Last Night in Baseball: Wilyer Abreu Hit The Two Most Different Homers Possible

Fox Sports

01-07-2025

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to handle themselves.
That's why we're here to help, though, by sifting through the previous days' games, and figuring out what you missed, but shouldn't have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: Abreu had a historic night to remember
There's so much to love about baseball, but one of the easiest is when something happens that either has never happened before, or occurs so irregularly that it might as well have never gone down like that in the past. Red Sox outfielder Wilyer Abreu had one of those nights on Monday against the Reds, in a game Boston won 13-6. A game they won by that much in no small part due to Abreu.
Abreu hit the two extremes for home runs in a single game. In the bottom of the fifth inning, he hit a fly ball to right-center, in the triangle at Fenway Park. If it had been hit ever-so-slightly more to the right, it would have simply cleared the fence. Instead, it struck on top of the wall, and then the ricocheting fun began. Reds' center fielder TJ Friedl tried to change directions to go after the ball as it bounded by him in the air, but instead he slipped as it got all the way over to left-center. By the time a throw reached cutoff man Elly De La Cruz, it was too late: Abreu was getting ready to slide home.
An inside-the-park homer, a true one that didn't require an error, just a baseball doing the ridiculous things a baseball can do. The first for the Red Sox since 2018. Abreu didn't stop there, though. In the bottom of the eighth, he came to bat with the bases loaded, and decided to go easier on his legs this time around: Abreu hit the ball a lot more to the right, over the fence, giving him both an inside-the-parker and a grand slam in the same game.
Per MLB's Sarah Langs, that's the first such game for any player since 1958, when Roger Maris pulled off the same feat. Abreu is just the sixth-ever player to hit a grand slam and inside-the-park home run in the same game. Simply incredible.
Abreu is now up to .256/.323/.496 on the season, and that grand slam was his 16th home run of the year — a career-high, as he's already surpassed 2024's 132-game total of 15. The Padres couldn't stop Wheeler
Zack Wheeler being an ace isn't exactly news, but still, any game where you get a reminder of that fact is a special one. Against the Padres on Monday, Wheeler threw eight shutout innings, striking out 10 Friars while scattering six hits without issuing a walk in a Phillies' win. The performance dropped his ERA down to 2.27, and he's now leading the majors in pitcher wins above replacement, too, with 4.4.
Wheeler has actually led the majors in that category before — in 2021, when he posted 7.5 WAR as well as a league-leading 213.1 innings — and it netted him his first of two second-place finishes for the NL Cy Young award. Maybe 2025 will be different, by virtue of being more of the same. The Yankees' skid continues
The Yankees are probably thrilled to be saying goodbye to the month of June. They went 13-14 on the month, which is a poor showing, sure, but not that bad. How they got to that point is the real issue: the Yankees started out the month 7-3, and then collapsed. After losing to the Blue Jays on Monday night, they're just 6-11 in their last 17 games. On June 12, their lead in the AL East was 4.5 games over Toronto, but now they're just 1.5 up on the Rays and 2.5 up on the Jays.
Given New York has three more games left against the Blue Jays this week, that could be a real issue for them: the Yankees have been in first place nearly without interruption this season, but both the Rays and Jays are breathing down their necks now, and the latter has Max Scherzer back in their rotation, too — Scherzer went five innings against the Yankees on Monday, actually, limiting them to two runs over five innings while striking out seven. Orioles-Rangers goes wild in extras
The Orioles and Rangers went into extra innings tied 3-3. Ho-hum, happens all the time. What went down in extras, though, is anything but yawn-worthy. Gunnar Henderson would hit a two-run home run in the top of the 10th, putting Baltimore up 5-3, then Colton Cowser would follow with a solo shot to make it 6-3.
The Rangers had their backs against the wall, but Adolis Garcia was there to give them some space: a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to score Marcus Semien and Sam Haggerty, tying things back up, 6-6.
The Orioles were not to be denied, however. Luis Vázquez would single on a liner to center, scoring Ryan O'Hearn — Vázquez would move to second on the play, and while he was initially ruled out, Baltimore challenged the call and had it reversed, giving them another runner in scoring position. Jackson Holliday would reach, then Ramon Laureano doubled to drive in Vázquez. Henderson added to his already productive night with a two-run double to make it 10-6 Orioles, and Texas couldn't answer in the bottom of the inning against Andrew Kittredge.
Now, Baltimore is still way back in the standings given their horrid start, but it's probably worth pointing out that they went 16-11 in June, and outscored their opponents by 21 runs. There's still just under half the season left, and they're not that far back from a wild card spot… Raleigh snaps "slump" with homer
Cal Raleigh went six games without a home run. Can you believe it? A guy hits six homers in six games and you start to have an expectation, you know? Don't worry, though, Big Dumper decided to return to that dinger life on Monday, with his MLB-leading 33rd homer of the year.
He wasn't alone in notable Mariners homers, either. Randy Arozarena hit both the 100th and 101st homers of his career, helping Seattle down the Royals, 6-2. Welcome to the majors
The A's called up one of their top prospects, Colby Thomas, on Monday. He'd make his debut by pinch-hitting for Tyler Soderstrom in the top of the eighth, and popped out. That's not the important part, though. What matters is what he did in the bottom of the inning. Check out this throw home with the game tied 4-4:
Thrown hard, thrown accurately, the score remained the same. And good thing, too, because the Athletics would end up scoring in the top of the ninth, and win, 6-4.
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