The Month That Was in Baseball: August 2024

Thursday, August 1

The injury-ravaged second half of Mike Trout’s career continues. Posting on X, the (likely) future Hall of Famer announces that he’s suffered a tear of his meniscus—all while rehabbing at Triple-A Salt Lake City from an earlier tear in the same area. He will miss the rest of the 2024 season. The Los Angeles Angels superstar has played in only 29 games this season, batting .220 with 10 homers, 14 RBIs and six steals; it’s the fewest number of games he’s played in any of 14 MLB seasons. Over the past four of those, he’s participated in only 41% of all games due to various injuries including those to his calf, ribs and hand. 

Friday, August 2

The San Francisco Giants’ decision to not let go of Blake Snell at the trading deadline is already paying off. At Cincinnati, the reigning Cy Young winner continues a stunning span of excellent pitching with the majors’ third no-hitter of the 2024 season, allowing three baserunners via walks, in a 3-0 victory over the Reds. Besides being Snell’s first no-no, it’s his first career complete game and the first time in 202 starts he’s even completed eight innings; it’s also his first win of the year in 11 starts for the Giants despite a recent run of dominance in which, over his last five outings, he’s allowed two runs on eight hits over 33 innings following an awful, injury-riddled first half. 

Combined with Logan Webb’s four-hit shutout of Oakland in the Giants’ previous game, it’s the first time that any Major League Baseball team has enjoyed complete-game, nine-inning shutouts in back-to-back games since 2013, when Shelby Miller and Adam Wainwright pitched consecutive such games for St. Louis. The Giants last accomplished it in 2002, with Livan Hernandez and Jason Schmidt providing the blankings. 

The Yankees’ 8-5 loss to Toronto is not without some Aaron Judge-related satisfaction for the 44,883 fans at New York. With a two-run homer in the first inning, Judge is the first major leaguer this season to reach both 40 home runs and 100 RBIs, the third time that Judge has reached both milestones in his career. 

The Diamondbacks sprint out to a 5-0 start in Pittsburgh by doing something no other MLB team had ever accomplished: Having each of its first four batters score in their own at-bat. It all starts with Corbin Carroll’s lead-off triple, scoring on Oneil Cruz’s wild throw to third; the next three batters—Ketel Marte, Joc Pederson and Josh Bell—each belt home runs. Marte and Bell—the latter playing his first game for Arizona after a trade from Miami—will later each hit a second homer, but the Diamondbacks have to stave off a series of rallies by the Pirates fueled by Cruz’s five hits (four singles and a double) to hang on with a 9-8 triumph. 

A 102.9-MPH pitch served up by the Pirates’ Aroldis Chapman to Bell on his second homer is the fastest ever sent over the fence since pitch velocities officially began being tracked in 2008. 

In his first start for Houston since being traded by the Blue Jays, Yusei Kikuchi quickly gives up two runs to the visiting Tampa Bay Rays; then he settles down. From the third inning to the end of the fifth, Kikuchi strikes out eight straight Rays, setting an MLB record for a pitcher in his debut with a new team. The Astros will prevail, 3-2, on a seventh-inning double from Yainer Diaz that scores Yordan Alvarez when a throw to second is mishandled by Christopher Morel, recently of the Chicago Cubs. 

Saturday, August 3

Just three days into August, Shohei Ohtani clinches his first 30-30 season with three steals on a two-single night as the Dodgers crush the A’s at Oakland, 10-0, before a Coliseum crowd of 35,207—the largest this season in Oakland, with a majority of the fans rooting for Ohtani and the away team. Helping out for Los Angeles on the mound is Jack Flaherty—who in his Dodger debut throws six shutout innings—and Kike Hernandez, who after a three-hit night at third base makes his second pitching appearance of the season, throwing a scoreless ninth. 

Only Eric Davis (90 games in 1987) and Alex Rodriguez (107 in 1998) reached 30-30 in fewer games than Ohtani, who tied Bobby Bonds from 1973 by reaching the mark in 108 games. 

Ben Joyce is clearly the reason the Angels sent closer Carlos Estevez to the Phillies. In his first save opportunity, the 23-year-old right-hander retires all four hitters he faces, the last a strikeout of the New York Mets’ J.D. Martinez on a 104.7-MPH pitch—the fastest thrown in the majors this year, and the fastest ever officially recorded to end a game. After the game, Martinez recalls Joyce’s supersonic pitch as “different,” while Joyce himself can’t help but refer to it as “different level.” The Angels’ 5-4 win over the visiting Mets is set up by Zach Neto’s three-run homer in the seventh, shortly after Martinez had put the Mets ahead in the top of the inning with a grand slam. 

After giving up five runs over his first three appearances of the year in early June, Joyce has not allowed a run over 18.1 innings and 23 games. During that stretch, he’s allowed eight hits—seven singles, one double—and struck out 20. 

While Joyce is bringing the heat in Anaheim, his predecessor loses it for the Phillies in Seattle. After pitching a perfect ninth to send a 5-5 tie to the 10th, Estevez retakes the mound for the 10th and, with the gift runner already on second, intentionally walks Cal Raleigh to start the frame; after he gets the next two batters out, Estevez hits Dylan Moore to load the bases—then walks Mitch Haniger on a 3-2 pitch to give the Mariners a 6-5 victory. The Phillies, who once led in the game 5-0, extend their season-long skid to six games; their lead in the NL East, once safe at 10 games, has eroded to five over the past month. 

Sunday, August 4

It’s 20 straight losses for the Chicago White Sox, who never have a chance at Minnesota as the Twins build up a quick 8-0 lead after two innings and coast from there to a 13-7 victory. The 20-game skid is tied for the third longest in modern MLB history, behind the 1961 Phillies (23 straight) and 1988 Orioles (21); it also places the White Sox 60 games below .500 for the first time in franchise history. 

For the first time since August 28, 2021, the Atlanta Braves are shut out at Truist Park as they suffer a 7-0 defeat to the Miami Marlins. Edward Cabrera holds the Braves to three hits through five scoreless innings; three Miami relievers combine to finish off the shutout, allowing three more hits. On the other side, the Braves’ Max Fried misfires in his first start after a 24-day absence, allowing five runs on four hits and five walks through 3.1 frames. 

The 231-game streak without being blanked at home is the third longest in MLB history, bettered by the 1930-33 Yankees (233 games) and the 1999-2003 Colorado Rockies (361). 

