Below, there will be a few words and pursuits dedicated to, among others, left-handed starters Tarik Skubal, Robbie Ray, Kris Bubic and Jesús Luzardo. It was not only a jazzy Sunday for these southpaws, it’s been mostly effective and sometimes superbly spirited seasons for this quartet, who are four of 10 qualified portsiders currently with an ERA below three. If 10 sounds – instantly seems – tingle-worthy, it is. No year has finished with so many since the strike-shortened 1981 campaign had 10 and before that, one has to go back to a “Year of the Pitcher,” 1972, to find so many (there were 14 that season).
Tarik Skubal posted his first career shutout, a two-hit masterpiece with 13 strikeouts and no walks.
~Going back to 1901, Skubal produced the 25th shutout that featured at least 13 strikeouts with no walks and two or fewer hits. This collection holds six no-hitters, including perfect games by Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson and Matt Cain. Skubal is the only Tiger representative on this list of 25 and one of 12 left-handers. The dozen southpaws, by hits allowed:
0 Nap Rucker (1908), Sandy Koufax (1965), Randy Johnson (2004), Clayton Kershaw (2014)
1 Gary Peters (1963), Madison Bumgarner (2014)
2 Rube Waddell (1902), John Candelaria (1988), David Wells (1998), Érik Bédard (2007), Chris Capuano (2011), Tarik Skubal (2025)
~Skubal’s line produced a Game Score of 96 – the highest for any Tiger since Jim Bunning posted a 97 in the first game of a doubleheader on July 20, 1958. For the entirety of the Tigers’ franchise, Bunning and Skubal are the only two pitchers to have a score as high as 96 in a nine-inning effort (there are eight scores that required at least 10 innings of work).
~Skubal has three games this season with 10+ strikeouts and no walks. Since 1901, the most in any one season from a left-hander stands at six: by Randy Johnson in 2004 and Clayton Kershaw in 2016. The three are already the most in a season for any Tigers pitcher, eclipsing the two from Mickey Lolich (1968), Jeff Robinson (1988), Justin Verlander (2009, 2010), Max Scherzer (2014) and Skubal (2024).
Atlanta’s Spencer Schwellenbach fanned 11 with no walks in a loss on Sunday: the second time in his career he’s had that many K’s with no walks. The right-hander is the seventh Braves pitcher since 1901 to have multiple games like this, joining Greg Maddux (4), John Smoltz (3), Spencer Strider (3), Kevin Millwood (2), John Burkett (2) and Alex Wood (2).
Manny Machado doubled and homered for the Padres in their 5-3 win over the Braves and now has 347 longballs as part of 744 extra-base hits. With a few more notches in both categories, Machado would become the 20th player ever to reach 350/750 through his age-32 season. No one’s done this since Miguel Cabrera finished off his age-32 season in 2015 with 408/916. Mike Trout came really close, finishing his age-32 campaign in 2024 with 378 homers and 743 extra-base hits.
Robbie Ray improved to 7-0 on the year as he worked six innings of one-run ball and the Giants edged the Nationals, 3-2.
~Since the team has been the San Francisco Giants (1958), Ray is one of six hurlers for the club to open his year with at least 11 straight undefeated starts*.
14 Noah Lowry (2004 – opened 6-0)
12 Kevin Gausman (2021, opened 7-0)
11 Juan Marichal (1966 – opened 10-0)
11 Ron Herbel (1966 – opened 3-0)
11 Bill Swift (1992 – opened 6-0)
11 Robbie Ray (2024 – opened 7-0)
*Not counting John Brebbia, who did have 11 straight in 2022 but worked exactly one inning in each of the 11.
~The Giants have played 53 games, essentially one-third of a season. In the NL’s expansion era (since 1962), there are 16 pitchers in the league to have at least seven wins and no losses (with a minimum of 54.0 IP) through their clubs’ first third of the year. Organizing from lowest to highest ERA, Ray is pretty much right in the middle, his 2.56 the eighth lowest. The seven with lower marks in that category.
1988 David Cone is 7-0 with a 1.53
2016 Jake Arrieta is 9-0 with a 1.56
2013 Patrick Corbin is 8-0 with a 1.71
1993 Tommy Greene is 8-0 with a 1.87
2020 Max Fried is 7-0 with a 1.96
2006 Brandon Webb is 8-0 with a 2.01
2004 Roger Clemens in 8-0 with a 2.27
~In terms of Giants on this list of 16, there is one other: in 1962, Billy Pierce was 8-0 with a 3.43 ERA.
Kris Bubic allowed a run on two hits in seven frames in a no-decision, lowering his ERA to 1.45. The lefty’s ERA is not only the lowest ever for a Royals hurler 54 games into the season (min. 54.0 IP) but is tied for the 15th lowest for any southpaw in the expansion era at this stage and with this minimum.
