The Month That Was in Baseball: July 2025

Tuesday, July 1

Is young Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes possibly pitching against both his opponent and his own Pirates teammates? At home against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Bucs enter the evening having won four straight games by an aggregate score of 37-4. But with Skenes on the mound, the Pirates’ offense goes cold—as it often does when Skenes pitches. In five innings against the Cardinals, Skenes throws five shutout innings before being removed in a 0-0 game with 88 pitches, having allowed five hits, a walk and hit batsman. St. Louis starter Andre Pallante feels Skenes’ pain; he allows just one hit over seven shutout frames, also leaving with the game scoreless. The Pirates finally break through in the eighth against Pallante’s replacement Phil Maton on a Henry Davis sacrifice fly. That will serve as the game’s only run, as the Pirates win their fifth straight, 1-0. 

Though the Pirates have won four of the last six games in which Skenes has started, he hasn’t gotten credit for victory in any of them, despite a 1.77 ERA. Here’s why: In the 35 innings before Skenes’ removal in those games, the Pirates scored only five runs. After his departure, they’ve plated nine in 22 innings. 

The Texas Rangers swamp the Baltimore Orioles at Arlington, 10-2—and nobody is happier to contribute than Justin Foscue. Called up just a week earlier, Foscue wraps out a two-run double in the eighth to end a franchise-record streak of 44 hitless at-bats. Foscue’s hit is the only one off of Orioles reliever Gregory Soto—who otherwise walks two, hits another and throws three wild pitches in two-thirds of an inning. 

The San Francisco Giants extend manager Bob Melvin through the 2026 season, but it’s not the best timing as the Giants lose for the seventh time in eight games, falling to the Diamondbacks at Arizona, 8-2. General sloppiness, a theme during the Giants’ current stretch of woe, is reflected in the first two passed balls of the season committed by catcher Patrick Bailey—a Gold Glove recipient last season. 

Wednesday, July 2

The starters are named for the upcoming All-Star Game in Atlanta, with a National League team full of big names—while the American League includes some unexpected surprises. The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani and Yankees’ Aaron Judge had been announced as starters the day before by being the top vote-getters from each league; two other Dodgers—first baseman Freddie Freeman and catcher Will Smith—will join Ohtani as NL starters. Judge is the only Yankee in the AL lineup; he’ll be surrounded by 23-year-old Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson at shortstop, Baltimore DH Ryan O’Hearn, and Detroit second baseman Gleyber Torres, all but forgotten after a tepid 2024 campaign with the Yankees. Torres is one of three Tigers named as starters, along with outfielders Riley Greene and Javier Baez—two other players who, not long ago, would have likely been considered long shots for an All-Star spot. 

Freeman leads all 2025 starters in All-Star appearances with his ninth (five as a starter). Judge, San Diego third baseman Manny Machado, and Cleveland third baseman Jose Ramirez each will be making their seventh All-Star appearance. 

The selection of Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to the AL team makes this his fifth overall All-Star Game appearance; he becomes part of the first-ever father-son duo (along with his father, Vladimir Guerrero) to be named to five Midsummer Classics. 

Clayton Kershaw becomes the 20th pitcher in major league history to strike out 3,000 batters, reaching the milestone with his last pitch thrown on the evening against the Chicago White Sox’ Vinny Capra. It’s a bittersweet moment of sorts; just three pitches earlier, the Dodgers throw out Michael A. Taylor on a stolen base attempt of third, but Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy, making the tag, stumbles over Taylor and falls to the ground in extreme pain, holding his knee. (Muncy suffers a bone bruise and will be out over a month.) Though Kershaw departs the game with the Dodgers trailing, 4-2, they’ll mount a three-run, ninth-inning comeback capped by Freddie Freeman’s RBI single that scores the winning run in a 5-4 victory. 

Only three other left-handed pitchers have 3,000 K’s, while only two have collected that many pitching for one team. 

Some believe that Kershaw will be the last pitcher to strike out 3,000 batters. We disagree. It’s still possible that even some active hurlers, such as Chris Sale and Aaron Nola, will reach the milestone, while the proliferation of strikeouts from the likes of Paul Skenes, Garrett Crochet and many others, even if they throw fewer innings than their predecessors, will leave them sniffing out 3,000—so long as they don’t succumb to too many Tommy John procedures. 

The Pirates finish a three-game sweep of the visiting Cardinals, shutting them out in all three games. The series finale is won by the Bucs, 5-0, as Mitch Keller throws seven shutout innings. The Pirates have won six straight games, outscoring their opponents during that span by a combined 43-4 score; it’s arguably the most dominant six-game stretch of baseball in franchise history, perhaps bested by their run of six straight shutouts in 1903, then outscoring their opponents by a 32-0 margin. 

The Atlanta Braves can’t seem to get a break—except for the kind that impacts bones. Young pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach, who’s 15-11 over 38 starts with a 3.23 ERA since making his major league debut 13 months earlier, will miss significant time after he’s discovered to have a fractured elbow. The break appeared to happen during his last start, an excellent outing on June 28 when he struck out 12 Philadelphia Phillies while allowing just a run on three hits over seven innings. But he felt soreness in his elbow the next day; an ensuing x-ray discovered the fracture. Schwellenbach joins fellow Brave and reigning NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale, who was just transferred to the 60-day injured list after fracturing his rib making a diving stop of a slow grounder on June 18. 

The Miami Marlins will remain the only MLB team ever without a winning streak of 10 games. Their current run of eight straight victories comes to an end as they drop a 2-1 decision to the visiting Minnesota Twins, leaving them one win short of the team record last established in 2008. Carlos Correa’s RBI single in the fourth will give the Twins the lead for keeps. 

The New York Mets finally figure out how to make Milwaukee phenom-to-date Jacob Misiorowski mortal. In his fourth big-league start, the 23-year-old Misiorowski serves up back-to-back home runs—the first a grand slam from Brandon Nimmo—in the second inning, quickly giving the Mets a 5-0 lead. After 3.2 innings, Misiorowski will be done as he allows five runs on five hits, three walks and two strikeouts. The Mets will go on to win, 7-3. 

Thursday, July 3

Hours before a scheduled start in Chicago against the Cubs, Cleveland pitcher Luis Ortiz is placed on paid leave through July 17—later extended through August 31—as MLB is investigating him for gambling-related activities. Sources tell ESPN’s Jeff Passan that Ortiz threw two pitches in separate, recent games that were flagged by a betting integrity firm as having unusually high betting activity beforehand. (Yes, you can bet on a single pitch.) The pitches were nowhere near the plate, suggesting that Ortiz may have purposedly missed to knowingly control the outcome of such “micro-bets” with those deliveries. 

This is the latest episode of gambling infringing upon the game since the U.S. Supreme Court heavily liberalized online betting use in 2018. In the last year alone, we have seen the expulsion of one major leaguer (Tucupita Marcano) and an umpire (Pat Hoberg) for their involvement in betting on baseball games. The Ortiz case is troubling, because it doesn’t evolve a grand scheme such as fixing a World Series but, instead, something as subtle as a bet on a single pitch. Players can find all sorts of ways to game the system without making it look too obvious—though the reported spike in betting activity before those two Ortiz pitches did stick out enough for online probers. 

If Ortiz is indeed knowingly involved in these micro-bets, he should unquestionably be expelled from the game, harsh as that may sound; MLB must step out in front and scare others straight from even thinking about getting involved in these kinds of actions. But even if it’s proven that Ortiz is innocent, it should serve as one more reminder to MLB, the players’ union, and sportsbooks that the business of legal gambling needs far stricter guardrails to protect the players, owners—and the game of baseball itself. Don’t make the same mistake as the 1910s, when baseball turned a blind eye to the underbelly of gambling activity that infamously peaked with the Black Sox Scandal. 

For the first time since mid-April, the Yankees are out of first place in the AL East, overtaken by the Toronto Blue Jays—who finish off a four-game home sweep of New York with an 8-5 victory. The Jays are propelled by George Springer, who continues his red-hot form of late with a pair of home runs among three hits.

The Yankees were seven games ahead in the AL East five weeks ago; since then, the Blue Jays have gone 22-10 to climb up and over the defending AL champs. 

This is the first Thursday game the Yankees have lost this season. Their 7-0 record was the last undefeated mark by an MLB team this year on a certain day of the week. 

