Game Notes – 06/08/2025

Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer have combined for nine Cy Young Awards.  Collectively, they’ve produced 29 crowns in the Triple Crown categories.  They’ve pitched for the winning team in five World Series, produced six no-hitters (with three of them a wild pitch or fielding error away from a perfect game) and stand as three of less than three dozen pitchers ever to have at least 100 more career wins than losses.  The trio has loomed spectacularly large in the story of 21st century baseball, three magically armed titans each taking turns in the biggest spotlight and producing thrilling reviews.  None of the three needs anything else to prop his Hall of Fame case – all that’s left, really, is to burnish:  play with the numbers and ultimate ranks and perhaps add an extra storyline here or there.  Still, entering play on Sunday, June 8, 2025, the three winningest pitchers among the active bunch were a combined 0-3 in 15 starts this season – a dissonant clang to the tone of this campaign.  Finally, though, we have one in the win column.  

Clayton Kershaw went the first five, allowed a run, fanned seven with no walks and came away with his 213th career win.  

~The southpaw is one of 30 pitchers on the books with at least 100 more wins than losses.  Right now, with a +119, he’s matched with Bob Caruthers and Pedro Martínez for the 14th most.  The lefties ahead of him:  Lefty Grove (+159), Randy Johnson (+137), Eddie Plank (+132) and Whitey Ford (+130).  

~A few snapshots for this moment in time:  

*Kershaw’s ERA rests at 2.51 over his 434 starts and three relief appearances.  The liveball era contains 13 pitchers with at least 250 starts and a sub-3.00 ERA.  The lowest ERA among the 12 non-active pitchers comes in at 2.75 and is possessed by Whitey Ford (Sandy Koufax is next, at 2.76).

*For all pitchers in history with at least 250 starts, Kershaw’s 155 ERA+ teeters just above Pedro Martínez’s 154 for the best (Lefty Grove’s 148 comes in third, followed by Walter Johnson’s 147).  

*For all pitchers in history with at least 250 starts, Kershaw’s 1.014 WHIP still stands as the third lowest, behind deadball era giants Addie Joss (0.968) and Ed Walsh (1.000).  

Paul Skenes allowed an unearned run with two hits, a walk and seven strikeouts in seven-and-two-thirds innings but took no decision in a Pirates 2-1 win over the Phillies.  

~Skenes’ line produced a Game Score of 79 – the third time this season he’s failed to record a win while posting a score at least that high (he has two 79s and an 80).  He’s one of 34 pitchers in the modern era to have at least three such efforts in a season, and the first with three since Justin Verlander in 2018.  There are four hurlers who had more (all with four):  Jeff Pfeffer in 1917, Vida Blue in 1971, Dwight Gooden in 1984 and David Cone in 1997.  

~Currently, Skenes holds a 215 ERA+ over his 37 outings across 2024 and 2025.  No pitcher has ever finished his sophomore season with at least 40 starts (Skenes is at 37) and a career ERA+ that high.  Ed Reulbach comes out with a 186, while Dwight Gooden’s first two seasons offer a composite 176.  Some other rate stat considerations that Skenes has in play:

*Lowest WHIP through first two seasons (min. 40 GS):  Ed Morris’ 0.936 (Skenes is at 0.902).

*Lowest H/9 through first two seasons (min. 40 GS):  Andy Messersmith’s 5.8 (Skenes is at 6.0)

*Highest K% through first two seasons (min. 40 GS):  Hunter Greene’s 30.7% (Skenes is at 30.5%)

Manny Machado homered to provide the only run in San Diego’s 1-0 win over Milwaukee.

~The homer gave Machado 750 career extra-base hits.  He’s the 28th player ever to reach that number through an age-32 season.  With his current tally, Machado is tied with Ted Williams and is one behind Bryce Harper (also playing in his age-32 season in 2025).  

~Machado is the first Padre to homer in a 1-0 win since Juan Soto in April of 2023 and overall, the 29th to do it.  

The Padres’ 1-0 win was the team’s 12th shutout of the year.  In the liveball era, there are 11 clubs with at least a dozen team shutouts through 64 games.

14    1968 Indians, 1969 Cubs

13    1968 Dodgers

12    1948 Indians, 1951 Yankees, 1955 White Sox, 1969 Orioles, 1980 Astros, 1981 Astros, 2014 Cardinals,            2025 Padres

Aaron Judge knocked two out of the park, added a single and a walk and drove in four as the Yankees fell to the Red Sox, 11-7. To try and sum up the outfielder’s blazing season, let’s contextualize just two numbers:  his 185 total bases and his 1.264 OPS.  

