- Another doubleheader (Cubs/Cardinals) pulled in eight of the ten participants, but did nothing to help further the leads of our top two competitors.
- Ian Happ was one of two blanks on the day, both from the Cubs. He took down both Buddy and Pavli by going hitless in Game 1 before being lifted early once Game 2 got out of hand.
- Nate's pick Nico Hoerner was the other blank and suffered a similar fate to Happ. He at least drove in a run in Game 1 before seeing his night end early in Game 2 sans a hit.
- One of the two outliers on the night was Colin with Cleveland's Amed Rosario. His single against the Padres didn't directly lead to any scoring, but let's just say it provided moral support as the Guardians put San Diego on the back foot when it comes to potential playoff qualification.
- The other player "chosen" outside of the Chicago/St. Louis rivalry twin bill was Los Angeles' Trayce Thompson. Ryan got the Dodgers' Last Man In and a delivery order of cycle bread with it. His home run off Corbin Burnes was the career-high tying 17th of the season off of last year's NL Cy Young winner.
- Three players hitched their wagons to the Albert Pujols Express. Ed, Lenny, and Scott all received a Game 1 double from the future Hall of Famer whose only appearance in Game 2 was being hit by the pitch of Franmil Reyes. And no, that isn't a typo.
- Retaining third place by the slimmest of margins was Al with Chicago's Seiya Suzuki. The NL Rookie of the Year candidate singled in both the Cubs Game 1 win and the Game 2 defeat.
- Those two total bases were able to keep him one ahead of the night's top scorer Matt. Nolan Arenado did all of his work in the 13-3 Game 2 win over the Cubs with two singles and a home run. In the process, he earned his second top score of August in his final selection of the year. He is the third completely picked out player of the 2022 Challenge.
- Optimally, both Kansas City's Bobby Witt Jr. and Texas' Marcus Semien got to seven total bases in the same fashion. Each man hit a triple and a home run in defeat. Both are in the top 10 in the Majors in triples for the year.
Image Credits: Player Photos (Baseball Reference)