Returning to Phoenix and his home of five-plus seasons while with the Diamondbacks, the Giants’ Robbie Ray throws his second career complete game, surrendering two solo home runs but otherwise dominating Arizona in a 7-2 victory. Ray allows three hits and a walk over 102 total pitches; he improves to 9-3 on the year with a 2.68 ERA, easily his best season since winning the 2021 AL Cy Young Award with Toronto. 

Friday, July 4

The Chicago Cubs belt a club-record eight home runs, with three of them coming off the bat of Michael Busch, to defeat the visiting St. Louis Cardinals, 11-3. Two of the other five bombs are hit by Pete Crow-Armstrong, giving him 23 on the year; both he and Busch each have four total hits on the day. For the Cardinals, the eight homers allowed set a club record of their own; starter Miles Mikolas gives up six of the long balls, tying an all-time major league mark held by 10 other pitchers—most recently by the Cubs’ Matt Swarmer in 2022. 

The Dodgers, who earlier this year suffered their worst shutout loss (16-0, to the Cubs) in Dodger Stadium history, set another nadir with their worst-ever defeat at the 64-year-old ballpark by run differential, 18-1 to the Houston Astros. Isaac Paredes sets the tone immediately by punching out Ben Casparius’ first pitch of the evening past the left-field foul pole. Four more taters will be struck by the Astros, including two by Jose Altuve and the eighth by Christian Walker over his last six games played at Chavez Ravine; his six straight games with a homer sets a ballpark record. 

Only the 1955 Kansas City A’s have lost more than two home games in a season by 16 or more runs; their three blowout losses include a 29-6 rout by the Chicago White Sox in just their sixth game played at Municipal Stadium after relocating from Philadelphia. 

Seattle’s Cal Raleigh unloads two more home runs in a 6-0 home win over the Pirates, ending Pittsburgh’s six-game win streak and giving him more homers (35) this year than during his entire 2024 campaign (34). It’s the most round-trippers collected by a major leaguer in advance of the All-Star Game since 2013, when Chris Davis belted out 37; Barry Bonds holds the record with 39 in 2001. 

Saturday, July 5

It’s a bad day for the New York Yankees. They lose pitcher Clarke Schmidt (4-4, 3.32 ERA in 14 starts) for the rest of this year and a good chunk of 2026 to Tommy John surgery, Anthony Volpe sends a throw-around, inning-ending toss to an unsuspecting Aaron Judge—hitting him in the side of the head—and they suffer their sixth straight defeat, 12-6 to the crosstown Mets at Citi Field. Judge, struck by Volpe’s throw at the end of the fourth, suffers a cut near his right eye but continues to play on, going hitless in four at-bats. On the Mets’ side, Pete Alonso crushes two home runs with five RBIs, while Brandon Nimmo belts his second grand slam in four days. The Yankees have lost 16 of their last 22 games and are tied for second with the Tampa Bay Rays; they’re both three games back of Toronto, which has won seven straight. 

A day shy of the 20th anniversary of his major league debut, former closer Bobby Jenks loses his fight with stomach cancer in Portugal at the age of 44. The hefty (275 pounds) right-hander quickly emerged during that first campaign with the Chicago White Sox, becoming the team closer by September and saving four postseason games as the Sox won their first world title in 88 years. Over each of the next two seasons, Jenks would save 40+ games, making the AL All-Star team in both, but a gradual decline and a series of Twitter “debates” between himself, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and his son Oney hastened his exit out of Chicago after 2010. Jenks pitched one more season with the 2011 Red Sox, where he crashed under the weight of numerous injuries. 

Jenks is second on the White Sox’ all-time saves list with 173, behind Bobby Thigpen’s 201. 

The records—the bad kind—keep piling up for the Colorado Rockies. In suffering a 6-2 defeat to the White Sox, the Rockies ensure their 17th straight home series loss, tying a major league record also held by the 1916-17 Philadelphia Athletics. The Rockies had earlier set the mark for the most consecutive series defeats regardless of location at 21, before sweeping the Marlins at Miami in early June. 

Just five days after the Minnesota Twins became the 10th major league franchise to lose their 10,000th game, the Boston Red Sox become the 10th to win their 10,000th. The milestone is achieved in Washington, as the Red Sox drub the Nationals, 10-3. Walker Buehler earns the win in his first July start after a miserable June, while Jarren Duran—who led the majors last year with 14 triples—becomes the first MLB player this year to reach 10. 

The Red Sox join the Yankees as the only two AL teams with 10,000 lifetime wins. Cleveland, with 9,892, is third on the AL list; they’re expected to reach 10,000 sometime next season. 

Sunday, July 6

Six years of a stalled rebuild after winning the 2019 World Series have proven to be too long for Washington Nationals owner Mark Lerner, who announces the dismissal of manager Dave Martinez and long-time front office head Mike Rizzo. Since the end of May, the Nationals have won just nine of 32 games, dropping their season record to 37-53—second worst in the NL. Despite some rising young talent in slugger James Wood and pitcher Mackenzie Gore, the Nationals have not been able to progress as they’ve been without a winning record since taking the 2019 Series. Miguel Cairo will replace Martinez, while Rizzo’s job will be taken over by Mike DeBartolo, the Nationals’ senior vice president and assistant general manager. 

The Pirates began the week sweeping the Cardinals at Pittsburgh, not allowing a single run in the process. They end it by getting swept at Seattle against the Mariners—not scoring a single run. In losing the series finale, 1-0, the Pirates become the first team in major league history to follow up a series sweep of three shutouts with another in which they were on the losing end of three straight blankings. Of course, the Bucs’ bats go absolutely cold once again for Paul Skenes, on the day he’s named the NL’s starting pitcher for the upcoming All-Star Game; against the Mariners, he throws five shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. Skenes has won just one of his last 13 starts—yet has authored a 1.72 ERA during that span. For Seattle, George Kirby picks up the win with 6.1 shutout frames; it’s the first time in Mariners franchise history that the team has won three straight games by shutout. 

Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe, hoping to extend his hitting streak to a franchise-record 21 games, departs in the third inning at Minnesota with soreness in his left side. Having struck out in his only at-bat, the streak thus ends at 20. Yandy Diaz, who co-owns the record with Lowe, breaks a 4-4 tie in the 10th with an RBI double, part of a three-run rally to give the Rays a 7-5 victory. 

The Phillies’ Zack Wheeler allows just one baserunner—a fifth-inning solo home run from Cincinnati’s Austin Hays—in going the distance with 12 strikeouts in a 3-1 home victory over the Reds. It’s the fifth complete game of Wheeler’s career, and his first since 2021. 

In his first appearance on the mound since September 2023, the Brewers’ Brandon Woodruff allows a run on two hits with eight strikeouts over six innings to help give Milwaukee a 3-1 win at Miami. Ironically, his last outing was also at Miami, before undergoing shoulder surgery followed by injuries to his ankle and elbow—thus causing the long absence. 

Monday, July 7

San Diego’s Manny Machado collects three hits to reach 2,000 for his career, but despite that achievement and the return of Yu Darvish—making his season debut after dealing with elbow issues—the Padres drop a 6-3 decision to the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks. Machado joins four active players with at least 2,000; having just turned 33 years of age a day earlier, he’s got a shot at 3,000 for his career. Darvish lasts 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and three walks with five strikeouts. 

For the DBacks, Corbin Carroll knocks out his 10th triple of the year, making him the first major leaguer since both Jose Reyes and Austin Jackson (from 2010-12) to reach double-figures over three straight seasons. 

The Guardians stop a 10-game losing streak—their longest skid since 2012, and just two losses shy of the all-time franchise mark—with a 7-5 win at Houston. Brayan Rocchio’s two-run double in the sixth breaks a 4-4 tie and puts Cleveland ahead for keeps. 

An iffy beginning for Jacob deGrom ends an MLB-record streak among non-openers of 14 straight starts with no more than two runs allowed on six hits, as the opposing Angels notch three runs off him over the first two innings at Anaheim. deGrom will recover and last five innings, allowing just those three runs and leaving the game with a 4-3 lead which the Rangers will cough up, before losing in the ninth when Nolan Schanuel draws a bases-loaded walk to force home the winning run for the Angels in a 6-5 decision.  

Tuesday, July 8

Young Milwaukee pitching phenom Jacob Misiorowski meets—and defeats—the visiting Dodgers, allowing a leadoff 431-foot home run to Shohei Ohtani before striking out the next five Los Angeles hitters—and 12 overall through six innings of work without allowing no further runs. The Brewers preserve a 3-1 lead to the finish as three relievers each throw a perfect inning after Misiorowski’s departure. The loss is a season-high fifth straight for the Dodgers. 

