Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.
If Wednesday was any indication of what’s to come, then the races in the NL East and NL Central are looking to be the most fascinating of all by season’s end. Entering the day, the Cubs and Brewers were tied atop the National League Central, while the Phillies held a half-game lead over the Mets in the National League East. There was also a huge rubber game in Toronto between the AL East-leading Blue Jays and second-place New York Yankees. If errors and sloppy play interest you, then look no further than the Yankees’ four fielding mistakes on Wednesday, and that’s not even including a huge mishap in right field that led to a triple for the home team. See more on that and all other happenings around the league below. It was an exciting day in the majors. Let’s get to it.
Don’t forget to watch every game with the Pitcher List community on Playback!
Today’s Headlines
Race in the NL East
Let’s begin with the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. Heading into Wednesday’s action, Philadelphia held a narrow lead in the NL East over New York in a division race that continues to go back and forth, and one that looks destined to be determined in the final week of the regular season.
The Mets were eyeing an afternoon three-game sweep at Citi Field versus the visiting Los Angeles Angels. Right from the get-go, this contest looked to be in New York’s control after a Brandon Nimmo leadoff homer in the first inning put his squad up early. Three innings later, the Mets went ahead 5-1 thanks to a four-run fourth highlighted by a three-run long ball from first baseman Pete Alonso; his 22nd of the campaign.
The Angels scored two runs in the seventh, but that was the only damage allowed by New York’s bullpen as they held on for the 6-3 victory and series sweep. SP Sean Manaea tossed five innings of one-run ball for his first win of ’25.
Meanwhile, the Phillies hosted the Red Sox on Wednesday evening, also looking for a three-game sweep. Things couldn’t have started better for the hosts after Boston’s starting pitcher Lucas Giolito surrendered back-to-back jacks in the first inning to Kyle Schwarber (No. 34 of the year) and Bryce Harper (No. 350 of career).
The Phillies scored twice more courtesy of solo homers in the third by Nick Castellanos and in the fourth off the bat of Bryson Stott. The Sox trailed 5-0 after four innings, and it looked to be all home team after Giolito’s disastrous outing (4 IP, 5 ER, 4 HR allowed). But this is baseball, and it’s unpredictable.
Just when it looked like Phillies southpaw Jesús Luzardo would cruise to his ninth W of the season after being staked a five-run lead, he instead surrendered consecutive bases-loaded walks to Rob Refsnyder and Jarren Duran with two outs in the fifth, giving Boston its first runs of the contest. However, the real damage came when next man up, Romy González, cranked a grand slam over the left field wall to put his team ahead 6-5. Giolito was off the hook and instead settled for a four-inning no-decision.
The score remained the same until a game-tying solo homer in the eighth by catcher J.T. Realmuto evened things at six runs apiece.
Neither squad scored again in regulation, setting up a memorable extra-innings affair. Boston’s Trevor Story put the Sox ahead 7-6 via an RBI double in the 10th, but Schwarber answered with a game-tying single in the bottom half. With the game even at seven in the 11th, Sox catcher Carlos Narváez lined a two-run homer to left that narrowly cleared the wall, and had to be reviewed for fan interference.
The call was upheld, and Boston held on for a 9-8 win to avoid the three-game sweep.
The Mets lead the Phillies by a half-game in the NL East.
Brewers Alone Atop NL Central
One of the best stories of 2025 has to be the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brew Crew and Cubs entered Wednesday in a two-way tie atop the NL Central. Both teams played afternoon matches with their respective series on the line. Kansas City defeated Chicago 8-4 at Wrigley Field. Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino collected three hits, including two homers and four RBI, to lead the Royals to their 50th win.
Unfortunately for the Cubs, the Brewers’ bats went on an offensive rampage in Seattle, and outhit the home team 17-7 en route to a 10-2 rubber game victory. Every player in the Milwaukee starting lineup had at least one knock. Six batters collected at least two hits, while leadoff man Brice Turang and backstop William Contreras recorded three apiece. SP Quinn Priester upped his record to 9-2 after allowing two runs over seven innings. The win not only put the Brewers (61-41) alone atop the NL Central, one game ahead of Chicago, but it also gave them sole possession of first place in all of MLB.
