I apologize to anyone whom I *may* have disappointed with these abbreviated notes.

Rays 3, @Red Sox 0 — A two-hitter for his first career shutout gave the opener of this four-game first-place showdown to the streaking Rays and Matt Moore, who’ve both won six in a row. James Loney drove in the first two runs, with Ben Zobrist (3 hits) in the middle of both rallies. Moore had gone 8 innings just twice before and was averaging 5-2/3 IP this year, but he mowed through 29 Boston batters on 109 pitches, and won the race to 14 wins by an hour or so. He walked just one, a far cry from his 9-inning average of 4.6.

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@Brewers 1, Marlins 0 (13 inn.) — Caleb Gindl led off the home 13th with his first-ever home run, ending the longest 1-0 game in two years and sealing Milwaukee’s third straight shutout, tying a club record set in 1990. The Brewers have not allowed a run since the 5th inning of their last pre-Break game, a span of 35 innings.

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Mariners 4, @Astros 2 — The line score’s no misprint: 4 runs, 1 hit, no errors for the victorious M’s. Erik Bedard allowed no hits in 6.1 IP, fanning 10, but he walked 5 and was charged with 3 runs (1 ER). There’s just one prior searchable outing of 6+ IP, no hits and 3+ runs allowed; it’s also the only prior game where a team scored 4+ runs with just 1 hit. (Yankee fans will remember those bad old days.)

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After a flurry of 300 game winners in the first decade of this century, attention is focused again on who might be the next pitcher to reach this most celebrated of pitching milestones. As well, there has been as much or more speculation as to whether there will be another 300 game winner, what with the ever-increasing “care” with which pitchers are handled and the decline of the complete game to almost negligible levels.

Lost in the speculation about 300 wins is the fact that to reach that level a pitcher must obviously first pass 200 wins, a not insignificant accomplishment in itself. As there has been the unusual occurrence of 3 pitchers reaching 200 wins this season, it seems an opportune time to look a bit closer at that milestone.

After the jump, more on the 200 win club.

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Box scores are back! Games Notes hasn’t quite got its land legs back, but here’s what we’ve stumbled into so far:

@Royals 1, Tigers 0 — Detroit was held to 2 hits for the first time in over 2 years. The last, a 1-0 loss for Verlander, snapped his 7-start win streak during his Cy Young season; two weeks later, he’d begin a run of 12 straight starts won.

• Anibal Sanchez has faced K.C. three times in his career. A total of 4 runs has been scored — two 1-0 losses for Sanchez, and his 3-hit, 2-0 shutout last Sept. 25, that pulled Detroit back into first place for good.

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Or, part one of a look at the worst year in Toronto’s best decade, through the lens of one historic game. All game records noted are for the searchable era, 1916-present; season marks are since 1901.

The first team with eight home runs in a game were the 1939 Yankees. That record was equaled six times in the next four decades (with one individual 4-HR effort), but it wasn’t topped until the fluke year of 1987, when homers flew as never before. A new season mark for team HRs allowed was established that year, along with four of the top five and eight of the top 15 team totals.

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This post is for voting and discussion in the twenty-second round of balloting for the Circle of Greats.  This round adds those players born in 1948.  Rules and lists are after the jump. Continue reading →

In the view of many, Mike Schmidt was the greatest third baseman in major league history, and by an overwhelming consensus of the voters becomes the 24th player inducted into the High Heat Stats Circle of Greats.  More on Mike, and on the latest voting results, after the jump. Continue reading →

While many of us are familiar with regular season and post-season records, the same may not be true for All-Star game feats. To correct this deficiency, I offer this post for your edification.

Some records to watch for tonight.

• Most players Age 20 or under, One team – 2, NL (Bryce Harper, Jose Fernandez), also ties record for both teams
• Most players Age 21 or under, Both Teams – 4, Mike Trout, Manny Machado, Bryce Harper, Jose Fernandez, each team also ties record for one team
• Most games, Age 20 or under – 2, Bryce Harper (new record)
• Most games, Age 21 or under – 2, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout (tie with 11 others)
• Most AL teams represented, career – 3, Torii Hunter (tie with 12 others)

More All-Star Game records, P-I style, after the jump.

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It seems like it took 56 to 60 percent of our energy to get there, but we’re finally halfway through the 2013 baseball season.  Perhaps the most fascinating development of the first “half” is the dominance of the AL East, with four teams playing at least .537 baseball, which equates to 87 wins over a full season.  Only eight teams outside the division, and none in the NL West, have won as many games as the fourth-place Yankees.  To top it all off, the team in fifth place is the team many of us expected to win the division.

While this would be a remarkable development taken at face value, it’s even more astonishing when one considers the imbalance in MLB’s schedule.  Those five AL East teams have played 44 percent of their games against each other, obviously breaking even in those games, while compiling a 158-112 record against all other teams.  Essentially, the AL East is a 95-win team when playing outside the conference.

After the jump, we’ll take a look at what balancing the schedule might look like based on early returns from 2013. Continue reading →