Misiorowski has won four of his five starts this season with one loss and a 2.81 ERA; in 25.2 innings, he’s allowed 12 hits and struck out 33 batters. 

Down 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth at San Francisco, the Giants’ Patrick Bailey launches a deep drive that ricochets off the top of Oracle Park’s tall right center-field wall, eluding two Philadelphia outfielders and allowing the catcher to score on MLB’s first walkoff inside-the-park home run since 2016, as the Giants win 4-3 over the Phillies. It’s the first such homer for the Giants since Angel Pagan in 2013, and the first inside walkoff by a catcher since the Washington Senators’ Bennie Tate in 1926 against the Yankees. 

In his fifth career start and last full inning of work against the visiting New York Mets, Baltimore rookie Brandon Young completes the Orioles’ fourth-ever immaculate inning (nine pitches, nine strikes, three strikeouts), three of six K’s he’ll amass on the evening. Alas, it will not lead to Young’s first big-league win; he’ll depart with the Orioles trailing, 2-1—and despite retaking the lead in the bottom of the sixth, they’ll lose out in 10 innings, 7-6. 

It’s the second immaculate inning thrown this year after Miami’s Cal Quantrill on May 18. 

Luis Arraez’s solo homer in the seventh is all the Padres will need to shut down the visiting Diamondbacks in the majors’ 39th 1-0 game this season—one more than was recorded all of last year. Nick Pivetta allows two hits through 5.2 shutout innings for San Diego, while four ensuing Padres relievers combine to give up just one hit over the final 3.1 frames. 

Wednesday, July 9

The Blue Jays’ bid to extend their winning streak to a franchise record-tying 11 games is ended by the White Sox and pitcher Adrian Houser—who upchucks his lunch in the dugout after the first inning, before recovering to throw seven sharp frames in a 2-1 Chicago victory. Houser, who later says he felt much better after the puking incident, is 5-2 with a 1.56 ERA in nine starts with the White Sox since being released by Texas at the end of May. 

Another winning streak is snapped as the Miami Marlins are defeated by the Reds at Cincinnati, 7-2. It’s the first road defeat for the Fish after a team record-shattering 11 straight wins away from home (the old mark was eight, from 1995), and was easily the longest such streak by any MLB team this season. Andrew Abbott allows just one run over 7.2 innings for the Reds, improving his record to 8-1 on the year. 

Jettisoned to the bench just a day before, DJ LeMahieu is now out of a job as the Yankees designate the 37-year-old, two-time batting champ for assignment. Injuries have really taken their toll on LeMahieu, who after 2020 held a career .302 batting average after hitting an AL-best .364 for the Yankees in that shortened season; he has since hit only .253 with limited power. New York still owes LeMahieu roughly $25 million through 2026. 

Joe Coleman, who over 15 years won 142 games—62 of them in a three-year stretch from 1971-73—passes away at the age of 78. The third pick in baseball’s first-ever amateur draft in 1965, Coleman—the son of his namesake father, who pitched in the majors from 1942-55—emerged as a top pitcher with the Washington Senators. Traded to the Tigers in a 1970 trade that sent 30-game winner Denny McLain to D.C., Coleman thrived with a pair of 20-win seasons and an All-Star Game roster spot in 1972. He piled up the innings—throwing over 280 in four consecutive years—but also numbers reflecting his wildness, with an inordinate number of wild pitches, hit batsmen and walks; he handed out 158 passes alone in 1974. After his pitching days, Coleman spent the next 35 years in baseball as a coach, instructor and scout; his son, Casey Coleman, pitched briefly with the Chicago Cubs in the early 2010s. 

Thursday, July 10

The Yankees, no-hit through seven innings by Seattle’s Bryan Woo, roar back with six runs over the next three innings—including the game-winner in the 10th—to defeat the visiting Mariners, 6-5. Woo walks the first two Yankees he faces in the first, then proceeds to retire the next 21 batters before giving up back-to-back singles to start the eighth. From there, the Mariners’ bullpen implodes, unable to keep a 5-1 lead; Giancarlo Stanton goes deep in the eighth with a two-run, pinch-hit homer, in advance of a small-ball rally in the ninth that ties the game off Seattle closer Andres Munoz. A deep fly from Aaron Judge in the 10th brings home gift runner Anthony Volpe to win it for New York. 

Pete Crow-Armstrong continues to astonish for the Cubs. In an 8-1 victory at Minnesota, the 23-year-old center fielder belts out a double and two homers, making him the fifth Cubs player to amass 25 homers and steals each in a season; he’s the fastest among the five to get there, having played only 92 games. Only one Cubs player—Sammy Sosa, in 1993 and 1995—has ever finished a season at 30-30; Crow-Armstrong is on pace to fly past 40-40. 

Former shortstop and manager Lee Elia passes away at the age of 87 in Odessa, Florida. Though neither his playing career nor his brief turns as manager with the Cubs and Phillies during the 1980s was particularly noteworthy, Elia is best recalled for going on one of baseball’s all-time rants, which just happened to be recorded. You can hear it here, but be forewarned—if you have kids within earshot, shoo them away.  

Friday, July 11

The Yankees rampage over the Cubs at New York, 11-0, behind Carlos Rodon’s eight shutout innings and three home runs from Cody Bellinger, saying hello to his former teammates of the past two years. All three of Bellinger’s bombs are two-run shots; he has distance for a fourth homer to lead off the sixth inning, but Kyle Tucker steals it over the right-field wall. It’s Bellinger’s first career hat trick. 

Bellinger is the first player to hit three home runs in his first game against a team he once played for. It won’t be long before a second player does it; see July 13. 

Cal Raleigh sets an AL record for the most home runs before the All-Star Break, dumping two more balls over the wall to give him 38 on the season in the Mariners’ 12-3 drubbing of the Tigers at Detroit. His second homer is his third grand slam of the year and fifth of his five-year career; his eight multi-homer games this season ties a Seattle record held by Ken Griffey Jr. from 1998. 

Saturday, July 12

On the day bobbleheads of the Twins’ Byron Buxton are given out at Target Field, the All-Star outfielder bangs out the 17th cycle in Twins/Senators franchise history, and the second this season in the majors, in a 12-4 rout of the Pirates. Buxton completes the cycle with a home run in the seventh, adding to two singles, a ground-rule double and a triple; it’s the second five-hit game of his career. 

Aaron Judge is halfway to 700 home runs—and nobody’s gotten there in fewer games. In his 1,088th career game, Judge finishes a 3-for-4 day with his 350th shot in the ninth off Cubs reliever Brad Keller, accounting for the Yankees’ only two runs in a 5-2 home defeat. Judge needed 192 less games to reach 350 than the previous record-holder, Mark McGwire. 

Matthew Boyd’s eight shutout innings for the Cubs give him a career-high 10 wins in this, his 11th season. 

The Red Sox ride Garrett Crochet all the way to the finish, as the Boston ace picks up his first career complete game and shutout with a 100-pitch, three-hit, no-walk gem at Fenway Park, 1-0 over Tampa Bay. It’s Crochet’s 10th win of the year, finishing the day as the MLB leader in innings (129.1) and strikeouts (160). 

Crochet’s win offsets rotten news for Red Sox Nation from earlier in the day, as rookie pitcher Hunter Dobbins (4-1, 4.11 ERA in 13 appearances) will miss the rest of the season after it’s discovered he tore an ACL in the previous day’s game. 

Houston closer Josh Hader suffers his first blown save of the year after converting all 25 of his previous opportunities, but the Astros survive to win in 11 innings over the visiting Rangers, 5-4. Hader gets the first two batters out in the ninth, but then concedes a 347-foot homer to Kyle Higashoka into the lower reaches of Daikin Park’s Crawford Boxes in left field to tie the game. After Texas takes the lead in the top of the 11th, the Astros respond with a pair of runs, the last off the bat of Zack Short, to win the game. 

The Dodgers snap out of a seven-game losing funk—their longest since dropping 11 straight in 2017—defeating the Giants at San Francisco, 2-1. Shohei Ohtani makes his fourth start on the mound, pitching three shutout innings to set the pace for the Dodgers; former Giant Michael Conforto scores both runs for Los Angeles, banging out three of the team’s eight hits. 

