Year of the Pitcher, Chapter 16:
- In his third career major league start, Travis Wood took a perfect game into the ninth inning before allowing a leadoff double to Carlos Ruiz, which proved to be the only baserunner he would allow. Unfortunately, he only got a no-decision because Roy Halladay was busy throwing nine shutout innings of his own. Between then, they struck out 17 batters. Meanwhile, Chris Tillman took a no-no into the seventh inning, and Javier Vazquez took one into the sixth.
On The Other Hand:
- Cliff Lee threw a complete game in his Rangers debut, but gave up six runs on nine hits, including three home runs - one of them to Cesar Izturis.
Notables:
- Tom Gorzelanny struck out seven and walked only one over six strong innings to win his fourth game of the season. He now has a 3.16 ERA and has struck out 76 batters in 74 innings, so you can see why he's had trouble hanging onto a regular rotation spot.
- All-Star Tim Hudson threw seven shutout innings to get his ninth win. His 2.30 ERA would be a career best, and he hasn't had an ERA below 3.00 since 2003.
- Angel Pagan was the only Met to figure Hudson out, going 3-for-4 with a double and stealing two bases.
- All-Star Omar Infante started the game in right field then shifted to third base on a defensive switch in the eighth inning, going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Without a doubt, he's the best utility player on the National League All-Star roster.
- Daniel Nava went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBI. He's now hitting .312/.384/.506 through his first 23 major league games, and is well on his way to never having to pay for a drink or a meal anywhere in New England for the rest of his natural life.
- Adam Lind went 3-for-4 with his third home run in his last five games, and is positioning himself nicely for a second half breakout.
- Carlos Quentin went 2-for-4 with two home runs, giving him four blasts in his last three games.
- Brett Myers evened his record at 6-6, and upped his trade value, with eight innings of one-run ball, with a 5:0 K:BB ratio.
- Gavin Floyd stayed blistering hot, giving up just one run over 7.2 innings. He hasn't allowed more than two earned runs in a start since the beginning of June, with a 1.25 ERA over those seven outings.
- Brad Eldred, who'd long ago been consigned to the Triple-A dustbin, hit his first major league home run since 2007 in his third game as a Rockie.
- Matt Garza throws six one-hit innings to win his 10th game of the season.
- Chris Tillman won his first game of the season, allowing just an unearned run on two hits and a walk over 7.1 innings.
- Michael Stanton went 2-for-4 with a double and a solo home run, his fifth of the season and third in his last five games. Of course, he struck out in the other two at-bats.
- Hanley Ramirez, who recently declared how $#!&|PERCENT| he's been so far this season, went 3-for-4 with a stolen base. His definition of $#!&|PERCENT| apparently involves a .298/.379/.484 slash line, with 13 home runs and 17 steals.
- Buster Posey went 4-for-5 with a double, home run and three RBI.
- Carlos Ruiz went 2-for-4 with two doubles, breaking out Tim Wood's perfect game with the first and coming around to score the game's only run with the second.
- Rajai Davis had a massive game thanks to Scott Kazmir's largesse, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, a steal, three runs scored and five RBI.
- Ben Sheets threw six shutout innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out four.
Save Chances:
- Matt Lindstrom, converted (21). Walked two and struck out two in a shutout inning.
- Kevin Gregg, converted (20). He had to get four outs, but only gave up one measly hit.
- Jose Valverde, converted (19). Two K's in a perfect inning.
- John Axford, converted (10). He struck out two but made it interesting by giving up a Ryan Doumit solo shot with a two-run lead.
- Huston Street, converted (5). Two K's in a perfect inning.
- Juan Gutierrez, converted (2). After Chad Qualls failed to get an out and allowed two runs on a leadoff error and consecutive hits, Gutierrez needed just five pitches, all strikes, to record the save.
Other Closer Outings:
- Carlos Marmol allowed a run on two hits and a walk in an inning of work, protecting a five run lead.
- Billy Wagner threw a perfect inning, striking out one, protecting a four run lead.
- Chad Qualls: see Gutierrez's entry above. This could be the last time Qualls makes an apperance in the 'Other Closer Outings' section.
