The Morning Horsehide Herald — the One-and-Twentieth of July, Two Thousand and Twenty-Six

The Game of the Day

FOURTEEN! THE CRIMSON HOSE REFUSE TO LOSE, WRESTING A 6-TO-5 VERDICT FROM BALTIMORE ON DURBIN'S EIGHTH-INNING BLAST

Thrice the Birds seized the lead and thrice Boston clawed it back, the visitors strewing four errors along the way, until Caleb Durbin's tenth home run of the summer settled the argument — a fourteenth consecutive triumph, and ten wins in the last ten by the ledger's own arithmetic

Fourteen. The figure wants no adornment, so the Herald will set down plainly how the latest was got, for it was not got easily. Baltimore struck first at Fenway — Tyler O'Neill's ground-rule double cashing Gunnar Henderson in the opening frame — and the Crimson Hose answered by degrees: a sacrifice fly from Jarren Duran, a run-scoring double from Wilyer Abreu, a Willson Contreras single, and a 3-to-1 lead built by the third. The Birds pecked back. Christian Encarnacion-Strand struck his first home run of the season in the fifth, and a pair of sixth-inning singles — the second his own — put Baltimore ahead 4 to 3. Contreras doubled the account level; O'Neill's groundout nudged the visitors in front again, 5 to 4, in the seventh.

And here the game turned upon Baltimore's own gloves. Ceddanne Rafaela singled home the tying run in the home seventh and took second when the left fielder Taylor Ward threw the ball away — one of four Oriole errors on the night, the shortstop Henderson contributing a throwing misplay of his own amid his three doubles. Thus steadied, Boston sent up Caleb Durbin in the eighth, and Durbin lifted his tenth home run of the year into the left-center seats: 6 to 5, the lead's third and final change of address. Garrett Whitlock took the win in relief, his fifth against a single loss, and Chapman barred the ninth for his two-and-twentieth save.

So the streak stands at fourteen consecutive victories — ten-and-oh over the last ten, as the standings column dryly confirms — with Boston at one-and-fifty wins holding the American League's final wild-card chair, a game and a half clear of Texas and six behind Tampa Bay in the East. The same two clubs meet again at Fenway this very evening, Bradish against Suarez, with a fifteenth straight upon the table.

News Around the League

The Deadline Drums Beat Louder

A fortnight remains before the trading deadline, and the wires fairly crackle. The sages count fully ten players whose torrid play is lifting their market price by the day; the Bronx Bombers are reported to possess the inventory for a grand stroke or two, if a partner can be found; and the whispers now bundle together the starting pitchers of San Diego and Anaheim, with the Dodgers' intentions a parlor mystery besides. In Anaheim, the veteran executive John Mozeliak is said to be bending his labors toward securing the Angels' future before the hour strikes — even as two of his commodities, Jo Adell and Soriano, improved their standing in Monday's dramatics (of which more below).

Arenado Enters the Company of Two Thousand

Let the bells ring in the desert: Nolan Arenado, now plying his trade with Arizona, has joined the two-thousand-hit club — but the sixth active player to hold membership. The milestone arrived during Monday's engagement with the Athletics, a double figuring among his day's work, and the wire men were quick to append the phrase 'future Hall of Famer' to their dispatches. The Herald concurs, and tips its cap toward Phoenix.

The Infirmary Ward

Two sobering entries in the surgeons' ledger. In Chicago, the young White Sox catcher Kyle Teel turned an ankle and is reckoned likely for the invalid list — an ill-timed subtraction from a club sitting first in the American Central. And in Arizona, the Athletics' Kuroda-Grauer was forced from the field by injury on the very night he struck the first home run of his major-league life — fortune giving with one hand and taking with the other. The Herald wishes both men a swift and complete mending.

A Mural for the Hammer, and Ten Years for Benintendi

Two grace notes from the wire. In Milwaukee, the Brewers unveiled a mural honoring Henry Aaron's final home run, with Billye Aaron, the great man's widow, present for the ceremony — a fitting monument in the city where the Hammer both began and ended his long thunder. And Andrew Benintendi marked ten full years of major-league service time in his own fashion — by driving in three runs in the South Siders' rout of Texas (see the card below). Longevity, the Herald observes, is sweetest when celebrated with a loud bat.

The Almanac: Five Days to Cooperstown

The calendar tightens: this Sunday, the six-and-twentieth of July, the National Baseball Hall of Fame conducts its induction ceremony at Cooperstown, and the game's newest immortals take their marble seats. Beyond that, the Field of Dreams game waits on the thirteenth of August — Twins against Phillies amid the Iowa corn — and the Little League Classic on the three-and-twentieth of that month, Brewers against Braves at Williamsport. The regular season's final bell: the seven-and-twentieth of September.