Sunday, July 13

Picking first in the amateur draft for the first time since selecting Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper in back-to-back years (2009-10), the Washington Nationals choose 17-year-old shortstop Eli Willits to kick off the 2025 draft. Willits, from Oklahoma’s Fort Cobb-Broxton High School, is the third youngest #1 pick in the 61-year history of the modern draft, after Tim Foli (1968) and Ken Griffey Jr. (1987). Willits is followed by UC Santa Barbara pitcher Tyler Bremmer, a surprise #2 selection by the Los Angeles Angels; Kade Anderson, considered the consensus #1 pitching pick who led the NCAA this past spring with 180 strikeouts while leading LSU to the College World Series title, is chosen #3 by Seattle. The Rockies, picking fourth, select infielder Ethan Holliday—brother of Baltimore shortstop Jackson Holliday and son of former Rockies star Matt Holliday; Ethan was born in 2007, the year his father emerged as the league’s top hitter and led the Rockies to their only pennant to date. 

Kyle Stowers has one of the biggest days by a hitter in Marlins team history, going 5-for-5 with three home runs and six RBIs in Miami’s 11-1 rout at Baltimore. The 14 total bases collected by Stowers set a franchise record, while it’s the fourth hat trick of homers ever secured by a Marlins player. The feat by Stowers makes him the second player ever to hit three homers in his first game against his former team, whom he played for from 2022-24; the first was the Yankees’ Cody Bellinger, who did it just two days earlier against the Cubs. 

On an obscure historical note, Baltimore does not walk once against Marlins starter Eury Perez or two relievers. It’s the first time the Orioles have gone walkless in 172 games—the ninth longest such streak in major league history, and the longest since 2002. The record streak belongs to the Boston Red Sox, who walked at least once in 313 straight games from 1954-56. 

Terry Francona becomes the 13th manager to be behind the wheel of 2,000 major league victories, reaching the milestone in the Reds’ 5-2 home win over Colorado. TJ Friedl, who opens the scoring in the first inning with a solo home run, puts the Reds ahead to stay in the fifth when he scores on an error by Rockies shortstop Ryan Ritter. 

With the loss, the Rockies drop to 22-74—the worst record in terms of both losses and winning percentage by an MLB team at the All-Star Break since the first Midsummer Classic in 1933. 

Monday, July 14

According to The Athletic, Stu Sternberg is throwing in the towel and selling the Tampa Bay Rays. Buying the team, for $1.7 billion, is Patrick Zalupski, lead man for Jacksonville-based residential home builder Dream Finders. If the deal is approved in September as reported, it will end 21 years of ownership for Sternberg, who bought the Devil Rays back in 2004 for $200 million and oversaw the franchise’s first two pennants, in 2008 and 2020. Sternberg was working with the city of St. Petersburg to build a replacement ballpark for Tropicana Field, but when the roof of the Rays’ current home was torn apart last fall by Hurricane Milton, it delayed the timeline for the new venue—which Sternberg claimed would have cost him more money, so he backed out. From that point on, he was pressured by MLB to sell. 

Zalupski is reportedly interested in a new ballpark for the Rays—but in Tampa, not St. Petersburg. 

Big Dumper is the Big Thumper at the 2025 Home Run Derby at Atlanta, as Seattle’s Cal Raleigh is both the first catcher and first switch-hitter to win in the 39-year history of the event. Raleigh is also the second Mariners player to take the trophy, after Ken Griffey Jr. in 1994. The journey through to the final is razor-edged to start for Raleigh. In the first round, he ties the A’s Brent Rooker with 17 homers apiece, but wins on a tiebreaker by hitting the longest homer between the two, at 470.62 feet to Rooker’s 470.54—a difference of just under an inch. Raleigh has it easier afterward, winning the second round 19-13 over the Pirates’ Oneil Cruz—who hits the longest homer of the night with a 513-foot bomb earlier in the first round. In the final round, Raleigh outlasts Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, 18-15. 

There’s controversy of sorts in the final round as a line drive by Caminero is caught above the top of the left-field fence by one of the volunteer youths in the outfield, 17-year-old Sam Musterer. Many fans began to wonder: Does the home run count? Yes, according to MLB, it does.  

Jim Clancy, an inning-eating right-hander for 15 major league seasons, passes away at the age of 69. Debuting midway through the Blue Jays’ inaugural 1977 campaign, Clancy eventually developed into a workhorse during the 1980s, becoming one of only two pitchers since 1980 to start 40 games in a season, in 1982 when he finished 16-14 with a 3.71 and earned his lone All-Star appearance. Despite the workload, Clancy did not elevate his game to an ace-like level; he finished his career with a 140-167 record and 4.23 ERA. He remains #2 in Toronto history in innings and complete games, while he’s third in wins, shutouts and strikeouts. 

Tuesday, July 15

In an All-Star Game that shows baseball at a crossroads for potential future change, the National League “defeats” the American League via a tie-breaking “swing-off”—the first of its kind to settle a major league-level contest—after the two teams play nine innings to a 6-6 tie. Through the first six innings, the NL looks to make the 95th Midsummer Classic a runaway victory, leading 6-0 on the strength of a two-run, first-inning double from Arizona’s Ketel Marte and a pair of sixth-inning homers from the Mets’ Pete Alonso and Diamondbacks’ Corbin Carroll. But a three-run shot in the seventh by the Athletics’ Brent Rooker ignites an AL comeback, culminating with a two-run rally in the ninth to tie the game. 

For the swing-off, three players from each team get three swings each, hitting off middle-aged assistant coaches lobbing batting practice deliveries—much like in the Home Run Derby. Rooker bats first for the AL, connecting on two of his swings over the fence. Miami’s Kyle Stowers leads off for the NL, racking up one home run. Seattle’s Randy Arozarena adds to the AL lead with a homer in the second round, but the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber answers by drilling all three of his swings over the fence to put the NL on top, 4-3. When Tampa Bay’s Jonathan Aranda fails on all three of his swings, the NL clinches the win without the need for Alonso, their listed third batter. 

Along with the swing-off—which has been used at some of the lower-level minor leagues—the All-Star Game also features the use of the ABS (Automatic Balls and Strikes) system to challenge any calls made by home plate umpire Dan Iassogna. Each team gets two challenges, and they’re all used; AL starting pitcher Tarik Skubal asks for the initial challenge in the first inning, successfully getting a ball call overturned into strike three for the second out. The challenge and ensuing decision lasts less than 10 seconds. 

Schwarber, hitless in three plate appearances with a walk, wins MVP honors solely for his swing-off performance; he’s the first non-pitcher to win the All-Star Game honor despite not getting a hit in actual play. 

For the first time since 2019, players are wearing their regular team jerseys instead of specially designed unis, after increased protest from fans. 

Milwaukee’s Jacob Misorowski, the 11th of 13 NL pitchers (not counting the swing-off pitchers), throws a scoreless eighth that includes the night’s fastest pitch at 102 MPH. The Brewers’ rookie sets a record with the fewest regular season games played (five) before making his ASG debut; his late inclusion onto the roster set off anger from some within baseball who felt there were more deserving choices. 

Carroll’s home run for the NL is the first by a Diamondbacks player at an All-Star Game; Arizona was the last MLB team without one of its players having hit one. 

Of the 64 players originally chosen for the two All-Star Game rosters; 16 of them bowed out due to injury, exhaustion or, for pitchers, because it would have been too short a rest after their last appearance the week prior. 

While the ABS challenge system looks to be all but a regular season certainty in the next couple of years, the swing-off may not be far behind. Commentary by reporters and those on social media suggest that baseball’s version of penalty kicks to decide a game may be as polarizing as the gift runner placed on second at the start of each half-inning past the ninth, but commissioner Rob Manfred has never turned his back on anything that would help shorten the game and/or manufacture excitement. If this is indeed to become a thing, we have one big suggestion: Have the hitters face off against honest-to-goodness, competitive pitchers from the other team. As Keith Olbermann succinctly put it on X: “So the MVP goes to a guy who hits homers off a batting practice pitcher trying to throw homers, not the guy (Alonso) who hits the three-run homer off a pitcher who was actually trying to get him out?” (Also, why throw out relative no-name All-Stars like Stowers and Aranda for the swing-off, and not Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge or Cal Raleigh?)

Before the game, commissioner Manfred holds his annual “state of things to come” press conference on a number of matters. The biggest news coming out of the presser is how MLB hopes to work in major leaguers to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles without disrupting that year’s regular season schedule, as Manfred acknowledges that a postseason running into mid-November could be a real possibility that year. Manfred also announces that should the Rays (50-47) make it to the playoffs, they will be allowed to play their games at their temporary Tampa home, Steinbrenner Field; the commish also expects the Rays to return to a fixed-up Tropicana Field at the start of next season. Finally, a year after the A’s departed Oakland, Manfred is not ruling out a return to the Bay Area with the next round of expansion—either in Oakland or San Jose. 

