Tuesday game notes (caught-on-the-fly edition)

I’m just gonna toss stuff up on the fly here, for whatever it’s worth.

Orioles 1, @Rays 0: The game’s lone run scored when Chris Davis extended his HR streak to 6 games, tying a franchise record set in July 1976 by Reggie JacksonMiguel Gonzalez kept Tampa off the board into the 7th, allowing 2 hits in his 3rd straight win and 4th straight Quality Start. But will it pull them even? Things are happening awfully fast up in the Bronx.

Saturday game notes (long division edition)

Tigers 6, @Twins 4 / Rays 10, @White Sox 4: Each Central challenger had their ace on the hill for the last time in the regular schedule. The veteran and reigning MVP left in the 8th with a 6-0 lead, allowing no ER for the 3rd time in his last 4 outings and collecting his 5th September win. The youngster had his worst and shortest start, departing in the 4th and charged with 5 ER. The Tigers came away with a 2-game lead.

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Ryan Vogelsong’s statistically odd 2011 and 2012

Ryan Vogelsong / USPRESSWIRE

Check out some of Ryan Vogelsong’s stats in 2011 and 2012:

Stat     2011     2012
G         30       30
IP       179.2    184.2
H        164      169
HR        15       17
BB        61       61
SO       139      151
WHIP       1.25     1.24

The numbers above are, for all intents and purposes, identical. But there’s one big difference: in 2011, he allowed 54 earned runs, whereas in 2012 he’s allowed 71. Those translate into seasonal ERAs of 2.71 (2011) and 3.46 (2012), and ERA+s of 129 in 2011 and 101 in 2012.

Why has a guy who has seemingly performed exactly the same on the mound allowed such different amounts of earned runs?

Let’s dig in to find out… Continue reading

(Not) Written In the Stars: Postseason Failures

On October 27, 2011, the Texas Rangers were one strike away from their first World Series championship. They carried an impressive resume to that point: a franchise-leading 96 wins, their second consecutive division title in 12 seasons, and a six-game showdown against Detroit that culminated in a 15-5 finale for the league title.

Anyone glued to his TV last autumn knows how this story ends. David Freese ripped a triple off Neftali Feliz and the Cardinals shifted both the momentum and the result of the Series.

On September 27, 2012, the Texas Rangers are three games away from taking the AL West again. This year will mark their third succedent run at a postseason slot, an unprecedented event in club history. While it’s entirely possible that the Rangers could choke in yet another playoff push, they wouldn’t be the first to do so. In fact, nine MLB teams have clinched their division in 3+ consecutive seasons without locking down a World Series title: Continue reading