There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to handle themselves.
That’s why we’re here to help, though, by sifting through the previous days’ games, and figuring out what you missed, but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from the weekend in Major League Baseball:
Phillies snap tie atop NL East
The Mets snapped a seven-game losing streak on Saturday against the Phillies with a seven-homer offensive outburst, but Sunday was a different story. Jesús Luzardo and the Philly bullpen held the Mets to just one run, while the lineup scored seven runs with a balanced attack — one that saw three Phillies pick up two hits, and another, Edmundo Sosa, collected three.
Sosa also led the way for Philadelphia with three RBIs, courtesy a three-run homer in a five-run fourth, and he tried to pick up another run with a double, as well, though his teammates failed to drive him in. Luzardo was the star, however: after an uneven outing against the Marlins in which he allowed four runs in five innings, with four walks and strikeouts a piece, Luzardo held New York to three hits, a walk, and no runs allowed over 6.2 frames, while striking out seven Mets.
The loss is notable for one more thing, however: the Mets had won 28 consecutive games in which shortstop Francisco Lindor had hit a home run, but on Sunday, Lindor’s solo shot in the eighth was the only offense the team could put together. Too little, too late, on both accounts.
The Mets and Phillies won’t meet up again until a three-game series in New York begins on August 25 — a reminder that Philadelphia might be in first now, but there’s a whole lot of season left to determine the eventual NL East champion.
Big Dumper’s big weekend
Cal Raleigh is crushing the ball right now. On Friday, he hit his 28th and 29th homers of the season, tying and then breaking Johnny Bench’s record for the most home runs by a catcher before the All-Star break — and he did it 14 games faster than Bench had, to boot. On Saturday, he smashed his 30th home run of the year, a record for the most home runs by a switch-hitter at any position before the All-Star break. He’s also the only Mariners player besides Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. to reach 30 dingers before the break.
He wasn’t done, however: Raleigh hit his 31st long ball of the season on Sunday, his fourth of the weekend against the Cubs. He’s now batting .276/.383/.659 with 31 homers — four more than Aaron Judge, who sits in second in the majors — and has an OPS+ of 200 for the season. Raleigh’s career-high in homers is 34, achieved last year, and that’s usually an astounding season for a backstop.
The record for home runs by a catcher in a single season is 48, by Salvador Perez in 2021. Raleigh still has a ways to go to get to that point, but every time he goes yard before we even hit July, the more realistic his chasing that figure feels.
Ohtani pitches again, hits like Ohtani, too
Shohei Ohtani made his second start of the season on Sunday, against the Washington Nationals. While the excitement surrounding the first game had a lot more to do with the fact he was pitching at all rather than the results, he looked more like himself the second time around. Ohtani would pick up two strikeouts — his first as a Dodger — in his one inning of work, and he didn’t give up a hit nor a run, either.
And then, he did the real heavy lifting for the day at the plate. With the bases loaded in the seventh, Ohtani hit a bases-clearing triple.
And then, in the eighth, the two-way star piled on, hitting his 26th home run of the season to put the Dodgers up 12-3, and give him five RBIs on the day.
So, let’s recap. Ohtani struck out two over a scoreless, hitless inning of work, in which he threw just 18 pitches, 12 for strikes. He then proceeded to go 2-for-4 at the plate with a triple, home run, and a walk, driving in five while scoring three times himself. We’re real, real close to the Ohtani the Dodgers signed being fully back.
Caglianone robs homers, too
Royals’ rookie and powerful prospect Jac Caglianone made headlines last week for mashing not just his first big-league home run, but his second, too. While he hasn’t gone deep again since, on Sunday, he did keep someone else from hitting a homer, which is its own kind of exciting.
Did we mention that Caglianone is actually a first baseman? He’s played a little bit of outfield this season in both the minors and the majors, since Kansas City already has Vinnie Pasquantino at first, but first base is where he spent his time in college with Florida, and in High-A in 2024 after he was drafted by the Royals. He’s certainly got the arm for the outfield, since his other position in college was pitcher.
Padres win on two wild plays
Caglianone might have kept the game tied with that robbery in the bottom of the eighth, but the Padres would end up prevailing, anyway. San Diego had their own excellent defensive play in the top of the ninth, when Freddy Fermin doubled to right field. Jackson Merrill fired the ball in from nearly the warning track, and the relay throw from Jose Iglesias was there waiting at home for Drew Waters… who avoided the tag by catcher Elias Díaz by diving past.
However! Waters also missed home plate, and Díaz wasn’t about to let him get there.
An excellent play all around — Fermin got the hit the Royals needed, Waters did what he could to avoid the tag until he was called out because there was nowhere to go, and the trio of Merrill, Iglesias, and Díaz all hitting their spots was all that kept the game tied.
Iglesias would then play hero once more in the bottom of the ninth. After already tying the game in the seventh inning with a single to right, Iglesias would hit it up the middle with one out — Bobby Witt Jr. had no choice but to go home with Luis Arraez already most of the way to scoring by the time he picked up the ball, and the Padres scored.
Iglesias tied the game, helped preserve that tie, and then walked it off for San Diego in a matter of three innings. A pretty good Sunday.
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