The Month That Was in Baseball: August 2026

Saturday, August 1

The mighty get mightier. Less than two days before the trading deadline, the two-time defending world champion Los Angeles Dodgers acquire two-time defending AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers for three minor leaguers. The move improves the Dodgers’ already top standing as favorites for a third straight trophy. It will not, however, improve the chances of avoiding a lockout this coming winter, as a majority of MLB owners will cite the deep, deep-pocket Dodgers as a reason to demand a salary cap. 

Despite missing a surprisingly short six weeks earlier this year to have bone chips removed from his elbow, Skubal has still put together strong numbers, with a 7-5 record and 2.79 ERA over 16 starts. He is due to be a free agent after the season, which is probably why the players received by the Tigers in exchange is not as impressive as Detroit fans had hoped: The Dodgers’ #5 prospect (outfielder Zyhir Hope), a 27-year-old pitcher (River Ryan) still rebounding from Tommy John surgery, and 21-year-old pitcher Brady Smith, who has yet to win a single game in 30 professional starts , with 10 losses and a 5.85 ERA. 

The Skubal trade is just one of several on the day as the transaction market heats up ahead of the August 3 deadline. The Chicago White Sox, surprise leaders in the AL Central, pick up veteran pitcher Luis Castillo (3-9 record, 5.06 ERA) from Seattle for reliever Seranthony Dominguez, outfielder Nolan Jones and a minor leaguer; the New York Yankees send reliever Camilo Doval (4.54 ERA in 44 appearances) to Pittsburgh for two minor leaguers; and the Atlanta Braves acquire outfielder Lane Thomas (.232 batting average, 10 home runs, 37 RBIs) in a four-player deal in which the Royals will receive two minor leaguers. 

San Diego closer Mason Miller, once again rumored to be on his way to a new team at the deadline, blows his first save of the year after successfully converting 28 opportunities—allowing two inherited runners to score on a game-tying, eighth-inning double by the San Francisco Giants’ Osleivis Basabe. But Miller will pick up the win, pitching a scoreless ninth before the Padres walk it off in the bottom half of the inning, 6-5, on Jake Cronenworth’s RBI single. 

Miller’s first failure to hold a lead leaves Toronto’s Louis Varland as the pitcher with the most saves (24) without a blown opportunity. 

With two months to go in the 2026 season, the Colorado Rockies surpass their entire win total from 2025. Hunter Goodman enjoys his MLB-leading sixth multi-homer game of the year, driving in five runs as the Rockies storm to a 12-6 victory over the visiting Royals. The win gives Colorado a 44-67 record, and while that’s the majors’ second worst record, it clinches an improvement for the Rockies over a disastrous previous year in which they finished 43-119. 

Sunday, August 2

The Washington Nationals lose their fifth straight game, 4-2 at Atlanta—and they also lose Luis Garcia Jr., having a banner year that includes an NL-high .560 slugging percentage, in a trade to the Yankees. Headed from New York to Washington are pitchers Yovanny Cruz, Jake Bird and two minor leaguers. Garcia has been part of a highly productive Washington offense fronted by MVP candidates James Wood and CJ Abrams; his 23 home runs and 76 RBIs have already set personal bests. The Yankees, in desperate need of hitting with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger all sidelined, are hoping that Garcia can continue his hot hitting at New York. 

Two-time All-Star pitcher Kevin Gausman is on his way to Chicago after four-plus years with Toronto, traded to the Cubs for two minor leaguers. In a separate deal, the Blue Jays receive Jameson Taillon (2-6 record, 5.92 ERA), who was designated for assignment by the Cubs earlier in the week. It hasn’t been the best of seasons thus far for the 35-year-old Gausman, who was 5-10 with a 4.38 ERA in 23 starts for the Blue Jays. The Cubs are hoping that their contender status will motivate Gausman to refocus and reset for the stretch run. 

It’s two-thirds and done for Freddy Peralta in New York, as the Mets deal the former Milwaukee starting pitcher to Tampa Bay in the midst of his first season with the team. After finishing 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA for the Brewers last season, Peralta has struggled with the Mets—but then again, who hasn’t—going 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA in 22 starts. With the Rays, Peralta will bulk up a rotation that’s without injury-prone ace Shane McClanahan—who just went on the IL with a bad back. 

Entering his eighth start of 2026 with a 9.49 ERA, Max Scherzer finally enjoys his first quality start of the year, pitching six innings with a run allowed on four hits while striking out five—surpassing Walter Johnson for #10 on the all-time list. Alas, the 42-year-old Scherzer departs with the Blue Jays trailing the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, 1-0, depriving him of a potential second victory. Despite tying the game in the eighth, the Jays will still lose, 5-1, as closer Louis Varland concedes four runs, three of those unearned thanks to a Luis Urias error. It’s the fourth loss of the year for Varland—but it’s not a blown save, as he remains perfect (24-for-24) in save opps. 

The Houston Astros win their sixth straight game and expand their sudden lead in the AL West to 2.5 games with a three-game sweep of intrastate rival Texas, downing the visiting Rangers 7-3. Yordan Alvarez leads the charge, as always, for the Astros, knocking out four hits including three doubles—the last of which brings home two runs to cap a four-run, tie-breaking rally in the seventh inning. 

About the only thing hotter than a 99-degree first-pitch temperature at Denver’s Coors Field is veteran Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland. In his 251st career start, Freeland throws his first complete game, limiting the visiting Royals to a run on five hits over 115 pitches in an 8-1 victory to secure a three-game sweep. In major league history, only Arizona’s Eduardo Rodriguez has had more starts (257) to start a career without once going the distance; that streak remains active. 

Monday, August 3

The clock strikes 6:00 in the late afternoon on the East Coast, signaling the end of unrestricted trading within MLB, with roughly 50 deals made that could help shape—or reshape—the pennant races as the regular season heads toward the home stretch. Among the top names on the move is three-time batting champ (and current NL batting leader) Luis Arraez, dealt from the Giants to Philadelphia; three-time All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman, shipped from Baltimore to the Boston Red Sox; and Angels slugger/outfielder Jo Adell, traded to Cleveland. 

Teams officially throwing in the towel on the season include the Mets, who on the day trade five players—pitchers Clay Holmes (traded to the Cubs), Brooks Raley (Philadelphia), Huascar Brazoban (White Sox), Luke Weaver (Pittsburgh) and outfielder Tyrone Taylor (Pittsburgh); the Giants, who besides shedding Arraez also say goodbye to former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray (dealt to the Padres), outfielder Heliot Ramos (Yankees) and reliever Erik Miller (Red Sox); and the Angels, who after sending Adell away also trade early-season ace Jose Soriano to Toronto, and reliever Bruce Suter to Atlanta. 

Other deals include former #1 pick Casey Mize being sent from Detroit to San Diego, joining Ray in the wild-card hunting Padres’ bid to bulk up a fractured rotation; Miami catcher-first baseman-DH Liam Hicks, dealt to Tampa Bay; AL walks leader Taylor Ward, acquired by Seattle from the Orioles; All-Star pitcher Foster Griffin, the best performing pitcher (12-3, 3.06 ERA) this year for the Nationals, on his way to Cleveland; and former Toronto closer Jeff Hoffman, sent to Minnesota. 

The sagging Cardinals send away three players—pitchers Dustin May and JoJo Romero to Milwaukee, and outfielder Lars Nootbaar to Arizona—but they’re happy to have hung on to Alec Burleson. The 27-year-old first baseman punches out three homers at Yankee Stadium, the final one a two-run shot to cap a seven-run outburst in the eighth inning to give St. Louis a 13-7 victory over New York. After building up an early 6-0 lead, the Cardinals concede seven unanswered runs, with the Yankees taking the head in the sixth on a two-run homer from former Nationals first baseman Luis Garcia Jr., playing his first game in pinstripes. The Redbirds quickly respond with the aforementioned seven-run rally to put the Yankees away. 

Tuesday, August 4

Tarik Skubal’s debut with the Dodgers is not enough to keep the two-time defending champs from avoiding a season-high fifth straight loss. The former Detroit ace pitches well before a raucous sellout crowd at Chicago against the Cubs, allowing two runs on four hits through six innings, but the Dodgers struggle to scrape up any offense against Cubs starter Javier Assad and four relievers, losing 5-1. The Cubs are powered with home runs from Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner, who combine for five of Chicago’s nine hits; Former Chicago outfielder Kyle Tucker, who along with Skubal attracts the loudest boos of the night from Wrigley Field fans, accounts for the Dodgers’ lone run with a solo homer. 