- Brad Lidge threw a scoreless, if nervous, 10th inning, loading the bases on a hit and two walks.
Non-Closer Outings:
- With extra rest from the All-Star break on the way, Kevin Slowey tossed two shutout innings of relief on his throw day.
- Matt Thornton gave up a hit in a third of an inning, while JJ Putz gave up a hit and struck out one in a full inning.
- David Hernandez worked the ninth inning with a five run lead, giving up two hits and striking out two in a scoreless frame.
- Tyler Clippard gave up four runs on two hits and two walks in just a third of an inning, the fourth time in seven games he's been scored on. His ERA over that stretch has more than doubled, from 1.58 to 3.31.
Lineup-o-logy:
- with Justin Smoak in Seattle, Chris Davis got the start at first base and hit second cleanup... err, eighth. He went his usual 0-for-3, but managed not to strike out.
- Nationals manager Jim Riggleman continued his quest to use a different lineup every game for the rest of the season, starting Justin Maxwell in center field and leadoff, and Mike Morse in right field hitting seventh.
- Adam LaRoche was a mystery last-minute scratch, forcing Rusty Ryal to play first base. Injury? Trade? Secret assignment for the CIA? We'll know soon enough, unless it was the latter of course.
Tough Days:
- Tyler Colvin went 0-for-5, and is 2-for his last-17. He's still got a phenomenal .531 SLG, but it looks like the league is figuring him out.
- John Ely got smacked around like LeBron's public image, giving up six runs on five hits and three walks in 2.1 innings.
- Nick Blackburn served up home runs to four different Tigers, en route to seven runs on seven hits (all extra-base knocks) in four innings. You know who would look great in the Twins rotation right about now? Someone who isn't Nick Blackburn.
- John Lackey couldn't find the strike zone with the GPS app on his iPhone, walking six and giving up eight hits (adding up to seven runs) in 4.2 innings.
- that Dave Duncan pixie dust hasn't yet worked its magic on Jeff Suppan, who gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks in 4.2 innings.
- Scott Kazmir allowed a touchdown and two field goals (that adds up to 13 for you non-football fans) in five innings, surrendering home runs to the A's vaunted Jaywalker's Row of Rajai Davis, Coco Crisp and Daric Barton.
Injuries:
- with the All-Star break approaching, a ton of players with nagging injuries may not see any action at all this weekend, a list that includes Matt Wieters (hamstring), Andres Torres (groin), Jose Reyes (oblique), Felix Pie (quad), David Eckstein (calf) and Scott Rolen (back)
- Travis Hafner left Saturday's game in the fourth inning due to tightness in his back
Home Runs:
- Jose Bautista (24), Miguel Cabrera (22), Prince Fielder (20), Mark Reynolds (20), Alex Gonzalez (17), Carlos Gonzalez (17), Carlos Quentin 2 (17), Adam Jones (14), Ryan Braun (12), Adam Lind (12), Garrett Jones (11), Magglio Ordonez (11), Aramis Ramirez (10), Chris Snyder (10), Michael Cuddyer (9), Geovany Soto (9), Ryan Doumit (8), Nick Markakis (6), Aaron Rowand (8), Buster Posey (7), Daric Barton (5), Johnny Damon (5), Michael Stanton (5), Alex Avila (4), Mike Morse (4), Gordon Beckham (3), Coco Crisp (3), Rajai Davis (3), Jeff Keppinger (3), Brad Eldred (1), Cesar Izturis (1), Melvin Mora (1)
Stolen Bases:
- Rajai Davis (27), Angel Pagan 2 (19), Hanley Ramirez (17), Drew Stubbs (17), Ben Zobrist (17), Ryan Braun (12), Fred Lewis 2 (10), Jose Tabata (8), Ian Desmond (7), Stephen Drew (6), Justin Maxwell (3), Alexei Ramirez (3), Kevin Youkilis (3), JD Drew (2), Ryan Spilborghs (1)
Caught Stealing:
- Scott Podsednik (11), Ian Desmond (2), Stephen Drew (2), Carlos Gomez (2), AJ Pierzynski (2), Jon Jay (1)