The Month That Was in Baseball: August 2025

Friday, August 1

The Pittsburgh Pirates take a 9-0 lead in the top of the first inning at Colorado against the lowly Rockies, and the notion of victory already seems a safe bet. But as we have said time and time again, no lead is safe at mile-high Coors Field. The Rockies will rebound to score 10 runs over the first five innings, yet still trail 16-10 after the Bucs add more offense; that score will hold until the eighth, when Yanquiel Fernandez strikes a two-run homer—followed by a five-run rally in the ninth capped by Brenton Doyle’s two-run shot to give the Rockies a stunning 17-16 victory. The 33 total runs represent the third-highest scoring total in the 31-year history of the ballpark; it’s only the sixth time that a team has scored nine runs in the first inning—and lost. 

It’s gloom over Miami as the New York Yankees, with a 9-4 lead over the Marlins at the seventh-inning stretch, trot out each of their three new relievers acquired at the trading deadline—and they all bomb. Jake Bird, fresh off a miserable July with Colorado, serves up a grand slam to Kyle Stowers in the seventh while getting just one out. Former Pittsburgh closer David Bednar, succeeding Bird, gives up two more runs over the next 1.2 innings of work. And in the ninth, with the Yankees clinging to a 12-10 lead, former San Francisco closer Camilo Doval displays the wildness Giants fans had come to know him for, allowing three runs on two hits and a walk—though to be fair, a throwing error by new right fielder Jose Caballero doesn’t help—as the Marlins complete a 13-12 comeback win. 

The Milwaukee Brewers break out the hits, collecting 25 of them in a 16-9 thrashing of the Nationals at Washington. Every member of the Brewers’ starting lineup collects at least one hit and run each—and all but one of them nets two hits, led by William Contreras’ career-high five. The 25 hits are tied for the most by any MLB team in a game this season; they’re also tied for the third highest in Milwaukee franchise history. 

Saturday, August 2

The Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee attracts a lot of baseball fans—but unfortunately, also a lot of rain that send umpires waiving the red flag for a delay that will last into the next day, when they’ll resume the game between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves. The Reds hold an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first before a crowd of 85,000—though aerial shots of the 146,000-seat NASCAR venue suggest a much bigger gathering. Though the game isn’t completed, fans are at least treated to a pregame agenda that includes music by Tim McGraw and Pitbull, and a ceremonial first pitch involving Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Chipper Jones and NASCAR stars Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott. 

Pittsburgh ace and MLB ERA leader Paul Skenes faces one of his toughest tests—no, not the 29-80 Rockies, but Coors Field, the mile-high ballpark they play in. For the first five innings, Skenes is passing the test—keeping the Rockies scoreless while being given a 4-0 lead thanks to the first two of three home runs on the day for Liover Peguero. Then in the sixth, the wall caves in; Skenes gives up three hits and a walk to the first four Rockies he faces and departs with a tenuous 4-3 lead that won’t hold, as Colorado piles up three more runs in the inning on their way to an 8-5 win over the Bucs. 

Peguero is the 15th Pirate with a hat trick of home runs; he’s the third player in franchise history to do it from the leadoff spot, and the third to do so while driving home all of his team’s runs. 

Featuring for the Rockies is recent call-up Walking Bernabel, who knocks out two doubles and a single. Through his first seven major league games, the 23-year-old Dominican has 14 hits including eight for extra bases—a combination of figures never previously surpassed, and only matched by Oakland’s Mitchell Page in 1977. 

The Dodgers’ Blake Snell is back on the mound after a four-month layoff, returning to the Tampa Bay area where he won his first of two Cy Young awards and losing to the Rays, 4-0. The 32-year-old southpaw allows three runs on five hits—two of those home runs struck by the Rays’ Yandy Diaz—but he’s outclassed on the day by Tampa Bay starter Dennis Rasmussen, who throws 5.1 shutout innings and is followed by three relievers combining to finish a six-hit shutout of the Dodgers. 

Sunday, August 3

Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez becomes the first player in major league history to collect 20 home runs and 20 steals in each of his first four seasons, securing his 20th round-tripper in the Mariners’ 5-4 home win over Texas. Rodriguez’s homer is also the 100th of his career, making him the third player—after Barry Bonds and Darryl Strawberry—to have both 100 homers and steals each within his first four seasons. 

After being stalled by rain the night before, the Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee resumes and concludes with the Braves defeating the Reds, 4-2. Infrequently-used outfielder Eli White knocks in all four Atlanta runs on a pair of homers, both bouncing off the racetrack that separates the field from the regular raceway bleachers. Official attendance is announced at 91,032, making this the largest crowd ever for a regular season MLB game—surpassing the all-time mark of 84,587 that showed up for a 1954 doubleheader between the Yankees and Indians at Cleveland. 

The Brewers finish their weekend beatdown of the Nationals at Washington, banging out 16 hits in a 14-3 rout to total 56 in their three-game series sweep. That’s the most hits by a NL team in a series of three contests since 1950, when the Brooklyn Dodgers collected 57 against Pittsburgh. Seven different Brewers knock out two hits in the win, with Brice Turang bashing two home runs for his pair.

The Marlins ruin Luis Gil’s return to the mound—and the entire weekend for his Yankees—in a 7-3 home victory to finish off a three-game sweep. Gil, last year’s AL Rookie of the Year who missed the season’s first four months due to a back injury, gives up five runs on five hits and four walks over 3.1 innings. 

With the three-game sweep, the Marlins improve their lifetime record (postseason included) against the Yankees to 25-24. No other MLB team has a lifetime winning record against the Bronx Bombers. 

Monday, August 4

It’s official: The Rockies will not have a winning season in 2025. Colorado drops to 30-82, extending a franchise-worst run of consecutive seasons below .500 to eight, after a 15-1 pasting by the visiting Toronto Blue Jays. It’s the 20th time this season that the Rockies have allowed 10 or more runs in a game, matching the Athletics for the most this year. In triumph, the Blue Jays rack up 25 hits—equaling two other teams for the most in one game this season. Leading the hit parade is Ernie Clement with five, While Bo Bichette slugs a pair of home runs with six RBIs. 

Kyle Schwarber joins Seattle’s Cal Raleigh in the 40-homer club, reaching the barrier with his second shot of the night—a grand slam to cap an eight-run rally in the sixth—while bringing home six runs in the Phillies’ 13-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles at Philadelphia. It’s the third time in four years that Schwarber has reached 40 homers; his 171 round-trippers since the start of 2022 are the second most in baseball after Aaron Judge (194). 

