@Rays 5, Royals 1: In his last outing, Jeremy Hellickson ran into a buzzsaw named Felix and took a 1-0 loss. This time, his mates rapped out 11 hits, including 6 knocks by the bottom third of the order, a HR by cleanup man Jeff Keppinger (stop smirking!), and a couple of extra-baggers by Desmond Jennings, who’s scored 19 Runs in his last 20 games.
- In their last 30 starts, Tampa’s rotation has an 18-6 record, 2.42 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 8.4 SO/9, and 4.3 SO/BB. The team is 21-9 in that stretch, trimming their division deficit from 10.5 games down to 4.
@White Sox 9, Yankees 6: Three pitching changes in the middle of an inning — we’re used to that by now. But in the 5th inning? I’m happy to say that they all failed, to some extent; each Yankee reliever allowed an RBI to his first batter.
- Four different NYY pitchers allowed a HR — 6th time in club history, first since this 2009 blowout.
- It’s a very small sample, but opponents are hitting .455 against Joba Chamberlain — 15 for 33, with 2 HRs.
Marlins 12, @Diamondbacks 3: Anyone tired of Stanton bombs yet?
- Seeing Ozzie’s boys beat Gibby’s guys makes the ol’ Tigers fan seek revenge. This one isn’t quite “I don’t believe … what I just saw!“, but it’ll do in a pinch: the highest WPA of Gibson’s career, including the more famous game. (Not sure why this one rates higher; same situation, no? Must be the season’s context.)
- ‘Course, Ozzie got his own revenge a week later: a walk-off double(!) in the bottom of the 15th, scoring Spanky LaValliere all the way from 1st, after Gibson had scored the go-ahead run in the top half.
@Mariners 5, Indians 3: Jason Kipnis led off the game with a home run (his first in 48 games), and tied it up with a 2-out hit in the 5th. He had one more shot at heroics: 9th inning, bags full and 1 out. Not this time, kid. Maybe the force of momentum was too strong: the Tribe has lost 6 in a row and 19 of 23, while Seattle has won 6 straight and 16 of 23.
- Michael Saunders is your Monday WPA hero: a go-ahead HR in the 3rd and the same again in the 7th. Saunders had been in a deep slump for 2 months, hitting .189 with 3 HRs and 13 RBI over 50 games, but he now has 3 straight with multiple hits and runs.
- The MLB WHIP leaders (min. 40 IP): 1/Kimbrel, 2/Chapman, 3/Charlie Furbush?
- The M’s have reached run equilibrium: 483 runs scored, 483 runs allowed. They’ve won 13 of their last 14 home games, nudging that mark to 31-30.
- Late Tuesday, it’s Hernandez v. Hernandez, each better known by another moniker. It’s been 3 years since their last matchup, won by
Faustothat other guy. If you’re curious about perfecto follow-ups, here are the previous 10:
- Cain – Jun 18, 2012 – W, 5 IP, 3 R, 6 H
- Humber – Apr 26, 2012 – L, 5 IP, 9 R, 8 H
- Halladay – Jun 4, 2010 – W, 7 IP, 2 R, 10 H
- Braden – May 14, 2010 – L, 8 IP, 4 R, 7 H
- Buehrle – Jul 28, 2009 – L, 6.1 IP, 5 R, 5 H
- Johnson – May 23, 2004 – W, 7 IP, 2 R, 4 H
- Cone – Jul 23, 1999 – ND, 4 IP, 6 R, 6 H
- Wells – May 23, 1998 – W, 7 IP, 3 R, 5 H
- Rogers – Aug 2, 1994 – L, 5.1 IP, 5 R, 6 H
- D.Martinez – Aug 2, 1991 – ND, 7 IP, 4 R, 6 H