In a separate chat with reporters, players union head Tony Clark says he has informed all international players to carry legal documentation with them at all times, in response to President Donald Trump’s ongoing, feverish efforts to detain and deport immigrants (legal or otherwise), and calls a salary cap—which Manfred is once again dreaming aloud about—as “institutionalized collusion.” 

Wednesday, July 16

It may not just be the chicks who dig the long ball. The ratings are in for the All-Star festivities in Atlanta, with the nationwide audience for the Midsummer Classic down 3.5% from last year—while it was up 5% for the Home Run Derby held the night before. Who knows—had we all known that the All-Star Game would have ended in a swing-off, that mini-Home Run Derby of sorts, maybe more people would have tuned in. While the All-Star Game’s audience was still bigger—at 7.18 million viewers, compared to the Derby’s 5.73 million—it shows that viewership for both events are creeping closer to one another. The good news for MLB is that its All-Star Game is still the highest-rated (by far) of all the major sports leagues’ All-Star events. 

Adam Frazier’s hopes to re-energize his game back in Pittsburgh, where he had his best season (batting .324 and earning All-Star status in 2019) hasn’t worked out, as he’s traded back to Kansas City for minor-league infielder Cam Devanney. The 33-year second baseman was hitting a pedestrian .255 with just three homers and 21 RBIs over 78 games; he returns to the Royals, where just a year ago he had his worst season—batting .204 over 262 at-bats. 

Thursday, July 17

It hasn’t been the best of times lately for Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte, his successful All-Star appearance notwithstanding. In June, he was reduced to tears when a heckler at Chicago’s Rate Field cruelly referenced his late mother. Now comes the story that during the All-Star Break, Marte’s Scottsdale, Arizona home was broken into with various items including jewelry stolen. It’s the latest break-in of a sports star while on the road, as burglars have increased their focus on such athletes and the load of high-priced valuables their homes are likely to contain. 

One of our favorite pastimes at TGG is to look back at the most recent amateur draft that was and reveal the coolest and most interesting names to come out of it. We’re not making fun of these players—just acknowledging the names of those that might leave Hollywood screenwriters thinking, “Why didn’t I think of that?” 

This year’s list of cool includes shortstop Steele Hall (#9 pick, Reds), pitcher Kruz Schoolcraft (#25, Padres), pitcher Chase Shores (#47, Angels), third baseman Murf Gray (#73, Pirates), pitcher Luke Lacourse (#169, Angels), pitcher Sawyer Hawks (#183, Diamondbacks), pitcher Shane Van Dam (#278, Royals), catcher Truitt Madonna (#340, Padres), outfielder Skylar King (#448, Red Sox), pitcher Zack Mack (#493, Mets), and catcher Cannon Pebbles (#522, Guardians). 

To no one’s surprise, relatives of more familiar names also made the cut. Besides #4 pick Ethan Holliday (shortstop, Rockies)—son of Matt Holliday and younger brother of Baltimore’s Jackson Holliday—there was: third baseman/outfielder Quentin Young (#54, Twins), nephew of both Delmon and Dmitri Young; pitcher Cam Leiter (#65, Dodgers), the sixth player in the Leiter family tree to make it to pro ball; shortstop Kaeden Kent (#103, Yankees), son of former NL MVP Jeff Kent; shortstop Lorenzo Meola #116, Giants), cousin of former U.S. national soccer team goalkeeper Tony Meola; shortstop Brady Counsell (#303, Diamondbacks), son of Cubs manager Craig Counsell; catcher Rod Barajas Jr., (#326, Giants), son of 14-year catcher Rod Barajas; outfielder Jake Casey (#442, Blue Jays), son of 12-year veteran Sean Casey; and, chosen as the draft’s second-to-last pick, Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek (#614, Yankees), son of 15-year infielder Mark Grudzielanek. 

Friday, July 18

The just-concluded All-Star Break ends up being poor timing for the Red Sox, who entered the break red hot with a 10-game winning streak—their longest in seven years—but get cooled off after a four-day rest by the Cubs at Chicago, 4-1. A three-run homer in the first inning from Seiya Suzuki—giving him an NL-best 80 RBIs—sets the pace for the Cubs. 

The Giants gather up 11 hits at Toronto, but can’t score—shut down 4-0 by Chris Bassitt (six innings) and three Blue Jays relievers. It’s the most hits produced by the Giants while being shut out since 1959. Two early, inning-ending double plays hurt the Giants’ efforts to plate even one run, with five runners ultimately left stranded in scoring position. The victim of the Giants’ lousy offensive luck is once again Justin Verlander, who remains winless after 16 starts this season with a 0-8 record and 4.99 ERA. 

Cincinnati’s TJ Friedl takes not one but three for his team, tying a major league record with a trio of hit-by-pitches to painfully aid in the Reds’ 8-4 win at New York over the Mets. Friedl scores twice without a hit, once on a Matt McLain home run, the other on a bases-loaded walk given to Austin Hays. It’s the 40th time since 1900—and the third time this season—that a player has been plunked three times in a game. 

After belting nine home runs in 44 Triple-A games—but going homerless in his first 36 with Kansas City—John Rave punches out a pair of blasts, one tying the game in the ninth, before the Royals ultimately lose in 10 innings at Miami, 8-7. The Marlins’ hero once more is All-Star first baseman Kyle Stowers—who hits two homers, including the two-run game-winner in the 10th, thus becoming the first player in Marlins history with five homers over a two-game span. 

Rave is the second Kansas City player this year, and the fifth in franchise history, to hit his first two major league homers in the same game. The other player from this year to do so was Jac Caglianone, who didn’t go deep until his 14th game with the Royals after collecting 15 in 50 earlier minor league games this season. 

Saturday, July 19

It’s 1996 redux for the Yankees at Atlanta, rebounding from an early 5-0 deficit to defeat the Braves, 12-9, in a contest that has a somewhat eerie resemblance to their turnaround victory in World Series Game Four from 29 years ago. Playing the role of Jim Leyritz for the Yankees is Anthony Volpe, whose two-run homer in the fifth puts the Yankees on the scoreboard and on the path toward a comeback. New York will catch up and tie the Braves on Volpe’s second homer, a solo shot in the eighth, and usurp the lead in the ninth on Trent Grisham’s grand slam. 

In defeat, the Braves’ Michael Harris II ends a drought of 178 plate appearances without a walk; it’s the longest such streak by a non-pitcher in recorded franchise history. 

It’s a game of pairs for the Diamondbacks in their 10-1 squashing of the visiting Cardinals. Corbin Carroll has his third multi-triple game of the season, enhancing his major league lead to 12; he’s the first player since 2011 to gather up a pair of triples in a game three times. The all-time record is four, accomplished by five players—most recently by Carl Crawford in 2004. Eugenio Suarez adds to the multiverse with a pair of homers—his fifth multi-homer game of the year to trail only Seattle’s Cal Raleigh (eight) among all major leaguers. His 33 homers on the year is tied with Shohei Ohtani for most in the NL. 

With the Tigers losing their sixth straight game, 4-1 at Texas, the Cubs now own the majors’ best record at 59-39 with their fourth straight win. Pete Crow-Armstrong hits his 26th home run, one of five on the evening for Chicago, while stealing his 28th base on the year, and Shota Imanaga throws seven shutout innings in a 6-0 victory over the visiting Red Sox. 

Sunday, July 20

Eugenio Suarez does it again, smashing out two home runs for the second straight game as the Diamondbacks sweep the Cardinals at Phoenix, 5-3. It’s the sixth multi-homer game of the year for Suarez—one of those games being a four-homer gem—and gives him 35 round-trippers overall on the season. 

The question for the 50-50 Diamondbacks: Do they hold on to the 34-year-old slugger in the hopes that he’ll help lift them back into the playoff picture, or do they deal him away at the trading deadline for prospects as free agency looms? See July 30 for the answer. 

In the Athletics’ 8-2 loss at Cleveland, both Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker each go 0-for-4 with four strikeouts—the second time this year that a pair of A’s have done that in the same game. That ties two other teams—the 2019 Tigers and 2023 Red Sox—for the most in one season. Rooker was also part of the other A’s duo with golden sombreros, May 28 against Houston. 

