Historic Chases · 2026-08-11

No club in baseball has been hotter: the Red Sox have won 23 of their last 30, 3 clear of the next club among the 30 with a full 30 played. At its peak the run reached 27-3. They were 14 games under .500 on June 18 (29-43); they are 64-55 now. The Rays have won 8 straight, and are 9-1 in their last 10.

Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) is on a 30/30 pace — 27 HR and 30 SB, projecting to 36/40. Power and speed usually live in different bodies, which is why fewer than fifty players have ever managed both in one season. Power and speed in the same season is the whole story from here.

Also last night: CJ Abrams (WSH) homered for the 29th time — one homer and eight steals from a 30/30 season; Junior Caminero (TB) and Matt Olson (ATL) pulled level at the top of the home runs board at 35, tied with Yordan Alvarez (HOU) and Kyle Schwarber (PHI); Nick Martinez (TB) improved to 12-3 — 12 wins in 15 decisions.

Lines of the night: Two go-ahead plays: Ryan McMahon's go-ahead single in the 7th put the Yankees ahead for good in a 4-1 win over the Mariners ▶︎ watch; Elly De La Cruz's tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the 10th put the Reds ahead for good in a 5-4 win over the White Sox ▶︎ watch. A PITCHERS' DUEL in one game: Andre Pallante (STL) went 6.0 scoreless; Cristopher Sánchez (PHI) went 6.0 scoreless ▶︎ watch. Eury Pérez went 7.0 scoreless ▶︎ watch; Taylor Walls hit 2 home runs — and hit his first home run of the season — in his game No. 97 ▶︎ watch.

Seasons on a historic footing: Jacob Misiorowski (MIL), an ERA of 1.76, tied for 9th among the 4,338 qualified seasons since 1969 with Tom Seaver's 1.76 in 1971 and 13.80 strikeouts per nine innings, 2nd among the 9,603 qualified seasons on file and behind only Gerrit Cole's 13.82 in 2019; Dylan Cease (TOR), 13.09 strikeouts per nine innings, 5th. The earned run average rank is given from 1969 on because the lowest earned run averages were thrown before the mound was lowered in 1969, and a rank across those eras is not a comparison the numbers support.

History movers: Rays — Win Streak: 8 now, modern record 22 (Cleveland Indians, 2017).

What changed from last season: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) — walk rate up from 4.7% to 12.6% (29 in 620 plate appearances in 2025, 65 in 517 this season); Jackson Merrill (SD) — stolen bases up from 1 in 115 games in 2025 to 23 in 118 this season; Junior Caminero (TB) — walk rate up from 6.4% to 12.6% (41 in 643 plate appearances in 2025, 65 in 516 this season). 3 of 332 rate comparisons across 65 men on this season's leaderboards, corrected for having looked that many times.