MLB

Let’s get this straight: The Astros' combined no-hitter against the Phillies is one hell of an accomplishment. How else to describe only the second no-hitter in World Series history, dating back to 1903?

Mark McGwire. Barry Bonds. Aaron Judge: Your single-season home run king? Well, that is according to Roger Maris Jr. The Yankees outfielder clubbed home run No. 61 on the season on Wednesday night, tying Yankee great Roger Maris' single-season record in the American League, and with seven games remaining the season, Judge has a strong chance to break that record.

I don’t know what it’s like to hold a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle worth millions of dollars. Never will, and that’s OK. You probably don’t, either. The closest I’ve ever come is holding a 1952 Topps Willie Mays card that a friend had passed down from her father, and the corners on that card, well, let’s just say it was a well-loved baseball card in the 1950s.

The National League appeared to have a glimmer of hope that it could snap its losing streak in the All-Star Game to the American League. Giancarlo Stanton, Byron Buxton and a group of standout AL arms shut down that optimism quickly.

There have been plenty of perfect games in professional baseball. But there has likely never been a more perfect, perfect game than what Roki Sasaki pitched on Sunday. Facing the Orix Buffaloes in the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan, the 20-year-old hurler for the Chiba Lotte Marines retired all 27 batters he faced, including a record-tying 19 via strikeout.