The Rest of the Card

SEVEN HOME RUNS! THE FOREST CITY NINE BOMBARD MINNESOTA, 13 TO 4, IN A SEASON-HIGH CANNONADE

Cleveland made an artillery range of its own ballpark, striking a season-high seven home runs in a 13-to-4 demolition of the Twin Cities nine — Hoskins twice, Halpin twice, and one apiece from Bazzana, Rocchio, and Bailey, amid nineteen hits in all. Chase DeLauter rapped four blows with a pair of doubles, Tanner Bibee pocketed six tidy innings for the win, and Minnesota's ace Joe Ryan was made mortal inside four frames. The Guardians, at three-and-fifty wins, breathe upon the White Sox's neck, a single game adrift in the American Central.

JAZZ STRIKES TWICE AND TEMPERS FLARE IN THE BRONX; BOMBERS 8, CORSAIRS 5

Jazz Chisholm Jr. carried the evening almost alone — two home runs, his sixteenth, and five runs driven in — as the Bronx Bombers turned back Pittsburgh 8 to 5. The affair grew warm besides: the benches emptied over a quarrel with the pitch clock, words exchanged but no blood spilled. José Caballero chipped in a two-run ground-rule double, the rookie Esmerlyn Valdez homered again for the Corsairs, and Ashcraft absorbed the loss against nine-and-four. New York keeps its perch a game and a half behind Tampa Bay.

MARTINEZ STOPS THE BLEEDING: THE SUNSHINE NINE HALT THEIR SKID AT FIVE, 7 TO 1, IN TORONTO

The slide is arrested. Martinez threw six commanding innings — his mark now nine-and-two, his earned-run average among the circuit's elect — and Tampa Bay handled the Torontos 7 to 1 to end a five-game losing spell. Cedric Mullins, Victor Mesa Jr., and Nick Fortes each went deep, Junior Caminero doubled twice, and the home nine kicked the ball three times in support of Dylan Cease, who struck out plenty as ever — his five-and-fifty-and-one-hundred strikeouts still lead the league — yet took the loss. The Rays' division lead over New York stands at a game and a half.

TURNER TWICE, HARPER ONCE, AND THE QUAKERS OUT-SLUG THE BOYS IN BLUE, 10 TO 7

In Philadelphia the bats settled matters early and often. Trea Turner homered twice against his old mates, Bryce Harper struck his one-and-twentieth, and Marsh and Hill added blasts besides as the Quakers piled up ten runs on Los Angeles. Cristopher Sánchez labored to a dozen wins against four defeats — tied atop the senior circuit with Milwaukee's Ashby — while Mookie Betts, lately dropped to fifth in the order, answered with two home runs among four hits in a losing cause. The Dodgers have now dropped two running; tonight the clubs send Wrobleski against Wheeler in a duel of gaudy ledgers.

ELDER STEADIES THE SHIP AND THE ATLANTAS EDGE SAN DIEGO, 3 TO 2

A taut, old-fashioned affair in Georgia: Bryce Elder gave six innings of quality toward a 3-to-2 decision over the Mission nine, Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II supplying home runs enough. Manny Machado reached twenty round-trippers and Ty France added his fifteenth in reply, but no more was forthcoming. Atlanta, at eight-and-fifty wins, rules the National East by three games over Philadelphia.

THE MIZ DEALS FOUR ELECTRIC FRAMES BY DESIGN; SUDS MEN 8, AMAZINS 3

Milwaukee's young flame-thrower Misiorowski worked four brilliant innings in an outing shortened by the club's own design, and the Suds men did the rest, burying New York's Amazins 8 to 3. Vaughn homered, young Pratt struck the first of his career, Ortiz added another, and Yoho collected the win in relief while Peralta took the loss. At three-and-sixty victories against seven-and-thirty defeats, Milwaukee owns the finest record in all the land — a fourth straight win, and no sign of thirst.

A BUNT WINS IT! LOFTIN LAYS ONE DOWN AND THE ROYAL BLUES STEAL THE VERDICT, 4 TO 3

The Orange and Black had just performed the hard part — Willy Adames's two-run, ninth-inning homer, his eighteenth, hauling San Francisco level at three apiece — when Kansas City answered with the game's softest and deadliest blow: Nick Loftin's bunt single, laid down perfect as a pocket watch, cashing the winning run in the home ninth, 4 to 3. Salvador Perez had earlier struck his thirteenth homer with a man aboard, and Heliot Ramos opened the scoring for the visitors, who have now dropped four straight.

DEGROM BATTERED ON THE SOUTH SIDERS' ANVIL, 10 TO 3, AS BENINTENDI FEASTS

The Central's surprising front-runners showed no reverence for a famous name, chasing Jacob deGrom inside five innings and burying Texas 10 to 3. Benintendi drove in three on his service-time anniversary, Vargas doubled twice among six Chicago two-baggers, and Murphy ran his relief mark to three-and-oh. Pederson and Burger homered for the Arlington men, who slip half a game behind Seattle in the American West while the South Siders sit three-and-fifty and forty-six atop the Central.

