Historic Chases · 2026-07-28

The AL Central is a coin flip: Sox (55-51) lead Guardians by 1.5. The Nationals' single-season record is 46 home runs, set by Alfonso Soriano in 2006. James Wood (WSH) projects to 45 and would finish 1 short.

History movers: Yordan Alvarez (HOU), after homering — Franchise Home Runs: 35 now, pace 52, record 47 (Jeff Bagwell, 2000).

Lines of the night: Shohei Ohtani (797) passed Jackie Robinson (734) on the Dodgers' all-time RBI list; Yordan Alvarez (653) passed Doug Rader (600) on the Astros' all-time RBI list; Fernando Tatis Jr. (SD) had a perfect day: 5-for-5 ▶︎ watch; One night, three Rays up the franchise RBI list: Jonathan Aranda (222) past Julio Lugo; Junior Caminero (263) past Toby Hall; Yandy Díaz (546) past Ben Zobrist; Tommy White — a bench bat with 10 games played — went a perfect 4-for-4.

Also last night: Jose Franco earned his first career win ▶︎ watch; Gerardo Carrillo earned his first career win ▶︎ watch; Austin Wynns hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 23 ▶︎ watch.

What changed from last season: Jackson Merrill (SD) — stolen bases up from 1 in 115 games in 2025 to 21 in 104 this season; Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) — walk rate up from 4.7% to 12.1% (29 in 620 plate appearances in 2025, 55 in 455 this season). 2 of 314 rate comparisons across 62 men on this season's leaderboards, corrected for having looked that many times.

Start streaks: Gavin Williams (CLE) has struck out 8 or more in each of his last four starts (11, 11, 11, 12).

The so-what: Yordan Alvarez (HOU) has 35 home runs through 109 team games, a 52-homer pace — 11 behind Bonds's 2001 total at the same point (46 of his eventual 73). Keep watching that number — it separates a run at the record from a very good season.