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MLB News & Moments: Báez With the Best Debut Ever?

Joshua Emanuel Báez. That's it. That's the subheadline.

Josh Shaw
MLB Morning News 8/16/2026

Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.

The dog days are here. Yet even in them, the game plays on. Saturday provided some sturdy affairs. A St. Louis Cardinal made history – you know the one unless you’ve been under a rock the last 18 hours. The Brewers and Dodgers reunited for a 2025 NLCS rematch and perhaps a 2026 NLCS teaser. The Mets found long-buried caches of yesteryear to win yesterday.

 

Today’s Headlines

 

Báez Makes History in MLB Debut

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Joshua Báez hit 34 homers in the minors this season. On Sunday, his MLB debut, he hit his first, second, and third major league dingers. No, this isn’t some Road to The Show YouTube playthrough played on rookie mode. This is the real deal, McNeil. So real that Báez is the first player in MLB history to homer three times in his debut.

Just as impressive as the feat is Báez’s power. His first long ball, a first-pitch homer no less, went 449 feet to center; His second, 382 to left, and his third 368 to right. No wall-scrapers, no one-dimensionality. The victim in Báez’s record-breaking debut was Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd. The veteran allowed each of Báez’s bombs to fall on the wrong side of history. Boyd also fell on the wrong side of the scoreboard, with St. Louis nabbing the 8-4 win off Báez’s back.

Brewers Belt It Out

The not-so-secret reason for Milwaukee’s 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers? The longball. Well, and Jacob Misiorowski. But more on him later. Battling All-Star Justin Wrobleski, the Brewers’ bats opted for the hardest path possible. Thankfully, they were up for the challenge. Shortstop Joey Ortiz made Milwaukee’s intentions clear from the jump. The shortstop socked a two-run bomb early to score himself and catcher William Contreras. Contreras then re-committed Milwaukee to its approach with a two-run homer of his own. And that was it. Milwaukee tallied just five hits all game. It parlayed three of them into its four runs. That’s efficiency.

Of course, Milwaukee did get some help from The Miz. Misiorowski had his own plan: domination of a different sort. The 24-year-old allowed just one run and one walk over six innings pitched. So far, so good. What differed from his usual plans was a lack of strikeouts. Misiorowski only struck out six, his fewest in a game since July 20. Two of those, however, came when it mattered most. Bottom of the fifth. Bases are loaded, just one out. Up next? Shohei Ohtani, with Freddie Freeman right after him. Misiorowski didn’t even blink. Both batters struck out swinging. Misiorowski needed just eight pitches to do it. He saved his best for last.

Lindor Lifts Mets With a Walk-Off

Party like it’s 2024. The New York Mets and Francisco Lindor found some leftover OMG Magic for a 5-4 walk-off win. The situation was thus: The Mets were trailing the Washington Nationals in the bottom of the ninth. Two pariahs were due up: Outfielder Brett Baty and Jorge Polanco. Baty, as if touched by the ghost of Jose Iglesias, singled. More miraculously, Polanco did the same. There were now two on with no outs for Francisco Alvarez. The catcher roped a game-tying double. And here came Lindor and flashbacks of past Flushing wonder. Lindor worked a 1-2 count. And just as Washington seemed close to salvation, Lindor rocked a slider. Pinch-runner Cristian Pache trotted home. Mets win their eighth of their last 11.

Blue Jays Beat Yankees

No Vladdy? No problem for the Toronto Blue Jays, who defeated the New York Yankees 4-1. Without their star, it was a true victory-by-committee. Offensively, the team notched 10 hits and five walks, consistently stressing Yankees starter Cam Schlittler and his pitching predecessors. Toronto first baseman Charles McAdoo, though, did more than any other. The 24-year-old recorded the go-ahead double in the seventh and then dunked an RBI single one inning later. On the pitching front, Toronto’s bullpen manned all nine innings, surrendering just one run and four total hits. It took a village.