Tuesday, August 5

Batting leadoff for the first time, the Athletics’ Shea Langeliers collects a career-best five hits including three home runs in a 16-7 rout of the Nationals at Washington. No player had previously homered three times when batting leadoff for the first time. Additionally, Brent Rooker and JJ Bleday knock out four hits—with Bleday driving home six runs. 

Over their last six games, the Nationals have allowed 103 hits over 248 at-bats for a .415 batting average; that’s the most hits conceded over a six-game stretch since the St. Louis Browns gave up 104 in 1936. Those 103 hits given up by the Nats have included 18 doubles and 15 homers. 

Wednesday, August 6

With a little over two-thirds of the regular season complete, we still have yet to see a no-hitter in 2025. The first one nearly comes courtesy of Cleveland’s Gavin Williams, who’s two outs away from the franchise’s first no-no in 44 years—before serving up a 420-foot home run to the Mets’ Juan Soto. Williams will get one more out, but after walking Brandon Nimmo is removed; he still gets the win as the Guardians prevail, 4-1 at New York. Williams throws 126 pitches, nine more than anyone has totaled in an MLB game this season. In fact, it’s the first time anyone has reached 120 pitches in a start since Seth Lugo in September 2023. 

No team currently has gone longer without a no-hitter than the Guardians, who last experienced the moment in 1981 when Len Barker threw a perfect game. 

A day after getting booed off the mound by Cubs fans for getting just one of six batters out—with four of them scoring—reliever Andrew Kittredge returns with Chicago holding a slim (2-0) lead—and proceeds to throw the sixth immaculate inning in Cubs history, striking out three Cincinnati batters on nine pitches, all strikes, in the seventh. It’s the third immaculate inning thrown by a pitcher this season. 

Kittredge is the second reliever for the Cubs following Cade Horton’s 5.2 shutout innings in a 6-1 victory over the Reds. Horton extends an active streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 23.1, a Cubs rookie record. 

One has to wonder if the Colorado Rockies should even be in MLB at this point. The majors’ worst team (30-84) is shellacked again, 20-1 at home against the Blue Jays; it’s the third time this year that the Rockies have lost a game by at least 18 runs—matching their entire total over their previous 32 years of existence. Worse, they reach a -300 run differential in the fewest games (114) since the very awful Cleveland Spiders of 1899. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, set an AL record with 63 hits in a three-game series, as their 24 knocks on the day follows 25 in Monday’s 15-1 series opener, and 14 in a 10-4 victory the next day. 

What’s already a rout enters runaway territory in the ninth when the Blue Jays add eight runs—all of them coming off exhibition pitcher/catcher Austin Nola. The one-sided routs will continue so long as baseball teams suffer the embarrassment of trotting out players who are not professionally qualified to pitch, all to keep their bullpen fresh for the next day. 

The Red Sox have seen enough of outfielder Roman Anthony to give the 21-year-old rookie an eight-year, $130 million extension that will cover at least his first three years of free agency; it could accrue as much as $230 million through incentives and escalator clauses. In 47 games since joining Boston from the minors on June 9, Anthony is batting .276 with 15 doubles, two home runs and 19 RBIs. Though those numbers are not awe-inspiring, they are solid for a player his age—and the Red Sox firmly feel he will only improve with maturity and experience. 

Thursday, August 7

For the first time in 47 MLB starts, the Pirates’ Paul Skenes allows more than six hits. That will go down as cold comfort for the visiting Reds, who despite knocking out seven hits against the Pittsburgh ace can’t plate a run—neither against him nor three relievers to follow in the Bucs’ 7-0 victory. 

In his six shutout innings of work, Skenes strikes out eight and walks none; in 24 starts this season, he has a 1.94 ERA—a consistent comparison to his 1.96 ERA over 23 total starts in his rookie campaign last year. 

Friday, August 8

In a matchup of future Hall of Famers nearing the end of their playing days, the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw gets the better of Toronto’s Max Scherzer in Los Angeles’ 5-1 victory before 53,825 fans at Dodger Stadium. Both pitchers last six innings, departing with the Dodgers up, 2-1; the 37-year-old Kershaw allows his one run on seven hits with four strikeouts, while the 41-year-old Scherzer concedes his sole two runs—both coming off a fifth-inning home run from Mookie Betts—on six hits and five Ks. 

This is the fourth time that Kershaw and Scherzer had pitched against each other. Their first matchup wasn’t even supposed to take place; they were both last-minute replacements for two other Cooperstown-bound aces, with Kershaw replacing Greg Maddux and Scherzer filling in for the Diamondbacks’ Randy Johnson in 2008. The two briefly played together, late in 2021 when Scherzer joined the Dodgers from Washington for the stretch run and went 7-0 over 11 regular season starts with a 1.98 ERA. 

Kershaw is one of two pitchers to collect three wins against Scherzer; the other is Kevin Correia, who had 76 career victories. 

Italian-born Chase Burns becomes the first major league pitcher to strike out 10 or more batters four times within his first eight starts, as the 22-year-old rookie mows down 10 Pirates while allowing just a run on three hits at Pittsburgh. Victory eludes Burns and the Reds, however, as Kevin Reynolds’ two-run triple in the eighth secures a 3-2 win for the Bucs at Pittsburgh. 

This is the fourth straight start in which Burns has struck out 10 in a game not interrupted by Mother Nature; in his previous outing, he pitched only one inning against the Braves at Bristol Speedway in Tennessee before heavy rain postponed action until the next day. Under old rules, the start of that game would not have counted and would have been played from the beginning another day. 

Saturday, August 9

For the first time in major league history, a woman dons umpiring gear and takes the field to serve as one of the four arbiters in a regular season game. Jen Pawol, who has umpired 1,200 minor league games over nine years, is called up to handle umpiring duties in place of vacationing regulars, working first and third base in, respectively, the first and second games of a doubleheader at Atlanta, both won by the Braves over the Marlins by scores of 7-1 and 8-6. 

Pawol’s presence leaves only the NHL as the only one of the six major sports leagues in North America (counting in MLS and WNBA) without ever having a woman officiating. 

