Daily baseball notes--June 5, 2025
1. The Rockies got their first series sweep in more than a year. They swept the Padres May 13-15.
Now that the Rockies have done it, the Pirates are the only team in the majors that doesn’t have a 3-game winning streak.
2. Elly De La Cruz had his 14th inning with 2 steals. That, along with 22 games with 2+ SB, both lead MLB since 2023.
3. The Brewers have won 12 straight series against the Reds, starting on September 9, 2022.
Over that span, the Brewers are 29-11 (.725) against the Reds. But, there are still 4 division matchups that have been more lopsided: Giants vs. Rockies (29-8), Royals vs. White Sox (23-7), Dodgers vs. Rockies (26-9) and Twins vs. White Sox (28-10).
4. Ceddanne Rafaela’s 308 foot homer was the shortest walk-off homer in the Statcast era (2015-present).
It came close to the Pesky Pole. But, it is important to note that everyone reading this hit as many home runs in Fenway Park that came close to the right field foul pole as Johnny Pesky did. Legend says that’s where he hit them. Actual review of the data shows it never happened.
The only shorter homers, overall, were by Lorenzo Cain (302 feet) and Stephen Vogt (307).
5. The Red Sox are tied with the Marlins and Giants for the most walk-off wins with 6. But, the Red Sox also have sole possession of the lead with 7 walk-off wins.
6. There should be no surprise that there were 9 runs scored in the first inning yesterday in Fenway (Red Sox led, 5-4). The Angels and Red Sox are 1-2 in the American League in combined runs in the first inning.
There’s an average of 1.36 first inning runs, for both teams, in each of their games. The Angels have a slight lead when we expand beyond two decimals.
7. Jeremy Pena is hitting ,410/.452/.692, 3 HR, 7 runs during his 10-game hitting streak. Earlier in the year, he had a career-high 14 game streak.
8. MacKenzie Gore leads the majors with 108 K. The only pitcher in franchise history (including Montreal Expos) to do that was Max Scherzer (2016, 2018).
9. Matthew Boyd has been a pleasant surprise since he returned from his injury last year with the Guardians. This season, his 3.01 ERA is the 2nd best of his career for his 1st 12 starts (2.85 in 2019).
10. Yesterday, I was prepared for a note today about Pete Crow-Armstrong, the MLB SB lead and the last Cub to do that. But, then Oneil Cruz leapfrogged PCA and Luis Robert Jr. into the lead with 22. So, instead of the Cubs angle I’ve got this: the last Pirate to lead MLB in SB was Omar Moreno in 1978. The others to do it: ax Carey (5x), Honus Wagner (3x), Kiki Cuyler (who’s also the last Cub to do it) and Frank Taveras.
11.Aaron Judge’s last 162 games: .363/.486/.748, 62 HR, 155 RBI, 140 runs, 437 total bases.
12. Jose Ramirez is hitting .390/.446/.644, 17 XBH (6 HR), 26 runs during his 30-game on-base streak. He also passed Earl Averill for 3rd on the franchise doubles list, with 378. His career high is 32, in 2018.
13. Ramirez’s teammate, Carlos Santana, is hitting .413/.500/.674, 3 HR, 11 runs during his 13-game hitting streak. His career high is 14, in 2016.
14. Yesterday was just the 2nd time this season the Yankees were shut out. That’s tied with the Cardinals for 3rd fewest in MLB. The Red Sox and D-backs have only had it happen once.
15. Mitch Abel became the 1st pitcher in modern MLB history with 5+ IP, no walks and 1 run or less in each of his 1st 2 MLB appearances.
16. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extended his on-base streak to 34 games. That passes his dad’s high (33 in 1999). It’s the longest streak by any Blue Jay since Jose Bautista’s franchise record 44 games in 2015.
17. Chris Sale passed Christy Mathewson on the all time K list yesterday (2510 à 2507). Sale is now 39th.
Sale had his 90th career game with 10+ K.
MOST GAMES WITH 10+ STRIKEOUTS
Nolan Ryan 215
Randy Johnson 212
Max Scherzer 113
Roger Clemens 110
Pedro Martinez 108
Sandy Koufax 97
Curt Schilling 93
Chris Sale 90
Steve Carlton 84
Bob Gibson 74
Sam McDowell 74
18. The Rays are 11-3 in their last 14 games with a +56 run differential. They are both best in the majors. Before that, they were 21-26, with a -10 run differential.
19. The Orioles are on a season-high 5-game winning streak. They are just 24-36 in their first 60 games. Last year, they were 39-21 thru 60 games and had reached 24 wins in just 36 games.
20. The Giants beat the Padres yesterday, 6-5. It ended a 16-game streak in which the Giants scored 4 runs or fewer. That’s the third longest streak in franchise history, behind 19 game streaks in 1902 and 1965.
21. The A’s made progress yesterday, only losing to the Twins 6-1. They avoided tying the modern day MLB record of 8 straight games allowing 8+ runs (last done by 2000 Mariners).
22. Pete Alonso’s 22nd career multi-HR game tied Darryl Strawberry for the Mets record.
23. Juan Soto’s streak of 5 consecutive games with a XBH ended. He’s never had a streak of 6 games.
24. Andy Pages, who is hitting .405/.450/.730 during a 9-game hit streak, has 12 HR in 58 games. Last year, as a rookie, he had 13 in 116 games.
25. The Mets have won the season series against the Dodgers (4-2 lead with 1 game left). So, they’ve clinched the home-field tiebreaker in case if these teams meet in an NLCS rematch in October.
26. One of the World Series recaps for today will be the 1989 A’s facing the 2007 Red Sox. Here’s a bonus historical note:
TEAMS THAT SWEPT THE WORLD SERIES WHILE NEVER TRAILING IN ANY GAME
1963 Dodgers
1966 Orioles
1989 A’s
2004 Red Sox