Game Notes – 08/31/2025

Since the 20th century gave way to the 21st, 1,713 contests have abruptly and resoundingly concluded with a home run.  Pinch-hitters have authored 104 of these dream (or nightmare) scenarios, going from witness to hero in whatever time it took to emerge off the pine, prep in the on-deck space, get comfortable in the box and then launch one into some seats.  Imagine the elation of doing this … ponder the fantastical-ness of replicating the feat within the same season.  Or maybe just query the few this century who’ve managed that.  Maybe track down Charlie Culberson, who, over a span of seven days in late May and early June in 2018, delivered a pair of two-run, pinch-hit game-ending home runs for his Braves.  Or, perhaps, look up Jason Giambi, who had a pair of pinch-hit, walk-off bombs for the Rockies in 2010 and then three years later, delivered two for Cleveland.  Or, these days, try and catch up with Will Smith between heroics.

Here we go again …  Will Smith gave the Dodgers a 5-4 walk-off win with a home run in the bottom of the ninth.  Smith’s swing marked the third time this season a pinch-hitter has struck a walk-off homer, with he himself responsible for two.  The three-time All-Star is responsible for each of the last four times a Dodgers pinch-hitter has connected for a game-ending longball and can claim a full 22.2% of all Dodgers walk-off home runs by a pinch-hitter since 1969 (four of 18).  Since that year, Smith’s four are the second most for any player.  

1969-2025:  Most Walk-off Home Runs by a Pinch-Hitter

6    Jason Giambi (1 in 2008, 2 in 2010, 1 in 2012, 2 in 2013)

4    Will Smith (1 in 2019, 1 in 2021, 2 in 2025)

3    Larry Sheets (1 in 1987, 1 in 1988, 1 in 1990)

3    Charlie Culberson (1 in 2014, 2 in 2018)

~Smith owns a .965 OPS in his 50 career pinch-hitting appearances.  In the Divisional Era, that figure currently resides in a tie for the 28th best (minimum 50 trips to the plate), matched with Bob Hansen’s mark from the mid-1970s.  Mark McGwire’s 1.264 leads all contestants (McGwire slashed .340/.484/.780 with seven home runs in 64 plate appearances).

Brice Turang homered and singled for Milwaukee in a loss to Toronto – the final flourish in a month that was filled with a lot of offensive ornamentation.  Here are some of his numbers – where they stood for all NL players this August and where they stand all-time for any player with the franchise in any August:

10 HR            Tied for second in the NL, tied for sixth in Brewers history (Gorman Thomas’ 12 in 1979 are the                        most)

17 XBH          Tied for third in the NL, tied for seventh in Brewers history (Ryan Braun’s 19 in 2012 are the                              most)

75 TB             First in the NL, third in Brewers history (Cecil Cooper’s 78 in 1980 are the most)

1.093 OPS     First in the NL*, fifth* in Brewers history (Mike Cameron’s 1.200 in 2008 is tops)

*minimum 100 plate appearances

Jakob Marsee (2-for-3 with a double and two walks), concluded his first August in the big leagues with a 1.058 OPS in 121 plate appearances.  The 24-year-old’s mark stands as the 12th best for any first-year player in any August since 1901, tucked between Frank Robinson’s 1.071 in 1956 and Austin Kearns’ 1.052 in 2002.  

Lucas Giolito (6.0 IP, 1 R) improved to 10-2 in Boston’s 5-2 win over Pittsburgh.  He is one of three Red Sox hurlers with double-digit wins and an ERA+ north of 120 (he’s at 123), joining Garrett Crochet (14 wins, 172 ERA+) and Brayan Bello (10, 139).  The club last saw a trio of starters end a year with at least 10 wins and an ERA+ of at least 120 in 2004, when it was Curt Schilling (21, 148), Pedro Martínez (16, 124) and Bronson Arroyo (10, 120).

Sandy Alcantara (7.0 IP, 1 R), improved to 4-2 with a 3.16 ERA in nine starts after the All-Star break.  The ERA might not look so overly excitable – it would rank as the 15th best among the 122 Marlins pitchers who ended any season’s second half with at least 10 starts; in relation to Alcantara’s work in this season’s first half, that 3.16 is quite dramatic.  The right-hander posted a 7.22 before the 2025 Midsummer Classic, which is the worst for any Marlin ever in any first half (minimum 15 starts) and the 16th worst for any pitcher in any first half in the All-Star Era.  

Julio Rodríguez drove in two runs in a 2-for-4 day to help the Mariners to a win over the Guardians.  You might say the outfielder is at it again, as he’s posted a .900 OPS since play resumed after the All-Star break – this in contrast to his .731 in the season’s first half.  This down/up is reflective of his entire career, where Rodríguez is at .737/.903.  For some perspective, at least in terms of his relative standing, the .737 OPS in first halves ranks 89th among the 158 players this decade who’ve had at least 300 games before the break.  The .903 – among the 215 players with at least 175 games in second halves – ranks 11th.

Tarik Skubal surrendered four hits and two walks over seven scoreless innings and led the Tigers to a 5-0 win against the Royals.  The 28-year-old southpaw leads the AL in ERA and ERA+, strikeouts, WHIP, walks per nine and strikeouts per nine and K:BB ratio.  In light of this eminence, here’s how his rate stats stack up with the best any AL lefty has done in the DH Era (since 1973), with 2020 removed from the samples.