The Tampa Bay Rays get mixed results from two of their big trade deadline pick-ups, yet manage to overcome a two-run deficit to defeat the Rockies at Denver in 11 innings, 9-7. Ex-Brewers/Mets starter Freddy Peralta is shelled in his first start for the Rays, allowing all seven Rockies runs in 3.2 innings. But keeping Tampa Bay in the game is former Miami catcher Liam Hicks, who in his first action for the Rays smacks a third-inning grand slam—part of a two-hit night that also includes a double. With the win, the Rays maintain a 3.5-game lead in the AL East over the second-place Yankees—and 5.5 over the still-surging, third-place Red Sox, who are building another winning streak with their sixth in a row, 14-2 over the White Sox at Boston. 

The Yankees shut down the visiting Cardinals, 2-0, in the major league debut for top New York prospect George Lombard Jr. The second youngest player to debut for the Yankees at shortstop (after Derek Jeter), the 21-year-old Lombard belts one of two solo homers to account for the game’s scoring. Ryan Weathers (six shutout innings) and three relievers combine for a six-hit shutout. 

Wednesday, August 5

Who’s going to be the NL MVP? With injury currently sidelining Washington’s James Wood—who’s racked up the most impressive offensive numbers thus far—that puts the focus on the next two guys on the wish list, both of whom pair off against one another in the leadoff spot at Chicago. The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani opens the series finale against the Cubs with a leadoff homer—his first of two bombs on the day—but Pete Crow-Armstrong is first up for the Cubs in their half of the first, and he goes deep for the first of his two homers on the day. Ohtani’s two jacks are both solo, but Crow-Armstrong’s brings home four runs. That makes a difference for the Cubs in a 7-6 victory that’s the Dodgers’ sixth straight loss. 

It’s the first time that both leadoff hitters have gone deep in their first at-bats, then homered later in the same game. 

On the NL MVP watch, Ohtani—despite relatively underwhelming numbers at the plate this season—still leads the league with a .953 OPS; and of course, he also pitches, albeit occasionally of late with knee issues. But Crow-Armstrong is matching Ohtani on power and the various mainstream percentages (batting, slugging, et al.) but exceeds the four-time MVP winner in steals—and plays excellent defense, while Ohtani bats as a DH and only takes the field when he pitches. It will be fun to see how this sidebar race plays out over the season’s remaining seven-plus weeks. 

The Braves win a season-high seventh straight game, 4-1, over the visiting Marlins, with first baseman Matt Olson performing in his 896th straight game—surpassing Stan Musial for eighth on the all-time list. Olson strikes out twice in a 0-for-4 night, but Drake Baldwin drives home two runs and Bryce Elder allows just one hit over seven innings. Atlanta’s win extends their NL East lead to 8.5 games over the second-place Phillies, who at Philadelphia can’t extend Washington’s seven-game losing streak by succumbing to the Nationals in 11 innings, 10-4. The most noteworthy moment in the Nationals’ six-run 11th occurs when pitcher Miles Mikolas—asked to pinch-hit—delivers a bunt down the first-base line that brings home CJ Abrams. 

Mikolas is the third non-Ohtani pitcher in the universal DH era—and the second in less in three weeks—to collect an RBI; he’s also the first player 30 years or older to bat for the Nationals this entire season. 

Kyle Harrison is on a roll for the Brewers after five innings, having allowed one hit over five shutout innings against the visiting Pirates with 10 strikeouts—the last eight in succession. But while warming up for the sixth, Harrison cramps up in both legs, forcing his departure; he was two straight K’s away from matching the all-time record of 10 shared by Tom Seaver, Aaron Nola and former Brewer Corbin Burnes. The Brewers survive Harrison’s forced departure, defeating the Bucs 4-2 on another iffy outing for Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes. For the most part, Skenes throws well, but has a rough fourth inning in which he walks three, with two of those resulting in runs. Skenes’ three total runs allowed over five innings of work raises his season ERA to 3.96; over his past 15 starts since May 17, that figure accelerates to a very un-Skenes-like 5.20—the fourth worst among qualifying pitchers during that span. 

For the first time in seven games, the Tigers do not score eight or more runs—but they sure do get hit a lot. In a 4-2 loss to Seattle, Detroit hitters get plunked three times by Mariners starter Bryan Woo—who otherwise is sharp enough to throw seven shutout innings. When a fourth Tiger, Gleyber Torres, gets hit on the thigh in the eighth by reliever Gabe Speier—an inning after the Mariners’ Cal Raleigh gets nailed—the Tigers don’t take kindly to the moment as Torres confronts Raleigh (catching behind the plate), causing the benches to empty. No punches will be thrown and jokes will be exchanged between the two sides before returning to their neutral corners. 

The Tigers’ streak of six straight games scoring at least eight runs tied a franchise record; the major league mark remains the property of the Philadelphia A’s, who crossed home plate at least eight times (nine, actually) in nine straight games during the wildly offensive 1930 season. 

Angel Genao is the 22nd major leaguer, second this season (Kevin McGonigle), and first in Cleveland franchise history to gather up four hits in his major league debut. The 22-year-old Dominican first baseman has four singles in the Guardians’ 6-5, 10-inning home loss to the Mets. 

A day after Tarik Skubal threw well enough to pick up a win (but didn’t) in his debut with the Dodgers, another just-traded Detroit pitcher doesn’t throw well at all. Casey Mize picks a bad time for his worst career start, allowing eight runs on nine hits and three walks over 3.1 innings in his first appearance for the Padres against the Diamondbacks at Phoenix. Of Mize’s 77 pitches, only two are swung and missed at. Mize’s awful start handicaps the Padres, who cannot catch up to the DBacks in a 10-4 loss. Earning the win for Arizona is rookie Mitch Bratt, who allows just a hit over seven scoreless frames. 

Thursday, August 6

When your team is winning virtually every day, you find a way, any way, to keep winning. Case in point: The Red Sox, who raise their latest winning streak to eight games with a never-say-die comeback victory over the visiting White Sox. Trailing for much of the game, the Red Sox knot up the score at 7-7 in the ninth on Wilyer Abreu’s two-out RBI single; at that point, the fun is just beginning. The White Sox score two in the 10th on a two-run homer from Chase Meidroth; the Red Sox counter with two to even the game back up. In the 11th, the White Sox score once; so do the Red Sox. In the 12th, the White Sox get another; so do the Red Sox. Finally, in the 13th, after the White Sox go down in order, Caleb Durbin wins it for Boston, bringing home gift runner Nick Sogard on a one-out single. 

The Red Sox have won 26 of their last 29 games. Winning has become addictive for this team. 

Two fun facts from stat master Jessica Brand regarding the Red Sox. They’re the first team ever to score in each inning between the ninth and 13th; the win over the White Sox is also their 16th straight against an opponent who entered the day in first place, an ongoing major league record. 

It looks like a sure victory for the Toronto Blue Jays at Chicago, as AL Cy Young candidate Dylan Cease tosses seven shutout innings (with 10 strikeouts) as closer Louis Varland waits in the wings. But with a 2-0 lead in the ninth, Varland blows his first save in 25 opportunities this season, as the Cubs’ Alex Bregman deposits a two-out, two-strike home run into the Wrigley Field basket right next to the left-field foul pole to tie the game. Two innings later, Pete Crow-Armstrong will win it for the Cubs as he steals third and then races home as Toronto catcher Brandon Valenzuela’s throw goes wild into the outfield. 

The Cubs are 33-15 since June 10, but remain 5.5 games behind the first-place Brewers, who win 5-2 over the visiting Pirates and are 31-18 in that same time span. 

Mike Krukow, the popular long-time broadcast analyst for the Giants, announces he will retire from the booth after this season. The 74-year-old former pitcher has been working with the Giants since 1990, partnered with former Giants teammate Duane Kuiper to form, perhaps arguably, baseball’s most likeable broadcast duo. For the past 20 years, Krukow has been dealing with a degenerative muscle condition which is not life-threatening but has nevertheless confined him to a wheelchair; he no longer travels on the road and does select road games remotely from Oracle Park. 

Friday, August 7

The Red Sox, who just five weeks earlier were 11 games below the .500 mark, suddenly have matched the Yankees at the top of the AL wild card standings. Against the free-falling Athletics at Boston, the Red Sox strike for nine unanswered runs over the first four innings, while Payton Tolle strikes out 14 batters over six innings of work in a 13-1 rout. Both teams are accelerating in completely opposite directions; the Red Sox have won nine straight and 27 of their last 30 games, while the A’s have lost nine straight, and 35 of their last 44. 

Since total pitches began being officially recorded in 1988, no pitcher has struck out as many batters in fewer (84) pitches. Tolle is the first Boston rookie since Roger Clemens in 1984 with multiple 10-K starts in a season. 

Go deep, birthday boy. For the sixth time in his career, Mike Trout makes good on that request. Turning 35 years of age, the future Hall of Famer belts a home run on his sixth different birthday—setting a major league mark previously co-owned by five other players: Al Simmons, Todd Helton, Alex Rodriguez, Derrek Lee and Mark Reynolds. Trout’s first-inning blast will prove pivotal for the Angels, who squeak past the Marlins at Miami, 4-3. 

