The Yankees fell under .500, the Dodgers won their eleventh straight, and Julio Rodríguez got a whole lot of hits. Here’s what’s happened so far this week in baseball, and what’s ahead for the weekend.
The Stars
Rodríguez has had a nice two days, going nine for twelve for a Mariners team that’s now even with the Blue Jays in the loss column. It was a wild week in Kansas City for Seattle, with an inside-the-park home run by Bobby Witt Jr., Brady Singer taking a no-hitter into the seventh one night, a combined eleven runs scored across the eighth and ninth innings on Monday and Tuesday and no game decided by more than two runs.
The Diamondbacks have been doing some winning again, and first baseman Christian Walker has been the biggest reason why, making the most of his visit to Coors Field with a four-homer, nine-RBI series. On Tuesday, though, it was Alek Thomas and Geraldo Perdomo who set the table for Ketel Marte to tie the game in the ninth with a single, and it was Tommy Pham who drove in the decisive run in what became a five-run inning.
Max Scherzer led the way for Texas on the mound, striking out eleven on Monday while allowing just one walk and one hit over seven innings of work. Corey Seager led the way at the plate, homering twice on Tuesday. The Rangers couldn’t get the sweep, however, with the Angels fighting back Wednesday as Reid Detmers came within a handful of outs of getting his second no-hitter in two years.
Christopher Morel hit the walk-off home run on Wednesday. Yusei Kikuchi and Bryce Elder and Bobby Miller each made a good start on Tuesday. Fernando Tatís Jr. stole home, Kyle Tucker hit a big home run in a big series, and a whole bunch of guys—from Ronald Acuña Jr. to DJ Stewart—had multi-homer games.
The Series
Los Angeles swept Milwaukee, Atlanta swept the Yankees. The top of the NL is clearly defined and very good. Further down…
- The Phillies split their pair with Toronto.
- The Giants dropped two of three to the Rays.
- The Cubs split two with the White Sox.
- The Marlins lost two of three to the Astros.
- The Reds split two with the Guardians.
- The Diamondbacks took two of three from the Rockies.
- The Padres took two of three from the Orioles.
On the AL side of the coin:
- The Orioles lost two of three in San Diego, the Rays won two of three in San Francisco.
- The Rangers took two of three from the Angels, the Astros took two of three from Miami.
- The Twins split their pair with the Tigers, the Guardians split theirs with Cincinnati.
- The Blue Jays split that set against Philadelphia.
- The Mariners took three of four in Kansas City.
- The Red Sox dropped two of three to the Nationals.
- The Yankees lost that series to Atlanta.
The Situation
Overall, that produced the following movement.
In division races:
- The Rays gained a game back on the Orioles.
- The Cubs and Reds picked up a game and a half each on the Brewers.
In the Wild Card pictures:
- The Giants and Marlins lost half a game on the pack, the Diamondbacks and Padres gained half a game. The Phillies, Cubs, and Reds held steady, while the Brewers lost a game and a half.
- The Rays and Astros gained half a game of breathing room, the Mariners cut their deficit by a game. The Red Sox and Angels each fell half a game further back, the Yankees slipped back by a game and a half. The Blue Jays held even.
The NL Central movement is the biggest, but it wasn’t all that surprising, with the Reds and Cubs facing the better matchups than playing in Los Angeles like Milwaukee had to do. Overall, though, our picture’s similar to what it’s been.
American League
- Division Favorites (>85%): Minnesota
- Playoff-Likely (>85%): Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Texas, Houston
- Competing: Toronto, Seattle, Boston, New York (AL), Anaheim, Cleveland
We could cut Anaheim out of this, and plenty would cut out the Yankees, but we’re keeping each around to play it on the safe side. The Angels host the Rays for three this weekend, the Yankees host the Red Sox for three, those could help hammer the nail home but it may still be a while before we fully write either off, largely owing to just how much talent is still on each roster.
The Mariners are now just half a game back of the Blue Jays for the final Wild Card spot, with three games ahead in Houston this weekend as they try to pull the Astros back down into that territory. Toronto will be in Cincinnati for three. Texas hosts the Brewers, the Orioles get to visit the A’s and try to build some space—their lead’s down to two games, but it’s three in the loss column.
In the Central, the Twins are up four and a half still, and they’ll host the Pirates this weekend while the Guardians open a four-game series with the Tigers in Cleveland, playing a doubleheader today after yesterday’s rainout.
National League
- In (>99%): Atlanta, Los Angeles
- Competing: Philadelphia, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Chicago (NL), Cincinnati, Miami, Arizona, San Diego
The Phillies have passed the Brewers, which could mean something down the line. Philadelphia’s in D.C. to play the Nats this weekend while Milwaukee goes to Arlington to play the Rangers.
The Giants are going down to Georgia, playing three in Atlanta while the Dodgers host the Marlins for three. The Reds host the Blue Jays. The Cubs host the Royals. The Diamondbacks and Padres opened a four-game series yesterday with an Arizona win.
The Best Games
Spencer Strider pitches against Alex Cobb tonight in one of the weekend’s best matchups. Brandon Woodruff is opposite Andrew Heaney in Texas, while elsewhere in the state it’s Bryce Miller going against J.P. France. The Guardians/Tigers doubleheader has some intrigue, with Tarik Skubal matching up with Gavin Williams in Game 1. Out in California, Sandy Alcantara is set to duel with Tony Gonsolin.
Tomorrow, Brady Singer squares off with Justin Steele while Kutter Crawford tries to knock off Gerrit Cole in the early games. Later in the day, we’ve got Freddy Peralta vs. Dane Dunning, Tanner Bibee vs. Eduardo Rodriguez, Chris Bassitt vs. Brandon Williamson, Mitch Keller vs. Sonny Gray, Kodai Senga vs. Miles Mikolas, Eury Pérez vs. Julio Urías, Zach Eflin vs. Chase Silseth, and even Merrill Kelly vs. Yu Darvish. The real prize fight, though, is Logan Gilbert against Framber Valdez in Houston. That should be fun.
The Little League Classic is Sunday night, with the Phillies facing the Nationals. Earlier in the day, we’ve got Braxton Garrett vs. Bobby Miller, Tyler Glasnow vs. Patrick Sandoval, and Adrian Houser vs. Max Scherzer. Even earlier, Hunter Greene returns for the Reds, lined up to face Hyun Jin Ryu.
Who’s Hot
With that inside-the-parker on Monday, Bobby Witt Jr. is baseball’s best player on the month of August, with a not-insignificant amount of that value coming on the defensive side of the ball. He’s got five homers, sixteen RBI’s, and a .420 OBP.
Since the All-Star Break, Witt’s up there, but it’s Freddie Freeman who still leads the pack. The man has recorded a hit or a walk in 63 of his 143 plate appearances over that stretch.
On the mound since the break, Kikuchi is now baseball’s best pitcher by fWAR, a development which continues to surprise. With Ryu back, the Jays’ rotation is stepping forward. It looks like they’re going to need every pitch of that.
