@Rays 5, Orioles 1 — Alex Cobb had the tired Orioles eating from his hand, with 12 Ks over 8 innings, and Desmond Jennings broke up a double-shutout in the 5th with his first-ever 3-run homer.

Miguel Gonzalez gave up just one other hit, but he walked 5 in 6 innings, two coming before the Jennings jack. Cobb walked 2 in the 1st, but none thereafter, and let no other man reach 2nd base until a misplayed triple in the 9th. With Saturday’s first pitch thrown some 11 hours after Friday’s last, and with Tampa’s bullpen tossing 18 innings in the past two games, both Cobb’s stamina and his ability to miss Baltimore bats were balm for Joe Maddon’s staff; he matched his career high with 117 pitches.

• “A little help, here?!” This 4-game set is Baltimore’s last chance for direct gains on any of the wild-card hopefuls, but losing the first two (with 7 hits in their last 20 innings) leaves them 3 back of Cleveland, and needing outside assistance.
• Gonzalez has served up 5 HRs of 3+ runs this year, tied for 2nd in the majors.
• Francisco Rodriguez put the game out of reach, allowing two runs in the 7th, including triples by Jennings and Yunel Escobar. K-Rod has allowed a .583 slugging average during his time with Baltimore.

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@Indians 4, Astros 1 — “The schedule is Cleveland’s ally” is an understatement, but their narrow wins the past two nights made the Tribe hungry for early offense. On cue came a 3-run 1st, featuring Michael Brantley’s 2-run homer, and Scott Kazmir made that seem a feast, punching out 10 Astros in 7 dominant innings. Cleveland littered 12 men along the paths, but Houston hardly made a peep until Chris Carter hit his 28th HR with 2 outs in the 9th.

• It does get tougher once the Tribe are done with Houston (51-104) — here come the 60-94 White Sox (4-16 this month, 2-15 against the Tribe), then let’s go see the 65-89 Twins (32-64 vs. winning teams)!
• Houston’s not exactly “spoiling” for a fight. This was their 8th loss in a row, and 9th straight against a contender.

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Rangers 3, @Royals 1 — Matt Garza picked a good time for his best game of the year, taking a shutout to the 9th. Texas took an early lead after Ian Kinsler legged out a leadoff triple, then built it up to 3-0 in the 3rd by converting two 4-pitch walks from Jeremy Guthrie. Garza never let 2 on base at once, and just two Royals touched 2nd base before Eric Hosmer’s homer opening the 9th. That chased the starter, but Joe Nathan took it home without further incident, for his 40th save.

• AL wild-card update: Rays 85-69, Indians 85-70, Rangers 84-70 (-0.5), Yankees 82-73 (-3), Orioles & Royals 81-73 (-3.5).
• Garza began his Texas tenure with two quality starts, but now has just 4 in 12 tries.
• Adrian Beltre had 2 hits and his 88th RBI, but he hasn’t homered in his last 21 games, with 4 runs and 7 RBI in that span.
• Nathan is the 8th with four 40-save seasons. Only Mo and Hoffman have more, with 9 apiece.
• It seems the Royals must add power to contend next year. Their 105 home runs isn’t merely last in the AL; it’s 30 behind the next-worst team, 50 behind the lowest HR total of the playoff teams.

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@Pirates 4, Reds 2 — A.J. Burnett gave singletons the first two frames, but used the DP and the strikeout to stanch those cuts, and then just kept on ringing up the Reds. He lasted 7, long enough to see the lead change hands, and notched a season-high 12 Ks to cross 200 for the 3rd time, his first since 2008 with Toronto.

Joey Votto’s 14th error kept Pittsburgh’s 2nd inning alive, and Russell Martin jerked the next pitch to the left-field seats for the tie. In the 6th, Homer Bailey let himself down: He walked Andrew McCutchen, sent him to 3rd with a wild pickoff, then walked another. Cutch scored the lead run on Marlon Byrd’s sac fly to center, and Justin Morneau moved up to 2nd on the play, then came around on a full-count hit by Pedro Alvarez. Jason Grilli saw the 9th inning for the first time since July 22, and gave up a leadoff hit, but got Jay Bruce’s second DP of the game, and then a last-out grounder to short that went much better than the night before.

• Last Pirates with a 200-strikeout season were Oliver Perez (2004) and Bob Veale (1969). From 1970 through 2012, there were 313 seasons of 200 Ks by 128 different pitchers, but just one by a Buc. Even the Rays, born in 1998, have five 200-K seasons.

