Late in the Giants’ season in 1923, first baseman George Kelly came to the plate five times, and, in the old refrain, “fell a triple shy of the cycle.” No matter, for Kelly, instead, homered three times in an exquisite 5-for-5 day at the plate. The performance marked only the fourth time in the 20th century a batter had battered a pitching staff for three home runs in a single game and the first time the command performance was part of a five-hit day. Since then, some of the three-plus homer, five-plus hit days have been strewn across the game’s firmament. Ty Cobb’s only three-homer demonstration, in 1925, was part of a five-hit afternoon; Joe Adcock’s four-homer game in 1954 also saw the first baseman double for a then Major League record 18 total bases – a figure only surpassed when Shawn Green went 6-for-6 with four home runs in 2002. Fred Lynn’s line (three homers, a single and a triple) against the Tigers during his magical 1975 campaign; four-homer games from Mike Schmidt and Gil Hodges and Josh Hamilton; Shohei Ohtani’s flourish near the end of the 2024 season – 6-for-6 with a single, two doubles and three homers – to stamp his extraordinary campaign. These are the kinds of days that linger.
Kyle Stowers lofted three out of the yard to tie a Marlins record and spearheaded the team’s 11-1 win over the Orioles. The left fielder joined Mike Lowell (2004), Cody Ross (2006) and Brian Anderson (2020) in the Marlins’ three-homer club.
~In addition to the three homers, Stowers also singled twice – his 14 total bases establishing a new franchise bar. Gary Sheffield (1994) had tallied 13, as had Lowell and Ross in their respective three-homer games.
~There have been 680 players in the Modern Era to hit at least three home runs in a game, with Stowers one of 25 to be able to claim at least five hits in a perfect day at the plate. Stowers is the first to do all of this since Shohei Ohtani was 6-for-6 on September 19, 2024.
~Stowers has four multi-homer games this season, which ties the 27-year-old with eight other Marlins for the second most in a season; they’re all still far away from Giancarlo Stanton’s gargantuan 2017, when the outfielder had 10.
~There have been 11 three-homer performances this season. The 2001 and 2019 campaigns have witnessed the most, 19.
Eury Pérez (7.0 IP, 0 R) recorded his third consecutive win – this latest flash giving the 22-year-old Marlin the following numbers within this mini-winning streak: 18.0 IP, six hits, one run (0.50 ERA), 21 strikeouts, one walk.
Ceddanne Rafaela connected for a two-run home run to help Boston to its 10th straight win. The Red Sox are 11-1 this month, and their center fielder has been a large storyline in this successful stretch. Rafaela has 15 RBI in July, tied for the second most in the Majors, and owns a 1.307 OPS, which is July’s third best in the big leagues (minimum 35 plate appearances). He has the second most doubles (six), is tied for the third most home runs (five) and claims the most extra-base hits (11).
~Since the 2004 season – the one that saw the Red Sox win their first title since 1918 – the club has posted a half-dozen double-digit winning streaks. The 2006 club had a 12-gamer, the 2009 and 2016 teams won 11 in a row and the 2004 and 2018 teams had 10-game streaks.
The manager of that 2004 Red Sox World Series title team – Terry Francona – picked up his 2,000th career win as his Reds defeated the Rockies on Sunday. Francona is the 13th skipper to reach the milestone; his .538 winning percentage ties him with Joe Torre for eighth among the 13.
Jorge Polanco delivered a pinch-hit home run in Seattle’s win over Detroit, giving the switch-hitter his 15th longball of the 2025 campaign. Polanco is one of two switch-hitters on the team to have at least 15 going into the break, joining the Major League leader, Cal Raleigh and his 38 round-trippers. This duo is the first pair of Mariners switch-hitters to each have 15 in a season’s first half. How often does this occur? Here’s the breakdown for all the teams – the last time (if there is a time) each franchise saw two switch-hitters get to 15+ by the time the Midsummer Classic rolled around:
2025 Mariners (Jorge Polanco & Cal Raleigh) – *only time ever for franchise
2024 Orioles (Adley Rutschman & Anthony Santander) – *only time ever for franchise
2024 Reds (Jeimer Candelario & Elly De La Cruz) – *only time ever for franchise
2021 Indians (César Hernández & José Ramírez)
2019 Diamondbacks (Eduardo Escobar & Ketel Marte) – *only time ever for franchise
2018 Blue Jays (Justin Smoak & Yangervis Solarte )
2010 Yankees (Nick Swisher & Mark Teixeira) – *only time ever for franchise
2008 Braves (Chipper Jones & Mark Teixeira) – *only time ever for franchise
These franchises have never had it happen: the Red Sox, Cubs, White Sox, Rockies, Tigers, Astros, Royals, Angels, Dodgers, Marlins, Brewers, Twins (or Senators), Mets, Athletics, Phillies, Pirates, Padres, Giants, Cardinals, (Devil) Rays, Rangers/Senators, Nationals/Expos
In Cleveland’s win, José Ramírez drove in a pair of runs – one on a sac fly and another on a fielder’s choice. The 32-year-old owns a 1.045 OPS with RISP this season and for his career, claims a .908. In the Divisional Era, there are 124 switch-hitters with at least 1,000 plate appearances with RISP; Ramírez’s .908 in the split ranks as the fourth best OPS among this entire subset. Lance Berkman (.985), Mark Teixeira (.950) and Chipper Jones (.939) make up the top three.
