The Baseball Buffet for 8/12/2025

Issue #364

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!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The 138th day of the season featured a partial slate (11) of Monday games:

• PHI 4, CIN 1 - Taijuan Walker let up a run in the first inning, but then pitched well after that (6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K). Three Phillies relievers pitched scoreless innings with Orion Kerkering earning his third save. Andrew Abbott put seven zeroes on the board, but then got into trouble in the eighth (7.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K). Tony Santillan relieved him and allowed a HR to Kyle Schwarber, his 42nd on the season.

• MIN 2, NYY 6 - Will Warren pitched great, but finally allowed solo HR to Byron Buxton and Trevor Larnach late (6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K). Luke Weaver and David Bednar struck out 4 over 2.1 innings to close it out. Twins rookie starter Zebby Matthews had 9 K in 5.2 innings, but also allowed three solo HR to Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton, and Ben Rice, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. adding a fourth homer in the eighth.

• PIT 1, MIL 7 - Joey Bart hit a solo HR in the third inning, but Jose Quintana was otherwise solid (6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER , 1 BB, 3 K) and two Brewers relievers kept the Buccos off the board. Meanwhile, Brice Turang and Christian Yelich each hit solo HR and Milwaukee tallied 9 hits in 4 innings off Andrew Heaney (4 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K).

• WAS 4, KCR 7 - Josh Bell hit a 2-run HR in the first inning, and Paul DeJong did the same in the fifth. But those four runs wouldn’t be enough as the Royals had 10 hits including homers by Salvador Perez and Kyle Isbel. KC closer Carlos Estévez pitched the ninth and secured his 30th save, the second time in his career he’s reached that level.

• DET 2, CHW 1 - White Sox rookie Colson Montgomery hit his 10th HR in the fifth inning, but Detroit starter Chris Paddack otherwise had a good game (5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K). Three Tigers relievers kept Chicago off the board, with Will Vest notching his 17th save. Detroit had scored one run early, but then Spencer Torkelson hit a solo HR, his 26th on the year, for the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth.

• COL 2, STL 3 - Rockies rookie starter Chase Dollander did well (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), but so did Miles Mikolas (6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). Down 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Brendan Donovan doubled to drive in two runs that would ultimately be decisive.

• AZ 6, TEX 7 - The Diamondbacks managed 8 hits and 5 runs off Nathan Eovaldi, including homers by Tyler Locklear, Corbin Carroll, and Geraldo Perdromo. For the Rangers, Wyatt Langford hit a 3-run HR in the 6th, and then down 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth, Rowdy Tellez hit a HR to tie the game and force extras. Phil Maton kept the D-Backs from scoring in the tenth, and then with runners on second and third, Jake Burger singled to left to drive in Sam Haggerty for the walk-off win.

• BOS 6, HOU 7 - This one had some nice drama entering into it, as it was Carlos Correa’s first home game since returning to the Astros, and it was Alex Bregman’s first game back in Houston since he joined the Red Sox. Cheers turned to jeers quickly in his case, as he hit a 2-run HR in the first inning. Cristian Javier, making his first start of the year, settled in and did well after that (5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K). The Astros scored seven runs in the middle innings, including five off Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet (4 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K). Chas McCormick and Ramón Urías each hit 2-run homers, and while the Red Sox would score four in the seventh, including HR by Abraham Toro and Roman Anthony, it wouldn’t be quite enough.

• LAD 4, LAA 7 - Zach Neto led off the bottom of the first with a HR, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto generally struggled this time out (4.2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 6 K). Neto hit a second HR in the sixth, while Jose Soriano pitched a good game (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K). The Dodgers scored four in the eighth from a solo HR by Shohei Ohtani, his 42nd of the season, and a 3-run HR by Max Muncy. But that wasn’t enough, as former longtime Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen struck out two in the ninth to earn his 22nd save.

• SDP 4, SFG 1 - Yu Darvish pitched well (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), finally giving up a HR to Rafael Devers in the sixth inning, his 23rd of the year. Freddy Fermin hit a 2-run HR in the seventh to help give the Padres a 4-1 lead. Mason Miller struck out three in the eighth, and then Robert Suarez pitched a scoreless ninth for his MLB-leading 33rd save.

