The Dodgers’ top-10 leaderboard for runs scored in a single season is littered with names from long ago: three players from the 1880s, six from the 1890s (including the top Dodger dog, Hub Collins and his 148 runs in 1890) and one from the 1930s. There is one name from the present on this list: Shohei Ohtani, with his 134 runs in 2024 tied for ninth. This scenario is similar to the top-10 rankings for ALL of the current NL franchises who were also around when the 19th century became the 20th. In fact, the most recent leader for any of the eight franchises is Rogers Hornsby, who claims the best mark for a Cub with his 156 runs scored in 1929.
1929.
In this light, It seems unfathomable that a player in today’s game could topple any of these long ago leaders for the long-standing franchises in the Senior Circuit, but Ohtani has kind of obliterated our preset senses of possibility. After his latest foray into the notable, the three-time MVP is on pace for 174 runs scored this season.
Shohei Ohtani added his 20th home run and his 58th and 59th runs scored to the Dodgers’ effort as the club topped the Guardians. Both numbers are the most in the Majors. Both are special for the franchise. Both are special when combined.
1884-2025: Most HR Through 55 Dodgers Games
21 Gil Hodges (1951)
20 Cody Bellinger (2019)
20 Shohei Ohtani (2025)
1901-2025: Most Runs Through 55 Dodgers Games
59 Willie Keeler (1901)
59 Shohei Ohtani (2025)
54 Babe Herman (1930)
1901-2025: Players to Have 20+ HR & 59+ R Through 55 Team Games
1921 Babe Ruth (23 & 59)
1926 Babe Ruth (21 & 62)
1927 Babe Ruth (22 & 60)
1928 Babe Ruth (25 & 63)
1930 Babe Ruth (23 & 73)
1994 Frank Thomas (21 & 64)
2025 Shohei Ohtani (20 & 59)
Cal Raleigh launched a pair of solo homers as part of Seattle’s 9-1 win and raised his longball tally to an AL-best 19.
~For all Mariners through 53 team games, Raleigh’s 19 homers tie for the fifth most. Ken Griffey, Jr. occupies the three highest slots, with 24 in 1997, 22 in 1994 and 20 in 1999. Álex Rodríguez also had 20 (in 1998) and in 1996, Jay Buhner hit 19.
~For all Mariners through 53 team games, Raleigh’s three multi-homer games in 2025 tie for the fourth most and are the most since Nelson Cruz had three in 2015.
4 Ken Phelps (1987), Ken Griffey, Jr. (1996), Jay Buhner (1996)
3 Gary Gray (1981), Álex Rodríguez (1998), Nelson Cruz (2015), Cal Raleigh (2025)
*In 1997, Griffey had eight for the entire season – the most for the franchise.
~Raleigh has 18 homers while catching to tie the Dodgers’ Roy Campanella (1955) for the most as a catcher through 53 team games.
James Wood commemorated the Nationals reaching the one-third mark in the season by depositing his 14th ball beyond the seats. Wood is one of two players for the franchise to be so young (not yet 23 years old) and have so many longballs through 54 team games, joining 22-year-old Bryce Harper and his 18 in 2015.
Padres starter Stephen Kolek withstood a six-run first inning to get through five-and-a-third frames and record the win as San Diego took down Miami, 8-6. Kolek is one of 24 Padres starters ever to allow six-plus runs and notch a win, and the first to do this since Kevin Correia in 2010. None of the previous 23 had surrendered as many as six runs in the first.
Yankees southpaw Carlos Rodón worked seven innings of five-hit, scoreless ball, fanned 10 with no walks, and improved to 7-3.
~Rodón’s line marks only the 11th ever for a Yankees’ lefty that features double-digit K’s along with no runs or walks. His 2025 teammate Max Fried also produced one this season.
~Rodón is tied with Fried and three others for the Major League lead with seven wins. The Yankees last had two lefties with seven-or-more wins through 54 games in 1983 when Dave Righetti’s seven trailed Ron Guidry’s eight. Before these two in 2025, Dodgers Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urías in 2021 had been the last pair of left-handed teammates to have seven-plus victories at the one-third mark of a season.
Jose Altuve went 4-for-4 with two homers and two singles to lead the Astros in an 11-1 win. Altuve has 40 games with four-or-more hits, the most in franchise history. Craig Biggio comes in second, with 34. The current Astros star is one of 50 players in the modern era to claim at least 40, with Ty Cobb’s 95 the unmatched topper. At 40, Altuve is tied with Chuck Klein, Luis Aparicio and Carl Yastrzemski.
