Thousands of athletes prepare to run 129th Boston Marathon

BOSTON (WWLP) – Monday is the 129th Boston Marathon and 250th anniversary of Patriots Day.
Agawam woman to run Boston Marathon for Make-A-Wish
Runners will take off Monday morning in Hopkinton and will finish on Boylston Street in Boston. Over 30,000 athletes are expected to compete on Monday, hailing from 129 countries and all 50 states.
Monday is the 250th anniversary of Patriots Day here in Massachusetts, but it is also another special anniversary for the Boston Marathon itself, it is the 50th anniversary of the wheelchair division.
Back in 1975, a man named Bob Hall fought to compete in the coveted race and now this year, he will serve as a Grand Marshal for this historic year.
Over $1.2 million in prizes is up for grabs across the open, wheelchair, and para athletics divisions. The first athletes will start at 9:06 a.m., that's the men's wheelchair division after the National Anthem and a flyover performed by two F-15s from the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base. Then it will be the women's wheelchair division at 9:09. Wave one runners will begin at 10:00.
In the open division, 176 non-profits are a part of the Bank of America Boston Marathon Official Charity Program, with a goal of raising over $50 million.
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on WWLP.com.
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Boston Globe

2 hours ago

• Boston Globe

Big names litter top of Boston 10K leaderboard

Advertisement Americans Tatyana McFadden (five Boston Marathon titles) and Daniel Romanchuk (two Boston wins) added to their racing resumes in the wheelchair division. McFadden's winning time in the women's race was 26:48, while Romanchuk took the men's title in 21:27. Before the race, a moment of remembrance was held for Nina Kuscsik, the first official Boston Marathon female winner, Follow Andrew Mahoney