• TBR 7, ATH 4 - Shea Langeliers hit his 24th HR, and Tyler Soderstrom hit his 22nd. But the Rays had three homers of their own from Christopher Morel, Brandon Lowe, and Junior Caminero, his 33rd of the season. Tampa tallied 15 hits, including Chandler Simpson going 3-3 and stealing his 33rd stolen base of the year. In the end Pete Fairbanks pitched a scoreless ninth for this 20th save.

Standings

I am providing current standings as part of The Baseball Buffet (regular standings by division most days, wild-card standings on Wednesdays.) The image below is a modified version of the text-based standings at Plain Text Sports, and here also is a link to the official standings at MLB.com.

Notes:

• The Brewers won again, extending their streak to 10.

• The Padres won and the Dodgers lost, which means LA has only a one game lead in the NL West.

• Current Wild Card Leaders: SEA/BOS/NYY and CHC/SDP/NYM

Today’s Trivia Question

This will be a similar style question to what we had yesterday. Justin Verlander recently topped the 3,500 career strikeouts milestone. Who are the only nine other pitchers to have 3,500+ K in their careers?

Who’s on the move?

In this section I won’t list 26th-man moves, or every time a team shuttles relievers back and forth to AAA to keep a stock of fresh arms in the bullpen. I’ll focus on the biggest, more impactful demotions, promotions, and injury list changes (for a full list, see all the latest MLB transactions).

🤕 Placed on the IL

• KCR RP Hunter Harvey - 15-day IL (right adductor strain)

League Leaders

It is very tight at the top of the pitcher’s strikeouts leaderboard:

• 189 - PHI Zack Wheeler

• 188 - BOS Garrett Crochet

• 187 - DET Tarik Skubal

• 169 - SDP Dyland Cease

• 168 - SFG Logan Webb

• 162 - PIT Paul Skenes

• 160 - HOU Hunter Brown

• 159 - NYY Carlos Rodón

• 158 - WAS MacKenzie Gore

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history (for a longer list, see the feature at the Baseball Almanac or the Bullpen feature at Baseball-Reference.com):

📅 On August 12…

• 1966: Art Shamsky hits three HR, including two in extra-innings. As described at baseball-reference.com, “At Crosley Field‚ long-ball lovers enjoy 11 home runs in one game‚ tying the most in any contest and setting a major league record for an extra-inning contest. Art Shamsky hits three consecutive dingers for Cincinnati‚ including two in extra innings. But Pittsburgh prevails, 13-11‚ scoring three in the 13th inning. Shamsky does not enter the game until the 8th‚ when he hits a two-run homer to put the Reds up, 8-7. His solo homer in the 10th ties the score at 9-9‚ as does his two-run homer in the 11th. Shamsky's pair of extra-inning homers is a first in the National League‚ and just the third time ever in the Majors.”

• 1970: Curt Flood loses his antitrust suit. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Judge Irving Ben Cooper rules against Curt Flood in his antitrust suit. Cooper says "Decisions of the Supreme Court are not lightly overruled... We find no general or widespread disregard of the extremely important position the player occupies... Clearly the preponderance of credible proof does not favor elimination of the reserve clause." However the judge says changes in the reserve clause should be made through negotiation, but denies Flood damages. Flood will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, but in vain.”

• 1974: Nolan Ryan strikes out 19. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Nolan Ryan fans 19 batters in the California Angels' 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox. Ryan breaks the American League record of 18 strikeouts set by Bob Feller in 1938 and ties the major league record set by Steve Carlton in 1969 and Tom Seaver in 1970. He also ties the major league record with 32 Ks in his last two games.”

• 1977: Manny Sanguillen breaks up a no-hitter… again. As described at baseball-reference.com, “For the second straight day‚ Oakland's Manny Sanguillen foils a no-hit bid. Today's single is off the Orioles' Jim Palmer‚ who settles for a two-hit, 6-0 victory. Yesterday's hit was off the Yankees' Mike Torrez‚ who finished with a 3-0 two-hitter.”

