Sanchez, Sanchez everywhere, but that’s not where we start….

@Nationals 1, Reds 0: Jordan Zimmermann used just 91 pitches in his first career shutout, allowing a single in the 3rd and a walk in the 8th, neither man advancing. It’s the first 1-hitter in Washington Nationals history.

Zimmermann fanned just 4, conserving his energy. He got the last 3 outs on 5 pitches, retiring noted walkers Shin-Soo Choo on 2 pitches and Joey Votto on 1, both flyouts to LF. It’s the low-hit CG of the year so far, completed in 2 hours, 8 minutes. Zimmermann is 4-1 with a 2.00 ERA this year, and a 2.95 ERA since 2011.

• Hard-luck Homer Bailey made it a splendid duel, going 7 on 5 hits, no walks and 89 pitches, departing for a PH. The run came in the 4th on back-to-back hits, Bryce Harper’s triple (on a full count after 0-2) and a single by Jayson Werth, just past the dive of a drawn-in Brandon Phillips. Bailey, who saved a run with this nifty play, has 4 very good starts out of 5 and trimmed his ERA to 2.81, but fell to 1-2. The Reds were blanked in both losses, and he got ND for a brilliant 8 scoreless, 10-K outing in a 1-0 walk-off win.
• The last no-hitter in Expos/Nats history was by Dennis Martinez in 1991. Javier Vazquez had the last 1-hitter in 1999.
• 10th 1-0 game this year. There were 41 last year

Braves @Tigers: The unstoppable force met the immovable object, and evaporated. Atlanta came in #1 with 35 HRs, while Anibal Sanchez had not allowed a HR yet in 4 starts, 25.2 IP. Sanchez fanned 2 in the 1st and never stopped, ending with 17 Ks in 8 IP a franchise record (in regulation), while walking 1. He did not come out for the 9th and a chance to match the MLB record, having thrown 121 pitches, his most since 2011. (His 2006 no-hitter took 104 pitches, with 6 Ks.) Sanchez is 3-1 with a 1.34 ERA and 41 Ks in 33.2 IP. Detroit scored all their runs in the 3rd and 4th innings, handing Paul Maholm his worst mark as a Brave (3.2 IP, 8 runs, 10 hits).

• He had at least 2 Ks in every inning but the 4th, which began with a whiff and ended with a DP. None of the strikeouts was against a pitcher, since the game was played in Detroit.
• It’s the highest total since 2010-08-08, when Brandon Morrow combined the Gio and Anibal feats. The last with 18 was Ben Sheets in 2004.
• Sanchez had lost his last 5 starts to Atlanta, those all with the Marlins. In 17 starts, he had never held the Braves scoreless.
• Since 1916, Mickey Lolich was the only Tiger with 16 Ks in a game, doing it twice in a 3-start span of 1969. Max Scherzer had 15 last year in a 7-IP stint. Justin Verlander‘s career high is 14.
• The AL & NL batting leaders went at it: Torii Hunter, 3-5, .386; Chris Johnson, 2-4, .403. Hunter, who turns 38 in July, has 201 hits in 160 games since the start of 2012 and a .323 BA; he had a .274 career mark before that and had never hit .300.

Phillies 4, @Mets 0: Kyle Kendrick spun his 2nd career shutout, baffling the top-scoring team in the majors (!) on 3 singles and a walk. No Met reached 2nd after the opening frame, and there was hardly a loud out all night. Dillon Gee was just as sharp through 5 stanzas, but suddenly lost his command in the 6th, yielding 3 hard singles and a 3-run moonbeam by Ryan Howard. The hobbled slugger has 4 hits in 12 ABs against Gee, all taters, one per game.

• Every team but Arizona has now suffered a shutout this year.

@Rangers 4, Twins 3: In his 3rd game, rookie Justin Grimm blanked Minnesota for 7 innings, besting Scott Diamond in every facet. Texas led 3-0 after 8 and tacked on in the 9th, helped by a leadoff walk — the only pass of the game by the Twins, who lead the majors in walk prevention. That run seemed relevant only to fantasy owners deprived of a Joe Nathan save chance. But the Twins got the first 2 aboard against the mighty-mite rookie Joe Ortiz, and after a blown-call strikeout (ump missed the foul tip), Nathan came in and whiffed another. Oswaldo Arcia drilled his 2nd HR, both 3-run drives on the first pitch, but Nathan got Ryan Doumit on a flyout for the craptastically cheap save.

• Texas (16-7) will play some good teams this year, eventually.