White Sox manager Max Venable has an awkward moment worthy of the old Southwest Airlines slogan, “Wanna Get Away?” In the first inning with Chicago already down 2-0 to the visiting Guardians, Venable goes out to discuss a matter of strategy with his starting pitcher Noah Schultz— having totally forgotten that his pitching coach, Zach Bove, had earlier visited the mound. By rule, Schultz is forced to depart, having faced just five batters. David Sandlin is quickly called in from the bullpen, and keeps the Guardians off the board until the fifth when Angel Martinez’s grand slam highlights a five-run outburst. Martinez will knock in six runs overall, as the Guardians ease to an 8-2 victory, cutting the White Sox’ lead in the AL Central down to two games. 

If the loss isn’t bad enough for the near-sellout crowd at Rate Field, fans get enraged when it’s announced—in the ninth inning—that a postgame concert by rapper Ja Rule is canceled due to “unexpected travel issues.” Some are theorizing that the announcement isn’t made until late so that the White Sox can maximize concession revenue from fans who otherwise would have headed home early. 

Saturday, August 8

The Dodgers end their longest losing snap of the season, and barely. At Arizona against the rising Diamondbacks, Los Angeles overcomes seven shutout innings from Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt with a go-ahead homer in the eighth from Kyle Tucker—but have extra innings forced when closer Edwin Diaz blows his second save in as many nights. In the 10th, however, the Dodgers retake the lead on an RBI infield single from Shohei Ohtani; a double-play grounder in the bottom of the frame from rookie Ryan Waldschmidt, the previous night’s hero for Arizona, ends a threat and the game, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 victory. 

Two other streaks lasting a week-plus end at Boston. Athletics starter Gage Jump strikes out a career-high 11 batters over six solid innings, and the Red Sox fail to mount a comeback thanks to netting just two hits in 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position, leading to a 7-3 loss. The A’s victory snaps a nine-game slide, while the Red Sox see the end to their nine-game winning streak. 

The Royals’ Jac Caglianone ties a team record with four extra-base hits, hammering out two homers and two doubles with four RBIs in a 6-3 home victory over the Cubs. Caglianone’s two homers bookend the scoring for the Royals, clearing the fences in the first and seventh innings. Taking the loss for the Cubs is Clay Holmes, making his first appearance since being traded from the Mets—and his first appearance, period, since mid-May when he had his knee fractured on a comebacker. Holmes allows four runs over four innings of work. 

Second-year Cincinnati pitcher Chase Burns has a streak of 18 undefeated starts broken, as he’s beat up for five runs over 5.1 innings in an 8-2 loss at Washington. The run for Burns, who was 12-0 with a 2.20 ERA during the streak, is tied for the third longest in Reds history (Mat Latos, 21 in 2012) and the third longest-ever in the majors at his age (23 years, 204 days) or younger (Kirk Rueter, 22 from 1993-94). 

Sunday, August 9

It’s another day and another pair of broken streaks—with another one continuing onward—between the Athletics and Red Sox in Boston. RBI doubles in back-to-back innings—Jonah Heim in the eighth, Max Muncy in the ninth—give the A’s a 4-3 comeback victory over the Red Sox, clinching the three-game series and snapping a streak of 12 consecutive series losses, the team’s longest since 1916. Conversely, the Red Sox see an end to their streak of 10 straight series triumphs, just one shy of the franchise mark from 1911. Additionally for the A’s, Jacob Wilson completes his 111th straight errorless game at shortstop, breaking the all-time mark at that position previously held by Mike Bordick in 2002. 

Bo Bichette knocks out five hits, with two doubles and three singles, as the Mets batter the Pirates at Pittsburgh, 11-1. It’s the fifth five-hit game for Bichette, tying him with Christian Yelich and George Springer for the most among active players; only 32 players have more in a career, a list easily topped by Ty Cobb (14). 

As Kyle Schwarber goes, so go the Phillies. After hitting no home runs over his last 17 games—with Philadelphia winning only seven of those—Schwarber comes back to life, belting a pair of homers to help the Phillies overcome the visiting Blue Jays in 12 innings, 7-6. The Jays feel the fear of a revived Schwarber and intentionally walk him twice late in the game, but it’s still not enough. 

Even despite the recent drought, Schwarber’s 35 total homers on the year still lead the NL—and ties him with Houston’s Yordan Alvarez for the major league lead. 

Craig Kimbrel keeps trying. After signing with—and getting released by—the Mets and Rays earlier this season, the 38-year-old reliever with 440 career saves hooks on with Kansas City, the 12th MLB team he has played for. In 33 appearances this year split between the two aforementioned teams, Kimbrel has a 4.81 ERA with no wins, no saves and two losses. 

Monday, August 10

The once red-hot Red Sox lose their third straight game at Toronto, 2-1, scoring their only run in a bizarre sequence full of confusion, argument and a 15-minute delay. With no one out in the seventh inning and runners at first and second, Boston’s Nick Sogard sends a sharp grounder to a diving Vladimir Guerrero Jr. near first base; Guerrero throws to second for the force, but he was so close to the bag at first that the scoreboard operator believed it to be a double play. Next, Ceddanne Rafaela flies out to center—and both runners, trusting the scoreboard (which errantly says two outs) rather than checking with coaches and umpires, run on contact. Toronto outfielder Brett Bateman lobs the ball back in, and Sogard is casually doubled up at first to end the inning. That’s when the confusion really begins. Were there really two outs, or one? And because the runner at third (Anthony Seigler) scored before the third (or fourth) out at first, does it count as a run? This leaves all four umpires to gather, discuss, debate, and finally punt to MLB’s video review complex in New York to break out the rule book. They ultimately declare that the doubling up of Sogard is the third out, that Seigler’s run does count, and that the Blue Jays’ opportunity to deny the run by appealing to third base (Seigler left the bag before Bateman gloved the ball) was null and void because, by rule, they can’t appeal once every member of the Blue Jays’ infield voluntarily departs the field. The whole sequence, accompanied by constant booing from understandably inpatient Toronto fans, has no effect on the game’s outcome. Although the Jays remain in the AL East basement in spite of the win, they’re also just three games out of the final AL wild card spot. 

Tuesday, August 11

As the Red Sox may be the talk of baseball of late, the Tampa Bay Rays have quietly and unrelentingly emerged, easily, as the American League’s strongest unit. The Rays win their eighth straight game and improve to 73-46—six games better than the league’s next best team (the Yankees) and just a half-game behind Milwaukee for the best across all of MLB—with a 12-4 quashing of the Athletics in Sacramento. The Rays are powered by switch-hitter Taylor Walls, who ends a streak of 105 straight games without a home run by not just going deep once, but twice—going deep from each side of the plate. On the mound, Nick Martinez goes the distance for the Rays, needing only 101 pitches despite allowing four runs on eight hits; it’s only the 15th complete game thrown by an MLB pitcher this year. 

Just two games after breaking the all-time mark for consecutive errorless games at shortstop, the A’s Jacob Wilson is charged with a miscue in the eighth with a wide throw to second base. After the game, however, the official scorer changes the error to a hit, keeping Wilson’s streak alive. Wilson will play two more games before going on the IL with an injured shoulder—for which he’ll have season-ending surgery on. 

Blake Snell makes his second appearance of the year—his first one was three months earlier—and looks sharp for the Dodgers, allowing a run on three hits over six innings with 10 strikeouts against the visiting Royals. The Los Angeles bullpen—specifically reliever Evan Phillips, in the eighth—can’t hold the lead after Snell’s departure, but the Dodgers recover to beat the Royals in 10 innings, 5-4, on Max Muncy’s walkoff single. 

Wednesday, August 12

In the Diamondbacks’ 6-4 loss to the visiting Rockies, Corbin Carroll becomes the 10th player in Arizona franchise history with 100 home runs; he also knocks out his 57th lifetime triple, and MLB-leading 14th this season. Only two Hall of Famers—Yankee legends Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio—collected at least 100 homers and 50 triples in fewer games (606). 

The Cubs’ Alex Bregman homers in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings for his first career hat trick in Chicago’s 12-6 dumping of the Nationals at Washington. It’s the second three-homer game by a Cubs player this season, following Dansby Swanson on July 1. (Swanson himself hits the Cubs’ other homer against the Nationals, adding a double while scoring three times.) Bregman’s seven RBIs also set a career mark, and is two shy of the franchise mark of nine by Sammy Sosa in 2002. 

