Athletics 3, @Angels 1: The fourth time was the charm for Jarrod Parker. Given just 2 runs total in his 3 prior starts against Anaheim, Parker had gone 0-2 (and the A’s 0-3) despite his run average of 3.05; and when he gave back an early 1-0 lead on a 2-out rally in the 3rd that began with a walk to Mike Trout, it seemed more of the same was in store. But Parker allowed just one more hit through 7, Brandon Moss did his thing, and the bullpen closed it out, pulling Oakland within 3 games of idle Texas and dropping the Angels to 1.5 games out of the wild card.

• With 17 HRs in 217 PAs, Moss’s .302 isolated power ranks 2nd among all hitters with 200+ PAs. He’s broken out of a slump by hitting .353/1.083 in his last 14 games (5 HRs, 23 R+RBI); the A’s went 11-3 in those games and are 37-14 in his starts this year.

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With Buster Posey’s homer and two singles last night, Baseball-reference now has the Giants’ backstop with 5.8 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) for the 2012 season.

Here are the highest WAR seasons by a Giants catcher, over the history of the franchise (minimum, one game caught during the season):
1. Buster Posey (2012) 5.8
2. Roger Bresnahan (1908) 5.6
3. Walker Cooper (1947) 5.1
T4. Buck Ewing (1883 and 1888) 4.6
6. Buck Ewing (1884) 4.5

In-season WAR can do down as well as up. So it’s possible that Buster could, if he slumps in this last few weeks of the season, drop from the top spot on the list above. But the guy sure isn’t in a slump at the moment.

Highest OPS in the Majors Since the All-Star Break (min. 100 PAs):
1. Buster Posey 1.118
2. Miguel Cabrera 1.047
3. Giancarlo Stanton 1.012
4. Albert Pujols 1.011
5. Josh Donaldson 1.007

Earlier this month, Rangers’ second baseman Jurickson Profar (an early finalist for the All-Name team) made his major league debut, homering in his first PA, only the third time since 1918 that a player under age 20 has done that.

The player on the list above who didn’t homer in his first PA is pitcher Denny McLain, who nonetheless homered in his first game and (as it turned out) for the only time in his career.

After the jump, I’ll look at bit more at these and other precocious players.

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We have added 5 new writers! Please join me in welcoming them to the team.

Ashley  (Twitter: @wcoastfangirl)

Stacey Gotsulias (Twitter: @StaceyGotsulias)

Dalton Mack (Twitter:@dmack1291)

Dan McCloskey  (Twitter: @_LeftField)

Bryan O’Connor  (Twitter: @replevel)

You can read all about these fine folks on our About page.

Yankees 13, @Orioles 3: Fourteen hits, 7 with RISP, pulled the Bombers clear of their see-saw tie for 1st place. Curtis Granderson came off the bench for 3 hits and 5 RBI, tying the season high for a non-starter in both categories; Derek Jeter added 2 to his MLB-best hits total, pulling him within 4 hits of the Say-Hey Kid for #11 on the all-time list; and Alex Rodriguez scored 3 runs and stands 2 behind Lou Gehrig for #10 on that list (and 28 ahead of the Captain).

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Photo credit: US PRESSWIRE

The New York Yankees close out the American League entries in our Mount Rushmore series, and this one is a doozy. Continue reading →

Yeah, I know. I wish I could have gotten this out sooner — say, before Saturday’s games. But as the saying goes, life is what happens while you’re busy trying to follow pennant races….

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The Yankees have hit a goodly number of home runs this season, as you have presumably noticed. Through last night’s games the (well-nicknamed) Bombers lead the majors with 207 dingers, through game 138 of the season.  That’s a pace that would generate about 243 homers if maintained over 162 games, which is impressive but it is hardly unprecedented. A 243-homer season would tie for the 11th-most team homers in a major league season.

Where the 2012 Yankees are on record or near-record pace is in hitting home runs off of left-handed pitchers. Details after the jump. Continue reading →

This season, Paul Konerko, David Ortiz and Adam Dunn have joined the 400 HR club that now boasts 50 members. But, it’s not entirely clear who the next club member may be.

After the jump, I’ll look at the history of the 400 HR club, and what may lie ahead? Continue reading →

@Orioles 10, Yankees 6: It took just 4 pitches to erase all the momentum of New York’s 5-run, game-tying 8th. David Robertson meant to climb the ladder with a 1-and-2 fastball, but he missed a rung or two, and by the time the fireworks were through — 3 HRs in a span of 14 pitches, capped by a casual left-on-lefty’s-curveball blast — Baltimore had climbed back into a first-place tie, with a leg up in the season series. Their 6 HRs for the game set a new club high against the Bombers.

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