In 1978, the lanky, towering right-hander J.R. Richard became the first Astros pitcher to lead the NL in any one of the three Triple Crown categories, pacing the Senior Circuit with 303 strikeouts. As a follow-up, Richard ticked off another box, the first ERA title for Houston (that same season, Richard’s teammate Joe Niekro matched his brother Phil for the NL lead in wins). Starting in that last year of the 1970s, Astros hurlers have aligned, dusted and admired nine ERA trophies along the mantel, more than any other club other than the Dodgers (and that franchise’s 11). Nolan Ryan hoisted a pair (in 1981 and 1987), Mike Scott celebrated his extraordinary 1986 campaign with the crown, Danny Darwin had himself a year in 1990, Roger Clemens (2005) and Roy Oswalt (2006) went back-to-back, and then after the team changed sides and joined the AL, Gerrit Cole (2019) and Justin Verlander (2022) added to the lineage. As we reach the numerical halfway point of the 2025 campaign and await the nominal first half/second half break in things, the nonet has a chance to grow to double digits, in the form of a 26-year-old currently among the AL’s top-five in bWAR, wins and strikeouts, WHIP, hits per nine, strikeouts per nine and, of course, ERA.
Astros right-hander Hunter Brown (7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R) came away with a no-decision but did lower his AL-leading ERA to 1.74.
~Brown’s ERA through Houston’s first 81 games comes in as the third lowest ever (minimum 81.0 IP). In 1981, Nolan Ryan owned a 1.37, while 2005 witnessed Roger Clemens put up a 1.41. Bob Knepper’s 1.80 in 1981 and Mike Cuellar’s 1.81 in 1966 round out the five lowest.
~Brown is pitching in his age-26 season. His ERA leader counterpart in the NL – Paul Skenes (2.12) – is pitching in his age-23 campaign. The last season to finish and have the two ERA champs be in an age-26 (or younger) season was 2016, when Toronto’s Aaron Sanchez (23) and Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks (26) took home the honors.
Cristopher Sánchez fanned 11 with no walks in a no-decision on Thursday – the 42nd time since 1901 a Phillies hurler has reached that many K’s in a walk-less outing. Sánchez’s effort gave left-handers their 19th notch among the 42 and the first since Cliff Lee was making a habit of this type of line in 2013 (Lee had three that season).
In an afternoon affair, Dietrich Enns (5.0 IP, 1 H) and four Detroit relievers combined for a three-hitter as the Tigers rolled the Athletics, 8-0. Detroit has posted eight team shutouts this season, the club’s most through 82 games since the 2015 team also had eight. With the lopsided win, Detroit claims a +94 run differential. The franchise’s entire history has seen that positive a gap (or a larger one) through 82 contests in seven different seasons.
122 1911 (finished second in the AL)
120 1935 (won the World Series)
119 2006 (won the AL Pennant)
108 1984 (won the World Series)
105 1934 (won the AL Pennant)
96 1915 (finished second in AL, albeit with 100 wins)
94 2025 (currently own the best record in the AL)
Shane Baz (8.0 IP, 3 H) added nine strikeouts to his sterling line as the Rays defeated the Royals, 4-0. Kevin Gausman (8.0 IP, 2 H) presented much the same vibrancy as Toronto blanked Cleveland. Shota Imanaga (5.0 IP, 1 H) started things off for the Cubs as they defeated the Cardinals, 3-0. These efforts and outcomes marked three of the five team shutouts on the day, with four of them occurring in day games. There have been 500 affairs defined as day games this season, with 70 of them (14%) ending with a shutout. There have been 713 night games, with 110 of them (15.4 %) ending in a shutout.
With their 3-0 win, the Cubs closed the book on their numerical first half of the season, one that notes a +100 run differential (best in the NL). Much like the Tigers note on that club’s impressive number in the statistic, the Cubs have rarely had a figure this high at this point in a season.
1901-2025: Best Run Differential for a Cubs Team Through 81 Games
149 2016 (won the World Series)
145 1906 (won the NL pennant)
121 1918 (won the NL pennant)
121 1969 (finished second in the NL East, won 92 games)
114 1929 (won the NL pennant)
112 1909 (finished second in the NL, albeit with 104 wins)
103 1905 (finished third in the NL, won 92 games)
100 2025 (currently own the second best record in the NL)
Clayton Kershaw (6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R) improved to 4-0 on the year as the Dodgers came away with a 3-1 win in Colorado. The left-hander has won each of his past four starts and in this stretch, has posted a 1.57 ERA, allowed 16 hits in 23 innings and has fanned 21 (and is now three punchouts shy of reaching 3,000). The victory also stretched his career mark to 216-94.
NL-AL History: Best Career Winning Percentage, Minimum 300 Decisions
| Pitcher | Winning % | Record |
| Clayton Kershaw | .697 | 216-94 |
| Whitey Ford | .690 | 236-106 |
| Pedro Martínez | .687 | 219-100 |
| Lefty Grove | .680 | 300-141 |
| Christy Mathewson | .665 | 373-188 |
Rafael Devers doubled, homered and drove in two runs. The two RBI pushed him to 701 for his career; the two extra-base hits lifted his career tally in that category to 504. The Giants DH is one of 40 players ever to be at 700 and 500 through an age-28 season. Within this 40, Devers has five companions in the “active” class: Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and Nolan Arenado. When all 40 are organized by highest to lowest OPS+ (through their age-28 campaigns), Devers’ 129 matches him with Johnny Bench’s number, tied for 31st.
Five Mets pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and no walks as New York blanked Atlanta, 4-0. It’s about as dominant a shutout the Mets have ever had against the Braves, with the strongest candidate (?) for the top spot being a two-hit shutout with 13 K’s and no walks on August 26, 2011 – a solo masterpiece performed by Chris Capuano.
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.