The Dodgers survive another close one, defeating the visiting Royals, 4-2, behind three homers including the 27th of the year from Shohei Ohtani. They also survive a big-time scare after All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman, chasing a foul ball, tumbles several steps into the far end of the Kansas City dugout. A shaken-up Freeman walks back on the field, finishes the inning on defense and then is given the rest of the night off. 

After the game, Freeman says he’s hurt everywhere. “Kneecaps are sore. Shoulder is sore. Hand is sore. Wrist sore,” he laments, however adding, “I didn’t hit my head, so that was the key part there.”  

Saturday, August 13

If you build it, Kyle Schwarber will knock it down. In the third “Field of Dreams” game—the first in four years—amid the corn fields of Dyersville, Iowa where the iconic baseball film was made, Schwarber belts two home runs over the first four innings to help secure a 7-1 victory for the Phillies over the Minnesota Twins. Schwarber otherwise flies out twice to center and strikes out in a failed bid to tie the major league record with a sixth career three-homer game. 

It’s a Maddux over Miami as Pittsburgh’s Brandon Ashcraft needs just 85 pitches to go the distance in the Pirates’ 13-1 trouncing of the Marlins. Ashcraft’s bid for a shutout ends in the ninth on a leadoff solo homer from Owen Caissie, but he otherwise allows just two hits with 10 strikeouts; no other pitcher has struck out as many batters on fewer throws over a nine-inning start since pitches began being officially counted in 1988. Offensively, the Bucs are boosted at the bottom of the order by Jake Mangum, Jared Triolo and Rafael Flores, combining for eight hits (five of them for extra bases), eight runs and 10 RBIs. 

In the first game of the season’s second series between the NL’s two best teams, the Dodgers look to have the script positively penned for them when Max Muncy’s three-run pinch-hit homer in the sixth—making him the all-time home run leader at Dodger Stadium with 131—gives Los Angeles a 4-2 lead. But there’s yet another plot twist in the ninth courtesy of closer Edwin Diaz, who proceeds to blow his third save over his last four appearances by coughing up three runs, giving the Brewers a 5-4 victory. 

In 14 appearances this season—interrupted for three months with surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow—Diaz has an 11.57 ERA with six saves in 10 attempts. He’s removed from this latest debacle to a din of boos from those remaining in the Chavez Ravine crowd of 46,000; despite the catcalls and the expected viral hate emanating from social media, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts tells reporters after the game that he plans to stick with Diaz, for now, as the team’s closer. 

After his next two appearances—one a save, the other another (non-fatal) meltdown with the Dodgers well ahead, Diaz will go back on the shelf with neck inflammation. 

The Cleveland Guardians do not strike out once against the Tigers at Detroit. That’s the good news. The bad news? They don’t score, either. Keider Montero (6.1 innings) and two relievers hold the Guardians scoreless in a 3-0, four-hit victory that’s only the seventh shutout this century that includes no strikeouts. The last such game occurred 12 years ago, also accomplished by the Tigers—with Rick Porcello tossing a four-hit, no-K shutout. 

Hunter Greene undergoes Tommy John surgery, which is likely to keep him out of action through all of next season. The Reds’ flamethrower previously underwent a TJ procedure in 2019, and had an operation this spring to remove bone chips; he didn’t debut for the 2026 Reds until the Fourth of July, starting five games with a 2-2 record and 6.83 ERA before going down again with a bum elbow. 

Friday, August 14

Two first-place teams, both perched atop divisions with no other teams above the .500 mark, get off on the right foot in weekend series against divisional opponents. 

At Detroit, the White Sox (63-58) take care of the Tigers (60-62), 9-5, behind a monster night for Miguel Vargas. The 26-year-old third baseman pounds out a double and two home runs on a four-hit night, with his second homer capping the scoring in the eighth. With the win, the White Sox extend their lead over the second-place Tigers in the AL Central to 3.5 games. 

Meanwhile at Houston, the Astros have an early 5-2 lead erased in the late innings against Seattle, and are in trouble in the 10th when the Mariners notch two to take the lead. But the Astros quickly rebound, jumping on Mariners closer Andres Munoz for five runs—the last three courtesy of a tie-breaking, walkoff homer from Christian Walker—to earn a 10-7 victory. The Astros (63-60) extend their AL West lead to three games over Texas (which has lost four straight) and six over the fading Mariners. 

It’s another forgettable night for feast-to-famine Seattle slugger Cal Raleigh, who is 0-for-2 with a pair of walks and is replaced for a pinch-runner in the eighth. After mashing 60 homers for the Mariners last season, Raleigh has only 12 this season while batting .158 with a .564 OPS; no other major leaguer has lower numbers in those later two categories over more plate appearances this year. 

The Orioles end the Rays’ nine game winning streak at St. Petersburg, triumphing 6-5 with a tie-breaking, four-run rally in the seventh capped by Gunnar Henderson’s two-run homer, part of a 4-for-4 night for the Baltimore shortstop. The game is also noted as the second time that Orioles slugger Pete Alonso has batted in the leadoff position over his eight-year career; he singles twice and strikes out twice. 

MLB awards the 2028 All-Star Game to San Francisco’s Oracle Park, the second time the beautiful bayside ballpark has hosted the event. The Midsummer Classic was previously held at then-AT&T Park in 2007, remembered for the first (and still, only) inside-the-park homer in ASG history by Ichiro Suzuki, and the last of 14 All-Star appearances for Barry Bonds, playing in his home yard. 

Butch Huskey, who had a fairly impressive but brief career spanning 1993-2000, dies of a blood clot in his lung at the age of 54. Playing six positions, mostly in right field, Huskey featured for the Mets throughout the bulk of his career, but began to experience a merry-go-around of franchise employment over his final three seasons, suiting up for five different teams; overall, he batted .267 with 86 home runs over seven years. He signed with Cleveland in 2001, but failed to make the team during Spring Training; he never saw a major league field again, having played his final game at age 28. 

Saturday, August 15

My gosh, Josh! In what many are calling the greatest major league debut ever, Joshua Baez belts home runs in each of his first three major league at-bats to lift the Cardinals to an 8-4 victory over the Cubs at Chicago. The 23-year-old outfielder, called up to St. Louis after leading Triple-A with 34 homers, makes history with each blast. The first comes on the very first pitch Baez sees from the Cubs’ Matthew Boyd, sailing 449 feet—the longest such drive on a first-pitch homer within the admittedly short, post-2014 Statcast Era. The second matches Baez with the St. Louis Browns’ Bob Nieman as the only major leaguers with home runs in their first two-at-bats in one game. The third, in Baez’s third at-bat, crowns him as the first player ever with a hat trick in his debut. 

Baez is the first Cardinal to go deep on his first pitch since, of all people, pitcher Adam Wainwright, who hit the first of his 10 career homers in 2006 at San Francisco. Overall, six of the 30 players known to have homered on their first pitch were members of the Cardinals. 

Nine players have hit at least a pair of home runs in their MLB debut. Three of them have done so just this season: Baez, Cleveland’s Chase DeLauter and Arizona’s Jose Fernandez. 

In his first start this season against the two-time defending champion Dodgers, Jacob Misioroswski allows a run on five hits over six innings, striking out six, in the Brewers’ 4-1 victory at Los Angeles. Shohei Ohtani brings home the Dodgers’ lone run against the Miz on a third-inning triple into the right-field corner; he otherwise pops out and strikes out facing the NL’s top Cy Young Award candidate. 

In three career starts (including one in last year’s NLCS) against the Dodgers, Misioroswki has a 2-1 record, allowing four runs (three earned) on 14 hits and three walks over 17 innings with 27 strikeouts. 

The Cleveland Guardians become the 11th major league team—and the third from the American League—to win 10,000 games, reaching the milestone with a 6-1 home victory over the Padres. Joey Cantillo and three relievers combine to limit the Padres to one hit, snapping San Diego’s six-game win streak. 

Despite a 60-64 record, the win puts the Guardians within a game of the third AL wild card spot. There are six teams within a game of that seed—and none of them have a record better than two games below .500. 

Sunday, August 16

Tommy John, one of the best players not in the Hall of Fame—and one of the most accidentally influential people in baseball—succumbs to bladder cancer at the age of 83. He had recently indicated to the public that his passing was imminent, releasing a “farewell” statement through the New York Yankees—whom he played eight seasons for—at the team’s Old Timers’ Day. John basically had two careers as a pitcher; his first 12 seasons, racking up a 124-106 record and 2.97 ERA, principally with the White Sox and Dodgers; and his last 14 seasons, after undergoing a groundbreaking ligament replacement surgery that now bears his name, prolonging not just his career (to 26 years), but the careers of countless other big-league pitchers since. Playing for six different teams, John produced 288 wins—the most by a modern-era pitcher not winning 300—lost 231 other decisions, and authored a solid 3.34 ERA. A four-time All-Star and three-time 20-game winner (each of them after his 1974 surgery), John never won a World Series ring, through no fault of his own; in 14 career postseason appearances (13 as a starter), he was 6-3 with a 2.65 ERA and three complete games. 

