There was hardly a Week 16 to speak of. The All-Star break ate four days off the schedule, a chunk of the country from Chicago to Boston spent Thursday squinting through wildfire smoke, and the sport's marquee showcase turned into a pitching clinic nobody ordered. But baseball being baseball, the little that did happen was enormous. A team that owned the worst record in its league a month ago is now sitting in a wild-card spot. A former top prospect walked into the most hostile ballpark in the country and left with a trophy and a check bigger than his salary. And the National League, which spent six months being told how good it was, got outscored, outpitched, and out-everythinged in its own showcase game. Let's sort it out.
Winners
The Boston Red Sox
Start with where this team was a month ago: dead last in the American League as recently as June 24, a stretch that came two months after the club fired Alex Cora following a 10-17 start and handed the job to Triple-A manager Chad Tracy. Since that June 24 low point, Boston has won 16 of 18. They closed the first half on a nine-game streak, came back from the break and swept a doubleheader from the AL East-leading Rays Friday (10-0, then 5-3 on back-to-back homers from Wilyer Abreu and Willson Contreras), and Saturday did something they hadn't managed once all season: erase a three-run deficit, this time trailing 6-3 in the seventh before a four-run rally finished it, 7-6. That's 12 straight, the longest Red Sox win streak since 1948. Aroldis Chapman closed it out for his 21st save, and Boston ended the night in sole possession of the final AL wild-card spot. Sell or buy at the deadline was the question two weeks ago. The team just answered it.
Jordan Walker, OF, St. Louis Cardinals
Dennis Lee-Imagn Images
Nobody in that building wanted him to win. Walker, 24 years old and coming off two seasons that produced eleven home runs combined, walked into Citizens Bank Park on Monday to face Kyle Schwarber, the hometown Phillies slugger, in the Home Run Derby final. The crowd booed him from introduction to trophy presentation. Down to his last swing and needing to match Schwarber's total just to survive, he hit four straight homers to force extra swings, then hit two more to close it out, 12-11. He's the first Cardinal in franchise history to win the event, and the million-dollar prize is more than his listed 2026 salary of $799,400. The swing overhaul that got him here started in spring training. The trophy is permanent.
Wilyer Abreu, OF, Boston Red Sox
Buried inside the Red Sox headline is the guy who did the most damage. Abreu hit two home runs in the nightcap of Friday's doubleheader, then two more Saturday, including the go-ahead two-run shot in the seventh that completed the comeback from down 6-3. Four homers in two days, fifteen on the season. If you need outfield pop for the stretch run and you somehow avoided rostering anyone off this streak, start here.
Losers
The National League
Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
The story heading into Tuesday was that the NL had been the stronger league all first half. Then the actual All-Star Game happened. The American League loaded the bases against hometown Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez in the first inning on a hit and two walks, and Yankees teammates Cody Bellinger and Ben Rice cashed it in with RBI singles in front of nearly 44,000 of Sánchez's own fans. It did not get better from there. The NL managed three hits in nine innings, didn't get its first one until the fourth, and struck out 15 times, one shy of the single-game record. Final: AL 4, NL 0, the first All-Star shutout in 13 years. Mike Trout, a career .412 hitter in this game coming in, went 0-for-3. Bellinger took MVP honors for the single that started it. The NL spent six months being told it was the better league. It picked the worst possible night to prove it.
Kyle Schwarber, DH, Philadelphia Phillies
The hometown hero had the whole building on his side and 11 home runs on the board in the Derby final, needing Walker to miss even once to win it in front of his own fans. Walker didn't miss. Schwarber was gracious about it afterward, which is more than most people would manage after watching a visiting player celebrate a championship on your own turf on a night the sport's new format turned his coronation into a horror movie.
One More Thing
The real MVP of Week 16 might have been the wind. Canadian wildfire smoke rolled down over the Midwest and Northeast Thursday, turning skies orange from Chicago to Boston and forcing the Mets-Phillies game in Philadelphia to move its first pitch up an hour just to beat the haze. The Pirates and Guardians weren't so lucky Friday: their game got postponed outright over air quality readings. A Chicago Fire soccer match got wiped out entirely in the same stretch, robbing Robert Lewandowski of his MLS debut. Nothing in this sport moves a schedule the way the sky can.
Questions About Winners and Losers, Answered
How long is the Red Sox's winning streak?
The Red Sox have won 12 straight games. After closing the first half on a nine-game winning streak, they swept a doubleheader against the Rays and followed it with another comeback victory, moving into sole possession of the final American League wild-card spot.
Who won the 2026 Home Run Derby?
Jordan Walker of the St. Louis Cardinals won the 2026 Home Run Derby by defeating Kyle Schwarber 12-11 in the final. Walker rallied with six consecutive home runs at the end of the competition, becoming the first Cardinals player to win the event.
Why are the Red Sox considered the biggest winners of Week 16?
Boston has completely changed the direction of its season. The club has won 16 of its last 18 games, erased a three-run deficit in Saturday's victory, climbed into an AL Wild Card position, and shifted the conversation from whether to sell at the trade deadline to how aggressively it should buy.
What happened in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game?
The American League defeated the National League 4-0 in Philadelphia. The NL managed just three hits, struck out 15 times, and was shut out in the All-Star Game for the first time in 13 years. Cody Bellinger earned MVP honors after driving in the game's first run.
Which MLB game was postponed because of poor air quality?
The Pirates-Guardians game was postponed because of poor air quality caused by Canadian wildfire smoke. The same weather system also forced the Mets-Phillies game to move its first pitch earlier and disrupted other sporting events across the Midwest and Northeast.
