The Morning Horsehide Herald — the First of August, Two Thousand and Twenty-Six

The Game of the Day

JULY GOES OUT IN GLORY: THE HUB NINE STORM CHAVEZ RAVINE, 9 TO 4, AND SEAL THE FINEST MONTH ANY BOSTON CLUB HAS EVER PLAYED

One-and-twenty victories against but four defeats — a winning figure of .840, the best full month in all the franchise's long ledger — closed out upon the champions' own lawn, where Rafaela's seventh-inning thunder overturns a deficit, Bello bars the door with four scoreless frames, and Ohtani's homecoming circuit is rendered a footnote

The calendar, not the scoreboard, supplies the marvel here. By taking the verdict at Los Angeles the Bostons closed their July at one-and-twenty wins against four defeats — a percentage of .840, the finest any month in the franchise's whole history has returned, and the most victories in a single month since the August of two thousand and four. That they sealed it in the champions' own yard, against the two-time defending titleholders and the game's best ledger, only gilds the entry.

The evening itself required some overturning. Boston built a three-nothing lead from Jarren Duran's early single and a gift of two upon Freeman's third-inning error, but the Angelenos clawed it back — Freeman atoning with a run-scoring single, and then Shohei Ohtani, restored to the order after a day nursing the balky left knee, hammering his four-and-twentieth home run, a two-run blow that put Los Angeles ahead 4 to 3 in the fifth. The lead survived precisely two innings. In the seventh Ceddanne Rafaela answered with a two-run circuit of his own, his twelfth, and the flood followed directly: Andruw Monasterio's two-run double, Duran's run-scoring groundout, and by the ninth a 9-to-4 verdict with Carlos Narváez's sacrifice fly for punctuation.

The pitching told its own tale of Boston's charmed season: Ranger Suárez made the start on his road back from the groin ailment, and Brayan Bello — the demoted starter reinvented as a once-a-week workhorse — finished with four scoreless innings for the victory, his third. The Fenway men, at eight-and-fifty wins, have taken three straight, hold the American's second wild-card chair, and stand six back of Tampa Bay in the East; the Dodgers, at nine-and-sixty wins against one-and-forty, still own the game's finest account and an eleven-game cushion in the National's West, but the opening engagement of this series has gone to the hottest club in the game.

News Around the League

The Bazaar, Two Days From the Bell: Minnesota Lands Kremer From Baltimore, Peralta and Mize Are Held From Their Turns, and the Skubal Pot Boils On

The deadline tolls Monday, the third of August, at six o'clock, and the Twin Cities men are shopping like a club that means October business. A night after securing the left-handed fireman A.J. Minter from the Mets, Minnesota acquired the right-hander Dean Kremer from the Orioles for the outfield prospect Jhomnardo Reyes. Kremer, thirty years of age, was a stalwart of Baltimore's rotation these four seasons past — a hundred and six starts at a 3.95 figure — though the present campaign has used him roughly: a 6.50 earned-run mark across seven starts, with a quadriceps strain swallowing two months besides. Minnesota wagers on the older ledger.

Elsewhere the merchandise is being kept from harm's way: the Mets scratched Freddy Peralta from his scheduled turn with the deadline looming, and Detroit did likewise with Casey Mize — the surest sign yet that both men's valises are packed. As for the grandest prize, the wires hold that a Tarik Skubal trade looms and ask only when the remaining dominoes begin to fall; the Reds' Hunter Greene, asked whether his Cincinnati days are numbered, allowed that he does not think so — which is, of course, what everyone says in deadline week.

The Signing Table: Baltimore, Selling Elsewhere, Locks Its Bullpen Door Through Twenty-Eight

Even as one Oriole departed for Minnesota, the Baltimore counting-house made a purchase of its own: the right-handed reliever Yennier Cano has signed a two-year extension covering the twenty-seven and twenty-eight campaigns, with a club option for twenty-nine. A curious little counterpoint — a club selling a starter with one hand and buying certainty in the eighth inning with the other — and a signal that the Birds, suddenly winners of two straight and lurking but a game and a half from the wild-card table, do not regard themselves as dismantling.