 

By The Numbers

 

⚾ 10,000. After 126 seasons and six different names, the Cleveland Guardians recorded their 10,000th franchise win. They are the 11th team to do so. 

⚾ 44. Washington Nationals starter Brad Lord made 44 first-inning pitches. In those 44 pitches, Lord allowed a hit, four walks, and two runs. His replacement, Will Dion, needed just 10 pitches to record the third out. 

⚾ 38. In the aftermath of Lindor’s walk-off, something got lost in the shuffle: The Washington Nationals have 32 blown saves this season. 32! The most ever in a season is 37. 

⚾ 22. Wilyer Abreu tied a career-high with his 22nd home run of the season yesterday. It proved fatal for Pittsburgh, who lost to Boston 4-0. 

⚾ 22. Speaking of Sox, Sonny Gray recorded his 15th win of the season last night. Not just a career-best, Gray’s 15 wins have him tied with Cristopher Sánchez for the second-most in baseball. 

⚾ 5. Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm posted his first career five-hit game last night. Bohm fit right in with the rest of the Phillies, who smoked the Twins 9-1. 

⚾ 0.90. Logan Webb, workhorse that he is, has a 0.90 ERA in August through three starts. Webb’s two earned runs come courtesy of a double play with the bases loaded and an RBI single. Thanks to him, the Giants cruised to a 7-1 win over Colorado.

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

The Báez Bunch

The Báez family was, let’s say, well represented in Chicago.

The Terrific Tolbert

Same, Craig. Same.

Air Arenado

And Báez thought he was the only one with a multi-homer day. Pfft.

Ricky Records His First

In other debut news, Welcome to MLB, Ricky Tiedemann.

Get Yourself A Man Who Can Do Both

New York Mets outfielder Carson Benge homered yesterday. He also did this.

The Leaping Man

The winning pitcher in yesterday’s walk-off?

Tampa’s Full Field

This is about as full as you’ll ever see The Trop, partly because every section of the upper deck was open. It’s about time.

The Demon

Only Gene Simmons would view Angel Stadium as his own personal playground and the whims of its team secondary to his own amusement.

 

Injuries and Other Moves

 

⚾ Bad news in Toronto. Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is going to the seven-day concussion IL. Guerrero left Friday’s game early after crashing into third base. He will be out at least a week. Outfielder Daz Cameron will join the Jays, while pitcher Lazaro Estrada was DFA’d to make room for him. 

⚾ The Boston Red Sox can’t score all of a sudden, and now they may be without Masataka Yoshida. The veteran departed Saturday’s affair with hamstring tightness after legging out a double. Over his last 15 games, Yoshida is hitting .321.

⚾ Paul Skenes‘ next start will be on Wednesday rather than today. The Pirates want to give their ace a few extra days off. 

⚾ Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kyle Tucker is fine. He just needed a day off because he can’t hit at Dodger Stadium. 

⚾ Good news in Toronto: It’s Tiedemann time. The Blue Jays called up left-top prospect Ricky Tiedemann for his MLB debut. Fellow pitcher Chase Lee will sadly not see Tiedemann’s turn in the rotation. He was DFA’d for the forthcoming rookie. 

⚾ The Athletics traded utility man Jonathan Ornelas to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for cash considerations. Milwaukee will activate Ornelas tonight. 

⚾ The Seattle Mariners have a new boatswain’s mate. The team claimed right-hander Troy Watson off waivers from Detroit and added him to their 40-man roster. Despite the move, Watson heads to Triple-A. 

⚾ Speaking of claims, the Los Angeles Angels added pitcher Trevor Martin off waivers from the Rays. Like Watson, Martin will move to Triple-A. Michael Fulmer will also join the Halos. 

 

Articles You Should Read

 

7 stats and facts to know from Joshua Báez’s debut for the ages — Sarah Langs, MLB.com

How the division races have changed since the All-Star break — Manny Randhawa, MLB.com

 

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Josh Shaw

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Josh Shaw graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2022 with a Journalism degree. He's written for The New Hampshire, Pro Sports Fanatics, and PitcherList.

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