Regarding his famous reconstructive surgery, John told TGG in our 2013 interview with him, “It really shouldn’t be called Tommy John surgery. It should be called Dr. (Frank) Jobe surgery,” referencing the surgeon who pioneered the procedure. He also lamented the outbreak of Tommy John surgeries in the present: “Rest is part of training, I tell (young kids). If you rest your arm, nature will take care of it—but these parents listen to some of these pitching coaches who tell them their sons need to pitch all the time if they want to be a first-round pick.” 

Dylan Cease becomes the 13th pitcher in major league history to strike out 200 batters in six (or more) straight seasons, and the first in the AL to reach 200 this year. The Blue Jays, however, cannot convert Cease’s latest solid start into a win; despite tying the visiting Yankees in the bottom of the ninth—thanks in part to an error by New York first baseman Ben Rice—they fall in 10 innings, 4-3, as Rice atones for his fielding gaffe with a two-run homer. 

Tom Seaver holds the major league mark for consecutive 200-K campaigns with nine, from 1968-76. 

It’s a clean sweep for the White Sox in Detroit, defeating the Tigers 7-5 and taking three straight wins to build their lead in the AL Central to a season-high 5.5 games. Munetaka Murakami breaks a 4-4 tie in the seventh with a two-run homer; Miguel Vargas adds insurance in the ninth with a solo shot. It’s the 10th time this year that Murakami and Vargas have homered in the same game, tying a White Sox season record. 

The Tigers’ first two runs of the game are delivered courtesy of Brett Callahan, ripping the first pitch he sees from a major league pitcher for a first-inning triple. Callahan is the first Tiger to triple in his first at-bat since Bill Irwin, playing in his only major league game in 1912 as a replacement for regular players boycotting a league decision to suspend star hitter Ty Cobb. 

The Royals’ Noah Cameron throws his first career complete game, giving up just one hit and a walk in a 3-0 win over the Angels at Anaheim. Cameron’s 115 pitches are the most thrown by a Royals pitcher since Brady Singer (119) in 2020; Kansas City becomes the first MLB team this season with multiple complete games, with Stephen Kolek throwing a four-hit shutout back on May 23. 

Cameron’s gem is the third complete game recorded by a major league pitcher over the last six days. There have now been 17 thrown this season, on pace for the lowest total in MLB history; the current all-time low is 28, from the 2024 season. 

The Dodgers are down, but not out…we think. At Los Angeles, the two-time defending champs lie down and look offensively anemic once more for Tarik Skubal, dropping a 6-2 loss to the visiting Brewers in what many believe is a likely NLCS matchup—that is, if the Dodgers can wake up and make it that far. Skubal gives the Dodgers his second quality start in three outings since coming to L.A.—allowing two runs (one earned) over six innings—but the Dodgers have lost both games due to a presently rotting offense. They end the series with three defeats in four tries to the MLB-best (by the record, at 77-48) Brewers, and have won only five of their last 16 games. Included in that slump is a three-game home sweep of the lowly Royals, but each of those wins was by the skin of their teeth. 

True, it’s better to suffer a slump in August than in October. But the Dodgers need to snap out of it soon. 

Monday, August 17

Cubs MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong homers on the first pitch he sees, leading off the first—and on the last pitch of the night, walking off a 7-5, 10-inning home win over the crosstown White Sox. His two home runs give him 30 on the year, making him the first Cubs player ever to collect 30 homers and steals each in back-to-back seasons; Sammy Sosa is the only other Cub to go 30-30 twice, albeit not successively. (No other member of the franchise has gone 30-30 even once.) 

Crow-Armstrong is the seventh player to hit both a leadoff and walkoff homer in the same game; he’s the second known player, since Vic Power in 1957, to do it on the first and last pitches for his team. He won’t be the last either; see August 22. 

The Red Sox blow out the Diamondbacks in near-historic fashion, 11-1, but all eyes are on the losing side and Ketel Marte—that is, if they can see where they can find him. First, the game. Every member of the Red Sox’ starting lineup knocks in at least one run—and none of them strikes out. That’s the majors’ first such occurrence since 1949, also by the Red Sox, in a 13-2 victory over the St. Louis Browns. The last time a team scored 11 or more runs without a strikeout from anyone in the lineup was back in 2009. But back to Marte. The talented but occasionally troublesome infielder is AWOL, failing to show up at Fenway Park even after flying with the team to Boston. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo says he spoke to Marte twice during the day, apparently aware that something was up—but tells reporters after the game that “there was very little coming back” from Marte in their chats. “All I know is that he’s dealing with a personal issue,” Lovullo states, “we’re just trying to figure that out.” 

Marte goes on the restricted list, which entitles a team to not pay him for an indefinite period. It’s not the first time Marte has been put on the list; a year ago, he vanished from the team to check out his Arizona home after it was burglarized—though it turned out he went back to his native Dominican Republic to visit family. Teammates grumbled about his absence then, and they’re likely grumbling again—given that the DBacks are in the thick of a fight for a wild card spot. Because of all of this, Marte has frequently been mentioned in trade talks—but with this streak of unreliability, who’s going to want him? 

Despite giving up four hits and a line-drive comebacker he snares on the mound against five total batters in the first inning, the Mets’ Nolan McLean gets out of it without allowing a single run—and he has Carson Benge to thank. The rookie right fielder nails down San Diego baserunners at the plate on back-to-back plays—the first time that’s happened since Tampa Bay’s Rocco Baldelli turned the trick in 2004. The twin assists prove crucial; the Mets score twice in the bottom of the first and hold on for a 2-1 home victory, with McLean limiting the Padres to one run over six innings. 

Tuesday, August 18

The Milwaukee Brewers match the 1975 Pirates and 2004 Cleveland Indians with the largest shutout victory in modern (post-1900) major league history, flattening the visiting Mariners, 22-0. It also ties a Brewers record for the most runs scored in a game, done previously in 1992. Conversely, the Mariners tie their mark for the most runs allowed; they lost 22-10 to the Red Sox in 2015. 

A big, fat asterisk should be applied to the Brewers’ achievement, as their final nine runs are scored in the eighth inning off of Seattle third baseman/batting practice pitcher Leo Rivas—only the fourth Mariners pitcher of the night—throwing nothing but eephus pitches no faster than 42 MPH among all 31 of his tosses. (Impressively, the Brewers wrap up the shutout in the ninth when veteran catcher Gary Sanchez gets to play pitcher for an inning and, despite allowing two hits, does not concede a run.) 

Just to note: Neither the ’75 Pirates or ’04 Indians faced soft-toss position players late in their routs to fatten the stats. 

A day after Carson Benge saved the day for the Mets against the Padres, it’s Fernando Tatis Jr.’s turn. Against the Mets at New York, Tatis gets the Padres on the board in the first with a 452-foot homer—his fourth over 450 this year to lead all major leaguers—and in the second, with the bases loaded for the Mets, turns a potential Francisco Lindor grand slam into a long third out by snaring the ball above the right-field wall. Like Benge’s defensive heroics the night before, Tatis’ grab—and his two homers, adding a second in the fifth inning—will prove critical for the Padres in a 5-2 win. 

Kazuma Okamoto’s first homer in three weeks is also his 25th of the year, breaking a Toronto rookie record previously held by Eric Hinske in 2002. It’s one of three homers clubbed by the Blue Jays in a 10-5 victory at Tampa Bay, staying a half-game behind Texas (5-0 victors over Washington) for the third and final AL wild card spot. 

Never mind Paul Skenes, the Pirates’ ace right now is Braxton Ashcraft—that is, if the Bucs would just allow him to be one. Five days after throwing a complete game victory on just 85 pitches, the 26-year-old right-hander from Waco, Texas completes eight more solid innings on just 80 pitches—but is pulled in the ninth in favor of closer Mason Montgomery, who finishes off a 4-1 victory over the visiting Tigers. 

Had he been given the chance from manager Don Kelly to go the distance, Ashcraft would have been the first pitcher since Corey Kluber in 2017 to pitch back-to-back complete games. But that’s baseball in 2026. 

Wednesday, August 19

Two games pitting AL East teams—all of them seeking play in October—are crucially altered by blood-boiling moments for the losing side. 

At St. Petersburg, the Blue Jays’ Max Scherzer has loaded the bases with one out, but thinks he has an easy second out coming when the Rays’ Richie Palacios lofts a pop fly to short left field. But outfielder Jesus Sanchez, looking to settle under the ball, is inexplicably nowhere near its landing spot—sending home two Tampa Bay baserunners and prolonging an inning in which the Rays will ultimately pile up five runs on an enraged Scherzer. The rally serves the Rays well, as they withstand a Toronto bounceback and prevail, 7-6, maintaining their five-game divisional lead over the Yankees—while the Blue Jays slip backward in the fight for the third and final AL wild card spot. 

