Game Notes – 07/23/2025

Justin Verlander made his Major League debut in the second game of a doubleheader on July 4, 2005 – the records claim more than 33,000 chose to spend their holiday evening at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, witnessing the very start of, whaddayaknow, a Hall of Fame career.  Things didn’t begin so well for the future three-time Cy Young Award winner, as that initiation into the big leagues saw him yield four runs in five-and-a-third innings and drop his career record to 0-1.  His next outing came nearly three weeks later, again in the second game of a doubleheader, and again, the results were bleh:  six innings, five runs, another loss.  And that was it for his first go-round in the Majors – the man who would go on to pace his league in wins four times would have to wait another 259 days for his first notch in the ‘Wins’ category.  By the number of days, the wait for a win in 2025 wasn’t nearly that long, but it may have felt like it. 

After 16 attempts fell short, Justin Verlander – the winningest active pitcher in the big leagues – recorded his first victory of the 2025 season.  The right-hander, who worked five scoreless innings as the Giants took care of the Braves, improved to 263-155 for his career.  Verlander, who is now 1-8 on the year, had surrendered some significant ground in his chances of joining the 27 pitchers in history who ended their careers with at least 100 more wins than losses.  With Verlander now at a +108, he would fall in between Mordecai Brown (+109) and Tom Seaver (+106).  Two of Verlander’s peers – Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer – are also in the mix for this summation.  Kershaw, currently at +121, would slot between Greg Maddux (+128) and Bob Caruthers/Pedro Martínez (both at +119).  Scherzer, at +105, would be between Seaver and Joe McGinnity/Bob Feller, both at +104.  

~At 42 years and 153 days old for this winless streak-ending victory, Verlander became the fifth different pitcher in Giants history to start and win a game after turning 42.  Danny Darwin and Randy Johnson each had eight wins, Warren Spahn had three and Jeff Fassero had one.   

Nick Lodolo twirled a four-hit shutout with eight strikeouts and no walks to showcase a 5-0 Cincinnati win over Washington.  It had been more than a decade since a Reds pitcher posted a nine-inning shutout with no walks, a trail that goes directly from Johnny Cueto in 2014 to the lefty Lodolo.  On that note, before Lodolo, it had been almost 30 years since a southpaw did this, a feat achieved by John Smiley in a one-hitter in late September of 1996.  

Brandon Nimmo struck his 14th career leadoff home run in the Mets’ win over the Angels, leaving him seven shy of matching the franchise record shared by José Reyes and Curtis Granderson.  The career Met is now one longball shy of reaching 20 for the third straight season – a feat claimed by six outfielders in the franchise’s history.

Most Consecutive 20+ HR Seasons as an Outfielder – NYM 

8    Darryl Strawberry (1983-1990)

4    Kevin McReynolds (1987-1990)

3    George Foster (1983-1985)

3    Carlos Beltrán (2006-2008)

3    Curtis Granderson (2014-2016)

3    Michael Conforto (2017-2019)

Seth Lugo allowed a pair of runs over six innings to come up with a win as the Royals defeated the Cubs.  The right-hander is part of a starting rotation that holds a collective 3.38 ERA.  There are two Royals staffs who ended a season with a lower mark than the current one:  the 1972 group held a 3.22 and the 1976 staff owned a 3.29.

Tanner Gordon (6.0 IP, 4 H) and two relievers combined on a five-hitter and Colorado accomplished something that hadn’t happened in nearly two years:  a shutout for the home team at Coors Field.  In between the 2-0 win against the Athletics on July 30, 2023 and this victory over St. Louis, the other 29 teams had produced 348 home shutouts.  

Ketel Marte contributed a leadoff home run to Arizona’s cause in a loss to Houston.  The 31-year-old is nearing Chris Young’s franchise record for longballs to open a game, with the gap now standing at 13 to 11.  This four-base hit also gave Marte 20 for the season, the fourth time in his Diamondbacks career he’s reached the mark while playing at least half of his games at second base.  All other Diamondbacks second basemen have combined for four 20-homer campaigns, with Jay Bell, Kelly Johnson, Aaron Hill and Jean Segura each having one.  