Forbes

2 hours ago

• Forbes

Bubba Ray Responds To R-Truth, Makes Bold Prediction About WWE LFG

WWE LFG Season 2 premieres June 22, 2025 on A&E. If Bubba Ray Dudley (AKA Bully Ray) was a catchphrase, it would be 'That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.' As a no-nonsense curmudgeon with a heart of gold, Bubba Ray took to coaching the Season 1 cast of WWE LFG like a duck to water. Bubba showed a soft spot for potential prodigies in Zena Sterling and Drake Morreaux, but never hesitated to default to mean Uncle Bubba when he was shown disrespect. This manifested itself several times through the season-long beef alongside Season 1's habitual line-stepper BJ Ray. Jasper Troy (Team Booker T) and Olympic gold medalist Tyra May Steele (Team Undertaker) prevailed in Season 1, however neither was under the tutelage of Bubba Ray. Now back for Season 2, Bubba Ray is picking up where he left off. Bubba back as a coach in Season 2, where most of the Season 1 cast will be returning alongside new coach Michelle McCool and new talent Trill London, Hayley Montoya and Karyn Best. Bubba was also in rare form throughout this informative, if not heated, interview. Bubba Ray On Season 2 Of WWE LFG Bubba Ray Dudley: Alfred, before we get started- Alfred Konuwa: Let's go, let's go. BRD: Have you ever buried me on social media? AK: I don't believe I have. BRD: You don't believe you have? AK: No, because— BRD: Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah When Uncle Bubba talks you listen. Have you ever spoken disparagingly of me on the old Twitter machine? AK: My answer to you is: I do not think so. But because you're bringing this up, can you let me know what I may or may not have said? BRD: No, I'm asking you a flat…you would know if you talked bad about me. It's a yes or no question. AK: My answer is no because I've always put you over. BRD: Then we can proceed. As a matter of fact, since you put me over in the past, why don't you put me over some more? AK: I will (laughing), because one of my most viral tweets is when I said that I thought the Bully Ray character in TNA is a top five heel all time, without any qualifiers. And I can't tell you how many people I fought. Now, I'm not one of these people who stays on Twitter all the time and cares about what people tweet about me. But that was one where I got a lot of blowback about it and I stood on business about that. So no, I've said way more good things than bad, if I've said any bad things about you. BRD: Uh, uh, uh you almost slipped up there, Alfred, you almost... At, at, we almost caught you. AK: (Laughing) Okay, but I'm positive I've never buried you on social media. BRD: So, doesn't Forbes always do like their Top 100 or Top 500 or something like that? AK: They do do stuff like that. They have the 40 Under 40, Top Real-Time Billionaires etc. BRD: So is this like for the Top 10 Most Handsome Men in Professional Wrestling? AK: We could make it that. Why not? BRD: Because we all know by listening to 'Busted Open' every day and there's super sexy swinging sounds of Uncle Bubba's sandpapery smooth voice, that I am one of the most handsome men in professional wrestling. You would agree, right? Alfred? AK: I would agree that you are a Top 5 handsome man, without any question, without any qualifiers. BRD: (Laughing) You may ask your questions now, Alfred. AK: Absolutely. Well, I want to start by, of course thanking you. Again, big fan of yours. I don't care what anybody says. You are obviously an all-time great and you're coming back for season two of LFG. I would like to know, just based on Season 1, seeing everybody's coaching styles: Booker T, Undertaker's coming back, Michelle McCool is going to be there. Who do you feel is your biggest competition in terms of the coach? BRD: Actually, I have no competition because I don't look at it as a competition. And that's a genuine answer. We all have very unique in coaching styles. Obviously myself and Booker having wrestling schools over the past 15 to 20 years, Booker with Reality of Wrestling in Houston, Texas, myself and my brother D-Von with the Team 3D Academy down in Orlando, Florida, Booker has pumped out a lot of talent that has made it to the top. We have pumped out so much talent that has made it to the top of all wrestling companies. So, we have our very unique styles. As a matter of fact, as much as me and Booker break each other's chops about so many things, we agree on nine out of 10 things that will come up about the way we train. And we often find ourselves using the same terminology or the same methods to help pass down the knowledge. This is very new for the Undertaker. This is new because we're seeing more of the Undertaker than we probably ever have seen before. As a matter of fact, the word on the streets is that Undertaker is too nice on season one. Will we see a meaner, more stern Undertaker on Season 2? And