The Baseball Buffet for 8/3/2025

Issue #355

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 129th day of the season featured a full slate of Saturday games:

• PIT 5, COL 8 - Paul Skenes did well through five innings (5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K), but then was tagged for 4 runs in the sixth, including a 3-run HR by Jordan Beck. Orlando Arcia added a solo HR later in the eighth, and rookie Warming Bernabel had a good game going 3-4 with 2 doubles. Meanwhile the Pirates offense was a primarily a one-man show, as Liover Peguero played 1B, hit leadoff, and had the best game of his young career in the losing effort, going 3-5 with 3 HR and 5 RBI.

• LAD 0, TBR 4 - Blake Snell made only his third start of the season and struck out 8 over 5 innings. But his former teammate Yandy Diaz hit 2 HR off him and was 3-4 with 3 RBI overall on the day. Junior Caminero added a solo HR late in the game, his 28th of the season. Meanwhile, Drew Rasmussen pitched well (5.1 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K) and three Rays relievers combined for the shutout.

• BAL 4, CHC 3 - The Cubs all wore #23 in honor of the late Ryne Sandberg, and Nico Hoerner (who plays 2B, Sandberg’s position) had a good game going 3-4 with a double and 2 RBI. Matthew Boyd was once again excellent (7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K), but then the Cubs bullpen allowed four runs in the top of the eighth, including a 3-run HR by Gunnar Henderson.

• KCR 2, TOR 4 - Max Scherzer pitched well (6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K), only allowing HR to Salvador Perez in the sixth inning, his 20th on the season. Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman struck out two in the ninth to earn his 26th save.

• DET 7, PHI 5 - In what promised to be the pitching duel of the day, both starters delivered the strikeouts with 10 K each. The hitters got to them though, with Zach Wheeler (6 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 10 K) giving up three HR to Colt Keith, Kerry Carpenter, and Javier Báez; and Tarik Skubal (7 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 10 K) finally getting nicked for a HR by Nick Castellanos in the seventh inning. Gleyber Torres also had a homer for the Tigers, and Bryce Harper had a 2-run HR for the Phillies. In the end, new Detroit closer Kyle Finnegan recorded the last four outs for his 21st save.

• MIL 8, WAS 2 - Brandon Woodruff once again pitched very well (6 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K), with the only hit he allowed being a 2-run HR by rookie Robert Hassell III. Three Brewers relievers combined on a 2-hit shutout, while Milwaukee’s lineup tallied 15 hits, including Christian Yelich going 3-4 with a HR and 3 runs, and Brice Turang going 3-5 with 2 doubles.

• HOU 3, BOS 7 - The Astros outhit the Red Sox 14-10, but they were only 2-11 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base. Christian Walker was 2-3 with a HR and 2 walks, and Victor Caratini went 4-5, but Houston starter Colton Gordon (4 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) allowed three homers to Romy Gonzalez, Trevor Story, and Abraham Toro. Six Boston relievers kept the Astros off the board, including closer Aroldis Chapman who recorded the final two outs for his 20th save of the year.

• SFG 6, NYM 12 - Dominic Smith and Willy Adames each had 2-run homers, but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Mets collected 13 hits. Brandon Nimmo was 3-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBI, Francisco Lindor was 3-4 with a double, a walk, and 4 RBI, and Pete Alonso was 2-4 with a HR, a double, a walk, and 3 RBI.

• TEX 6, SEA 4 - Merrill Kelly did fairly well in this debut for the Rangers (5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K), and Kyle Higashioka hit a 2-run HR in the third inning. The game was tied 2-2 through nine, and both teams scored two runs in the tenth, including Randy Arozarena hitting a 2-run HR for the Mariners. In the top of the 11th, with runners on first and third, Wyatt Langford singled to right to drive in Adolis Garcia, and then Ezequiel Duran singled to right to drive in Sam Haggerty for an added insurance run. Luis Curvelo, in only his second major league game, kept the Mariners off the board and earned his first save.

• MIN 4, CLE 5 - It was José Ramírez jersey giveaway day at the stadium, and he came through twice with a 2-run HR in the fifth to tie the game up, and then with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth when Bo Naylor drove him in from second with a double. Daniel Schneemann also did well in this one, going 3-4 with a HR and a double, and Hunter Gaddis struck out three in the ninth for his first save of the year.

• NYY 0, MIA 2 - Agustín Ramírez was 2-3 with two solo HR against the Yankees, the franchise that brought him into professional baseball from the Dominican Republic. That is all the scoring the Marlins needed, as Ramirez’s fellow countryman Eury Pérez did well (6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) and three Miami relievers combined for a 2-hit shutout, with Calvin Faucher recording his 11th save.

• AZ 7, ATH 2 - The Athletics outhit the D-Backs 10-7, but they were all singles and doubles, while three of Arizona’s hits were HR by Ketel Marte, Alek Thomas, and Corbin Carroll. Zac Gallen allowed nine hits, but overall pitched well enough (6 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K), and three Arizona relievers hurled scoreless innings.

