Historic Chases · 2026-09-22

The Guardians have won 6 straight, and are 8-2 in their last 10.

The so-what: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) is on a 40/40 pace — 45 HR and 39 SB, projecting to 46/40. Only five players have ever done it: Canseco, Bonds, A-Rod, Soriano, and Ohtani. Both numbers have to land — that is what makes the club so small.

Seasons on a historic footing: Jacob Misiorowski (MIL), 13.13 strikeouts per nine innings, 5th among the 9,603 qualified seasons on file, behind four seasons, led by Gerrit Cole's 13.82 in 2019; Dylan Cease (TOR), 12.73 strikeouts per nine innings, 6th.

HISTORY LAST NIGHT: Carlos Rodón reached 100 career wins; Christian Walker reached 200 career home runs; Colton Gordon carried a NO-HITTER into the 8th — broken up by a single ▶︎ watch.

Lines of the night: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) stole his 39th base — with 45 home runs banked, he is one steal from a 40/40 season; Elly De La Cruz (CIN) homered for the 29th time and stole his 29th base — one homer and one steal from a 30/30 season; Drew Rasmussen (TB) carried a NO-HITTER into the 7th — broken up by a double — and allowed one hit over 6.2 innings (11 K) ▶︎ watch; THE SAME GAME produced both: Vinnie Pasquantino hit a grand slam — his first; Chase Meidroth drove in 5 runs ▶︎ watch; CJ Abrams' tiebreaking home run in the 7th put the Nationals ahead for good in a 3-1 win over the Tigers — and hit 2 home runs ▶︎ watch.

What changed from last season: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) — walk rate up from 4.7% to 11.6% (29 in 620 plate appearances in 2025, 80 in 691 this season); Jackson Merrill (SD) — stolen bases up from 1 in 115 games in 2025 to 26 in 154 this season; Nolan Arenado (AZ) — strikeout rate up from 12.2% to 22.5% (49 in 401 at-bats in 2025, 116 in 515 this season); Taylor Ward (SEA) — home-run rate down from 6.2% to 1.4% (36 in 579 at-bats in 2025, 7 in 496 this season). (5 more cleared the same bar.) 9 of 774 rate comparisons across 149 qualified hitters and pitchers, corrected for having looked that many times.

Went deep more than once: CJ Abrams (WSH) hit 2 home runs ▶︎ watch.

Start streaks: Jared Jones has struck out 8 or more in each of his last four starts (9, 8, 9, 9).

Also last night: Carlos Cortes' go-ahead home run in the 8th put the Athletics ahead for good in a 9-7 win over the Angels ▶︎ watch; Brandon Williamson went 6.0 scoreless — and came out after 68 pitches, having allowed no runs over 6.0 innings ▶︎ watch; Michael Soroka allowed two hits over 7.0 innings (9 K) ▶︎ watch.

History movers: Yordan Alvarez (HOU), after homering — Triple Crown (AL) · Jake McCarthy (COL) — Triples: 13 now, pace 13, record 36 (Chief Wilson, 1912).