In losing to the visiting Red Sox, the Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi walks his first batter after going completely BB-less in July; overall, his 43.1 innings and 167 consecutive batters faced without issuing a walk both establish Texas franchise records. 

Monday, August 5

The 1988 Orioles, who lost 21 straight games to begin their season, have company as the White Sox match their mark for the longest losing streak in AL history with a 5-1 defeat at Oakland. Perhaps handicapping Chicago’s chances to snap the skid is the placement of Ky Bush, making his major league debut, on the mound; he lasts four innings, allowing three runs on two hits and five walks. His Oakland counterpart JP Sears does much better in shutting down the White Sox’ bats, conceding a run on three hits through seven. 

The Reds, hoping not to fall too far back in the crowded NL wild card parade, mash it up on the Marlins in Miami with a 10-3 rout powered by Elly De La Cruz’s two doubles, two homers and a three-base error—actually, two Miami errors—in five trips to the plate. In defeat, the Marlins’ Jesus Sanchez blasts a 480-foot drive in the sixth for the longest home run so far this season in MLB. 

Tuesday, August 6

Sox win! Sox win! After an epic 21-game skid that tied the American League record, the White Sox finally get in the win column with a 5-1 victory over the A’s at Oakland. Rookie Jonathan Cannon allows a run on five hits through six innings to earn his second win of the year—and Chicago’s first since before the All-Star Break, nearly four weeks earlier on July 10; three White Sox relievers do not allow a baserunner over the final three innings to close things out. 

Just one out away from his second no-hitter in as many years, the Astros’ Framber Valdez serves up a two-run homer to the Rangers’ Corey Seager—ending not only his chance for a no-no, but a shutout and complete game as he’s immediately removed. Valdez will get credit for the Astros’ 4-2 victory at Arlington, as Josh Hader retires the one batter needed to finish the evening. Until Seager’s smash, Valdez had allowed just three baserunners via walk—two of those in the ninth. 

Seager is the second player this season (after the Mets’ J.D. Martinez, on May 11) to ruin a no-hit bid with a home run while representing the final out; it’s the first time in MLB history that it’s happened twice in one year. Additionally, while Seager ruins history by denying Valdez, he creates some of his own; he’s the first player in MLB history to break up two no-hit bids with two outs in the ninth. He also did it on August 26, 2016 for the Dodgers against the Giants and Matt Moore. 

The Astros as a team strike out five Texas batters (all by Valdez), ending an 11-game streak in which the pitching staff had struck out at least 10 in each. That’s the second longest such streak in major league history, bettered only by Cleveland in 2017. 

The Phillies take a 6-2 triumph over the Dodgers at Los Angeles, keeping the NL West leaders from claiming the NL’s best record. In defeat, the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman—in his second game back after taking 10 days off to tend to his son, diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome—collects his 500th career double, joining 64 other major leaguers who’ve previously reached the milestone; among active MLB players, no one has more. 

Bill Bean, a six-year major league infielder better known promoting diversity within baseball, has passed away at age 60 after an extended battle with leukemia. Not to be confused with Billy Beane, the long-serving Oakland A’s executive who played at roughly the same time, Bean came out as gay in 1999 and, in 2014, was brought into MLB’s corporate offices as the league’s first ambassador for inclusion; he would eventually be promoted to a role as senior vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Bean was the second known major leaguer player to publicly acknowledge that he was gay; Glenn Burke, in 1982, was the first. 

Wednesday, August 7

Each of Kyle Schwarber’s three home runs at Los Angeles against the Dodgers carries more than just distance. His first, leading off the game, is his 11th from in lead-off form—tying the Phillies’ franchise mark he set just last year, and two shy of the all-time season mark held by Alfonso Soriano from 2003. His third, belted in the ninth to cap the scoring on a 9-4 win, gives him his second career hat trick—having previously done it for Washington in 2021. But it’s Schwarber’s second homer, a three-run shot to climax a five-run rally in the sixth, that is likely only made possible after one of the more egregiously bad calls made by an umpire this season. Following a leadoff double by Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh lays down a bunt that is thrown to third, where Dodger third baseman Miguel Rojas applies the tag on Bohm—but umpire Hunter Wendelstedt calls interference on Rojas, saying he impeded the path of Bohm before receiving the ball. This clip reveals Wendelstedt’s call as dubious—and its aftermath, with Los Angeles skipper Dave Roberts being ejected for arguing. After two outs, two walks and a wild pitch, Schwarber crushes his second homer. 

Jackson Holliday’s second go-around at the major league level is going a bit better than his first. The highly-touted rookie’s two-run homer in the seventh, putting the Baltimore Orioles ahead to stay in a 7-3 win at Toronto, makes him the first-ever AL rookie to go deep in three straight games. Since being recalled to the parent team on July 31 after a terrible 2-for-34 debut back in April, Holliday is 9-for-24 with four homers and 10 RBIs. 

A wild 9-8, 10-inning win for the San Diego Padres at Pittsburgh provides several worthy highlights. Jackson Merrill, quietly having a solid rookie season while Holliday and Paul Skenes have been taking up most of the media bytes, hits his third game-tying and/or go-ahead ninth-inning homer of the year, in this case sending the game into extras; it’s his second bomb among four total hits on the night. Earlier in the eighth, ageless Pittsburgh flamethrower Aroldis Chapman fires MLB’s fastest pitch this season—a 105.1-MPH delivery that misses down and in on the Padres’ Manny Machado. For 15 major league seasons, the 36-year-old Chapman has continued to throw extreme heat, and is thus one of those rare pitchers whose arm hasn’t worn out over time with reduced max velocity. 

They’ve played baseball games at English soccer stadiums, Australian cricket grounds and oval stadiums built for the Olympics—so why not a race track? Reports have a game next August 2 between Atlanta and Cincinnati to be played at Bristol Motor Speedway, which annually hosts two NASCAR events and seats a maximum of 150,000 people. It will be curious to see how a baseball field will be configured within the track, and whether temporary stands would be erected for fans to sit closer to the action—or if they’ll be sitting in the existing trackside seats, potentially a long way away from fair territory. (Which then begs the question: Would the race track become part of foul grounds?) 

Thursday, August 8

The White Sox have seen enough of Pedro Grifol. The second-year manager, overseeing a team that’s on target to rank among the very worst in big-league history, is fired along with three of his coaches. White Sox GM Chris Getz, in making the announcement, admits that “obviously there was something that was broken” with his team at 28-89. Taking Grifol’s place is Grady Sizemore, the once-productive Cleveland sparkplug whose potential for a Hall-of-Fame career was grounded amid constant injuries over his final six years. 