Shohei Ohtani belts his 40th home run in the Dodgers’ 9-1 home win over Toronto, reaching the milestone for the third straight year, and the fourth overall. He’s the first player to hit at least 40 in three straight seasons since Khris Davis, from 2016-18. 

The Brewers overcome solo home runs from the Mets’ Juan Soto, Starling Marte and Pete Alonso—whose 252nd career blast ties Darryl Strawberry for #1 on the all-time Mets list—and win their eighth straight game, 7-4 at Milwaukee. William Contreras’ two-run homer in the seventh caps a four-run rally that erases a 4-3 deficit. 

Since starting the season at 25-28, the Brewers have since gone 47-16; that’s the most victories they’ve racked up over any 63-game stretch in franchise history. 

Sunday, August 10

A day after making her debut as the first female major league umpire, Jen Pawol works behind the plate for the first time. The game’s first pitch, with Atlanta’s Joey Wentz throwing to Miami’s Xavier Edwards, is called a strike by Pawol—though the delivery misses the zone by several inches, according to Statcast’s strike zone. For the game, won by the Braves, 7-1, Pawol gets 138 of 151 balls-and-strikes calls correct; compared to all other umpires this year, her 91.39% success rate is the second worst average, ahead of Rob Drake (90.99%). 

Winning has definitely become contagious for the Brewers. Baseball’s hottest team claims its ninth straight victory on rookie Isaac Collins’ solo homer in the ninth, walking off a 7-6 victory over the visiting Mets. New York leads for the bulk of the game, losing the advantage in the eighth on an RBI single by the Brewers’ Joey Ortiz. William Contreras’ two earlier home runs bring Milwaukee to within striking distance for the final couple of innings. 

The Giants’ Justin Verlander strikes out the side in the first inning against the visiting Washington Nationals to become the 10th pitcher in major league history to reach 3,500 for his career. The 42-year-old future Hall of Famer will collect six K’s on the day—putting him just six behind ninth-place Walter Johnson, with 3,509—but he’s also beaten up for five runs on 11 hits over five innings as the Nationals coast to an 8-0 win. In 20 starts for the Giants, Verlander is 1-9 with a 4.53 ERA. 

The Diamondbacks are the latest team to use the Colorado Rockies as batting practice, finishing off a three-game home sweep with a 13-6 rout. The big inning for Arizona takes place in the fifth, piling up eight runs on nine hits—all of them collected consecutively to set a DBacks team record. Eight of those nine hits are singles. 

It’s the seventh straight defeat for the Rockies, who during the streak have an 11.78 team ERA—the highest in team annals over such a span, and the fourth highest in major league history. 

Monday, August 11

It’s a reunion of sorts for some of the top stars of Houston’s tainted 2017 championship team as the Astros open a home series against Boston. Returning to Houston for the first time since signing with the Red Sox is Alex Bregman, who leads off the scoring with a two-run homer in the first inning. The Astros don’t respond until the third when Carlos Correa—playing his first game back at Houston since being traded from the Twins 11 days earlier—strokes an RBI single. That hit brings home the first of seven unanswered runs —five of those off an uncharacteristically ineffective Garrett Crochet—for the Astros over the next three innings, before hanging on to edge the Red Sox, 7-6. 

Getting the win for the Astros is Cristian Javier, making his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery 14 months earlier. He allows two runs on three hits over five innings with five strikeouts. 

Shane McClanahan’s frustrating baseball odyssey continues. The Tampa Bay pitcher, who’s been excellent when healthy—but hasn’t pitched since undergoing Tommy John surgery two full years ago—was working his way back to the mound through some minor league starts but will now be shut down for the rest of the season with a lingering nerve issue in his upper arm. Over 74 career starts since his 2021 debut, the 28-year-old southpaw has a 33-16 record and 3.02 ERA, twice making the AL All-Star team. 

Tuesday, August 12

Pete Alonso becomes the Mets’ all-time home run leader, unlocking a tie at the top with Darryl Strawberry by belting his 253rd—and later, his 254th—home run in a 13-5 rout of the visiting Braves, ending New York’s season-long seven-game slide. The two homers by Alonso are among the six hit by the Mets, tying a team record since moving into Citi Field; all 13 of their runs—12 of which score on the six homers—come with two outs. 

It takes Alonso 965 games to break Strawberry’s mark; Strawberry needed 1,109 games to collect his 252 homers. 

Not even Paul Skenes can stop the white-hot Brewers. At Milwaukee, Sal Frelick gets the party started with a bang, belting a leadoff homer off Skenes; the Brewers rack it up from there, ultimately clobbering the Pirates, 14-0, for their 11th straight win. It’s the second time this year that the Brewers have won 11 straight games, having previously done it from July 6-21; both streaks are tied for the second longest in franchise history. 

The Frelick homer in the first ends a streak of 24 straight starts in which Skenes had not allowed a run in the first inning. That’s the longest streak to begin a year by a starting pitcher since Bob Shawkey’s 27 for the 1923 Yankees. For the night, Skenes allows four runs over the first four innings before departing. 

Jose Ramirez bookends the scoring on the night for the Cleveland Guardians, hitting solo homers in the first and eighth innings—the later shot the ultimate winning run in a 4-3 victory over the visiting Marlins. It’s a franchise record-setting 27th multi-homer game for Ramirez, passing Albert Belle and Jim Thome. With the win, the Guardians—who just a couple of weeks ago were selling, not buying, at the trading deadline—have won 18 of their last 25 games and are now 5.5 games behind the struggling first-place Tigers (9-6 losers at Chicago to the White Sox) in the AL Central. 

The Rockies may be 31-88, but they’re a perfect 5-0 when on an eight-game losing streak. They improve on that obscure split with only their second shutout win of the year, blanking the Cardinals at St. Louis, 3-0, behind Kyle Freeland (7.1 innings) and reliever Victor Vodnik. 

Only the White Sox and A’s have suffered multiple streaks of eight or more losses this season—with each team having two apiece. 

The Dodgers have a much better chance of making the playoffs then the neighboring Angels, but it’s the Angels that will retain bragging rights in head-to-head competition this year. In Anaheim, the Angels clinch the six-game, head-to-head season series against the Dodgers, winning their fourth game in five tries with a 7-6, 10-inning victory. Helping out the Angels’ cause is their eighth-ever triple play, turned in the sixth when Shohei Ohtani’s searing line drive to second is caught by shortstop Zach Neto—whose momentum quickly takes him to the second-base bag, doubling up Dalton Rushing at second, then rifling a throw to first to triple up Miguel Rojas. It’s the third triple play of the 2025 MLB season. 

