Game Notes – 08/11/2025

In the first game of a doubleheader on August 19, 1930, Cubs center fielder Hack Wilson delighted the home crowd with his 43rd home run of the year – an astounding total from a couple of perspectives.  There was this:  by day’s end, Wilson enjoyed a 14-homer leadership advantage over the nearest contenders in the league (Boston’s Wally Berger and Philadelphia’s Chuck Klein were tied for second, with their 29).  And there was this:  the season still had almost a quarter of its games remaining, with Chicago having 119 contests in the books.  Since Wilson and his gargantuan campaign, there have been a dozen other National Leaguers to get to at least 42 longballs through 119 games.  The latest entrants to crack these requirements are experiencing something that Wilson did not when he paraded so far ahead of the competition: a “looks-like-it-may-come-down-to-the-wire” kind of home run battle.  So buckle in, loosen the neck muscles to allow maximum tracking abilities and let’s see how this duel between Kyle Schwarber and Shohei Ohtani unfolds.  

Kyle Schwarber went yard for the 42nd time this season, giving him a tally reached by few Phillies.  

Phillies Franchise – Most HRs in a Season

58    Ryan Howard (2006)

48    Mike Schmidt (1980), Ryan Howard (2008)

47    Jim Thome (2003), Ryan Howard (2007), Kyle Schwarber (2023)

46    Kyle Schwarber (2022)

45    Mike Schmidt (1979), Ryan Howard (2009)

43    Chuck Klein (1929)

42    Jim Thome (2004), Kyle Schwarber (2025)

~Schwarber’s 42 through 118 team games are the most ever for a Phillies player, ahead of Ryan Howard’s 41 in 2006.  

~ Schwarber is nearing a third 45-homer season.  There are six left-handed hitters in history with three-or-more such campaigns:  Babe Ruth had nine, followed by Barry Bonds (six), Ken Griffey, Jr. (five), Lou Gehrig and Ryan Howard (four apiece) and Jim Thome (three).

Shohei Ohtani hit his 42nd home run of the year to tie Schwarber for the NL lead.  

~Ohtani’s 42 through 119 team games are the most ever for any Dodger, eclipsing Duke Snider’s 38 in 1955.  

~Ohtani has scored 112 runs (he leads the Majors in the category by 20).  Before Ohtani, no player had crossed the plate so many times at this stage of the season since 1949, when Ted Williams had 121 runs scored through Boston’s first 119 games.  For the franchise, Ohtani’s tally is the most through 119 games since Babe Herman scored 115 runs for Brooklyn in 1930.

~Ohtani’s OPS+ now stands at an NL-best 179.  The 31-year-old is striding toward his third straight league leadership belt in the category, a feat few have accomplished.

NL-AL History:  Players to Lead Their League in OPS+ in 3 or More Straight Seasons

9    Ty Cobb (1907-1915)

7    Rogers Hornsby (1919-1925)

6    Dan Brouthers (1882-1887)

6    Babe Ruth (1919-1924)

6    Babe Ruth (1926-1931)

5    Mickey Mantle (1958-1962)

5    Mike Schmidt (1980-1984)

5    Barry Bonds (2000-2004)

5    Mike Trout (2015-2019)

4    Ted Williams (1946-1949)

4    Barry Bonds (1990-1993)

3    Honus Wagner (1907-1909)

3    Gavy Cravath (1913-1915)

3    Rogers Hornsby (1927-1929)

3    Frank Robinson (1960-1962)

3    Willie McCovey (1968-1970)

3    Albert Pujols (2008-2010)

Schwarber and Ohtani are two of 13 National Leaguers to have at least 42 home runs through 119 games.  The full list, by year:

1930    Hack Wilson (43 HR)

1994    Matt Williams (43)

1998    Mark McGwire (47), Sammy Sosa (46)

1999    Mark McGwire (47), Sammy Sosa (47)

2001    Barry Bonds (51), Luis Gonzalez (45), Sammy Sosa (43)

2017    Giancarlo Stanton (44)

2023    Matt Olson (43)

2025    Shohei Ohtani (42), Kyle Schwarber (42)

Salvador Perez hit his 21st home run of the year.  The 35-year-old has nine seasons in which he’s played at least half of his games behind the plate and reached the 20-homer bar, a level reached by Johnny Bench and Mike Piazza (11 seasons each), Yogi Berra and Brian McCann (10) and Gary Carter (9).  