Michelle brings a different set of eyes and ears for the women. I think Mickie James did a phenomenal job in season one. Mickie became like the mother to these future greats. I don't think Michelle McCool has that same vibe with them, but she is now a Hall of Famer, four Hall of Famers, four legendary talents up there, all judging these 16 future greats. It's not a competition to me. I want to see all 16 of these future greats take steps forward. But mostly, I want to see Zena Sterling do in Season 2 what should have happened in Season 1. And that is her being given that NXT contract and moving on to become the star that Zena will become. AK: I'm glad that you brought up Zena because there's a lot of familiar faces we're going to see an LFG from Season 1. Are there any names that come to mind that after seeing and working with this talent in Season 2, where your opinion has either gone up or down about them? BRD: Not my opinion because I'm pretty dead on balls accurate, once I meet you for the first time. I've been doing this for a while so I can kind of figure it out within the first five minutes. It's like a song. I know within the first five seconds whether I know a song or not. And I can tell you within the first five minutes whether or not I think a talent will pan out, and whether or not I think they have the right personality for our industry. There are however talents that have come out of their shell, that at first you say to yourself, "I'm not quite sure if we're ever going to see this person's real personality." And then somehow, some way it shines through. On the women's side, it's Sirena Linton, the girl who, Season 1, told us the story about how she watched her dad get deported and her brother get killed at an early age. And we saw the emotion out of her. She really didn't do too much in the first half of Season 1. She started to shine at the end of Season 1. And in Season 2, we're seeing more of that inner spicy side of her come to life, a lot more confidence in Sirena. And she's going to be interesting to watch. On the men's side, I got two words for you: Elijah, mother-trucking, Holyfield. I'll say those two words again. Elijah, mother-trucking, Holyfield. Elijah, another guy…when I first saw Elijah, I was like, "Oh my God." You want to talk about the it factor when it comes to just the visual? Wow. Dear God. But then he would open his mouth and there'd be nothing there, no confidence, no nothing. But as I spoke to Elijah a little bit more and I watched him and I observed him, very shy, very reserved. One day he said something and I was like, "Aha, there's something there. There's an inner anger, there's an inner volcano waiting to explode." And we saw it happen in the middle of Season 1. And in Season 2, I think you're going to see even more of Elijah Holyfield. You're going to see that bad mother trucker that we all know that he can be. And I think he's going to open a lot of eyes, and I think he's going to get out of the shadow of being the son of Evander Holyfield. AK: That's amazing. And I've already read some of these synopses for the first couple of episodes. And I saw that it says that you revisited some old issues with one Drake, mother trucking, Morreaux. So what are your thoughts about— BRD: Alfred, Alfred, don't ever use my terms. If you want to use my terms, you have to ask Uncle Bubba permission first. And it should sound like, "Uncle Bubba, can I please use your terms? Thank you. XOXO, Alfred." That's for the future. AK: My apologies, Uncle Bubba. BRD: Drake is… really like Drake Morreaux, I really, really do. But I think that's the problem. I think he's too likable. I think I put this Bayou Boogie kind of New Orleans dancing happy, beer-drinking, alligator-juice-drinking, throwing personality on him because I didn't think that the inner badass would come through because he's so nice. So, I gave him something that the people could get behind, that they could relate to. Everybody loves going to New Orleans, everybody loves having beads thrown at them. To me, Drake Moreau came across as a modern-day, Jimmy Boogie Woogie Man, Valiant. And everybody loved the Boogie Woogie Man. But when the bell rang, Boogie Woogie would kick your ass. And that's what I wanted from Drake. Season 2 starts out with a little bit of animosity with me and Drake because I don't think Drake believes in me like I did not believe in him at the end of Season 1. Although, I really wanted to believe in him. So, you'll see the dynamic between Bubba and Drake play out in Season 2. Bubba Ray Reacts To R-Truth's Response To Him AK: Speaking of the dynamic of the happy-go-lucky wrestler who—when the bell rings—they could get serious. You've had some pretty controversial thoughts about one, Ron Killings in saying that you did not necessarily agree with him going so serious so soon. BRD: You're wrong, Alfred. You're wrong. I never said that. AK: Okay. But can I just premise this by saying that him coming back and being more serious, you did have some objections to that. Am I right about that? BRD: No, you're wrong. AK: Can you let me know exactly what you said, and more importantly what you meant? BRD: So, did you listen to everything that I said on 'Busted Open,' or did you listen to clips on the cesspool that is Twitter? AK: Not only did I listen to everything you said on 'Busted Open,' I saw R-Truth's response, who seemed to also take exception to you saying that maybe he should be more of who he was before he got released. And I'd like to know your response to his response. BRD: When Ron Killings came on 'Busted Open,' did he seem as fired up or more fired up on 'Busted Open' as he was on Monday Night Raw? AK: He did seem very fired up. BRD: You're welcome. Because only I can bring that type of level of fire out of people, because I'm off frickin Sith Lord, when it comes to lighting fires underneath asses. It's what I do. And it's a dying art form in our industry. And very few get it. What I said was, I didn't want to hear…and this was just a personal opinion, did not want to hear him refer to himself as R-Truth anymore. I didn't want to hear the Truth theme. It seemed by cutting off the hair, to me was symbolic of him leaving the Truth persona behind. He wants to be serious Ron Killings, then I only want to hear about Ron Killings. Truth is somebody that we were entertained by for 20 years. I was entertained, I laughed with, I laughed at R-Truth, but did I ever really care about R-Truth? I want to care, I want to be emotionally invested. And I want that serious side of Ron Killings that I want to care about the serious side of Ron Killings. That's why I said, "I don't need to hear the Truth name anymore." This was an opinion. This was not like he has to do this, he must do this. And if Truth heard something that inspired him to pick up the phone and call 'Busted Open,' well, as I said in the beginning, you're welcome. I bring out the best and the worst in everybody. Bubba Ray Praises John Cena Heel Character AK: And Ron Killings, we're seeing what I think is the best of Ron Killings because I love this feud that he has with John Cena, who has been very polarizing as a heel. What do you think WWE has gotten right with the John Cena heel character? What do you think they've gotten wrong with it? BRD: I'm not falling into your trap. AK: What's the trap? I'm asking both sides. BRD: What have they done wrong with John Cena? AK: I'm asking the question, I'm not going to say. BRD: And I'm asking you back. You tell me first. What have they done wrong with him? AK: If I could say anything that they've done wrong, which I've enjoyed more than I haven't, I would say that John Cena not changing anything was a misstep. I think it's a great idea that 'I'm not going to give you fans a new John Cena,' I love the psychology behind that. But for John Cena to continue to come out dressed like that, you still see him as John Cena. He still gets cheered. And I think if he was a completely different character, maybe he would get booed more. BRD: Alfred, are you familiar with a band named Kiss? AK: I am. Detroit Rock City, even though I was born in [Milwaukee.] BRD: Okay. Detroit Rock City, probably the greatest opening song of any rock act in history. Kiss wears the same makeup, plays the same songs. Gene Simmons blows the same fire, he spits the same blood, they play Rock and Roll All Night the same way. At the end of every show, they blow the confetti and they say, "Thank you. Good night. We're Kiss." They haven't changed a damn thing. And up until Kiss's very last show on December 31st in Madison Square Garden in 2000 and I don't know, 23, 24, whatever it was, they sold out every single night doing the exact same thing for 20 years. Why should John Cena change a thing? I'm not a big fan of cliches. And here's one, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You're getting different side of John, a different personality from John. Why does John have to wear different clothing? It's about the personality. I want to react to everything that John Cena says. I want to react to his words, his tone, his inflections, his mannerisms. I don't give a damn what he's wearing, because if I'm booing the clothing, then I'm not booing the man. By the way, all this advice I'm giving you and smartening you up is free. The next round, you pay for. AK: I really appreciate it because I was going to take out a credit line, but now I don't have to. Thank you so much. I wish we could go on and on. You're going to have to invite me on 'Busted Open' one of these days. I love this conversation. I'm going to put you over on Twitter again. BRD: Thank you, Alfred. Appreciate you. WWE LFG Season 2 premieres January 22, 2025 on A&E at 10 pm EST/9 pm Central. All quotes were received firsthand unless otherwise noted.

