Baseball

ST. LOUIS — Willson Contreras placed on a present for his dad and mom. The St. Louis catcher homered twice, pinch-hitter Tommy Edman singled within ...

Since 2022, all ties within the standings -- for a division title or Wild Card spot, or to find out playoff seeding -- have been decided solely by a collection of mathematical tiebreakers, moderately than on the sphere. A full breakdown of the present methodology could be seen right here, however to summarize, the highest three components are, so as: head-to-head file, intradivision file (i.e. inside the identical division) after which file towards opponents in the identical league however a distinct division. This signifies that a group’s head-to-head file towards its rivals is extra essential than ever, as it might probably very nicely decide who performs deep into October and who goes dwelling after Game 162. Consider what occurred in 2022, when the Braves and Mets completed with equiva...

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports The Cubs are in playoff rivalry on the finish of August, and Kyle Hendricks is getting hitters out with a tasting menu of exquisitely situated mid-80s funk. (Grabs nearest passerby) “The date! I need you to tell me the date!…God Almighty, my time machine works!” For a lot of the late 2010s, Hendricks was not fairly an ace however was a bankable no. 2 or no. 3 starter. Even in his relative youth, he by no means threw onerous; the quickest pitch of Hendricks’ whole profession was 93.1 mph, and he hasn’t even hit 91 since 2016. People who apparently by no means watched Greg Maddux cherished to stamp a “next Greg Maddux” label on any bookish right-hander with nice command, and of these, Hendricks most likely got here the closest to dwelling as much as the...

CHICAGO — Justin Steele mentioned it felt like he received kneed in his left leg. Once he received some blood flowing into the realm, he knew he was advantageous. ...

DENVER -- Charlie Morton bid adieu to what had been MLB’s longest present scoreless streak. But he nonetheless prolonged his latest dominance whereas serving to the Braves declare a 3-1 win over the Rockies on Tuesday night time. Morton surrendered only one run, scattered three hits and struck out eight over six innings. This marked simply the fifth time a pitcher aged 39 years or older has allowed one run or much less, three hits or much less over at the very least six innings at Coors Field. The others to take action are all Hall of Famers: Randy Johnson (2007), Tom Glavine (2008) and Greg Maddux (2007 and ‘08). Maddux did this with the Dodgers and Padres. So, Glavine and Morton are the one pitchers who've executed this whereas sporting a Braves uniform. Morton and Johnson are the one pi...

Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports The .300 hitter is dying, Ian Crouch wrote in The New Yorker in 2014. And Bradford Doolittle on ESPN.com in 2019. And Barry Svrluga within the Washington Post simply final month. If the .300 hitter is dying, it’s dying the identical method you and I are, a little bit bit every day. Maybe the .300 hitter is simply sick. Why do these tales maintain getting written? Well, final week I used to be checking in on Luis Arraez (come on, dude, I assumed you had been going to make a critical run at .400!) and got here to the startling realization that solely 9 certified hitters are on tempo to hit .300. Nine! I can’t think about being a baseball author, seeing that reality, and never being freaked out sufficient to write down about it. Baseball is a sport that bou...

PHILADELPHIA — Aaron Nola allowed one hit and struck out 9 in seven sharp innings, Kyle Schwarber homered and the NL wild-card main Philadelphia Phillies accomplished a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 3-0 victory Sunday. ...

In phrases of single-season milestones, our focus tends to land totally on residence runs. If we're fortunate -- as we have now been not too long ago -- we could even have the possibility to observe alongside on a participant's pursuit of a sixtieth residence run. Unlikely as it might appear, nevertheless, in AL/NL historical past, these legendary 60-homer seasons -- of which there have been solely 9 -- outnumber seasons of 60+ doubles. Just six gamers in AL/NL historical past have put up a 60-double season, and, what's extra, all of them fell throughout the similar 10-year interval almost a century in the past. 60-double seasons, AL/NL historical past1. Earl Webb, BOS, 1931: 672-T. Joe Medwick, STL, 1936: 642-T. George Burns, CLE, 1926: 644. Hank Greenberg, DET, 1934: 635. Paul Waner, PIT...

Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports Gavin Stone was credited along with his first large league win on Sunday. Working in a bulk function behind opener Caleb Ferguson, the 24-year-old rookie right-hander went six strong innings because the Los Angeles Dodgers topped the Boston Red Sox 7-4 at Fenway Park. His changeup performed a predictably distinguished function. Stone threw the pitch that our lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen has assigned a 60/70 FV (present/projected) on the 20-80 scouting scale a complete of twenty-two instances, with a vertical break averaging 30 inches and diving as low 39 inches. Velocity-wise, it ranged from 82.6 mph to 87.7 mph. Stone was making his fifth main league look (and his first since July 4) when he took the mound in Boston. His earlier outings had been ...

DETROIT — Third baseman Josh Donaldson’s unproductive two seasons with the New York Yankees ended Tuesday when the previous AL MVP was launched. A p...