An extra full slate, and let’s get right to it!

@Tigers 4, Indians 1: Howdy, Jose Alvarez! The first Tigers debut since 2002 with 6+ IP and 1 run or less, and a surprise power source, helped Detroit complete a sweep of the slumping Indians.

Last of the 6th, 2 on, game tied. Justin Masterson had just popped out Victor Martinez for the first out, getting into the lineup’s marshmallow core. Masterson ran a 1-and-2 count on Don Kelly, batting .188 with 3 HRs since 2012, and broke a slider in off the plate, halfway between the lefty’s shoetop and kneecap. Despite appearing to break both ankles, Kelly somehow golfed it out.

• Alvarez allowed 3 hits and a walk, with 7 strikeouts. He’s the 6th searchable Tiger with 7+ Ks in his debut.
• Kelly has just 16 hits this year, but 14 walks. His first time up, he drew a walk that pushed a runner to 3rd, who scored on a sac fly.
• Indians are 12-20 on the road, but outscored by just 1 run.

__________

Rangers 6, @Blue Jays 4: Josh Johnson had a 4-0 lead after 3, but Texas scored the last 6 runs. They put up 3 in the 4th and 5th combined, all starting with 2 outs and nothing doing; tied it on a 1st-and-3rd SB-overthrow by Josh Thole (good luck with him, Jays); and pulled ahead on HRs by Beltre and Murphy. The Jays had 2-on chances in the 6th, 7th and especially the 9th, with the tying runs in scoring position and 1 out (helped by Joe Nathan’s inexplicable leadoff walk) — but Bautista and Encarnacion couldn’t come through.

• Adam Lind put the Jays up 4-0 with a 3-run HR. What’s the biggest difference in Lind’s results this year — better command of the strike zone (Ks down, BBs up), or just being platooned? His LHP splits severely dampened his overall stats in most years, but now he just starts against righties.
• Nathan’s cashed 19 of 20 and his stats are terrific; he still seems dicey to me.

__________

Orioles 10, @Rays 7: Tampa made inroads on a 9-1 deficit and got Kelly Johnson up as the tying run in the 9th, but the O’s held on to salvage the series finale. The correction’s come hard and fast for Matt Moore, with 2 complete disasters in a row, 14 ER in 7 IP. He allowed runs in each of the first 4 frames, 9 in all, with a HR and 6 doubles, 2 wild pitches and a hit batsman. Every starter except Chris Davis had a hit and either a run or a ribby, and Chris Tillman allowed little but his usual HR.

• 7 straight starts with a HR for Tillman, barely halfway to Dave Johnson‘s 1990 club record of 13. Johnson led both leagues with 30 HRs allowed in 180 IP, but went 13-9, 4.10 by keeping most of the HRs solos. The next year, he couldn’t control the HR distribution, or much else, and that was the end. Since 2012, 21 of 28 HRs off Tillman have been solos, and his RISP numbers are excellent. If that’s a skill, it’s not supported by his previous years, and his SO/BB data aren’t winners. He’s 15-6, 3.38 since 2012, but he lives on the edge.
• After Miggy got noticed, attention rightly shifted to “Chris Davis is doing even better!” Then Miggy slumped a bit, and so has Davis — 1 HR, 2 RBI in his last 10 games, no walks and 17 Ks.
• Brian Matusz had been brilliant this year, but he allowed 5 hits and 3 runs while getting 2 outs, including Sam Fuld‘s first HR in over 2 years.

__________

@Brewers 9, Phillies 1: Kyle Lohse might have logged Milwaukee’s first scoreless start of the year, but he was too good — a low pitch count and big lead let him pitch through the 8th, and with 2 outs he gave up a solo HR. Scooter Gennett’s first triple and RBIs gave Lohse a 3-0 lead, and although Braun’s thumb forced him out of the game again, Jean Segura and Carlos Gomez also drove in 2 each as the Crew pulled away.

• Every other team has at least 3 scoreless starts this year.
• After clawing their way over .500, Philly dropped the last 3 in Milwaukee; they’re 2-5 against the Brewers.
• Ryan Howard has 1 HR in his last 103 PAs, and a .294 OBP on the year. With men on, the RBI man has 1 HR and a .230 BA. Still $85 million guaranteed on that contract over the next 3 years.
• Jonathan Papelbon only has 11 save chances.

__________

@Red Sox 10, Angels 5: Yo arms too short to box with Papi. There didn’t seem to be much chance of Joe Blanton extending his run of 3 strong starts; he came in with a 6.44 ERA in 5 prior starts in Fenway, and 3 HRs today drove that up. Ortiz broke a tie with a 3-run jack in the 3rd, giving him 48 RBI in 45 games, and then the CF stands were peppered with Salty Carp.