Jax Blows Game and Series
What’s going on with the Twins? After coming off a horrible series loss in Colorado to open the second half last weekend, Minnesota needed a win in Wednesday’s rubber game against the defending World Series champs to at least somewhat make up for that sad display at Coors Field. After Shohei Ohtani began the scoring with a first-inning solo homer off Twins starting pitcher Chris Paddack, the seven-year vet settled down and kept Los Angeles scoreless over the next five innings. Ohtani has homered in five consecutive contests to tie the Dodgers’ club record.
The Twins trailed 2-1 entering the eighth before Harrison Bader singled home Brooks Lee from third to break a 2-2 tie.
Minnesota kept the Dodgers off the board in the bottom half of the eighth and entered the ninth with a 3-2 lead. Closer Jhoan Duran wasn’t available for the ninth after tossing two frames in the team’s 10-7 victory on Tuesday. Instead, Minnesota went with right-hander Griffin Jax with the series on the line. It didn’t go well. In fact, you could say it couldn’t have gone worse.
Jax retired the first two batters of the frame before an infield single by Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts began what ultimately became a nightmare inning for the Twins reliever. Jax intentionally walked the next batter, Ohtani, to set up a first and second situation with Esteury Ruiz at the dish. Jax unintentionally walked Ruiz to load the bases, and then came the rising crowd that seemed to know what was going to happen next. Who better to come up to bat in the clutch than their World Series hero, Freddie Freeman? Answer: Nobody.
On a 1-2 pitch, Freeman hit a four-seam fastball that dropped in front of a diving Bader in left field, plating Betts from third and Ohtani from second for a 4-3 Dodgers win.
Not to be forgotten in the late-inning drama was Dodgers SP Tyler Glasnow’s performance on the bump. Glasnow allowed three hits and struck out 12 over seven innings of one-run ball in a no-decision effort.
Bassitt Outduels Fried
If sloppy contests are your thing, then I hope you tuned in for this series-decider between the top two clubs in the AL East. It began with a solid pitching duel between Toronto’s Chris Bassitt and New York Yankees lefty Max Fried. Things changed quickly with the game knotted at two in the fifth inning. With one out and runners on first and second, Blue Jays star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a dribbler down the third base line that ultimately scored two runs after Fried attempted to throw out Davis Schneider at home. The ball got away from catcher J.C. Escarra, allowing George Springer to score the second run on the play.
Fortunately for the Yankees, they have a guy named Aaron Judge. New York’s captain tied the contest in the top of the sixth with a two-run homer to right center. The umpires reviewed the play for fan interference, but the call was upheld, and the game was still tied at four.
Then came a bizarre bottom of the sixth that began with an Ernie Clement triple off Fried on what looked like a routine flyball to right fielder Cody Bellinger… or so fans thought. Bellinger lost sight of the ball in the Canadian sky, and it dropped behind him, leading to a triple instead.
Fried then allowed a go-ahead RBI double to the next batter, Myles Straw, and exited his first contest since July 12 (blister on left index finger) with a final line of 5.1 IP, 4 ER, 3 K, 3 BB.
The sloppy play continued for New York later in the inning when first baseman Ben Rice mishandled a Will Wagner grounder, leading to the Jays’ second run of the frame. Toronto’s Bo Bichette put the finishing touches on the series finale in the seventh inning with a two-run homer off reliever Scott Effross.
Toronto held on for an 8-4 victory. Bassitt earned the quality start and his 11th W of the campaign after surrendering three earned runs over 7.1 frames. The Jays improved to 60-42 and increased their AL East lead by four games over New York.
Best Moments From Yesterday
A Few Series Upsets
Perhaps, the best thing about baseball, unlike any other sport, is unpredictability. On Wednesday, three rubber games were claimed by two last-place franchises and one team in Miami, which sent their former Cy Young winner to the mound, Sandy Alcantara. We’ll begin with Alcantara and the Marlins winning their series against the visiting San Diego Padres. The struggling right-hander looked like the stud hurler of old after tossing seven shutout frames in Miami’s 3-2 victory. Padres veteran SP Dylan Cease took the loss and dropped to 3-10 on the year.
