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What’s Happening in Baseball Today
The First Pitch: May 23, 2026
They don’t make pitchers like they used to, and here’s why: Both starters in the Cleveland-Philadelphia game—the Guardians’ Gavin Williams and Phillies’ Cristopher Sanchez—each throw eight absolutely sharp shutout innings on less than 100 pitches, and are then both removed for the ninth inning despite showing no signs of fatigue.
Sanchez, who extends his streak of consecutive scoreless innings thrown to 37.1—the second longest in Phillies history, behind Pete Alexander’s 41.2 in 1911—helplessly watches as Jhoan Duran, his replacement, gives up hits to the first two batters he faces. The second is a pinch-hit home run from Kyle Manzado, breaking the ice and giving the Guardians a 1-0 lead. (Jose Ramirez, who notched the first hit down the right-field line, was thrown out at second.)
After striking out 11 batters with no walks through his eight scoreless innings, Williams is also given the bench in the ninth—but closer Cade Smith does his job, quickly dispensing of the Phillies in order to secure the win, the seventh straight for Cleveland.
As mentioned, neither pitcher reached 100; Sanchez was removed at 96 throws, Williams at 99. Since pitch tracking became an official thing back in 2008, there have been 747 instances of a starting pitcher throwing 120 or more pitches in a game—with only two taking place in the last two-plus seasons. One of those was by Williams, who threw 126 pitches while trying (and failing) to secure a no-hitter last August against the Mets.
Some on social media are calling the Williams-Sanchez duel one of the greatest ever. But to be honest, it probably doesn’t sniff the top 100—or maybe even the top 1,000. We get that baseball is obviously different these days with health sensitivities, financial responsibilities and analytic calculations of far greater importance than in generations past. But this was a duel between two pitchers humming along, one that cried out for a chance to see them continue to the finish.
Fully recovered from Tommy John surgery, Gerrit Cole makes his first appearance for the Yankees since the 2024 World Series and looks just as good as ever. The 35-year-old ace eases through six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks with two strikeouts on just 72 pitches before being given the rest of the night off. But the Yankee bullpen collapses in the eighth, as Tim Hill gives up all four runs that the opposing Rays will need to take a 4-2 road win.
Yankees mega-boomer Aaron Judge can’t be totally faulted for New York dropping 5.5 games behind Tampa Bay in the AL East, but his recent lack of star production certainly hasn’t helped. Judge has just one hit over his last 26 at-bats—dropping his season average to .245—and has gone a career-worst 11 straight games without a single RBI.
The Giants hold the visiting White Sox scoreless and hitless for eight innings. But it’s what happens in the other inning—the fourth—that dooms them. Chicago piles up all nine of their runs, and all five of their hits, in inflicting all of its damage in an eventual 9-4 victory. The White Sox’ rally also includes a walk, three hit batters and a San Francisco error.
No other team has scored as many runs in a nine-inning game with all of their runs and hits produced in just one inning. The Blue Jays in racked up all 11 of runs and hits each in the seventh inning of the second game of a 2021 doubleheader, but that was a nightcap limited to seven innings per MLB’s then-post-COVID restrictions.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
4-2-2-2—Zach Neto, Los Angeles Angels
The 25-year-old Miami native has certain flaws in his batting game—he’s batting .221 and leads the AL with 73 strikeouts—but he also has the ability to go 30-30 if he could fulfill his upside. Things certainly were looking up for Neto on Friday, as his pair of solo homers helped the Angels overtake the visiting Rangers, 9-6. Neto, who’s played every game for the Halos this season, is on pace for a career-high 31 homers.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
8-4-0-0-0-11—Gavin Williams, Cleveland
We’ve already said our piece (above) on the Guardians denying Williams his chance to complete his first career shutout, but at least he got the win—giving him seven to go along with 84 strikeouts and 69.1 innings pitched, all AL highs for the moment. His 11 K’s against the Phillies represents his third start with 10 or more this season.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1901: The Cleveland Blues are down to their last out trailing the Washington Senators, 13-5—and score nine straight runs to win, 14-13. No other major league team, before or since, has ever won a game trailing by as many runs with no outs to spare.
1901: How good is Nap Lajoie? The eventual triple-crown winner among AL batters is given an intentional walk by Chicago White Stockings ace Clark Griffith—with the bases loaded. Griffith’s gamble against the Lajoie and the A’s brings the tying run to the plate with nobody out—yet each of the next three hitters behind Lajoie grounds out, preserving an 11-7 Chicago win.
2002: In a 16-3 win at Milwaukee, the Dodgers’ Shawn Green will smash four homers, part of a jumbo performance in which he sets the all-time major league mark with 19 total bases. Green, who began the day with just five home runs over his first 46 games, will hit seven over three games to break another record.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Tampa Bay first baseman Jonathan Aranda (28)
Cesar Hernandez (36), second baseman of 10 seasons; led majors with 11 triples in 2016; Gold Glove recipient in 2020
Jordan Zimmermann (40), two-time All-Star; NL wins leader with 19 in 2013
1970s pitcher Reggie Cleveland (78), who never played for Cleveland but, instead, four other teams; compiled 105 career wins
Born on this date:
Augie Galan (1912), three-time All-Star outfielder; twice led his league in both steals and walks; four-time accumulator of over 100 runs
Willis Hudlin (1906), steady pitcher of 158 wins—all but one of them for Cleveland
Luke Stuart (1892), first AL player to homer in his first at-bat; it would be his only career hit
Zack Wheat (1888), all-time Dodgers leader in hits, doubles and triples; 2,884 total hits would land him in Cooperstown; 1918 NL batting champ
Jack Taylor (1873), 1890s pitcher who won 120 games, with 20+ in three straight years for the Phillies; top NL pitcher of 1902
Deacon Phillippe (1872), top Pirates pitcher of the 1900s; workhorse in very first World Series; four-time league leader in K/BB ratio.
Dummy Hoy (1862), outstanding deaf-mute center fielder with 2,048 career hits; played in all four major leagues of the 1800s; hit AL’s first grand slam, for 1901 White Sox; lived to the age of 99
Shameless Link of the Day
You want to read about a real pitching duel? Check out #10 on our list of the Giants’ 10 most memorable games.
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