USA Today

13 hours ago

• USA Today

'Misunderstood' Manny Machado makes no apologies on his path to Hall of Fame

PHOENIX — You don't have to like him. You can even hate him. San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado really doesn't care. Simply, he doesn't play this game to make friends. He plays this game to beat you, and if you don't respect him for that, hey, it's your loss. Machado, 32, one of the fiercest competitors in all of baseball, is about to go where only 11 men in history have gone before. He will be the 12th player to produce 2,000 hits with 350 homers before turning 33 years old. Machado, who has 1,989 hits and 354 homers entering Saturday, is on the verge of joining Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig, Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Met Ott, Ken Griffey Jr., Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and Alex Rodriguez as the only men to accomplish the feat. Eight of these players are enshrined in the Hall of Fame, and two have yet to be eligible but are shoo-ins with Pujols and Cabrera. Shhh, don't tell anyone, but Machado would love to be part of that distinguished group in Cooperstown one day, too. 'I looked up to A-Rod, I looked up to Barry [Bonds], I looked up to Albert," Machado tells USA TODAY Sports. 'They are all the guys I played the game for. Obviously, there's other pretty, pretty special people, but those were the main guys that inspired my game. Those were guys who played the game elite. We wanted to be those guys. 'I wanted to be A-Rod, obviously, because I was a shortstop. I wanted to have Albert's swing. I wanted to have the power that Barry had, hitting it into the water and breaking records that were never meant to be broken. ... So when people talk about that list, it's pretty special." Machado, who has played shortstop in 236 games, and none since 2019, wants to be remembered as one of the greatest third basemen to ever play the game. After six All-Star appearances, two Gold Gloves and a Platinum Glove, he's still playing the position better than anyone in the game, other than José Ramírez of the Cleveland Guardians. There are only eight third basemen in history who have hit more home runs. He's the only active player to hit at least 28 homers in nine consecutive full seasons. And he is showing no signs of a dropoff, leading the National League in 11 offensive categories, hitting .311 with an .878 OPS, to go along with 12 homers and 46 RBIs. What the Padres and peers admire the most about Machado is that he consistently posts. He plays every day. No matter how he feels, how much he may be hurting, he's in the lineup. He hasn't missed a game this season. He has played at least 150 games nine times, including two years where he played in all 162. If it means that his numbers will drop because he's fatigued or playing hurt, he's fine with it, knowing with him in the lineup means his team has a a better chance of winning. 'It's just crazy what he does, man," Padres utilityman Tyler Wade says. 'Last year, he's dealing with all of his elbow stuff and dealing with other injuries, he doesn't come out of lineup. When you see a guy doing that, you say, 'If he's doing it, I can play with my injuries.' 'And it's not like he's just having OK years. He's having All-Star, MVP-caliber years every single year, and he's grinding. Everyone across the league knows what he means to the game. There's very few players in this league that have the impact on a city and an organization, and he's one of them. 'Really, he's one of the most impressive guys I've ever been around." It's no coincidence the Padres began to be a power shortly after Machado's arrival as a free agent before the 2019 season. They have made the postseason three of the last five years, and with a 40-35 record, they're on their way to a fourth consecutive winning season, which has happened only once in their 56-year franchise history. 'Manny coming here to San Diego is a big reason for us turning things around," says Padres GM A.J. Preller. 'It was sending a message to the rest of baseball in terms of a premium impact player, in the prime of his career, coming to the San Diego Padres. 'We were selling him on the potential of our vision, what it was going to look like on the field, and now you see a team that's been to the playoffs three times in the last five years. Next is to see a team led by Manny win the World Series. That's why he plays, honestly." There's nothing more that Machado would love before entering Cooperstown one day than leading the Padres to a World Series title. Twice, the Padres have been to the World Series. Twice, they got knocked off by legendary powerhouses in the 1984 Detroit Tigers and 1998 New York Yankees. They had the Los Angeles Dodgers on the ropes last year, leading 2 games to 1 in the best-of-five division series, and to this day the Dodgers will tell you the Padres were easily the best team they played all season. 'I want to win so bad, that's why we play the game," Machado says. 'And to win here, in a city that's never won before, it would mean everything. It's nothing to do with cementing your legacy or anything like that, I just want to win. When I came here, we had a vision to put this organization on another level. This organization has changed tremendously from Day 1 since I've been here. It's sold out every game. And we consistently win." Machado, who lives on Coronado Island across the bridge from Petco Park, isn't trying to win a popularity contest with the 29 other teams in baseball. He's old-school. He would have fit in perfectly with players from the 60s and 70s like Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, Pete Rose and all of those fiery competitors from yesteryear. No one ever accused them of being your friend, but my God, did they ever earn your respect. It's no different from Machado. To fully appreciate him, you've got to be with him. If you're his teammate, he's got your back. And you better have his, too. When teammate Fernando Tatis Jr. was hit three times in the last nine days by the Dodgers, including the last one that required him to get X-rays to make sure his hand wasn't broken, Machado casually offered this warning to anyone who dared listen: 'Let's just hope his scan comes back negative. (The Dodgers) got to pray for it to come back negative tomorrow. They need to set a little candle up for Tati tomorrow. Hopefully it comes back negative. That's not a good spot to get hit. I don't care who it is, I don't care who's on the mound.' The X-rays were negative, and Tatis played the next day, but Machado was making it quite clear there would be repercussions. 