Wednesday, August 13

For the first time this season, the Dodgers are out of first place in the NL West. The defending champions can’t hold an early lead as the Angels bounce back from a 5-2 deficit and triumph at Anaheim, 6-5, on Ryan O’Hoppe’s two-run, two-out, two-strike single in the eighth. Former Dodger Kenley Jansen wraps up his 470th career save—his third against the Dodgers this year—with a perfect ninth. 

The Dodgers’ loss—the 21st over their previous 33 games—combined with San Diego’s 11-1 battering of the Giants in San Francisco earlier in the day, put the Padres a game ahead in the NL West. The two teams next begin a three-game series in Los Angeles, with a return three-game engagement the following weekend in San Diego. 

While the NL West lead changes hands, it remains the same in the AL West—for now. The Mariners, a somewhat distant second to Houston just three weeks ago, have an eight-game winning streak snapped at Baltimore, 4-3, as the Orioles’ Jackson Holliday unlocks a ninth-inning tie with a game-winning double. Meanwhile, the Astros defeat the visiting Red Sox, 4-1, to reclaim sole possession of the West; they’ve led or had a share of the division lead every day since June 3. 

If the Astros are to maintain their lead, they’ll have to do it for a while without Josh Hader. The veteran closer, having an excellent season with Houston, has been placed on the 15-day injury list with a left shoulder strain—but it’s later revealed that he likely won’t return until at least the postseason—if the Astros qualify. 

The Cubs, firmly in the thick of the NL wild card race, triumph over the AL East-leading Blue Jays at Toronto, 4-1, behind another terrific start for rookie pitcher Cade Horton—who runs his team rookie-record streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 29, allowing just one hit over 5.2 frames. But the streak ends after his departure from the game, as Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s double off reliever Andrew Kittredge scores Andres Gimenez—with the run charged to Horton. 

Despite the win, hard luck befalls the Cubs when catcher Miguel Amaya, making his first appearance since injuring his oblique on May 24, is carted off the field after jamming his leg trying to beat out a grounder in the eighth, suffering a sprained ankle. 

The Minnesota Twins are not for sale after all. Almost a year after announcing that the Pohlad family—which has owned the team since 1984—is getting out, family lead Joe Pohlad says that rather than sell, the Twins will remain under family ownership with the infusion of “two significant limited partnership groups” that aims to strengthen the team’s ability to contend.

Reports had several interested buyers ready to buy out the Pohlads for under $2 billion, but they were scared away by the Twins’ $425 million debt—which they would have had to assume. 

The news will likely irritate Twins fans who have grown tired of the Pohlads’ struggle to stay relevant and made beautiful Target Field, at times, a ghost town on game day. The team’s recent fire sale at the trade deadline—shedding 11 players—has certainly not helped the optics. 

Thursday, August 14

In the Braves’ 4-3 win at New York over the Mets, first baseman Matt Olson plays in his 741st straight game to set a franchise record, passing the old mark held by Dale Murphy. Only a dozen players have had longer consecutive-game streaks than Olson; if he plays in each of the next five contests, he’ll move pass Pete Rose for the 12th longest run. 

Friday, August 15

You can’t keep a white-hot team down. In Cincinnati, the Reds bolt out to an 8-1 lead on the visiting Brewers and an ineffective Jacob Misiorowski after just two innings—but when a team like Milwaukee is riding a 12-game win streak and “losing” isn’t part of the daily vocabulary, it finds a way. Thus, the Brewers will respond with five runs in the third, two in the fourth (to tie the game) and single runs in the sixth and seventh while six Milwaukee relievers combine to retire the final 21 Reds to secure a 10-8 victory. Offensively, Christian Yelich leads the comeback punishment with four hits including two home runs to go with five RBIs. 

The Dodgers take Round One of six games to be played over the next 10 days against NL West rival San Diego. Clayton Kershaw clamps down on the Padres with six sharp innings—allowing a run on two hits—while Teoscar Hernandez’s solo homer in the seventh gives Los Angeles the ultimate winning run in a 3-2 home win to even the Padres up atop the West with a 69-53 record. It’s the Dodgers’ fourth win in five tries against the Padres this year, a factor that could prove critical in case of a tiebreaker at season’s end. 

In 48 career starts against the Padres, Kershaw is 24-11 with a 2.17 ERA and 320 strikeouts over 306.1 innings. 

The Orioles’ Brandon Young, entering the day with a career 0-6 record and 6.70 ERA over 10 major league starts, takes a perfect game into the eighth inning at Houston, where with two outs he fields a weak grounder to the side of the mound from former Oriole Ramon Urias—and throws it wildly past first base. Urias is given a hit, ending Young’s bid for historic perfection; Young will get the final out of the inning and his night will be done, earning his first win as the Orioles defeat the Astros, 7-0. 

The 100-RBI barrier is broken for the first time this year by each league’s leading MVP candidates. In Washington, former National and current Phillie Kyle Schwarber launches a 456-foot blast into the second deck of Nationals Park’s right-center bleachers, a three-run shot that unlocks a 2-2 tie and secures a third straight 100-RBI season for Schwarber. The Phillies will take a 6-2 win, increasing their lead in the NL East to six games. 

The reason that the second-place Mets fall back further behind the Phillies is the Seattle Mariners and Cal Raleigh, who also reaches 100 RBIs in an 11-9 triumph at New York. Raleigh hits his 46th homer and adds two doubles, bringing home two runs. 

Saturday, August 16

It’s comeback baseball—and a new record—for the Brewers as they tie the Reds in the ninth and notch three more runs in the 10th on reserve infielder Andruw Monasterio’s three-run homer to triumph at Cincinnati, 6-5. The 14th straight win for Milwaukee is the longest in MLB this season, and the longest by the Brewers within one season—eclipsing the 13 straight to start the 1987 campaign. Solo homers in the sixth by Spencer Steer and Austin Hays give Cincinnati a 2-1 lead, but the Reds become their own worst enemy in the ninth—aiding the Brewers’ comeback with a pair of leadoff walks followed by Elly De La Cruz’s throwing error on an attempted double play, bringing home the tying run. It’s De La Cruz’s 17th error of the year, leading all major leaguers. 

