June 26th, 2025

Good Morning Everyone!

Another great day, another full slate of games (and yep… another Giants loss to the Marlins).

If we haven’t met yet, I’m Ryan, the founder of First Pitch. I started this newsletter to connect with fellow baseball fans in a real way. I try to keep things quick and easy to read while also sharing what I loved from yesterday’s action. Or, like today, I might just vent about the Giants and how frustrating Doval and Matt Williams have been lately.

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⚾ Headlines Around the League

Rangers 7, Orioles 0: deGrom Loses No-Hit Bid in 8th, Dominates in One-Hit Gem

Mets 7, Braves 3: Soto Makes History With 27th Multi-HR Game Before Age 27

Brewers 4, Pirates 2: Misiorowski Blanks Bucs in Marquee Duel With Skenes

Angels 5, Red Sox 2: Kikuchi Strikes Out 12 to Complete Series Sweep

Guardians 5, Blue Jays 4 (F/10): J-Ram Walks It Off on Milestone Night

Boyd Dominates, Bats Wake Up as Cubs Roll to 8-0 Win

🔥 Top Performances

Hitting

Pitching

📊 Final Scores and Highlights

Rangers 7, Orioles 0

Jacob deGrom took a no-hitter into the 8th inning and struck out seven as the Rangers blanked the Orioles 7–0 on Wednesday night in Baltimore. Colton Cowser broke up the bid with a leadoff single in the 8th, the only hit Texas allowed.

🔑 Game Highlights

• deGrom retired the first 18 batters before walking Jackson Holliday in the 7th and surrendering a single to Cowser in the 8th

• It was the 13th straight start deGrom allowed 2 or fewer runs, the longest streak in MLB this season

• Rangers starters (Latz & deGrom) carried back-to-back no-hit bids into at least the 6th inning

• Josh Jung smashed a 2-run homer in the 4th and Jonah Heim added a solo blast in the 6th

• Texas scored in 4 straight innings (2nd–6th), including an RBI double from Marcus Semien and a sac fly from Adolis García

• The win marked the Rangers’ 4th straight road series win and their 40th win of the season

📊 Notable Stats

J. deGrom (TEX) – 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
J. Jung (TEX) – 2-for-4, HR (8), 3 RBI
J. Heim (TEX) – 2-for-4, HR (8), 2B, RBI
M. Semien (TEX) – 3-for-4, 2B, RBI, R
C. Cowser (BAL) – 1-for-3, broke up no-hitter in 8th
B. Young (BAL) – 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Mets 7, Braves 3

Juan Soto launched two solo homers Wednesday night, passing Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx for the most multi-homer games in MLB history by a player under age 27, as the Mets rolled past the Braves 7–3 at Citi Field.

🔑 Game Highlights

• Soto hit two nearly identical solo home runs to right-center, one in the 4th and one in the 7th, giving him 19 homers on the season and 27 career multi-HR games

• The Mets broke through with a 5-run 4th inning, highlighted by Soto’s first homer and RBI knocks from Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, and Brett Baty

• Ronny Mauricio added a solo shot in the 3rd and finished with 3 hits

• Clay Holmes allowed just one run over five innings to earn the win

• Soto now has 10 home runs and 20 walks in June, joining Darryl Strawberry (1987) as the only Mets to reach that mark in a single month

📊 Notable Stats

J. Soto (NYM) – 2-for-4, 2 HR (18, 19), 2 RBI, 2 R
R. Mauricio (NYM) – 3-for-4, HR (3), RBI, 2 R
C. Holmes (NYM) – 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K
D. Fuentes (ATL) – 3.1 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 2 HR
D. Baldwin (ATL) – 1-for-3, HR (9), RBI
R. Acuña Jr. (ATL) – 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 BB

Brewers 4, Pirates 2

In one of the most anticipated rookie matchups in recent memory, Jacob Misiorowski outshined Paul Skenes with a blistering five-inning shutout to lead the Brewers past the Pirates in front of a packed house in Milwaukee.

🔑 Game Highlights

• Misiorowski threw 19 pitches over 100 mph, topping out at a Brewers-record 102.4 mph, and struck out 8 in 5 scoreless innings

• The Brewers scored all 4 of their runs in a 37-pitch 2nd inning vs. Skenes, the most he's allowed in any single frame across 40 MLB starts

• Joey Ortiz knocked in the first run on a soft infield roller (35.8 mph exit velo), followed by an Eric Haase RBI double

• Skenes allowed more earned runs in the 2nd than he had allowed in all 2nd innings combined across his career

• Misiorowski now holds a 1.13 ERA with opponents batting just .061 against him through 16 MLB innings

📊 Notable Stats

J. Misiorowski (MIL) – 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
P. Skenes (PIT) – 4.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
B. Turang (MIL) – 2-for-4, R
E. Haase (MIL) – 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, R
T. Pham (PIT) – 2-for-4, RBI
S. Horwitz (PIT) – 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB

Angels 5, Red Sox 2

Yusei Kikuchi was electric on Wednesday, striking out a season-high 12 batters across seven innings as the Angels rolled to a 5–2 win over the Red Sox to complete a three-game sweep and reach the .500 mark for the first time in over a month.

