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It was an interesting Thursday around the big leagues. There were two relevant matches between division rivals, beginning with the Cubs and Brewers season series coming to an end at Wrigley Field. The other division matchup was between Boston and New York as the AL East rivals battled in the first of four contests at Yankee Stadium. Elsewhere, MLB’s longest current hitting streak continued, and one of the greatest pitchers of this century looked to improve upon his perfect August record.
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Today’s Headlines
Red Sox Continue Season Dominance Over Yankees
It’s not something we hear often, but the Boston Red Sox have owned the New York Yankees in 2025. Entering their four-game series on Thursday in the Bronx, the visiting Sox had a 5-1 record against their AL East rivals. Yet, New York came into this opener on a five-game winning streak and had a 1.5-game lead on Boston for the top AL wild card position. Game 1 of this series wasn’t pretty for either club. The Yankees committed four errors in the contest, including three in the second frame, while Boston went 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position. But, in the end, someone had to win.
The offensive hero of the night was Boston’s rookie Roman Anthony. The 21-year-old right fielder tied the contest at 3-3 in the sixth inning on an RBI single to center.
After a Nathaniel Lowe go-ahead double in the seventh off Yankees reliever Luke Weaver gave Boston a 4-3 advantage, Anthony provided the final blow in the ninth with a two-run homer to right.
Final Score: Boston-6, Yankees-3. The Sox have won six straight versus the Yankees and are one victory away from clinching the season series.
Cubs Unable to Win Crucial NL Central Contest
The Chicago Cubs knew two things before Thursday’s fifth and final game of their series at home versus the Milwaukee Brewers. First, they clinched the season series against their NL Central rivals with a 4-3 victory on Wednesday. Second, they still trailed in the division by six games, despite winning three contests against the Brew Crew over a two-day span. Thursday’s final meeting was realistically a must-win for Chicago if they had any hopes of making a run at Milwaukee for a division crown.
Cubs southpaw Shota Imanaga pitched well overall, but one blunder in the second frame to Brewers second baseman Brice Turang was all the road squad needed in this one to avoid a 4-1 series loss. With two outs and a runner aboard in a scoreless tie, Turang lined a 91 mph fastball over the right field wall for his 14th homer of ’25.
The Cubs cut the lead in half thanks to a Pete Crow-Armstrong sac fly in the fifth off starting pitcher Quinn Priester, but it wasn’t enough as the Brewers bullpen held Chicago scoreless over the final 4.2 frames. Milwaukee scored twice more in the eighth on an Isaac Collins two-run single to right with runners on second and third.
In the ninth, the Brew Crew led 4-1, and looked to their closer, Trevor Megill, to seal the deal for his 30th save. After yielding a leadoff single to Carson Kelly, Megill struck out Michael Busch before getting the struggling Kyle Tucker to fly out to center, and inducing a game-ending grounder to third off the bat of Seiya Suzuki.
Back to Tucker for a moment. Cubs manager Craig Counsell confirmed on Wednesday that his right fielder had a hairline fracture in his right hand, which he has been dealing with since June. Tucker had been benched the previous two days of their series against Milwaukee before suiting up for Thursday’s finale. Tucker saw his August batting average drop to .138 after going 0-for-4 in the contest.
The season series goes to Chicago 7-6, but Milwaukee’s three-run win increased their division lead over the Cubs to seven games with 34 contests remaining on their schedule.
Kershaw Improves to 4-0 in August
Clayton Kershaw is far from the pitcher who won five ERA titles and a trio of Cy Young Awards, but make no mistake that one of the greatest southpaws of all-time can still pitch at a high level when healthy. After the Rockies won two of the first three games against the NL West-leading Dodgers, Kershaw took the mound on Thursday and delivered a solid outing over 5.2 frames. The future HOF’er allowed three runs on six hits for the win, and has an August ERA of 1.90 over four starts.
The Blue Crew’s offense gave their 18-year veteran plenty of support by scoring eight of their nine runs in the first five innings. MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani was given the day off after Wednesday’s rough outing on the bump versus the Rockies that included a comebacker off his right leg in the fourth inning. It was impressive to see the road team go 12-for-36 at the plate without their main attraction, albeit versus a last-place squad at hitter-friendly Coors Field. Final score: Dodgers-9, Rockies-5.
Los Angeles heads to San Diego for their final series of the year against the second-place Friars. The Padres defeated San Francisco on Thursday, 8-4, for a 3-1 series win. Entering Friday’s opener between the NL West rivals, the Dodgers hold a one-game advantage in the division. This is MLB’s must-watch series of the weekend.
Best Moments From Yesterday
Soderstrom Extends Hitting Streak to 19 Games
It’s been another one of those dismal campaigns for the Athletics, who are on pace for their fourth consecutive losing season. However, there have been some positives to build on, including the play of rookies such as Nick Kurtz and Jacob Wilson. There’s also been the breakout season for third-year veteran Tyler Soderstrom. The left fielder increased the current longest hitting streak in MLB to 19 games after a 4-for-4 performance in Thursday’s 8-3 victory over Minnesota. Soderstrom is hitting .396 over his last 15 contests. For the season, the 23-year-old is batting .273 with 23 long balls and a team-high 74 ribbies.
Pasquantino Goes Yard Again
Speaking of streaks. Kansas City is streaking up the standings after a series-clinching win versus the wild-card hopeful Texas Rangers. The Royals won 6-4 on Thursday to make it eight victories in their last 10 games. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino hit a go-ahead and eventual game-winning solo homer in the fifth to make it four consecutive contests with a long ball. Pasquantino drove in seven runs in the four-game set with Texas, and for the campaign has 26 homers and 87 RBI.
At 66-62, KC is only two games back of Seattle for the final AL wild card spot.
Cubs Honor Uecker
Who doesn’t miss the late Bob Uecker? One of baseball’s greatest ambassadors, and a character like no other, was honored by the Cubs on Thursday with a video of him singing ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’.
The Cubs replayed Ueck’s Wrigley rendition of Take Me out to the Ballgame today. It’s so cool seeing how much Bob Uecker meant to baseball, not just Milwaukee and the Brewers. pic.twitter.com/gSmXvKSlbQ
— The Brew Crew Scoop (@BrewCrewScoop) August 21, 2025
A Nice Grab By A Young Fan in Minnesota
We seem to be getting a lot of great fan catches this year by the 13-and-under crowd. Here was another nice grab by a youngster on a foul ball off the bat of Kurtz.
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ The Houston Astros activated starting pitcher J.P. France from the 60-day IL on Thursday and optioned him to Triple-A Sugar Land. France hasn’t pitched in a big league game since last July after undergoing surgery to repair a torn right shoulder capsule.
⚾ Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Pablo López made his first rehab start with Triple-A St. Paul on Thursday. Lopez has been out since early June with a strained muscle in his right shoulder. The right-hander gave up one run on four hits over 1.2 innings against Round Rock. His return to the big league club is unknown at this time.
⚾ Boston’s Wilyer Abreu was placed on the 10-day IL with a right calf strain. The move is retroactive to August 18. Abreu is hitting .253 with 38 extra-base knocks and 69 RBI.
⚾ The Baltimore Orioles placed catcher Adley Rutschman on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain. The move is retroactive to August 18. It’s been a rough year for the 2019 No. 1 overall pick. Rutschman’s 2025 slash line of .227/.310/.373 mark career lows in each category.
Articles You Should Read
Surging, slumping, scoreboard watching: A night in the pennant race with the Mariners’ Jerry Dipoto — Tyler Kepner, The Athletic
If MLB expands, could its 162-game schedule shrink? It very well might — Jayson Stark, The Athletic
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