Only Doc Prothro (138-320 record, .301 winning percentage for the 1939-41 Phillies) suffered more managerial losses with a lower percentage than Grifol (89-190, .319) since 1900. 

In Seattle, the Mariners are trailing Detroit 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth, have the bases loaded and are down to their last strike when Mitch Haniger laces a liner toward Tigers right fielder Ryan Vilade—whose lunging attempt at a catch fails miserably, as the ball skims by untouched to the wall. All three runners score, and the Mariners prevail to tie idle Houston for first place in the AL West. For Haniger, it’s his eighth walk-off hit in a Seattle uniform, breaking the team record previously held by Jim Presley. 

Friday, August 9

The Minnesota Twins sweep a day-night doubleheader from the visiting Guardians, extending Cleveland’s skid to a season-worst seven games and reducing its lead over the Twins in the AL Central to a mere 1.5 games. In the afternoon contest—previously postponed on April 7—Bailey Ober throws six shutout innings for his ninth straight quality start, while improving to 12-5 on the year; in the regularly scheduled night game, Matt Wallner’s three-run homer in the fifth puts the Twins ahead to stay. 

The Guardians had not suffered a losing of streak of more than three games prior to this current slump. 

The news is not all good for the Twins. Starting pitcher Joe Ryan, 7-7 with a 3.60 ERA in 23 starts, is placed on the IL with a Grade 2 shoulder strain—and it’s doubtful he’ll be back after the minimum stay of 15 days. 

For the third time in 11 days—and the fourth time this year—the Padres’ Jackson Merrill belts a game tying or go-ahead homer in the ninth, this one a solo shot at Miami that ties things up against the Marlins; an inning later, his RBI single will bring home the fourth run of the 10th as San Diego triumphs for the sixth straight time, 6-2. On the night, the 21-year-old rookie has a single, triple and two steals to go along with his 16th homer. 

The 11-day span for Merrill’s trio of power-laden heroics sets an MLB record; Boog Powell held the old mark at 12 days, in 1966. 

Two recent acquisitions haunt the teams that traded them at the end of July. In Tampa Bay, Zach Eflin—making his third start for Baltimore after being traded from the Rays—saves his best start of the year thus far against his old mates with seven shutout innings in a 4-1 victory. Later in San Francisco, former Tiger Mark Cahna, who grew up in the Bay Area and fancied a playing career for the Giants, hits a walk-off sac fly as the Giants come from a 3-0 deficit and six innings of no-hit ball by a collection of Detroit pitchers to defeat the Tigers, 3-2. 

Saturday, August 10

It’s Jackson Merrill to the rescue, again. True, the 21-year-old rookie’s heroics aren’t this time confined to the ninth inning, but the eighth inning will do for his Padres as he cranks out a two-run, game-tying homer—part of a three-run rally that puts San Diego ahead, 8-7, at Miami. The Marlins will fight back to tie it on a Josh Berger homer in the bottom of the eighth, but the Padres make it seven straight wins—with three of those last four notched in the 10th—as Luis Arraez’s RBI ground out in the extras secures a 9-8 triumph. 

It’s the fourth straight game that the Padres have trailed in the eighth inning or later…and ultimately won. They’re not the first team to accomplish that this year; the Giants won four straight in the same manner from May 22-25. 

Feeling the heat from behind in the NL West, the Dodgers maintain their slimmed-down 2.5-game lead over the second-place Padres—and third-place Arizona, which routs Philadelphia 11-1 to stay 3.5 back—by upending Paul Skenes and the Pirates at Los Angeles, 4-1. Doing almost all of the damage off Skenes are two Dodgers: Tesocar Hernandez (single, double, homer, three runs) and Gavin Lux (single, double, three RBIs). 

It’s the first time in 15 MLB starts that Skenes has allowed four runs; in five of his last eight starts, the Pirates have scored only one run for him. Also: Skenes’ velo is starting to temper itself. On X, the pitching analytics guru Codify notes that in Skenes’ first five starts, he’s threw 53 pitches over 100 MPH; in his last five, he’s thrown only four. 

In Kansas City’s four-run, tie-breaking rally against the visiting Cardinals, AL MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. becomes the first player this season to notch 100 runs, scoring on Salvador Perez’s 21st homer of the year in an 8-5 victory. Beside leading the majors in runs, Witt also holds the top spot in batting average (.347), hits (164) and total bases (285); he also collects his 11th triple, tying his personal best from the year before while listing second in the majors to the Red Sox’ Jarren Duran (13). 

Sunday, August 11

The Tampa Bay Rays run their way to a tie-breaking rally in the bottom of the eighth against the visiting Orioles, stealing a club-record four bases from three walks (one of them intentional) to score the go-ahead run in a 2-1 victory. The Rays avoid a three-game sweep against Baltimore and keeps them above .500 at 59-58—though they’re 5.5 games out of the third and final AL wild card spot. 

The A’s match their season win total of 2023 with 43 games still to play this year, winning #50 at Toronto by an 8-4 score. The Blue Jays’ loss is also the end of Vladimir Guerrero Jr,’s career-tying 22-game hitting streak, as he goes 0-for-4; only five streaks in Blue Jays history have been longer, topped by Shawn Green’s 28-hit run in 1999. 

At Washington, the Nationals walk 13 Angels batters—just two shy of the all-time franchise record—with four of them scoring in a 6-4 result favoring Los Angeles. Only once before had the Nationals walked as many batters since moving from Montreal in 2005, but that came in a 13-inning game in 2008. Getting his first major league win for the Angels is Jack Kochanowicz, pitching 7.2 innings and allowing two runs on six hits and a walk. 

Monday, August 12

Mookie Betts is back; will the Dodgers follow? In his first game in action since breaking his hand on June 16, the flashy All-Star rips two hits including his 11th home run while stealing his 10th base in the Dodgers’ 5-2 win at Milwaukee. Not to be outdone, Shohei Ohtani matches Betts with his own round-tripper and steal, as he draws closer to becoming MLB’s sixth-ever 40-40 man with 36 and 33, respectively. 

The Dodgers, who were a modest but disappointing (by Los Angeles standards) 25-20 during Betts’ absence, reclaims the NL’s top record (and thus #1 postseason seed) with a 70-49 mark. 

