Historic Chases · 2026-04-24 RECONSTRUCTED

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Nightly briefing

Baseball last night

Games of 2026-04-24

No history was made last night, but the box scores still talked: Nathaniel Lowe hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 15 ▶︎ watch; Matt McLain hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 26 ▶︎ watch.

Yordan Alvarez has 76 total bases — projecting to 456, 0 behind Babe Ruth's 457 pace. Needs 274 more to reach 350.

Yordan Alvarez sits at .357 — the last .400 season was Ted Williams in 1941.

History movers: Yordan Alvarez — Triple Crown (MLB); Batting Average: record 0.406 (Ted Williams) · Sal Stewart — Franchise RBI: 24 now, pace 149.5, record 149 (George Foster); RBI: 24 now, pace 150, record 191 (Hack Wilson).

Lines of the night: Paul Skenes took a PERFECT GAME into the 7th — broken up by a single ▶︎ watch; Konnor Griffin hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 20 ▶︎ watch.

The .400 chase: Yordan Alvarez went 2-for-3 last night and pushed his average up 10 points to .357. The gap to .400 is now .043.

The so-what: through 27 team games, Yordan Alvarez sits 1 HR behind Bonds' 73-homer pace (12 at this point). That's the number that decides whether this season becomes a chase or a footnote.

That morning's stakes

What we were watching

MUST TRACK: Oneil Cruz is on a 50/50 pace — 8 HR / 10 SB, projecting to 50/62. Only one player has ever done it — Shohei Ohtani's 54/59 in 2024. Every game matters from here.

The .400 burndown: Yordan Alvarez carries a .357 average into today; a .400 finish takes a .410 clip the rest of the way (201-for-490). A 3-for-4 tonight lowers the requirement to .407; an 0-for-4 raises it to .414.

Streak ladder: the Cubs have won 10 straight — 10 shy of the 2002 Moneyball A's (20); 12 shy of the 2017 Indians (modern record) (22).

Streak ladder: the Phillies have lost 10 straight — 11 shy of the 2024 White Sox (AL record) (21); 13 shy of the 1961 Phillies (modern record) (23).

On this date in 1917, George Mogridge of the Yankees threw a no-hitter.

30/30 watch: Oneil Cruz sits at 8 HR / 10 SB — 22 homers short and 20 steals short of a 30/30 season, projecting to 50/62.

Historical intelligence

How the night stacked up

Pace through history

Yordan Alvarez versus the great home-run seasons

Yordan Alvarez has 11 home runs through 27 team games, 2 behind Barry Bonds's 2001 pace at the same checkpoint (13). Comparable chases finished with a median of 36; 7.6% reached 50 and 1.7% reached 60 (n=236).

Retrosheet · verified play-by-play

If the pace holds

A projected top-1 season

If Taylor Ward finishes at the current projection of 81, it would be the most doubles in any season since 1901 — no season on record has finished higher.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Franchise pressure

A franchise record is under pressure

The single-season record is 215 hits, set by Vernon Wells in 2003. Ernie Clement projects to 214 and projects to finish 1 short.

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Only X seasons ever

Yordan Alvarez is building a rare combination

At his current pace, Yordan Alvarez would reach at least 60 HR, and 150 RBI. Only 3 completed seasons in the configured historical cohort reached every mark. The recent company includes Sammy Sosa (2001), Sammy Sosa (1998), Babe Ruth (1927).

SABR Lahman Baseball Database · through 2021

Closest to .400