After becoming the 10th pitcher to reach the 3,500-K mark in his last start, the Giants’ Justin Verlander jumps into the #9 spot on the all-time strikeout list, sitting down eight Rays to surpass Walter Johnson with 3,511 for his career. The eight strikeouts, achieved through seven shutout innings with no walks, results in Verlander’s best performance this season—but alas for the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer, a victory is again not to be. Reliever Jose Butto immediately coughs up a 1-0 lead in the eighth, and the fast-fading Giants can’t respond as they drop a 2-1 decision—their 15th home loss in their last 16 attempts. 

Another team sliding deep downward of late manages to, for one night, at least, reverse course as the Mets take care of the visiting Mariners, 3-1. New York gets a boost from starting pitcher Nolan McLean, who in his major league debut tosses 5.1 shutout innings; closer Edwin Diaz, who earns his fourth career two-inning save; and stolen bases from Francisco Lindor and Brett Baty, giving the Mets 39 straight steals without getting caught—setting a NL record. It’s the Mets’ third win in just their last 17 games. 

The Mets’ win serves a distant warning for the first-place Phillies, who absorb double trouble on their own with a 2-0 loss at Washington and the announcement that ace pitcher Zack Wheeler will miss at least the next two weeks with a blood clot near his throwing shoulder. (It will be later revealed the Wheeler will actually miss up to eight months.) Earning his first-ever MLB win for the Nationals is Cade Cavalli, who throws seven shutout innings, allowing seven hits and no walks. 

Ben Rice comes out swinging for the Yankees, who pound the Cardinals at St. Louis 12-8 as they scramble to rescue their postseason aspirations. The second-year slugger belts a three-run homer in the fourth, clears the bases in the sixth with a double, then brings home his seventh run of the day an inning later on an RBI single. The seven total RBIs for Rice match a career high; no other player has knocked in seven or more twice within fewer games (153) to start a Yankee tenure.

Sunday, August 17

Brewers lose! Brewers lose! Yes, after a 14-0 start to the month of August, Milwaukee finally succumbs, 3-2 in 10 innings to the Reds at Cincinnati—though it certainly isn’t for a lack of trying. After trailing 1-0 through seven innings behind superb pitching from Reds starter Andrew Abbott and a Jose Trevino sacrifice fly, the Brewers take a 2-1 lead in the ninth on William Contreras’ one-out, two-run homer—only for the Reds to knot the game in the bottom of the inning by, again, Trevino again—singling home Will Benson. Cincinnati will win it in the 10th on Austin Hays’ bases-loaded single. 

The Brewers’ two winning streaks—the 14 overall, and nine straight on the road—each fall two wins shy of franchise marks. Meanwhile, the Reds extend a streak of consecutive series without being swept to 42, the longest active run in MLB. 

In Los Angeles, the Dodgers finish off a three-game sweep of the Padres and enhance their NL West lead over San Diego to two games with a 5-4 victory. Freddie Freeman’s three-run homer highlights a four-run first for the Dodgers, but the Padres scratch back to tie the game by the eighth; Mookie Betts un-ties it with a solo homer in the bottom of the inning, resulting in the eventual game-winning run. The Dodgers’ win clinches the season series against the Padres, having won six of seven games with three left to play at San Diego in the coming week. 

In the annual Little League Classic at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, a small crowd consisting almost entirely of kids is stunned when the game’s first pitch, a 92-MPH sinker from the Mets’ Clay Holmes, strikes Seattle’s Randy Arozarena on his batting helmet. (Arozarena is okay.) Holmes settles in and pitches five sharp innings, earning his 10th win of the year while the Mets make mince-meat of Mariners starter George Kirby (seven runs allowed on 12 hits and three walks through 4.2 innings) in a 7-3 victory. Despite the win, the Mets’ Francisco Lindor is picked off attempting to steal—ending a streak of 39 straight successful basestealing attempts by the Mets, one short of the major league record held by the 2013-14 Red Sox. 

Two wild catches make the highlight reel on the day. In San Francisco, the Giants’ Jung Hoo Lee appears to drop a fly ball from Tampa Bay’s Yandy Diaz in center field—but the ball is not seen squirting away. It turns out that Lee traps the ball between his knees before it hits the ground for a legit catch. 

Later in Denver, the Rockies secure their third straight win over Arizona, 6-5—though the final out doesn’t come without peril between pitcher Juan Mejia and first baseman Warming Barnabel, who collide in pursuit of a short infield pop-up by the Diamondbacks’ Ketel Marte. Mejia’s painful save is the first of his MLB career.  

Monday, August 18

The Astros are humiliated for the second straight day, being shut out at Detroit 10-0 after being blanked the previous day against the Orioles at Houston, 12-0. The 22-0 aggregate over two games ties an Astros team record from 2009 for the most lopsided pair of consecutive shutout losses suffered. Four home runs by the Tigers include Riley Greene’s 29th of the year; Jack Flaherty throws seven shutout innings to earn his seventh win (against an AL-high 12 losses) for Detroit. 

Despite the back-to-back routs, the Astros maintain a 1.5-game lead in the AL West as Seattle is defeated at Philadelphia, 12-7. Trea Turner paces the Phillies with four hits including his 13th homer of the year—but only his first at Citizens Bank Park. The home run is also his 1,500th career hit, joining 24 other active players who’ve surpassed that milestone. 

Tuesday, August 19

The Yankees go clubbing as visitors in their Spring home park, matching a team record set earlier this year with nine home runs in a 13-3 rout of the Rays at Tampa’s Steinbrenner Field. The power display includes back-to-back-to-back homers in the first inning from Aaron Judge (his 40th of the year), Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton, and three multi-homer efforts from Bellinger, Stanton and former Ray Jose Caballero—who hits the Yankees’ ninth and final blast of the night in the ninth. 

Only four teams have hit nine homers in a game; the 2025 Yankees are responsible for two of those barrages. 

The three consecutive homers hit by the Yankees in the first inning matches an MLB record for the most B2B2Bs in one season, also held by the 2005 Rangers and 2019 Twins; all three of the Yankees’ occurrences have taken place in the first inning. 

The Yankees will follow up the next day with five more home runs in a 6-4, 10-inning win over the Rays; the 14 homers over two games will tie another MLB record. 

