It's the penultimate Saturday in August, but don't expect much in the way of day games. Rather, baseball's scheduled is slanted in favor of night games. Here is everything you need to know about Saturday's MLB action.
Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.
Baseball scores for Saturday, August 24
- FINAL - Nationals 7, Cubs 2 (box score)
- FINAL - Dodgers 2, Yankees 1 (box score)
- FINAL - Phillies 9, Marlins 3 (box score)
- FINAL - Orioles 7, Rays 1 (box score)
- FINAL - Pirates 14, Reds 0 (box score)
- FINAL - Braves 9, Mets 5 (box score)
- FINAL - Twins 8, Tigers 5 (box score)
- FINAL - Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 0 (box score)
- FINAL - Astros 5, Angels 2 (box score)
- FINAL - Indians 4, Royals 2 (box score)
- FINAL - Rangers 4, White Sox 0 (box score)
- FINAL - Cardinals 6, Rockies 0 (box score)
- FINAL - Red Sox 5, Padres 4 (box score)
- FINAL - Giants 10, Athletics 5 (box score)
- FINAL - Blue Jays 7, Mariners 5 (box score)
Alonso ties Mets home run record in loss
No player in Mets history has hit more home runs in a season than Pete Alonso. Alonso cracked his 41st homer Saturday night and it was a big one at the time, a go-ahead three-run home run against Braves lefty Max Fried:
The 41 home runs tie the franchise record held by Todd Hundley (1996) and Carlos Beltran (2006). Also, Alonso is the first player to match his team's single-season home run record as a rookie since Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner hit 23 homers with the 1946 Pirates.
"I hope he breaks the record. I hope he continues to do well. I hope he stays healthy and I hope he continues to bring joy to the Mets fans," Beltran told reporters recently, including Tim Healey of Newsday.
The Mets still have 33 games remaining this season, so it's not a matter of "if" Alonso will set a new franchise home run record, but "when." Aaron Judge holds the rookie record with 52 homers in 2017. Alonso is currently on pace for 51 at the moment.
The Braves, though, prevailed in this one as recent acquisition Francisco Cervelli tallied three hits, two of which were doubles. Freddie Freeman also set a career high with his 35th home run of the season. Josh Donaldson also hit his 30th homer of 2019.
Nats continue hot streak, win fourth straight
Make it 11 wins in the last 13 games for the red-hot Nationals. Washington won their fourth straight game Saturday afternoon and their second straight game against the Cubs. The top five hitters in the Nationals lineup combined to go 7-for-18 (.389) with six runs scored, five runs driven in, six walks, and three strikeouts.
Starter Joe Ross managed to hold the Cubs to two runs in 4 1/3 innings despite putting 10 runners on base. Chicago went 2 for 9 (.222) with runners in scoring position and could only muster one hit in 4 2/3 scoreless innings against Washington's bullpen.
The seven runs Saturday give the Nationals 114 runs in their last 13 games, or 8.77 runs per game. They are now 72-57 on the season and have a three-game lead over the Cubs for the top wild-card spot. The Nationals are 4 1/2 games up on a postseason spot in general.
The Cubs, meanwhile, have lost a home series for only the second time this season. They dropped two of three to the Reds at Wrigley Field from May 24-26. The Cubbies will look to salvage this three-game series in the rubber game Sunday.
Yankees tie single-month home run record, suffer controversial loss
Home run records are dropping like flies this season. Saturday afternoon, the Yankees tied the single-month home run record on Aaron Judge's colossal blast to dead center field at Dodger Stadium. To the action footage:
That is home run No. 58 for the Yankees in August, tying the monthly record held by the 1987 Orioles (May) and 1999 Mariners (May). The Yankees still have six games remaining this month, including three against a Mariners team with the second highest home run rate in baseball (1.71 HR/9). They're going to shatter this record.
As for Judge, the home run is his second in as many days and his third in the last five games. That's after a month-long slump that saw him struggle to elevate the ball and pull it to left field. Judge had 10 hits in 25 at-bats in his last six games going into Saturday, so it's safe to say he's snapping out of the slump.
As you see above, the Yankees wound up losing this one, and it happened under a cloud of controversy thanks to a umpire's decision to call time. Our own Mike Axisa has the strange ending to this one broken down.
Hudson thrives again for Cardinals
The Cardinals blanked the Rockies on Saturday night and in doing so grew their NL Central lead over the Cubs to 1 1/2 games. Doing the heavy lifting was rookie right-hander Dakota Hudson:
Hudson also induced 11 ground balls versus only one fly ball, which is how he thrives even when struggling at the level of the K/BB ratio. Hudson's been on a roll of late:
Over his last 3 starts, the @Cardinals' Dakota Hudson has 18.2 shutout IP while allowing only 7 hits.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) August 25, 2019
He's the 2nd NL rookie in the live-ball era (since 1920) to toss 18.0+ shutout IP while allowing 7 or fewer hits over a 3-start span (Woodie Fryman, 1966 Pirates).#TimeToFly
He's gotten his ERA down to 3.47, which is the lowest it's been in the second half. Inducing weak contact is how Hudson gets it done, and that's indeed been the case over these last three starts. Hudson and rotation mess-mate Jack Flaherty are surging at the right time for St. Louis.
Highlight of the day: Piscotty gets lucky
A's outfielder Stephen Piscotty is a decent glove -- solid range and zero errors on the season -- but on this particular play against the Giants he leaned more on good fortune than skill to defeat the glaring afternoon sun of Oakland:
"How do I catch it?"
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) August 25, 2019
"Stand there, and stick your glove out in the air"#BayBridgeSeries pic.twitter.com/BrU1GNT645
Hey, credit for sticking his glove out after he lost the ball in the sun rather than using it as emergency headgear. You never what will land in the leather, and in this case the batted ball did. Piscotty, as you can see, was as surprised as anyone.
Quick hits
- MLB denied the Dodgers' request to wear their traditional uniforms against the Yankees.
- Speaking of Players' Weekend, here are some of the best cleats.
- The Orioles have been eliminated from postseason contention and are starting to overhaul their front office.
- The Brewers designated Opening Day starter Jhoulys Chacin for assignment.
- The Braves officially signed veteran catcher Francisco Cervelli, who was released by the Pirates earlier in the week.
- Giants utility man Pablo Sandoval will have Tommy John surgery soon.
