In 1972, the Padres pitching staff posted the third most team shutouts in the NL, with 17. Problem was, they were also blanked 17 times, which amounted to the second most in the league. However the computations and balances played out, the club finished the year with a dismal 58-95 record, for a .379 winning percentage that only barely resisted being the worst in the Senior Circuit. The club is a bit of a rarity – going back to 1901, they are one of nine in the NL to finish the season with a winning percentage no higher than .450 while authoring as many as 17 team shutouts. Seven of the other clubs that meet these requirements did their oddball work during the Deadball Era, leaving only the 1946 Reds to join the ’72 Friars as more modern examples of superior run-suppression kind of falling flat in the larger scheme.
The 2025 Pirates might join the club, currently sitting with a .450 winning percentage despite having more team shutouts than any other team in the league. Problem is, they also lead the circuit in being on the wrong side of a zero in the runs column.
Braxton Ashcraft (3.0 IP, 2 H) and four Pirates relievers combined on a five-hitter as Pittsburgh recorded its 17th team shutout of the year in a disposing of the Dodgers, 3-0. This 2025 club – which is tops in the Majors with their 17 – have more this season than they’ve had in any campaign since 1992, when that staff recorded 20.
~This 2025 staff owns a 112 ERA+, a top-five mark for the franchise in the past 50 seasons.
Highest Team ERA+ for the Pirates, 1976-2025
121 2015 team that went 98-64
117 1984 team that went 75-87
114 1979 team that went 98-64
112 1998 team that went 69-93
112 2025 team that is 63-77
In the Pirates’ victory, Andrew McCutchen delivered his 332nd career home run, with 248 of them coming for the Buccos. The franchise can claim only two players – Willie Stargell and Ralph Kiner – with at least 250 longballs, a relatively paltry number for a franchise that traces its first game back to the 1882 season. Among the current franchises who were playing ball when the World Series Era began (1903), those two tie for the fewest, with Cleveland (José Ramírez, Jim Thome) and the White Sox (Paul Konerko, Frank Thomas) also having just two.
Zac Gallen spun six scoreless innings and got the win in a Diamondbacks 2-0 victory, the 63rd time in his Arizona career he’s recorded a ‘W.’ The right-hander broke out of a tie with Merrill Kelly for the third-most wins in team history, behind Randy Johnson’s 118 and Brandon Webb’s 87.
Toronto’s George Springer continued his assault on the opposition, going 2-for-4 with three runs scored, two walks and a home run. The 35-year-old owns a 1.235 OPS in this season’s second half, a figure that would be, by far, the best a Blue Jay has ever posted after an All-Star break. Among those with at least 200 plate appearances after the Midsummer Classic, Edwin Encarnación’s 1.132 in 2015 is the best. Really, remove the single-franchise restrictions and Springer would still shine, as a 1.235 or better has been produced only 11 times:
1933-2024: 200 Plate Appearances and a 1.235 OPS (or better) after the ASG
1.455 Barry Bonds in 2001
1.449 Ted Williams in 1957
1.432 Barry Bonds in 2002
1.421 Barry Bonds in 2004
1.393 Barry Bonds in 2003
1.373 Ted Williams in 1941
1.286 Aaron Judge in 2022
1.267 Albert Belle in 1998
1.259 Ryan Howard in 2006
1.254 Jim Thome in 2002
1.236 Mark McGwire in 1999
Yandy Díaz went 5-for-5 (four singles and a double) in Tampa Bay’s 9-4 win, the 11th player in franchise history to produce a five-hit game (no player has gone higher). Díaz’s line marked the 56th to come from a DH, with Paul Molitor having the most, five. Only five others contributed more than one (all these guys had two): Tommy Davis, Hal McRae, Chili Davis, Manny Ramírez and Billy Butler.
Jo Adell drove in all four of the Angels’ runs in a 4-3 win over the Royals, contributing a go-ahead, three-run home run in the sixth and a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth. The 26-year-old is the first Angel since Mike Trout in 2022 to have at least four RBI and be responsible for all the team’s runs in a win.
~Adell has a three-game streak featuring at least one home run and multiple RBI. One more effort meeting these requirements and Adell would match Leon Wagner (1961) and Mo Vaughn (1999) for the longest such streak in team history.
Over in the other league, Milwaukee’s Brice Turang (2-for-3, a double and a triple and a walk and a steal) assembled his third straight game featuring multiple hits with at least one going for extra bases and at least one RBI. The longest streak for a Brewer meeting these requirements (2+ hits, at least 1 XBH and at least 1 RBI) stands at five, thanks to the efforts of Ben Oglivie in 1983. Aramis Ramírez was the last Brewer to do this in four straight, posting the requisite numbers in 2014.
