@Tigers 6, Twins 0: Joe Mauer timed a 1-and-1 curve from a tiring Anibal Sanchez and lined it through the middle, a foot above the hurler’s head, spoiling the no-hit bid with 1 out in the 9th on his 121st pitch. Sanchez fanned the last 2 men for 12 Ks, a career-high 130 pitches, and his 4th career 1-hitter. Since his 2006 debut, he leads the majors with 5 regulation CGs of 1 hit or less; Matt Cain has 4 in that time, Verlander and Dickey 3 each. Sanchez allowed 5 hits in his 17-K game last month.

• Sanchez threw just 103 times in his 2006 no-no. Tonight, he walked 2 of his first 6 men, then set down 18 straight (8 Ks) before a 3rd walk.
• Jered Weaver no-hit Minny last May.
• Victor Martinez left 5 men on base while making the last outs in the 1st and 3rd innings. Detroit is last in DH runs and HRs (13 and 2), 13th in OPS.
• 1 for 4 for Cabrera, a 2-RBI single; also struck out with 2 aboard. Forget it, he’s done.
• Silly oddity: Cabrera has fanned 10 times on an 0-2 count this year. All were 3-pitch Ks; none had an 0-2 foul.

@Reds 7, Cubs 4: Scott Feldman became the 3rd Cubs pitcher to homer this year. (Milwaukee has 2 pitcher HRs, both from Gallardo. No other team has more than 1.) But he surrendered 2 HRs and 5 runs in the 4th, and Chicago lost its 5th straight. Joey Votto nudged his OBP to .484 (with a little slugging mixed in) as the Reds reached 30 wins faster than they had since 1995.

• Brandon Phillips made the lead comfortable with a 2-run shot in the 8th, giving him 42 RBI in their 48 games. Joe Morgan ’76 is the only Reds second baseman to reach 100 RBI.
• Votto was the first to 40 Runs this year, but CarGo passed him later in the evening.
• Another 3-run save for Chapman, 4 of 11 total; whatever. He put 2 on with 1 out, then whiffed Rizzo and Soriano.

@Nationals 5, Phillies 2: A Philly win would have put both sides at .500, but no. Jordan Zimmermann, who lost 2-1 last time out, was looking at the same in the 5th — but wait, a 4-spot! Zim (7 IP, 2 R, no walks, 1 K) has allowed 3 runs just once, that a CG; he’s 8-2, 1.71.

Orioles 10, @Blue Jays 6: The number counted shall be three … The O’s tallied thrice each of the first three innings, totaling 3 dingers. Chris Davis (#16) homered for the 3rd game in a row. J.J. Hardy, batting 3rd with his .266 OBP, started things off with a 3-run shot. It’s Hardy’s 20th career start in the 3-hole. Jays 3B Brett Lawrie was tossed in the 3rd, along with his skipper.

• Forgettable debut for lefty prospect Sean Nolin: 6 runs, 7 hits, 4 outs.
• 2nd game this year with 16+ hits for each side.

Yankees 9, @Rays 4: David Phelps retired the first 13 men before a Loney double. The Rays started to solve him in the 6th, and knocked him out in the 8th with a liner off his right arm, hopefully no real damage. Less lucky was Curtis Granderson, hit on the left hand by a pitch in the 5th; he stayed in and scored, but later X-rays showed a broken pinkie, see you in a month.

• Roberto Hernandez is 1-6 with a 7.86 ERA in 9 starts against the Yankees.

Marlins @ChiSox 4, Marlins 3 (11): Season debut for John Danks, had a lead in the 7th but the pen let in his run, then escaped with a bags-full DP. Miami got a man to 3rd with 2 outs in the 8th; no luck. They got 2 on with 1 out in the 10th, but Polanco went 6-4-3. Sox filled ’em up in the bottom half, but Rios went 6-4-3. Things were set up the same in the 11th, and finally, Jeff Keppinger’s grounder got through.