• 1984: The Braves and Padres have a brawl-filled game. As described at baseball-reference.com, “In one of the ugliest brawl-filled games in major league history‚ the Braves beat the Padres, 5-3, in Atlanta. The trouble begins when Atlanta's Pascual Perez hits Alan Wiggins in the back with the first pitch of the game‚ and escalates as the Padres pitchers retaliate by throwing at Perez all four times he comes to the plate. All in all‚ the game features two bench-clearing brawls‚ the second of which includes several fans‚ and 19 ejections‚ including both managers and both replacement managers. Padres manager Dick Williams will be suspended for ten days and fined $10‚000‚ while Braves manager Joe Torre and five players will each receive three-game suspensions.”

• 1987: The Braves trade Doyle Alexander for young prospect John Smoltz. As described at baseball-reference.com, “The Detroit Tigers, needing pitching help for the pennant drive, acquire Doyle Alexander from the Atlanta Braves for minor league pitcher John Smoltz. Alexander will go 10-1 for the Tigers, but Smoltz will turn out to be one a perennial All-Star and Hall of Famer.”

• 1994: The players go on strike. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Major League Baseball players go on strike. For the first time in 90 years, the World Series will not be held. Matt Williams' assault on the home run record held by Roger Maris is halted.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

• Christy Mathewson (1880) is a Hall of Famer who had a 17-year major league career, spanning from 1900-1916. He pitched almost entirely for the New York Giants, leading the NL in wins four times, ERA five times, and strikeouts five times. He won 20+ games 13 times, and 30+ games an impressive four times, including in 1908 when he won the NL Pitching Triple Crown for the second time with a 37-11 record, 1.43 ERA, and 259 strikeouts. A control artist, he led the league seven times in fewest walks per nine innings, and nine times paced the NL in K/BB ratio. Mathewson pitched in four World Series, going 5-5 but with a microscropic 0.97 ERA over 101.2 innings. Overall for his career he had a 373-188 (.665) record, 2.13 ERA, and a 136 ERA+.

• Ray Schalk (1892) is a Hall of Famer who had an 18-year career as a catcher, spanning from 1912-1929, and spent almost entirely with the Chicago White Sox. A .253 hitter with a .340 OBP, he didn’t have much power as he had only 11 career HR in 6,243 plate appearances. He stole 15+ bases in four seasons, with a high of 30 in 1916, and a career total of 177. But his main value came from his defense, as he was considered the finest catcher of his era. He led the AL in catcher fielding percentage four times, putouts nine times, caught stealing % three times, and remains the all-time leader in double plays turned as a catcher.

• Harlond Clift (1912) had a 12-year major league career, spanning from 1934-1945, mostly with the St. Louis Browns before finishing up with the Washington Senators. Primarily a 3B, he scored 100+ runs seven times, including a career high of 145 in 1936. He had a good eye at the plate, with 100+ walks in six seasons and a .400+ OBP in five consecutive seasons. In 1937 he was an All-Star and had 29 HR with 118 RBI, and then posted 34 HR with 118 RBI the following year. Overall, Clift had 178 HR, 1,070 runs, a .272/.390/.441 slash line, and a 116 OPS+.

• Ian Happ (1994) was the Cubs first-round draft pick (9th overall) in 2015. Up with the Cubs in 2017, he has provided great defense in LF, earning three NL Gold Glove Awards. A steady performer at the plate as well, Happ has hit 20+ HR four times, and thus far has 166 HR, a .246/.341/.445 slash line, and a 114 OPS+.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have a full slate of Tuesday games (15), so there are lots of possibilities. Some games and pitchers that jump out to me are:

• PIT vs. MIL features the Brewers on a 10-game winning streak, and two strong pitchers in Paul Skenes (1.94 ERA, 162 K in 144 IP) and Freddy Peralta (3.03 ERA, 141 K In 130.2 IP).

