Judge's final home run total for 2022 will be ...

View in browser  Friday, August 5 • For Aaron Judge, taking aim at MLB's most storied home run totals will require consistent excellence -- and maybe a little luck. We took a deep dive to see what heights he might reach.   • The trumpets sounded earlier than usual at Citi Field, but Edwin Díaz entered to his signature song in the eighth and locked down a six-out save to seal Round 1 of the Mets' heavyweight bout vs. the Braves.   • Shohei Ohtani launched two solo homers on the day. The Angels, as a whole, hit seven of those, which set an interesting record. And yet ...   • Justin Verlander's 15-3 record is dazzling. His 1.73 ERA leads MLB. His 0.85 WHIP is minuscule. And his 130 innings this season have triggered the option in his contract for 2023.   • It doesn't take a seismologist to sense the shifting plates in the NL Central, with the depleted and reeling Brewers sliding back and the bolstered Cardinals surging to the top of the division and seemingly still picking up steam.   • Pitching to the Blue Jays' lineup right now must feel like turning the crank on a jack-in-the-box toy. If nothing's happened yet, you grit your teeth and know it's coming soon -- like when they scored nine times over the last four innings to beat the Twins.   • The Padres overhauled their roster at the Trade Deadline, addressing nearly every flaw they needed to address. It's given them renewed confidence that no deficit is too big.   • Still getting used to wearing Phillies colors, Noah Syndergaard shook off some rust and emerged from his Philadelphia debut with a victory. "They expect us to win," he said of the fans. "I'm going to do my part to make sure that we succeed."   • Clayton Kershaw exited with an injury in the finale against the Giants, but that was about the only thing that went wrong for the Dodgers during their 7-1 road trip, which ended with a four-game sweep in San Francisco for the first time since 1977.   •  A storybook career that was scripted to end in 2023 with a grand farewell tour across MLB now has many wondering if it might come to a close this season as the Tigers actively take steps to reduce Miguel Cabrera's workload.   More top news > Former pro is 95 and living life like only she knows how Maybelle Blair had been living with a secret. For 95 years, the professional baseball player in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and lifelong women's baseball advocate had kept a crucial piece of herself hidden away -- afraid of the consequences and hate she'd receive if she admitted who she was publicly.   But on stage at the Tribeca premiere of the new Amazon series "A League of Their Own" earlier this summer, Blair realized this was her time. Before the assembled crowd, Blair finally felt comfortable enough to come out.   "I hid for 95 years, trying to hide my gayness," Blair said in a recent interview. "It was hard during my period, because we'd be either fired from our jobs or we would be discharged from service. It was just things that we just couldn't do. We couldn't live our lives."   Judge, Goldy continue to lead MVP poll Most of the other names in the top five in each league are familiar from our last vote, but there has been some shifting in the rankings. Have revamped Padres closed gap vs. Dodgers? We're about to find out These clubs have always had a nice rivalry, but the stakes got much higher after the Padres remade their lineup. The two will meet at Dodger Stadium for a three-game set beginning Friday.  Adley already looking like an all-around star A great catcher is hard to find. Adley Rutschman is really starting to play like one. Hottest pitching prospects in each system Check out each organization's premier performing pitching prospect for the month of July, which includes five members of the Top 100 overall list. Overcoming great obstacles, Nicaraguan team soaks in first RBI World Series It was not an easy path to the tournament for the Nicaraguan team. It faced many challenges, starting with three of its coaches unable to make the trip, leaving them with one assistant and two project directors from the nonprofit sponsoring the team. Play Ball looks ahead to Field of Dreams Join host AJ Andrews Saturday at 10 a.m. ET for Play Ball, the baseball show for kids, for a preview of next week's Cubs-Reds game at Field of Dreams presented by GEICO. MIL 4 @ PIT 5 CHC 3 @ STL 4 CHC 2 @ STL 7 LA 5 @ SF 3 OAK 8 @ ANA 7 COL 7 @ SD 3 WAS 4 @ PHI 5 HOU 6 @ CLE 0 TB 6 @ DET 2 ATL 4 @ NYM 6 TOR 9 @ MIN 3 CWS 2 @ TEX 3 BOS 3 @ KC 7 Today's Trivia Question Who are the only two pitchers in the AL/NL Modern Era (since 1900) to post an ERA under 2.00 and qualify for the league lead at age 39 or older? Answer » © 2022 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners. Please review our Privacy Policy. You (gahleexholly.hdhask@blogger.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com. 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