• Rookie Tom Koehler (6 IP, 3 R) made his 3rd straight solid start, but still looking for his first career dubya. Fish have averaged less than 2.7 R/G.
• Keppinger has 2 walks in 166 PAs, a pace of 7 walks in 585 PAs. No one since 1922 has had less than 8 walks in 500+ PAs.

Braves 5, @Mets 5 (suspended): The rains came pouring in the bottom of the 8th, but the umps were determined to complete the inning in fairness to Atlanta, who went ahead by 2 in the top half. But it was no baseball weather. NY native Anthony Varvaro could barely grip the ball at first, walking the leadoff man. He got 2 outs, bouncing several curves along the way. But Daniel Murphy’s third hit brought one run, with the leveler taking 3rd on B.J. Upton’s needless backhand boot in a sodden center field. And then Varvaro skipped one through the wickets to tie the game. Inning over, they brought out the tarps.

• Hey, at least they kept him in the yard! Evan Gattis pinch-hit the go-ahead single with 2 outs and bases drunk in the 8th; now 5 for 7, 8 RBI in that role.
• Another winless start for Jeremy Hefner (6 IP, 2 R, 3 H), as Hawkins blew the lead with a HR to the first batter he saw.
• Ike Davis whiffed in all 4 trips, 16 pitches, 2 fouls.
• Murphy’s 21 for his last 44, with 11 runs in 11 games. I didn’t think the Mets had scored 11 runs….
• It took Scott Rice 15 years to make the big leagues; now his arm might fall off before year #16. The lefty has appeared in 28 of New York’s 45 games, totaling 22 IP. At that rate, he would pitch 100 games, 79 IP. Even for a semi-LOOGY, that’s a heavy load. Mike Marshall (1974) is still the only many to pitch more than 95 times in a season.
  

@Brewers 2, Pirates 1: The Crew got their 5th May win against 16 losses, but it cost them for closer for at least a few days. Jim Henderson pulled a groin fielding a grounder and had to give way to Francisco Rodriguez for the final out, his 295th career save but his first since last July 18. Marco Estrada retired the first 14 men before Neil Walker’s single; he worked through a 2-out triple in the 6th, but Walker nicked him again with an RBI double in the 7th.

• Another tough loss for A.J. Burnett. Four starts ago, he was 3-2 with a 2.57 ERA. He still has that 2.57 ERA, but now he’s 3-5; backed by 5 runs in those 4 games.
• Bucs were no-hit by Homer Bailey last September, snapping a 31-year streak.

Athletics 6, @Astros 5: How to blow a 2-run lead, by Jose Veres: Walk the leadoff man … walk another … tick, tick, tick, boom.

• Grant Balfour got away with 2 walks in his 9th, converting his 10th straight.
• A’s had just 7 hits, but accepted 7 walks and a HBP. They’re the first team to 200 walks this year.
• Houston erupted for 5 in the 5th, everything after 2 outs, capped by a 3-run shot from J.D. Martinez. Their 5 hits came in a span of 9 pitches from Tommy Milone.
• Astros are 6-17 at home, a .261 W%. The only worse marks in modern history were the 1939 Browns (18-59 at home, 43-111 overall) and the 1911 Rustlers (a.k.a. Braves, 19-54, 44-107).

Angels 5, @Royals 2: Ready for “Trout vs. Cabrera II”? Mike Trout reached 3 times, scoring twice, plus a steal. That’s 23 runs and 23 RBI in his last 23 games, and a 12-11 record for the Halos.

@Red Sox 8, Indians 1: Mike Carp broke an 0-for-21 with a 3-run blast off Justin Masterson, and the Tribe never got back in it. They’ve dropped 3 of their last 4, to Detroit and Boston, and fell out of first place.