After the game, a still agitated Scherzer subtly references Sanchez’ gaffe by telling reporters: “We have not performed to our capabilities, and now the front office might have to make decisions about our roster because of that.” Sanchez responds: “If (Scherzer)’s going to show me up like that, I’d like to see him try to make that play. I’m trying my hardest out there and made a mistake.”  

The Yankees stay five back of the Rays, and not six back, thanks to a (perhaps) favorable umpire review at Baltimore against the Orioles. In the seventh inning with the game tied at 3-3, Orioles slugger Pete Alonso—who had homered earlier in the third—looks to go deep again, this time on a towering drive over the left-field foul pole. Foul ball, rules the umpires, leaving Alonso and the Orioles livid. An ensuing review confirms the call. What would have been Alonso’s 30th home run is followed by a ground out to end the inning; in their next ups, the Yankees break the tie with two runs—one on a George Lombard Jr. infield single, the other via a Yainer Cano wild pitch—to give New York a 5-3 win. 

Two replays of Alonso’s close call—one showing what looks to a fair ball, the other foul—understandably reveal the opinions of those watching.  

The extra rest given to Paul Skenes apparently doesn’t reset him. In 4.1 innings against the visiting Tigers, the struggling Pittsburgh ace allows three runs on four hits and four walks, while his velocity—which once periodically topped 100 MPH—does not improve with no pitches above 97. A loss for Skenes is wiped away as the Pirates rally behind three solo home runs—two by Rafael Flores, giving him six in 48 at-bats, and a walkoff shot from Brandon Lowe—over the final three innings to register a 4-3 comeback victory. 

Thursday, August 20

In his most dominant start of the season, Jacob deGrom allows just a hit over six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts—his second being the 2,000th of his career—in the Rangers’ 2-0 home win over Washington. deGrom reaches the milestone in the second fewest games (272) after Randy Johnson (262) and the second fewest innings (1,661) after Chris Sale (1,626). 

The St. Louis Cardinals, still in the hunt for a wild card, receive a gift victory at Cincinnati to aid their chances. Down a run and down to their last strike in the ninth, JJ Wetherholt lifts a deep fly that looks easily playable for Reds left fielder TJ Friedl—but in comes center fielder Dane Myers, who calls him off, reaches out—and has the ball nick off the top of his glove, scoring two runs to give the Cardinals the lead. After the stunning gaffe, the Cardinals score four more times to seemingly seal the comeback win—but the Reds give it the ol’ college try in the bottom half of the ninth, plating four runs and loading the bases with two outs. That brings up Matt McLain, who earlier hit a grand slam in the sixth; his bid for a second slam comes up short, lining out to right field as the Cardinals clinch a 10-9 victory.  

Friday, August 21

Congratulations to the Cleveland Guardians, who are the only team out of 15 to win a road game on the day. And they do it with ease, pummeling the Rockies at Colorado, 9-1, behind a productive night for the bottom three batters in the order. Rookie Travis Bazzana (batting seventh) knocks out four hits and drives home three, while Patrick Bailey (eighth) and Petey Halpin (ninth) blasts the Guardians’ lone two homers on the night. 

Of the 14 teams who do win at home, six of them do it in walkoff fashion. The most diverting of those takes place in the 10th inning at Chicago, where rookie Mets reliever Jefry Yan—he of the jumping-bean strikeout celebration—does his sky-high act to celebrate what he thinks is a called third strike on White Sox leadoff batter Colson Montgomery, only to realize upon landing on his feet that the pitch has been called a ball. Montgomery walks, and three batters later, Jake Rogers—hoping for an extended stay with the White Sox after playing for three previous teams within the past month—launches a game-winning, two-run homer off Yan for a 6-4 victory. 

A good number of fans love the excitement that Yan brings to the game with his celebratory theatrics, but this is embarrassing when he wrongly reacts to a called pitch—and it’s not the first time, either. After the game, Yan admits through an interpreter: “That’s one of those situations where it becomes a learning experience…It won’t happen again.”  

St. Louis’ Joshua Baez, quiet since his record-breaking three-homer debut six days earlier—as in, one hit over 22 at-bats—connects on his fourth homer to give the Cardinals an early 2-0 lead at Philadelphia. It’s the start of a back-and-forth contest that will, yes, be won by the home side—and yes, on a walkoff—as Alec Bohm delivers a two-run triple in the 10th to pull the Phillies to a 7-6 victory. It’s the seventh straight win for Philadelphia, which has pared down the front-running Braves’ NL East lead from 9.5 games just a week earlier to four. 

In another walkoff triumph, the Dodgers take care of the visiting Pirates in 10 innings, 5-4—but it’s a costly win. Outfielder Andy Pages, having another consistently solid year (.272 average, 21 homers, 80 RBIs), suffers a fractured left hand after getting hit on a pitch by the Bucs’ Bubba Chandler; he is not expected back in action until the last week of the regular season, if even then. 

Off the field, the Dodgers deny rumors of the team being sold in the wake of a federal government investigation into team owner Mark Walter. Dodgers president Stan Kasten: “The Dodgers are not being sold. They’re not gonna be sold. They’re not for sale. There’s no process that has been started to sell it. Period.” 

There is a worrying wrinkle for Dodgers fans should the team be purchased: Shohei Ohtani has a clause in his contract that stipulates a sale of the club can allow him to void the contract and become a free agent. 

Saturday, August 22

For the third time in known major league history—and the second in just a six-day span—a hitter drills a home run on both the team’s very first and last pitch of a game. On August 17, it was Pete Crow-Armstrong; on this day, it’s Seattle’s Randy Arozarena, getting things started and finished with a bludgeon against Crow-Armstrong’s Cubs. The bookend blasts are not all that Arozarena does; in between, he steals a home run in the third inning from Miguel Amaya. That proves as critical as his two-run, two-out walkoff homer in the ninth, giving the Mariners a 5-4 win. 

Apart from Arozarena’s heroics, the game is remembered as the debut for top Seattle prospect Kade Anderson, called up after a magnificent (10-1, 1.06 ERA) first professional campaign at the Double-A level. Over 5.2 innings, the 22-year-old lefty and Mariners’ #1 draft pick from 2025 allows three runs on five hits with five strikeouts.   

In an 11-5 victory at Arizona, the Reds’ JJ Bleday becomes the seventh player in team history to earn the cycle, wrapping up the achievement before the sixth inning is done. Bleday goes triple-double-single over his first three at-bats as the Reds build up an early lead, then finishes the cycle with a leadoff homer in the sixth. 

Toronto’s Dylan Cease takes a no-hitter into the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium and extends a streak of consecutive scoreless innings on the road to 42—the longest such streak since the deadball era. The no-hit bid comes to an end on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s two-out single in the seventh; the scoreless streak ends one batter later when Austin Wells pokes out an RBI single. Cease will be removed after the Wells knock, having thrown 111 pitches, but the Blue Jays preserve his eighth win of the year with a 4-3 decision over the Yankees. 

Tarik Skubal finally notches his first win as a Dodger, recapturing his groove after allowing three first-inning runs against the Pirates and throwing six shutout innings afterward in a 4-3 comeback victory for Los Angeles. Over seven total innings, Skubal strikes out 11 on 106 pitches; he’s 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA over four starts since being traded from Detroit. 

Sunday, August 23

There’s five weeks left to the regular season, and every team in the AL West is under the .500 mark. That becomes a fact when the Astros blow a 6-0 lead at Houston and bow to the Athletics, 7-6; the ultimate winning run for the A’s comes from Max Muncy—yes, that other Max Muncy—who crushes a 409-foot solo homer to center in the seventh. The loss drops the Astros to 65-66 and a first-place tie with the Rangers, who get six shutout innings from Cal Quantrill to defeat the Angels at Arlington, 5-3. 

The Astros are without manager Joe Espada, who’s absent due to what the club is describing as a family emergency. 

Behind the Astros and Rangers, in third place in the West, are the 62-69 Mariners—but the way they’ve been playing, no one outside of Seattle should be concerned about their prospects of making the postseason. (Yes, stranger things have happened.) Against the visiting Cubs, the Mariners’ Randy Arozarena cranks out his second first-inning leadoff homer in as many days, but after Seattle adds another run in the second, it’s all Chicago the rest of the way—as in, 19 unanswered runs for the Cubs. Mariners starter Bryce Miller allows two hits over 4.1 innings, but surrenders six runs thanks in large part to a career-high seven walks. The bullpen, along with not one but two position players/batting practice pitchers, fare even worse afterward. The Cubs’ 19-2 victory is the Mariners’ second loss of the week by 17 or more runs, following a record-tying 22-0 blowout defeat at Milwaukee. The last time a team suffered the same fate within a calendar month was in 1933, when the Phillies lost consecutive 18-1 games to the New York Giants at bandboxed Baker Bowl. 