'He might be one of the most misunderstood players in the game," Padres infielder Jake Cronenworth says. 'You see him play with that edge, and he's kind of brought that onto the rest of the team. You see the way we play. We got guys playing hard, playing every day, and that's what he's brought to this team ever since he's been here. ... 'You look at his career, it's almost the same every year, 150-plus games played, 30 homers, it's just not normal. It's almost the perfect recipe for a guy who's on his way to the Hall of Fame. This guy is on his own path to greatness." Padres manager Mike Shildt, who remembers the impact Pujols had in the St. Louis Cardinals clubhouse when he came up through the organization, sees a lot of similarities with Machado. He's the unofficial captain, the team's heart and soul and there's not an ounce of phoniness. 'I think he's probably one of the most misunderstood players in our game," Shildt says. 'I know the quality of human Manny is. I know Manny's heart. But think what's hard today is the sensitivity, the persecution, of just having the ability of being yourself. He is learning to channel all of the things that can be a challenge to be that consistent competitor and still be the core of who you are, which is core of who Manny Machado is, which is very special. … 'It's much more difficult now to have a strong opinion or conviction. I'm not green-lighting doing something inappropriate or to offend someone, but gosh, man, being able to be an alpha, it gets to be more of a challenge for players. Competing hard every day is still ok. You want a commitment by every player to be willing to lay out, and that's what comes with high expectations. I won't apologize for that, and I don't think Manny's going to apologize.'' Machado should be back on baseball's center stage once again in three weeks. He's running away in the All-Star balloting and should be the NL's starting third basemen. It will be a chance, at least momentarily, to bask in his accomplishments, being only the fifth active player to achieve 2,000 hits. 'I haven't really reflected on any of that," Machado says, 'I still have a lot to accomplish, a lot to look forward to. But you definitely see what's happening in real time, and that's kind of surreal. You know, I just love playing the game. That's all I think about. If I'm not playing baseball, then I don't know what I'd be doing. 'This is what I was made to do." Around the basepaths – The baseball world lost a giant in the business with the passing Friday night of baseball writer Scott Miller, who gave pancreatic cancer everything it could handle during his 20-month battle. Miller, 62, was brilliant writer with a heart of gold, loved, admired and respected by everyone in the baseball community. His sensational book, 'Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matters," was just released in May. He was touched when baseball dignitaries like future Hall of Fame manager Dusty Baker, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, Minnesota Twins greats Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones, and many, many more reached out in the past two weeks to express their love for him. He will be so greatly missed, but my best friend in the business, will never, ever, be forgotten. – Former Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black, who turns 68 on June 30, could be rejoining the Rockies just a month after being dismissed as manager after eight seasons. Black is a strong candidate to replace Steve Foster, who is leaving his position as the Rockies' director of pitching to become pitching coach at Texas Tech. Black, a former pitching coach for Mike Scioscia with the Angels, has let friends know he has no interest in retiring and wants to remain in the game. – The Chicago Cubs are quietly preparing for the official announcement that they will host the 2027 All-Star Game now that the stadium is getting upgraded security measures. – San Diego Padres veteran Gold Glove catcher Martin Maldonado plans to retire after this season, giving him 15 years in the major leagues. He says he wants to take a year off after retirement, and then is interested in getting back in the game on a coaching staff. – The New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants are keeping a close eye on versatile Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who should be available at the trade deadline. – In the aftermath of Tampa Bay Rays reliever Hunter Bigge getting struck in the face by a foul ball in the dugout, it's beyond time for MLB to install netting in front of the dugouts. If we're going to protect the fans with netting stretching across the top of the dugouts, why not protect the players? – The Arizona Diamondbacks' playoffs hopes continue to take body blows with co-closers A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez undergoing season-ending elbow surgeries, joining ace Corbin Burnes and starters Jordan Montgomery and Tommy Henry. If they're out of the race at the trade deadline, they'll be swarmed with calls seeking starters Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, along with third baseman Eugenio Suarez, first baseman Josh Naylor and closer Shelby Miller. – Rival teams would love to get their hands on Cardinals starters Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas, but they have full no-trade clauses, and have no interest in waiving them. – While the Los Angeles Angels certainly have some nice trade chips like left-hander Tyler Anderson, closer Kenley Jansen