~Most TB Through 64 Team Games, 1901-2025

197     Lou Gehrig (1927), Jimmie Foxx (1932)

192     Babe Ruth (1921), Chuck Klein (1930)

191     Chuck Klein (1932)

187     Mickey Mantle (1956)

186     Ken Griffey, Jr. (1994)

185     Aaron Judge (2025)

~Judge’s 1.264 OPS through 64 team games ranks as the 19th highest for any player since 1901 (min. 198 plate appearances).  There’s a lot of Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds among this top-19, 10 slots owned by the pair of lefty-swinging goliaths.  Fellow left-handers Lou Gehrig and Larry Walker each occupy one spot and switch-hitter Mickey Mantle claims one.  Let’s look at Judge and the righty-swinging batters ahead of him:

1.325     Mark McGwire (1998)

1.320     Rogers Hornsby (1925)

1.284     Mark McGwire (2000)

1.281     Jimmie Foxx (1932)

1.274     Frank Thomas (1994)

1.264     Aaron Judge (2025)

~Judge’s line offered the 43rd multi-homer game of his Yankees career and thus moved him into a tie with Lou Gehrig for the third most in franchise history.  Only Babe Ruth (68) and Mickey Mantle (46) are still above.  

The Mets’ 13-5 outburst against the Rockies came with all sorts of interesting nuggets.

~Juan Soto singled three times, walked three times and scored three runs.  The 26-year-old tied a Mets record with the six times on base, a feat last reached by Pete Alonso (twice) in 2019.

~Pete Alonso homered twice and drove in four runs to raise his NL-leading tally to 61 RBI.  That bar has been exceeded once by any Met through 66 team games – in 2022, Alonso had 63.  

~Alonso’s line offered the 23rd multi-homer game of his Mets career and thus moved him out of his tie with Darryl Strawberry for the most in franchise history.  Alonso’s first homer tied him with David Wright (242) for the second most in franchise history.  Now at 243, Alonso needs nine more to match Strawberry for the most.

~Jeff McNeil also homered twice, giving the Mets multiple multi-homerers in the same game for the 17th time.  The last two times it’s happened – this game and one on July 12 of 2024 – it’s happened against Colorado.

Jacob Wilson was at it again, producing his fifth straight multi-hit game and nudging his average up to .372 (93-for-250).

~Wilson’s streak is four shy of the Athletics best – in 1969, Bert Campaneris had at least two hits in nine straight.

~Wilson’s .372 average through 67 team games is the highest for any Athletic (with a minimum of 207 plate appearances) since Jimmie Foxx was at .379 in 1932.  

~Wilson’s 93 hits through 67 team games are the most for an Athletic since Carney Lansford had 98 in 1988.  For the franchise, Wilson’s 93 through 67 team games tie him with Al Simmons (1929) for the 16th most.

~1961-2025:  Most Hits Through 67 Team Games, Players Younger Than 24

101     George Brett (1976)

99       Xander Bogaerts (2016)

94       Bobby Tolan (1969)

93       Jacob Wilson (2025)

George Kirby produced an historic line in Mariners lore, punching out 14 batters with no walks in a 3-2 win.  The righty joined a company of three (lefty) Mariners with at least 14 K’s and no walks.  

Mariners Franchise – Most Strikeouts in a No-Walk Game

19     Randy Johnson on June 24, 1997

16     Mark Langston on May 10, 1988

15     Randy Johnson on June 14, 1993

14     George Kirby on June 8, 2025

Cincinnati’s Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered in his third straight game and has produced at least one extra-base hit and one RBI in four consecutive contests.  The 25-year-old would have to do this in four more straight to match the longest such streak for any Reds player since 1901:  Joey Votto’s stretch in 2021.  Gus Bell (1953) and Johnny Bench (1972) each had an RBI and extra-base hit in seven straight to tie for the second longest streak.

José Ramírez singled and walked and has reached safely in 34 straight games – the longest such streak of his career.  The streak also works out to be the longest for the Cleveland franchise since Jason Kipnis reached safely in 36 straight in 2013 and is the longest ever for the club by a switch-hitter (Roberto Alomar’s 33-game run from 2001 had been the apex).

Houston’s Jake Meyers was 4-for-4 with two steals – the first four-hit, two-steal line by an Astro since Kyle Tucker produced one six seasons ago.  César Cedeño is the franchise king for this sort of line, having four in his time with Houston.  

Detroit’s Jack Flaherty allowed two hits and three walks over six scoreless innings; Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta surrendered one hit and two walks over six scoreless frames.  Updated leaders across the Majors for most starts with six-plus innings and no runs:

5     Sonny Gray, Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto

4     Hunter Brown, Kris Bubic, Bailey Falter, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón

Playing in his sixth career game, 22-year-old Jac Caglianone was 4-for-4 with a double as his Royals defeated the White Sox, 7-5.  The right fielder is one of two Royals ever to have a four-hit game so early into his career, after another right fielder, Bo Jackson was 4-for-5 in his fifth game in 1986.  By age, Caglianone (22 years and 119 days) is the 23rd youngest Royal with a four-hit game, a little more than a year older than the youngest, Clint Hurdle (21 years and nine days) in his 4-for-4 game on August 8, 1978.

Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.