• Shadow Albert hit his 10th (and 8th off his personal Home Run Derby tosser), then got the Maglie treatment. Josh went boo-for-5, and Blanton fell to 1-10.

__________

Marlins 8, @Mets 4 (10): Daniel Murphy booted a potential DP grounder into RF to let in the go-ahead run, and the wheels came off. New York had led 4-1 in the 3rd, but got only 2 more runners the rest of the way, both by Murphy. His leadoff walk in the 9th was followed by a foul-bunt strikeout and two of the blander variety. Mike Baxter went 0-4 with 2 stranded in scoring position and that failed sac attempt. A Juan Lagares bobble cost a run in the 6th. Scott Rice served up a tying HR to the lefty he was summoned for. I think that’s everything….

• Not quite: The game was almost out of reach when Robert Carson suffered his 8th HR in 18 IP this year. Not sure why he was pitching to Miguel Olivo, who only hits lefties, but the Mets bullpen is too crappy to parse. Ten HRs in 31 career IP for Carson, including 7 in about 80 PAs at Citi Field; try spinning that one.
• Jordanny Valdespin was thrown out stealing 3rd to end the 1st inning, with Daniel Murphy up. You can’t reeducate such stupidity at the major-league level; like Jerry’s advice for George Costanza, you need to go to Vienna, and be worked on by teams around the clock. Incidentally, Murphy led off the 2nd with a HR.
• Have you seen Harold and Maude? In an early scene, a therapist asks about Harold’s 15 fake suicides, “And were they all done for your mother’s benefit?” After a thoughtful pause, he answers: “I wouldn’t say ‘benefit’.” That’s how I felt about another day’s “bonus baseball!” between these teams. (Or just go to 2:20 in the clip.)

__________

@Cubs 4, Pirates 1: Jeff Locke walked 7 in 5.2 innings, perhaps chasing a no-hit dream that was lost in the 6th. The walks cost the tying run, but it was Cody Ransom‘s well-placed 3-run HR off Justin Wilson in the 7th — his 6th of the year in less than 60 PAs off lefties — that sent Chicago to victory, along with Edwin Jackson‘s best start of the year (7 IP, 8 Ks, 1 walk). Wilson had held RHBs to 10 for 86, but they got him twice today.

• Ransom’s blast redeemed his boner in the 3rd, picked off 2nd to end a 2-on threat before a pitch to Soriano.
• Andrew McCutchen had 3 of the Bucs’ 7 times on base and scored their run. But in the 9th, he was somehow caught stealing for the 2nd out, which prevented the tying run from coming to bat. Haven’t seen the play; maybe he expected defensive indifference?
• Carlos Marmol worked his 2nd straight clean inning. Keep building that trust, Carlos; we’re looking forward to your next save chance.

__________

Nationals 7, @Twins 0 (day): Vintage double-n — 7 scoreless with 2 hits, 2 walks, 8 Ks — and a 14-hit strafing of Scott Diamond & friends brought triumph to Washington in the day game. The Nats are 3-8 all-time against their spiritual ancestors; the win came on the 6-year anniversary of their last in this sporadic series. Jordan brushed off 2 infield errors, including the 11th by single-n, and let only 2 men reach 2nd base.

• The Nats/Expos control record is 1.45 BB/9 by Bryn Smith in 1988. Both Zimmermann (1.24) and Dan Haren (1.20) are below that so far in 2013.
• With Diamond at 5.19 now, 4/5 of Minny’s rotation have ERAs over 5. Kevin Correia leads at 4.11, an even 100 ERA+. Their 5.34 starters’ ERA is worst in the AL.
• If he maintained this average for 33 starts, Zimmermann would log 240 IP, which of course they won’t let him do. But he’d be the franchise’s 2nd such workhorse since Pedro; Livan crossed the threshold in 2004-05 (once in each city).
• So far, so good for Anthony Rendon: 11 for 37, 4 doubles, 6 walks. He beat out an infield hit in the 4th for the game’s first run, then capped the scoring with a 2-run double the next inning, both hits with 2 outs.

__________

Yankees 2, @Mariners 1: Brett Gardner had 4 of New York’s 7 hits, and David Phelps hung with Felix Hernandez until the bullpens settled it. A leadoff walk in the 9th by Ichiro set up Chris Stewart‘s 2-out go-ahead single, and then: “Mariano … it’s time to say goodbye to Seattle.”

It figured to be a good game. Some of King Felix’s signatures have come against the Yankees, with a couple of 2-hit shutouts in the Bronx. Overall, he was 8-5, 2.99 in 15 starts against them, and came in with career bests of 9.4 SO/9 and 1.7 BB/9; on the flip side, Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano have hit him very hard. Phelps has been mostly good since joining the rotation in May.

