July 24, 2024 [LINK / comment]
American League wins 2024 All-Star Game
This year's All-Star Game was played at Globe Life Field, home of the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers. Arlington's almost-new climate-conditioned palace was an appropriate setting for the Midsummer Classic. (Outside it was "hot, hot, hot!")
The National League took a 3-0 lead in the third inning when superstar Shohei Ohtani (now with the L.A. Dodgers but not pitching yet) crushed a home run that landed almost 15 rows up in the stands. Right fielder Juan Soto (former Washington National and current New York Yankee) just stood there and watched. But in the bottom of the inning, Soto got revenge by hitting a two-run double and then scoring on an RBI single to tie the game. Two innings later Jarren Duran (the Boston Red Sox outfielder who came in to replace Aaron Judge) hit a two-run homer to give the [American] League a 5-3 lead, and that ended up being the final score. Duran's name will not soon be forgotten!
The results of that game have been added to the Baseball chronology, annual page, which has been updated and corrected. (Most of the other baseball chronology pages have been updated as well.) For some reason I previously had erroneous cumulative wins and losses for the All-Star Games. The correct totals are 48 wins for the AL and 44 wins for the NL, along with two tied games.
Washington National shortstop C.J. Abrams replaced former National Trea Turner at shortstop, but he struck out in his only at bat. The Nationals' closing pitcher Kyle Finnegan, who was added to the All-Star roster at the last minute, did not get to pitch.
Next year's All-Star Game will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta. It was originally slated to host the 2021 All-Star Game but MLB decided to move the event to Coors Field for political reasons. (The Georgia legislature had passed a law governing election procedures that some people considered to be an infringement upon civil rights.) The 2026 All-Star Game will take place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
2024 Home Run Derby
For baseball fans like me whose interests are highly focused on just one or two teams, the All-Star break is opportunity to become familiar with players from the opposing league and other divisions. For example, I had heard the name Teoscar Hernandez before, but I didn't know much about him. Well, the L.A. Dodgers outfielder just triumphed in this year's Home Run Derby, so he must be pretty good! The runner up was Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals. Hernandez beat the Phillies' Alex Bohm in Round 2, while Witt beat Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Indians. It seemed odd the top sluggers such as Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, or Juan Soto did not participate this year. In any case, congratulations to Teoscar Hernandez!
Midseason standings
The Baltimore Orioles have overtaken the New York Yankees in the American League East Division, in spite of the slugging reinforcement provided by Juan Soto this year. Could the Orioles actually win the division for the second year in a row?? The Yankees are expected to be big spenders in the trade market, as usual. In the AL Central Division, the Cleveland Guardians have a superb 60-40 record, leading the Twins and Royals by five games. The AL West is tied between the Astros and the Seattle, but neither team is very far above .500, so neither is likely to make it very far into October.
In the National League East, the Philadelphia Phillies maintain a commanding nine-game lead over the Atlanta Braves, in spite of a mini-slump of sorts. The Milwaukee Brewers are five games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central, with the Pittsburgh Pirates close behind. That is an evenly-matched division this year. In the NL West the L.A. Dodgers lead the San Diego Padres by 8.5 games, with the Arizona Diamondbacks just a half game behind the latter.
As the July 31 trade deadline approaches, there are the usual rumors about "selling" teams such as the Nationals. It is possible the will let go of Kyle Finnegan, Jesse Winker, or Lane Thomas for the right price, but personally I hope they stand pat. The Nationals are 17 games behind the Phillies, about the same as they were at the beginning of the month.
Rested and refreshed, Nationals sweep the Reds
After their disappointing home stand from July 1 through 8, the Nationals traveled to New York on July 9, and were unceremoniously swept by the Mets. In the third of three games they lost 7-0, as starting pitcher Mackenzie Gore got hammered.
The very next day they limped into Milwaukee without any real travel rest, but somehow managed to piece together a 5-2 victory, mainly due to some clutch RBIs. (For the most part, the Nationals have done poorly with runners in scoring position this year.) In the fifth inning, Jesse Winker knocked a solo home run (his 11th) over the deep left-center fence to build the Nats lead. On Saturday, starting pitcher Mitchell Parker could not even finish the first inning, as the Brewers took a 5-0 lead. The situation seemed hopeless, but the Nats narrowed the gap with a 3-run rally in the fourth inning, followed by a solo homer by Luis Garcia in the seventh inning, and finally a 2-run homer by C.J. Abrams in the top of the ninth. Wonder of wonders! The Nats pulled off an amazing comeback win, 6-5. On Sunday, Jake Irvin had another shaky outing and left after four innings with the home team ahead 7-2. The final score was 8-3.
The Nats were obviously worn out and in flagging spirits after 17 straight days of games without a rest, so the All-Star break came just in time. The much-needed rest seemed to pay off very well, as they beat the Cincinnati Reds in three games at home in D.C. over the weekend. Much-maligned starting pitcher Patrick Corbin only gave up one run over six innings, while Keibert Ruiz displayed continued improvement by hitting a two-run homer. The Nats were ahead 8-1 going into the top of the ninth, but the bullpen crumpled as the Reds narrowed the gap to 8-5. Kyle Finnegan came in to close the game without any further damage. On Saturday Mackenzie Gore was replaced as starting pitcher after just two innings, with the Nats behind 4-2, but the home team gradually scraped together a few clutch RBIs in the latter innings and won it, 5-4. It was a remarkable improvement for the Nats' bullpen. On Sunday, Jake Irvin overcame his recent pitching struggles and went seven full innings only giving up two runs. The game remained tied until the eighth inning, however. That's when budding superstar James Wood hit a 3-run home run to left field, giving the Nats a 5-2 lead that they would not relinquish. Kyle Finnegan got his third save in three days -- his 28th save of the year, third in the majors!
Last night, however, the Nats' bats fell flat again, as the visiting San Diego Padres prevailed 4-0. D.J. Herz got through four innings without a scratch but then gave up back-to-back homers in the fifth inning: to Luis Arraez (recently traded away by the Miami Marlins) and Jurickson Profar. This time the Nats kept wasting their precious run-scoring opportunities. Tonight Mitchell Parker takes the mound for the Nationals, hoping for a much better outing than he had on July 13.
[UPDATE: Tonight's game against the Padres got off to a fine start as the Nationals took a 3-0 lead capped by Juan Yepez's* 2-run homer in the first inning. But in the top of the second inning, Mitchell Parker gave up a 2-run single with two outs, and immediately fell apart. After three innings the Nationals were behind 6-3, and then relief pitcher Jordan Weems gave up 5 runs in the fourth inning to put the game effectively out of reach. Utility infielder Ildemar Vargas came in to pitch in the top of the ninth, throwing balls in the 30-40 MPH range, but managed to avoid getting scored on. Final score: Padres 12, Nats 3. 
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* Yepez has hit safely in all 15 games in which he has played with the Nationals since joining the club earlier this month, setting a team record. He replaced the struggling Joey Meneses at first base, and thus far there is no doubt it was a wise personnel shift. I hope Joey recovers that magic he displayed as a 30-year old rookie for the Nats in August 2022, and makes it back up to the major leagues.]