Rays 7, @Blue Jays 1: Matt Moore turned in Tampa’s third straight strong start (1 R, 2 H in 6 IP), and the Rays moved to 3-0 with Evan Longoria back in the lineup, even at DH — not only completing the sweep (with a total of 4 runs allowed), but resurfacing in the wide-open wild-card race. Losses by Detroit and Baltimore leave Tampa just a half-game out of a playoff spot and with a bit of momentum: They’ve won 10 of 15, including series wins over WC competitors LAA, OAK and BAL.

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Quick – have you had a bad day at work this year? Pretty silly question, right. Well, if you’re among a select group of pitchers, maybe it’s not such a silly question. I’m talking about guys who deliver an honest day’s work almost every time they pitch and almost never have an “off day”.

As of this writing, there are still 5 pitchers this year who have put in a honest day’s work (HDW) every time they’ve pitched, and one (Ivan Nova) who had his streak snapped with his most recent outing earlier this week. After the jump, I’ll look more at the most reliable performers among major league pitchers.

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Miguel Cabrera is in his 10th season. Just for fun, I compared his 10-year totals (projecting his 2012 rates to a full season) with those of Henry Aaron, who also debuted at age 20. Before you finish that derisive snort, let me state clearly that Aaron was without question:

• a better hitter than Cabrera (8 points of OPS+ is significant);
• a much better baserunner; and
• a far more valuable player, considering defense.

That said, their hitting totals are still interesting:

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[Originally posted as “Tuesday” game notes, doink. I was home sick for 2 days and my head got kinda fuzzy.]

@Brewers 3, Reds 2: You’re never as good as you look when you’re winning 15 of 16, says the adage, and the Reds suddenly have a 4-game losing streak, their second this year, averaging 2 runs on 5 hits. Milwaukee’s comeback was keyed by Carlos Gomez, who put them on the board with a HR in the 6th (reaching double-digits for the first time), then knocked in the tying run with 2 outs in the 8th and scored on Ryan Braun‘s double.

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My how time flies. It was 5 years ago today that Barry Bonds passed Hank Aaron as the all-time home run leader among MLB players.

2007 Topps Update Barry Bonds 756 #HRK

I’ve got two questions–how did you feel then and how do you feel now?

Then–I didn’t care. Even more than that, I went out of my way to avoid news of it and acted like it was even happening. I hated Bonds as a person, hated Selig as commissioner, hated everything about the whole thing. I practically vomited in my mouth thinking about the spectacle that would ensue when it happened. I didn’t look at Barry Bonds as the poster child of steroids–I knew lots of people used them–but I certainly didn’t want to give him any accolades and act like it never happened.

Now–I still don’t appreciate Bonds as a person but I am a lot more comfortable accepting him as the home run king. Yes, he cheated. He deserves a major knock as a person for that. But lots of other players cheated, and the fact is that he has hit the most MLB homers. That’s a simple fact. Lots of factors have affected baseball records. Ted Williams would have given Babe Ruth a run for his money as HR king had he not lost more than 4 years to military service. Had Glenn Davis played in Fenway park and not the Astrodome, he probably would have been a superstar. Hundreds of players have used amphetamines dating back 50 years. I don’t like Bonds, but he is what he is–the all-time MLB HR leader.

What was it like for you then, and what’s it like now?

Added games are above the solid line.

@Orioles 3, Mariners 1: Chris Tillman won his 4th straight start, beating the team that developed him but dealt him away in the disastrous Bedard trade. Nick Markakis nipped Jason Vargas on his Achilles heel with a 2-run HR (2 out, 1-2 count in the 2nd), helping end his 5-start win streak. Baltimore has crept within a half-game of the wild card.

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Some more notes from Sunday games, not worth a separate post. New content is above the solid line.

— Baltimore’s 1-0, 10-inning win was the first MLB game since 1982 in which both teams pitched 10+ innings and allowed 3 hits or less. (That ’82 game is well-known to Mets fans, as super-spot-starter Terry Leach tossed a 10-IP 1-hitter in his 2nd career start — one of his 3 shutouts in 21 career starts.)

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Cliff Lee of the Phillies is having one weird season. As of this writing, Lee is sporting a 2-6 W-L record after 19 starts, with rate stats comparable to his career averages.

So, what’s so unusual? I’ll take a look after the jump.

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Thanks to regular poster Richard Chester for contributing this article and analysis. Richard is a long-time Yankees follower with many stories to tell of days at the Stadium.

Derek Jeter has been piling on the hits this year and attention has been focused on his climb up the ladder of the lifetime hits leader board. Not often observed is his relatively low RBI total, even for a leadoff hitter. As of the date of this writing, 8/2/2012, he is projected to accumulate  213 hits and 50 RBIs. This would out him into a not-so-desirable club of players with 200 or more hits and no more than 50 RBIs.

After the jump, I’ll look some more at this unusual “club”.

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Out with a bang

Here are retired players since 1901 with the highest OPS+ values in their final season (minimum 200 plate appearances):

It’s a beautiful thing that these seasons are so spread across baseball history. Check out the league leaders, too: Shoeless Joe led the league in triples, Barry Bonds led in OBP, and Steve Evans led in doubles.

Brian Downing stuck it to the Angels with a strong finish in Texas. Dave Nilsson wanted to go home to Australia and quit MLB while he was still doing really well. Ted Williams finished his career on a homer. Will Clark was an amazing late-season pickup for the Cardinals. Roberto Clemente was still playing really well before dying during the off-season.

That’s a list of (mostly) great players with (mostly) great stories about how they finished up.

Out with a whimper

Here are retired players since 1901 with the lowest OPS+ values in their final season (minimum 200 plate appearances):

These seasons are also spread around a lot, although none are more recent than 1998. I think that teams have become extremely reluctant to give much playing time to guys who can’t do anything with the bat. This makes sense during the really high-scoring era of the 2000s, when defense mattered a little less because saving 1 run mattered a little less.

If you skimmed the second list, you may have missed one name near the end: Alan Trammell. He’s the only guy on that second list with a career OPS+ over 97 (his was 110). Fangraphs has his wRC+ in that final season as 37, meaning he created runs at 37% of league average…abysmal.