Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio reached 20 home runs for the third consecutive season in yesterday’s 5-3 win over the Rangers. Facing Cal Quantrill in the bottom of the first, Chourio took an 89 mph cutter out to right center field for a solo shot, opening the scoring for Milwaukee. Chourio is one of only 17 players in history with at least three 20-homer seasons by their age-22 season (h/t to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy). The list also includes fellow active players Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Carlos Correa, and Juan Soto.
1. PCA builds on MVP case with 3-HR game
Pete Crow-Armstrong led the charge in the Cubs’ win over the Reds. He went 4-for-6 and drove in six runs, all via home runs. PCA led off the bottom of the first with a solo shot off the Reds’ Andrew Abbott. He then tagged Abbott again for a two-run shot in the second inning. That provided the deciding run early in what would become a 17-5 blowout win. After singling in the fourth and popping out in the fifth, PCA homered for the third time in the bottom of the seventh, this time hitting a three-run shot. The three-homer performance brought PCA up to 9.1 fWAR on the season, adding to his case as he looks to dethrone Shohei Ohtani as the National League’s MVP.
2. Tigers walk off the Dodgers
In a much closer game than the Cubs-Reds matchup, the Tigers walked off the Dodgers on a 2-1 score yesterday afternoon. Both Keider Montero and Blake Snell turned in strong starts, with Snell striking out ten hitters in his five innings of work. The two bullpens held serve in the late innings, and Detroit entered the bottom of the ninth with the score tied at 1-1. Facing Dodgers reliever Jack Dreyer, Javier Báez led off with a double to left, then Max Clark sacrificed him over to third with a bunt. After two walks to load the bases, Kevin McGonigle delivered a walk-off single to score Báez from third. MLBTR’s Leo Morgenstern looked at McGonigle’s case for the AL Rookie of the Year award a few days ago, and two-thirds of MLBTR readers predicted he will win it.
3. Rubber match in the Bronx
After shutting out the Yankees 6-0 in the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader, the Red Sox were downed by a 9-2 score in the nightcap. After 3 2/3 innings from the returning Max Fried, New York’s bullpen allowed just one earned run over the next 5 1/3 innings, while their lineup teed off on Boston’s Brayan Bello and Raymond Burgos. The two clubs are now tied at six games apiece in their season series. Whichever team wins today will own the tiebreaker if they finish with the same regular-season record. The Red Sox will send Ranger Suarez to the hill to try to win that advantage, while the Yankees counter with Will Warren.
Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images (via Reuters Connect)
