July 21st, 2025

⚾ Headlines Around the League

Brewers Win 10th Straight, Sweep Dodgers to Pull Even Atop NL Central

Stroman Leads the Way as Yankees Edge Braves to Clinch Series Win

Blue Jays 8, Giants 6 — Vlad’s Blast Sets Tone as Toronto Completes Sweep

Astros 11, Mariners 3 — Trammell fuels blowout as Astros avoid sweep in Seattle

Red Sox 6, Cubs 1 — Abreu, Bregman go deep late to power Boston past Cubs

I almost didn’t write today’s newsletter because the Giants totally ruined my weekend, but here we are. Gotta push through the pain that we all love 😅

All jokes aside, this weekend was an awesome way to start the second half of the season. We’re finally getting a clear picture of where teams stand, and you can feel the trade deadline buzz starting to build. Rumors and moves are about to start flying, so get ready.

The best thing I saw today came from the Blue Jays and Giants game. Addison Barger has been such a fun story this year and a legit bat for Toronto. Check out the homer he crushed yesterday. This guy is a beast and feels like the exact piece that offense needed.

Also, I am typically not one for ads unless it is a product or company I enjoy myself. If you like the format of this newsletter and you stay up to date on general news around the world, go support and check out this fantastic newsletter called 1440.

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Thanks for reading First Pitch, have a great Monday!

🔥 Top Performances

Hitting

Pitching

📊 Final Scores and Highlights

Brewers 6, Dodgers 5

The Brewers extended their winning streak to 10 games and completed another sweep of the Dodgers, moving into a tie for first place in the NL Central. Despite a ninth-inning rally from Los Angeles, Milwaukee held on behind a clutch two-run single from Isaac Collins and steady bullpen work.

🔑 Key Moments

• Shohei Ohtani gave the Dodgers early momentum with a two-run homer in the third — his 34th of the season — that put L.A. up 3-0.

• A wild fourth inning swung things back to Milwaukee, as two Dodgers errors helped spark a three-run rally capped by Joey Ortiz’s game-tying RBI double.

• In the sixth, Eric Haase tied it up with a single before Isaac Collins delivered a two-out, two-run single to put the Brewers ahead for good.

• Esteury Ruiz brought L.A. within one with a solo shot in the fifth, his first home run of the season.

• The Dodgers loaded the bases in the ninth and scored once on a missed catch error, but Abner Uribe induced a Mookie Betts lineout to center to seal the win and the sweep.

📊 Notable Stats

Milwaukee Brewers

• Isaac Collins: 2-for-5, 2 RBI

• Joey Ortiz: 1-for-4, RBI, double

• Eric Haase: 1-for-4, RBI

• Jose Quintana: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K

• Abner Uribe: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB

Los Angeles Dodgers

• Shohei Ohtani: 1-for-3, HR (34), 2 RBI

• Esteury Ruiz: 1-for-2, HR (1), RBI

• Andy Pages: 2-for-4, double, run

• Clayton Kershaw: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 2 K

Yankees 4, Braves 2

Aaron Judge crushed his 351st career home run in the first inning to tie Alex Rodriguez for sixth on the Yankees' all-time list, and Marcus Stroman tossed six strong innings to lead New York to a 4-2 win over the Braves and a series victory.

🔑 Key Moments

• Aaron Judge got the Yankees going early with a 409-foot solo shot in the first, his 36th of the year and 351st of his career — tying A-Rod on the Yankees' all-time home run list

• Paul Goldschmidt followed up in the first with an RBI single to give the Yanks a quick 2-0 lead

• In the third, Jorbit Vivas made a highlight-reel diving grab in foul ground and Marcus Stroman induced a double play to escape Atlanta’s biggest threat

• With the bases loaded in the sixth, Vivas was hit by a pitch to force in a run, extending the lead to 3-0

• Jazz Chisholm Jr. added insurance in the seventh with an RBI double to plate Judge

• The Braves got solo homers from Matt Olson (6th) and Ronald Acuña Jr. (9th), but Devin Williams closed it out for his 14th save

📊 Notable Stats

Yankees

• Aaron Judge: 1-for-4, HR (36), 2 R, RBI, BB

• Marcus Stroman: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

• Jazz Chisholm Jr.: 2-for-4, 2B, RBI

• Jorbit Vivas: 1-for-3, RBI, diving catch, HBP

Braves

• Matt Olson: 1-for-4, HR (18)

• Ronald Acuña Jr.: 2-for-4, HR (13), R, RBI

• Grant Holmes: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

Blue Jays 8, Giants 6

Editor’s Note: I am just going to pretend that the 2nd half of the season starts today. Let me suffer in peace. At least we are losing to a legit contender and talented Blue Jays team.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. crushed a 420-foot homer in the first inning and added a go-ahead RBI single later as the Blue Jays held off the Giants to complete a series sweep and win their 10th straight at home.

🔑 Key Moments

• In the 1st, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tied the game with a towering 420-foot solo homer to center — his 13th of the season and first since June 29

• Bo Bichette gave Toronto the lead in the 3rd with a clutch two-run double, scoring Clement and Guerrero

• After the Giants cut it to 3-2 in the 5th, the Jays answered with a four-run frame that featured:
  — A George Springer solo shot (17)
  — An Alejandro Kirk RBI single
  — A two-run homer from Addison Barger (14), pushing the lead to 7-2

• San Francisco rallied for four runs in the 6th, including a two-run homer by Matt Chapman, to pull within 7-6

• In the bottom half, Guerrero came through again with a perfectly placed RBI single to extend the lead

• Toronto’s bullpen slammed the door with 3.1 scoreless innings, including three Ks from Tommy Nance and a clean ninth by Yariel Rodríguez

📊 Notable Stats

Blue Jays

• Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 2-for-3, HR (13), 2 RBI, 2 R, BB

• Bo Bichette: 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI

• Addison Barger: 1-for-4, HR (14), 2 RBI

• George Springer: 2-for-4, HR (17), 2 R

• José Berríos: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Giants

• Matt Chapman: 2-for-4, HR (13), 2 RBI

• Jung Hoo Lee: 2-for-5, RBI, R

• Andrew Knizner: 2-for-2, RBI, BB

• Robbie Ray (L): 4.1 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 3 K

Astros 11, Mariners 3

Taylor Trammell had three hits and three RBIs against his former team, helping the short-handed Astros erupt for 11 runs and salvage the series finale against the Mariners on Sunday.