Gardner’s opening single and steal led to a bags-full threat, but Felix fanned Ichiro to escape. Jason Bay singled to start the home half, but was picked off; the righty Phelps has not surrendered a steal this year (0-3 and 3 pickoffs).

The Yanks went on top in the 2nd. Another leadoff single and steal (you can run on Felix) set up Gardner’s icebreaker. But Cano attacked the first pitch and went 4-6-3 to end the inning. And the M’s came right back: Kelly Shoppach‘s double, an advancing groundout, and an infield hit by Brendan Ryan.

In the 5th, Gardner doubled with 1 out, but Robby and Teix were handcuffed by Hernandez. The Yanks’ power core went 0 for 8, and Teixeira wore the Golden SombRISPo(?) — 4 Ks, each with a man on second. A walk in the 3rd by Phelps died in a DP, and then he found his strikeout pitch, with 5 Ks in his last 3 innings. Phelps left after 6 innings, 99 pitches, retiring his last 10. Felix worked through the 7th, finishing strong after Cano reached second with no outs: strikeout, foulout, tap to the mound by Vernon Wells on 3-and-1. (In case no one’s noticed, Wells has completely stopped hitting, as in 10 for his last 80, no HRs, 2 RBI, 2 walks, dropping his line to a virtual copy of last year across the board.)

The M’s had their shot in the 8th, a leadoff double by Alex Liddi off David Robertson, just the 2nd two-bagger off the Yankee setup man. Then the dumb move, a sac bunt by Ryan. What, to set up Bay against a power righty? Bay’s hitting .200 against RHPs this year (.158 last year, .228 year before), fanning in 1/4 of his trips, and Robertson’s K rate is too high to bank on contact. I know Ryan’s no hitter, but suppose you have 3 straight .200 batters: the simple odds of retiring all 3 are 51%, vs. 64% of retiring 2 straight. Did Bay have a 13% chance of producing a scoring out, over and above his chance of getting a hit? I say no. Anyway, Bay fanned with Liddi on 3rd, then Nick Franklin fanned, and the Yanks went ahead in the 9th.

• Mariano has about a year’s worth of stats against Seattle: 37 saves, 2 blown, 2.63 ERA in 79 IP (plus 3 saves, 2 wins, nothing bad in 15 postseason innings).
• Most appearances of exactly 1 IP, all-time: 1/Hoffman, 767 (2.25 ERA); 2/Mariano, 744 (1.51 ERA).
• Although he has 4 straight 200-K seasons, Hernandez has never averaged a strikeout per inning. Still seeking his first complete game of the year; his 16 CG and 6 shutouts topped the junior circuit over 2010-12.
• Since 2005, most starts of 7+ IP and 1 run or less (earned or not): 1/Felix, 82; 2/Halladay, 75; 3/Sabathia and Lee, 74. Most no-decisions in such games: 1/Felix, 22; 2/Lee, 17; 3/Greinke, 15.
• The Mariners have scored 2 runs or less 25 times (4-21), tops in the AL.
• This is gratuitous, but I can’t resist … After Teix rejoined the lineup, Cano was quoted saying he immediately started getting better pitches to hit. OK, Robby … so the 4 for 33 (8 Ks, 3 DPs) is all on you.

__________

@Royals 2, Astros 0: Pitchers’ duel, or batters’ bollix? Luis Mendoza (career 5.30 ERA) produced a personal-best 7 shutout innings on just 88 pitches, but Lucas Harrell (.296 opponents’ BA) held KC to 2 singles in his 7 frames. The hosts finally broke through in the 8th: Chris Getz beat out a grounder to 2nd, stole on the next pitch, and scored on Alex Gordon‘s liner just past the diving SS; he took 3rd on the wild throw home, and Eric Hosmer cashed him in, reaching 20 RBI for the year. (It’s better than 19!)

• Gordon’s hitting .375 with RISP.
• Greg Holland has recovered from his opening-week jitters. In his last 20 games (20 IP), 30 Ks, 6 walks, 1 ER. He could use a little more action, though.
• Just for fun: KC is 6.5 games out of 1st place — closer than the Nationals, Angels, Dodgers and Blue Jays. And they have a positive run differential, thanks to the AL’s #2 run-prevention. If only they didn’t have 4 of the AL’s 11 worst regular OPS+ marks in their lineup….

__________

Giants 6, @Diamondbacks 2: What pitching crisis? Chad Gaudin has matters well in hand! The Cajun Sensajun’s second start since 2009 was a near-copy of his first: 6 innings, 2 runs, and a Giants win. Gaudin led 2-0 before he threw a pitch, as the first 5 Jints reached off Tyler Skaggs, and he kept the Snakes off the board until his breaux’s had doubled that lead. San Fran took the last 2 games of this desert set, and the NL West did the tighten-up.

