Red hot Dodgers set MLB mark

The Dodgers took a 1–0 lead in the first inning against the White Sox and coasted to a 9–1 rain shortened victory that set an all-time major-league record. Los Angeles has won 44 consecutive games in which they held a lead of any size at any time. That broke a record held by the Cubs for 111 years.

During the 1906 season, Chicago’s North Siders had a streak of 43 consecutive conversions of a lead into a win. The Cubs’ roster included four Hall of Famers: the renowned trio of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance, and pitcher Mordecai Brown, who was credited with 10 of those 43 wins. Chance was also the team’s manager.

Arenado homers in three consecutive innings

Nolan Arenado went 5-for-6 with three home runs and seven RBIs in the Rockies’ 18-4 win over the Padres on Wednesday afternoon. Arenado’s homers came in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. The only other active player to hit a home run in three consecutive innings in a game is Manny Machado, who went deep in the first, second and third innings against the White Sox on August 7, 2016. The only other player in Rockies history to accomplish that feat is Andres Galarraga, who homered in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings against the Padres on June 25, 1995.

Angels rookie tosses a gem

Alex Meyer held the Nationals to no runs and one hit in seven innings of work on Wednesday night. Meyer became just the fifth rookie in Angels history to pitch at least seven scoreless innings while allowing one or fewer hits, joining Bo Belinsky, who no-hit Baltimore on May 5, 1962, Dean Chance against Minnesota on September 10, 1962, Jered Weaver against Texas on September 15, 2006 and Matt Shoemaker against Boston on August 21, 2014.

Russell’s four-hit game helps Cubs capture sixth straight win

Addison Russell went 4-for-4 with two RBIs leading the Cubs to an 8-2 win over the Braves on Wednesday afternoon. Russell became the youngest Cub (23 years, 177 days old) to go 4-for-4 or better in a game since Starlin Castro did it on May 11, 2011 against the Cardinals at 21 years, 48 days old.

The Cubs have won each of the six games they have played since the All-Star break. That’s Chicago’s longest winning streak immediately following the All-Star break in 82 years, since winning its first six games after the break in 1935.

Williams’ two triples leads Phillies’ 20-hit attack

Nick Williams had two triples and drove in two runs as part of a 20-hit attack by the Phillies in the team’s 10-3 win over the Marlins on Wednesday afternoon. Williams is only the second Phillies rookie over the last 25 seasons to produce multiple triples in a game joining Jimmy Rollins, who had two three-baggers, also against the Marlins, on June 24, 2001.

The Phillies registered 20 or more hits in a game for the first time in over four years, since producing 21 hits against the Dodgers on June 28, 2013. Philadelphia’s streak of 659 consecutive games without a 20-hit game was the fifth-longest current streak of its kind entering Wednesday behind Texas (893), Seattle (852), Milwaukee (779) and Houston (734).

Yankees’ slump continues

The Yankees suffered their 22nd loss in their last 32 games when they dropped a 6-1 decision to the Twins in Minnesota on Wednesday afternoon. This marks the first time New York has lost at least 22 of 32 games in a single season since May-June of 1995. That was Buck Showalter’s final season as Yankees manager and New York reached the playoffs as the American League Wild Card team that season.

Paxton shuts down Astros again

James Paxton allowed one run in seven innings of work in the Mariners’ 4-1 win over the Astros on Wednesday. Paxton has made three starts against Houston this season and has allowed only one run in 20 innings. Paxton’s 0.45 ERA against the Astros is the lowest any pitcher has against an opponent this season (minimum: three starts).

Prior to Paxton, the last pitcher with three consecutive starts of six or more innings and one or fewer run allowed against Houston in a single season was the Cubs’ Travis Wood in 2012.

Posey delivers Giants to victory

Buster Posey delivered a two-out two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning turning a 4-3 deficit into a 5-4 Giants lead in a game San Francisco would hold on to win by that score over the Indians on Wednesday. It marked the first time in Posey’s 982-game career that he produced a hit that turned a deficit into a lead with two outs in the eighth inning or later.

O’s come through with the bases loaded

Adam Jones (RBI single), Manny Machado (RBI single), Jonathan Schoop (RBI single) and Trey Mancini (three-run triple) each delivered run-scoring hits with the bases loaded in a seven-run seventh inning in the Orioles’ 10-2 victory over the Rangers on Wednesday. The Orioles entered the contest with only 13 hits with the bases loaded this season. Baltimore’s .203 batting average with the sacks full was the fourth-lowest for any team entering Wednesday’s action, ahead of Philadelphia (.170), San Diego (.186) and Oakland (.2031 to .2029).

Pedroia’s clutch hitting leads Red Sox to win

Dustin Pedroia drove in two runs with a two-out bases loaded single in the second inning and added a run-scoring single with two outs and a man on second base in the fourth inning accounting for three of the Red Sox’ runs in the team’s 5-1 win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday. Pedroia lifted his batting average to .474 with two outs and runners in scoring position this season, which tops all major-league players with at least 30 at bats in that situation.

deGrom is shining in Mets lost season

Jacob deGrom held the Cardinals to just one run and won his seventh consecutive start in the Mets’ 7-3 victory over St. Louis on Wednesday night. There have been 65 other instances of a pitcher winning at least seven consecutive starts in a single season since 2000, but only five of those came with a team that was below .500 for each of the starts during the streak: Dontrelle Willis (seven in 2003), Erik Bedard (seven in 2006), Cliff Lee (eight in 2008), Joe Kelly (eight in 2015) and Zack Greinke (seven in 2016).

Moroff scores the tying run as a pinch runner, knocks in the winning run in extra innings

Rookie Max Moroff, who scored the tying run in the ninth inning after entering the game as a pinch runner, drove in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the tenth in the Pirates’ 3-2 comeback victory over the Brewers on Wednesday night. Prior to Moroff, the last player to score the tying run of a game as a pinch runner in the ninth inning and deliver a game-ending hit in extra innings was San Diego’s Will Venable on May 29, 2013 against the Mariners. Venable scored the tying run in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly after entering as a pinch runner for Yasmani Grandal and then ended the contest with a bases-loaded single in the tenth.

Moroff is the second Pirates rookie to deliver a game-ending hit this season, joining Josh Bell, who hit a walkoff home run on July 14 against the Cardinals. The last time Pittsburgh had multiple rookies with walkoff hits in the same season was in 2009, when Garrett Jones and Andrew McCutchen each had two.

Duvall’s bases loaded hit wins it for the Reds in the 11th

Adam Duvall’s single with the bases loaded in the 11th inning gave the Reds a 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night. Duvall entered the contest just 4-for-26 (.154) with the bases loaded in his career.

Royals bounce back after blowing lead in the ninth

Royals closer Kelvin Herrera allowed two runs in the top of the ninth inning to turn a 2-1 lead into a 3-2 deficit, but Kansas City rallied for two runs of their own in the bottom of the ninth to come away with a 4-3 win over the Tigers on Wednesday night. That marked the first time in over 16 years that Kansas City blew a lead in the top of the ninth inning only to come back and win the game in the bottom half of the inning. On June 27, 2001, the Royals surrendered a 3-2 ninth inning lead to the Tigers, but scored twice in the bottom half of the inning to beat Detroit by a score of 5-4.

Phils, Rockies each pound out 20 or more hits

The Phillies and Rockies each produced 20 or more hits on Wednesday becoming the 15th and 16th teams to reach that hit total this season. That’s four more 20-hit games than were recorded during the entire 2016 season (12).