@Cardinals 9, Pirates 1: Way down on the other end of the Sanchez spectrum … Both teams came in hot, Pittsburgh winning 6 of 7, while St. Louis came home from a sweep in D.C. The Cards opened with HR-HR-single off Jonathan Sanchez, all with 2 strikes. His next pitch hit Allen Craig, and J-San was tossed, with Clint Hurdle tumbling after. He’s just not a major-league pitcher right now.

• Carlos Beltran homered from both sides and has 340 career HRs, 10 back of Chili Davis for #5 among switch-hitters. If he stays healthy, Beltran will reach 1,300 Runs and RBI this year, which only 5 other switchies have done. He has 4 HRs in 5 games batting 2nd this year, and now has more HRs from that slot than he has at cleanup, and a better HR% hitting 2nd than anywhere else in the order. In fact, of the 5 spots where he’s hit at least 40 games, all his best averages are hitting 2nd, with an OPS over .930.
• Lance Lynn last year won his first 6 starts and his last 5; now 4-0 in 5 starts this year … and once again among the run-support leaders. He’s pitched well, but not as well as you’d think from his record of 22-6 in 36 career starts.

@Red Sox 7, Astros 3: Backup catcher David Ross came in 3 for 25 on the season, then went 4 for 4 with 2 HRs. Mike Napoli had 2 more doubles and now has 13 out of 26 hits, adding his 27th RBI. The BoSox saw 186 pitches in 8 innings and rapped 17 hits, but took no walks against the team that led the majors in charity.

• Dustin Pedroia hit 2 doubles. He averaged 47 doubles per 162 G through last year, but came in with just 3 out of 25 hits (and no HRs) in the first 22 games.
• Another 14 strikeouts by the Houston hack squad, who average 10.6 Ks per game and 27% of PAs. Their offense isn’t so bad, though — 10th in AL R/G and 7th in OPS+. It’s the pitching you really need to fear — last in the AL in almost all measures, including a 1.59 WHIP.
• Erik Bedard in 3 IP allowed 8 hits, 5 runs and 3 HRs, using 91 pitches. At least he’s past the restrictive pitch count.
• The day will come when I stop looking for Houston in the NL tables. But today is not that day.

@Yankees 6, Blue Jays 4: Won the battle, lost the battery. Francisco Cervelli left after 5 pitches when a foul tip fractured his hand, out 6 weeks or so. Ivan Nova struggled early again and walked off in the 3rd with a bum elbow. Three hits in the 9th off Mariano, but he got Colby Rasmus swinging to end it.

• I knew Toronto had claimed Aaron Laffey … did not think they meant to start him. Five walks in 2.2 IP. There may be a place for this soft-tossing lefty, but Yankee Stadium ain’t it.

Cubs 4, @Marlins 2: Anthony Rizzo hit 2-run HRs his first 2 trips, and the second one landed in an upstairs mannequin warehouse. That’s 8 HRs for Rizzo, half on the first pitch; now to work on that .200 BA.

• Dear Joe Mahoney from Albany, NY — Congratulations on your first HR. I hope it shuts up those smart-aleck bloggers.
• The teams combined for only 7 strikeouts, but still went 1 for 13 with RISP. Contact isn’t everything.

@White Sox 5, Rays 4: Three ChiSox HRs, by the usual suspects — Hector Gimenez, Tyler Greene, and of course, Conor Gillaspie. (OK, Gillaspie is their more-or-less regular 3B … I should have heard of him, I guess.)

Orioles 3, @Athletics 0 (9th): Scoreless until the 7th, when Baltimore capitalized on Josh Reddick’s momentary loss of muscular coordination to scoot the leadoff man to 2nd base, whence he scored on a Steve Pearce single. They added 2 in the 9th with a fat-free rally — infield hit, 2 walks, FC+error, sac fly.

• Wei-Yin Chen allowed 2 hits in 8 IP, with a season-high 5(!) strikeouts, shaving his ERA to 2.53.

__________

Seems there was far more buzz last year about 19-year-old Bryce Harper and 20-year-old Mike Trout than there is now about the 20-year-old Harper, who’s been rampaging since Opening Day and leads the NL in OPS+. It’s natural, I guess; been there, seen that. Just thought I’d mention that, while it’s still very early, Harper’s on pace for a bunch of 20-and-under records, including:

• BA: .358 (A-Rod), Harper .364
• SLG: .635 (Ott), Harper .740
• OPS+: 171 (Trout), Harper 224 (through Thursday)

Remember the angst when Harper didn’t have a walk after 8 games? He has 11 in the last 14 games.

One last thing: Harper now has 161 career games, with 113 Runs, 30 HRs, 10 triples, 31 doubles.