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Cardinals 7, @Brewers 2 — Matt Adams homered on a 1-2 pitch with 2 outs in the opening frame, and Lance Lynn got past his choppy 1st on just one run, then nursed that 2-1 lead into the 7th and wound up with his first win since August 4. St. Louis got just 2 hits from the 2nd through 7th against Yovani Gallardo, but once he left, they broke free in the 8th with a flurry of base hits.

• Matt Holliday had 2 hits and 2 runs, approaching his first 100-run year with the Cards. He also hit his 31st GDP, one shy of Miguel Tejada’s NL record.
• NL Central/wild-card update: Cardinals 91-64, Pirates 89-66 (-2), Reds 88-67 (-3) … Nationals rained out, remain at 83-71, 4.5 games behind the Reds. Looking ahead to Monday … Washington can do the Bucs and Reds a favor in their 3-game set in St. Louis. Pittsburgh goes to Wrigley, while the Reds host the Mets, before hosting a final showdown with the Bucs.

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@Athletics 9, Twins 1 — The chance to clinch at home as early as tonight kept Oakland focused through a long pre-game rain delay, and when the tarps came off, they swamped Pedro Hernandez with 6 runs in the first two innings. Alberto Callaspo led the way with his 9th HR, and Yoenis Cespedes stayed candente with his 26th HR, and 19 RBI in his last 18 games. (The Rangers’ win kept Oakland’s champagne on ice.)

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@Yankees 6, Giants 0 — Ivan Nova’s second shutout in his last 5 starts would have been big news, had he managed any quality starts in between, or if the Yanks had won more than twice in their previous 7 games. Nova held Pence and Posey hitless in the middle of the order, and walked just one, which seems to be his optimal number: He’s 15-1, 2.57 in starts with exactly 1 walk, far better than his stats with any other walk count, including zero.

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@Cubs 3, Braves 1 — Chicago rallied for 3 runs in the 8th on 4 straight hits, postponing Atlanta’s division crowning for another day. But it came too late to help Travis Wood, whose 7 innings nudged his ERA under 3 but couldn’t help his 9-11 record.

• Wood is tied for 2nd in MLB with 20 starts of 6+ innings and 2 ER or less, but has the 4th-worst run support per inning of all qualifiers.

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@Tigers 7, White Sox 6 (12 inn.) — I’m a little worried about the Hawk after this one. Chicago scored 3 in the top of the 9th to take a 6-0 lead. But before a Tiger went out, the lead was cut to one, with the tying run on 1st. This Detroit fan said “dammit!” after Andy Dirks’s 3-run pinch-home run made it 6-5, fearing that the carousel would not start up again. But that fear didn’t factor in Addison Reed.

The ChiSox closer might have thought he’d get the evening off, but he was summoned after all when things got tight. Reed promptly walked the bases full, around a sac bunt, and Torii Hunter’s flyout tied the game. A 5-pitch walk to Miggy filled the sacks again (all four walks on 3-1 counts), and sent Reed packing. It’s his first time walking more than 2 in his last 113 appearances.

The storyline seemed to call for Prince to plonk one off the lefty Donnie Veal, but he bounced to first instead. So, to the 12th: Jake Petricka walked Don Kelly on 4 pitches, and he moved up on Fielder’s chop to 3rd. V-Mart got a pass on purpose, and Dirks watched 5 pitches before strolling. At last, Omar Infante’s sharp grounder tipped off the rookie pitcher’s glove for a walk-off infield hit, cutting Detroit’s magic number down to 2, and gave Petricka his first loss.

• Chris Sale and Rick Porcello both took 3-hit, walk-free shutouts to the 7th, but the Tiger was touched for two 2-out runs after recording his 9th strikeout.
• Detroit’s 104 quality starts lead the majors by 9, and are the most by an AL team in the DH era. (No fooling!)
• Nate Jones got the last out of the 8th, but the 9th began triple, single, single, double, HR, and that was it for Mr. Jones. It’s the first appearance since 2010 allowing a cycle while facing 6 men or fewer.
• The 6-run comeback was Detroit’s largest of the year.
• It was fun for a while to believe that Jeremy Bonderman could come back and be a decent pitcher in the major leagues. Not yet, I’m afraid.

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Dodgers 4, @Padres 0 — They may have clinched, but there’s still home-field advantage to play for. And stats, of course: Clayton Kershaw goosed his NL leads by fanning 10 Friars and trimming his ERA to 1.88, pretty much sewing up his 3rd straight MLB crown in that department and 3rd straight NL WHIP title. And after Kershaw’s leadoff bunt hit in the 6th, Yasiel Puig picked out a rib-high first-pitch fastball and plugged his 18th HR, the most by a first-year Dodger since before the Great Depression.