• CHW 1, LAA 0 - Kyle Hendricks did pretty well (5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K) and four Angels relievers pitched scoreless innings. But the lone run the White Sox scored in the second inning was all it took as Aaron Civale was outstanding (6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) and two Chicago relievers combined for a one-hit shutout, with Jordan Leasure earning his third save of the year. As hot of a hitter as Andrew Vaughn has been since being traded to the Brewers, Aaron Civale has lately been proving his worth for the White Sox: over his last three starts he has 17.1 IP, 0 ER, 20 K, 7 H, 3 BB.

• STL 8, SDP 5 - The Padres built a 4-0 lead through three innings, including Jackson Merrill hitting a solo HR in the third. But then the Cardinals tied it up with four in the top of the fourth, including a 3-run HR by Pedro Pagés. They went on to score two in the fifth and two more in the ninth, while JoJo Romero let up a run in the bottom of the ninth but closed it out for his first save on the year.

• ATL 0, CIN 1 - SUSP. After a long rain delay, this game couldn’t get past the first inning and was suspended due to rain at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The game will be resumed today, which was otherwise an off day for these two teams after the special game.

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:

• Boston has overtaken New York for second place in the AL East.

• The Mets and Phillies flip-flopped in the very close NL East.

Today’s Trivia Question

Pete Alonso’s HR yesterday was the 250th of his career. Who is the only other player to have 250 or more HR with the Mets? (Bonus points if you can name the others in the Mets top-five.)

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).

➕ Sent on a Rehab Assignment

• TEX 1B Jake Burger

• NYY RP Mark Leiter Jr.

• MIL RP Rob Zastryzny

• HOU SP J.P. France

• NYM RP Brandon Waddell

• CHW SP Martín Pérez

• MIA CF Derek Hill

🤕 Placed on the IL

• COL SP Antonio Senzatela - 15-day IL (right middle finger blister)

• TEX CF Evan Carter - 10-day IL (back spasms)

• CHW RP Dan Altavilla - 15-day IL (right late strain)

👋🏻 Released

• LAA 1B LaMonte Wade Jr.

• LAA IF Kevin Newman

MLB Debut

• CLE RF C.J. Kayfus - The 23-year old started in RF and batted eighth for the Guardians in their 5-4 win over the Athletics. He went 0-4 with an RBI and a strikeout. Before the call-up he had 13 HR and a .283 average in 68 games at AAA Columbus.

League Leaders

Several of the leaders in pitching strikeouts were on the mound yesterday, so here is the updated leaderboard:

• 182 - PHI Zack Wheeler

• 181 - DET Tarik Skubal

• 175 - BOS Garrett Crochet

• 156 - NYY Carlos Rodón

• 155 - HOU Hunter Brown

• 155 - SFG Logan Webb

• 154 - PIT Paul Skenes

• 153 - SDP Dylan Cease

• 148 - WAS MacKenzie Gore

• 144 - DET Jack Flaherty

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 3…

• 1909: Way before Alomar, an umpire spits at a 2B. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Umpire Tim Hurst instigates a riot by spitting in the face of Athletics 2B Eddie Collins, who had questioned a call. Under police guard, Hurst is ushered off the field. This incident will eventually lead to Hurst's banishment from baseball in two weeks.”

• 1930: Chuck Klein has a 26-game hitting streak, for the second time in one year. As described at baseball-reference.com, “In the first of two in a doubleheader sweep over the Braves, Chuck Klein hits safely in his 26th consecutive game, the second time this season he has run a streak to this length. He will hit safely in 135 of his team's 156 games this season. Klein, who hit .434 in the stretch, is stopped in the second game of the doubleheader. The Phils win, 11-5 and 4-1.”

• 1987: Joe Niekro is caught with a file in his pocket. As described at baseball-reference.com, “The Twins' Joe Niekro is caught with a file on the mound and is ejected during the 4th inning of Minnesota's 11-3 win over California. He will be suspended for ten games by American League president Bobby Brown, who doesn't buy Niekro's story that he had been filing his nails on the bench and stuck the file in his back pocket when the inning started.”

• 1989: The Reds set several offensive records in beating the Astros 18-2. As described at baseball-reference.com, “The Reds score fourteen runs in the first inning of an 18-2 demolition of the Astros. Major league records set during the onslaught include most hits in an inning (16), most players with two hits in an inning (7), and most singles in an inning (12).”

• 1998: Three ‘hits’ for C.J. Nitkowski ties record. As described at baseball-reference.com, “Houston pitcher C.J. Nitkowski hits three consecutive Marlin batters with pitches in the 8th inning: Dock Ellis (1974) and Wilbur Wood (1977) are the only other pitchers since 1900 to hit three batters in a row.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys🎉

• Harry Heilmann (1894) is a Hall of Famer who had a 17-year major league career, spanning from 1914-1932, mostly as a RF and 1B for the Tigers. He won four AL Batting Titles with impressive marks of .394 in 1921, .403 in 1923, .393 in 1925, and .398 in 1927. He was no slouch during the even-numbered years in that span either, batting .356, .346, and .367. As baseball shifted to more HR hitting in the 1920s, so did Heilmann to some extent, hitting 15+ five times, with eight seasons of 100+ RBI. Heilmann paced the AL with 237 hits in 1921, 45 doubles in 1924, and 134 RBI in 1925. Overall, he had 151 triples, 183 HR, 1,543 RBI, a .342/.410/.520 slash line, and a 148 OPS+.