The biggest surprise of all was in Pittsburgh, where the AL Central’s most dominant team all season until recently, couldn’t avoid an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the NL Central’s worst team. It was a rough MLB debut for Detroit Tigers 24-year-old Troy Melton. The young pitcher allowed two homers over five innings, including a back-breaking grand slam in the second frame to Pirates leadoff man Spencer Horwitz.
Pittsburgh led 6-0 after three and allowed only one run in the contest thanks to Bailey Falter’s seven-inning gem. Falter gave up one run on four hits and struck out eight for his seventh win of ’25. How is it that Pittsburgh can be swept at home and outscored 27-7 by the AL Central’s worst team and then follow that up with a sweep of that same division’s best club? I have no idea, but that’s why baseball is unpredictable. The Tigers still have an eight-game lead in their division despite having a 1-9 record over their last 10 contests.
The last of the major upsets saw the Rockies blank the Cardinals 6-0 for the series win in Colorado. The victory ended a record streak of 220 consecutive games without a shutout. That’s a Modern Era record, folks. The loss drops St. Louis to 52-51.
The Rockies beat the Cardinals 6-0 and recorded their first shutout win since May 15, 2024.
It was the Rockies first shutout win in 220 games, an MLB record in the modern era. pic.twitter.com/tdtnKINBUl
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 23, 2025
A Couple of Firsts
The Giants crushed Atlanta 9-3 behind Justin Verlander’s first win of the year. It’s been a long season for JV, who didn’t pitch all that well even though he didn’t allow a run (5 IP, 1 H, 5 BB, 3 K). At this point, you’d have to be incredibly naive to believe that Verlander has a shot of possibly becoming the last 300-game winner. At 42 years old and with “only” 263 career wins… it’s not happening. The victory for Verlander broke a streak of 16 winless starts, which was the longest of his career, and the most by any starting pitcher in the Giants’ franchise history.
Cincinnati’s Nick Lodolo had the pitching performance of the day in Washington. The Reds won 5-0 to avoid the sweep behind Lodolo’s first career shutout and second complete game of ’25. The southpaw threw 105 pitches (76 for strikes) over nine frames and allowed four hits while striking out eight.
Clutch Knocks
Two clutch hits worth mentioning, starting with Christian Walker’s game-winning ninth-inning single to help Houston complete a three-game sweep over his former team. The Astros defeated the Diamondbacks 4-3 and are tied with the Blue Jays for the best record in the American League at 60-42.
Elsewhere, the Guardians won their fourth straight contest with a 3-2 win over Baltimore. Steven Kwan delivered the big knock with a go-ahead single in the eighth. Cleveland is 51-50, and 8-2 over their last 10 games.
Griffey Jr. Speaks at Hank Aaron Invitational
I’ll listen to one of the greatest players ever speak about baseball anytime and anywhere. I love the question asked in the clip below to Ken Griffey Jr. about what he’d look for in a player if he was a scout. Griffey’s response in short… How he comes out on the field, and how he presents himself. This makes sense coming from one of the coolest and most talented players to ever step on a baseball field. Take a listen if you haven’t already seen it.
The Hall of Famer answered questions from athletes at the Hank Aaron Invitational on achieving success at every level 📈 🙌 pic.twitter.com/Vs7BxmV4HH
— MLBDevelops (@MLBDevelops) July 23, 2025
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ On Wednesday, the New York Yankees sent SP Luis Gil to Scranton on a rehab assignment. Gil allowed five runs on four hits over 3.2 frames against Rochester. The right-hander hasn’t pitched this year after suffering a lat strain in spring training.
⚾ The Cincinnati Reds sent starting pitcher Hunter Greene on a rehab assignment with the Arizona Complex League Reds after a groin strain landed him on the IL in early June. Greene gave up a hit and struck out four of the seven batters he faced on Wednesday versus the Brewers Complex league team.
Articles You Should Read
2025 MLB trade deadline preview: Passan’s intel on every team— Jeff Passan, ESPN.com
Ichiro is one of a kind, but anybody can learn these 4 lessons from his career — Rustin Rodd, The Athletic
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