~One of the fun and easy applications for something like bWAR is putting together all-time teams. By this metric, Turang might – by year’s end – have the case for the starting spot at second in the Brewers’ all-time, single-season lineup.
Highest bWAR by a Brewers Second Baseman (at least 50% of games at second)
5.6 Paul Molitor in 1979
5.4 Brice Turang in 2025
5.1 Don Money in 1977
4.7 Brice Turang in 2024
4.3 Jim Gantner in 1983
4.3 Willie Randolph in 1991
Salvador Perez doubled in Kansas City’s loss, his 625th career extra-base hit. The 14-year vet is now tied with Frank White on the franchise’s all-time leaderboard in the category, the duo third behind George Brett (1,119) and Hal McRae (681).
~For all players with at least two-thirds of their career games behind the dish, Perez ranks 11th in extra-base hits, most directly behind Lance Parrish and his 656. Iván Rodríguez owns the most, with 934.
Making his ninth start of the season’s second half, Cubs right-hander Cade Horton worked five hitless and scoreless innings to drop his post-break ERA to 0.77. Where might this all end? Well, the history books offer a total of 518 pitchers who, in their debut season (like Horton is), made at least 12 starts after an All-Star break. The 10 lowest marks for ERA range from Jim Turner’s 1.49 in 1937 to the 2.18 from Dick Tidrow in 1972 and the Cubs’ own Kyle Hendricks in 2014. Just last season, Paul Skenes posted a 2.03. The rest of the collection: Steve Rogers (1.50 in 1973), Zach Duke (1.78 in 2005), Tiny Bonham (1.90 in 1940), Jim Nash (1.93 in 1966) Mel Stottlemyre (2.06 in 1964) and Tim Wakefield (2.15 in 1992).
Byron Buxton doubled and tripled and is now slugging .559 for the season as he (and as we cross fingers, pray and sacrifice a Louisville Slugger) closes in on enough plate appearances to ensure he qualifies for the rate stat leaderboards at season’s end. The 31-year-old, who has qualified for the batting title once in his first 10 campaigns, is in line for the best slugging season ever for a Senators/Twins center fielder …
Twins Franchise: Highest Slugging % by a Qualifying CF’er (at least 50% of Games in CF)
.559 Byron Buxton (2025)
.545 Kirby Puckett (1988)
.537 Kirby Puckett (1986)
.534 Kirby Puckett (1987)
.524 Torii Hunter (2002)
.521 Jimmie Hall (1963)
.508 Lyman Bostock (1977)
Brent Rooker doubled twice to raise his extra-base hit tally to 67, tying the career-best mark he established last season. The 30-year-old is creeping closer to the best number an Athletics DH has ever produced in a season: Khris Davis’ 77 in 2018. Gerónimo Berroa had 69 in 1996 for the second most.
Nick Kurtz clocked his 28th home run of the year. Seven players in age-22 or younger seasons have produced more in their debut campaign.
Most HRs in a First Year, Players in Age-22 or Younger Seasons
39 Cody Bellinger in 2017
38 Frank Robinson in 1956
37 Albert Pujols in 2001
31 Ted Williams in 1939
31 Eloy Jiménez in 2019
30 Pete Incaviglia in 1986
29 Joe DiMaggio in 1936
28 Julio Rodríguez in 2022
28 Nick Kurtz in 2024
Matt Chapman hit two home runs in a Giants’ victory, the 17th straight game in which the team has gone yard. The streak, during which San Francisco has gone 12-5, is the second longest in franchise history, after the 19-gamer the 1947 team produced. That club amassed 221 home runs to establish a new Major League record, passing the 182 from the 1936 Yankees. Those 221 would not be surpassed until the 1961 Yankees hit 240.
On Wednesday, Austin Wells joined the Yankees’ 20-homer club, the sixth member of the 2025 team to get to the milestone. The 2009 and 2019 Yankees claimed the most 20-home run compilers, with seven apiece. The highest number on any roster comes from the 2019 Twins, who had eight. Right now, the 2025 Yankees have two additional players close to the mark: Anthony Volpe (19) and Giancarlo Stanton (18).
~Wells also produced a pair of doubles to make him the 42nd Yankees backstop to have three extra-base hits in a game (no one has had more). Jorge Posada (with eight) leads a pair of Hall of Famers (Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra, each with seven) for the most appearances among the 42.
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.