Arozarena’s home run, besides providing Mariners fans with one of the precious few positive highlights of the day, is his 20th of the year—giving him 20 homers and 20 steals for a sixth straight season. Only four other major leaguers—Bobby Abreu, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds and Willie Mays—have ever achieved as long a streak. 

When you’re on a winning streak, you find the smell of victory contagious—and you find a way to win. Which brings us to the Phillies, who, down to their last out in the ninth trailing 4-0 to St. Louis, score six times to capture their ninth straight victory. Bryce Harper’s leadoff double is followed by two fly outs, putting the Phillies on the ropes. But the next five batters safely reach, the last a two-run, tie-breaking home run by Kyle Schwarber—his MLB-high 39th of the season—to walk it off. The Phillies remain three games behind NL East-leading Atlanta, which defeats the Brewers 4-2 in the annual Little League Classic at Williamsport, Pennsylvania before 2,432 (mostly) kids. 

Monday, August 24

In the midst of a terrible season, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh wakes up and manages to do something he couldn’t do during his triumphant 60-homer campaign of 2025: Go deep three times. Raleigh’s first home run caps a five-run first for the Mariners, followed by solo shots in the fifth and seventh innings, to deliver a 9-2 victory over the visiting Phillies, ending Philadelphia’s season-high nine-game winning streak. Raleigh had come into the game batting a putrid .159 on the year; that’s the lowest batting average by any player with at least 100 at-bats to register a hat trick. 

On the day the Texas Rangers restore a smidgen of respectability to the AL West by reaching .500 with an 11-2 smashing of the White Sox at Chicago, the idle, now second-place Astros (65-66) take out their frustrations for a just-completed 3-6 homestand by firing general manager Dana Brown after four seasons in that position. Brown’s contract was set to expire at the end of the year, and frustration had mounted over a situation which, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, had led to the team’s “depth on both the 26-man roster and within the upper minor leagues (to be) narrowed to near nonexistence.” 

Houston owner Jim Crane will later say that manager Joe Espada, whose contract also expires at the end of the season, will be allowed to finish the year. Whether he returns for 2027 is another question. 

Tuesday, August 25

After scoring the last 19 runs at Seattle on August 23, and shutting down the Diamondbacks 7-0 a day later, the Cubs score the first four runs again at Phoenix to set a franchise record with 30 unanswered runs over multiple games. But starting in the eighth inning, the DBacks turn the tables—scoring five times over the next two frames to upend the Cubs, 5-4. The winning blow for Arizona comes on a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth from rookie Ryan Waldschmidt; it’s his third homer of the year, but an MLB-leading two of them have been come-from-behind walkoff blasts. 

It’s the fifth time in the last eight games that the Cubs have been involved in a contest decided in the last at-bat; they’ve won two of them, and lost the other three. 

The Twins’ Taj Bradley throws the second immaculate inning in the franchise’s 126-year history, setting down the Athletics in order on nine pitches and nine strikes in the fifth inning at Sacramento. But Bradley, despite 11 K’s overall, gives up four runs over 6.2 innings as a flat Minnesota offense cannot overcome the A’s in a 4-2 loss. 

The other immaculate inning thrown in Senators/Twins history came in 1913, courtesy of the legendary Walter Johnson. 

The Braves’ Ozzie Albies knocks in one run in the first inning against the Dodgers with his 13th sacrifice fly—breaking a season franchise record—and in the eighth unknots a 3-3 tie with an RBI single, the ultimate winning run for Atlanta in a 4-3 victory over the visiting Dodgers. The victory puts an end to a six-game winning streak for the Dodgers, while the Braves extend their lead in the NL East over the Phillies (4-1 losers at Seattle) to 4.5 games. 

Wednesday, August 26

The Giants have had a lot of issues this season, but one of their most stubborn woes has been their inability to protect a lead in the ninth inning. Against the Reds, that nadir is reached. In the ninth inning before 24,000 (announced) home fans at Oracle Park, the Giants blow a 9-3 lead—and a chance for their first three-game sweep of the season—as Eugenio Suarez’s grand slam highlights a seven-run ambush that ultimately gives Cincinnati a 10-9 victory. It’s the 11th time this year that the Giants have blown a ninth-inning lead—and the largest they have ever blown in the post-1900 modern era. 

After the game, the last-place Reds place Suarez (19 homers, .208 batting average) and TJ Friedl (.158, .476 OPS over 222 at-bats) on waivers. There are no takers. 

The Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber increases his MLB-leading home run total to 40, reaching the mark for the fourth time at Philadelphia to tie Ryan Howard’s franchise record. Schwarber’s 40th is a three-run shot in the second inning that completes the scoring early for the Phillies in a 6-0 win at Seattle, as Jesus Luzardo allows only a fifth-inning single to Jhonny Pereda over seven shutout innings. 

Cal Raleigh, who had given the Mariners hope for a late-season resurgence with four straight home runs over the first two games of the series, strikes out in all four of his at-bats. 

It’s good to be Ha-Seong Kim—for a day, anyway. The infielder given a one-year deal worth an incredulous $20 million by the Braves strokes the game-winning hit off Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott to deliver a 6-5 walkoff win at Atlanta. Kim had entered the game with just one hit over his previous 45 at-bats going back to May 22; the walkoff single raises his season batting average to .078. 

Thursday, August 27

Chris Sale brings it against the Dodgers, channeling his 2010s self at the age of 37. Not only does the Atlanta ace throw his first shutout (and complete game) since 2019, he dials up a pitch at 100 MPH—the fastest he’s thrown since 2018. He adds 11 strikeouts, with no walks, in a 1-0 home victory—securing a three-game sweep over the two-time defending champs. Sale’s lone run of support comes in the Braves’ very first at-bat of the game, courtesy of Drake Baldwin’s solo home run; he’s the first catcher ever to belt a leadoff homer in a game that ends up 1-0. 

Sale’s gem is the first time that an opposing pitcher has gone the distance against the Dodgers since 2022, when Colorado’s Chad Kuhl blanked Los Angeles on three hits at mile-high Coors Field. 

Baldwin isn’t the only catcher making history on the night. At Toronto, rookie Kansas City catcher Carter Jensen goes deep in the Royals’ first at-bat, the opening salvo in a 13-2 rout over the Blue Jays. It’s the fifth time this season that Jensen has led off a game with a homer, setting an MLB record for a catcher. Beyond Jensen, much of the damage done by the Royals comes off the bat of Jac Caglianone, who has five hits including his 23rd homer, while knocking in six runs. 

MLB reveals its latest items from its pre-lockout wish list, highlighted by a proposal to limit the free agency period during the offseason to just three weeks—creating a rush of activity currently used by the NFL and NBA. The idea, which MLB hopes would generate more enthusiasm and publicity, is not welcomed by the players’ union. Calling the three-week window “artificial” and “unserious,” interim union director Bruce Meyer says in a statement that the idea would “reduce player leverage and create a game of musical chairs putting player vs. player.” 

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement between owners and players expires in a little over three months. It is widely expected that a new agreement will not be finalized by then, sparking a lockout of players by MLB. 

Friday, August 28

Tarik Skubal returns to Detroit in the uniform of the enemy, throwing six solid innings and getting a no-decision in the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory over the Tigers before a full house at Comerica Park. The two-time defending AL Cy Young winner, traded to Los Angeles just four weeks earlier and given a mostly warm welcome by his former home fans, is removed after only 83 pitches; the Dodgers will break a 1-1 tie in the eighth on Freddie Freeman’s RBI single. 

The two prime contenders to win this year’s AL Cy have sharp outings of their own. 

At New York, Cam Schlittler matches four other Yankees in season franchise history with his 18th start allowing one or none runs, tossing 5.2 shutout innings on 102 pitches; three Yankee relievers to follow hold up a 1-0 lead, made possible by Paul Goldschmidt’s third-inning homer, to defeat the Red Sox. The win moves New York three games ahead of Boston for the top AL wild card spot. 

Nobody breathes a bigger sigh of relief after the Yankees’ win than rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr., who ends a dubious streak of six straight games with an error. It had been the longest such streak by a Yankee since 1921. 

Meanwhile in Toronto, Dylan Cease keeps up his hot second-half hand—and thus his Cy Young chances—by allowing a run on four hits over six innings with eight strikeouts in the Blue Jays’ 8-1 victory over Seattle. It’s the 19th straight game in which Cease has struck out at least seven batters, tied for the sixth longest such streak in major league history; Randy Johnson is at the top of the list with 34 straight outings, spanning 1999-2000. 