The Diamondbacks edge the Cleveland Guardians at Phoenix, 6-5, behind Corbin Carroll’s fourth multi-triple game of the season—tying the all-time record held by five other players, most recently Carl Crawford in 2004. Carroll’s 16 triples on the year lead all major leaguers; he’s on pace to become the first player to hit 20 or more in a season since 2007. 

For the first time since 1985, the Astros are shut out in three straight games—but at least they make it close, unlike the hammering they suffered in their previous two blankings. At Detroit, the Astros and Tigers keep it scoreless through the first nine innings, before the Tigers finally scratch a 1-0 win in the 10th on Gleyber Torres’ two-out, bases-loaded walk. Though he doesn’t get credit for the win, Detroit Tarik Skubal throws seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts—becoming the first pitcher this year to surpass 200. 

It’s been a strange year for Arizona All-Star Ketel Marte. First, he was heckled at Chicago while playing the White Sox in June. Then during the All-Star Break, while he was helping the NL with a two-run double, his Scottsdale home was broken into, with numerous valuables stolen. Rather than return to Phoenix after the break, Marte instead went to his native Dominican Republic to vacation with his family, causing him to miss the Diamondbacks’ first two games after the break—one of those games featuring his bobblehead as a promotional giveaway. While the team publicly stated that Marte’s absence was granted so he could deal with the home break-in, he was actually placed on the restricted list, without pay. The Diamondbacks won the two games he missed—and the next one without him back in the dugout, but absent on the field—yet Marte’s fit of hooky has festered in the Arizona clubhouse and irked some of his teammates, who anonymously criticized him to the Arizona Republic. After a strong start to the year, the DBacks have struggled—and a losing streak toward the end of July, with Marte back in the lineup, initiated an intense sell-off of talent at the trading deadline, with sluggers Eugenio Suarez, Josh Naylor, and pitcher Merrill Kelly among those being dealt away. The DBacks’ postseason chances have been reduced to next to nil. 

Marte apologized for his actions at the start of this week, and claims he has full support of his teammates, while DBacks coaches and management are praising him for speaking out about the situation. But given the recent criticism upon him, one has to wonder how much goodwill collateral Marte has left within the Arizona organization. 

Wednesday, August 20

It’s a rough night for Shohei Ohtani, taking his turn on the mound at mile-high Coors Field in Denver. The Rockies rack up five runs on nine hits against the Dodgers’ two-way superstar over four innings—and adding injury to insult, he takes a 93-MPH comebacker in the thigh from Colorado’s Orlando Arciao, further accelerating Ohtani’s departure from the mound. Thankfully for the Dodgers, Ohtani will return for the team’s next game two days later in San Diego. 

The Phillies complete a dominant (and record-setting) three-game sweep of the Mariners at Philadelphia, romping to an 11-2 victory. Trea Turner leads the way with five hits—he has 21 over his last 34 at-bats—Kyle Schwarber drives in five runs on a single, double and 45th home run, and Jesus Luzardo keeps Seattle bats quiet with 12 strikeouts over six solid innings. The 48 hits totaled by the Phillies are their most in a three-game series since 2007—while their 46 strikeouts are the most by the team over any three games in franchise history. 

Thursday, August 21

A week after taking a perfect game into the eighth inning, Baltimore rookie pitcher Brandon Young gets another shot at the Astros—and this time he’s ripped apart for seven runs over the first three innings, as Houston eases from there to a 7-2 road win. Jesus Sanchez, entering the game hitless over his last 29 at-bats, makes up for lost hits by putting together the Astros’ first five-hit game in two years, with a double and four singles. 

Friday, August 22

In his first appearance since undergoing Tommy John surgery 16 months earlier, Shane Bieber looks sharp as ever—allowing just a run on two hits with nine strikeouts and no walks over six innings as the Blue Jays prevail over the visiting Marlins, 5-2. The former Cleveland ace, recently traded to Toronto, hopes to give bonus assistance to an already veteran rotation as the Blue Jays bid for their first AL East title in 10 years. 

In the Mets’ 12-7 victory at Atlanta, Juan Soto reaches bases five times two singles, his 32nd home run and two walks to reach 100 on the year. It’s not at all surprising that Soto is the first major leaguer this year to reach triple figures; it’s the sixth time he’s done so. (No other active major leaguer has accrued 100 walks in more than three seasons.) Soto, still just 26 years of age, figures to add to that total. 

Vinnie Pasquantino ties a Royals record by slugging a home run in his fifth straight game, but his two-run shot in the ninth is too little, too late as Kansas City drops a 7-5 decision at Detroit. Previously going deep in five straight games for the Royals was Mike Sweeney in 2002, and Salvador Perez in 2021; Pasquantino will come up empty the next day in a bid to break the mark. 

In his first game back at Milwaukee, where he enjoyed a delightful tenure with the Brewers from 2021-24, the Giants’ Willy Adames smokes two solo home runs off his former mates, but it’s not enough as William Contreras delivers with a two-out solo shot of his own in the ninth to give the Brewers a walkoff 5-4 victory. 

After just four games at the major league level, Baltimore catcher Samuel Basallo is granted an eight-year, $67 million extension by the Orioles. Considered one of baseball’s top 10 prospects on many lists, the Dominican-born Basallo, who just turned 21, was hitting .270 with 23 homers and 76 RBIs in 76 minor league games this season. He may play more at first base for now, but could become the Orioles’ prime catcher if Adley Rutschman bolts for free agency after the 2027 season. 

Saturday, August 23

The first-place Phillies get bad news as ace pitcher Zack Wheeler will be out for the remainder of the year—he might also miss Opening Day in 2026—after undergoing surgery to remove a blood clot in his throwing shoulder. Though the Phillies still have a solid rotation that includes Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Ranger Suarez and, if he can ever get himself back on track, veteran Aaron Nola, Wheeler’s presence will certainly be missed; in 24 starts this season, the 35-year-old right-hander was 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA and NL leads in strikeouts (195) and WHIP (0.94). 

The Blue Jays blow one-run leads in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings, but not in the 12th as they hang on to defeat the Marlins at Miami, 7-6. After Dante Bichette brings home the gift runner in the 12th with his fourth hit of the game, Brendon Little takes the mound for Toronto and retires the Marlins in order to preserve the win. 

The Baseball Writers Association of America announce a fifth award they will vote on, starting in 2026. The new honor, naming the best relief pitcher from each league, will join the BBWAA’s existing palette of awards that currently includes the MVP, Cy Young Award, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year. 