The Phillies, whose bullpen has underperformed for much of the year and is without Jose Alvarado after testing positive for PEDs, sign 40-year-old David Robertson to a $5 million contract for the rest of the season. Robertson hasn’t pitched since last year, when he posted a 3.00 ERA in 68 appearances for Texas; he holds a career 2.91 ERA and 177 saves. 

Monday, July 21

Skenes wins! Skenes wins! Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes picks up his first victory in 54 days—a span in which he made eight winless starts despite a 1.77 ERA—throwing six shutout innings with six strikeouts in the Pirates’ 3-0 triumph over the visiting Tigers. Skenes finally gets some offensive support with all three Pirates runs plating in the second inning, the last two coming on a Bryan Reynolds single; his 1.91 ERA leads all major leaguers and is the lowest ever by a major league pitcher after his first 44 career starts. 

For the first time since 1971, a game is decided on a catcher’s interference call. In the bottom of the 10th at Philadelphia with the bases loaded in a tie game, the Phillies’ Edmundo Sosa makes contact with the glove of Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez on a check swing; home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott initially rules no contact, but he’s overruled by video review as quickly asked for by Sosa and the Phillies. The interference call rewards Sosa with first base, and the Phillies a 3-2 win, as Brandon Marsh is happily forced home with the winning run. 

The Blue Jays establish a franchise record with their 11th straight home win, quieting the Yankees by a 4-1 count. Kevin Gausman throws seven sharp innings for the victory, while the Jays’ offense scores all four of its runs in the fifth, aided by two New York errors. The victory pushes the Blue Jays up four games over the Yankees in the AL East. 

Tuesday, July 22

Activated just a few days earlier by the Royals after signing with the organization in mid-May, 45-year-old Rich Hill gets his first start of the year with his 14th team—tying Edwin Jackson’s all-time record—and takes the loss in a 6-0 decision at Chicago to the Cubs—his very first team from 20 years ago. Hill pitches five innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks. Earning the win for the Cubs is Matthew Boyd, who pitches seven shutout innings and extends a streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 23; in 10 starts at Wrigley Field this season, Boyd is 9-0 with a 1.95 ERA. 

Of the 14 teams Hill has pitched for, he’s played for seven of them after turning 40. He’s the oldest pitcher to start a game since 2012, when 49-year-old Jamie Moyer took the mound for Colorado. 

After two starts with the Royals—losing both with five earned runs allowed on nine hits and eight walks over nine innings, Hill will be designated for assignment. Anyone else care to be that record-breaking 15th team? 

The Milwaukee Brewers’ 11-game winning streak, tied for the second longest in franchise history, comes to an end at Seattle with a 1-0 loss. Logan Gilbert tosses 6.1 shutout frames for the Mariners, while their lone run is supplied on a solo home run from Cal Raleigh—his MLB-leading 39th of the year. Milwaukee rookie standout Jacob Misiorowski gets the start for the Brewers and strikes out seven batters over 3.2 shutout innings before being pulled after just 64 pitches. Brewers manager Pat Murphy later says that Misiorowski was removed because he hasn’t pitched much lately. “You can’t give him that big a rest and then let him go out there for a normal start,” Murphy admits. “You got to build up to it a little bit.” 

Also seeing the end of an 11-game home winning streak are the Blue Jays, who bounce back after an early deficit against the Yankees before Ben Rice’s solo homer in the ninth puts New York back on top for good, 5-4. 

In his 30th game with the Giants after a tumultuous start to the year with Boston, Rafael Devers finally takes the field with a glove for the first time. Stationed at first base, Devers makes four putouts without an error and contributes at the plate with a pair of hits including a double in a 9-0 win at Atlanta. Devers had played his first 102 games of the year exclusively as a DH, refusing to play any defensive position before his trade to San Francisco. 

Wednesday, July 23

The Rockies end the longest streak without a shutout victory since 1900 at 220 games, blanking the visiting Cardinals, 6-0. Tanner Gordon pitches the first six zeroes for Colorado, following by two relievers who deny the Cardinals a run over the final three innings; overall, the Rockies allow five hits and three walks. 

The previous record-holder for the most consecutive games without a shutout was the 1939-40 St. Louis Browns, who went 199 straight games allowing at least one run. If you count 19th-Century baseball, the 1893-96 Washington Nationals (no relation to the current team) went 383 games without pitching a shutout. 

Justin Verlander finally gets into the win column as he allows a hit and five walks through five shutout innings, picking up his first victory in 16 tries since signing with the Giants in a 9-3 decision at Atlanta. Rafael Devers, back at the DH spot a day after playing in the field for the first time all season, has two homers and a single, knocking in four runs. 

The 16-start drought without a win was the longest in Verlander’s career, and the longest ever by any Giants starting pitcher within one season. 

Shohei Ohtani goes deep for the fifth straight game, tying a Dodgers record set six previous times—most recently by Max Muncy in 2019—and he later scores one of two runs on Freddie Freeman’s two-out single in the ninth to give Los Angeles a walkoff 4-3 home win over the Twins. Ohtani’s blast gives him an NL-leading 37 homers, surpassing recently red-hot Arizona slugger Eugenio Suarez. 

Thursday, July 24

A full week before the trading deadline, the first big transaction takes place as the Diamondbacks send burly first baseman Josh Naylor to Seattle in exchange for two pitching prospects. It’s a sign that the Mariners are all in on contending for the postseason—while Arizona, looking at the potential of numerous key players departing this coming offseason via free agency, is folding tent at 50-53 and entering sell-and-stock mode. Though Naylor has lacked power with the DBacks—hitting 11 homers thus far, compared to 31 in Cleveland last year—he is batting an above-grade .292 and is on pace for his third straight season of 90+ RBIs. 

Friday, July 25

For those who hadn’t previously heard of Nick Kurtz, they do now. The A’s rookie, already having an excellent July, sets an AL record and ties Shawn Green’s MLB mark from 2002 with 19 total bases that includes four home runs, a double and single in a 15-3 thrashing of the Astros at Houston. It’s the 20th time in major league history—and second this year—that a player has gone deep four times in a contest. Kurtz is the first Athletics player, first rookie, and easily the youngest (at 22 years and 135 days) to hit four homers. It should be noted that Kurtz’s last homer, a three-run shot in the ninth, comes off exhibition pitcher Cooper Hummel, who until the ninth was playing left fielder. It’s the bench player’s first appearance as a pitcher; he gives up four runs on five hits in his one inning of worthless work. 

This is certainly the greatest day ever by an A’s batter. Kurtz’s six runs set a franchise mark; his six hits tie an A’s record held by seven others, most recently by Joe DeMaestri in 1955; and his eight RBIs are two short of the all-time team mark, held by Reggie Jackson in 1969. 

Just seven days after the Giants collected the most hits (11) without scoring a run since 2017, the Padres match them with the same result in a 3-0 loss at St. Louis. Everyone in the San Diego lineup has at least one hit except for Gavin Sheets, but the team is 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and leave nine men on base. 

The Yankees trade for Colorado infielder Ryan McMahon, sending two minor league pitchers the Rockies’ way. An everyday player for the Rockies since 2019, the 30-year-old McMahon has power—he’s on his way to his sixth straight full season of 20+ homers—but he strikes out a ton, and his career .240 batting average is a tad alarming given that he’s played half of his games at Coors Field. (His lifetime average away from the mile-high ballpark is .217.) 

Why have one Soto when you can have another? The Mets trade for two-time Baltimore All-Star reliever Gregory Soto, also sending away two minor league pitchers in exchange. In 45 games this season with the Orioles, Soto was 0-2 with one save and a 3.96 ERA. He’ll be the second guy wearing “Soto” on the back of a Mets jersey, joining, of course, Juan Soto. 

Veteran reliever Jesse Chavez, released by the Braves just five days earlier after making four appearances with the club, announces his retirement from the game at age 41. Chavez’s career numbers are hardly Hall of Fame-worthy—in 657 appearances, he posted a 51-66 record, nine saves and 4.27 ERA—but he’ll make the MLB record book as the player who experienced the most trades, being sent to another team 14 times. With the world champion Braves in 2021, Chavez contributed with 6.1 scoreless postseason innings.

Saturday, July 26

The Baltimore Orioles set a franchise mark for their biggest shutout victory at the expense of the Colorado Rockies—who add yet another tarnished feather in their cap of season-long shame. The 18-0 rout at Camden Yards is a wall-to-wall spanking, with the Orioles plating in every inning but two. Everyone chips in for Baltimore; all 12 players who participate (including three substitutes) garner at least a run and hit each, something never previously done by that many players in an MLB game. Starting pitcher Trevor Rogers is the benefactor of the onslaught, allowing just one Colorado hit through seven scoreless innings. 