🔑 Game Highlights

• Kikuchi allowed just 3 hits and no earned runs while punching out 12 batters with 20 whiffs across 105 pitches

• The lefty leaned heavily on his breaking stuff, generating 13 combined whiffs on his slider and curveball

• The Angels took control in the 4th with back-to-back solo HRs from Jo Adell and Travis d’Arnaud

• Adell and d’Arnaud struck again in the 5th with consecutive RBI singles

• Mike Trout added a 2-out RBI knock in the 6th as the Angels capped the sweep

• L.A.’s bullpen retired six of the final seven batters to secure the win

📊 Notable Stats

Y. Kikuchi (LAA) – 7.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 12 K
R. Zeferjahn (LAA) – 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
J. Adell (LAA) – 2-for-4, HR (17), 2 RBI, 2 R
T. d’Arnaud (LAA) – 3-for-4, HR (4), 2B, 2 RBI
M. Trout (LAA) – 1-for-2, RBI, 2 BB
T. Story (BOS) – 1-for-4, 2 RBI
R. Fitts (BOS) – 4.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K

Guardians 5, Blue Jays 4 (F/10)

José Ramírez played in his 1,527th career game — moving to fourth all-time in Guardians history — and sealed the night with a walk-off single in the 10th inning, lifting Cleveland past the Blue Jays in an extra-inning thriller at Progressive Field.

🔑 Game Highlights

• Ramírez opened the scoring with an RBI single in the 1st and ended it with a walk-off single in the 10th, marking his 8th career walk-off

• Lane Thomas hit a solo homer in the 6th to tie it at 3–3

• Toronto briefly regained the lead in the 6th, but Gabriel Arias delivered a game-tying RBI double in the 7th

• David Fry’s bunt in the 10th loaded the bases with no outs before Ramírez won it

• Nic Enright earned his first MLB win with a scoreless top of the 10th

📊 Notable Stats

J. Ramírez (CLE) – 2-for-5, 2 RBI, walk-off single
G. Williams (CLE) – 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R (3 ER), 3 BB, 2 K
L. Thomas (CLE) – 2-for-4, HR (3), RBI
G. Arias (CLE) – 2-for-4, 2B, RBI
V. Guerrero Jr. (TOR) – 1-for-3, HR (11), 2 R, RBI, HBP
G. Springer (TOR) – 2-for-4, 2 RBI, SB
M. Scherzer (TOR) – 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

Cubs 8, Cardinals 0

Ian Happ crushed a leadoff homer and Matthew Boyd tossed six scoreless innings as the Cubs jumped out early and cruised to an 8–0 shutout win over the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

🔑 Game Highlights

• Ian Happ launched a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the night, his 10th career leadoff blast

• Reese McGuire followed with a two-run shot in the 2nd, and Kyle Tucker added a solo HR in the 3rd

• Happ drove in two more with a single in the 4th, giving him a 3-RBI night

• The Cubs swiped three bases and recorded 11 hits in a well-rounded offensive effort

• Boyd scattered 3 hits over 6 shutout innings for his team-best 11th quality start of the year

• Chicago's bullpen preserved the shutout, allowing just 1 hit over the final 3 innings

📊 Notable Stats

M. Boyd (CHC) – 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
I. Happ (CHC) – 2-for-4, HR (12), 3 RBI, BB
R. McGuire (CHC) – 1-for-4, HR (5), 2 RBI
K. Tucker (CHC) – 2-for-4, HR (16), RBI, SB
M. Busch (CHC) – 2-for-5, RBI, SB
E. Fedde (STL) – 3.2 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Cubs Bullpen – 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Other scores around the league:

Yankees 7, Reds 1
Max Fried: 7 IP, 4 H, 7 SO, 1 BB
Jasson Domínguez: 4-5, 2 R

Padres 1, Nationals 0
Nick Pivetta: 7 IP, 3 H, 10 SO
Adrian Morejon: 1 IP, 1 SO

Rays 3, Royals 0
Drew Rasmussen: 5 IP, 2 H, 5 SO, 2 BB
Pete Fairbanks: 1 IP

Diamondbacks 3, White Sox 7
Shawn Burke: 5 IP, 5 H, 7 SO, 2 BB
Lenyn Sosa: 3-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI

Athletics 3, Tigers 0
Jacob Lopez: 7 IP, 3 H, 6 SO, 1 BB
Nick Kurtz: 3-3, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Astros 2, Phillies 0
Colton Gordon: 5 IP, 4 H, 4 SO
Zack Wheeler: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 8 SO, 3 BB

Dodgers 8, Rockies 1
Yoshinobu Yamamoto: 5 IP, 1 H, 6 SO, 1 BB
Max Muncy: 2-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 6 RBI

Twins 2, Mariners 0
Joe Ryan: 6 IP, 3 H, 8 SO
George Kirby: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 SO, 1 BB

Marlins 8, Giants 5
Logan Webb: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 6 SO, 3 BB
Edward Cabrera: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 SO, 3 BB

⚾ Must-Watch Games Today

⚾ Braves (37-42) at Mets (47-34)

Grant Holmes (ATL): 4-6, 3.71 ERA
Griffin Canning (NYM): 7-3, 3.91 ERA
Two pitchers looking sharp lately face off in a big NL East matchup, with the Mets trying to stay close to the Phillies.

🔥 Phillies (47-33) at Astros (47-33)

Cristopher Sánchez (PHI): 6-2, 2.87 ERA
Hunter Brown (HOU): 8-3, 1.88 ERA
It’s a heavyweight showdown between division leaders, with two of the hottest arms in baseball taking the mound.

🐟 Marlins (33-45) at Giants (44-36)

Janson Junk (MIA): 2-0, 2.60 ERA
Hayden Birdsong (SF): 3-1, 3.25 ERA
Birdsong tries to get San Francisco back on track, while Junk looks to stay undefeated in his debut season.

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