Nick Loftin closed Kansas City’s 3-2 win with a single – his second walk-off hit in his past five games. Loftin is the first Royal to have multiple game-ending hits in the same calendar month since Salvador Perez produced a pair in April of 2021.
Noah Cameron issued six-and-two-thirds innings of no-run ball in a no-decision for the Royals, ending his first-ever first half of a season with a 2.31 ERA in 12 starts. The last five pitchers, before Cameron in 2025, to be in their initial season and end their first half with at least a dozen starts and an ERA below 2.50:
2016 Michael Fulmer (2.11 ERA)
2003 Dontrelle Willis (2.08 ERA)
2003 Brandon Webb (2.41 ERA)
1995 Hideo Nomo (1.99 ERA)
1971 Bill Parsons (2.27 ERA)
Texas’ Marcus Semien joined the 250-homer club, an association now numbering 256 members. Semien occupies a unique corner of this collection, the only one of the 256 to have played at least 500 games at both second base and at shortstop. There are eight members who claimed at least 500 games at both first base and third base, one who held down first and shortstop for 500 games each and two for the third base/shortstop combo.
250+ HR, 500+ Games at 1B & 3B
Harmon Killebrew
Miguel Cabrera
Darrell Evans
Tony Pérez
Dick Allen
Mark Reynolds
Ryan Zimmerman
Joe Torre
250+ HR, 500+ Games at 1B & SS
Ernie Banks
250+ HR, 500+ Games at 2B & SS
Marcus Semien
250+ HR, 500+ Games at 3B & SS
Álex Rodríguez
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Nathan Eovaldi closed out his superb first half of 2025 with another superb effort: 7.2 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 K’s. The right-hander can look back at 16 starts this season, a 1.58 ERA and a 0.846 WHIP. This combo has rarely been affected:
1933-2025: First Half With 15+ GS, Sub-2.00 ERA, Sub-.900 WHIP
1930s Hal Schumacher (1933)
1940s Bucky Walters (1944)
1960s Sandy Koufax (1963, 1964), Juan Marichal (1965), Bob Gibson (1968), Luis Tiant (1968)
1970s Don Sutton (1972), Gaylord Perry (1974)
1990s Greg Maddux (1998)
2000s Justin Duchscherer (2008)
2010s Zack Greinke (2015), Clayton Kershaw (2016)
2020s Jacob deGrom (2021), Kevin Gausman (2021), Shane McClanahan (2022), Justin Verlander (2022), Nathan Eovaldi (2025)
Freddy Peralta (6.2 IP, 1 R) took over sole possession of the lead in wins in the NL, pocketing his 11th while lowering his ERA to 2.66. The righty is one of four Brewers pitchers to get to 11 wins by an All-Star break and owns the lowest ERA among the quartet:
1973 Jim Colborn is 13-5 with a 2.88 ERA
1978 Lary Sorensen is 11-5 with a 3.19 ERA
1979 Lary Sorensen is 11-9 with a 3.40 ERA
2025 Freddy Peralta is 11-4 with a 2.66 ERA
Shohei Ohtani scored a pair of runs to get to 91 for the year – the third-highest tally for a player by an All-Star break. In 1936, Lou Gehrig scored 92 to become the first to reach 90 and held the high mark until Frank Thomas scored 93 in 1994.
In the Athletics’ win on Sunday, Jacob Wilson singled and scored a run, Tyler Soderstrom homered and drove in two runs, and Nick Kurtz doubled and homered and had two RBI. All three players are in age-23 or younger seasons and all three have an OPS of at least .800. There is one other Athletics trio who has a claim in this age/number ballpark:
1933-2025: Three Athletics with 200+ PA, .800+ OPS, Age-23 or Younger Season
1987 Mark McGwire (1.075), Luis Polonia (.818), José Canseco (.805)
2025 Nick Kurtz (.892), Jacob Wilson (.837), Tyler Soderstrom (.801)
Cristopher Sánchez allowed a run in seven-and-a-third innings and improved to 8-2 on the season as Philadelphia edged San Diego, 2-1. The southpaw, who owns a 1.63 ERA in eight starts since the beginning of June, has assembled five straight starts consisting of at least six innings and exactly one run allowed.
Phillies from 1901-2025: Longest Single-Season Streak of 6.0+ IP, 1 Run or 0 Runs Allowed
6 Pete Alexander (1916), Steve Carlton (1972)
5 Jim Bunning (1967), Dick Ruthven (1982), Cole Hamels (2010, 2014), Cliff Lee (2011), Ranger Suárez (2023), Cristopher Sánchez (2025)
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.