Milestones: Caminero Reaches Thirty Circuits a Second Year Running, and the South Side Trio Thunder in Unison a Fifth Time

Junior Caminero's thirtieth home run of the season — a full-count sinker sent banging off the catwalk at Tampa Bay, projected at some four hundred and fifty feet — was the lone bright stroke of his club's evening (see the card, below), but it wrote him into select company: a second consecutive season of thirty circuits, a feat managed by only one Ray before him (Carlos Peña, in the aughts), and only José Canseco among Tampa men had ever reached thirty before July's close. Six men in all the game now stand at thirty or better: Alvarez with five-and-thirty, Schwarber three-and-thirty, Goodman and Rice one-and-thirty apiece, and Wood and Caminero at the round figure.

Across the diamond that same evening, Chicago's Murakami, Vargas, and Montgomery all struck home runs in the same game for the fifth time this season — a habit of collective thunder that has carried the White Stockings to the Central's penthouse.

The Infirmary Ward: McClanahan's Back, Contreras's Helmet, Crawford's Wrist

Tampa Bay breathes easier than it feared: the club is hopeful Shane McClanahan's recurring back complaint requires only a brief stay upon the injured list. In Los Angeles, Boston's Willson Contreras was struck upon the helmet by a fastball of ninety-five miles in the third inning and left the field as a precaution — the club termed it nothing graver, though the Herald notes such verdicts belong to the morning after. Seattle placed J.P. Crawford on the ten-day list with inflammation of the left wrist, and the Cubs shelved the reliever Gavin Hollowell (right shoulder) whilst recalling the left-hander Antoine Kelly — with the closer Palencia said to be nearing his return.

The Counting-House Curiosity: San Francisco Stops Bader's Pay Over a Scooter Misadventure

The Giants have suspended payment upon the salary of the outfielder Harrison Bader, who aggravated his already-injured left foot in a scooter accident this past weekend. The Herald offers no opinion on the actuarial merits, save to observe that the injured list has been reached by stranger conveyances, and that a man drawing a ballplayer's wage might reasonably be asked to leave the scooters to the delivery trade.

The Rest of the Card

TWO SWINGS SUFFICE AT WRIGLEY: WARREN AND THE BOMBERS BLANK THE CUBS, 2 TO 0, IN A MEETING OF EQUALS

Two nines level at two-and-sixty wins apiece met in the Friday sunshine, and the Highlanders' Will Warren owned the afternoon: six-and-two-thirds scoreless frames, seven strikeouts, and not a single pass issued. Amed Rosario and the young Spencer Jones supplied solo circuits in the fourth and fifth off the unfortunate Imanaga, and Bednar sealed his three-and-twentieth save. New York banks a second wind after two extra-inning heartbreaks at Chicago's other yard; the Bruins drop the opener but hold the National's first wild-card chair regardless.

STEWART GIVETH, AND STEWART GIVETH AGAIN: THE RED STOCKINGS OUTLAST PITTSBURGH, 8 TO 7, IN A PROPER QUEEN CITY SEESAW

Down early and pressed late, the Cincinnatis leaned twice upon young Sal Stewart: a two-run circuit in the fourth, his three-and-twentieth, that broke a three-all knot, and a two-run single in the eighth that squared the account at seven after the Buccaneers had plated three to seize a 7-to-5 edge. The winning run followed on the humblest instrument yet: Nathaniel Lowe's fielder's choice, aided by a Pittsburgh misplay. Stewart's four runs batted in swell his account to four-and-eighty, the National's best; Pagán took the win, and the Smoky City men have now dropped four running. Jake Mangum homered, stole his twentieth base, and drove in two in a losing cause.

HENDERSON'S TRIPLE TURNS THE SEVENTH, AND PHILADELPHIA'S SLIDE REACHES FOUR: ORIOLES 6, PHILLIES 4

The Quakers led 4 to 2 on circuits by Trea Turner and Realmuto, whereupon the seventh inning undid them entire: Encarnacion-Strand's two-run double squared the account and Gunnar Henderson's two-run triple settled it, the loss charged to Kerkering, lately unbeaten at six victories. Alonso's two-run blow, his three-and-twentieth, had kept Baltimore in the hunt from the first. The Birds have won two straight and creep within a game and a half of the American's last wild-card chair; Philadelphia, two victories in its last ten, clings to the National's final chair by a bare game over San Diego.