1969-2025: Lowest ERA for a Royals Pitcher Through 54 Team Games (min. 54.0 IP)
1.45 Kris Bubic in 2025
1.55 Zack Greinke in 2009
1.74 Seth Lugo in 2024
2.04 Kevin Appier in 1995
2.08 Dick Drago in 1972
2.08 Jason Vargas in 2017
1961-2025: Lowest ERA for a LH Pitcher Through 54 Team Games (min. 54.0 IP)
| Player | ERA | Season |
| John Tudor | 0.98 | 1988 |
| Mike Cuellar | 1.01 | 1966 |
| Bob Knepper | 1.15 | 1981 |
| John Hiller | 1.28 | 1974 |
| Max Fried | 1.29 | 2025 |
| Jaime García | 1.32 | 2010 |
| Denny Lemaster | 1.33 | 1963 |
| Vida Blue | 1.36 | 1971 |
| Sandy Koufax | 1.40 | 1966 |
| Tommy John | 1.41 | 1968 |
| Atlee Hammaker | 1.41 | 1983 |
| Randy Johnson | 1.41 | 2000 |
| Jerry Koosman | 1.42 | 1968 |
| Claude Osteen | 1.44 | 1972 |
| Sandy Koufax | 1.45 | 1963 |
| Kris Bubic | 1.45 | 2025 |
*You may have noticed Max Fried being fifth on this list; thus, 2025 offers one of four examples of a season having multiple representatives, along with 1963, 1966 and 1968.
Brandon Lowe homered as part of a three-hit effort: a starring role in Tampa Bay’s 13-0 win over Toronto. The second baseman has an extra-base hit in five straight games; the franchise record rests with the bats of Evan Longoria (eight in a row in 2009) and Wilson Ramos (eight straight in 2018).
Making his 2025 debut, Cubs catcher Reese McGuire homered twice to have a big assist in the club’s 11-8 win over the Reds. Chicago’s backstops McGuire, Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya have combined for a .957 OPS this season, second in the Majors to the Mariners’ 1.007. There are three clubs in the divisional era to finish a year with at least a .950: the 1997 Dodgers (1.004), the 2000 Mets (.961) and the 1996 Dodgers (.959). In each of the three priors, Mike Piazza played at least 124 games as the team’s catcher.
Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong combined for five RBI in the Cubs’ 11-8 win over the Reds. The two are 1-2 in the NL in RBI, with Suzuki ahead, 49 to 48. The Cubs are almost at the one-third mark of the season, with 53 games.
1962-2025: NL Teammates with 48+ RBI Through First 54 Team Games
2001 Rockies Larry Walker and Todd Helton
2020 Braves Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna
2025 Cubs Seiya Suzuki and Pete Crow-Armstrong
The Cubs’ 11-8 win marked the 12th time this season the club has reached double-digits in runs scored. Few NL teams in the modern era have had so many through 53 games:
14 2000 Rockies
13 1901 Cardinals, 1930 Robins (Dodgers)
12 1950 Braves, 2001 Rockies, 2025 Cubs
With a double and a single, Aaron Judge reached 150 total bases for the year. No player has gotten to where Judge is (151 TB) through 52 team games since 1959, when Henry Aaron had 159. The list of those to do this in the modern era is heavily focused on the 1920s, 1930s and 1950s and is brimming with big names:
1901-2025: 151+ TB Through 52 Team Games
1920s Babe Ruth (1921), Lou Gehrig (1927), Chuck Klein (1929)
1930s Chuck Klein (1930, 1932), Jimmie Foxx (1932), Joe Medwick (1937)
1940s Stan Musial (1948)
1950s Stan Musial (1954), Mickey Mantle (1956), Willie Mays (1958), Henry Aaron (1959)
2020s Aaron Judge (2025)
The Athletics reached the 54-game mark of the season and saw their shortstop Jacob Wilson go 3-for-4 with a walk and a homer to lead off the first. Wilson concludes his club’s first third of the year with 70 hits – tied for the second most for the franchise in the expansion era.
1961-2025, Athletics: Most Hits Through 54 Team Games
90 Carney Lansford in 1988
70 Felipe Alou in 1970, Jacob Wilson in 2025
Jesús Luzardo struck out 10 – his second straight game with double-digit whiffs. He’s the first Phillies southpaw to have back-to-back double-digit K games since Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee each did this in 2014. No lefty has produced a longer streak for Philadelphia since “Lefty” himself, Steve Carlton, had three in a row in 1983.
Kodai Senga allowed five hits and four walks over five-and-a-third innings but surrendered only a leadoff homer to Shohei Ohtani in the first and came away with a win as the Mets downed the Dodgers, 3-1. It’s been an oddish month for Senga, who owns a 1.67 ERA in five starts despite a 1.444 WHIP (22 hits and 17 walks in 27.0 innings). In the liveball era, there are four pitchers who’ve had a monthly split featuring at least five starts, a WHIP of at least 1.400 and an ERA lower than Senga’s.
July of 2023 Blake Snell, 0.56 ERA with a 1.500 WHIP
Sept. of 1940 Atley Donald, 1.42 ERA with a 1.500 WHIP
April of 2001 Julián Tavárez, 1.53 ERA with a 1.466 WHIP
Sept. of 2005 Kevin Millwood, 1.62 ERA with a 1.410 WHIP
Taylor Ward was 0-for-4 to snap his 10-game streak with at least one extra-base hit. The streak stands as the longest in Angels history, eclipsing Darin Erstad’s nine-game run in 1998. Ward’s streak is the longest in the Majors since Anthony Rendon posted a 10-game stretch for the Nationals in 2019.
Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.
Roger Schlueter
As Sr. Editorial Director for Major League Baseball Productions from 2004-2015, Roger served as a hub for hundreds of hours of films, series, documentaries and features: as researcher, fact-checker, script doctor, and developer of ideas. The years at MLB Production gave him the ideal platform to pursue what galvanized him the most – the idea that so much of what takes place on the field during the MLB regular and postseason (and is forever beautifully condensed into a box score) has connections to what has come before. Unearthing and celebrating these webs allows baseball to thrive, for the present can come alive and also reignite the past.