MLB history: Five sluggers with 30+ HR at the All-Star break

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🚨 Headlines

⚾️ MLB Draft, Night 1: The Nationals selected high school shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 1 pick on Sunday. At 17 years, 7 months old he’s the youngest player taken first overall since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1987. Full recap: Rounds 1-3.

🏀 Mavs shut down Flagg: After just two games, including a 31-point outburst on Saturday, the Mavericks are shutting down No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg for the rest of Summer League.

⛳️ Kim wins in France: Australia’s Grace Kim beat world No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul in a playoff to capture her first major title at the Evian Championship with some of the most clutch golf you’ll see this year.

🏎️ F1 to Apple: Formula 1 telecasts will reportedly move to Apple next season after the company outbid ESPN for the broadcast rights. This comes two weeks after Apple’s “F1” film opened No. 1 at the box office.

🏀 Clark bests Bueckers: Caitlin Clark (14 points, 3 rebounds, 13 assists) and the Fever steamrolled Paige Bueckers (21 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists) and the Wings, 102-83, in the first WNBA matchup between the former Naismith Players of the Year.

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⚾️ MLB’s top sluggers are on a historic heater

MLB’s first half is officially in the rearview, with tonight’s Home Run Derby kicking off All-Star week. But for five of the league’s best sluggers, the derby started months ago.

Historic achievement: For the first time ever, five players have at least 30 home runs at the All-Star break.

1. Cal Raleigh (38 HR): The Mariners’ switch-hitting catcher has already eclipsed his career-high, and his 38 dingers are one shy of Barry Bonds’ record for the most ever at the break, when he hit 39 in 2001 en route to a record 73 that season.

2. Aaron Judge (35 HR): The Yankees’ captain reached 350 career home runs on Saturday faster than any other player in MLB history (1,088 career games). The next-fastest to 350: Mark McGwire (1,280), Juan González (1,298) and Alex Rodriguez (1,301).

3. Shohei Ohtani (32 HR): Not only does Ohtani have his fifth straight 30-homer season; the Dodgers’ two-way star also has a 1.00 ERA in his first five starts since returning from elbow surgery.

4. Eugenio Suárez (31 HR): Arizona’s third baseman, who’s been on fire with 10 HR in his last 22 games, made history back in April when he became the 19th player in MLB history with a four-homer game.

5. Kyle Schwarber (30 HR): Philly’s DH just keeps getting better with age, and this season the 11-year vet has cut his bloated strikeout rate to a six-year low while still crushing pretty much everything he makes contact with.

Zoom out: This historic achievement isn’t due to some broader power surge, as the league-wide HR rate is actually tied with last season’s for the second-lowest in a decade. Data also suggests that fly balls are traveling less far than they did a year ago thanks to MLB’s ever-changing balls. Instead, it’s a perfect storm of the league’s best sluggers all clicking at the same time.

• Indeed, there’s nothing random about the list above, with all five guys among the top 10 home run hitters since 2022 (Raleigh’s first full season).

• The quintet is also an encapsulation of modern “three true outcomes” baseball, as all five are in the top 20 for strikeouts and four of five (all but Suárez) are in the top 10 for walks.

Looking ahead: FanGraphs projects that Judge (55 HR), Raleigh (53), Ohtani (49) and Schwarber (47) will at least flirt with 50 homers. If all four reach that hallowed mark, 2025 will join 1998 and 2001 as the only years in MLB history with a quartet of 50-homer seasons.

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🎾 Wimbledon: Sinner, Świątek win maiden titles

Men: Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, on Sunday to win his first Wimbledon title and fourth major.

• Sinner, 23, avenged his heartbreaking loss to Alcaraz, 22, in the French Open final just five weeks ago.

• His victory on Sunday ended a run of five straight losses to Alcaraz, who now holds an 8-5 lead in their all-time series.

The Big 2: Sinner and Alcaraz have combined to win the past seven Grand Slams and nine of the last 12. Fittingly, this marked the first time the same two men faced off in the French Open and Wimbledon finals in the same year since Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Women: Iga Świątek blanked Amanda Anisimova, 6-0, 6-0, in 57 minutes on Saturday to win her first Wimbledon title and sixth major championship.

Chasing history: Świątek, 24, is the eighth woman to complete the “surface slam” with a major win on all three surfaces, and she’s now an Australian Open title away from completing the coveted career Grand Slam.

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⚽️ Chelsea wins Club World Cup

Chelsea blanked Paris Saint-Germain, 3-0, on Sunday to win the first edition of the expanded Club World Cup, which began on June 14 with a 32-team field.