• I’m duty-bound to report to report that John “Lackey of the Ruling Class” pitched well, but at least there was an unearned run.
• I’m just puzzled by the chatter about Jacoby Ellsbury‘s upcoming free agency. Is he really an attractive target? The magical bat of 2011 is a memory, and while his D remains good, he turns 30 in September. Don’t trust any CF over 30, as the saying goes.

Rockies 5, @Giants 0: Tyler Chatwood hasn’t lit up the metric boards, but he’s allowed 1 run over his last 3 outings (17.2 IP), and the Rox have won all 4 of his starts. SF began the night 17-8 at home and in a 3-way tie for first, but Colorado knocked them down to third with long hits by Michael Cuddyer, quietly rocking a 1.005 OPS with 26 ribs in 32 games.

@D-backs 5, Padres 2: The Snakes struck for all 5 runs in the 7th with a doubles quartet capped by Goldschmidt, and Bud Black made 3 pitching moves in that frame to no avail. Brandon McCarthy continued his turnabout, allowing 1 run over his last 3 starts (24 IP).

Cardinals 7, @Dodgers zip: It began well for L.A. — a clean top half, a Crawford single. Then Mark Ellis whiffed, Crawford was caught stealing, and they were done. St. Louis scored in 5 of the next 6 innings, while the Dodgers mustered just 2 more hits.

• L.A. is 9-19 against winning teams.

Rangers 9, @Mariners 5: All 10 Rangers batters got 1 or 2 hits. Why do I have no memory of Jeff Baker, now in his 9th MLB season? He has 5 HRs in 48 ABs for Texas.

• The pressure was really on Joe Nathan when he came in for the last out. Had he allowed a HR, he’d have faced the potential tying run. Nathan has converted all 15 save chances, but 4 came by the cheap “tying run on deck” loophole, with 2 of those lasting just 1 out.

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Thursday games

@Angels 5, Royals 4: KC rallied for 2 in the 9th off Frieri and had the tying run on 1st with 2 outs, top of the order up. But Ned Yost chose to “set the table” with two of his worst hitters, Chris Getz (.209 this year, .254 career with zero power) and Alcides Escobar (.304 career OBP, also no power). Alex Gordon is 23 for 53 in 13 games since moving to 3rd in the order, but has just 7 RBI. And the game ended with Gordon on deck.

• Of course, if Getz and Escobar were in the bottom of the order, maybe the Royals don’t even get those 2 runs. Ultimately, the quality of the hitters is far more important than the batting order.

@Pirates 4, Cubs 2: The Bucs struck early, with double deuces off Edwin Jackson before the rains came. They’ve won 11 of 13, and are 14-6 in May, with a 2.39 team ERA. This was their 16th straight game allowing 5 runs or less, the club’s 2nd-best streak since 1990. (They had 18 straight to start last season, but wen 8-10; they’re 12-4 in this streak.

• Starling Marte (3-2-2-0, walk, SB) is batting .310 with a .377 OBP, but only 10 walks in over 200 PAs. Where’s the extra OB hiding? Ten plunks. I had noticed his poor BB rate in the minors, but missed him averaging 23 HBP per 650 PAs.

@Blue Jays 12, Orioles 6: Toronto’s 4-run 6th started with 2 outs and none on. Then: walk, walk, walk, “slam-on-the-brakes-‘fore-we-hit-that-pole!” They added 4 in the 9th with 2 singles, plus 2 walks, an E-6 and a passed ball. O’s won the homer war, 3-2, but doled out 8 walks to Toronto’s 1.

• At least the Chris Davis polar expedition kept anyone from owning a Triple Crown lead. By the way, in spite of Cabrera’s RISP numbers, Davis holds a slight lead in AL Win Probability Added.

@Tigers 7, Twins 6: After Miggy cranked his 14th for an early 2-0 lead and plated another with a 2-out hit in the 5th, Minnesota walked him on 4 pitches in the 7th and 8th, each with a man on. Prince Fielder didn’t get great wood in either AB, but he coaxed them through the infield for RBI hits, including the go-ahead in the 8th. Minny took a 6-3 lead to the stretch, hoping to end an 8-game slide, but their ‘pen allowed 4 ER in the last 2 frames.

