HOME
What’s Happening in Baseball Today
The First Pitch: May 24, 2026
There’s much to unpack—much of it positive—for the Dodgers in their 11-3 win at Milwaukee. The victory ends a skid of nine straight regular season losses to the Brewers (conveniently omitting their four-game sweep of Milwaukee in last year’s NLCS); Teoscar Hernandez (see below) ties a career high with six RBIs on a pair of run-scoring singles and a three-run homer; and the L.A. bullpen yields no runs in four innings of work after Roki Sasaki’s okay start, extending a much longer streak of consecutive scoreless frames to a franchise-record 36.
Paul Skenes is in a rut—by his standards, anyway. For the first time in his career, Skenes allows four or more runs in successive starts, getting charged with four runs over five tiring innings at Toronto after surrendering five in his previous outing against the Phillies. The winning pitcher for the Blue Jays in their 5-2 decision is Patrick Corbin, the veteran hurler who’s taken more than his share of hitting abuse from opponents over the years; he throws a season-high six innings, allowing just a run on five hits and no walks with seven strikeouts.
Memo to the Guardians and Phillies, who the day before refused to let aces Gavin Williams and Cristopher Sanchez pitch into the ninth: This is how you do it. In Kansas City, the Royals’ Stephen Kolek tosses 96 pitches against the Mariners through eight innings—but unlike Williams and Sanchez, he’s given the keys to the ninth. The Royals stick with him, even after Kolek needs eight pitches to dispense of leadoff Seattle batter Colt Emerson. He’ll retire the next two batters in much quicker fashion, achieving a 5-0 shutout win on 108 pitches.
This is Kolek’s second shutout in 23 career starts; since 2010, only two other major leaguers (Chris Archer and Mike Montgomery) have thrown a pair of shutouts within their first 23 starts.
It’s better late than never for Bryan Torres, who takes advantage of his first taste at the big-league level after spending 11 years stuck in the minors. In the first game of a weather-created doubleheader at Cincinnati, the 28-year-old outfielder has two hits for the Cardinals, including a ninth-inning home run to cap the scoring in an 8-1 win; he’ll be rewarded with a start in the second game, collecting a single and walk in a 7-6, 11-inning loss.
Back in the clubhouse at the end of the day, Torres fights back tears as he recounts the long and winding road to the majors, which bottomed out from 2022-23 playing for the independent Milwaukee Milkmen. “At some point, my brother, when I was going to my second year in indy ball, he said, ‘Hey, don’t try to do the same as last year’,” Torres said. “And I told him, ‘I’m gonna do not the same. I’m gonna do better.’ Those were my words. I will never forget that.”
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
4-2-3-6—Teoscar Hernandez, Los Angeles Dodgers
The 33-year-old outfielder will always grate on Dodgers fans for his occasional defensive lapses, but he’ll always find a way to make up with his electric hitting abilities. At Milwaukee against the Brewers, Hernandez knocked in six runs for the fourth time in his career, leading the Dodgers to an 11-3 victory. Batting .276 thus far, Hernandez is on pace for 22 homers and 97 RBIs.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
9-4-0-0-1-2—Stephen Kolek, Kansas City
The right-hander’s second career shutout, after a five-hitter just over a year ago at Colorado while pitching for the Padres, included just two strikeouts. That’s the fewest by anyone going the distance since Reid Detmers’ no-hitter back in 2022. Kolek is 3-0 with a 2.77 ERA in four starts since being called up from Triple-A Omaha on May 5.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1909: After winning 24 straight games over five years against the Cardinals, the Giants’ Christy Mathewson finally loses to St. Louis, 3-1, at New York. Ironically, it is Mathewson’s former battery mate, Roger Bresnahan, who is managing the Cardinals for the first time against the Giants ace.
1935: The first night game in MLB history is played at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. A sellout crowd of 20,422 witnesses the historic event, as the lights are turned on via a button back at the White House, pressed by President Franklin Roosevelt. The Reds defeat the Phillies in a 2-1 game that has no errors—as players claim to have no problems adjusting to the lights.
1984: The Tigers, steamrolling toward a world title, defeat the Angels at Anaheim, 5-1, and improve their record to 35-5 with their 17th straight road win to break an AL mark previously held by the 1912 Washington Senators.
1989: The Royals’ Bo Jackson launches the longest home run in Arlington Stadium history, a 461-foot, two-run shot that will prove to be the winning blow in a 6-4 victory over the Rangers.
2001: A NL-record streak of 208 games without being shut out comes to an end as the Reds are blanked by the Cubs’ Jon Lieber at Chicago, 3-0. Lieber allows just one hit, a sixth-inning single by Juan Castro.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Milwaukee reliever Aaron Ashby (28)
Pitcher Brad Penny (48), winner of 121 games including NL-high 16 in 2006
Bartolo Colon (53), whose pitching career seemed endless with 247 victories, 2005 AL Cy Young Award, and stint as distant as 1997 Indians and 2021 Acereros de Monclava
Born on this date:
Jack Pfiester (1878), solid pitcher during Cubs’ championship run of late 1900s; won 20 games in 1906 and NL ERA crown in 1907 with sterling 1.15 figure
Joe Oeschger (1892), pitcher of 12 seasons and 82 wins, including 20 in 1921; threw MLB-record 26 innings in a 1920 game declared a tie
Shameless Link of the Day
A three-game series wraps up today in San Francisco between the Giants and White Sox, with the former team 10-17 against the latter since interleague play began in 1997. The Giants also hold the short end of the stick in World Series play between the two teams, which brings us to 1917.
Join Us on X and BlueSky
Besides our growing and active presence on X, TGG has spread its social media wings to BlueSky for those who’ve found the X culture too toxic. For those who are wondering, we provide the same posts on both platforms, and they’re non-political. We’re just talking baseball.
Meanwhile, we’ve given up our fight trying to reactivate our Facebook page, which was hacked last year. The page remains up but is frozen in time, as we are unable to access it—and Facebook, in all its infinite lack of wisdom, continues to provide absolutely no customer support in the matter as they literally have none. All the more reason to join us on X and BlueSky.
To Whom It May Concern
We are proud of what we have built at This Great Game, but we also admit it is not perfect. Occasionally, fans from all walks of life check in and point out errors, and we are grateful to these external editors. Our site is all the better because of you.
Also, we have had many folks chime in on our various lists in the Lists and Teams sections, many of them disagreeing with some of our choices. Since all lists are made to be argued, this is to be expected. If your arguments are respectful, we will respond in kind and join in a civilized debate—and we’ll often see your viewpoints, since no list should qualify as The Gospel. But if your responses contain the sort of vitriol found so often these days in social media circles, you’re going to get ignored. So please, respond respectfully, engage in polite conversation with us, and enjoy the site!
