The Baseball Buffet for 7/21/2025

Issue #342

The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day! Free subscribers get daily game summaries and the current standings—supporters get a wealth of additional daily features!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 115th day of the season featured a full slate of Sunday games:

• CHW 7, PIT 2 - Andrew Heaney allowed four runs in the first inning (4 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K), including homers by Miguel Vargas and Mike Tauchman. Aaron Civale on the other hand pitched well (6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) and the Sox completed the sweep of the Pirates.

• SFG 6, TOR 8 - Matt Chapman had his 13th HR of the year for the Giants, but the Blue Jays had three dingers from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., George Springer, and Addison Barger. Yariel Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his second save on the year.

• SDP 8, WAS 1 - Riley Adams hit a HR in the fifth inning, but that was the only scoring the Nats would do today as Nick Pivetta otherwise pitched a good game (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) and two Padres relievers kept runs off the board the rest of the way. Meanwhile, San Diego pounced on MacKenzie Gore early (2.1 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 2 K), including a grand slam by Xander Bogaerts in the first, and 2-run HR by Elias Diaz in the third.

• NYY 4, ATL 2 - Matt Olson hit his 18th HR of the year, but Marcus Stroman otherwise pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K). Ronald Acuña Jr. added a solo HR off Devin Williams in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough as the Yankees had scored four earlier including Aaron Judge hitting his 36th HR of the year.

• CIN 2, NYM 3 - Both starting pitchers did pretty well: Andrew Abbott (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K) and David Peterson (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). Nothing flashy on offense in this one, with the Mets doing just enough to get the win, and Ryne Stanek securing his 2nd save of the year with a scoreless ninth.

• ATH 2, CLE 8 - Gavin Williams was outstanding (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K), and the Guardians tallied 13 hits, with Angel Martinez going 3-5 with a HR and a double, and David Fry going 2-5 with a double and 4 RBI.

• KCR 7, MIA 4 - Kris Bubic did well again (5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), and Salvador Perez hit a HR for the second day in a row, his 16th on the season. The Marlins scored four in the bottom of the ninth off Andrew Hoffmann, but then closer Carlos Estévez came in and got the last out and 26th save on the year.

• BAL 5, TBR 3 - Danny Jansen hit a HR in the fourth inning, but Orioles starter Trevor Rogers otherwise pitched fairly well (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K). Baltimore got homers from Jackson Holliday, Alex Jackson, and Ryan O’Hearn, and although he let up several baserunners, Felix Bautista finished off the game with his 19th save of the year.

• LAA 8, PHI 2 - Otto Kemp hit his second HR of the year, but Angels starter José Soriano had a good game aside from that (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K). LA tallied 13 hits, including getting a lot of baserunners off Ranger Suárez (4.1 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 4 K). Taylor Ward was 2-4 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI, and Lamonte Wade Jr. went 3-4 with a HR.

• BOS 6, CHC 1 - Cade Horton pitched five shutout innings (5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K), and the Cubs actually out hit the Sox 8-7 in this game. But they were only 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position, and their bullpen allowed three HR, including two by Wilyer Abreu, and a pinch-hit 3-run HR by Alex Bregman. Meanwhile, Garrett Crochet was solid yet again (6 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), and three Boston relievers kept Chicago off the board.

• MIN 7, COL 1 - Joe Ryan struck out 11 in 7 innings (7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K), only allowing one run via a HR by Mickey Moniak in the third. The Twins had 12 hits in all, including two homers by Royce Lewis and one apiece by Matt Wallner and Harrison Bader.

• STL 3, AZ 5 - Eugenio Suárez hit HR in the first and third innings of Miles Mikolas, his 34th and 35th of the season (and his second consecutive game with 2 HR). Merrill Kelly pitched fairly well (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K), and after hitting triples yesterday, Corbin Carroll went 2-4 with another triple today, his MLB-leading 13th on the year.

• HOU 11, SEA 3 - Seattle scored their runs in the third and fourth innings, and Hunter Brown left after having struck out 7, but allowing a lot of baserunners (4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K). Four Astros relievers kept the Mariners off the board for the rest of the way, while Houston started scoring in the fifth inning and didn’t look back. Overall they had 13 hits, with Taylor Trammell going 3-4 with a HR and a double, Victor Caratini going 3-4 with a double, and Christian Walker hitting a solo HR, his 13th on the year.

• MIL 6, LAD 5 - Shohei Ohtani hit another HR, his 34th on the year, and Esteury Ruiz hit his first dinger of 2025. Clayton Kershaw came out during the fifth inning (4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), but the next two Dodgers who relieved him let up three more runs. The score was 6-4 going into the bottom of the ninth. The Dodgers loaded the bases, and then Dalton Rushing got an infield single that drove in Will Smith. But with two outs and the bases still loaded Mookie Betts lined out sharply to center and the game was over.

• DET 2, TEX 1 - Rangers starter Jacob Latz did fairly well (5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K), but Detroit’s Tarik Skubal was outstanding (6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 11 K). Gleyber Torres was 3-4 and scored one of the Tigers two runs, and Will Vest struck out 2 over the final 1.1 innings to notch his 16th save of the year.

Standings

I am tinkering with how to provide current standings as part of The Baseball Buffet (full divisions most days, wild-card standings on some days, etc.) Here also is a link to the official standings at MLB.com.

Of note to me:

• The Brewers extended their winning streak to 10 games. Coupled with a Cubs loss, they are now tied for the NL Central lead. They open new series today against the Mariners, in Seattle.

• The Tigers snapped their 6-game losing streak backed by Tarik Skubal’s gem.

Today’s Trivia Question

Aaron Judge’s 36th HR yesterday was the 351st of his career. That places him in a tie for sixth on the all-time Yankees HR leaderboard. Can you name the five players ahead of him and the one he is tied with? (Bonus points if you can name them in the correct order.)

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