~Perez is one of five catchers in history to be in an age-35 or older season and wallop at least 21 home runs.  Carlton Fisk did this four times, while Jorge Posada twice managed the feat.  Mike Piazza, A.J. Pierzynski and now Perez each have one such season to call their own.  

~Perez’s nine 20-homer seasons are the most in Royals history, ahead of the eight from George Brett.

White Sox infielder Colson Montgomery hit his 10th career home run.  Coming in his 32nd contest, the 23-year-old required the third-fewest career games to get to 10 for any player donning the White Sox uniform.  In 1934, Zeke Bonura reached double-digits in his 25th game and in 2014,  José Abreu got there in his 26th contest.  

Jose Quintana steered the Brewers’ locomotive on Monday, surrendering a run over six innings and picking up the win as Milwaukee chugged to its 10th straight victory.  

~The 36-year-old lefty is one of three Brewers hurlers with 10+ wins, joining Freddy Peralta (13) and Quinn Priester (11).  Previously, the last season to see a trio of Brewers 10-game winners at this stage of the year (118 games) was 2011, when Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum were all there.  For a stroll down (mostly) recent memory lane, here’s how the list looks for all the NL franchises.

NL Teams:  Last Season to See a Trio of 10-Game Winners Through 118 Games

2025    Brewers (Freddy Peralta, Quinn Priester, Jose Quintana)

2025    Phillies (Jesús Luzardo, Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler)

2022    Braves (Ian Anderson, Max Fried, Kyle Wright)

2022    Dodgers (Tyler Anderson, Tony Gonsolin, Julio Urías)

2022    Mets (Chris Bassitt, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker)

2021    Giants (Anthony DeSclafani, Kevin Gausman, Alex Wood)

2017    Nationals (Gio González, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg)

2016    Cubs (Jake Arrieta, Jason Hammel, Kyle Hendricks, Jon Lester) 

2015    Cardinals (John Lackey, Carlos Martínez, Miachael Wacha)

2013    Reds (Bronson Arroyo, Mat Latos, Mike Leake)

2010    Padres (Kevin Correia, Jon Garland, Mat Latos, Clayton Richard)

2009    Rockies (Aaron Cook, Jorge De La Rosa, Ubaldo Jiménez, Jason Marquis)

2005    Marlins (Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Dontrelle Willis)

1999    Pirates (Kris Benson, Todd Ritchie, Jason Schmidt)

Never  Diamondbacks

~With their 11-game and 10-game winning streaks in 2025, the Brewers are the first club to have multiple double-digit runs in the same year since the 2019 Astros had a pair of 10-game winning streaks.

New York defeated Minnesota, 6-2, in the opener of a three-game set.  Since 1961, the Yankees are 391-268 (.593) against the Twins, one of the better winning percentages for any club in a  long-standing matchup in the Expansion Era (minimum of 400 games in the rivalry).

1961-2025:  Highest Winning Percentages in Team v. Team Matchups (min. 400 games)

.612    Yankees v. Royals

.604    Dodgers v. Rockies

.603    Braves v. Marlins

.593    Yankees v. Twins

.591    Orioles v. Senators/Rangers

.590    Dodgers v. Expos/Nationals

.586    Yankees v. Guardians

.585    Yankees v. Senators/Rangers

.584    Cardinals v. Padres

.577    Yankees v. Mariners

Junior Caminero was 3-for-4 with his 33rd home run of the year.  The Rays’ third baseman is tied for the 11th most homers for any player in history in an age-21 or younger season, matched with Jimmie Foxx (1929), Bob Horner (1979), José Canseco (1986) and Miguel Cabrera (2004).  

Angels leadoff hitter Zach Neto went deep to open the first and added a second solo homer in the sixth inning.  The longball to begin the first was Neto’s eighth of the year and established a new team record for game-opening home runs.  The long-standing record had belonged to Brian Downing, who hit seven in 1987.  

~Neto also singled and drew two walks.  With the all-around effort, he became the third Angels leadoff hitter to have a multi-homer, reach-base-five-times line, joining Brian Downing in 1982 and Erick Aybar in 2011.  

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