For at least one night, it’s wonderful to be a White Sox fan. Expecting to be steamrolled at home as the powerful Yankees come to town, the Sox instead turn the tables and post season highs in runs, hits and run differential with a 12-2 rout of New York, giving interim manager Grady Sizemore his first victory in three attempts. Andrew Vaughn and Gavin Sheets, batting fourth and fifth in the order, each has four hits, with Vaughn contributing three doubles. 

The victory ends Chicago’s 12-game home losing streak, the longest such skid suffered in the majors this year. 

Will Wagner, the son of seven-time All-Star closer Billy Wagner, doubles on the first pitch he sees in his major league debut, then adds two singles before making his first out later in Toronto’s 4-2 win at Anaheim over the Angels. Playing at second base, the 26-year-old Wagner is the fourth player in Blue Jays history with at least three hits in his first MLB game; the other three are J.P. Arencibia (with four hits in 2010), Pat Borders (1988) and future basketball star Danny Ainge (1979). 

Tuesday, August 13

Juan Soto is the sole provider of offense for the Yankees, belting three home runs and bringing home all four runs in New York’s 4-1 victory over the White Sox at Chicago. It’s the first hat trick of Soto’s career, and his 23rd multi-homer game; only Mel Ott (24) had more before turning 26. 

Soto has a chance for a fourth home run in the ninth inning, but draws a walk—not without trying, as he swings and misses wildly at a 3-0 pitch. 

Batting right behind Soto, Aaron Judge draws two walks of his own to become the first major leaguer this season to surpass 100. (Soto’s walk gives him 99.) It’s the third time in Judge’s nine seasons that’s he’s reached 100; his career high is 127 in his rookie 2017 campaign. 

Two weeks after being dealt from Arizona to Washington and playing in his first major league game, Andres Chaparro slaps out three doubles in the Nationals’ 9-3 win at Baltimore over the Orioles, who drop a half-game behind the Yankees in the AL East. The 25-year-old Venezuelan becomes the third player in modern MLB history with three doubles in his debut; the others are Ben Grieve (1997) and Nick Evans (2008). 

Wednesday, August 14

One reason that Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961—breaking Babe Ruth’s then-season mark—is that Mickey Mantle, having an equally spectacular year for the Yankees, always batted right behind him. As such, Maris never was given an intentional walk for the entire year. 

We’re currently seeing a bit of Maris/Mantle redux for the Yankees in Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. After hitting three homers the night before and having belted one in his first at-bat in Chicago, Soto is finally given his first intentional pass of the year, putting runners at first and second in the eighth inning. That brings up Judge, who’s been batting behind Soto all year long—and reminds the Sox why no one should ever pass on Soto (or anyone else) in order to take a chance with him. With a 3-0 pitch, Judge connects on his 300th career home run, the rout-inducing moment in the Yankees’ 10-2 victory. 

Judge reaches 300 homers in fewer games (955) and at-bats (3,431) than any player in major league history. No one else has gotten to 300 within 1,000 games. 

Soto’s free pass is his 100th walk of the year, joining Judge—who notched his 100th just the night before; among other players, only Kyle Schwarber (with 86) has as many as 70. Judge and Soto are the first pair of teammates to each have 30 homers and 100 walks within a team’s first 122 games. 

Thursday, August 15

Philadelphia’s Weston Wilson, with all of 49 career major league at-bats to vouch for, becomes the ninth player—and first rookie—in the 142-year history of Phillies baseball to hit for the cycle in a 13-3 home rout of the Marlins. Two of Wilson’s hits (the triple and single) come in a five-run fourth inning; he adds the home run in the seventh, and doubles with one out in the eighth to secure his place in Phillies history. 

Wilson is the fourth player this season—and just the third over the last 26 days—to hit for the cycle; with Texas’ Wyatt Langford also achieving the feat on June 30, it’s the first time that two rookies have done it in the same season. 

The A’s and Mets play the longest nine-inning game by time since the pitch clock was activated for use at the start of the 2023 season, as Oakland’s 7-6 comeback victory takes three hours and 45 minutes to complete. The time of game is a single minute longer than the previous pitch clock-era max, elapsed a year ago in Mexico City when the Padres outslugged the Giants, 16-11. 

Milwaukee star outfielder Christian Yelich is forced to put a lid on what’s been his finest campaign since finishing second in the NL MVP vote in 2019, opting for season-ending surgery on an ailing back that has kept him out of action since July 23. In 73 games for the Brewers in 2024, the 32-year-old Yelich batted .315 with 11 homers, 42 RBIs, 21 steals (getting caught just once) and a .909 OPS. Those numbers are an unquestioned improvement over his previous four seasons, during which he batted .254 with a .769 OPS. 

Friday, August 16

The Jackson Three—rookies Jackson Holliday, Jackson Chourio and Jackson Merrill—each knock out three-baggers on the same day, with the triples for Holliday and Chourio each being the first of their MLB careers. 

Chourio’s triple is only one among those smacked by the three Jacksons to come in a game his team wins, as the Brewers extend their NL Central lead to 10 games with a 5-3 triumph at Milwaukee against the Guardians. Holliday’s is one of four hits, raising his season average to .200 for the first time since joining the Orioles, but it’s not enough as Baltimore bows at home to Boston, 12-10. And Merrill’s trey of bases, his sixth of the year, comes in a 7-3 loss at Colorado—dropping the Padres three games back of the Dodgers in the NL West. 

It’s the first time that three players all under age 21 each collect a triple on the same day since 1977, when Jack Clark, Terry Puhl and Robin Yount all reached third. 

The Pirates snap a 10-game losing streak—the longest in the majors this season by a team not named the White Sox—with a 5-3 home win over Seattle thanks in part to rookie Paul Skenes, who allows two runs over six innings to break his own skid of four winless starts. 

Saturday, August 17

The Royals rack it up on the Reds at Cincinnati to the tune of 13-1, but it’s not the usual suspects you would suspect leading the way. While Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez have modest days (one hit each) given the score, it’s Dairon Blanco—the guy at the bottom of the order—providing the majority of the punishment, belting a three-run homer in the second inning, followed just one frame later with his first career grand slam. Blanco’s seven RBIs easily represent a career high. 

Only one player in MLB history has ever knocked in more runs from the #9 spot, and that was Atlanta pitcher Tony Cloninger, who memorably cranked two slams amid a nine-RBI day in 1966. 

