The Baseball Buffet for 8/9/2026

ATH 7, BOS 3 - The Red Sox scored two in the bottom of the first, but then ATH SP Gage Jump settled in and posted a career-high 11 K over 6 innings (6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB). Fellow rookie BOS SP Jake Bennett gave up several runs in the middle innings (5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K), and then Tyler Soderstrom hit a solo HR in the seventh, and Henry Bolte hit one in the ninth. Jacob Wilson went 2-5 with 2 doubles and 2 runs for the Athletics, while Jahmai Jones went 3-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI, and Nick Sogard was 3-4 with 2 doubles for the Red Sox. The outcome meant the end of Boston's nine game winning streak, and also the end of the A's nine-game losing streak.

DET 8, SFG 0 - SFG SP Landen Roupp (5.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K) threw five scoreless innings but lost his control in the sixth, loading the bases with three walks. Keaton Winn relieved him and immediately walked Spencer Torkelson for the first run of the game. The Tigers then scored six runs in the seventh, and added one more in the ninth. Max Clark went 2-5 with a triple and 2 RBI; and Dillon Dingler, Zack McKinstry, and Eduardo Valencia each hit a double. Meanwhile, DET SP Jackson Jobe was outstanding (5 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) in his first major league start after coming back from Tommy John surgery, and two Detroit relievers threw two scoreless innings each to combine for a 2-hit shutout.

TOR 7, PHI 5 - PHI SP Aaron Nola had 8 K over 5 innings (6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB), allowing a solo HR to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first inning. TOR SP Max Scherzer (5.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) tossed five scoreless frames, before the Phillies' bats came alive in the sixth, including back-to-back HRs by Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. They kept hitting and scoring against Blue Jays reliever Spencer Miles, taking a 4-2 lead at that point. Toronto tied the game with two runs in the eighth off Phillies' reliever José Alvarado, and the game eventually went into extras. Both teams scored a run in the 10th, and the Phillies gave Chase Shugart a second inning of work in the 11th. He managed to get two outs, but then Nathan Lukes hit a 2-run HR. The Blue Jays turned to rookie Lazaro Estrada for the bottom of the 11th, and he pitched a 1-2-3 inning for his first major league save.

Of note, Scherzer slotted into tenth on the all-time strikeout list, moving past Walter "Big Train" Johnson, with his 3,516th strikeout. There is some discrepancy in Johnson's career total, with the Elias Sports Bureau, the official record keepers for MLB, having his total at 3,515, while baseball-reference.com has his total at 3,509. Either way, Scherzer is now ahead of him and tenth on the career leaderboard.

ATL 4, NYY 5 - This game was a great matchup of starting pitchers, and both did fairly well: ATL SP Chris Sale (6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) and NYY SP Gerrit Cole (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 9 K). Home runs came after those two aces departed, with George Lombard Jr. hitting a solo HR in the seventh, the second of his young career, and Ronald Acuña Jr. hitting one in the eighth to bring the Braves within one. But then Ben Rice hit a solo HR in the bottom of the inning, his 32nd of the year, to put the Yankees back up by two. Closer David Bednar came in for the ninth, and he walked Mike Yastrzemski, who then advanced to second later on defensive indifference. With two outs Dominic Smith singled to drive him in, but then Bednar got Drake Baldwin to line out to earn his 26th save. Lombard Jr. went 2-3 with a walk and 2 runs, and fellow rookie Spencer Jones was 2-3 with a walk, a triple, and 2 RBI.

Also of note, Tommy John shared a written thank you message to fans ahead of yesterday's Old-Timers Day festivities at Yankee Stadium--see article by Bryan Hoch at MLB.

LAA 0, MIA 7

NYM 0, PIT 9

CIN 2, WSH 8

CHC 3, KCR 6

MIN 3, MIL 4

HOU 2, SDP 3

COL 8, STL 6

BAL 1, TEX 5

CLE 3, CWS 6

LAD 2, ARI 1

TBR 3, SEA 2

Game summaries for every game

Current MLB standings

Notable player transactions… injuries, call-ups, free agent signings, trades, etc.

Rotating statistical leader lists

Current hitting streaks of seven or more games

On this day in baseball history…

Career summaries for each of The Birthday Boys

Daily Hitter Watch and Pitcher Watch lists - who has historically done well or poorly against their matchup today?

Good Reads… my favorite recent baseball articles from other writers

… and the answers to the daily trivia questions!

… and during the offseason I still publish every day, covering trades, free-agent signings, and other hot-stove season news!

ATL Grant Holmes vs. NYY Cam Schlittler - the final game of this big inter-league series features Holmes (7-4, 3.67 ERA) and Schlittler (10-6, 2.26 ERA)

CHC Matthew Boyd vs. KCR Steven Dobnak - Boyd has done fairly well this year (7-1, 3.59 ERA), while Dobnak has been outstanding in six appearances (four starts) with a 1.16 ERA over 31 IP

DET Troy Melton vs. SFG Logan Webb - Melton has been great this year (7-1, 1.58 ERA) while Giants' ace Webb has been generally solid (7-7, 3.74 ERA) and did well in his last outing on 8/3 against Texas (6 IP, 0 ER, 8 K)

LAD Justin Wrobleski vs. ARI Eduardo Rodríguez - the last game of this NL West series features two pitchers having generally good seasons in Wrobleski (11-3, 3.31 ERA) and Rodríguez (10-4, 2.71 ERA)