The Chicago White Sox tied an American League record with their 21st consecutive loss after being handed a 5-1 defeat by the Oakland Athletics on Monday.
Chicago mustered just one run and three hits through seven innings against A's starter JP Sears to match the 1988 Baltimore Orioles for the second-longest losing streak in Major League Baseball since 1900. The 1961 Philadelphia Phillies own the longest skid in the modern era with 23 straight losses.
Max Schuemann snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-run single in the fourth inning to help support Sears (9-8), who retired the final 10 batters he faced after surrendering Andrew Benintendi's run-scoring single in the top of the fourth to improve to 5-1 over his last six starts.
Benintendi's hit brought home Andrew Vaughn, who doubled earlier in the inning, to knot the score at 1-1 before the A's answered with two runs in their half of the fourth.
Oakland loaded the bases when White Sox starter Ky Bush hit Darrell Hernaiz with a pitch after giving up a double to JJ Bleday and walking Zack Gelof. Schuemann then delivered a single to left to drive in two runners and provide Sears with a 3-1 advantage.
Oakland increased its lead on Lawrence Butler's solo homer in the sixth inning, then tacked on another run in the eighth when Gelof scored from third on a pitch that got past White Sox catcher Korey Lee as Schuemann struck out.
Bush, called up from Triple-A Charlotte earlier in the day, allowed just two hits over four innings in his MLB debut, but issued five walks and permitted three runs.
The rookie left-hander walked three batters to load the bases in the first inning, which led to the A's first run when Tyler Nevin plated Daz Cameron with a sacrifice fly.
Ohtani's homer helps Dodgers down Phillies in Freeman's return
Shohei Ohtani hit his National League-leading 34th home run of the season as the Los Angeles Dodgers made Freddie Freeman's return to the lineup a winning one with Monday's 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Teoscar Hernandez added a two-run homer in Freeman's first game since July 25. The All-Star first baseman had been away from the Dodgers for 10 days to attend to his 3-year-old son, who had been hospitalized with an autoimmune condition before being released Sunday.
Ohtani also drove in a pair of runs while finishing 2 for 3 to help Los Angeles win the opener of this marquee three-game series between the NL's top two teams.
The Dodgers also received a solid start from Tyler Glasnow (9-6), who struck out nine over six innings while allowing three runs. Three Los Angeles relievers then finished off the victory, with Daniel Hudson tossing a scoreless ninth to earn his eighth save.
Aaron Nola (11-5) worked six innings for the slumping Phillies but was touched for four runs, all of which came in the third inning as Los Angeles erased an early 2-0 deficit.
Philadelphia has now lost seven of its last eight games and is just a half-game ahead of the Dodgers in the race for the NL's best record.
Nola cruised through the first two innings but quickly ran into trouble in the third, as Jason Heyward and Andy Pages delivered back-to-back doubles to get the Dodgers on the board. After Pages advanced to third on Nick Ahmed's infield single, Ohtani lifted a long sacrifice fly to right field that tied the contest at 2-2.
Hernandez followed with a line drive into the seats in left to put Los Angeles ahead with his 24th homer of the season.
Glasnow kept it a 4-2 lead until the sixth, when Kyle Schwarber singled and reached third on Bryce Harper's one-out double before scoring on a groundout off the bat of Alec Bohm.
Ohtani restored the Dodgers' two-run advantage, however, with a solo homer off Tanner Banks to open the bottom of the eighth.
The Phillies reached Glasnow for two second-inning runs with the help of a misplay by Pages, who couldn't come down with Nick Castellanos' long fly ball to center field that resulted in a two-out triple.
Bryson Stott then plated Castellanos with an infield single, and Austin Hays followed with a base hit to advance Stott to third. Stott would score on a wild pitch uncorked by Glasnow to give the Phillies a 2-0 edge.
Rangers shock Astros on Smith's homer in 10th
Josh Smith came through with a game-winning two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning, lifting the Texas Rangers to a stunning 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros in the opener of a key three-game series between AL West contenders.
