@Angels 9, Orioles 7:

• One of our favorite things here at the Recap Research Megaplex is a box score combo that’s never been seen before. As far as we can tell, Mike Trout‘s bundle of 3 steals with 2 sac flies is unique. There are just two prior games of two SB and two SF, the first by … B.J. Surhoff???
• Trout leads the AL in batting average and stolen bases. The last two players to turn that trick were Jackie Robinson in 1949 and Ichiro Suzuki in 2001, both named MVP. Trout also leads in OPS+ and Runs per Game, which neither of those guys did.
• 3 HRs for the O’s (including a 3-run job), none for the Halos. Teams that hit 3+ HRs in a game are now 196-46 (.810). But the Angels are 2-3 when allowing 3+ HRs, getting out-homered by a total of 8-1 in the two wins. Teams that allow no HRs in a game are now 651-321 (.670); Baltimore is 21-7.
• For the 2nd time in this young month, old LaTroy Hawkins bailed his starter out of a tight spot to earn the game’s pitching WPA honors, a rarity for a middle-innings appearance. Thursday, he entered in the 5th with 1 out, 2 aboard and a 1-run lead, and put out the fire. Last Sunday, he slayed C.J. Wilson‘s no-out, bases-full dragon to preserve a 1-run lead.
• The 8th and 9th were pitched by Scott Downs and Ernesto Frieri, who have Angels ERAs of 0.31 and 0.00, respectively. For the live-ball era, what is the lowest ERA mark met by teammates with at least 50 IP? The answer is 1.52, by Robb Nen (1.52) and Steve Reed (1.48) of the 1998 Giants. Frieri and Downs have combined to allow just 2 runs (1 ER) in 54.1 IP with the Angels, earning 1.6 WAR apiece. The Angels, Orioles and Rangers are the only teams thus far with 2 relievers worth at least 1.5 WAR.
• I haven’t found a way to check this … The Angels used 5 relievers, and each one earned a Win, Hold or Save. Seems unusual.
• Despite losing 11 of 16 and falling 5.5 games behind the Yankees, Baltimore still holds the 2nd wild card spot, one game ahead of Cleveland. The Angels hold the first WC.

Royals 9, @Blue Jays 6:

• Does J.P. Arencibia have a twin? He has 38 career HRs, but six 2-HR games.
• Henderson Alvarez tied a season high in strikeouts … with 4.
• Before this series, these teams combined had just 1 game this year in which every starter had a hit. Then Toronto did it Tuesday and Wednesday (nicely distributing their 13 and 12 hits), and KC did it Thursday for the first time this year.

@Indians 3, Rays 1:

• First time since 2008 that Cleveland had 3+ HRs and HRs=Runs.
• Tampa’s first 41 games: 25-16, .248 BA/.333 OBP, 47 HRs, 4.44 R/G.
• Tampa’s last 42 games: 18-24, .215 BA/.292 OBP, 33 HRs, 3.83 R/G.

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@Nationals 6, Giants 5: A walk-off fielder’s choice?!? Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!!!

• Washington’s 2-run rally started with a leadoff pinch-double by rookie folk hero Tyler Moore (.328/.981 in 72 PAs).
• Then Santiago Casilla, who suddenly can’t get out of his own way, erred on a sac bunt, and Bryce Harper tied it up on a 3-1 pitch (his 4th tying-or-go-ahead RBI in the 9th or later this year — tied for 3rd in the majors).
• Ryan Zimmerman was IBB’d to load the bags, and Mike Morse’s slow grounder became a nifty force at the plate.
• But Adam LaRoche hasn’t hit into a sacks-full DP since 2009 (19 chances): the relay throw by newly-inserted SS Brandon Crawford would have had LaRoche and brought on surplus stanzas, but he bounced it; Brandon Belt couldn’t dig it out, and Harper scored the winner.
• It was the 2nd game-winning fielder’s choice this year, and just the 3rd career game-ending RBI for LaRoche; believe it or not, his last 2 are fielder’s choices. He has 179 career HRs, but no walk-offs.
• Casilla has been scored upon in 4 of his last 6 games, blowing 3 saves and letting 14 of 28 batters to reach safely.
• Washington’s rallies, including 3 in the 7th, with back-to-back jacks by DP tandem Ian Desmond and Danny Espinosa, left Matt Cain short in his 3rd try for his 10th win.
• Desmond‘s last 10 games: 17 for 40, .950 SLG, 12 RBI, raising his season slugging mark to .502. He leads all shortstops in SLG, HRs and RBI. (But you knew that.)
• SF tied their season high with 15 hits, but left 11 on base, including Angel Pagan after a no-out triple in the 7th. Career .122 hitter Cain made the last out there, then gave up the HRs in the bottom half.

@Mets 6, Phillies 5: “Ya gotta believe!“ (Who said that?) On an off night for R.A. Dickey (7 IP, 5 R), New York fought back again and again, winning in the 9th on David Wright‘s third 2-out RBI hit — a bloop to right on the 28th pitch thrown by Jonathan Papelbon.