• NYM vs. ATL has two interesting starting pitchers in Spencer Strider (4.04 ERA, 98 K in 82.1 IP) who was rocked his last time out, and Clay Holmes (3.46 ERA, 97 K in 122.1 IP) who has had mixed results in his last several starts.

Also toeing the rubber today are SEA George Kirby, PHI Ranger Suárez, NYY Carlos Rodón, and SFG Robbie Ray.

HR Watch

Predicting who might hit a HR on any given day is a challenge. But here are a few to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• TEX Joc Pederson, 9-19 with 4 HR and 2 doubles vs. AZ Anthony DeSclafani

• SDP Manny Machado, 4-16 with 3 HR vs. SFG Robbie Ray

• NYM Brandon Nimmo, 9-22 with 2 HR, a triple, and 2 doubles vs. ATL Spencer Strider

• SEA Randy Arozarena, 3-9 with 2 HR vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• SFG Rafael Devers, only 4-18 but with 2 HR and a double vs. SDP Nestor Cortes

• SFG Matt Chapman, 4-16 with 2 HR and 2 doubles vs. SDP Nestor Cortes

• PHI Max Kepler, 6-23 with 2 HR and 3 doubles vs. CIN Brady Singer

Hits Watch

If you play MLB’s Beat the Streak mobile game, or otherwise bet on/parlay players to collect hits, I’ll try to provide some good options in this section. In addition to the HR Watch guys listed above, here are some others to consider based on opposing SP past performance:

• PIT Bryan Reynolds, 14-36 (.389) with a HR, a triple, and 2 doubles vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

• BAL Gunnar Henderson, 6-13 with a HR and a double vs. SEA George Kirby

• SEA Josh Naylor, small sample but is 6-9 with a HR and a double vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• SEA Julio Rodríguez, small sample but is 5-8 with a HR and a double vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• TEX Corey Seager, small sample but is 5-9 with a HR vs. AZ Anthony DeSclafani

• NYY Anthony Volpe, small sample is 5-9 with a HR vs. MIN Joe Ryan

• SDP Ramón Laureano, small sample but is 5-9 with a HR and 2 doubles vs. SFG Robbie Ray

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 14 - SFG Dominic Smith

• 11 - ATH Tyler Soderstrom

• 10 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• 9 - HOU Carlos Correa

• 9 - HOU Jose Altuve

• 8 - MIL Brice Turang

• 8 - AZ Geraldo Perdomo

Active HR Streaks

• 3 - LAD Shohei Ohtani

• 3 - SEA Cal Raleigh

• 3 - MIL Brice Turang

• 2 - CHW Colson Montgomery

• 2 - TOR Ernie Clement

• 2 - ATL Marcell Ozuna

• 2 - CHC Matt Shaw

• 2 - NYM Starling Marte

Who might struggle today?

Betting against any given player to not get a hit is tough, as guys in the starting lineup get at least one hit in a game more often than not. That said, here are some guys who clearly have struggled against their opposing SP today:

• PIT Tommy Pham, 1-12 with 7 K vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

• PIT Oneil Cruz, 1-12 with 3 K but the hit was a HR vs. MIL Freddy Peralta

• CHW Luis Robert Jr., 0-10 with 6 K vs. DET Jack Flaherty

• STL Willson Contreras, 0-10 with 4 K vs. COL Kyle Freeland

• SEA J.P. Crawford, 1-12 with 4 K vs. BAL Dean Kremer

• CIN Ke’Bryan Hayes, 2-16 with 4 K vs. PHI Ranger Suárez

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

The ten pitchers with 3,500+ strikeouts in their MLB careers are:

1. 5,714 - Nolan Ryan

2. 4,875 - Randy Johnson

3. 4,672 - Roger Clemens

4. 4,136 - Steve Carlton

5. 3,701 - Bert Blyleven

6. 3,640 - Tom Seaver

7. 3,574 - Don Sutton

8. 3,534 - Gaylord Perry

9. 3,509 - Walter Johnson

10. 3,503 - Justin Verlander

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• Never give up: Teams that overcame the largest division deficits, by Jason Foster at MLB, 8/11/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.

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