• Fielder has batted 27 times after Cabrera was walked (25) or hit by the pitch (2). The results: 11 outs (5 Ks, 1 GDP), 5 walks, 11 hits in 22 ABs (3 HRs, 2 doubles, 1.000 slugging), 18 RBI and 1.3 WPA. Five go-ahead hits (in the 8th inning, 6th, 6th, 5th and 3rd), 3 of them producing 3 runs each, 4 of them worth at least 0.24 WPA. Team record, 16-6.
• Papa Grande came in to protect a slim lead against the heart of the order — Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham (already 2 HRs tonight) and Justin Morneau. He got ’em all, and they’re now a combined 2 for 30 against Valverde (both singles). Don’t look too closely, but … Guess who owns the lowest OPS among pitchers with 10+ innings so far.

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In ERA terms, Justin Verlander just had the worst 3-game stretch of his career, an 11.37 ERA (17 ERA in 12.2 IP). For total runs allowed, it’s his worst 3-game stretch since the start of 2009 (also 17 runs), which was before he reached his current stature. Two of the 3 games were against the potent Indians, and the latest featured 3 runs after a long rain delay, so it may be too soon to wonder if something’s wrong. (Oh please oh please oh please….)

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Is there a broadly accepted definition of “tough loss”? If not, how about this:

1. 6+ IP and 3 runs or less; and
2. IP at least 3 times ER.

By that standard, James Shields has 5 tough losses already this year. All 5 of his losses have been tough losses, totaling 38 IP and 11 runs (10 ER), a 2.37 ERA. Next are Cole Hamels (4) and Jeff Samardzija (3). Last year’s leader had 6 (Clayton Kershaw), no others above 4.

Shields has 8 starts this year that meet those criteria, regardless of decision; that’s tied for 2nd behind Corbin and Buchholz. The 12 pitchers with at least 7 such starts, other than Shields, have a combined 62-3 record in those games (all with at least 3 wins and no more than 1 loss); Shields is 1-5.

Shields is 5th in WAR among AL pitchers, with 2.1 WAR — but just 2 wins. The highest ratio of WAR to wins with at least 200 IP is 0.83 by Jim Abbott, 1992 (5.8 WAR, 7 wins). The highest in a qualified season is 0.98 by Eddie Smith of the 1937 A’s (3.9 WAR, 4 wins). Smith had 197 IP and a 120 ERA+, but went 4-17.

Eddie Smith, of course, was one of the unluckiest pitchers of all time, posting a career 108 ERA+ in almost 1,600 IP, with a 73-113 record. Out of 541 modern pitchers with at least 150 starts and an ERA+ 100 or better, his .392 W% is the absolute worst. But he was recognized as a good pitcher in his time; he made the All-Star team in 1941-42, despite a combined record of 20-37.

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Cory Rasmus finished up Wednesday for Atlanta and allowed 2 HRs in his MLB debut. Big brother needed a full year to bag his first 2-HR game.

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The Mets could use a guy like Carlos Beltran in their outfield, eh? No, I’m not second-guessing the trade for Zack Wheeler. The point is that Beltran has remained a lot more healthy than most would have guessed; and of course, health is really the only thing that’s ever interfered with his production. After averaging 96 games from 2009-11 (age 32-34), Beltran has missed just 13 Cardinals games since the start of 2012, posting a 129 OPS+ with 42 HRs, 126 RBI. The Mets OF leader in that span, Lucas Duda, has 23 HRs, 71 RBI, and a 106 OPS+. This year is still young, but Beltran’s on pace for a 2nd straight year of 150+ games; he would be the 34th ever to do that at ages 35-36. Meanwhile, Wheeler has had some control issues since stepping up to AAA last year, averaging 4.0 BB/9 and 8.9 SO/9 in 15 starts.