SI:AM | MLB’s Historic Night of Offense

Plus, one player’s unbelievably bad luck.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Between the Women’s World Cup and the British Open, tomorrow is a fun day for fans of early-morning sports.

In today’s SI:AM:

🌍 The USWNT’s new crop of challengers

⏰ Abolish the play clock?

😡 Josh Donaldson’s terrible luck

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Runs galore across MLB

Last night was a historic one in MLB, with the most high-scoring games since Grover Cleveland was president.

Twelve teams scored at least 10 runs, and four games saw both teams score in double digits. Both are modern records, according to MLB. Only twice before (July 4 and July 9, 1894) had there been four games in which both teams scored at least 10 runs. The 12 teams scoring at least 10 runs on the same day is also a record for MLB’s modern era (since 1900). The all-time record is 13 teams, on July 4, 1894.

What makes last night’s offensive outburst more remarkable is the difference in the league-wide offensive environment compared to the last time it happened. In 1894, National League teams (the American League had not yet been formed) scored an average of 7.39 runs per game, compared to 4.60 runs per game this season.

Here are the four highest-scoring games of the night:

• Diamondbacks 16, Braves 13: This was a wild one in which the lead changed hands six times. Arizona’s Christian Walker and Atlanta’s Austin Riley both hit two home runs. Neither starting pitcher (Zach Davies for the D-Backs and Bryce Elder for the Braves) made it out of the fourth inning.
• Mets 11, White Sox 10: Because nothing has been easy for the Mets this season, this one was tighter than it needed to be. New York led 8–2 after four and 11–4 after six, but Chicago made things interesting with a five-run seventh. David Robertson allowed one run in the ninth but got Tim Anderson to pop out with runners on second and third to end it.
• Giants 11, Reds 10: Several of the Reds’ young stars had big nights, but it wasn’t enough. Matt McLain was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, Christian Encarnacion-Strand was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer and Spencer Steer went 2-for-5. But the Giants, led by Wilmer Flores’s two homers, hung on for the win.
• Royals 11, Tigers 10: Kansas City came awfully close to blowing this one. Scott Barlow came in to close it out with an 11–6 lead but quickly loaded the bases. Two singles, a walk and a fielder’s choice later, it was 11–10. But Barlow got Riley Greene to fly out to center with runners on the corners to end it.

The most prolific offense of the night belonged to the Cubs, who beat the Nationals, 17–3. Chicago had only three extra-base hits (home runs by Seiya Suzuki and Patrick Wisdom, and a double by Ian Happ) but had seven players pick up multiple hits on the night. The Cubs batted around in an eight-run eighth in which they had eight singles and two walks.

One team that didn’t get involved in the hit parade was the Yankees, who lost 5–1 to the Angels in Anaheim. New York had only two hits: a solo homer by Gleyber Torres and a single by Anthony Volpe. The Yankees have now lost eight of their last 10 and are averaging just 3.3 runs per game during that span (which includes three games at Coors Field). Their record has fallen to 50–46, last place in the AL East.

The best of Sports Illustrated

• The USWNT’s reign of dominance is in serious jeopardy at this year’s Women’s World Cup, but Brian Straus explains in today’s Daily Cover why that’s a good sign for the sport as a whole.
• Michael Rosenberg’s contribution to The MMQB’s Bad Takes Week is a proposal to abolish the play clock. Meanwhile, Greg Bishop argues that Super Bowl winners are right to call themselves world champions.
• Speaking at SEC media days, Kirby Smart failed to be accountable for Georgia’s recent spate of reckless driving incidents, Pat Forde writes.
• Tom Verducci has an interesting article comparing current major leaguers to two players who took a long time to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame: Scott Rolen and Fred McGriff.
• By most measures, Josh Donaldson is having a terrible year for the Yankees, but Emma Baccellieri points out that he can reasonably blame simple bad luck.
• Paul Skenes, the No. 1 pick in this year’s MLB draft, signed a record-setting contract with the Pirates.
• Inter Miami ticket prices are surging ahead of Lionel Messi’s Friday debut with the MLS club, with seats topping out over $3,000, per SI Tickets.

The top five...

… plays in baseball last night:

5. Kevin Pillar’s diving catch in left.

4. Reds prospect Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s first MLB home run.

3. Reds veteran Joey Votto’s 350th MLB home run.

2. Corbin Carroll’s mad dash all the way to third base on a dropped third strike.

1. Shohei Ohtani’s MLB-leading seventh triple of the season.

SIQ

When NFL owners voted on this day in 1989 to launch a global spring league, the World League of American Football, the plans included teams in four European cities: London, Barcelona, Frankfurt and which other city ultimately did not get a team?

• Milan
• Paris
• Zurich
• Vienna

Yesterday’s SIQ: Former NBA player and current Memphis men’s basketball coach Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway turned 52 on July 18. How did he get his nickname?

• From his childhood obsession with wishing wells
• From a photo where he looked like Abraham Lincoln
• From a misinterpretation of his grandmother’s Southern accent
• From a coach who said his passes weren’t good enough to be called dimes

Answer: From a misinterpretation of his grandmother’s Southern accent. Here’s how Hardaway’s mother, Fae, explained how her son got both his given name and his nickname, in a 1991 Sports Illustrated profile by Ralph Wiley:

“When I was in school at Lester High, there had been a boy named Anfernee. I always thought it was such a beautiful name. People think I don’t know how to spell Anthony. His nickname, Penny? That came from Mama. She called him Pretty, but in the country, that comes out ‘Pweddy.’ People just took it from there.”