard Hershberger (1910), part-time catcher who committed suicide in midst of 1940 championship season for Reds
Jim Thorpe (1887), all-around athlete who meddled in baseball from 1913-19, mostly with the Giants; named the best athlete of the 20th Century’s first 50 years
Shameless Link of the Day
If Cristopher Sanchez is to break baseball’s all-time record for consecutive scoreless innings, Orel Hershiser is the guy at the top he’ll need to pass. Here’s the story of Hershiser’s end-of-season run in 1988.
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