🔑 Key Moments

• Seattle jumped out early behind Jorge Polanco’s two-run single in the 3rd and an RBI knock from Julio Rodríguez in the 4th to take a 3-0 lead

• The Astros tied things up in the 5th when Cam Smith roped a two-run double to right, his 17th of the year

• In the 6th, Christian Walker led off with a go-ahead solo shot before Trammell followed with a 384-foot blast of his own to make it 5-3

• Houston exploded for four more runs in the 7th, including a Trammell two-run double and an RBI single from Victor Caratini

• A would-be Mariners rally in the bottom half was halted when Mastrobuoni was thrown out at the plate on a relay from Dubón and Trammell, keeping the score at 7-3

• Caratini added two more insurance runs in the 8th with a double to deep left, capping the Astros’ biggest offensive output in over a week

📊 Notable Stats

Houston Astros

• Taylor Trammell: 3-for-4, HR (2), 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R

• Victor Caratini: 3-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI

• Cam Smith: 1-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI

• Christian Walker: 1-for-4, HR (13), RBI, 2 R

• Hunter Brown: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

Seattle Mariners

• Jorge Polanco: 1-for-4, 2 RBI

• Julio Rodríguez: 2-for-5, RBI, SB

• Miles Mastrobuoni: 2-for-3, R, SB

• Bryan Woo: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R (4 ER), 1 BB, 6 K

Red Sox 6, Cubs 1

The Red Sox erupted for five runs in the final two innings to avoid a sweep at Wrigley, snapping a two-game skid behind Wilyer Abreu’s two-homer game and Alex Bregman’s pinch-hit blast.

🔑 Key Moments

• The Cubs held a 1-0 lead through six thanks to Ian Happ’s RBI single in the 2nd and six scoreless frames from Cade Horton

• In the 7th, Wilyer Abreu flipped the game with a towering two-run homer to right — after nearly bunting for a hit on the first pitch

• Alex Bregman blew it open an inning later with a pinch-hit three-run homer, his 12th of the season, in just his fifth game back from the IL

• Abreu added a second homer in the 8th — a solo shot to right — for his 20th of the year and first multi-homer game of the season

• Garrett Crochet kept Boston in it with 6 innings of one-run ball, while the bullpen tossed three perfect frames to close it out

📊 Notable Stats

Boston Red Sox

• Wilyer Abreu: 2-for-3, 2 HR (19, 20), 3 RBI, 2 R, BB

• Alex Bregman: 1-for-1, HR (12), 3 RBI

• Victor Caratini: 3-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI

• Garrett Crochet: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Chicago Cubs

• Ian Happ: 1-for-4, RBI

• Dansby Swanson: 2-for-4, R

• Pete Crow-Armstrong: 2-for-4, 2 2B

• Cade Horton: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K

Other scores around the league:

Angels 8, Phillies 2
J. Soriano: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 SO, 2 BB
L. Wade: 3-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Orioles 5, Rays 3
T. Rogers: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 SO, 2 BB
J. Holliday: 1-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

White Sox 7, Pirates 2
A. Civale: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 6 SO, 1 BB
M. Vargas: 2-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Padres 8, Nationals 1
N. Pivetta: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 SO, 1 BB
X. Bogaerts: 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI

Guardians 8, Athletics 2
G. Williams: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 11 SO, 1 BB
A. Martinez: 3-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Mets 3, Reds 2
D. Peterson: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 4 SO, 1 BB
A. Abbott: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 SO, 1 BB

Royals 7, Marlins 4
K. Bubic: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 SO, 1 BB
S. Perez: 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Twins 7, Rockies 1
J. Ryan: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 11 SO
R. Lewis: 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI

Diamondbacks 5, Cardinals 3
M. Kelly: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 SO, 4 BB
E. Suárez: 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI

Tigers 2, Rangers 1
T. Skubal: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 11 SO
W. Vest: 1.1 IP, 2 SO

⚾ Must-Watch Games Today

🧦 Red Sox (54-47) @ Phillies (56-43)

🕡 6:45 PM EDT • Citizens Bank Park
Walker Buehler (6-6, 6.12 ERA) vs. Zack Wheeler (9-3, 2.36 ERA)
Why Watch: Ace showdown in Philly with playoff implications. Wheeler’s been lights-out, and Buehler’s trying to reclaim his form in a hostile environment.

🐅 Tigers (60-40) @ Pirates (39-61)

🕡 6:40 PM EDT • PNC Park
Jack Flaherty (5-9, 4.65 ERA) vs. Paul Skenes (4-8, 2.01 ERA)
Why Watch: Skenes facing one of the best teams in the league is must-see TV. Flaherty and the surging Tigers provide the perfect test.

🧀 Brewers (59-40) @ Mariners (53-46)

🕘 9:40 PM EDT • T-Mobile Park
Brandon Woodruff (1-0, 2.61 ERA) vs. George Kirby (4-4, 4.50 ERA)
Why Watch: Brewers going for 11 wins in a row. Late-night duel between playoff contenders. Woodruff is back healthy, and Kirby's command can dominate when he's locked in.

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