The Angels take a 3-1 lead into the top of the ninth against the Phillies, but hard-throwing reliever Ben Joyce takes a walk on the wild side—walking two, hitting another, throwing a wild pitch, and dodging Bryson Stott’s bid for a three-run homer thanks to Wade Meckler’s body-spinning catch against Angel Stadium’s short right-field wall. After another walk, Joyce is removed; Sammy Peralta, his replacement, serves up a grand slam to the first batter (pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa) he faces, pushing the Phillies on top for good, 5-3. With the comeback win, the Phillies move within a game of the Cubs for the top NL wild card spot. Meanwhile, it’s the fifth straight loss for the Angels, who drop to 52-83; that’s tied with Colorado for the majors’ worst record.  

A day after sweating out a narrow 4-3 approval from Tampa’s city council, the Rays get a 5-2 nod from the Hillsborough County Commission, effectively giving the green light for a $2.3 billion mixed-use complex anchored by a new ballpark for the team. Public funds for the project—which voters have had no say in—will account for $1 billion of the budget; the Rays will pay for the rest, including any cost overruns. If all goes well, the ballpark should be ready for play in 2029—a year after the Rays’ current lease at Tropicana Field expires. 

Saturday, August 29

Pete Crow-Armstrong retakes command of the NL MVP conversation in a big way, smashing three home runs amid a four-hit day with a career high-tying six RBIs in the Cubs’ 17-5 pummeling of the visiting Reds. The hat trick occurs on the day the Cubs, celebrating 150 years of their history, honor their all-time team; ex-exiled Cub Sammy Sosa is among those present, and according to Crow-Armstrong tells him in the batting cage before the game: “I want three out of you today. I need three.” 

This is the third time this year that a Cubs player has gone three-deep, with Dansby Swanson (July 1) and Alex Bregman (August 12) joining Crow-Armstrong. That ties a Cubs record, previously achieved in 2001—with Sosa solely responsible for all three hat tricks. 

In the Brewers’ 5-3 home win over the Rangers, Jackson Chourio hits a first-inning, ice-breaking home run for his 20th of the year, making him the 17th major leaguer to have a trio of 20-homer seasons before turning 23. He’s also the third youngest to do it in three straight years, after Tony Conigliaro and Mel Ott. 

Chourio has managed to reach 20 homers this season despite having missed the Brewers’ first 33 games. 

Larry Christenson, who spent all 11 of his big-league years with the Phillies and featured during their rise to NL East prominence late in the 1970s, has passed away at the age of 72. No cause of death is given, but it occurred while Christenson was on a fishing trip with family in Washington state. Never an All-Star but nevertheless a worthy component of the Phillies’ rotation, Christenson peaked in 1977 with a 19-6 record despite a 4.04 ERA. The Phillies helped by averaging 6.3 runs per start, but Christenson chipped in by bashing three homers with 13 RBIs over 74 at-bats. The right-hander from Everett, Washington struggled in the postseason, with a 1-2 record and 7.40 ERA over six appearances (five starts). He’s the last pitcher to date with a complete game in his major league debut, going the distance against the Mets early in 1973. 

Sunday, August 30

Allowing just one hit over seven shutout innings in a 7-0 win against the visiting Mariners, Toronto’s Max Scherzer moves up another step on the all-time strikeout ladder, striking out a season-high 10 batters to move above Gaylord Perry to #9 on the list. With 3,535 career K’s, Scherzer is only 19 behind #8 Justin Verlander—a moving target of sorts, with Verlander prepping a late-season return for Detroit after missing virtually all of this year. 

This is the 32nd time that Scherzer has produced a start with 10 strikeouts and no walks; only Randy Johnson (36) has more such games in MLB history. 

The Red Sox are not a happy team after being blitzed by the Yankees at New York, 16-1—the third largest margin of victory by the Yankees ever against their Boston archrivals. A five-run rally in the fifth is greatly aided by a Jazz Chisholm Jr. liner to center that Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela later swears he makes the catch on (you be the judge). Later in the eighth, with the Yankees up 7-1, Chisholm steals two bases—enraging not only Boston players but the team’s radio broadcast team, who advocates for the Red Sox to put up their dukes against Chisholm and plunk pinch-hitter Austin Wells. The Red Sox do neither, Wells drills a home run—and does so again later in the inning, making him the first major leaguer to hit two homers within an inning in a game he didn’t start. (Wells’ second blast is crushed off Boston second baseman/batting practice pitcher Andrew Monasterio on a 49-MPH soft toss.) 

The postgame talk is all about Rafaela’s attempted grab—the radio controversy may also gain more legs in the days to come—but the real chatter should revolve around the Red Sox’ use of Monasterio, a position player who has no business being on a major league mound, much like all the others who relieve the relievers, throw pitches at velocities frequently seen at the Little League level, and get destroyed for it. Monasterio’s line: Two-thirds of an inning, five runs allowed on three hits (including two homers) and three walks. Boston’s bullpen was hardly exhausted; Monasterio was only the fourth pitcher for the Red Sox, who simply wanted to preserve their relief corps for another day. By doing so, the game became an embarrassment. MLB must do something about this increasing abuse.  

The Guardians’ 11-1 rout of the Royals includes the first home run hit by Jose Ramirez in his last 36 games, eight short of his personal mark of 44 back in 2015 before he discovered how to become a power hitter. Ramirez also adds an RBI single and sac fly. The win keeps Cleveland one game ahead of Baltimore (8-5 winners over the A’s) for the third AL wild card spot. 

The tiny yet baseball-rich Caribbean island nation of Curacao wins the Little League World Series for the second time, defeating a team from Henderson, Nevada, 11-2 in the final. Curacao previously won in 2004 with a team that included future major leaguers Jurickson Profar and Jonathan Schoop. 

The Henderson team is noted for the appearance of Carsynn Meyer, the second female to play in a Little League final. (The first was Japan’s Sayaka Tsushima in 1998). Meyer is hitless in two at-bats against Curacao. 

For those grumbling about a team from a single American town losing to an entire country, consider that Henderson’s population (369,000) is more than double that of Curacao (156,000). 

Monday, August 31

The Cubs and Alex Bregman end August with a big-time bang, setting several records in a 17-3 stomping of the first-place, NL Central rival Brewers at Chicago. A team-record nine home runs are hit, with three coming off the bat of Bregman for his second hat trick of the month. The Cubs’ final three homers, belted over the seventh and eighth innings off Milwaukee first baseman/batting practice pitcher Andrew Vaughn, gives Chicago 62 for August—setting a NL mark for a single month. (Vaughn’s generous two-inning cameo, allowing seven runs on nine hits, three walks and a hit batter on a steady diet of slow-pitch knuckleballs, denotes a big, fat asterisk in regards to the records set by the Cubs.) 

Bregman’s second three-homer game is the fourth overall for the Cubs in 2026, tying a major league record previously achieved three times—most recently by the 2001 Brewers. 

This is the first of seven contests between the Cubs and Brewers over the next 10 days; with the blowout loss, Milwaukee still leads the Cubs by seven games. 

He had to do it at some point and wasn’t going to like it, but Ketel Marte ends his latest self-imposed exile from the Diamondbacks and returns to the team, producing a single and walk in four plate appearances as the team’s DH in a 2-1 loss to the visiting Phillies. Marte, who went AWOL while the DBacks were in Boston on August 17 and was placed on the restricted list—a period during which he didn’t improve his optics by enjoying a night at a Scottsdale casino while the DBacks were playing nearby—apologizes to teammates in a pregame clubhouse meeting that he said went well. “Thank God they accepted my apology,” he tells reporters. The fans at Chase Field, for whom Marte says he has nothing to say to, are apparently in not as welcoming a mood. As he approaches the plate for his first at-bat, Marte is greeted with decidedly more boos than cheers. 

In discussing his absence from the DBacks, Marte talks of the day he bolted in Boston: “That morning I woke up, my body was in pain, and I just couldn’t react. No one made the decision for me. I’m the one who made the decision not to show up.” 

This is, according to Arizona manager Torey Lovullo, the fourth straight year that Marte missed a game without informing the DBacks. Lovullo isn’t sure that it won’t happen again, either. 

When you smash a ball 425 feet as the potential game-winning run, you expect to be that game-winning run. But not in spacious Coors Field, and not when Colton Cowser is the outfielder tracking down your long ball. The Rockies’ Jake McCarthy experiences the caveats; down 2-1 to the Orioles in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and a runner on base, McCarthy belts what looks to be a walkoff homer, but Cowser turns it into a walkoff, game-winning catch, leaping high with a perfectly-timed grab over the center-field wall to preserve a 2-1 victory. 

Cowser’s game-saver returns the Orioles (69-69) to an even .500 for the first time since April 30, while moving the team within a half-game of Cleveland for the final AL wild card spot.