What is the story about?
Good morning. Here’s what all of you who have been watching the World Cup, NBA Finals or Stanley Cup have missed while you weren’t watching baseball.
- Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto took a perfect game into the eight and a no-hitter into the ninth against the White Sox on Saturday before a leadoff home run by Triston Peters in the ninth broke up the no-hitter and the shutout.
- Despite not getting the perfect game, Yamamoto retired 45 batters in a row over two games, which ties Mark Buehrle or the second-most in MLB history. I remember who holds the record with 46 straight batters retired, but I would not have remembered his name without the article. I would have just said “Oh, that reliever with the Giants . . .”
- Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski threw a one-hitter, struck out 15 and hit 104.5 miles per hour on Statcast in a win over the Phillies on Friday.
- I mentioned the NBA Finals and the New York Knicks winning their first title since 1973. Dayn Perry looks at five MLB teams that could break a long title drought this year.
- David Schoenfield looks at some disappointments of 2026 and judges which ones should bounce back and which likely won’t.
- One of those whom Schoenfield is pessimistic on is Padres third baseman Manny Machado. But Gabe Lacques speaks with Machado who is confident that he’ll bounce back and that baseball players are “masochists” because failure is such a part of the game.
- Tyler Kepner looks at how Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker turned his career around this year. (The Athletic sub. req.) Plus other news and notes from around MLB.
- Keith Law finds out what turned White Sox rookie Jacob Gonzalez from a draft bust to a potential star this year. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Brent Maguire has nine under-the-radar players who have good All-Star Game credentials.
- The biggest surprise of each team in 2026 (so far).
- The Rockies scored a team-record 23 runs in a win against the Athletics in Las Vegas on Sunday. Jason Owens reports.
- Jayson Stark leads of his “Weird and Wild” column for the week with the Brewers 15-14 win over the A’s in Las Vegas (The Athletic sub. req.), a game Brewers manager Pat Murphy called the “craziest game I’ve ever been a part of.”
- Ben Clemens explains why offense is turbocharged at Las Vegas Stadium, which he compares to “baseball on the moon.”
- Bob Nightengale speaks to the Athletics front office who insist that they’ll have no problems getting players to play for the A’s in Las Vegas.
- Spencer Nusbaum looks at what history tells us about the Nationals chances to make the postseason. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Mike Axisa has a mock draft, one month out.
- Kiley McDaniel has a list of draft prospects playing in the College World Series that started this past weekend.
- Jake Mintz ranks the top potential free agents going into this upcoming offseason.
- Now it’s time to play the butcher’s bill. Indians third baseman José Ramírez suffered a broken hamate bone. He’s expected to miss four-to-eight weeks.
- Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino also suffered a broken hamate and underwent surgery to remove it.
- Braves right-hander Spencer Strider had an MRI on his right elbow. They’re still waiting to find out the diagnosis.
- Rangers shortstop Corey Seager has missed three games with a concussion, described as mild.
- Phillies outfielder Adolis García is likely out for the season with a right lat tear. In any case, he’s on the 60-day injured list.
- Dayn Pery has a list of five outfielders the Phillies could trade for to replace García.
- Finally, the worlds of the World Cup and Major League Baseball came together in Boston at Fenway Park. Fans of Scotland, known as the Tartan Army, traveled to Boston to see the Scotland National Team play (and win!) their first World Cup game since 1998. Then the Scots descended upon Fenway Park to enjoy the MLB experience. Scott Muller reports.
- Ian Browne has another look at the Tartan Army at Fenway.
- Some highlights of the night
There were also some boos for “Sweet Caroline” for reasons explained here. The English picked it up after the Red Sox played in the London Series.
Sometimes, for as crappy as sports can be, we’re reminded of the magic that it can do and how it can bring us together.