Hunter Brown improved to 7-3 with a 2.00 ERA as he allowed a run over six frames in Houston’s victory. The right-hander also threw in eight strikeouts, giving him 79 punchouts for the year. All three of Brown’s Triple Crown numbers are top-five in the AL: tied for first in wins, fourth in strikeouts and fifth in ERA. Brown is one of two Astros to have these numbers (or ones that are improved upon) at the one-third post of the season. In 1980, J.R. Richard had eight wins, 98 strikeouts and a 1.50 ERA through 54 games. At that stage, Richard was first in the NL in ERA, second in strikeouts and tied for second in victories. (Thanks to Retrosheet for the league-leading info in 1980).
Elly De La Cruz homered twice in a Reds win – the fifth time he’s produced a multi-homer game. For this latest showcase, the switch-hitting shortstop was 23 years and 136 days old.
~His five multi-homer games tie him with Pete Rose for the most by a Reds switch-hitter.
~His five multi-homer games before turning 24 years old tie him with Ozzie Albies for the third most by a switch-hitter in the modern era. Mickey Mantle and Rubén Sierra are tied for the most, with six apiece.
~For his career, De la Cruz has 125 extra-base hits and 119 stolen bases. Since the pitching distance stretched to 60 feet, six inches for the 1893 season, there are 10 other players to have De La Cruz’s tallies in the two categories through their own age-23 campaigns. Joe Kelley, Jimmy Sheckard, Sherry Magee, and Ty Cobb represent the late 19th/early 20th century. The rest of the collection comes from the divisional era: César Cedeño, Roberto Alomar, Édgar Rentería, Carl Crawford, José Reyes and Elvis Andrus.
Christian Yelich produced the ninth walk-off grand slam in Brewers history as Milwaukee defeated Boston in 10 innings. This dramatic shot is the third of the nine to come in extra innings, after a Franklin Stubbs 10th-inning shot in 1992 and a Ryan Braun 10th inning blast in 2008. The Red Sox have been the victims of two of these nine walk-off slams, with the first coming on April 10, 1980 via Sixto Lezcano.
Miguel Vargas doubled and homered for the White Sox – the fourth straight game the 25-year-old has contributed a double to the White Sox offense. The Pale Hose history books offer 10 players who have gone one game beyond Vargas’ four and one other who stretched his doubles-streak to six games: Magglio Ordonez in 2003. The list of the guys who managed exactly five straight begins with Joe Jackson in 1916 and ends with Adam Dunn in 2011.
Behind Joe Ryan’s five K’s against one walk, Twins pitchers finished their collective day with nine punchouts against two free passes. The Twins staff leads the Majors with a 3.69 K:BB ratio, which is not too far off from the best any team has done since 1893: the 3.98 out of the 2017 Indians’ staff.
Ranger Suárez (6.0 IP, 4 H) and three relievers combined on a five-hit shutout as the Phillies took down the Braves, 2-0. Philadelphia has five team shutouts this season, all coming in May. It’s a highlight of this month that could stand as a special one in franchise history. Currently, the club owns a 3.22 team ERA for the month and has a .750 winning percentage (18-6). The ERA would be the 12th lowest in any of the 105 Mays (no May in 2020) the team has experienced in the liveball era. The .750 winning percentage would tie for the second best, with the 1995 team also at .750 and the 1976 club at .815. That ’76 team also owns the lowest ERA of the bunch, a 2.39.
Speaking of pursuing a notable May in 2025, Detroit’s Riley Greene drove in two runs and added a pair of extra-base hits (two doubles) to up his tallies in their respective categories to 22 and 13 for the month. He’s the first Tiger to produce at least 22 RBI and 13 extra-base hits in a May since Miguel Cabrera in 2014. He’s the first Tiger to do this in a May while being in an age-24 or younger season since Willie Horton in 1965.
Logan Webb produced his 10th career double-digit strikeout game to become the 11th Giants pitcher in the modern era to have at least that many. With his next for San Francisco, he’ll match the tallies from Matt Cain and Carlos Rodón.
José Ramírez singled to extend his hitting streak to 20 games. He’s the 48th player in Cleveland franchise history to reach 20 games in a season. He’s one of 19 switch-hitters this century to hit safely in at least 20 straight in a season, with the apex being Jimmy Rollins’ 36-game run for the 2005 Phillies.
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.