Sunday, August 24

Cal Raleigh ties—then surpasses—Salvador Perez’s all-time record for home runs hit in a season by a catcher, as he goes deep in each of the first two innings to total 49 on the year in the Mariners’ 11-4 rout of the visiting A’s. Another record is set by Raleigh with his ninth multi-homer of the game, breaking the old mark held by Ken Griffey Jr. From the mound, the Mariners also get a boost from starting pitcher Logan Gilbert, who tosses a career-high 13 strikeouts over just six innings while allowing a run on three hits. 

With Shohei Ohtani blasting his 45th home run of the year in an 8-2 win at San Diego—putting the Dodgers square with the Padres atop the NL West with identical 74-57 records—he, Raleigh and the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber make up the first trio of major leaguers to each have 45 before the end of August. It’s the third such occurrence in MLB history; the other two took place in 1998 (Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Greg Vaughn) and 2001 (Sosa, Barry Bonds, Luis Gonzalez). 

Ohtani’s homer is his 41st from the leadoff spot, tying Ronald Acuna Jr.’s mark from two years ago. He also ties Schwarber for the overall NL lead; while Schwarber’s Phillies defeat the visiting Nationals, 3-2—extending their lead in the NL East to seven games—Schwarbs ends a streak of 15 straight series in which he had homered at least once. That tied Sosa for the second longest such streak in major league history; McGwire holds the record for the most, with 20 during the 1996 campaign. 

The Yankees avoid being swept in a home series of four or more games by the Red Sox for the first time since 1939, as Trent Grisham and Jazz Chisholm Jr. both hit a pair of home runs to lift New York to a 7-2 victory. The Yankees pull to within a half-game of Boston for the #1 AL wild card seed; they’re 5.5 games back of first-place Toronto in the AL East. 

For the first time since being let go by the Cubs, Kyle Hendricks faces his former team of 11 years but comes up short, taking the loss as Chicago triumphs 4-3 over the Angels at Anaheim. Hendricks allows all four runs in 4.1 innings of work, giving up five hits and three walks; he’s 6-9 with a 5.04 ERA this season. 

Monday, August 25

A day after pummeling two home runs, Cal Raleigh keeps it riding with his 50th of the year, helping the Mariners to a 9-6 win over the visiting Padres. Raleigh is the first American Leaguer not named Aaron Judge to hit 50 in a season since Chris Davis in 2013. 

Boston rookie Roman Anthony becomes the youngest player in franchise history to hit a leadoff homer, doing so at the age of 21 years and 104 days—just 12 days younger than the previous record holder, Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr in 1939. Anthony will later be one of three Red Sox players to cross the plate in the fifth, on Jarren Duran’s three-run homer—accounting for the Sox’ other runs as they defeat the Orioles at Baltimore, 4-3. 

For the first time since 1997, the Cardinals draw a home crowd below 20,000—and the relatively few fans who show are rewarded with a 7-6 victory over the Pirates, capped by Alex Burleson’s two-out, tie-breaking, walkoff homer. The Cardinals drew smaller crowds early during the 2021 season, but those were capped because of lingering COVID-era restrictions. 

The Cleveland Guardians match a franchise mark by being shut out for the third straight game, suffering a 9-0 home loss to Tampa Bay. Ian Seymour and three relievers combine to shut down the Guardians on just two hits; Junior Caminero provides much of the offense with a single, double and two home runs—giving him 39 on the year. The strain shows in the Cleveland dugout as Guardians starter Tanner Bibee, after giving up a leadoff homer in the seventh to Yandy Diaz (leading to his departure), lets off some negative steam and is barked at by manager Stephen Vogt to cool it. 

The Guardians previously have been shut out in three straight games five times, most recently in 1991. 

Tuesday, August 26

Just after losing star infielder Marcus Semien to a season-ending injury, the Texas Rangers are now also looking at finishing the regular season without their hottest pitcher, Nathan Eovaldi. The 35-year-old right-hander, sporting a spiffy 11-3 record and 1.73 ERA this year over 22 starts, has been sidelined with a rotator cuff strain and is not expected to return to the team until at least the postseason—that is, if the Rangers make it. That would be an uphill climb for Texas, as they sit 4.5 games behind Seattle for the third and final AL wild card spot. 

Compounding the Rangers’ absentee woes, shortstop Corey Seager will undergo an emergency appendectomy two days later. 

Wednesday, August 27

The Dodgers hand the Reds their first winless series this year, upping their lead over San Diego in the NL West by two games as Shohei Ohtani allows a run on two hits with nine strikeouts over five innings in a 5-1 win. Four Dodger relievers combine to strike out 10 more batters over the final four innings; the 19 total K’s set a modern-era team record for a nine-inning game. 

The Reds’ streak of 44 straight series without being swept was the longest active run in the majors. They’re 4.5 games behind the Mets for the third and final NL wild card spot. 

Awful pitching by professional and non-professional pitchers alike dooms the Angels at Arlington. Starter Jack Kochanowicz gives up 11 runs (10 earned) over just 3.1 innings to the Rangers; no other pitcher in Angels franchise history has allowed more runs in fewer innings. Down 12-3 by the seventh, Los Angeles sends out the first of two exhibition pitchers in third baseman Oswald Peraza—who promptly gives up eight runs on seven hits, one of those a three-run homer by Texas catcher Kyle Higashioka. Outfielder Niko Kavadas will relieve Peraza and, thankfully, allow no runs over the next 1.2 innings. 

The Rangers’ 20-3 win is tied for the team’s third highest scoring output, and their most since 2011. 

The Phillies’ once-comfortable lead in the NL East is starting to show a little sweat. At New York, the Mets’ Nolan McLean silences the Phillies for eight shutout innings allowing four hits and no walks in a 6-0 win, completing a three-game sweep and reducing Philadelphia’s lead in the East to four games. The Mets also clinch the season series against the Phillies, which will serve as a tiebreaker advantage should the two teams tie for first at season’s end. 

McLean is not only the first Mets pitcher ever to earn wins in each of his first three starts, but no one in franchise history has accrued a lower ERA (regardless of wins) over three initial starts than his 0.89. 

Not far away in the Bronx, the Yankees finish their own three-game sweep of the Nationals, pounding out six home runs in an 11-2 victory. Four of the six homers come within a nine-run third inning; it’s the third time this year that the Yankees have gone deep four times in a single frame—a major league season record, according to stat master Jessica Brand. 