• Troy Glaus (1976) was drafted in the first round (3rd overall) by the Angels in 1997, and was already up in the majors in 1998. He spent the first half of his 13-year career with LA, and the second half with Arizona, Toronto, St. Louis, and Atlanta. He had 25+ HR in seven seasons, including an AL-leading 47 HR in 2000. He posted 100+ RBI four times, and scored 100+ runs three times. A four-time All-Star, he mostly played 3B and overall had 320 career HR, a .254/.358/.489 slash line, and a 119 OPS+.

• Rod Beck (1968) had a 13-year major league pitching career as a reliever, spanning from 1991-2004. He spent the first half with the Giants and the second half with the Red Sox, Cubs, and Padres. He had 25+ saves in six seasons, including highs of 48 in 1993 and 51 in 1998. A three-time All-Star, Beck overall had 286 saves, a 3.30 ERA, and a 124 ERA+. He also had one of the best mustaches of his generation.

• Mark Reynolds (1983) had a 13-year career as a 3B/1B with an all-or-nothing approach at the plate. He hit 20+ HR in eight seasons, including highs of 44 in 2009 and 37 in 2011. But he also struck out 150+ times in seven seasons, including leading the NL in strikeouts four consecutive times. He remains the record holder for most strikeouts in a season with 223 for the Diamondbacks in 2009. Overall, Reynolds had 298 HR, 1,927 strikeouts, a .236/.328/.453 slash line, and a 103 OPS+.

Currently active players who were born on August 3 include AZ Zac Gallen, CHW Luis Robert Jr., PHI Alec Bohm, CHW Jared Shuster, and ATH Darell Hernaiz.

Today’s Matchups

Today we have a nearly full slate of Sunday games (14), so there are lots of possibilities. Some games and pitchers that jump out to me are:

• NYY vs. MIA has Luis Gil making his 2025 major league debut, and the Marlins will counter with Edward Cabrera (3.35 ERA, 96 K in 94 IP) who has done well in his last two starts.

• DET vs. PHI is game three of this important series, with 41-year old Charlie Morton making his first start for the Tigers, and the Phillies going with Cristopher Sánchez (2.55, 139 K in 130.2 IP).

Also on the mound today are HOU Framber Valdez, LAD Yoshinobu Yamamoto, MIL Jacob Misiorowski, KCR Seth Lugo, SDP Dylan Cease, TEX Jacob deGrom, and PHI Cristopher Sánchez.

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:

• HOU Carlos Correa, 7-27 with 3 HR vs. BOS Lucas Giolito

• HOU Jose Altuve, 4-16 with 2 HR vs. BOS Lucas Giolito

• PHI Brandon Marsh, 4-14 with 2 HR vs. DET Charlie Morton

• PHI Kyle Schwarber, 7-23 with 2 HR vs. DET Charlie Morton

• SEA Mitch Garver, small sample but is 2-2 with 2 HR vs. Jacob deGrom

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:

• PHI Bryce Harper, 12-29 with a HR, a triple, and a double vs. DET Charlie Morton

• ATH Gio Urshela, 9-24 with a HR and a double vs. AZ Eduardo Rodriguez

• COL Kyle Farmer, 8-15 with a double vs. PIT Mitch Keller

• COL Orlando Arcia, small sample but is 5-8 with a double vs. PIT Mitch Keller

• SFG Rafael Devers, 6-14 with 2 doubles vs. NYM Frankie Montas

Who is streaking?

Active hit streaks

• 15 - SDP Luis Arraez

• 10 - PIT Tommy Pham

• 10 - NYM Mark Vientos

• 10 - SDP Manny Machado

• 9 - TEX Josh Jung

• 8 - MIL Andrew Vaughn

• 8 - NYY Giancarlo Stanton

• 7 - COL Warming Bernabel

• 7 - BOS Roman Anthony

• 7 - SFG Dominic Smith

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:

• PHI Trea Turner, 3-23 with 8 K vs. DET Charlie Morton

• PHI Nick Castellanos, 2-21 with 6 K vs. DET Charlie Morton

⚾ Enjoy the games today!⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Darryl Strawberry is the all-time leader in HR for the Mets, though Pete Alonso looks to be passing him very soon:

• 252 - Darryl Strawberry

• 250 - Pete Alonso

• 242 - David Wright

• 220 - Mike Piazza

• 192 - Howard Johnson

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.

• 7 compelling August storylines to watch, by Will Leitch at MLB, 8/3/2025

• First Annual Emoji Trade Deadline Review, by Joe Posnanski at JoeBlogs, 7/31/2025

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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