TEN INNINGS IN WRIGLEYVILLE: DINGLER'S SECOND BLAST AND STEADY HAND CARRY THE MOTOR CITY NINE, 8 TO 6

Dillon Dingler owned the night by installments: a first-inning homer, an eighth-inning homer — his one-and-twentieth — and, after Ian Happ's two-run shot had dragged the Bruins level at five in the eighth, the go-ahead single in the tenth. Spencer Torkelson promptly singled home two more, and Detroit held on 8 to 6. Riley Greene opened the affair with a three-run blast, Suzuki and Busch went deep for Chicago, Jansen took the win, and Holton recorded his first save. The Cubbies' grip on the National's first wild card holds, though the evening cost them a game on idle no one — every club played.

ALVAREZ, TWICE MORE: THE HOUSTON NINE TOP MIAMI, 8 TO 5, AS THE CROWN WATCH TICKS ON

Yordan Alvarez struck two home runs — his two-and-thirtieth and three-and-thirtieth — and the Triple Crown watch continues in earnest: he leads the American League outright in average at .324, in home runs, and in runs driven in at five-and-seventy. Jeremy Peña added a blast, Blanco fanned eight in his return to the slab, and Houston turned back the Gulf Stream nine 8 to 5. Hicks and Mack homered for Miami, whose losing string has stretched to seven.

THE SENATORS STAY ABOVE THE LINE: ABRAMS THUNDERS AGAIN IN A 7-TO-3 HANDLING OF COLORADO

Washington's evening in the thin air went smoothly enough: CJ Abrams struck his two-and-twentieth home run, young Jacob Young and Chaparro added clouts of their own, and Daylen Lile legged a ninth-inning triple in a 7-to-3 decision over the Mile High nine. Freeland fell to two-and-nine for the hosts. The Washingtons, a game above the level line at one-and-fifty wins and fifty defeats, quietly own a winning ledger few predicted.

McNEIL OFF THE BENCH TURNS THE SEVENTH; MACKMEN 5, SONORAN NINE 2

Deadlocked late in the desert, the Mackmen sent Jeff McNeil up to pinch-hit in the seventh and he delivered the single that broke the game open — a three-run frame in all, toward a 5-to-2 verdict upon fifteen hits. Wilson homered, and Kuroda-Grauer struck the first home run of his career before leaving hurt (see the infirmary column). Ketel Marte's eighteenth homer was the whole of Arizona's reply; Medina won it, Ginkel lost it.

THEY WALKED THE BASES FULL ON PURPOSE — AND RALEIGH EMPTIED THEM: SEATTLE 8, CINCINNATI 0

Strategy met its comeuppance in Seattle. The Red Stockings, electing discretion, intentionally loaded the bases in the seventh — whereupon Cal Raleigh struck a grand slam, the sixth of his career and his tenth homer of the year, blowing a close game to flinders. George Kirby had already done the fine work, six scoreless innings toward a combined 8-to-0 whitewash, and Julio Rodríguez singled home the opener. The M's, winners of three straight, hold the American West's summit by half a game over Texas.

A WALK-OFF BY WELT: ADELL IS PLUNKED WITH THE SACKS FULL AND THE SERAPHS TAKE IT, 3 TO 2

The strangest finish on the card belonged to Anaheim. Down 2 to 1 in the ninth, the Seraphs drew level on Vaughn Grissom's double — upheld by the umpires upon review — and then loaded the bases for Jo Adell, who won the game by taking a pitch upon his person: a walk-off hit-by-pitch, 3 to 2, over the Mound City nine. Adell had earlier homered, his fourteenth, and thereby argued his own trade-deadline case twice in one evening. Church and Jordan drove in St. Louis's early runs; O'Brien wore the sudden defeat, the Cardinals' third loss running.

Fifteen contests set down this morning, and the ledger fairly groans with curiosities: a winning streak grown to fourteen in Boston, seven Cleveland home runs in a single sitting, a game won by a bunt in Kansas City, a game won by a bruise in Anaheim, and in Seattle a grand slam struck directly through the front door the Reds had politely opened on purpose. Tonight the same fifteen engagements run again, and the desk marks three: Wrobleski against Wheeler in Philadelphia — ten-and-two facing ten-and-one, the summer's handsomest pitching bill — Burns and his eleven wins against Castillo in Seattle, and at Fenway the Crimson Hose seeking a fifteenth straight with Bradish opposing Suarez. Until the morrow's dispatch, keep your scorecards near and your enthusiasms nearer.

~ THE HERALD ~