Freeman might make bad history the good way<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that Freddie Freeman<\/a> is some obscure, underrated player, but he\u2019s on the same team as Shohei Ohtani<\/a>, and the Dodgers<\/a>\u2019 roster is loaded with high-quality ballplayers, so it can be a little easier to lose sight of what he\u2019s accomplishing.<\/p>\n For instance, did you know that Freeman is currently the NL\u2019s leader in batting average? It\u2019s a recent development, as he\u2019s had a hell of an August: Freeman is batting .325\/.389\/.639 for the month, and has turned it on even more in the last nine games. He picked up two homers on Sunday against the Padres<\/a>, giving him 18 for the year and pushing his slugging percentage for the season over .500 for the first time since the start of July.<\/p>\n The first blast was a solo shot that tied things up with San Diego in the sixth inning, and the second helped blow the game wide open for Los Angeles \u2014 a 2-run shot in the seventh that gave the Dodgers a 7-2 lead.<\/p>\n Freeman is one of just two qualifying NL players batting at least .300 in 2025; the other is Phillies<\/a>\u2019 shortstop Trea Turner<\/a>, who is exactly .300 on the year. A couple of important items to keep an eye on here: the lowest batting average ever for a batting title winner is .301, by Carl Yastrzemski back in 1968, which also means that no one has ever won a batting title while batting under .300. The NL might give some sickos a treat or two this year, depending on if Freeman or Turner \u2014 or the Brewers<\/a>\u2019 Sal Frelick<\/a> (.297) or Freeman\u2019s teammate, Will Smith<\/a> (.297) can get to .300 or below and still lead the NL. If Freeman hits in September like he has in August, however, then that\u2019s just not going to happen. The good (?) news: the lowest-ever average for an NL batting title winner was Tony Gwynn in 1988, as he hit just .313 to capture the crown. That gives Freeman and Co. some wiggle room here.<\/p>\n As for Freeman\u2019s team, Ohtani hit home run No. 45 on the season, as well, tying Kyle Schwarber<\/a> for the most in the National League, and the Dodgers hit four dingers on the day. It could have been one more, however, if not for Ramon Laureano<\/a>: he robbed a grand slam off the bat of Teoscar Hernandez<\/a>:<\/p>\n The Dodgers won 8-2 even without the slam, though, and now Los Angeles and San Diego are tied atop the NL West with no more games left against each other for the rest of the year. Let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n Should have been a triple, until\u2026<\/p>\n Sometimes, the way a ball bounces can net a batter an extra base. For instance, Diamondbacks<\/a>\u2019 starter Zac Gallen<\/a> gave up a deep shot off of the bat of Reds<\/a>\u2019 right fielder Noelvi Marte<\/a> on Sunday, and the bounce it took off of the warning track sent it high up off the wall in center, which made it come back onto the field behind center fielder Alek Thomas<\/a>. Marte got an extra beat to give a triple a try, and took advantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n Triples are often a matter of events like this occurring, where no one truly messed up or logged an error, but a tiny wrinkle can change the fabric of the play and allow a runner to take that additional base. We got a little bonus on this one, though, as the relay throw \u2014 while on target \u2014 came in after Marte slid into third, and bounced off of him and nearly into Arizona\u2019s dugout.<\/p>\n Two weird bounces, two extra bases. Not all Little League home runs are created equal, but they all have a little bit of this and that in them.<\/p>\n The Giants were down to their last out<\/p>\n To say that the Giants<\/a> have had it rough lately is a little bit of an understatement, on par with “the Brewers have been playing well this summer.” This is baseball, however, and it\u2019s prone to the goofiest outcome occurring all the time, so guess how their weekend matchup went? If you guessed “the Giants win the series on an improbable come-from-behind rally,” then congratulations, you understand the game\u2019s sense of humor.<\/p>\n San Francisco was down to their last out, and trailing the Brewers 3-2 in the ninth. Matt Chapman<\/a> had led off the inning with a double, and Luis Matos<\/a> pushed him to third with a single. After each of those hits, though, Brewers\u2019 closer Trevor Megill<\/a> struck out a Giants\u2019 batter, so this potential rally was teetering on the edge.\u00a0<\/p>\n Megill would then walk Jung Hoo Lee<\/a> on just five pitches \u2014 and the fourth, called a strike, was a little borderline, too \u2014 bringing up Heliot Ramos<\/a> with two down and the bases loaded. On the 2-1 pitch, Rogers threw it 100 but up in the zone, and Ramos sent it back over the mound and into center.<\/p>\n Chapman and Matos both scored, and the Brewers couldn\u2019t manage more than a harmless single against Ryan Walker<\/a> in the bottom of the frame. The Giants would win, 4-3, giving them their first series win since the first week of August, against the Pirates<\/a>. And while Milwaukee dropped two of three here, they still lead the majors in wins with 81, and are five games up on the Cubs<\/a> in the NL Central.<\/p>\n Disaster weekend for Cleveland<\/p>\n The Guardians<\/a> began the weekend three games back of the final wild card spot in the American League, and were that far back because they had already lost two in a row, and seven of their last 10 after a strong start to August that saw them threaten the Yankees<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Somehow, the weekend got worse. On Wednesday, they suffered a walk-off loss to the Diamondbacks, and on Friday, it happened again, this time against the Rangers<\/a>. There was so much hope before that moment, too, since Jose Ramirez<\/a> had hit a 2-run double in the top of the eighth to put Cleveland up 3-2 in the first place. The Rangers responded with a Wyatt Langford<\/a> double, a Corey Seager<\/a> single that scored Langford \u2014 Seager advanced to second in that commotion \u2014 and then a Joc Pederson<\/a> double to score Seager. No other plays, no outs, no nothing: just a quick barrage to destroy the hope the eighth inning had cultivated.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Rangers would then win 10-0 on Saturday, with Jack Leiter<\/a> tossing seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts, no walks and just 2 hits allowed, while Guardians\u2019 starter Logan Allen<\/a> gave up all but one of Texas\u2019 runs in 5 innings of work that featured 12 baserunners. Sunday didn\u2019t go much better for Cleveland, either, as the Rangers shut them out\u00a0again,\u00a0this time 5-0, with Merrill Kelly<\/a> twirling the gem this time around: 7 innings, 8 strikeouts and 6 scattered baserunners.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Guardians have now lost five in a row, and sit five back of a wild card spot. They are behind not just the Royals<\/a> in that race, but now the Rangers, too, as their three wins in a row put them back at .500 and 4.5 back.\u00a0<\/p>\n Raleigh makes short work of history<\/p>\n Cal Raleigh<\/a> entered play on Sunday needing just one more home run to tie Salvador Perez<\/a> for the most ever by a catcher, and he got it in the first inning. While batting right-handed, Raleigh took Jacob Lopez<\/a> deep to put the Mariners<\/a> up 2-0 on the Athletics<\/a>, and tie Perez\u2019s record.<\/p>\n In the second, Raleigh came up again against Lopez, this time with two baserunners on. The result was the same: an 84-mph pitch left low in the zone was met by Raleigh\u2019s bat, and Perez\u2019s record was officially broken.<\/p>\n It\u2019s still August, by the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n Next up for Raleigh? A quick bit of math should tell you that if 49 is now the record for most homers in a season by a catcher, then no catcher has ever hit 50 before. Raleigh can be the first with just one more, which would also make him just the second-ever switch-hitter to go yard 50 times in a season: Mickey Mantle has both instances of that in MLB\u2019s long history, with no one else managing the feat. Oh, and Raleigh is leading the majors in homers still, as he\u2019s four up on Ohtani and Schwarber after Sunday\u2019s dual blasts.<\/p>\n Suarez strikes out double-digits, again<\/p>\n The Phillies defeated the Nationals<\/a> 3-2 on Sunday, giving them the series win against Washington. They wouldn\u2019t have pulled it off without the performance of Ranger Suarez, either, as he went 7 innings without allowing a run, while striking out 11 batters against 3 hits and no walks.<\/p>\n This was Suarez\u2019s second dominant start in a row \u2014 he whiffed 10 batters in 6.2 innings of 2-run ball last time out, against the Mariners \u2014 and the timing could not be better for Philadelphia. Ace Zack Wheeler<\/a> is now out for the season, as he\u00a0needs additional surgery<\/a> after already undergoing a procedure to remove a blood clot from his right shoulder. Philly is still loaded with arms, between Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo<\/a>, Taijuan Walker<\/a> and Suarez, but all four will need to be on point to make up for the loss of Wheeler, who had just as much of a shot at a Cy Young award as his teammate, Sanchez.<\/p>\n
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