2.18 ERA       Fifth lowest, with Ron Guidry’s 1.74 in 1978 the lowest

191 ERA+      Fifth best, with Blake Snell’s 2017 in 2018 the best

0.873 WHIP   Lowest, with the current champ being Johan Santana’s 0.921 in 2004

1.40 BB/9      14th lowest, with Cliff Lee’s 0.76 in 2010 the lowest

11.24 K/9       Seventh highest, with Chris Sale’s 12.93 in 2017 the highest

8.00 K:BB      Second best, behind Cliff Lee’s 10.28 in 2010

~Skubal posted a 0.922 WHIP in 2024.  Back-to-back seasons below 1.000 are uncommon for southpaws.  Since 1893, they arrive as such:

2    Jack Pfiester (1906-1907)
4    Sandy Koufax (1963-1966)

3    Johan Santana (2004-2006)

3    Clayton Kershaw (2013-2015)

Aaron Judge singled, doubled and homered for the Yankees, his homer the 358th of his 10-year career.  

~With the four-bagger, Judge tied three-time MVP Yogi Berra for fifth on New York’s all-time list.  Another three home runs from Judge and the two-time MVP will match three-time MVP Joe DiMaggio for fourth on the Bombers’ lifetime leaderboard.

~Judge’s latest line lifted his lifetime slugging percentage to .612, a figure that sparkles as one of six to be above .600 for any player through his first 10 seasons, minimum 4,000 plate appearances.  

.640   Jimmie Foxx (1925-1934) in 4,593 appearances

.640   Lou Gehrig (1923-1932) in 5,474 appearances

.633   Ted Williams (1939-1951) in 6,439 appearances

.624   Albert Pujols (2001-2010) in 6,782 appearances

.622   Hank Greenberg (1930-1941) in 4,762 appearances

.612   Aaron Judge (2016-2025) in 4,890 appearances

Brandon Lowe’s grand slam went a long way toward Tampa Bay’s 7-4 win over Washington and gave the lifetime Ray his fifth career home run with the bases loaded – tied for the most in franchise history, with Ben Zobrist and Carlos Peña also at five.

The Rockies defeated the Cubs on the strength of Mickey Moniank’s triple in the bottom of the ninth.  The franchise had witnessed three walk-off triples before Moniak’s on Sunday – from Dexter Fowler, Corey Dickerson and Brandon Barnes in three straight seasons, starting in 2012.  During the Rockies Era of the Majors (since 1993), there have been 53 of them, with Rajai Davis the only player responsible for more than one (he had two).

Justin Verlander fanned 10 in a five-inning workout that saw him walk four and allow three hits (but no runs) while throwing 121 pitches.  Still, in a season where wins have been hard to pocket, the 42-year-old did improve to 3-10 for the year.  A few different boxes to unpack …

~Verlander notched his 73rd career double-digit strikeout game, the 12th most in the Modern Era, between the 74 from Bob Gibson and Sam McDowell and the 70 from Tom Seaver.  At the age of 42 years and 192 days, Verlander is the 32nd oldest hurler to have a double-digit K game, and the oldest since Randy Johnson (44 years 347 days old) on August 22, 2008.  Verlander is the oldest Giant to strike out at least 10 in a game.

~With the 10 strikeouts, Verlander moved to within four of matching Gaylord Perry for eighth on the all-time list.

~With the win, Verlander improved to 265-157 for his career, tying Jim McCormick on the all-time list (tying for either 38th most or 39th most, depending on the source).  

~Dating back to 1998, Baseball Reference recognizes this performance as one of eight to see a pitcher past his 42nd birthday amass at least 120 pitches.  Some details for the other seven …

122 pitches from Jamie Moyer (44y, 245d) on July 21, 2007 

129 pitches from Randy Johnson (42y, 312d) on July 19, 2006

121 pitches from R.A. Dickey (42y, 305d) on August 30, 2017

126 pitches from Roger Clemens (42y, 262d) on April 23, 2005

120 pitchers from Jamie Moyer (42y, 240d) on July 16, 2005

126 pitches from Jamie Moyer (42y, 199d) on June 5, 2005

122 pitches from Randy Johnson (42y, 21d) on October 1, 2005

Hurston Waldrep (5.2 IP, 1 R) closed out a spectacularly stingy August in which the 23-year-old made six appearances (five starts) and posted a 1.01 ERA in 35.2 innings.  Starting at the start of the Liveball Era (1920) and continuing all the way through to the end of August in 2025, two dozen pitchers in age-23 or younger campaigns have completed any monthly split with a lower ERA (minimum 35.0 innings).  Here’s Waldrep along with the others who went ever lower, since 1980.

Monthly Split:  35.0+ IP, ERA at or Below 1.01, Age-23 or Younger Season

1.01   Hurston Waldrep for the Braves in August of 2025

0.82   Jack Flaherty for the Cardinals in September of 2019

0.71   Jack Flaherty for the Cardinals in August of 2019

0.99   Lance McCullers, Jr. for the Astros in May of 2017

0.71   Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers in July of 2009

0.94   Félix Hernández for the Mariners in June of 2009

0.69   Mark Prior for the Cubs in August of 2003

0.34   Dwight Gooden for the Mets in Sept./Oct. of 1985

0.89   Rick Aguilera for the Mets in July of 1985

0.20   Fernando Valenzuela for the Dodgers in April of 1981

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