@Indians 6, Mariners 5: A 2-out, 3-run Jake-jack by Jose Lopez tied it in the 8th, and a walk-fueled rally off Brandon League in the 11th culminated in Carlos Santana’s payoff/walk-off that produced Cleveland’s 4th straight win and a 4-game lead in the AL Central.

• League gave just 10 passes in 61 IP last year and hadn’t walked 3 in a game in over 4 years.
• Walks played a key role in all 3 scoring frames for the Indians, who drew 8 in all and are MLB’s runaway leaders in that category, averaging 4.6 per game; San Diego is 2nd at 3.8.
• Enjoy it while it lasts: The Tribe are 9-1 in one-run games, a big reason they’re in 1st place despite being outscored.

Continue reading →

Later this season, Scott Rolen, Adrian Beltre and Chipper Jones could all pass the 2000 mark for career games at third base. Actually, barring injury or retirement, it’s a virtual lock. How  unusual is that? Let’s find out.

Continue reading →

Just a great photo.

Courtesy of Presswire

"We don't need no stinkin' last names." -made up quote from Edgar and Ichiro / Presswire

Now that we’ve gotten the more recent expansion teams out of the way, we’re finally to our first team with at least 30 years of history. Unfortunately, it’s one that hasn’t even been to the World Series…

Let’s take a look at who the heroes of the Mariners are. Continue reading →

@Blue Jays 8, Yankees 1: I confess — I did not pencil in Kyle Drabek for 7 strong IP against the Yanks. In 3 prior starts (13.2 IP), they pummeled him for 12 runs and 27 baserunners.

• Robinson Cano got his 300th double in game #1,090. In the game-searchable era, only 9 players got there faster. For all time, Cano is the 13th to reach 300 doubles within 8 seasons; one of those is his teammate, Mark Teixeira.
• Continue reading →

Ellis Burks, once a great Rockie, in a photo from spring 2012 when he was coaching the Reds / Presswire

Here are the Colorado Rockies. The way I see it, this is a discussion of just the final two faces on their Mount Rushmore as Todd Helton and Larry Walker clearly get the top two spots. Let’s look a little more at who gets #3 and #4.

Continue reading →

Josh Johnson / Presswire

Here’s another toughie, as most of the great players for this franchise didn’t stick around for more than a few years. I’m calling them the Florida Marlins since that’s how they were known for virtually their entire existence. Continue reading →

Just a few notes tonight, alas. Feel free to fill in the gaps!

Indians 5, @Twins 0: Derek Lowe‘s improbable season reached an implausible extreme with a 6-hit shutout, his first since 2005 and first CG since ’08. Lowe began the night with 13 walks and 13 Ks in 43.2 IP, then walked 4 without a strikeout. Lowe got 19 groundball outs, 4 of them DPs, and 2 of the hits were infield singles.

• The last MLB shutout with no Ks and 4+ walks was in 1989 by Doyle Alexander, who (like Lowe) was 38 at the time. The odd whitewash left Alexander at 3-0, 2.01 (and 191 career wins), but he went 3-18 the rest of the way and then retired.
• Lowe’s current rate of 2.22 SO/9 would be the lowest by a qualifier since 2003 (and you don’t want to emulate Nate Cornejo). Only two others since 1961 have averaged fewer Ks. The last 4 qualifiers to average less than 3 SO/9 all had ERAs over 4.30 (ERA+ under 93)
• Continue reading →

— Starlin Castro ranks 12th in MLB with a .333 BA … and 64th with a .349 OBP. Through 35 games, he has 48 hits and 4 walks in 152 PAs, putting him on pace for 222 hits and 18 walks. No Cub since 1937 has topped 210 hits. No one has ever had more than 212 hits with less than 22 walks. And just two players have had 200+ hits with 12 times as many hits as walks.

• Castro’s stats are extreme in other ways. He’s hitting .370 with RISP, 17 for 46 — with 16 singles and a triple. Of his 4 walks, 1 came with men on 1st & 2nd, the others with bases empty; he has no walks in 31 PAs with a man on and 1st base open.

— Ben Zobrist, the anti-Castro, has a .218 BA, but a .377 OBP and 6 HRs. He leads the AL with 30 walks. The highest qualifying OBP ever with a BA under .220 is .377, by Jim Wynn in 1976 (.207 BA, 127 walks).

Continue reading →

Luis Gonzalez and Randy Johnson / Presswire

Time for us to figure out who is on the Mount Rushmore of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Continue reading →