and infielder Luis Rengifo, they don't plan to sell at the trade deadline unless they suddenly fall apart. – It could be a rather dull trade deadline if teams don't start dropping out of the race in the next five weeks. Check out the standings: There are only six teams who are out of playoff contention: the Chicago White Sox and the Athletics in the AL, and the Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins in the NL. – Ronald Acuña Jr. has played in only 25 games, but the way he's performing, he might be playing himself right into the All-Star Game. He's hitting .382 with a 1.176 OPS, including eight homers and 14 RBI. If selected, he's volunteering for the Home Run Derby too. – Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suárez was on the verge of being designated for assignment at year ago at this time, but since July 7, 2024, has become the finest power-hitting third baseman in the game. He since has 46 homers and 132 RBIs, joining the 300-homer club on Friday, and should be a coveted free agent after the season. The only players with more homers in this stretch are Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani – while no one has more RBIs. – Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes has permitted a total of just 21 earned runs in 16 starts this season. He has four victories. Really. – What a sensational start to a big-league career for Milwaukee Brewers rookie Jacob Misiorowski, who opened by throwing 11 no-hit innings in his first two starts. He is the only MLB pitcher in the modern era to have more victories (2) than hits permitted (1) in his first two career starts, according to OptaSTATS. – Look who's back as good as ever. Jacob deGrom is 7-2 with a 2.24 ERA. DeGrom, 37, has made 12 consecutive starts pitching at least five innings and allowing two or fewer runs. It's the longest streak in the Rangers/Senators history, and the longest by any pitcher 35 or older since 1900, according to STATS. – Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado is certainly making a case for the Hall of Fame by becoming one of only seven players in history to hit at least 350 homers with 10 Gold Glove awards, joining Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt as the only infielder to accomplish the feat. The others: Catcher Johnny Bench and outfielders Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., Al Kaline and Andruw Jones. – That cheering sound you heard in the upper Midwest were the Minnesota Twins' owners celebrating the news that the Rays are in advanced talks to sell the team to Jacksonville developer Patrick Zalupski for a reported $1.7 billion. If the Rays are being sold for that amount without a ballpark, the Twins' asking price of $1.7 billion could be an absolute steal. – The Phillies, who attempted to lock up DH Kyle Schwarber in spring training, aren't hiding their intentions to re-sign him when he's a free agent. They know how valuable he is in their clubhouse in addition to being a lethal left-handed bat. – If Red Sox first baseman Tristan Casas never got hurt, Rafael Devers would still be in Boston, and everyone would have been spared the drama. – The feud between Red Sox boss Craig Breslow and Devers is reminiscent of the hostility between former Rockies GM Jeff Bridich and Arenado when they ultimately traded Arenado to St. Louis. It was an utter disaster. The Rockies have never been the same, and on pace for 125 losses, their third consecutive 100-loss season. They used the savings of the Arenado trade to sign free agent bust Kris Bryant to a seven-year, $182 million contract, Bridich was gone two months later and Arenado is on his way to the Hall of Fame. – The Red Sox say that that they had conversations with the Mariners, Cubs, Padres, Blue Jays and Atlanta about Devers before dealing him to San Francisco. – If the Giants had not agreed to assume the $254.5 million remaining in Devers' contract, Giants owner Greg Johnson says there would have been no trade. Still, even after picking up his entire contract, the Giants added only $4.8 million to their payroll with the CBT because of the heavy deferrals in Devers' contract. It counts for only $15.8 million while the Giants dumped the $11 million Jordan Hicks is owed this year. – The Giants ever so quietly have been acting like, well, a big-market team. Why, after assuming Devers' contract, they also shelled out huge deals for Willy Adames (seven years, $182 million), Matt Chapman (six years, $151 million) and Jung Hoo Lee (five years, $104.75 million) the past two offseasons. – There's no better rivalry in baseball these days than the Dodgers and Padres, two franchises who legitimately hate each other. In their four-game series in Los Angeles, there were eight hit-by-pitches, a benches-clearing incident, two managers bumping one another on the field, and two managers and a player being suspended. – Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis has been hit five times by the Dodgers since comeback from his PED suspension in April, 2023, and only six other times by the rest of baseball. – Fabulous seeing Cubs legend Sammy Sosa back at Wrigley Field on Friday for the first time in 21 years, with the crowd chanting "Sammy! Sammy!" "This is my house," Sosa told reporters during his media session. "I always believed it was going to happen. The time is perfect. Now I'm here again, and I will continue to be here. The relationship is tremendous, so hopefully we can continue that until the day that I die." – MLB commissioner Rob Manfred will be in Las Vegas to be part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the A's new home on the Vegas strip in 2028. – You think the Rangers rely heavily on Corey Seager? They are 166-86 when he gets a hit in a game, and 107-202 when they don't. The Rangers are going to go offensively only as far as Seager takes them. – While the Padres are desperately looking for a left fielder, can you imagine if they still had James Wood, who was sent to the Nationals in the Juan Soto trade? Wood, 22, is hitting .281 with 20 homers and 56 RBI this season. Meanwhile, Nationals