Washington starting pitcher Cade Cavalli and reliever Shinnosuke Ogasawara labor to throw a combined 77 pitches during the Yankees’ third-inning outburst. That’s the most pitches by a team in a single inning since at least 2008. 

Thursday, August 28

Kyle Schwarber becomes the 21st major leaguer—and a record third this season—to hit four home runs in a game, adding a Phillies-record nine RBIs in a 19-4 drubbing of the Braves in Philadelphia. Ironically, a bid for an unprecedented fifth homer falls short when Schwarber pops out against exhibition pitcher/shortstop Vidal Brujan on a 57-MPH eephus toss in the eighth inning. Increasing his season total to an NL-leading 49 homers, Schwarber is the fourth Phillies player to hit four homers in a game, following Ed Delahanty (1896), Chuck Klein (1936) and Mike Schmidt (1976). All three of those players are in the Hall of Fame.

One might think that a good chunk of the 19 runs scored by the Phillies would have come off Brujan, but he allows only one of the tallies over 1.1 innings of work. 

Randy Moffitt, a steady reliever for the Giants during the 1970s and a collector of 96 saves over 12 major league seasons, passes away at the age of 76. The son of a Milwaukee Brewers scout, Moffitt was the lesser known of two siblings; his sister was tennis legend Billie Jean King. Drafted in the first round of the 1970 amateur draft by the Giants, Moffitt quickly ascended to the parent team and settled into the role of a part-time closer, often amassing over 100 innings. His 83 saves with the Giants rank ninth in franchise history. 

Friday, August 29

The Mets set a franchise mark for the most runs scored in a home game, piling up 12 runs over the first two innings against Miami—and then adding six more in the eighth off exhibition pitcher/utility player Javier Sanoja in a 19-9 romp. It’s more than enough support for 22-year-old pitcher Jonah Tong, who makes his major league debut and displays a throwing motion uncannily similar to Tim Lincecum; he’ll allow four runs (only one of those earned) on six hits over five innings to gain credit for the win. 

This is the seventh emergency pitching appearance—and third in the past four days—for Sanoja in 2025; overall, he’s allowed 17 runs on 23 hits (four of those home runs) over 8.1 innings for an 18.36 ERA. 

At the end of the day, there is not a single qualified National League batter hitting a true .300. The league’s top four batters—the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, the Brewers’ Sal Frelick, and the Phillies’ Trea Turner—go a combined 0-for-15; although Freeman is still officially listed at .300, the average technically stands at .2995. 

The lowest average ever recorded by a league leader is .301, put together by Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski in 1968—the so-called Year of the Pitcher. 

The Red Sox lose to Paul Skenes and the Pirates at Fenway Park, 4-2, despite a nice first outing for rookie Payton Tolle—who allows two runs on three hits over 5.1 innings with eight strikeouts. Tolle takes the roster spot of Walker Buehler, who’s released by Boston after a disappointing first season with the Red Sox—posting a 5.45 ERA in 23 appearances (22 starts) despite a 7-7 record. 

Saturday, August 30

Less than a month after Julio Rodriguez became the first major league ballplayer to amass 20 home runs and steals in each of his first four seasons, Bobby Witt Jr. does him 10 better on the stolen base front. At Kansas City, the 25-year-old shortstop hits a tie-breaking, two-run homer in the eighth to put the Royals ahead to stay in a 3-1 victory over Detroit. The homer is Witt’s 20th of the year to go along with 34 steals, clinching his fourth straight 20-30 season to start a career. Only two other players have more such seasons over their entire careers, and they’re both Bondses—Bobby (nine) and Barry (seven). 

Aroldis Chapman’s renaissance season at Boston has earned him some extra pay. The 37-year-old closer, still lighting up the radar at 100 MPH, has been given a one-year, $13.3 million extension for 2026 from the Red Sox, along with a mutual option year for 2027. Pitching this season for the Red Sox—his seventh team—Chapman has been simply superb, earning 26 saves with a 1.04 ERA, allowing just 21 hits over 52 innings with 74 strikeouts and 14 walks. 

San Francisco reliever Randy Rodriguez, a 2025 All-Star who assumed the team’s closer role after the departure of Camilo Doval to the Yankees, will undergo Tommy John surgery—knocking him out of action until, likely, the start of the 2027 season. The second-year right-hander is 3-5 this year with a 1.78 ERA and four saves. 

Sunday, August 31

MLB announces that Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase and starting pitcher Luis Ortiz will remain sidelined “until further notice” on non-disciplinary paid leave while it continues to investigate whether they knowingly influenced micro bets on first pitches earlier during the season. It’s assumed that the leave will continue through to the end of the regular season; the Guardians currently are four games behind Seattle for the final AL wild card slot, with Texas and Kansas City ahead of them on the outside looking in. 

Numerous streaks come to an end as the White Sox come from behind to defeat the Yankees at Chicago, 3-2, on late solo home runs from rookie Colson Montgomery and Lenyn Sosa. The Sox’ victory stops a five-game skid—all at home—while the Yankees see the end to a seven-game win streak, and a longer one of nine straight won on the road. In defeat, Aaron Judge hits his 358th career home run to tie Yogi Berra for fifth on the Yankees’ all-time list. He needs just three more to tie Joe DiMaggio for fourth.

Justin Verlander labors for five shutout innings, throwing 121 pitches and striking out 10 Orioles as the Giants roll to a 13-2 victory at San Francisco. It’s only the second time this year that a pitcher has thrown over 120 pitches in a game; Verlander’s 121 are the most by a major leaguer throwing five shutout frames since pitch counts became an official thing in 1988. 

After Tanner Scott blows a 4-1 lead left behind by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers bounce back with a leadoff, pinch-hit homer from Will Smith to overcome the visiting Diamondbacks, 5-4. It’s the fourth time that Smith has hit a walkoff homer as a pinch-hitter; only Jason Giambi (six) has more such blasts in major league history. 

Two known names recently released by their clubs find new homes. Veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, the active leader in career walks (1,330), inks with the Cubs after being released by Cleveland; in Philadelphia, the Phillies pick up pitcher Walker Buehler, recently let go by the Red Sox. Buehler will get a start at Triple-A Lehigh Valley before joining the Phillies; he’s expected to take up rotation space left behind by injured ace Zack Wheeler.