There have been 28 games in the post-1900 modern era in which a team has been shut out while giving up 18 or more runs. Two of those have been suffered by the Rockies—both occurring this season, as they were also pounded 21-0 by San Diego on May 10. Only one other team—the 1969 expansion Padres—experienced multiple shutout losses of 18-0 or worse over one year. 

It’s also a bad day for the sinking Yankees. They drop a 9-4 decision to the visiting Phillies, and announce that reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge—on pace to be a repeat honoree—is headed to the Injured List with a flexor strain in his right elbow. The injury took place while playing in the outfield earlier in the week. If he can return in the minimum 10 days, he’ll play only as a DH before regaining full strength in his throwing arm. 

It’s interesting to note: On June 12, the Yankees were 42-25 and up 4.5 games in the AL East; Judge was batting .392 with 26 home runs. In the 37 games since, they’re 14-23, they trail the first-place Blue Jays by 6.5 games, and Judge during this span has batted only .244 with 12 homers. 

The Blue Jays extend their lead over the Yankees and everyone else in the AL East by getting the best of the sinking Tigers (12 losses over their last 13 games) and ace Tarik Skubal, through no fault of his own. In Toronto’s 6-1 victory at Detroit, both starting pitchers—Skubal and the Jays’ Kevin Gausman—exchange six shutout innings, with Gausman the most impressive of the two with one hit allowed and 10 strikeouts. After both pitchers depart, it’s the Detroit bullpen that folds, allowing six runs over the final two innings. Three Toronto home runs in the ninth from Nathan Lukes, George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. pull the Blue Jays away. 

Seattle’s Cal Raleigh becomes the first major leaguer this year to belt his 40th homer—keeping him on pace to tie Judge’s AL-record 62 from 2022—in the Mariners’ 7-2 win at Anaheim over the Angels. The win brings the Mariners within four games of first-place Houston (5-1 losers to the A’s) in the AL West. 

Raleigh is the fifth Mariner with 40+ homers in a season; the franchise mark belongs to Ken Griffey Jr., who launched 56 in consecutive seasons (1997-98). 

Saturday, July 27

Mike Trout becomes the third player in Angels history with 1,000 RBIs, as his two-run homer in the fifth caps the scoring in a 4-1 win over the visiting Mariners. The 33-year-old Trout joins eight other active players who’ve also knocked in a thousand. 

Kansas City pitcher Seth Lugo, in the midst of a second straight solid season with the Royals, is re-upped for two years and $46 million—making him the first pitcher in franchise history to earn at least $20 million annually on average. The contract includes a vesting option worth another $20 million for 2028. Lugo had a $15 million player option for next season, but the Royals feared he would turn it down and declare free agency. In a year and a half playing for the Royals, the 35-year-old Lugo is 23-14 with a 2.98 ERA over 52 starts. 

It’s a day of celebration, introspection and humor as five former star players are formally inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. 

Ichiro Suzuki, the first Japanese-born member of the Hall, gives a rare speech in English and shows off his comedic chops—throwing shade on the one voter who didn’t elect him, and his third team, the Miami Marlins—whom he claims (or jokes) that he didn’t even know they existed before signing with them. He also does an excitable impersonation of Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs. 

CC Sabathia, only the third black pitcher elected through the general vote (with others chosen through special committees), gives credit to his mother for introducing him to baseball, driving him to Oakland from their nearby Vallejo, California home to watch the A’s. Currently working with MLB to keep baseball accessible to urban African-Americans, Sabathia hopes that he will not be the last “Black Ace”—black pitchers born in the U.S. or Canada—who’ve won 20 games in a major league season. 

Billy Wagner, the first left-handed reliever ever enshrined at Cooperstown, gives nods of thanks to his former teammates including Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, while encouraging others not to be overwhelmed by the obstacles to success. “I wasn’t the biggest, I wasn’t left-handed, I wasn’t supposed to be here,” says Wagner, who switched to becoming a lefty after breaking his right arm at an early age. 

Dave Parker, who died just four weeks before his induction, had a poem he wrote read by his son, Dave Parker Jr. It starts with, “Here I am—39. About damn time. I know I had to wait a little. But that’s what you do with fine, aged wine.” Along the way, he rightfully brags: “Top-tier athlete, fashion icon, sex symbol. No reason to list the rest of my credentials. I’m him. Period. The Cobra.” 

Dick Allen, who passed four years before being named to the Hall after countless no-votes through both the general and committees, is remembered on the podium by his widow, Willa. Though Allen had a reputation for being difficult with teammates and management, Willa reminds the audience that he always took time to meet and have substantive chats with fans, clubhouse staff and other ballpark personnel.  

Monday, July 28

The baseball world bids a sad farewell to Hall-of-Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg, who passes away at the age of 65. Though no cause of death is publicly given, Sandberg had been battling cancer over the past 18 months. Sandberg came to Chicago from Philadelphia after the 1981 season in a trade the Phillies will forever regret; in exchange for Sandberg and veteran shortstop Larry Bowa, the Phillies received Ivan DeJesus—who amounted to very little at Philly. Meanwhile, Sandberg emerged with the Cubs, becoming a much better hitter under the tutelage of Chicago manager and former hitting coach Jim Frey; he broke out with an MVP effort in 1984, highlighted by what’s forever remembered by Cubs fandom as “The Sandberg Game,” going 5-for-6 with seven RBIs in a wild 12-11, 11-inning victory over the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Behind Sandberg, the Cubs made the postseason for the first time in 39 years, falling to San Diego in the NLCS. For the next decade, Sandberg remained a prime force for the Cubs. He was named to 10 straight NL All-Star rosters, won nine Gold Gloves (also consecutively), and ramped up the power late in his career—topping out with 40 home runs in 1990. Just a year ago, the Cubs immortalized Sandberg with a bronze statue of his likeness outside of Wrigley. 

All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase becomes the second member of the Cleveland Guardians’ pitching staff to be place on administrative leave, as he, too, is now under scrutiny by MLB for possible gambling activity. Much like Luis Ortiz, the other Cleveland pitcher under investigation, it’s reported that Clase may have intentionally altered the outcome of certain “micro-bets”—a wager, for example, on whether a pitcher would throw a ball or strike on his first pitch. Clase, 5-3 in 41 appearances this season with 24 saves and a 3.23 ERA, will be on forced leave through at least August 31. He will continue to get paid. 

The Guardians check in on MLB and basically ask, “Are you looking at any of our other guys in this matter?” MLB says they are not, according to a statement put out by the team. 

Without Clase, the Guardians take a 5-4 lead to the top of the ninth against the visiting Rockies. Cade Smith, asked to close it out in place of Clase, allows four runs on two hits, a hit batter and an error of his own making. The Rockies will hold on to take the comeback victory, 8-6. 

Whereas Clase’s five-week-long absence is sure to hurt the Guardians’ already-thinning postseason chances, another AL Central team is beset with a sudden handicap. The Royals, tied with the Guardians for a distant second place behind Detroit, discover that they will lose All-Star starting pitcher Kris Bubic for the rest of the season with a rotator cuff strain in his throwing shoulder. Bubic was in the midst of his finest of six seasons in Kansas City—posting an 8-7 record with a 2.55 ERA in 20 starts. 

Commissioner Rob Manfred has made it fairly clear that MLB owners will seek a salary cap when the next Basic Agreement is negotiated late in 2026. The players, in turn, have made it very clear they do not want one. In other words, it could be 1994 all over again. It has now come to light that Manfred, visiting with players around the league, got quite the earful last week from the Phillies—and Bryce Harper, in particular. According to an ESPN story by Jeff Passan, Harper spoke up late in the hour-long meeting, said that the players “are not scared to lose 162 games” before walking up to Manfred and barking, “If you want to speak about (a salary cap), you can get the f**k out of our clubhouse.” Manfred, apparently not intimidated, shot back in kind—saying he wasn’t “going to get the f**k out of here.” The two were said to later shake hands in a sort of uneasy “it’s nothing personal” moment, but when Manfred attempted to reach Harper by phone the next day, Harper didn’t answer. 

In a pregame chat with reporters before Monday’s game against the White Sox at Chicago, Harper doesn’t deny the stand-off—but he won’t elaborate, either. Manfred, through a spokesperson, declines to respond to the story. 