In a time when the number of complete games thrown by pitchers continues to dwindle downward toward zero, it’s somewhat eye-opening to see two guys go the distance on the same day. It happens in New York, where the Mets’ Luis Severino throws his second career shutout, blanking the Marlins on four hits, 4-0. It also happens in Philadelphia, where Cristopher Sanchez throws his second CG of the year, allowing one run (on a solo homer from Washington’s Alex Call) but otherwise conceding just one hit and no walks in a 99-pitch effort as the Phillies topple the Nationals, 5-1. 

On the year, MLB pitchers have gotten credit for 25 complete games—two of those rain-shortened, five-inning starts that technically count since the pitchers ‘finished’ what they started—but it’s off pace from the 35 complete games produced last year. That figure was the all-time low, just under the previous mark of 36 in 2022—which was below the previous mark before that in 2021, when 50 were registered. There’s been talk this week, primarily initiated by a story on the ESPN web site, that MLB is looking into a new rule requiring starting pitchers to throw at least six innings every time they take the bump. Of course, the six-inning rule would not be entirely set in stone; a pitcher could get the hook early if he reaches 100 pitches, or gives up four-plus earned runs, or gets hurt. The idea is that pitchers would be more inclined not to serve up their best stuff with every pitch, lowering the speed and spin that has handcuffed hitters over the past decade—leading to increased offense—all while restoring the role of the starter. (It would also spell the end of the ‘opener’ concept, which few would cry over.) 

Outside of three outs, three strikes and four balls, we’ve never been fans of quotas within MLB—whether they be at a maximum or minimum—as seen over the last few years with restrictions introduced on mound visits, minimum batters faced (by relievers) and pick-off attempts. This six-inning rule, as defined in the ESPN article, would be another attempt by baseball to force the issue on something that can be better resolved with evolution and adjustment; it also might curb pitchers from giving fans their best stuff, as they look to preserve their energy for the long run—because they would be forced to. Polls on X suggest that fans don’t like the six-inning rule at all; we would agree with that majority. As much as we want to see a return to pitchers averaging seven or more innings, this would not be the ideal way to do it. 

Sunday, August 18

The Giants win their last scheduled game ever against the Oakland A’s, sending three runners across the plate in the 10th inning to break a 1-1 tie and ultimately snare a 4-2 decision. Blake Snell strikes out 10 over seven innings for San Francisco, allowing just the one Oakland run; in eight starts since returning from injury and turning his season around, he’s 2-0 with a 1.03 ERA, while his 55 strikeouts over his last five starts sets a Giants record. 

The two-game series between the Giants and A’s draw 70,000 total fans to the Oakland Coliseum, many of them rooting for the away team; as the regular season winds down and the A’s play their final home games near the bay before moving temporarily, temporarily, to Sacramento next season, expect crowds to get larger as long-time A’s fans pay their final visits to the home that has hosted the A’s for all 57 of their seasons in Oakland. 

The Dodgers provide some extra breathing room at the top of the NL as their 2-1 win at St. Louis coincides with losses by the Diamondbacks (8-7 in 10 innings at Tampa Bay) and Padres (3-2 to the Rockies at Denver). Veteran Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw throws six shutout innings for his second win in five starts after a return from injury, while Shohei Ohtani blasts his 39th home run, edging closer to 40-40 territory with 37 steals also on the year. 

San Diego drops three games behind the Dodgers after losing two of three at Colorado, ending a streak of eight straight series wins which had tied a franchise record. The Diamondbacks, swept by the Rays, see an end to a winning streak of nine consecutive series (second longest in Arizona history) and 13 without losing one; they’re four games back of Los Angeles. 

Monday, August 19

After a 2023 season in which almost nothing went wrong (except in the playoffs) the Braves continue to suffer through a painful follow-up. On a day off, the Braves announce that slugging third baseman Austin Riley will miss the remainder of the regular season—and perhaps part of the postseason, if Atlanta even makes it that far—with a fractured hand after being plunked by the Angels’ Jack Kochanowicz the day before. Riley joins last year’s NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. and MLB strikeout champ Spencer Strider as top Braves out for the rest of the year, while second baseman Ozzie Albies is in the midst of a two-month absence, recovering from a broken wrist of his own. The Braves currently hold the NL’s third and final wild card spot, but if they keep losing pivotal talent, that status may be short-lived. 

Tuesday, August 20

In the season’s longest game by time, the Guardians outlast the Yankees at New York in 12 innings, 9-5—scoring six in the final frame, then holding on as the Yankees bounce back with two tallies before running out of outs. The four-hour, five-minute marathon includes back-to-back home runs in the first from the Yankees’ Juan Soto and Aaron Judge—the fifth time the two have gone deep in consecutive at-bats, one short of the franchise record set by Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira in 2009. 

The Guardians certainly have their chances to put away the Yankees early as they leave 20 men on base, the most by any MLB team since 2022; only four times in Cleveland history have the Guardians left more on base. 

While the Guardians and Yankees play on and on and on in New York, the Rays and A’s wrap up a 1-0 game in Oakland in a tidy one hour and 54 minutes—the second shortest game by time this season. The Rays’ Shane Baz and A’s Joey Estes each duel for 7.2 innings, with Baz picking up his first win in over 25 months, before undergoing Tommy John surgery. 

Brandon Crawford, the four-time Gold Glove shortstop let go earlier this winter by the Giants after 13 seasons in San Francisco, is let go by the Cardinals after failing to make an impression in St. Louis. Appearing in just 28 games for the Redbirds this year, the 37-year-old Crawford batted .169 with a home run and four RBIs over 71 at-bats. 

Wednesday, August 21

Joey Votto, one of the very best players to put on a Cincinnati Reds uniform, announces his retirement three weeks shy of his 41st birthday. His announcement, posted on his Instagram account, shows a photo of his locker with the Buffalo Bisons—the triple-A team for Toronto he was struggling to make a comeback attempt with. For 17 years as a member of the Reds, Votto made six All-Star rosters, collected 2,135 hits including 356 home runs, batted .294 and produced a .409 on-base percentage thanks in part to an all-time franchise-high 1,365 walks. (He also ranks second on the Reds’ all-time lists in home runs and doubles, and third in RBIs.)

A popular player with Reds fans, Votto overcame early mental struggles—particularly in 2009, when a major bout of depression after his father’s death placed him on the disabled (injury) list. A year later, he rebounded to win the 2010 MVP, batting .324 with 37 home runs and 113 RBIs, and he soon after became relaxed and comfortable in his element, chatting with fans while on the on-deck circle and milling about the ballpark while recovering from injury. Votto wasn’t even afraid to set fans right, as he once did at Great American Ball Park when he grabbed the shirt of and lectured a front-row spectator who interfered with his attempt to catch a pop up. 