Quinn Priester gave up two runs over seven innings while seeing his offense erupt for 10 runs and 17 hits:  a formula that paved the way to a Brewers victory over the Mariners.  Priester improved to 9-2 with the contest (6-2 as a starter) and overall, Brewers starters own a .621 winning percentage.  The franchise has seen one starting staff complete the year with a better mark – the 2011 formation produced a .629.  The only other Brewers starting staff that finished above .600 was the one leading the team to its only pennant – the 1982 collection.

Shohei Ohtani homered for the fifth straight game in the Dodgers’ win over the Twins.  It was his 37th round-tripper of the season – the most in the NL and tied for second in the Majors.  Ohtani is matched with Aaron Judge, who also went yard on Wednesday, with those two behind Cal Raleigh and his 39.  

~With the longball, Ohtani tied the franchise record for the longest home run streak, matching the power-runs from Roy Campanella (1950), Shawn Green (2001), Matt Kemp (2010), Joc Pederson (2015) and Max Muncy (2019).  *The Dodgers Game Notes also reference 

Adrián González having a five-game homer streak in 2014, but Baseball Reference doesn’t indicate that.*

~Ohtani’s 37 homers through 103 team games are the most in Dodgers history and tied with eight others for the 20th most overall.  The others, aside from Judge in 2025, with exactly 37:  Mickey Mantle (1956), Mark McGwire (1987 and 1996), Ken Griffey, Jr. (1994), Sammy Sosa (1998), Chris Davis (2013) and Ohtani (2021).

~Judge’s 37 through 102 team games ties him with Babe Ruth in 1920 for the sixth most for any Yankee.  

Most HR Through 102 Team Games:  NYY

42    Babe Ruth (1921, 1928), Aaron Judge (2022)

40    Roger Maris (1961)

39    Mickey Mantle (1961)

37    Babe Ruth (1920), Aaron Judge (2025)

~With Ohtani, Judge and Raleigh all at 37 (or more) homers through 103 team games (like the Yankees, Raleigh’s Mariners have played 102 contests), the 2025 season is one of two campaigns to see a trio of players so high up on the charts at this stage of the season.  In 1998, Mark McGwire was at 43, Ken Griffey, Jr. was at 40 and Sosa, as noted, was at 37.

~Ohtani’s night pushed his runs scored tally to 97.  Only one Dodger in the Modern Era has crossed the plate more times through the team’s first 103 games:  Babe Herman, with 102 runs scored in 1930.  

The Dodgers Tyler Glasnow fanned a dozen batters on Wednesday, the 179th time since 1901 a hurler for the club has reached at least 12.  This right-hander is responsible for each of the last three times it’s happened, making Glasnow one of 17 to have at least three while wearing some form of Dodger Blue.  The top five consists of Sandy Koufax (43), Clayton Kershaw (23), Don Drysdale (13), Dazzy Vance (12) and Fernando Valenzuela (7).  

Bryce Harper connected on his 350th career home run.  He’s the 34th player in history to get to the milestone before entering an age-33 season and within this limited collection of sluggers, occupies a spot as one of 12 to accompany all that banging with at least 1,000 walks.  Those powerful and discerning 12, organized by debut season:  Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, Ralph Kiner, Mickey Mantle, Eddie Mathews, Barry Bonds, Jim Thome, Albert Pujols, Adam Dunn and Harper.  

White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery doubled and homered and drove in five runs to highlight a White Sox win over the Rays.  Montgomery has driven in 12 runs in his 16-game big league career, something that, if you asked them, only 12 other players in White Sox history could state.  By total RBI, the list starts with Zeke Bonura, who had 19 through his first 16 games in 1934.  The list also includes Bonura’s teammate on the 1935 White Sox, George Washington, whose given name was Sloan Vernon Washington and who had 12 through his first 16 games.  More recently, Carlos Lee had 15 RBI in 1999, José Abreu had 14 in 2014, Yermín Mercedes had 12 in 2020-2021 and Gavin Sheets had 14 in 2021. 

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