• The Mets have given Papelbon 3 of his 4 longest battles this year and 2 of his 3 games allowing multiple runs. With 2 out and the bases full, Daniel Murphy ripped a 1-2 pitch back at Pap and it caromed off his foot into foul ground, tying the game.
• Wright went 5-1-3-4, with a 2-run bomb. He’s 16 for 49 with 3 HRs off Cole Hamels.
• The Mets’ first run was a solo laser by Scott Hairston, who’s now 11 for 28 with 5 HRs and 4 doubles vs. Hamels — 1.071 SLG, and tied with Cody Ross for the most HRs ever off Hamels. Against southpaws, Hairston is hitting .307 in 101 ABs, with 9 of the team’s 25 HRs against sinister offerings and .644 SLG.
• Hairston also earned his first OF assist since 2010, hard-charging Chase Utley‘s line-drive hit and firing a perfect throw to nail Mike Fontenot at the plate. Foolish aggression by the 3B coach with 1 out and the top of the order coming up; Jimmy Rollins had been on base all 4 times.
• No hits for Juan Pierre (first time in 7 starts vs. NYM), but he still drove in the go-ahead run with a squeeze bunt in the 6th.
• Antonio Bastardo worked a clean 8th, retiring Wright and Hairston, who both rake LHPs. Bastardo has virtually no platoon differential for his career — .205/.642 vs. righties, .202/.652 vs. lefties. If he can ever cut down his 4.2 BB/9, he could be as devastating as he was for much of last season.
• Like the Nats, New York got a leadoff double in the 9th when down by 1, then sacrificed on a 1-0 count despite having a decent LHB up against a RHP. Color me not pleased, especially with “fan”-tastic Kirk Nieuwenhuis coming up next (83 Ks in 275 PAs, and 2 in 3 prior trips this game). He indeed whiffed feebly on 4 pitches. Granted, Kirk had delivered the runner from 3rd with less than 2 out in 5 of 7 prior chances; I still think the K% outweighs that small sample.

@Pirates 2, Astros 0: Jeff Karstens blanked toothless Houston for 8 frames, sending them to their 8th straight loss and 9th shutout (the most in the NL). Garrett Jones had a hand in both runs, scoring one after a 2nd-inning double and driving in Karstens with a sac fly in the 3rd.

• Jones has just a .299 OBP (8 walks, 50 Ks), but he’s brought needed power to the Pirate lineup, slugging .527, and he’s 2nd on the team in OPS+.
• Pittsburgh is 3rd in NL run prevention and 4th in ERA+, but this was just their 3rd team shutout this year and they don’t have an individual SHO since Karstens did it last July 15.
• The Bucs are 6-1 vs. Houston and 20-11 within the division.

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@White Sox 2, Rangers 1: Chicago took 3 straight from Texas for the first time since 2004, as Jose Quintana rebounded from his lone bad outing by dominating the top offense in baseball on 2 singles and a walk in 8 IP, with 8 Ks. He’s walked just 10 in 57 IP this year.

• Kevin Youkilis broke a 6th-inning tie with his 6th HR, going deep for the second time in three games. Just as importantly, he’s started all 10 games since joining the Pale Hose (7-3 record), going 12-39 with 10 RBI.
• With Youk at 1B, Paul Konerko was the DH against lefty Matt Harrison, and Adam Dunn (hitting .163 vs. southpaws) got his first rest of the year.
• The Yankees let Quintana go last fall as a minor-league free agent at age 22 despite a career 2.76 ERA, 10 SO/9 and 4 SO/BB in the minors. Chicago gave him his first taste of AA this year (2.77 in 9 starts). His MLB debut in long relief: 5.2 IP, 1 hit, no runs — the longest scoreless relief debut since 1977 (Jeff Holly)

@Tigers 7, Twins 3: Minnesota out-hit their hosts 15-9 over all and 6-4 with men in scoring position. How the heck did they lose this game?

• Punch & Judy vs. Pure Power: Out of Minny’s 15 hits, the only extra-bagger was a double, and 2 of the 6 RISP hits stayed on the infield. Detroit had 2 HRs (plating 4 runs), 2 doubles (a Run and a Ribby) and a triple that wound up as the tying run in their 5-run 8th.
• Outs on the basepaths: Darin Mastroianni and Brian Dozier combined for 5 steals in 6 tries, yet their baserunning sorely hurt their team in the end. Mastroianni singled to start the 8th, Twins up 3-2, then sandwiched 2 steals around a strikeout, but was caught stealing home (missed squeeze?) for the 2nd out with Jamey Carroll up. Both speedsters were thrown out at home in the 2nd inning: Mastroianni made the 2nd out coming home on a grounder to 3rd (with the top of the order coming up), and Dozier was cut down trying to score from 2nd on a 2-out single. A GIDP squelched a 1st-inning rally, and they left 5 on in the 3rd and 4th.
• Alex Burnett has been the Twins’ best reliever (1.77 ERA in 40.2 IP coming in), but a .210 BAbip can’t last forever, and he was touched for 3 runs while getting just 1 out.
• Rick Porcello faced 22 batters in 3.2 IP and gave up 12 hits plus a walk, but just 3 runs. It’s the first start of less than 4 IP since at least 1918 with 12+ hits but no more than 3 runs. Better yet, Porcello broke the mark set by Heinie Meine (The Count of Luxemburg) on 1931-07-24, who did 12H/3R in 4 IP while furthering one of Babe Herman‘s cycles. The Robins rapped out 21 hits — 5-5 by Lefty O’Doul, 0-5 for Crowded House frontman Neal Finn — but lost, 8-7. (Actually, Finn’s tale has a sad end.)

Marlins 4, @Brewers 0: Mark Buehrle has won his last 3 starts with 7+ whiffs in each. It’s the first time he’s ever fanned that many in 3 straight games.

• Mike Fiers lost his scoreless streak around 22 IP, but hardly deserved to lose on 2 runs in 7.1 IP, with 9 Ks and a walk. He’s now started 7 times, with a 2.17 ERA and 48 SO/9 BB in 45.2 IP.
• After 5-1/2 years in Houston, Carlos Lee began his Marlins career with 2 hits and scored the game’s first run after a double. The acquisition led to Gaby Sanchez going to the minors just hours after his clutch game-tying HR in the 9th on Wednesday.
• In the 9th, Greg Dobbs added his 10th career pinch-HR, tops among active players since 2000, giving him 6 straight years with at least 1.