The Month That Was in Baseball: June 2026

Monday, June 1

Jacob deGrom is 37 years old, has pitched 13 seasons in the majors, made five All-Star appearances, and has won Rookie of the Year honors and two Cy Young awards. Yet it takes him this long to win his 100th career game. Against the Cardinals at St. Louis, deGrom tosses five shutout innings, allowing four hits and a walk with eight strikeouts, to earn the milestone win for the Texas Rangers, 2-1. 

deGrom needed 259 starts to reach win #100; no other pitcher lost fewer games (69) while reaching the barrier in the same number of starts, while only a handful of others had fewer overall decisions. There are 351 other pitchers who’ve won more within their first 259 starts—topped by Cy Young’s 171. And yet deGrom will likely get serious Hall-of-Fame consideration when his name goes on the Cooperstown ballot for the first time. 

The bottom line is that deGrom is an exaggerated epitome of the 21st Century ace; great stuff, prone to injury, and a challenge to rack up wins because his fragility requires his coaches to keep him on a tight pitch-count leash. 

deGrom is one of 16 active pitchers with 100-plus wins; Eduardo Rodriguez hopes to make it 17 against the Los Angeles Dodgers—and pitches well enough to earn it. Through six innings at Phoenix, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ right-hander allows a run of five hits, but departs after 96 pitches with the game tied at 1-1; an inning later, Nolan Arenado will break up the tie with a solo home run and make Arizona reliever Taylor Clarke, not Rodriguez, the pitcher of record as the DBacks ultimately take a 4-1 victory.  

Tuesday, June 2

It’s well known this season that Los Angeles Angels outfielder Jo Adell can taketh away—but he can apparently giveth away as well. At Anaheim, the man who snatched three home runs above the wall in one game earlier this year evokes Jose Canseco from 1993, misjudging a deep fly ball from Colorado’s TJ Rumfield that bounces off his head and over the fence for an official homer. Adell’s unfortunate ricochet, in the fourth inning, caps the scoring on the night for the Rockies in an easy 8-2 victory; the loss drops the Angels’ record to an MLB-worst 23-39.  

Falling behind the Rockies and into last place in the NL West are the San Francisco Giants, who are tamed at Milwaukee by an old friend. Kyle Harrison, dealt by the Giants to Boston a year ago in the trade that brought Rafael Devers to the Bay Area, faces his old team for the first time and strikes out 10 batters within the first four innings; overall, he collects 12 K’s, three of those against Devers, while allowing just one run over 5.2 innings in an 8-3 win. 

Harrison is looking to become Curt Schilling to Jacob Misiorowski’s Sandy Koufax at Milwaukee. The 24-year-old southpaw has seven wins (against one loss) and a 1.57 ERA—both figures slightly better than what Misiorowski has accrued so far this season. 

Aaron Judge misses his first game of the year with a nagging bone bruise near his shoulder, and the New York Yankees feel his pain. At home against Cleveland, the Yankees drop a 9-4 decision as second-year pitching standout Cam Schlittler gives up a season-high five runs over 4.1 innings. For the Guardians, Jose Ramirez collects three doubles for the fifth time in his career; only Nap Lajoie, with six such games, has done it more often in Cleveland franchise history. 

Early reports say that Judge will miss a couple of games—but imaging will latter show a stress fracture in one of his right ribs, verifying a much longer stay of nearly two months on the IL. 

The Detroit Tigers snap a skid of eight straight series defeats—their longest such streak in seven years—by winning their second straight game over the Rays at Tampa Bay, 8-0. Earning the victory for the Tigers is Jack Flaherty, who breaks his own slump with his first win in 14 starts—a stretch in which he went 0-9 with a 5.52 ERA. 

Wednesday, June 3

Cristopher Sanchez is once again outstanding—but not scoreless. Against the Padres at Philadelphia, the Phillies’ ace extends his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 51.1, but it’s finally broken with two outs in the seventh when San Diego knocks out two straight hits—the latter one a Jackson Merrill single that scores Ty France, who had earlier doubled. Merrill’s single off Sanchez ties the game, but the Phillies will quickly snatch the lead back for good in the bottom of the seventh on solo home runs from J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber (his MLB-leading 23rd). The 3-2 win will be credited to Sanchez, who improves to 7-2 with a 1.47 ERA. Sanchez’s streak goes down in the books as the fifth longest in major league history; he owns the all-time record among left-handed pitchers. 

Most sources are crediting Sanchez with 50.2 scoreless innings, but we’re going with 51.1 using the Retrosheet method of accumulation, not reverting to the last full scoreless inning. In other words, we’re counting the first two batters Sanchez retires in the seventh, before giving up the streak-snapping run, thus adding 0.2 innings. We’ve made mention of this before, and we’ll continue to do so; it’s a hill we’re happy to die on. 

The Padres’ loss is their first game without Nick Castellanos, who’s designated for assignment earlier in the day. The 34-year-old outfielder, being paid the minimum by the Padres—but over $19 million by the Phillies, who released him after last season—batted .191 with four home runs and a team-low .560 OPS over 39 games in San Diego. 

As eye-popping a season as Sanchez has had thus far, let’s not forget Shohei Ohtani. The once-in-a-century, über-superstar shows off his elite skills both at the plate and on the mound for the Dodgers at Arizona, pitching six shutout innings (allowing two hits and a walk) while reaching base all five times on three singles and a pair of walks in a 7-0 victory. According to STATS, it’s the 11th time that Ohtani has collected more hits while batting than he’s allowed while pitching in the same game; the only major leaguer with more such games in baseball’s post-1900 modern era is Walter Johnson (16). 

Thursday, June 4

The yin and yang of Pete Crow-Armstrong seems to be in lockstep with that of the Chicago Cubs, as the young outfielder shows off, once again, his very best and worst all in one night at Wrigley Field. In the sixth inning against the Athletics, he stands helpless with arms stretched out as a fly ball from Shea Langeliers drops in 30 feet behind him; Langeliers will round the bases for an inside-the-park home run, extending the A’s lead to 4-0. But Crow-Armstrong manages to atone, as he often does; his solo homer in the bottom of the sixth puts the Cubs on the board, and a single poked into right field in the bottom of the ninth caps a four-run rally to deliver a 7-6 victory to the Cubs. The win snaps an eight-game skid at Wrigley for the Cubs—which immediately followed a 15-game winning streak at the fabled venue.   

The Pittsburgh Pirates take a 5-1 win at Houston over the Astros behind five shutout innings from Jared Jones—making his second start of the year and missing all of last season—and a four-inning save from Carmen Mlodzinski, making his first appearance after briefly being put on the restricted list for refusing to accept a demotion to the bullpen, in order to make room in the rotation for Jones. The victory, the Pirates’ fifth in their last six attempts, improves their record to 34-29; they haven’t had a better record after 63 games since 2015—the last time they made the playoffs. 

Despite the win, the Bucs fail to score nine or more runs for the first time in four games. That had been the longest such streak by the club since 1928, when they did it twice in August—most prominently with a four-game stretch at Philadelphia’s bandboxed Baker Bowl, scoring 57 runs against the Phillies. 