shortstop C.J. Abrams who was also in the trade, should be in the All-Star Game where it's played in his hometown of Atlanta. He leads NL shortstops in OPS (.882) and slugging (.478). – Rockies starter German Marquez's trade value is starting to climb, yielding three or fewer runs in six of his last eight starts, with a 3.47 ERA in June. – The Houston Astros, who have a comfortable lead in the AL West, are about to get a few reinforcements with starter Cristian Javier, J.P. France, Spencer Arrighetti and Luis Garcia all making their way back from surgeries and could be joining the Astros in the second half. – Teams may want to steal a page out of the Angels' scouting report on facing Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. He hit just .182 (4-for-22) with only one extra-base hit and nine strikeouts against them this season. – Kudos to Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani for calming everyone down during the heated series against the Padres, waving his team off and telling them to stay in the dugout when he was hit for the second time. – Double Duty Warriors: The Cardinals have already played six doubleheaders this season. The rest of baseball has combined for just 11. – The Dodgers passed 2 million in attendance in just 40 home games, the quickest in franchise history. – Pope Leo XIV got the White Sox fans in a frenzy when he joined in on a 'White Sox" chant while waving to the crowd traveling through Vatican City. – Remember when Yankees closer Luke Weaver was reported to be out four to six weeks with his left hamstring strain? He was back in less than three. – While Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos was benched for a game after snapping at Phillies manager Rob Thomson after being pulled out of a game for defensive reasons, he certainly had no problem with the decision a day later. 'We're two grown men that show up for work every day with the common goal of winning a World Series,' Castellanos told reporters. 'If everybody just agrees on everything and doesn't speak their mind, there's not going to be passion there. Emotions drive people, especially passionate people. So, to think that there's going to be eight months of consistently being together and not butting heads at all, that probably doesn't happen.' – Just when you thought Atlanta may be done for the year, well, they're not going away quietly, sweeping the Mets at home this week. 'We're coming, we're coming,' Atlanta DH Marcell Ozuna tells reporters. – White Sox starter Shane Smith, who was plucked off the Milwaukee Brewers' roster during the winter, could become the first Rule 5 pick to make the All-Star team since Dan Uggla of the 2006 Florida Marlins, according to STATS Perform. – It will be fascinating to see how outfielder Jurickson Profar performs when he's scheduled to be activated July 2 with Atlanta after his 80-game drug suspension. He is expected to be the No. 2 hitter in Atlanta's lineup. – Orioles veteran Charlie Morton, who looked like he was done five weeks ago when he was demoted to the bullpen with a 9.38 ERA, suddenly is yielding a 2.29 ERA and a 31.3% strikeout rate in his last 35 ⅓ innings. – There's no analytic studies needed for the Texas Rangers to know what's needed to win games. They are 27-4 when they score four or more runs. – Look for Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer, 40, to make his return to the big leagues as early as Tuesday, June 24. He hasn't pitched since March 29 when he left with a thumb injury. – Just when you thought that Chris Sale couldn't possibly come close to duplicating his Cy Young season, he's back for an encore, yielding a 1.23 ERA in his last 10 starts, striking out 82 in 66 innings. – It's hard to believe that Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor hasn't been an All-Star since he played for Cleveland in 2019. That will change. He'll be voted the NL's starting shortstop, tallying 1.02 million votes through the first update. Mookie Betts is second with just 597,188. – No one could have imagined that the Yankees' powerful offense would go AWOL, scoring seven runs in a seven-game span, losing six of them. The last time that happened? Would you believe Sept. 1-7, 1908, according to researcher Katie Sharp. – Dodgers utilityman Kiké Hernandez after learning that Dodgers owner Mark Walter was also purchasing the Los Angeles Lakers for $10 billion, the richest purchase in U.S. Sports history. 'It was more of a shock like, 'Holy (expletive)!' We know you were rich, but you're that rich, kind of thing,' Hernandez told the LA Times. – So, just how did Javier Baez of the Detroit Tigers celebrate his 10-year anniversary in MLB? The dude hit two home runs. 'It's been a long road, lots of ups and downs," Baez told reporters. 'In this game, there are a lot of ups and downs and I've been down many times and never kept my head down. I kept working and I'm going to keep working until the last day. Honestly, I'm impressed with the way I'm still doing this.'' – Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who hit his MLB-leading 30th homer on June 21, is now on pace to hit an AL record 65 homers. Next up on his bingo card: He is one stolen base shy of being the fourth catcher in history to hit 30 or more homers and steal at least 10 bases in a season, joining Hall of Famers Carlton Fisk (37 homers and 17 steals in 1985), Pudge Rodriguez (35 homers, 25 steals in 1999) and Jimmie Foxx (36 homers, 10 steals in 1937). – Everyone counted the Tampa Bay Rays out in mid-May, muddling along with a 18-22 record, averaging just 3.8 runs a game. They have since gone 24-14, averaging 5.7 runs a game, and breathing down the necks of the Yankees, just 1 ½ games out of firt place in the AL East. – It's going to be pretty cool seeing former Cardinals legends Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina manage against one another at the WBC next spring with Pujols leading the Dominican Republic and Molina back with Puerto Rico. They each aspire to be major-league managers. Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale