There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves.
Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from the weekend in Major League Baseball:
Trevor Story’s Big Christmas gift
Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story hit a solo home run in the sixth inning against the Guardians on Monday. That is a correct explanation of the events. Things were much more complicated than that simplicity lets on, though. What actually happened is that Trevor Story hit a fly ball to right field at Fenway Park, near the foul pole nicknamed Pesky’s Pole. He didn’t hit it into the stands, though, or wrap it around the pole: the ball ended up in right fielder Jhonkensy Noel’s glove.
Temporarily, anyway. Noel never quite kept control of the ball, causing it to bounce out of his glove, back into his glove, off the top of the fence, in his glove and into a fan in right, and most importantly into the foul pole itself.
The call on the field was a foul ball, but Boston challenged that. The Red Sox announcers thought it was a ground-rule double, and assumed that was what the challenge was for. Story was standing on second base, assuming that it was a ground-rule double, too. (At least at first: while Story was standing on second as the challenge replay played on the scoreboard in center, assuming that was where he was supposed to be, he could be seen mouthing “What the f—?” as the chaos unfolded on screen.) The Guardians’ crew wasn’t sure what it was, but landed on ground-rule double, as well.
That didn’t end up being the call: the official review from New York awarded Story a home run, with the reasoning being that every angle reviewed showed the ball pop out of Noel’s glove and into the foul pole. It might have bounced further in ways that made it seem foul or like a double, but it hit the pole: once a ball in play strikes the pole while it’s still in the air — and a baseball bouncing out of a fielder’s glove is still a live ball in the air, as it hasn’t been secured nor hit the ground — then it’s a home run. Story got his 23th home run of the year, and the Red Sox would go on to win 6-4.
That was great news for Boston, as the Yankees had the night off allowing the Sox to catch up to them in the AL East, and now both clubs sit 2.5 behind the Blue Jays for first place in the division.
Kelly had a day
Carson Kelly and the Cubs had a pretty good Monday. Chicago’s pitchers didn’t have a good day, necessarily, but thanks to Kelly, that didn’t end up mattering. The Braves were up 6-2 after five innings, and the Cubs slowly worked their way back. A pair of runs in the sixth, then another two in the eighth to tie it up, courtesy of Kelly: the Cubs’ catcher hit a 2-run homer off of reliever Pierce Johnson to make it 6-6.
The game would go into extras, and there, Kelly struck again. This time, it wasn’t anything as significant distance-wise as a dinger, but this single gave the Cubs the come-from-behind walk-off in the 10th inning.
A rare lodged ball
The Reds downed the aforementioned Blue Jays on Monday, but, like with Story’s home run, there is a lot more to the tale than just the end result. In the top of the ninth, the Reds were up 2-1, but then Bo Bichette — already 3-for-3 on the day — crushed a 2-run homer to right field to give Toronto the lead.
Daulton Varsho then repeated the trick with a solo shot off of the same pitcher, Emilio Pagan, to put the Jays up 4-2.
Things were not looking great for Cincinnati, but they rebounded with their own offensive attack in the bottom of the frame. Or tried to, anyway. Ke’Bryan Hayes led things off with a single, and Matt McLain followed with his own. That’s when things got weird: TJ Friedl lashed a ball that ended up all the way to the fence in right field, scoring both Hayes and McLain and tying the game at 4-4. The problem is that the ball ended up lodged in the right field fence, so by rule it was a ground-rule double, and not a live ball. The challenge by the Blue Jays confirmed this, and the call was overturned — Hayes scored to make it 4-3, Toronto, but McLain was sent back to third, and Friedl had to go to second.
The Reds weren’t done, though, despite this cruel little twist. The very next batter was Noelvi Marte, and he hit a 2-run single that didn’t get stuck in any walls, scoring both runners and giving Cincinnati the walk-off victory.
The play at the plate had the timing down, but the ball just didn’t end up where it needed to be, keeping Alejandro Kirk from applying the tag. The Reds kept pace with the Mets, four games back of the last NL wild card spot with 23 games to go, while the Jays saw their lead over the Red Sox narrow to 2.5 in the AL East.
An unassisted double play!
This was in the first inning of the same game, but it didn’t quite fit the story being told above, so let’s highlight it here on its own. Elly De La Cruz managed to get an unassisted double play, one that only someone as tall as he is could manage. First — and this happens so quickly you only see it on the replay from a different angle — De La Cruz leapt to grab an Addison Barger liner out of the air as it headed toward center field. Second, he jumped again, but this time right at second base, where he beat the runner, George Springer, back to the bag.
Being 6-foot-5 has its uses!
Quiet dominance
Juan Soto struggled early on in the season in a way that’s still coloring his overall numbers, but it sure seems like he’s back. When May ended, his OPS was all of .792 — after Monday’s game, in which he hit a grand slam in the fourth to put the Mets up 6-3 over the Tigers…
…and then a 2-run triple in the sixth after Detroit had tied the game up to once again give New York the lead…
…his OPS stands at .915. He’s hitting .257/.397/.518 with 36 homers and an MLB-leading 113 walks, and has hit .276/.427/.596 with 27 of those bombs since June 1. The Mets probably don’t need to worry about their superstar’s bat, as that performance is even better than what he managed with the Yankees in 2024 to help him get his record contract in the first place.
Garcia returns to Houston
The Astros’ beleaguered rotation got a little healthier on Monday, as Luis Garcia returned from the IL to make his first start since 2023, when he underwent Tommy John surgery. He had been a dependable arm in the Houston rotation to that point, with back-to-back seasons of above-average pitching prior to his elbow injury, which is exactly the kind of thing they could use more of now while they seek to secure a postseason spot.
Garcia went 6 innings while allowing 3 runs on 2 home runs, so it’s not as if he was the sharpest he has ever been. But 6 strikeouts, no walks and just 3 hits allowed is encouraging, as well. He just needs to round into form before October, so that the Astros have more of the pitchers that they wish that they had all year long around in their postseason rotation.
Houston would win, 8-3, allowing them to pick up a game in the standings on the Mariners — Seattle lost to the Rays, 10-2, and now sit three back of the Astros in the AL West.
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