Historic Chases · 2026-07-17

The AL Central is a coin flip: Sox (51-45) lead Guardians by 0.5. The Nationals' single-season record is 46 home runs, set by Alfonso Soriano in 2006. James Wood (WSH) projects to 46 and would tie it.

History movers: Yordan Alvarez (HOU) — Triple Crown (AL) · Athletics — Losing Streak: 10 now, modern record 23 (Philadelphia Phillies, 1961).

Lines of the night: Andrés Chaparro drove in 8 runs ▶︎ watch; Spencer Steer hit an INSIDE-THE-PARK home run — a half-dozen or so happen a season ▶︎ watch; Harry Ford hit his first career home run ▶︎ watch; Lucas Spence made his MLB DEBUT and went 1-for-3 ▶︎ watch; Tommy White made his MLB DEBUT and went 1-for-4 ▶︎ watch.

Also last night: Craig Yoho earned his first career win; Cam Sanders earned his first career win ▶︎ watch.

What changed from last season: Jackson Merrill (SD) — stolen bases up from 1 in 115 games in 2025 to 19 in 94 this season; Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) — walk rate up from 4.7% to 11.7% (29 in 620 plate appearances in 2025, 48 in 409 this season); Junior Caminero (TB) — walk rate up from 6.4% to 12.7% (41 in 643 plate appearances in 2025, 53 in 416 this season). 3 of 324 rate comparisons across 63 men on this season's leaderboards, corrected for having looked that many times.

The so-what: Kyle Schwarber (PHI) has 32 home runs through 98 team games, a 53-homer pace — 11 behind McGwire's 1998 total at the same point (43 of his eventual 70). Keep watching that number — it separates a run at the record from a very good season.