Will Votto be a Hall of Famer? His numbers by themselves suggest he’s a close call, but anyone who put together a career .920 OPS over 2,000 games, played his entire career with one team and displayed a likeable, outward character throughout gets our vote. 

The Reds and Blue Jays—Votto’s lone MLB team and the one he tried, in vain, to emerge from the minors toward this season—meet up, with another Reds star in the making getting the spotlight in an 11-7 victory at Toronto. Elly De La Cruz, the 22-year-old, second-season shortstop, becomes only the fifth player in MLB history to accrue 20 homers and 60 steals in a season on a 3-for-3 night that includes his 22nd homer and MLB-leading 60th steal. Of the other four players to reach 20-60, two of them (Joe Morgan and Eric Davis) did it while playing for the Reds; Rickey Henderson (who did it a record three times) and Ronald Acuna Jr., last year for the Braves, are the other two.  

Justin Verlander returns to the mound for the first time in 10 weeks, putting forth a worthy effort as he allows two runs on four hits through five innings with six strikeouts in a 4-1 home loss to Boston. The 41-year-old ace, recovered from a neck injury, moves to within six K’s of 10th place on the all-time list, a spot currently being kept warm by injured Rangers star pitcher Max Scherzer. 

The Yankees’ most formidable slugging duo since Mantle and Maris continues to impress. Aaron Judge pounds out two home runs to increase his major league-leading total to 47—he’s now on pace for his second 60-homer campaign by season’s end—while Juan Soto crushes his 36th, driving in five runs, as New York punishes the visiting Guardians, 8-1. Soto’s homer, in the first inning, gives him eight hits in his previous 28 at-bats—with all eight hits being home runs; he’ll double later to end that streak. 

The last player to have eight straight hits all be home runs: Joey Votto, in 2021. 

The A’s are defeated at home by Tampa Bay, 4-2, but there’s a silver lining for Oakland in that rookie starting pitcher Mitch Spence strikes out 10 Rays—the first time in 267 games that an A’s pitcher reaches double digits in total K’s. That was easily the longest active streak in the majors, but hardly a record given that today’s batters strike out at nearly three times the rate as they did nearly 100 years ago. To wit: The Pirates once went nearly 17 full years (1918-35) without any pitcher striking out 10 opponents in a game. 

Thursday, August 22

In a surprising move, the Seattle Mariners fire Scott Servais, manager of the club for the past eight-plus years. In defending the dismissal, Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto states that the team needs “a new voice” and a “different vibe in our clubhouse” as the team has sunk from a 10-game lead in a weak AL West in mid-June to five back of the resurgent Astros. “It’s hard to believe, actually, how quickly it all dissolved for us,” Dipoto remarks.  

Only Lou Piniella (840-711 record from 1993-2002) has more managerial wins in Mariners history than Servais, who on paper should feel good about a 680-642 mark and five winning seasons out of eight completed; but only once did he make the postseason, in 2022 when the Mariners bowed out in the second round to the eventual World Series champion Astros. 

It takes Patrick Corbin six tries, but he finally secures his 100th career win as he allows but a run over six innings in Washington’s 8-3 victory over the visiting Rockies. In the process, Corbin strikes out a season-high eight batters; it’s only his third win of the year against 12 losses, and his ERA drops to 5.73. 

It took 99 decisions for Corbin to win his first 50 games; it took 131 to get his next 50. He’s trying to avoid finishing his fourth straight year as the NL leader in losses. 

There’s quite a back-up of pitchers seeking their 100th career win; after Corbin, Zack Wheeler and Kevin Gausman are at 99, followed by Jose Quintana and Michael Wacha at 98. 

On an off-day for the Dodgers, the team releases veteran outfielder Jason Heyward—who just two days earlier blasted a three-run, go-ahead homer that would prove the difference for Los Angeles in its 6-3 victory over Seattle—to make room for the return of utility man Chris Taylor. Maybe it’s the fact that Taylor can play practically any position; he’s certainly not an upgrade over Heyward in terms of hitting stats, as he’s batting .167 with a .542 OPS over 162 at-bats, as compared to Heyward’s .208 and .682 over 173, respectively. 

Six days later, Heyward will find a new home with the Houston Astros. 

Friday, August 23

Shohei Ohtani becomes the sixth member of baseball’s 40-40 club, stealing #40 for the Dodgers in the fourth inning, then belting homer #40 in grand style—cleaning the bases on the first pitch he sees with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth to walk it off against the Rays at Los Angeles, 7-3. Of the other five players to go 40-40, Alfonso Soriano in 2006 reached the milestone in the fewest games (147); Ohtani reaches it in only the Dodgers’ 126th. He’s on pace to become baseball’s first 50-50 player. All of this, mind you, while he recovers from major elbow surgery on his pitching arm late last year. 

The Braves eke by the Nationals in 10 innings, 3-2, strengthening their grip of the NL’s third wild card spot with the Mets losing at San Diego, 7-0. The winning pitcher is closer Raisel Iglesias, who extends two streaks—25 straight innings without allowing an earned run, and 13 without allowing a hit. But he does end a third streak, hitting the first batter (Jacob Young) he faces; it’s the first baserunner he allows after retiring 35 straight. That’s the longest by any Braves pitcher since 1961. 

Saturday, August 24

Bowden Francis comes within three outs of becoming the second pitcher in Blue Jays history, after Dave Stieb, to throw a no-hitter, but his effort fails when the Angels’ Taylor Ward hits a leadoff home run in the ninth. It’s Francis’ 117th and last pitch of the night, as he’s immediately removed—but he’ll get credit for the Jays’ 3-1 home win. Francis strikes out a career-high 12 batters in his 43rd MLB appearance—just eight of them as a starter. 

Don Wert, a mainstay at third base for Detroit from 1964-70 with one All-Star Game appearance during the Tigers’ 1968 world championship season, passes away at the age of 86. Nicknamed Coyote because of a similar-sounding cry he emitted when prompted by manager Chuck Dressen after being told he was too quiet, Wert batted .242 with 77 home runs over 1,110 career games. Outside of his All-Star moment—doubling off of Tom Seaver—he also finished 10th in AL MVP voting in 1965. 

Sunday, August 25

Aaron Judge becomes the fourth player in MLB history to hit 50 home runs in three different seasons, crushing both his 50th and 51th in the Yankees’ 10-3 romp over the visiting Rockies. He joins Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa—who thrice hit 60.

Judge’s first homer on the evening is the 18th he’s belted in the first inning—tying Rodriguez’s all-time record from 2001. His second, in the seventh, is sandwiched in between dingers by Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton; it’s the fourth time that all three Yankee boomers have gone deep in the same game, and the first time any Yankee trio has gone back-to-back-to-back since 2020. 

There’s a frightening moment in the fifth when the blunt, top end of a shattered bat on a swing by Stanton whirls back and slams into the side of home plate umpire Nick Mahrley’s head. The game is halted for 16 minutes as Mahrley is attended to, then placed on a gurney. He is later diagnosed with a concussion and will miss multiple weeks.  

With 31 games still left to play in their historically dismal season, the White Sox lose their 100th game as they get throttled by the Tigers at Chicago, 9-4. It’s the second straight year in which the Sox have lost 100 games, the first time that’s happened in the franchise’s 124-year history. In baseball’s post-1900 modern era, only the 1916 Philadelphia A’s reached 100 in fewer games (130) than the White Sox, who did it in 131. 

Winning his 100th career game is Kevin Gausman, who’s sharp as a tack in Toronto’s 8-2 victory over the visiting Angels. Over seven innings, the 33-year-old Gausman allows a run on two hits and strikes out 10. 

It took eight years for Gausman to win his first 50 games; it took only four to win his next 50. 

Jackson Merrill comes to the rescue once more for the Padres in the ninth, blasting a one-out, walk-off solo homer against Mets closer Edwin Diaz to deliver a 3-2 win for the Padres. It’s the fifth time this year that Merrill has hit a game-tying/go-ahead/walk-off homer in the ninth or later, breaking Mel Ott’s MLB season record for players aged 21 or younger. 

The bidding has ended on the uniform worn by Babe Ruth when he hit his famous, controversial “Called Shot” home run for the Yankees in the 1932 World Series—and the seller is very, very rich as a result. In a record-smashing fee for any single piece of sports memorabilia, the Ruth jersey sells for a staggering $24.12 million; it was sold in 2005 for $940,000. The purchase price is double the previous record fee for a sports collectible, a mint-condition 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie baseball card which recently sold for $12.6 million. 

How do we all know that the Ruth uniform was really the one he wore during his historic finger-pointing moment? ESPN explains here.  

Congrats to Lake Mary, Florida for winning the Little League World Series over Taiwan, 2-1 in the eighth inning—the first extra inning at the kids’ level—on a walk-off bunt, as the Taiwanese pitcher throws to first base where no one is covering, allowing the winning run to score. It’s the first time that a Florida team has won the series. 

Monday, August 26

Boston catcher Danny Jansen becomes the first major leaguer to play for both teams in the same game, entering a contest he started for the visiting Blue Jays back on June…before the it was suspended by bad weather. With the game resumed two months later in advance of the regularly scheduled game, Jansen—no longer a Blue Jay—is replaced behind the plate by Brian Serven, but takes over as the Boston backstop for Reese McGuire, sent to the minors back in late July. The Blue Jays will take the win, 4-1. Jansen never batted for Toronto in the June portion of the game, stopped in the second inning; for the Red Sox, he nabs a single in four at-bats. 

The Cubs pound away at the Pirates every which way they can in Pittsburgh, racking up 18 runs, 21 hits and eight steals—the most by Chicago since 1911—in an 18-8 romp. Seiya Suzuki and Miguel Amaya each knock out four hits, and Pete Crow-Armstrong steals three of the Cubs’ eight bags. The last team to accrue that many runs, hits and steals in the same game was the 1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers of the short-lived Federal League, against the Pittsburgh Rebels.

The game is noted as the major league debut of pitcher Brady Feigl, who finally breaks through to the top level at age 33 following an off-and-on minor league career dating back 10 years. His initial experience is not a good one; in 1.2 innings, Feigl allows six runs on seven hits. 

In his first game playing against his former team of four-plus years, Randy Arozarena blasts a three-run homer that unlocks an early 1-1 tie and proves a pivotal blow in the Mariners’ 5-1 home win over Tampa Bay. It’s Arozarena’s second homer in 26 games since Seattle acquired him from the Rays on July 26. 

Tuesday, August 27

The Royals have caught up with the Guardians, tying Cleveland for first place in the AL Central with a 6-1 victory despite losing starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen in the second to a strained hamstring while racing over to cover first base on a ground out. Carlos Hernandez replaces Lorenzen and allows a run on two hits through the next 2.1 innings, followed by four more Kansas City relievers combining to throw five perfect innings and keeping the Guardians from mounting any kind of comeback bid. 

This is the first time since April 13—a span of 126 days—that the Guardians have not held sole possession of first place in the division. 

In a battle of the NL’s two worst teams, the Rockies are up four runs and three outs away from a victory over the visiting Marlins—but this is Coors Field, and these are Colorado relievers, a toxic combination for the Rockies. Guess what happens next? The first five Miami batters in the ninth all reach safely and eventually score, with the killer blow a three-run homer from Jesus Sanchez to put the Marlins ahead to stay, 9-8. It’s the seventh time this year that the Rockies have conceded five or more runs in the ninth, extending an MLB season record. 

Putting the lid on a Colorado rally in the sixth and retiring all six batters he faces through the seventh, Miami reliever Mike Baumann makes history by pitching for his fifth MLB team on the season—tying Oliver Drake’s mark from 2018. Baumann started the year with the Baltimore Orioles—for whom he was 10-1 with last season—was traded to Seattle in late May, purchased by San Francisco two months later, bought again by the Angels a week afterward, then spent four weeks in Anaheim before being shipped to the Marlins. 

Wednesday, August 28

It’s a complete domination for the Astros at Philadelphia, bludgeoning the Phillies 10-0 behind Yordan Alvarez’s third career three-homer game and a no-hitter taken into the eighth inning by rookie Spencer Arrighetti before the Phillies finally muster up a hit. Alvarez matches Jeff Bagwell for the most hat tricks of homers in franchise history; Arrighetti is surpassed only by Kerry Wood (in May 1998) among rookie pitchers allowing as few hits (19) with more K’s (47) in a calendar month. 

Pittsburgh rookie Paul Skenes slows down the hot-hitting Cubs, but the Pirates’ bullpen behind him once again looks clueless as Chicago mounts another bruising blow, this one a 14-10 comeback win as the Cubs score 11 answered runs in the final three innings after Skenes (five innings, three runs allowed) leaves with a 10-3 lead. Cubs catcher Christian Bethancourt leads the late charge, bringing in seven runs—setting a team record for the most RBIs by a player batting ninth in the order. Of the six who held the previous mark with five, the most recent was the team’s other current catcher, Miguel Amaya, from just four days earlier. 

For the three-game series—swept by the Cubs by an accumulative 41-23 count—Pirates relievers allow 30 runs (26 earned) on 27 hits and 15 walks over just 14 innings. To say that Pirates manager Derek Shelton is a little steamed by the performance of the Bucs’ pen is a bit of an understatement, telling reporters after the game, “I don’t know if I’ve been as pissed as I am right now.” 

In a complete meltdown of a season that has tormented the White Sox, no one day is as emotionally depressing as this one. They lose one game, 3-1, to the visiting Rangers resumed from the night before when rain stopped it, a contest rising young White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet was never able to throw a pitch in because of the elements; Chris Flexen takes over with the game reconvened and drops to 2-13 with the loss. In the originally scheduled game to follow, the Sox trail Texas in the ninth, 4-3, with two runners on base and one out when Andrew Vaughn unleashes what appears to be a game-winning homer—but Rangers left fielder Travis Jankowski leaps high over the fence and makes an unbelievable arm-stretching catch to deny the White Sox; the Chicago rally will eventually (and unsuccessfully) fade out, dropping the team’s record to 31-103. 

Adding insult to double-defeat injury, this happens to White Sox second baseman Lenyn Sosa after pitcher Jared Shuster is done warming up.  

Thursday, August 29

One batter with three home runs. Another, from the same team, with five hits. Easy win, right? Wrong. Despite improvement upon a wretched 2023, the A’s sometimes can’t help but be the awful A’s of recent times, blowing a 9-7 lead in the bottom of the ninth at Cincinnati as the Reds rally for three to walk it off. The A’s are the first MLB team to lose a game despite one player hitting three homers and another collecting five hits. Oakland is defeated even as they’re benefitted from the second three-homer effort of the year by Lawrence Butler—who previously went three-deep on July 14—and five hits from JJ Bleday, the first A’s player to collect that many knocks in one game this season. But Grant Holman, making his sixth major league appearance—all of them in the last two weeks—can’t retire any of the five Reds he faces in the ninth, with three of them scoring to win it for Cincinnati. 

Butler is the third player, after Ralph Kiner in 1947 and Mookie Betts in 2016, to have multiple hat tricks of homers in a season before turning age 25. 

Twelve days after being rescued out of forced retirement, Rich Hill is officially the oldest active ballplayer, again. The 44-year-old pitcher, signed by the Red Sox—for whom he’s had four previous tours of duty with—makes his first appearance of the 2024 season, striking out two of the four batters he faces without allowing a baserunner in Boston’s 2-0 home loss to Toronto. For the Blue Jays, Bowden Francis—16 years younger than Hill—continues his recent remarkable form with seven shutout innings, allowing just two baserunners and no hits until the sixth. 

Friday, August 30

Despite giving up a leadoff home run to Andrew McCutchen in the ninth inning, Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase earns his 40th save of the year—and the 150th of his time with the Guardians to set a franchise record—in a 10-8 home victory over the Pirates. At just 26 years of age, Clase passes Cody Allen at the top of the list; this is only his fourth year with Cleveland. 

Shohei Ohtani grabs one more home run, and one more stolen base, to become the first MLB player to have at least 43 of each in one season; his round-tripper, a solo shot in the eighth, gives his Dodgers what is believed a safe 10-5 lead at Arizona—but they hold on four dear life as the Diamondbacks rally for four runs before running out of gas in Los Angeles’ 10-9 victory. 

A ground-rule double for the DBacks’ Corbin Carroll in the eighth ends his streak of 21 extra base hits without a double; it’s the longest such streak by an MLB player since Roger Maris banged out 22 long hits—all of them homers—during his legendary 1961 season. 

Houston’s Framber Valdez flirts with no-hit history once again, holding the visiting Royals hitless for seven innings before being removed for the bullpen—which gives up a two-out single in the eighth, and then a game-tying, two-run homer in the ninth by Paul DeJong (off Astros closer Josh Hader). The Astros will bail out Hader in the bottom of the inning when Jose Altuve wins it with a walk-off RBI double, 3-2. 

It’s the second time this month that Valdez, who throws 98 pitches against the Royals, nears a no-hitter (see August 6). 

Overall, the Astros have had five games this season in which they took a no-hitter into the eighth inning—tying an MLB record set by the 1989 Rangers. The starting pitcher in all five of those starts for Texas was Nolan Ryan. 

Debuting for the Angels in a 9-5 home loss to Seattle is Samuel Aldegheri, making him the 22-year-old southpaw the first major leaguer born and raised in Italy. The Verona native allows seven runs over five innings, but only two of those runs are earned; he otherwise strikes out three and walks two. 

Saturday, August 31

For the first time in their history, the Dodgers get home runs from their first three batters at Arizona, with Shohei Ohtani launching his 44th of the year, followed by Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. The Diamondbacks counter with a four-spot in the bottom of the first, starting with a leadoff inside-the-park grand slam from Corbin Carroll—and the game will stay tight until the ninth, when Tommy Edman brings home a pair of runs on a tie-breaking single to ultimately give Los Angeles an 8-6 win and a five-game lead over Arizona to end August. 

The White Sox finish another dreadful month and tie an all-time franchise record with their 106th loss, bowing 5-3 to the visiting Mets. Overall, it’s the ninth straight defeat for Chicago; the ballclub has lost 39 of their past 43 games. 

In his longest start yet as a major leaguer, the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal consolidates his odds on winning the AL Cy Young Award by allowing a run on four hits with eight strikeouts over eight innings in Detroit’s 2-1 win over the visiting Red Sox. Skubal ends August leading the majors in the three categories that make up the triple crown of pitching: Wins (16), ERA (2.51) and K’s (201). 

Zack Wheeler picks up his 100th career win—and his Phillies pick up some added cushion over the Braves in the NL East—as the NL Cy Young Award candidate throws seven shutout innings and improves to 13-6 with a 2.63 ERA in a 3-0 home win. Trea Turner and Edmundo Sosa each belt solo homers as Philadelphia increases its lead over Atlanta by six games, while staying two games back of the Dodgers for the NL’s #1 postseason seed.