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@Angels 6, Mariners 5 — Despite their 3rd straight win and a 21-7 stretch, the Angels were officially eliminated from the playoff chase by the wins of Tampa and Cleveland.

• Raul Ibanez hit his 29th home run at age 41 and 300th of his career, tying Chuck Klein at #136 on the career list; Klein ranked 7th when he retired in 1944.
• Ibanez has 195 HRs since age 34, one behind Mark McGwire for 10th all-time in that age range. From age 30, he’s 23rd in HRs (273), 11th in RBI (1,069) and 9th in extra-base hits. All this, by a 36th-round draft pick who didn’t stick in the majors until age 27.

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Blue Jays 4, @Red Sox 2 — Thirteen straight 200-inning seasons for Mark Buehrle, who held the BoSox to a run over 6 innings. He’s sporting a career-best rate of 6.2 SO/9. Andy Pettitte’s retirement will leave Buehrle as the active leader in innings pitched when 2014 opens.

• Buehrle could be the southpaw on my Lou Whitaker All-Stars — guys who never had a really great year, but were pretty good every year for a long time. Buehrle has amassed 54.4 WAR in just under 2,900 innings, a healthy total and rate. Out of 68 pitchers with 50+ WAR in the live-ball era, his rate of WAR per inning ranks #31. But he’s never won 20 nor topped 6.1 WAR in a season.
• Of those 68 pitchers with 50+ live-ball WAR, all but Buehrle and Mariano Rivera had at least one year with either 20 wins or 6.5 WAR. (Six fell short on the WAR side: Tommy Bridges, Waite Hoyt, Tommy John, David Wells, Buehrle and Mariano. Nine lack a 20-win season: Kevin Appier, Chuck Finley, Mark Langston, Kenny Rogers, Dave Stieb, Frank Tanana, Hoyt Wilhelm, Buehrle and Mariano.)

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Friday followups

Through games of Friday, 9/21, Yasiel Puig has started 89 games, in which the Dodgers have gone 60-29, a .674 W% — an amazing mark that reflects good timing in addition to his own large contribution to L.A.’s turnaround.

But there is another MLB regular — not a Dodger — with a slightly better winning record in games started, topping Puig in both W% and wins while starting at least half of his team’s games. (That last criterion eliminates Hanley Ramirez, who is 49-24 in 73 starts.)

And the #3 man in this ranking has seen his team win almost two-thirds of his starts, while playing under .500 in their other games, numbering 50+.

It should be easy to surmise the list of teams from which these two players might come, and I suspect that at least one of you already knew the number for the top dog. (If so, I ask you to refrain from shouting out the answer.) Any guesses?

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Daniel Murphy is not exactly fast, but he’s tied for 13th this year in baserunning WAR. His rate of extra bases taken on his teammates’ hits is 62%, 2nd to Andrew McCutchen among about 150 MLB qualifiers, without making a single out on those plays. (He has run into 6 outs on other advancement tries.) And he’s swiped 20 bases, with just 3 caught stealing. The Mets, by the way, easily lead the majors in XBT%, while making fewer outs on bases than any other NL team. If there was an award for third-base coaching, Tim Teufel would be the favorite.

And if you want to see the limits of outstanding team baserunning, look no further than the New York Mets, who rank 11th in the NL at 3.88 runs per game. You still can’t steal first base….

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With his next appearance, LaTroy Hawkins would become the 9th pitcher to appear in 70 games in any season at age 40 or older. He’s the 19th in that age group to log a year of 10+ saves. He currently ranks 20th all-time with 940 games pitched, and could reach #13 with another season at the same usage rate. Not bad, for a journeyman who’s been with 10 teams in the last 11 years, and a proof that just showing up is at least half the battle: Hawkins has appeared in at least 48 games in 13 of the last 14 seasons.

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How you gauge Huston Street‘s season depends on how you define his job. Street has locked up 32 out of 33 save tries — the best ratio among those with at least 25 saves, 2nd-best among those with 15+ saves. Yet of the 32 pitchers in that latter group, Street ranks 25th in Win Probability Added. How so? Mainly, his work in tie games: Street entered 9 games that were tied (all in the 9th inning or later), and 5 times allowed the winning or go-ahead run(s). In those 9 games, he allowed 7 runs … on 7 solo HRs, which helps explain how you get a closer with 11 HRs in 54 IP who nevertheless has the same brilliant save percentage as 1984 AL MVP Willie Hernandez.

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The Rangers have gotten 83 runs from their leadoff men (12th in AL), 82 from #2 hitters (10th), and 82 from the #9 hole (1st). Leonys Martin was their primary producer from the bottom spot, but he didn’t fare well when Ron Washington tried him in the leadoff role.