The Houston Astros take a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning at Houston against the Nationals, the first time they’ve scored the game’s initial run in their last 18 tries—one short of the expansion-era record set by the 1987 Orioles. Unfortunately for the Astros, it’s the only run they’ll score all night, while the Nationals notch single runs in the sixth and seventh to take a 2-1 decision. Framber Valdez’s fine start (six innings, allowing a run on three hits with 12 strikeouts) is wasted. 

In the Dodgers’ 107th game of the year—a 5-2 win at Cincinnati—Shohei Ohtani becomes the first major leaguer this season to score 100 runs, plating on Freddie Freeman’s RBI single in the seventh to cap the scoring. If he can keep the pace up, Ohtani will be the first major leaguer to score 150 runs in a season since Jeff Bagwell in 2000. 

Tuesday, July 29

In the first game of a weather-created doubleheader at Baltimore, the Orioles thrash the Blue Jays, 16-4, tying a major league record in the process by hitting five sacrifice flies. Cedric Mullins nets two of the sac flies. The Orioles will sweep the twinbill with a 3-2 decision in the second game, despite an inning of scoreless work by Toronto reliever Seranthony Dominguez—who began the day with the Orioles before being traded between games. 

The Brewers make it two straight victories over the Cubs—and make it a two-game lead in the NL Central over their nearby neighbors to the south—with a 9-3 victory. The big blow for the Brew Crew comes off the bat of Andrew Vaughn, whose sixth-inning grand slam pulls the Brewers away. One of the baserunners plating on the slam is Christian Yelich, scoring his 1,000th career run. 

Since joining the Brewers on June 13 in a trade from the White Sox, Vaughn has knocked in 21 runs over just 15 games. In 48 games beforehand with Chicago, Vaughn had just 19 RBIs. 

Wednesday, July 30

A day before the trading deadline, the exchange market heats up with several big acquisitions. 

The biggest deal takes place late in the evening as the Mariners regain the services of slugger Eugenio Suarez, who played in Seattle for two seasons before signing with Arizona this year. With the Diamondbacks, the 34-year-old Suarez has crushed 36 home runs—including four in one game—with an MLB-high 87 RBIs in just 105 games. In two prior seasons with the Mariners, he hit a total of 53 home runs with 183 RBIs. 

Also much talked about on the day is the deal that sends Minnesota closer Jhoan Duran to Philadelphia for two pitching prospects including Mick Abel, who’s shown flashes of quality in several starts with the Phillies. Duran, who possesses a lethal 100 MPH-plus fastball, posted a 6-4 record, 2.01 ERA and 16 saves over 18 opportunities with the Twins. 

The Mets bulk up an already strong bullpen, bringing in closer Ryan Helsley from St. Louis and submarine-style reliever Tyler Rogers from San Francisco. Helsley saved an MLB-high and Cardinals-record 49 games last season; this year, he’s garnered 21 saves with a 3.00 ERA. Meanwhile, Rogers’ ground-scrapping deliveries involve little wear-and-tear, explaining why he’s led his league in appearances four of the past six seasons (including so far in 2025, with 53). His season ERA currently sits at a career-best 1.80. 

Rogers’ twin brother, Taylor Rogers, is also on the move after being sent from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh, along with minor league shortstop Sammy Stafura, for third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. Though Hayes’ defense is exceptional, his batting numbers have not been what the Pirates had hoped, especially given how he marveled in his rookie 2020 campaign with a .376 average and five home runs over 24 games. With the Bucs this season, he’s batting .236 with only two homers. 

Rogers’ stay with the Pirates won’t last 24 hours; he’ll be moved the next day to the Cubs. 

The Reds further bulk up for a hoped-for postseason appearance, picking up pitcher Zack Littell from Tampa Bay for a pair of minor league pitchers. A former reliever converted into a starter by the Rays, Littell has an 8-8 record and 3.72 ERA over 21 starts—but he’s also given up an MLB-high 26 homers on the year, a fact that may not serve him well at homer-happy Great American Ball Park. 

The Yankees’ Giancarlo Stanton becomes the eighth major leaguer to accumulate 2,000 career strikeouts, whiffing three times in the Yankees’ 5-4, 11-inning victory over the visiting Rays. Stanton may not be the last Yankee this year to reach 2,000; Paul Goldschmidt collects his 1,950th K of his career in a late appearance during the game. The contest itself is just as historic, as the Yankees are the first MLB team ever to bounce back from one-run deficits in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings—then win it in the 11th. Ryan McMahon brings home the game winner with an RBI single. 

For only the second time in major league history, a team shuts out its opponent using nine pitchers. At Kansas City, the Royals turn to the bullpen with their starting rotation beat up, as each of nine relievers throws one shutout inning except for Jonathan Bowlan, who pitches both the second and third frames. Collectively, the Royals’ nine will allow just five hits and a walk as they defeat the visiting Braves, 1-0 in 10 innings; Salvador Perez’s leadoff single brings home the gift runner to notch the victory. 

The only other team to throw a shutout using nine pitchers was Cleveland, in 2016. 

For the first time since 1896, the Giants finish a homestand of at least six games completely winless. Logan Webb strikes out 11 Pirates over 5.2 innings, but he gets no support as a 1-1 tie goes to the 10th inning—and that’s when Pittsburgh gets the winning run on Henry Davis’ RBI ground out. The Giants’ loss, dropping them below .500 for the first time all season, is their eighth straight loss at Oracle Park—their longest such drought since 2015.

Nathan Eovaldi captures his 100th career win, firing seven strong innings in the Rangers’ 6-3 victory at Anaheim over the Angels. Eovaldi is the 20th active pitcher to reach 100 wins; the pitcher likely to be the next to notch #100 is Eovaldi’s teammate Jacob deGrom, who currently has 94. 

Thursday, July 31

What was predicted to be relatively quiet activity on the final day before the passing of the trade deadline instead gets very busy—with 34 total deals made. 

The San Diego Padres, no stranger to splashy midseason moves in recent years, are among the most active and aggressive as they seek a shot not only at the postseason but of unseating the Dodgers in the NL West. From the Athletics, the Padres grab supersonic closer Mason Miller (who’s not a free agent until 2030) and starting pitcher JP Sears; from the Orioles, they collect All-Star DH Ryan O’Hearn and outfielder Ramon Laureano—two of Orioles’ precious few overachievers this season. 

In their attempt to catch Toronto in the AL East, the Yankees pick up two relievers—David Bednar from the Pirates, Camilo Doval from the Giants—with abundant closing experience. They also acquire speed and defensive flexibility by bringing on utility man Jose Caballero from Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays, by contrast, stay relatively pat—though they do grab Shane Bieber, the former Cy Young winner who’s yet to pitch this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery over a year ago. 

AL West leader Houston strengthens its roster with the reunion of a very familiar face: Carlos Correa, headed from Minnesota back to the Astros to take over the role at third base, rather than his normal spot at short. The Astros also trade for Miami outfielder Jesus Sanchez. 

Teams throwing in the towel include, as expected, the Diamondbacks—who shed more upcoming free agency weight by sending pitcher Merrill Kelly to Texas. The fading Twins were also expected to waive the white flag, but nobody expected this level of house-cleaning; in the final few days of trade activity, Minnesota says goodbye to 11 players—or nearly half of their active roster. Besides the trade of Correa to Houston, the Twins also send outfielder Harrison Bader to the Phillies (joining ex-Twins closer Jhoan Duran) and pitcher Chris Paddack to Detroit, which also picks up 41-year-old ex-Orioles starter Charlie Morton. 

Other notable trades on the day include Baltimore outfielder Cedric Mullins to the Mets, Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski and Pirates pitcher Bailey Falter moving on to Kansas City, and Dodgers pitcher Dustin May to the Red Sox. 

At Cincinnati, the Reds and Braves are tied at 3-3 after seven. An inning later, they’ll still be tied—but with the score now at 11-11. The Braves take their seemingly comfortable lead in the top of the eighth as they send 13 men to the plate and stroke eight hits, including two doubles and two infield hits. The Reds respond in kind; they bring 12 men to the plate—with the first eight knocking out hits. The last of those is a three-run homer from Spencer Steer to tie the game back up. In the 10th, the Braves will score the eventual winning run as Marcell Ozuna’s sac fly gives Atlanta a 12-11 victory. 

This is the third time in major league history that both teams have scored eight or more runs in the same inning. The previous two instances took place before the sixth inning.