OKAMOTO AND URÍAS DO THE QUIET COMMERCE: THE MAPLE LEAF NINE TOP ST. LOUIS, 3 TO 1

Kazuma Okamoto doubled home the equalizer in the sixth and Luis Urías singled two across in the eighth, and that modest ledger sufficed. Hoffman took the win, Varland his four-and-twentieth save, and the Mound City men — who led on Jordan Walker's ninth-and-seventieth run batted in — managed nothing further and have now lost two straight, slipping below the even mark at four-and-fifty wins.

THREE SINGLES IN THE EIGHTH, ALL OF THEM DAGGERS: THE DESERT NINE TAKE CLEVELAND, 4 TO 1, AND TIGHTEN THEIR WILD-CARD GRIP

For seven innings Rhys Hoskins's first-frame single stood as the whole of the scoring; then Arizona strung the eighth together like beads — run-scoring singles by Perdomo, Moreno (two crossing on an outfield misplay), and Ketel Marte — and the Lake Erie men were undone. Loáisiga won it, Bibee absorbed his eleventh defeat, and Garcia closed the door. The Snakes, winners of three straight, hold the National's second wild-card chair; Cleveland's loss drops them level with Minnesota for the American's last one.

FOUR CIRCUITS FLY THE SOUTH SIDE FLAG: WHITE SOX 6, RAYS 1, IN THE MEETING OF FIRST-PLACE MEN

The Central leaders called upon the East leaders and settled matters by air mail: Vargas, Benintendi, Murakami (two aboard), and Colson Montgomery (likewise) all homered, Montgomery's five-and-twentieth drawing him level among the American's leading sluggers. Fedde scattered the Sunshine nine's offerings and pinned the loss on Martinez, ten victories against now three defeats. Caminero's thirtieth (see the milestones, above) was Tampa Bay's lone answer. Chicago has won three straight; the Rays' Eastern cushion holds at two games and a half.

A FOUR-RUN FIFTH SINKS FLUSHING: MARLINS 5, METS 2, AND SENGA'S WINLESS SEASON REACHES EIGHT DEFEATS

The Fish did all their commerce in one frame — Marsee's double, Joe Mack's two-run single, and Edwards's knock making it four — and Kyle Stowers's sixteenth circuit supplied the garnish. Junk took the verdict, Fairbanks his sixteenth save, and poor Senga fell to naught-and-eight. Lindor homered in consolation. The Floridians thereby stay but a game and a half off the wild-card pace; the Metropolitans, at seven-and-forty wins, play out the string and mind Monday's bazaar.

OLSON AND HARRIS SUPPLY THE ARTILLERY: THE ATLANTAS TURN BACK WASHINGTON, 6 TO 2, AND GRIFFIN'S CHARMED SEASON TAKES A THIRD LOSS

Matt Olson opened the scoring with his nine-and-twentieth circuit and Michael Harris II closed the argument with a three-run blow in the sixth, his twentieth, while the rookie Jim Jarvis chipped in two singles worth a pair of runs. Elder took the win; Griffin, Washington's twelve-game winner, the defeat. CJ Abrams struck his eight-and-twentieth homer — his three-and-eightieth run driven in, second in the National — in a losing cause. The East leaders, at five-and-sixty wins, sit eight clear of the field.

THE WEST CHANGES HANDS: HOUSTON BATTERS TEXAS, 11 TO 2, AND SEIZES THE DIVISION'S CHAIR BY HALF A GAME

The 'Stros treated their neighbors roughly for the fourth night running of this splendid stretch — nine victories in ten — piling up eleven runs on circuits by Paredes, Walker, and Diaz, three runs batted in from Jeremy Peña, and two more from Yordan Alvarez, whose two-and-eighty now lead all the game. Brown took the win; Eovaldi, the defeat. With the verdict Houston passes Arlington for the West's top chair by half a game and pockets the season's series against its rival besides. Pederson's twentieth homer was the visitors' consolation.