Smith's blast off Caleb Ferguson sent slumping Houston to a third straight loss and prevented the Astros from moving within a half-game of the first-place Seattle Mariners in the division standings.
The defending World Series champion Rangers are now five games behind Seattle after winning for just the third time in 10 games.
After the Astros took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 10th when Texas closer Kirby Yates hit consecutive batters with pitches to force in a run, Ferguson entered the game and struck out the first two men he faced with a designated runner on second base.
Ferguson fell behind in the count to Smith, however, and the utility player sent a 3-1 fastball deep into the right field seats to end the game.
The Rangers opted to intentionally walk Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez in the top of the 10th to put two runners on base, but the strategy backfired when Yates hit Yainer Diaz in the hand and then plunked Jeremy Pena with the bases loaded to put the Astros ahead.
Texas had tied the game on Corey Seager's solo homer off Ryan Pressly in the bottom of the eighth, erasing a 2-1 lead the Astros had taken in the top of the inning when Jose Altuve singled, took second on a wild pitch from Rangers reliever David Robertson and later scored on Pena's infield single.
Alex Bregman gave Houston an early 1-0 advantage with a solo homer in the third inning off Andrew Heaney, the only hit the Rangers' starter allowed in six innings of work.
Texas pulled even in the fifth when Nathaniel Lowe drew a walk against Houston starter Hunter Brown, advanced to third on Adolis Garcia's single and scored on a sacrifice fly by Leody Taveras.
Brown yielded just one run and three hits over six innings.
Mets land Juan Soto on record $765M contract
Juan Soto has made his decision. He'll be staying in the same city, albeit with a new team.
Multiple outlets reported Sunday that the New York Mets have landed baseball's most coveted free agent with a massive 15-year, $765 million contract that ranks as the largest in professional sports history.
Soto chose the Mets over a handful of suitors that included the crosstown-rival New York Yankees, the team he spent the 2024 season with and helped reach the World Series.
The contract surpasses the 10-year, $700 million deal the Los Angeles Dodgers gave two-way superstar and 2024 National League MVP Shohei Ohtani last December as the largest ever in terms of overall value. And while the majority of Ohtani's guaranteed money was deferred, the Associated Press reports that Soto's agreement contains no deferments.
Soto's contract is also the longest in MLB history in terms of length, exceeding the 14-year, $340 million extension his former San Diego Padres team-mate, Fernando Tatis Jr., signed in 2021.
The New York Post reports that Soto's deal also includes an opt-out clause following the 2029 season, which would allow the four-time All-Star outfielder to re-enter the free-agent market at age 31.
The Yankees, who acquired Soto from the Padres a year ago in a seven-player trade that sent five players to San Diego, reportedly made a final offer of $760 million over 16 years, according to the Associated Press.
Soto was indisputably the crown jewel of this year's free-agent class as a 26-year-old who established himself as one of the game's premier offensive players ever since entering the majors at age 19 with the Washington Nationals in 2018. An exceptionally disclipined hitter, the Dominican native has drawn 125 or more walks in four straight seasons and his .421 career on-base percentage is the highest of any active player with at least 500 plate appearances.
The five-time Silver Slugger recipient also owns a career .285 batting average with a .953 OPS while compiling 201 home runs and 592 RBIs over seven MLB seasons.
Soto helped the Nationals to the franchise's lone World Series title in 2019 by hitting .282 with 34 homers and 110 RBIs in his second major league season. He spent four-plus seasons with Washington before being traded to the Padres midway through the 2022 campaign after turning out a reported 15-year, $440 million extension.
The Padres moved Soto to the Yankees prior to his final year before free agency in a deal that ended up aiding both teams, with the slugger playing a major role in the Bronx Bombers' run to their first World Series appearance since 2009.