From Yahoo Sports’ Henry Bushnell:

It was everything everybody expected PSG to do Sunday at MetLife Stadium. But, remarkably, it was Chelsea doing it.

The Blues, who were +370 underdogs to win in regulation, needed only 43 minutes to race past the European champions.

Cole Palmer, who’d been freezing cold from January through June, sank the favorites with two goals inside the first half hour, then an exquisite assist before halftime.

Palmer’s stealthy assault on the PSG goal began 22 minutes after the soccer began, after a pre-match show filled with Americana, after Michael Buffer boomed to a sold-out crowd of 80,000: “Let’s get ready to rummmmbllllleeee!”

An unlikely champion: The Blues felt like outsiders for most of the month, having qualified for the tournament via their win in the 2021 Champions League final, a match in which only one current player appeared.

They arrived in the U.S. having finished fourth in the English Premier League, and having rolled through a third-tier continental competition, the UEFA Conference League.

When they lost to Flamengo in the group stage, frankly, they didn’t seem like they were all that thrilled to be here.

But they grew into the knockout stages and took advantage of a relatively soft half of the bracket, beating Benfica, Palmeiras and Fluminense. And then, in the final, they did what nobody thought anybody could.

Further reading:Trump takes part in post-match ceremony, stays front and center for Chelsea’s trophy lift

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📸 Through the lens

Fort Lauderdale — Lionel Messi extended his own MLS record on Saturday with his fifth consecutive multi-goal game, powering Inter Miami’s fifth straight win in league play.

Race for the Golden Boot: Messi’s brace gave him 16 goals on the season, tied with Nashville’s Sam Surridge for the league lead despite playing six fewer games.

Minneapolis — Byron Buxton celebrated his bobblehead day in style on Saturday, hitting for the 349th cycle in MLB history with a 5-for-5 showing that ended on a deep, cycle-clinching homer.

Can he keep it up? Buxton has teased superstardom for a decade but injuries and inconsistency have hindered him. If he stays healthy, this should easily be his best season, as he’s on pace for career-highs in nearly every category.

Châteauroux, France — A group of spectators found a unique way to watch the ninth stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, setting up a makeshift pool along the 108-mile route from Chinon to Châteauroux in central France.

Where it stands: Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar reclaimed the yellow jersey on Friday as he seeks his fourth Tour de France victory. He holds a 54-second lead over Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel with just over half the race remaining.

Pamplona, Spain — The annual Running of the Bulls at the Festival de San Fermín ended on Monday morning with the final run of the week.

How it works: Each morning during the festival (July 7-14), millions of spectators watch as thousands of participants make a three-minute, 850-meter dash through the streets of Pamplona alongside six bulls and six bell-oxen. Photos of the madness.

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📺 Watchlist: Monday, July 14

⚾️ Home Run Derby | 8pm ET, ESPN

Eight sluggers will compete in the three-round competition tonight in Atlanta. The participants: Cal Raleigh, SEA (38 HR); James Wood, WSH (24); Junior Caminero, TB (23); Byron Buxton, MIN (21); Brent Rooker, ATH (20); Matt Olson, ATL (17); Jazz Chisholm Jr., NYY (17); Oneil Cruz, PIT (16).

More to watch:

• 🚴 Tour de France: Stage 10 (7:10am, Peacock) … The first mountain stage travels 103 miles from Ennezat to Mont-Dore in central France.

• ⚾️ MLB Draft: Rounds 4-20 (11:30am, MLB.com)

Today’s full slate →

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⚾️ MLB trivia

Terry Francona made history on Sunday, becoming the 13th manager in MLB history to reach 2,000 wins.

Question: Which four MLB teams has Francona managed?

Answer at the bottom.

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🍿 Baker’s Dozen: Top plays of the weekend

1. ⚾️ Manny Machado!

2. 🏀 Tre Johnson!

3. ⚾️ Trevor Story!

4. ⚾️ Bobby Witt Jr!

5. 🏀 Dylan Harper!

6. ⚽️ Lionel Messi!

7. 🎾 Jannik Sinner!

8. ⚾️ Abraham Toro!

9. ⚾️ Daniel Schneemann!

10. 🏀 Alijah Martin!

11. ⚾️ Kyle Tucker!

12. 🏀 Yuki Kawamura!

13. 🥏 Kimball Pew!

Watch all 13 →

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Trivia answer: Phillies (1997-2000), Red Sox (2004-2011), Indians/Guardians (2013-2023), Reds (2025-present)

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