Brayan Bello’s backward slide has landed him in Triple-A. The fifth-year Red Sox pitcher, frustrated by the team’s maneuvering of him between the rotation and bullpen, is sent down to Worcester after his latest dreadful start, being shelled for eight runs over five innings against the visiting Orioles in an 8-2 loss.  Bello’s season ERA rises to 6.34—but it’s worse as a starter, at 9.68. 

After the game, Bello isn’t interested in discussing his status. “Stop talking about the bullpen and starting games,” he tells reporters through an interpreter. “I’ve always been a starter, and I’ve been successful as a starter…So, just starting from there, just stop that talk, because I’m just having a bad season.” 

Friday, June 5

The San Francisco Giants easily have it their way at Chicago, dismantling the Cubs, 18-3. Fourteen of their tallies are notched in the middle three innings. Three different Giants—Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers and Casey Schmitt—each hit two homers; one of Chapman’s is a grand slam, the sixth by the Giants this year to lead the majors. Chapman will add four more RBIs on a three-run homer and sac fly, giving him a career-high eight for the day. 

All six of the Giants’ grand slams have been hit over their previous 18 games. 

Freddie Freeman becomes only the sixth player since 1920 to collect 20 career walkoff hits, his latest a solo homer that helps the Los Angeles Dodgers break the ice and edge out the crosstown Angels in the ninth, 1-0. Freeman’s homer is a leadoff blast off Kirby Yates, the veteran reliever who pitched last year for the Dodgers. 

Of the six players with 20 or more walkoff hits, Frank Robinson has the most with 26. 

Saturday, June 6

Not even Coors Field can tame Jacob Misiorowski. The tall Milwaukee über-fastballer allows only an unearned run through seven innings on 98 pitches—52 of them recorded at 100 MPH-plus. One of those is registered at 103.7 MPH, the fastest yet officially thrown by a starting pitcher. The Brewers give Misiorowski plenty of support, blasting five homers (including two from Brice Turang) in the thin air to complete a 7-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies. 

In his last seven starts, Misiorowski has a microscopic 0.20 ERA. Only two other pitchers previously recorded a lower ERA over a similar number of starts: Bob Gibson (0.14) and Don Drysdale (0.15) both from the 1968 season. 

Frustrated by failing to get a win despite decent pitching, Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee takes matters into his own hands and dials in eight shutout innings in a 6-0 victory over the Texas Rangers at Arlington. It breaks a club-record streak of 13 starts in which Bibee failed to get a win, even though he earned quality-start status in six of those outings. 

The Dodgers waste little time at home against the Angels, racking up nine runs in the first inning before resting the remainder of the way, winning 9-2. The first six batters reach for the Dodgers against Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz—who’s removed two batters later and is charged with seven of the nine first-inning runs. 

Only one team—Cleveland, in 1954—scored more runs (11) in the first inning without notching any more. 

Kochanowicz, our pick for last year’s worst AL pitcher and off to another bad start (2-5, 6.19 ERA over 13 outings) in 2026, will undergo Tommy John surgery in the days to follow. 

Sunday, June 7

The fourth and fifth five-hit games of the season come from a rookie and barely-there catcher. 

At San Diego, the first-year New York Met Carson Benge has three singles, his first career triple and seventh home run in a 7-3 victory over the Padres. Benge is the first Mets player with a five-hit game since 2023, and the fourth Mets rookie to accomplish the feat. 

Up the road at Los Angeles, little-used Angels catcher Sebastian Rivero also punches out five hits from the #9 spot in the order, driving home six runs in a 13-5 rout of the Dodgers. Having played scant parts of four seasons, Rivero had never gathered more than two hits in any of 67 previous major league games. He’s only the third player to collect at least five hits and six RBIs from the bottom of the order, after Jackie Bradley Jr. in 2015 and Austin Wynns just last season. 

Monday, June 8

The Athletics visit their future home for the first of six games—and if the ball is as live at their under-construction ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip as it is tonight at the home field of their Triple-A team, God help all pitchers. In a crazy 12-inning battle won by the visiting Brewers, 15-14, both teams combine to hit 11 home runs—two shy of the all-time major league mark, with four of them traveling 440 or more feet. Not that it means anything in a lively ballyard, but there are also 16 ABS challenges called during the night—the most yet in any game since the system was put into place at the start of this season. 

Five more homers will be hit by the A’s the next night in their 7-5 win over Milwaukee, tying a franchise record with 12 over two games. 

This is the second time that the A’s have played a regular season homestand in Las Vegas. In 1996, while upgrading was being finished up on the Oakland Coliseum to accommodate the return of the NFL’s Raiders, the A’s played six games at Cashman Field, which was used for minor league ball through 2018. The A’s are playing this homestand at Las Vegas Ballpark, on the city’s western edge. 

In the Angels’ 5-4, 10-inning loss to the Astros at Anaheim, former All-Star and colon cancer survivor Trey Mancini makes his first big-league appearance in nearly three years and collects three singles in four at-bats. Mancini’s absence from the majors during this time has not been health-related; he’s been stuck in the minors for several organizations, hitting the ball well but not getting a call-up until today. In the interim, Mancini had gone back-and-forth on whether to just walk away from the game. 

Mancini will play five games for the Angels, collecting four hits in 13 at-bats, before being designated for assignment and granted free agency on June 21. 

Another veteran slugger who’s missed abundant time for a totally different reason signs with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Max Kepler, suspended for the first 80 games this season after testing positive for steroids, is being picked up now with the DBacks so he can get ready in the minors—where his suspension does not apply—and be ready when the ban lapses. Last season with the Phillies, Kepler batted .216 with 18 home runs over 417 at-bats. 

Tuesday, June 9

It’s a Paul Skenes start in Pittsburgh on a night when the Dodgers come to town and romp, 12-3—but the reigning NL Cy Young winner is not to blame. Over six innings, Skenes allows two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts—he retires Shohei Ohtani all three times he faces him—but after leaving with the game tied at 2-2, the Dodgers immediately clean up on the Pirates’ bullpen, exploding for 10 runs in the seventh on seven hits, four walks and two Pittsburgh errors. Amid the big rally for the Dodgers is an RBI single from Freddie Freeman that’s the 2,500th of his career. 

Still going strong at age 36, it’s reasonable to assume that Freeman has a fairly decent shot at 3,000. 

Look out, everyone—there’s another new Monty in town for the Chicago White Sox. With last year’s breakout boomer Colson Montgomery sitting out with a back problem, Braden Montgomery—no relation—makes his big-league debut at Rate Field and thrills the home crowd with a two-run, game-winning, come-from-behind homer in the 10th to give the White Sox a 6-5 win over the Atlanta Braves. Montgomery is the fifth player—and the first White Sock—to hit a walkoff homer in his major league debut. 

The loss is the least of the Braves’ concerns. In the fourth inning, sparkplug Ronald Acuna Jr. re-injures his hamstring, forcing an early departure; after later diagnosis, it’s determined that he won’t return to action until mid-July. By then, he’ll have played in roughly only half of Atlanta’s games this season. 

Wednesday, June 10

Down 9-1 in the eighth and looking at being swept in three games by the visiting Washington Nationals, the Giants power up and score five runs in each of the next two innings to wrap up a remarkable 11-10 comeback victory. Four homers fuel the multi-inning revival, the last a walkoff grand slam from rookie Bryce Eldridge. It’s the first time since 2009 than a team trailing by eight or more runs in the eighth inning or later came back to win. 

Max Scherzer records his 3,500th career strikeout, but it’s a silver lining moment in another bad outing for the future Hall of Famer, his first appearance in nearly seven weeks. Scherzer’s milestone strikeout is one of four K’s on the night, but he’s otherwise shelled by the visiting Phillies, allowing five runs over 3.1 innings to raise his season ERA to 10.23. He still needs seven strikeouts to surpass Walter Johnson for entry onto the all-time top 10 list, but it may be a while before he gets there; after dealing with knee and arm issues, Scherzer will be placed back on the shelf following this start with back spasms. 

A day after Paul Skenes left the mound and watched his bullpen blow a tight game, Shohei Ohtani can relate. Pitching against the Pirates at Pittsburgh, the Dodgers’ dual-threat superstar sails through the first six innings before getting into trouble in the seventh—but still leaves with a 6-4 lead. An inning later, it’s the L.A. bullpen’s turn to collapse; two home runs in the eighth—a three-run shot by rookie Tyler Callihan, followed by a two-run blast from Spencer Horwitz—is just enough for the Bucs to overcome the Dodgers, 9-8. 

Thursday, June 11

Five home runs are hit within the first two innings at New York, with the Cardinals earning the slim majority of the early power with three of the home runs to take a 4-3 lead over the Mets. But the Mets tie the game in the fifth when Juan Soto scores on a simple RBI single from Jared Young; then Soto himself will deliver the lead for keeps, as his solo homer in the seventh gives the Mets a 5-4 victory. 

Friday, June 12

More than ever, the Miz is the Whiz. On the one-year anniversary of his big-league debut with the Brewers, Jacob Misiorowski shuts down the Phillies in electric fashion, throwing a one-hit shutout with 15 strikeouts over just 95 pitches in a 6-0 win. Misiorowski faces the minimum 27 batters after the one baserunner he allows (Kyle Schwarber, who reaches on a fourth-inning single) is erased on a Bryce Harper double play grounder. In facing Schwarber in the first to start the game, Misiorowski throws a 104.5-MPH pitch—the fastest recorded by a pitcher in the post-2008 tracking era; 58 of his pitches are registered at over 100, establishing another mark. His 460 pitches at 100+, already having set a season record, is double the number thrown by all other pitchers—starter or reliever—so far in 2026, according to ESPN. 

Misiorowski’s 15 K’s are the most by a Milwaukee pitcher tossing a shutout; only Ben Sheets, with 18 in a 2004 contest, collected more in any game for the Brewers. They’re also the most strikeouts by a major league pitcher throwing less than 100 pitches. 

In a wild first inning for both the Astros and Royals at Kansas City, Yordan Alvarez helps Houston tear out of the gate with two home runs—including a grand slam—as the Astros post nine runs. The Royals will respond with five tallies of their own in the bottom half of the first, but can never fully catch up as Houston takes a 10-8 decision. Alvarez is the third player in Houston franchise history with two jacks in an inning—and the first with a grand slam included; he’s the first major leaguer to accomplish that in the first inning. 

The 14 combined first-inning runs between the two teams are the most since 2003; neither starter—Luinder Avila for the Royals, Tatsuya Imai for the Astros—survive the frame. 

The Giants, and more importantly Jung Hoo Lee, are cooled off by the visiting Chicago Cubs in a 5-1 defeat; only a solo homer in the ninth by rookie Bryce Eldridge keeps San Francisco from being shut out. Lee goes hitless in three at-bats, ending an 18-game hitting streak in which he batted a phenomenal .500 (36-for-72). 

Saturday, June 13

For the second time in as many years, the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto takes a no-hitter into the ninth inning—and can’t seal the deal. Last year, it was a two-out home run by the Orioles’ Jackson Holliday that spoiled Yamamoto’s no-hit bid; this time, it’s a one-out homer by the White Sox’ Tristan Peters that ruins the day, though Yamamoto still gains credit for the win in the Dodgers’ 7-1 victory at Chicago. Yamamoto retires the first 23 batters he faces; on top of the 22 straight he set down to finish his last start, he’s an out away from tying Yusmeiro Petit’s MLB record of 46 straight batters retired—but Dodgers shortstop Mooke Betts muffs Chase Meidroth’s grounder to kill the streak. The no-hitter remains intact as Betts is charged with an error, before Peters’ homer in the next inning. At the plate, the Dodgers are fueled by two homers from Max Muncy and a leadoff blast in the first from Shohei Ohtani—back in action after missing a game due to a knee issue. 

Just 38 days after undergoing surgery to remove loose bodies in his throwing elbow, the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal returns to action—but is not at his best. In 4.2 innings at Cleveland, the two-time reigning Cy Young Award winner allows three runs (two earned), enough for the opposing Guardians to take a 3-1 victory. The news is not all hunky dory for Cleveland; perennial All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez breaks a hamate bone in his left hand while taking a swing in the fifth inning. It’s only the second time in Ramirez’s 14-year career that he’s gone on the shelf; the other injury, for a similar injury, occurred in 2019. At that time, he missed a month of action; this absence will likely be of a similar length. 

Sunday, June 14

An absolutely wild acid test of a week for the A’s and their opponents concludes in the 101-degree heat of Las Vegas, where the visiting Rockies may have discovered an even livelier ballpark than mile-high Coors Field. With a 23-9 smashing of the Athletics at Las Vegas Ballpark—the home of the A’s current Triple-A affiliate—the Rockies set an all-time franchise mark for runs scored, while their 24 hits and six home runs are each one short of establishing other team records. Individually, Willi Castro drives in seven runs from the leadoff spot, as he and catcher Hunter Goodman (five hits) each power out a pair of homers. The benefactor of the Rockies’ gluttonous offensive display is starting pitcher is Tomoyuki Sugano, who becomes the first pitcher since 2019 to give up eight runs…and still gain credit for the win. 

The 23 runs are the most runs allowed by the A’s since 1955, when they were flattened in Kansas City by the White Sox, 29-6. 

The total offensive damage in six games at Vegas this past week: 103 runs and a .322 batting average on 147 hits, including 35 home runs—five of them among the eight longest hit anywhere in the majors so far this season, including the longest by Nick Kurtz (471 feet). The combination of the heat and altitude (3,000 feet) surely inflated the hitting at the west Vegas-based park, but that should be tempered with the new ballpark on the Las Vegas Strip scheduled to be ready for the A’s in 2028. The indoor setting will undoubtedly be cooler, the elevation lower (2,100 feet), but the field dimensions are reportedly to be set exactly as it is as at the minor league venue: 340 feet down the lines, 380 to the gaps, and 415 to straightaway center. 

In the race for the NL Cy Young Award, the Phillies’ Cristopher Sanchez drops a notch or two downward in Milwaukee, where just a couple days earlier the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski delivered a spectacular 15-K shutout. By comparison, Sanchez looks like a common pitcher, allowing four runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings in the Phillies’ 4-0 loss to the Brewers. Picking up his eighth win among nine decisions for Milwaukee is Kyle Harrison, who throws six shutout innings to lower his season ERA to 2.47. 

Forget the Irish—Boston and Fenway Park are owned by the Scots for a day. A 6-4 victory for the visiting Texas Rangers over the Red Sox is overshadowed by the presence of Scottish soccer fans, fresh off watching their nation defeat Haiti in its World Cup opener down the road in Foxborough the night before. All but overwhelming the fabled ballpark, the Scots spend much of the game singing Scottish anthems and experiencing, first-hand, a game that bears some resemblance to the more familiar sport of cricket back home. If you don’t believe us, check this out… 

One wonders if the Scottish fans were rooting for the Rangers, which happens to be the name of one of Scotland’s more dominant soccer clubs. 

Monday, June 15

The Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong continues to show his flair for the dramatic, becoming the first player of the 2026 season to hit for the cycle in Chicago’s come-from-behind 5-4 victory over the visiting Rockies. Crow-Armstrong gathers all four portions of the cycle in reverse order—starting with a homer, followed by a triple, double and finally a single in his last at-bat in the seventh. (In sync with PCA’s penchant for combining “wow” with “sigh,” he gets picked off first base on the next pitch.) Also adding to Crow-Armstrong’s day is an eighth-inning sacrifice fly, making him just one of four players to add that stat to a cycle. Crow-Armstrong will not figure in the Cubs’ game-winning, ninth-inning rally—which is largely of the Rockies’ own making. Three walks, a single and a throwing error by reliever Juan Mejia leads to two runs and the Chicago win. 

After hitting just one home run over his first 65 games this year, the Tigers’ Colt Keith makes up for lost power by blasting three homers against the Astros in a 9-3 victory at Houston. The hat trick for the 24-year-old Keith makes him the second-youngest Tiger, after 20-year-old Al Kaline in 1955, to go three-deep in a game. Overall, it’s the 26th three-homer game in Detroit history. 

In 70 previous career starts, Dustin May never threw more than seven innings. That’s all before he throws his first career shutout, a one-hitter on 101 deliveries in the Cardinals’ 3-0 win over the Padres at St. Louis. After retiring the first 18 Padres, May allows his only two baserunners in the seventh—a leadoff walk to Fernando Tatis Jr. walk and one-out single to Manny Machado, who’s erased on a Gavin Sheets double play grounder to end the threat. 

Tuesday, June 16

Watch your back, Roy Face. At Milwaukee, Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby blows a 1-0 lead in the top of the seventh inning against Cleveland—but is rescued in the bottom of the frame by Garrett Mitchell, whose solo home run gives the Brewers the lead back at 2-1. That score will hold to the end, making Ashby the majors’ first 10-game winner—with all of his victories coming in relief. 

Ashby, who has yet to be tagged with a loss, is on track to set the record for wins by a reliever in a season—a mark currently held by Face, who went 18-1 for the 1959 Pirates. For the Brewers overall, their 44-26 record is the best through 70 games in franchise history; that puts them on pace for over 100 wins, something they’ve never accomplished in 57 previous years of play. 

Framber Valdez returns to Houston in the uniform of the enemy, facing the Astros for the first time since signing with Detroit. Over six innings, Valdez allows an unearned run on six hits and three walks, but he’s matched by current Houston ace Hunter Brown—making his first start in 11 weeks and allowing a run through 5.2 innings. Neither Valdez nor Brown will figure in the final result, as the Astros get the better of the opposing bullpen and take a 4-2 victory. 

Also returning to the field after a long absence is Cal Raleigh, who looks refreshed following a five-week layoff. Last year’s 60-homer guy breaks a 1-1 tie in the seventh with a two-run single, the deciding stroke in Seattle’s 3-1 home win over Baltimore. 

In five minor league rehab games before rejoining the Mariners, Raleigh cranked five home runs with 12 RBIs over 17 at-bats. 

Wednesday, June 17

The fourth time is the charm for Eduardo Rodriguez, who picks up his 100th career victory after failing to notch the milestone in his three previous starts. The 33-year-old Venezuelan throws seven solid innings for the Diamondbacks in their 8-1 home victory over the Angels. Rodriguez is the 17th active pitcher to reach 100 wins; four other pitchers— the injured Max Fried (96 wins), Martin Perez (96), Carlos Rodon (96) and Robbie Ray (93)—could be added to the list before the season wraps. 

The Dodgers sweep the upstart Rays at Los Angeles, taking a 5-4 afternoon victory to win all three games of the series. With the victory, the Dodgers improve to an MLB-best 48-27 record—moving ahead of the NL East-leading Braves, who drop two games on the day to the visiting Giants. The win goes to Shohei Ohtani, who fights knee and blister issues while giving up four runs for his second straight start after previously allowing seven total runs in the season to date. All four runs scored off Ohtani are notched by the Rays in the fifth—but after rebounding with a 1-2-3 sixth, the Dodgers reward him with the W, scoring twice on a Freddie Freeman homer in the bottom half of the sixth to take the lead for good. 

After a 34-15 start, the Rays have won just seven of 22 games. Conversely, the Dodgers are 24-9 since starting the year with a so-so (by their standards) 24-18 record. 

Thursday, June 18

After proposing a salary cap that would depress player salaries at the top, MLB now wants to reduce the number of rounds in the amateur draft—making high school prospects completely ineligible. In a bargaining session with the players’ union, MLB says it wants the draft whittled from 20 rounds to 12—barring graduating high schoolers from the process and forcing them to play two years at college—while curtailing the overall signing bonus pool nearly in half, from the current $358 million to $200 million. Additionally, MLB would begin an international draft, targeting players outside of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico; this draft would be equitable in size to the amateur draft, also with 12 rounds and a $200 million bonus pool cap. Not surprisingly the union is unimpressed. In a statement, the Major League Baseball Players Association criticizes MLB’s suggestions as “flat out bad for baseball,” “cripple the next generation of players” and “damage the future of our game.” Super-agent Scott Boras chimes in as well, saying the age-20 requirement would delay free agency relative to what is seen today. 

While some of the outside applaud the league’s proposal—saying that the other major sports leagues rely on college athletics for future talent and do not draft straight out of high school—let’s not kid ourselves; this is all about saving money. It’s not just the pool funds that would be reduced; the proposal could cut down on scouting budgets, while the extra reliance on colleges might mean the end of some lower-level minor leagues, saving additional operating costs. 

Baltimore is the last team to be shut out this season, as the Mariners’ Bryan Woo and two relievers silence the Orioles on three hits in a 3-0 victory. One has to go back to last September, 84 games earlier, to watch the Orioles last get blanked; it’s the 10th longest such streak without a shutout defeat in franchise history, a list topped by the 2007 Orioles (133 straight games). 

Friday, June 19

Jacob Misiorowski is once again solid for the Brewers—but not infallible. After throwing five shutout innings at Atlanta, the fireballing ace loads the bases with two outs in the sixth, and the Braves’ Mauricio Dubon makes him pay with a liner to left field that scores two runs, giving the Braves the lead for keeps in a 3-2 result. Misiorowski will depart after that sixth inning, allowing five hits—all of them singles, with two within the infield—while striking out seven. Of his 91 pitches, 54 are over 100 MPH—with the fastest recorded at 104.2. 

With Shohei Ohtani nowhere to be seen—not because of recent knicks and knacks but, reportedly, to be with his wife for the birth of their second child—the Dodgers survive without him, scoring three times in the ninth to walk off the Orioles at Los Angeles, 6-5. Mookie Betts begins the winning rally with a solo home run, followed by a pair of walks surrendered by Baltimore closer Ryan Helsley; they’ll both score on a Dalton Rushing hit to right field and an offline throw past home by outfielder Tyler O’Neill. An error is charged to O’Neill, though catcher Samuel Basallo could have made a better attempt of snaring the ball on a not-too-difficult hop, which would have held the game-winning run at third. 

Just two days before his scheduled return to the mound for Detroit, Justin Verlander is tabled again. The 43-year-old, once-and-current Tigers pitcher has been out since his first start on March 30 with hip issues; now, it’s a strained hamstring he suffers while in the middle of a bullpen session. Detroit manager A.J. Hinch does not provide a rosy prognosis for a quick Verlander comeback, telling reporters that the future Hall of Famer will likely be out weeks, not days. 

On the field, the Tigers get past the visiting White Sox, 4-3, as Kerry Carpenter’s two-run double in the sixth gives Detroit the lead for good. Of historical note, the game features the big-league debut of outfielder Trei Cruz, son of Jose Cruz Jr. and grandson of Jose Cruz. This makes the multi-generational trio the fifth such in major league history. Cruz does not have the best of debuts, striking out in all three of his at-bats. 

It’s another wild game involving the A’s—and they aren’t even in Las Vegas. Back in Sacramento, their home away from soon-to-be home on The Strip, the Athletics take an early 4-0 lead over the Angels, then concede 11 unanswered runs between the fourth and sixth innings—then notch eight unanswered of their own, the final tally being a bases-loaded walk to Nick Kurtz in the 10th for a 12-11 victory. 

The 23 runs and nine homers collected by both teams in the game represent the highest totals at Sutter Health Park during the A’s year-plus tenure there to date. 

Saturday, June 20

It’s a great day for Phillies fans to take in a game at Citizens Bank Park. Against the divisional rival Mets, Bryce Harper accomplishes the cycle before the fifth inning is done, Kyle Schwarber blasts three home runs—two within one inning—and ace Cristopher Sanchez quietly clamps down on New York for six innings in a 15-3 rout. It’s only the second time that a team benefits from both a cycle and three-homer performance in the same game. It happened previously in 1932, when the Yankees’ Tony Lazzeri earned the cycle while Lou Gehrig became the first-ever AL player with a four-homer game. Two of Schwarber’s homers occur in an eight-run third; he’s the fourth Phillie with multiple homers in a single inning, the most recent being Trea Turner in 2023. Schwarber will add his third in the seventh, giving him the MLB lead with 28; it’s his fifth career hat trick, leaving him one short of the all-time record shared by Johnny Mize, Sammy Sosa and Mookie Betts. 

Harper’s cycle is the ninth in modern Phillies history—and the third in just the past four seasons. 

Sanchez allows two or fewer runs for the 23rd straight time in his home ballpark. That leaves him one short of the all-time mark, held by Jacob deGrom at Citi Field from 2019-22. 

Minnesota’s Brooks Lee has a chance to make it two cycles on the night, having collected the single, double and triple over his first five innings as the Twins build up a massive 16-0 lead on the Diamondbacks at Phoenix. But Lee flies out in the seventh and, against infielder/batting practice pitcher Ildemaro Vargas in the ninth, he pops out. Byron Buxton’s 24th home run—a grand slam in a 10-run fifth—is the featured blow in the Twins’ 16-8 victory. 

In dropping to 3-6 with a 6.10 ERA, struggling Arizona ace Zac Gallen gives up a career-high nine runs and 12 hits. 

It’s a frustrating night for the Pirates and Paul Skenes, who’s once again getting that sinking feeling that he’s all alone on the mound without any support from his teammates. At Denver, the Rockies’ Jake McCarthy leads off against Skenes in the first inning with an inside-the-park homer; Skenes will give up one more run before departing in the sixth, with the Pirates trailing 2-1. But the Bucs appear to tie the game when, with the bases loaded in the ninth, Colorado third baseman Kyle Karros doesn’t make a throw after fielding a grounder from Jake Magnum. Karros quickly complains—and is vindicated via video review—that pinch-runner Billy Cook, running in front of Karros, makes contact with Karros’ glove, leading to an interference call and the game-ending out. 

Skenes, who won the NL ERA crown (1.97) and Cy Young Award last year despite a 10-10 record—owing to poor support—is winless over his last seven starts. His 4.03 ERA during this stretch is certainly not his best, but the Pirates have scored three or fewer runs in six of those seven outings. 

Miami’s Otto Lopez becomes the first major leaguer this year to reach 100 hits, singling and scoring twice in the Marlins’ 6-3 home win over San Francisco to move them a game over the .500 mark. Lopez’s 1-for-5 night drops his season batting average to .332, but that’s still good enough to lead the majors. 

Off the field, four Giants pitchers who created a stir by wearing Bible verses alongside the Pride Month rainbow variation of the Giants’ cap logo have come out to say that the whole controversy is overblown. Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, three of the four pitchers—relievers JT Burbaker, Ryan Walker and Sam Hentges—say that they were not discriminated against by the Giants by being forced to wear the Pride Month caps, which celebrates the LGBTQ community. Hentges wore a regular Giants cap, while the other three—including starting pitcher Landen Roupp—scribbled “Genesis 9:12-16” on the cap. That verse, which speaks of a rainbow to declare an end to the floods unleashed upon the Earth by God (and for which Noah rides out), is meant as a subtle counter to the LGBTQ viewpoint of a rainbow, reflecting diversity. The pitchers’ comments to the Chronicle are likely meant as a stiff-arm to an investigation rashly initiated by the Department of Justice, seeking to score political points. No players were forced to wear the Pride Month caps—given an opt-out to instead wear the Giants’ regular caps. “I don’t hate the (LGBTQ) community,” Hentges tells the Chronicle. “It’s gotten bigger than anticipated and drawn more attention than everybody thought.” 

Sunday, June 21

The St. Louis Cardinals, certainly the most quietly talked-about surprise team in MLB this year, take a 12-10 victory at Kansas City to improve to 41-34 on the year. Rookie JJ Westerholt, hitting from the leadoff spot, homers twice among three hits to lead the way; the next two batters in the order, Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson, each add three hits as well. Not sparkling in this game are both starting pitchers. The Cardinals’ Dustin May and Cardinals’ Stephen Kolek combined for 16.1 shutout innings in their last starts; on this day, neither make it past the second inning, allowing 15 runs on 15 hits—including five home runs—between them. 

The Royals’ defeat takes place without Bobby Witt Jr., putting together another MVP-level campaign. Witt has missed the last two games with a sprained knee, but has yet to be placed on the injured list as the Royals are crossing their fingers that he will recover quickly; he’ll return a week later, having missed six total games. 

Has first-year Giants manager Tony Vitello lost his team? The first major league pilot to come straight from the college system watches his team get swept at Miami by the hot Marlins (14-4 in June), suffering a 2-1 Sunday loss and dropping to 31-46 despite a complete-game effort from ace Logan Webb. Tensions flare on field after Rafael Devers draws a leadoff walk in the ninth; asked to depart for a pinch-runner, the slow-footed Devers objects—wagging his finger toward Vitello and the rest of the Giants’ dugout that he should remain on the field. Ultimately, Devers leaves the field, but is far from happy in the dugout—while rookie Jonah Cox, pinch-running, attempts no stolen base and is erased on a game-ending double-play grounder from Willy Adames. 

Between the Devers standoff, the Pride Month cap controversy involving four Giants pitchers who protest with biblical verses, and numerous, questionable strategic decisions by Vitello, one wonders if the bold move by front office head Buster Posey to bring in the former Tennessee head coach is turning out to be a big misstep. 

Monday, June 22

Solo home runs from Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman are just enough to push the Dodgers past the Twins at Minnesota, making the two-time defending champs the first team to reach 50 wins in 2026. In relief of opener Will Klein—who gives up the Twins’ lone run on a Byron Buxton homer—Eric Lauer pitches six hitless innings to earn the win. 

In Omaha, the University of Oklahoma wins its first college baseball title in 32 years, routing North Carolina 13-2 to grab a winner-take-all third game. The Sooners were by no means the favorite in the tournament; they placed 11th in the 16-team Southeastern Conference but managed to crash the bracket with a 32-21 record, winning 11 of 13 games to secure the title. 

Tuesday, June 23

The Phillies are down to their last strike in the ninth inning at Washington, trailing 8-6 with no one on base against the Nationals. That’s when Trea Turner singles—followed by a Brendan Marsh home run to tie the game. That’s just the beginning; before the Phillies are done, 10 straight batters reach base in the two-out rally, scoring eight runs on two homers, a double, two walks and five singles, giving themselves plenty of distance to complete a comeback 14-9 win. 

Not since 1988 has a team scored that many runs with two outs in the ninth for a come-from-behind victory. 

The Phillies will repeat the experience the next night, as Derek Hill’s two-run homer with two outs and two strikes serves as the ultimate winning blast for in a 5-4 win at Washington. 

This is not the way the Athletics’ Zack Gelof envisioned the end of his 24-game hitting streak. At San Francisco, Gelof fields a throw at second base in an attempt to keep the Giants’ Matt Chapman from stretching a base hit into a double, but as Chapman attempts to dance around Gelof to avoid the tag, he accidentally and firmly steps on Gelof’s bare right hand. In instant pain, Gelof quickly trots off the field, likely knowing that his night and hitting streak are both history. The injury to Gelof is part of a frustrating night overall for the A’s, who suffer a 3-1 loss to the Giants and Robbie Ray. Gelof’s hit streak ends five games short of the A’s all-time franchise mark of 29, held by Bill Lamar in 1925.  

With the second strikeout of his start at Miami against the Rangers, the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara reaches 1,000 for his career. With his fourth and final K of the evening, Alcantara surpasses Ricky Nolasco to become the Marlins’ all-time leader, with 1,002. It’s all part of a profitable outing for Alcantara, who allows a run over 6.2 innings and improves his record to 8-4 with a 6-4 victory. 

Shane Bieber, making his first appearance since last year’s World Series, has a wobbly return to the mound in Toronto that goes sideways in the fourth when the opposing Astros belt three straight home runs against him. Yainer Diaz, Cam Smith and Taylor Trammell all go deep to knock Bieber out after 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. With Bieber long gone, the Astros will still need to score twice in the ninth to force extra innings; a three-run, pinch-hit homer from Joey Loperfido in the 11th will give them a 9-7 victory. 

Wednesday, June 24

Doubleheaders are doubly fun if everything is going your way. That’s certainly the case for the Cubs’ Dansby Swanson, who has a day to remember at New York against the Mets. In the first game of a weather-created twinbill, Swanson ties a personal mark with seven RBIs on a three-run homer and grand slam during the Cubs’ 10-3 rout. He’s not done; in the second game, a 10-5 Chicago victory, Swanson collects four more RBIs on a triple and two singles. Swanson’s 11 total RBIs for a doubleheader are exceeded in history by only two players: Nate Colbert in 1972 and Mark Whiten in 1993, both of whom had 13. With 15 RBIs over his last three games, Swanson joins seven other major leaguers who did the same or better—most recently in 2002 by another Cub, Sammy Sosa. 

Not helping in the second loss for the Mets are six errors, one short of their all-time team record. All six are committed by infielders, leading to five unearned runs. 

With one game still to play in the Cubs-Mets series, New York pitcher David Peterson changes clubhouses and becomes a member of the Cubs, as Chicago trades for the 30-year-old lefty who’s struggled (3-6, 6.09 ERA) for the Mets. Going the other way to the Mets is minor league infielder Cole Mathis. 

Mookie Betts becomes the 17th active MLB player with 300 home runs, reaching the milestone on a first-inning solo shot to give the Dodgers an early lift in a 4-3 win at Minnesota. Shohei Ohtani (297 career homers) who takes over as the next likely guy to hit #300, allows three runs (two earned) over six innings to improve to 8-2 with a 1.58 ERA. 

Thursday, June 25

Just two outs away from their second-ever no-hitter—and the first involving multiple pitchers—the Rays give up their one and only hit of the night, a two-run homer from Kansas City rookie catcher Carter Jensen. It ruins both the no-no and the shutout, but not the win—long since decided by the Rays and slugger Junior Caminero (three home runs, six RBIs) in a 13-2 rout. Jensen’s homer—extending his hitting streak to 16 games, the majors’ longest current run—is conceded by Craig Kimbrel, now pitching for his 11th team; he follows opener Casey Legumina (1.1 innings) and middleman Ian Seymour, who allows only a walk over 6.2 hitless innings. 

Caminero’s hat trick is the eighth in Rays history, and the first since Isaac Paredes turned the trio just over four years ago. It’s the fifth time an MLB player has gone three-deep this season. 

Another day, another big-time rally in the ninth inning for the Phillies at Washington. Unlike the previous two games against the Nationals, the Phillies don’t need to spot themselves two outs; they get to business right away, as Bryce Harper’s two-run homer (following Kyle Schwarber’s leadoff single) breaks a 5-5 tie and sparks a five-run rally. The 10-5 victory represents the first time in major league history that a team has hit a go-ahead, ninth-inning home run in three straight games. 

Responding to the chants of bleacher fans yelling “F**k Bryce Harper,” the former Nationals star flips them off while circling the bases on his go-ahead homer. 

In the four-game series, the Phillies score 15 runs and are 15-for-26 (.577) in the ninth inning; they plate 15 runs over the other eight innings, batting .230 (28-for-122). 

In the latest set of proposals put forth by MLB which seems more designed at currying favor among the vox populi rather than with the players’ union, owners call for no future free agent contracts longer than six years—or five years, if they are switching teams—with a six-year contract capped at $265 million. In other words, the league wants no player to sign a long-term contract pricier than that given a quarter-century ago to Alex Rodriguez. Additionally, MLB seeks to end deferred payouts and the qualifying offer. Teams could sign pre-free agent players up to 12 years—six before free agency, the other six once eligible, provided the player stays with the same team—for a maximum of $500 million. The union, needless to say, remains unimpressed and growingly alarmed by the numerous proposals from MLB, which includes a salary cap and a curtailed amateur draft process. A statement from the union says the sum total of what MLB is offering amounts to the league’s “long-held goals: suppressing players’ salaries and maximizing club profits. 

Bottom line is this: The owners want a salary cap. The players don’t. Someone will need to break in order to save a 162-game season for 2027. There’s still six months before MLB could initiate a lockout, but time flies. 

The first two players named to this year’s All-Star Game are the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani…and the Blue Jays’ Ernie Clement? Both players are given instant access to the rosters by receiving the most votes in each of their leagues. It could be theorized that this is the circumstance of two well-attended teams doing the modern-day version of stuffing the ballot; of the 16 players from each league remaining on the ballot for the Midsummer Classic, seven are from the Blue Jays (AL) and six from the Dodgers (NL). Eighteen other teams don’t have any players still eligible to be selected by fans, including three division leaders (White Sox, Mariners and Brewers). 

Friday, June 26

A horrible first half for the New York Mets has cost manager Carlos Mendoza his job, as he’s fired by the team after a 34-47 start that’s planted them firmly in the NL East basement. Andy Green, the former San Diego manager currently employed in the Mets in the front office, takes over for the remainder of the season as the team’s interim manager; the Mets fare no better under his command, losing at home to the Phillies, 2-1, extending their losing streak to seven. Some believe that the Mets gave Mendoza every chance they could to stick around, keeping him even after the team lost 12 straight games in April; the Mets’ current slide, in which they’ve been outscored 56-23, proved too much for New York management. In two-plus seasons with the Mets, Mendoza led the team to a 206-199 record; during his first season in 2024, the Mets reached the NLCS but lost in six games to the Dodgers. 

How much faster can Jacob Misiorowski get? The tall Milwaukee sophomore takes the mound against the visiting Cubs and, against leadoff batter Pete Crow-Armstrong, lights up the radar at a staggering 105.5 MPH—resetting his own mark for the fastest pitch ever thrown by a starter; it’s the third fastest by any pitcher, after two slightly speedier deliveries from reliever Aroldis Chapman. (These official velocities only count games since 2008, so Nolan Ryan, Walter Johnson and Bob Feller may want a word.) Crow-Armstrong actually makes contact on the Miz’s 105.5 pitch, fouling it off—but ultimately strikes out. It’s one of eight K’s on the night over six innings for Misiorowski, who allows just two hits—one a solo home run from Seiya Suzuki, the first round-tripper given up by the Miz since April 14. Of his 107 pitches, 55 are registered at or over 100 MPH; his final pitch of the night, striking out Ian Happ, is 102.8 MPH.

The White Sox pile it up on the visiting Royals, scoring 10 runs in the third and a dozen more over the next four innings in a 22-1 beating. That’s tied for the second most runs notched in White Sox history; conversely, that’s tied for the most ever given up by the Royals, who also suffer their biggest loss by run differential. In their rout, the White Sox hammer out five home runs; three different Chicago players knock in at least five runs, including the two guys—Tristan Peters and Jacob Gonzalez—at the bottom of the order. 

Paired with their previous 13-2 blowout loss at Tampa Bay the day before, the Royals have been outscored by 32 runs over their previous two games. Only seven other teams have been outscored more over back-to-back games in MLB history; topping the list are the 1950 St. Louis Browns, who lost consecutive games to the Red Sox by scores of 20-4 and 29-4. 

In Arizona’s 6-1 loss at St. Petersburg against the Rays, Corbin Carroll legs out his 10th triple of the year—and 53rd of his career, breaking the all-time Diamondbacks mark previously held by Stephen Drew. It’s the fourth straight year in which Carroll has collected at least 10 three-baggers, the first major leaguer to do that since Lance Johnson from 1991-94. 

In its latest proposal to the owners, the players’ union is calling for an end to prop bets—which have caused headaches for players who’ve had to deal with angry bettors when they don’t deliver, and MLB after Cleveland pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted for fixing pitches over the last few seasons. An MLB spokesperson said that the league would respond to the union’s request during negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. 

It will be curious to get the league’s official take, given that it earns a lot of money in sponsorships with BetMGM and “prediction market” Polymarket. 

Saturday, June 27

The Rockies’ Hunter Goodman cranks out the 21st hat trick of home runs in Colorado Rockies history, knocking in five runs in an 8-5 win at Minnesota. Goodman’s bombs come in the first, third and seventh innings; his bid for a fourth ends with a strikeout in the eighth. The three homers come after Goodman went deep in his last at-bat the previous night—giving him four homers over a span of five at-bats. 

The Cubs feel a twinge of buyer’s remorse when David Peterson, who they traded from the Mets just a few days earlier, serves up a home run to the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio on his very first pitch in a Chicago uniform. But Peterson will calm both his nerves and those of his new teammates, scattering two runs over 5.2 innings and picking up the win as the Cubs roll to an 8-2 victory behind three home runs at Milwaukee. 

Back in Peterson’s old stomping grounds in New York, it’s Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, together again. For only the 11th time the season, the two All-Stars appear in the same game, combining for three hits (including two triples), three runs and three RBIs as the Mets score all of their runs in the late innings to defeat the visiting Phillies, 6-2. 

The Mets are 6-5 this season when Soto and Lindor are both in the lineup; they’re 29-43 when they’re not.  

In a game featuring a bit more drama than the previous night’s 22-1 rout of the Royals, the White Sox pull out a 2-1 victory on rookie Jacob Gonzalez’s walkoff, bases-loaded single in the ninth. The result clinches the 10th straight series win at home for the White Sox, setting a franchise mark. 

Sunday, June 28

The Red Sox finish off a four-game sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park in a contest that seems like four games in one. It reaches the ninth inning with very few hits—the Yankees have none until one out in the eighth, when Amed Rosario singles off of Boston starter Sonny Gray—turns in the ninth when the Yankees get a pair of runs against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman to tie the game, becomes a 4-2 Yankee lead in the 10th on a (mostly) small-ball rally, then ends with the Red Sox triumphing in the bottom of the 10th, 5-4. The winning stroke comes from Jarren Duran, having a horrible month both between the lines and outside of them after another confrontation with a fan the previous day. 

Before giving up his lone hit (and immediately being removed), Gray reaches both 2,000 strikeouts and innings each for his career. He’s the seventh active pitcher to reach both milestones. 

In a painful irony, the Mariners score five runs at Cleveland to break a franchise-tying mark of 13 straight games plating three or fewer—but lose to the Guardians, 6-5. A four-run lead in the eighth is squandered when the Seattle bullpen is crushed for five runs, as pinch-hitter Rhys Hoskins caps the rally on a go-ahead double. 

The longest streak of three runs or less this century remains a 16-game spell by the Marlins in 2022; the all-time mark is shared by the 1942 Cleveland Indians and 1906 Brooklyn Superbas. 

Kyle Schwarber is the first major leaguer to hit 30 home runs this season, setting a Phillies record by doing so in the fewest games (84) to start a season. It’s not just a historic blow but one that’s pivotal in Philadelphia’s 5-4 at New York against the Mets; Schwarber’s two-run shot in the seventh provides the Phillies with the game-tying and go-ahead tallies. 

This is the sixth straight year that Schwarber has hit at least 30 homers; that’s the majors’ longest active streak. 

Junior Caminero’s power surge continues, as he homers for the seventh time over his last six games in the Rays’ 5-1 home win over Arizona. At 463 feet, it’s the longest home run ever hit by the 22-year-old Caminero; he also singles twice and walks. Only Carlos Pena, in 2010, also hit seven homers over a six-game span for the Rays. 

Despite the win and Caminero’s week-long outburst, the Rays are crossing their fingers after Yandy Diaz—leading the majors with a .336 batting average—departs with a strained shoulder after taking a wild swing at the plate. He’s considered day-to-day—but that’s what they said four weeks ago about Aaron Judge, who’s still on the shelf. 

The Cardinals reach the halfway point with a 43-38 record after a 2-1 victory over the visiting Marlins, thanks to a two-run, third-inning homer from rookie Bryan Torres and excellent pitching from starter Kyle Leahy and four relievers. But a long streak ends as the Cardinals fail to generate a walk at the plate—ending a run of 87 straight games with at least one. The streak ends nine games short of the all-time team record of 96 from 2003. 

Monday, June 29

Detroit manager A.J. Hinch becomes the second active manager with 1,000 wins, reaching the milestone in a 7-3 victory at New York over the struggling Yankees. The Tigers score all of their runs over the first four innings, more than enough for Casey Mize—who dazzles with seven innings of one-hit shutout ball and 10 strikeouts. 

Among active skippers, Hinch is a distant second behind Cincinnati’s Terry Francona, who has 2,072 career wins—and a razor-thin second ahead of the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts, who has 999. 

The Yankees have lost five straight games—the last four with three or fewer hits in each, the longest such streak in franchise history. They’re 1.5 games back of the AL East-leading Rays, who have won five straight. 

The last week-plus has not been kind to Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. During that span, he’s had a foul ball ricochet off his testicles, been ejected for arguing a check swing, and in the loss to the Tigers collides with right fielder Jasson Dominguez while chasing a short fly ball, placing him on concussion protocol. 

If Chisholm had it bad colliding with Dominguez, it’s worse for Cincinnati’s Dane Myers. In the fourth inning at Milwaukee, the Reds’ center fielder chases a long liner from the Brewers’ Andrew Vaughn, makes a terrific catch—then stumbles uncontrollably and violently into the padded wall, his left shoulder bearing the brunt of the contact. Alert but in pain, Myers is ultimately carted off the field and sent to the hospital; he’ll be placed on the IL with a bruised shoulder. The Reds blow a 3-0 lead after the departure of Myers and starting pitcher Nick Lodolo (one hit and four walks allowed over five shutout innings), as three Cincinnati relievers group to concede five unanswered Brewers runs in a 5-3 loss. After a 20-11 start to the year, the Reds are since 19-33. 

If you’re looking for awful optics on an awful season to date for the Mets, look no further than the bottom of the first inning at Toronto with the Blue Jays’ George Springer leading off against Sean Manaea. Springer loops a base hit to left field in front of an onrushing Juan Soto—who has the ball bounce past him to the wall. As Springer hustles around the bases, rookie center fielder A.J. Ewing fields the ball, but it flies out of his glove as he attempts to transfer it to his throwing hand; by then, Springer is home with a Little League homer, officially ruled a triple and an error on Ewing. (Soto does not get charged with an error because he never touches the ball as it goes bouncing past him.) The comedy of errors in left field—along with the Mets’ inability in the clutch, going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position—prove critical as they lose a 2-1 decision to the Blue Jays. The loss drops the Mets’ record to 35-50—their worst 85-game start since 1995.  

Tuesday, June 30

A day after A.J. Hinch records his 1,000th career win as manager, it’s Dave Roberts’ turn. In just his 11th season as the Dodgers’ skipper—one of those the pandemic-shortened 60-game 2020 campaign—Roberts reaches the milestone with a 9-3 triumph over the A’s in Sacramento with help of Tommy Edman (four hits, four RBIs) and Justin Wrobleski (11 strikeouts over seven innings). 

No other manager reached 1,000 wins in fewer games than Roberts, who needed just 1,606. 

It’s been an emotional roller coaster over the last couple days for Boston’s Willson Contreras. On Monday, he belted a home run, tearfully touching home plate thinking of the thousands who perished in a massive earthquake back in his native Venezuela. Later in the same game, he was rather snappishly ejected for quietly double-tapping his helmet as he neared the dugout following a disputed check-swing strikeout. On Tuesday, Contreras strikes out in the fourth inning against Washington’s Cade Cavalli—who rubs it in by shouting at Contreras, “Sit down, boy!” Cavalli’s bully move—which some suggest carries a racist overtone to it—infuriates Contreras, who charges after Cavalli and brings everyone out of the dugouts and bullpens. Contreras becomes a handful to hold back by teammates, yet he’s still able to throw his batting helmet toward Cavalli. For the second straight night, Contreras is ejected, but Cavalli is allowed to continue on, striking out a career-high 13 Red Sox while allowing just an unearned run on one hit over seven innings as the Nationals breeze to an 8-1 victory. 

After the game, Cavalli admits that he got wound up in the moment. “I don’t know (what I said),” he tells reporters. “I just lose my head in it. I’m competitive. I just told him to sit down.” Contreras: “He was like, instigating, and I snapped.” 

Boston starter Connelly Early lasts four shutout innings before being forced to depart with elbow pain. That snaps a string of 12 straight games in which Boston pitchers recorded a quality start—two short of the franchise record from 1988. 

Guardians rookie left fielder Cooper Ingle has a night to forget in Cleveland. He certainly forgets the number of outs in the seventh inning; after catching a routine fly by Texas’ Alejandro Osuna, he lobs the ball into the Progressive Field stands thinking it’s the third out—but it’s actually only the second. The whoopsie might be harmless, except that there’s a runner in scoring position in a 2-2 game; Ezequiel Duran is thus allowed to score the tie-breaking run from second on Ingle’s blunder. Josh Jung’s solo homer an inning later provides insurance in the Rangers’ 4-2 victory.