Soto hit a career-high 41 homers in his lone season with the Yankees to go along with a .288 average and 109 RBIs in 157 games, and finished third in voting for the 2024 American League MVP award won by team-mate Aaron Judge.
The Mets have annually been among MLB's biggest spenders since owner Steve Cohen purchased the team in November 2020 and were already active in free agency this off-season. The team signed another former Yankee earlier this week by adding pitcher Clay Holmes on a three-year, $38 million contract and also reached a two-year, $34 million agreement with starting pitcher Frankie Montas.
Dodgers, left-hander Snell agree to 5-year, $182 million contract
In the latest installment of the rich get richer, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and left-hander Blake Snell are in agreement on a five-year, $182 million contract, pending a physical, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations.
Snell, who turns 32 next month, is a two-time Cy Young Award winner who spent last season with the San Francisco Giants, going 5-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 20 starts.
He had a 6.31 ERA at the All-Star break after a limited spring training, but over his final 12 games, he posted a 1.45 ERA with 103 strikeouts in 68 1/3 innings, including a no-hitter at Cincinnati on Aug. 2.
Snell won the 2023 Cy Young while pitching for the San Diego Padres and entered free agency. He didn’t have a team by spring training, so he landed with the Giants on a two-year, $62 million contract with an opt-out after the first year, which he exercised.
Durability is a concern with Snell, who has thrown more than 129 1/3 innings just twice in nine major league seasons. He also has a lifetime 4.1 walks per nine innings average and rarely pitches deep into games with only one career complete game.
He becomes the latest addition to the star-studded Dodgers, who gave out the first mega deal of this offseason following Shohei Ohtani's $700 million, 10-year contract last winter.
Snell joins a rotation that already features Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Ohtani.
Ohtani, Judge both unanimous picks for MVP awards
Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani were both unanimously selected to win Most Valuable Player Awards in their respective leagues on Thursday.
Judge collected all 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. garnered all 30 second-place votes.
Yankees outfielder Juan Soto finished third with 21 third-place votes.
Ohtani was an unanimous MVP for the third time, receiving all 30 first-place votes and 420 points in voting by the BWAA. New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was second with 263 points and Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte third with 229.
It is the second AL MVP award of Judge's career after he also won the award in 2022.
Judge led the major leagues with 58 homers, 144 RBIs and 133 walks while hitting .322. He also drew a league-high 133 walks and posted a spectacular 1.159 OPS.
Witt topped the big leagues with a .332 average, hitting 32 homers with 109 RBIs.
With two MVP Awards to his name, Judge is the seventh player in Yankees history to win multiple MVPs. He joins Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Alex Rodriguez.
There was an extended stretch over the summer where Judge was on a pace to reach and possibly break his own single-season home run record (62 in 2022). The same goes for a bid at a Triple Crown.
The stretch that truly defined his season began on April 27. Judge entered play on that day in Milwaukee with a .178 batting average and .674 OPS on the season. He had only four home runs with 35 strikeouts across 27 games.
Over his next 100 games, through August 23, Judge hit .378 with 45 home runs. It was the first time in MLB history a player batted higher than .375 with 45-plus homers in a stretch of 100 games within a single season.
Ohtani was unanimously voted AL MVP in 2021 and 2023 as a two-way star for the Los Angeles Angels and finished second to Judge in 2022 voting. He didn’t pitch in 2024 following elbow surgery and signed a record $700 million, 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December.
Ohtani hit .310, stole 59 bases and led the NL with 54 homers and 130 RBIs exclusively as a designated hitter, becoming the first player with 50 or more homers and 50 or more stolen bases in a season. He helped the Dodgers to the World Series title, playing the final three games with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
Ohtani is the first primary DH to win an MVP. He joins Frank Robinson for Cincinnati in 1961 and Baltimore in 1966 as the only players to win the MVP award in both leagues.
The Japanese sensation is the 12th player with three or more MVPs, joining Barry Bonds (seven) and Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Roy Campanella, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Mike Schmidt, Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Mike Trout (three each).
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