• Arizona’s 4-15 when Goldschmidt goes hitless, 4-19 if he has no runs nor ribbies.
• 12 Ks, 1 walk in Gaudin’s 2 starts. He has a 2.32 ERA in 43 IP.
• Marco Scutaro, high off the foul pole: Discuss.
• Welcome to the major leagues, Juan Perez of Santiago, D.R. by way of DeWitt Clinton H.S. in the Bronx and Western Oklahoma State J.C.! He probably thought the Show fences had better padding. But he wobbled to his feet, and later notched his first, um, “hit.”
• You know the movie, The Shining? In the last act, Scatman Crothers … er, Dick Hallorann senses his friends are in danger, catches a flight from sunny Florida to snowbound Denver, rents a car and then a Sno-Cat, schleps it all the way up to the Overlook Hotel, walks in, turns a corner, and eats ax. That’s what I think of when I watch an outfielder do a 40-yard sprint into a wall. Can’t we beef up the padding and get rid of the chicken wire? (That Sno-Cat did save them, though.)

__________

@Rockies 8, Padres 7 (10): Sandy broke up the perfecto, rallied from a 4-0 hole and took a 7-4 lead to the 9th — but the Great Luke Gregerson set it all on fire. Carlos Gonzalez yanked a crappy 0-and-2 slider into the RF corner, tying the game with 2 outs. The Pads hit 3 HRs in the 6th and 7th, with season firsts by Maybin and Kotsay, but Kyle Blanks needed another biscuit to get this one over the CarGo lift in the 5th. Dexter Fowler (6-3-4-1) was in the middle of the comeback and everything else (singled, stole, scored the tying run), then had the game-winner with 2 outs in the 10th.

• Fowler is 8 for 17 off Gregerson, and 6 for his last 8. “Luke … I am your father!”
• Todd Helton, what were you thinking?
• “Suh-wingg, battuh!” For some reason, he came out after that one. But maybe it was the 2-HR inning.

__________

Braves 8, @Dodgers 1: And all the Puig’s horses and all the Puig’s men … Yasiel had 3 hits, but he can’t pitch(?), and neither can Magill, really. Mike Minor is rather adept at that chore. And if this fellow is getting hot like he can, and if this chap’s 7-game hit streak really means something, then forget it — the NL East is outnumbered, even if Bossman never gets a hit.

• LA got their run from bags-full/no-outs in the 1st. A groundout just reset the carousel, and Luis “I’m not just still in the lineup — I’m hitting 5th!” Cruz whiffed, but Skip Schumaker beat out a dribbler to salvage something. Not nearly enough, as they went 1-for-12 with RISP.
• The Dodgers have 21 RBI in 7 games since Puig came up. Puig has 10 of them.

__________

@Nationals 5, Twins 4 (nightcap): Minnesota led 4-1 in the 3rd, but Washington marched in one by one. Denard Span‘s 6th triple tied it with 2 outs in the 6th inning, cashing in Rendon’s leadoff hit, and Ian Desmond put them on top with a 7th-inning “double” (Olé, Señor Willingham!). The Twins got the tying run to 3rd against Rafael Soriano, in his first save try since May 31, but he popped Willingham up to end it. The Nats got back to .500 and 2nd place, still trail by 7.5 in the East, at least 5.5 in the Wild Card. Peg their playoff odds: Better or worse than even?

• It was never in the cards for Washington’s Nate Karns (4 runs in 3 IP) to make it through 5 today for the first time in his 3 MLB starts. He averaged 5 IP per start in the minors.
• Chris Herrmann (4-0-3-2, 2B, walk) is 6 for 12 with a HR, 2 walks and no strikeouts. Last year he went 1 for 18. He’s no hitter, really, but I wish him the best.
• Herrmann did that from the #2 spot, and #3 Joe Mauer still didn’t have an AB with a man in scoring position?
• Jamey Carroll went 0-4 at the top of the order and made an error that led to a run. That spot is hitting .172 with 1 HR, 4 doubles, slugging .207. Five men have started at leadoff for Minny, and not one has an OBP over .300. Just put Mauer on top, already!
• Soriano fanned 12.1 per 9 IP in 2009; averaged 8.6 from 2010-12; now at 6.8.

__________

Cardinals 11, @Reds 4 (10th): Ended too late for this edition of Game Notes, but I’ll still say — too bad Chapman threw only 12 pitches! (Just kidding; they had to PH for him in the 9th.) Let’s hope if the Reds do get in the end zone, they go for the deuce.

• Buster Olney’s counsel for Curtis Partch, slammed by his very first batter: “Today will be better than yesterday.” (Or at least, one hopes, tomorrow will be so.)