SUGANO RUNS HIS ACCOUNT TO ELEVEN IN THE THIN AIR: ROCKIES 3, ROYALS 1

The Mile High nine's Tomoyuki Sugano — eleven victories now for a club with but three-and-forty — turned in the quiet masterwork of the evening, and Rumfield's single, an error-gifted run, and Brenton Doyle's double built the modest margin. Romano sealed his ninth save. The young receiver Carter Jensen's fifteenth home run was the whole of the Royal blues' reply; they have dropped two straight.

TURANG AND BAUERS MAKE SHORT WORK OF THE SERAPHS: BREWERS 6, ANGELS 2, TO OPEN THE LONG MARCH

The Cream City nine began what the wires style a seventeen-day gauntlet without a day's rest in businesslike fashion: Brice Turang's two-run circuit and Jake Bauers's three-run blow arrived in the same five-run fifth inning, all of it behind Drohan's steady work. Denzer Guzman's two-run homer was Anaheim's lot; the Halos have lost four straight. Milwaukee, at eight-and-sixty wins, keeps its six-and-a-half-game hold on the Central.

THE DEBUTANTE STEALS THE SHOW, AND DINGLER SUPPLIES THE EXCLAMATION: TIGERS 13, ATHLETICS 1

Max Clark, summoned at last from Toledo, struck three hits in his first major-league engagement — a pair of doubles among them — and the Detroits fairly buried the White Elephants beneath a six-run eighth and a four-run ninth. Dillon Dingler's grand slam, his three-and-twentieth circuit, ran his runs batted in to two-and-seventy, third in the American; Kevin McGonigle homered besides; Javier Báez drove in three; and Ben Malgeri struck the first home run of his young life. Madden took the first victory of his own. The Elephants, beaten a third straight time, offered Heim's early double and little else.

MATSUI AND COMPANY HANG THE WHITEWASH: FRIARS 7, JINTS 0, AND FRANCE DRIVES IN THREE

San Diego's arms permitted the Bay nine nothing whatever, Matsui taking the win in the combined shutout, while Ty France batted in three, Tatis Jr. doubled and stole his six-and-twentieth base, and young Jase Bowen struck the first circuit of his career. Whisenhunt bore the defeat. The Friars, winners of seven in their last ten, close within a single game of the National's last wild-card chair — the Quakers may check the standings with their coffee — whilst San Francisco sinks sixteen below the even mark.

JEFFERS HAS THE LAST WORD IN THE EIGHTH: TWINS 5, MARINERS 3, AND THE DEADLINE SHOPPERS KEEP WINNING

Twice Seattle held the upper hand — Cal Raleigh's two-run double in the first, Cole Young's go-ahead circuit in the second — and twice the North Stars clawed back level before pulling clear: Brooks Lee's two-run homer, Royce Lewis's equalizer in the seventh, Keaschall's go-ahead double directly after, and Ryan Jeffers's eighth-inning blast for daylight. Funderburk won it and Gómez sealed his fourteenth save. Minnesota, busy at the bazaar (see above), has won two straight and sits level with Cleveland for the American's final wild-card chair; the mariners of the Sound have dropped three running, two victories in their last ten.

Two days remain before Monday's bell — the third of August, at six o'clock — and this evening's card runs fifteen games strong. The White Stockings and the Sunshine nine renew their first-place quarrel at ten past four, Hicks opposite Rasmussen; Sánchez, the National's winningest arm at thirteen victories, takes the hill for Philadelphia at Baltimore at five past seven; deGrom answers for Texas at Houston at ten past seven with the West's chair now in dispute by half a game; the Yankees and Cubs, level at two-and-sixty wins apiece, resume at Wrigley at a quarter past seven, Fried against Peterson; and by late lamplight Boston sends Tolle against Yamamoto at Chavez Ravine, ten past nine, to learn whether August can be made to resemble July. Until the next dispatch, keep your scorecards near and your enthusiasms nearer.

~ THE HERALD ~