@Pirates 6, Reds 5 — A game dotted with dramatic drives and puzzling bullpen picks was settled by spin. With two outs in the 9th and two on by walk, Neil Walker’s fister flummoxed Brandon Phillips at second, and Jay Bruce’s spot-on peg to the plate grew legs on the bounce, leaping clean over the ready-set catcher as Russell Martin slid home for the win.

In the fourth meeting already of last year’s NL wild cards, the visiting nine jumped ahead straightaway: “B Hamilton hit by pitch … J Votto grounded out to pitcher, Hamilton to third [we need the video!] … B Phillips grounded into fielder’s choice to third, Hamilton scored.” The cushion was 2-0 when Andrew McCutchen led off the 4th with a bingle off Mike Leake. Three pitches later, the Bucs led 4-2, on Ike Davis’s second slam of the Reds. Cincy clawed one back in the 7th, on a rare Clint Barmes bobble, Leake’s single to right, and Hamilton’s scoring fly. Then it got interesting.

Francisco Liriano (6 singles in 74 ABs) hit for himself leading off the home 7th, a one-two-three frame. Then Clint Hurdle had him start the 8th against the right-handed #3-4 batters; when both rapped base hits, the tying run was on 3rd with no outs. Now came a fresh lefty for Jay Bruce, but he spat on the ploy by lining an 0-and-2 double to left for the tie. After an IBB, Justin Wilson stayed in to face red-hot righty Devin Mesoraco, a career .313 hitter off lefties. His third hit of the game brought the lead (and a .541 season average), but Bruce was nipped on a close play at home for the first out. (How did he not score from second on that?)

It got better. Zack Cozart’s popout left men on the corners with two down, and brought up Mike Leake, a career .252 hitter. Leake had thrown just 84 pitches, setting down 12 of 14 since the slam. McCutchen would start the home half. But Bryan Price hit for the pitcher with Chris Heisey (.255 career, flied out), and then sent in southpaw Manny Parra.

He did what?

Cutch has a .334/.999 line against lefties, and had 6 hits in 14 tries off Parra, including a homer. No, make that two HRs, as the reigning MVP clocked a hanging changeup far gone to right.

I’m scratching my head. Up by one in the 8th, your first call to the pen pits a homer-prone lefty against a lefty-killer? No doubt, Price was looking ahead to Pedro Alvarez, Walker and Davis, due up 2nd through 4th in that frame. But unless I’m mistaken, Cutch is the key to the inning, and I’m using a righty on him, period. If my pen isn’t deep enough for a one-batter usage, then I’m letting Leake bat for himself; he’s held McCutchen to 10 for 43, with 10 Ks.

The Reds made two-out noise in the 9th, but Bruce lined to center. J.J. Hoover, struggling badly this year, walked Martin on four pitches ahead of McCutchen, then passed him on five. Alvarez popped out on a full count, and Hoover got 0-and-2 on Walker. But the hometown hero got just enough wood to win it.

• Davis has 2 of the majors’ 10 slams so far, and the Bucs’ only one since last May.
• What was the old catcher’s line about what to do when Ty Cobb steals? Something like, “Fake the throw to second, fake it again as he steams on for third, and try to put the tag on as he slides into home.” That’s what we have now in Hamilton, and that’s why I root for him.

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@Braves 4, Marlins 2 — A seesaw battle came out as you’d figure, with Atlanta’s power prevailing at the end. Craig “What’s Wrong with” Kimbrel blew his first save of the year, on a leadoff walk and Derek Dietrich’s pinch-double off the base of the wall. But with the lead run on 3rd and no outs, Kimbrel then struck out the side, all swinging.

Except for an early home run, Julio Teheran was as sharp as he’s been most of the year. The winningest Colombian in MLB history picked up Andrelton Simmons after his rare misfire put the game’s first batter on second, and was repaid with interest: Simmons tied the game in the 5th with his 3rd HR, then started the go-ahead ruckus. Freddie Freeman could have put it away, but his rare 0-for-5 featured a popout with sacks full and one down, so Kimbrel had to walk the tightrope.

• Seen this before: Atlanta’s 12-1 when they hit a homer, 1-5 when they don’t. Last year, 78-28 with, 18-38 without.
• And they’re 51-23 against the Fish since 2010.
• Not much news comes out of Miami, except for Giancarlo and Jose. But at 22, Christian Yelich has now played 80 games in the majors, half a season, with a .300 BA, OBP near .380, and a perfect record on 14 steals. The power may come yet; he slugged near .500 all three of his minor-league seasons.

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White Sox 3, @Tigers 1 — Four hard hits in the 7th turned a gem into dust. Anibal Sanchez had worked past a leadoff double in the 4th, the only hit in his first six innings, nursing a slim lead that was built on a single, two walks and a groundout. But Conor Gillaspie and Jose Abreu started the 7th with doubles, and after Adam Dunn whiffed, another two-bagger by Dayan Viciedo put the ChiSox on top. Detroit threatened almost every time up, but left eight men in scoring position, going 0-10 with RISP. John Danks logged his 4th quality start, and Matt Lindstrom got the last two outs with the tying runs on.

• Miggy in Mendoza-ville? Another oh-fer left Cabrera at .207, by far his lowest after 16 team games. In 10 prior years, Cabrera’s stats for the first 16 games look like his typical year: .328 BA, 38 HRs, 136 RBI.

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@Mets 2, Cardinals 0 — New York scratched two runs off Tyler Lyons in his season debut, and Jenrry Mejia was untouchable early in leading them back over .500. Mejia had no sweat ’til he opened the 5th with six balls in a row, but Ruben Tejada backed him up with a gasp-worthy DP, the second pure gem of the game from the beleaguered shortstop. Kyle Farnsworth, the latest “um … ohh-kayyy” whozit to be tabbed as Mets closer, earned the save in his first try, his 9th straight scoreless outing. (By the way, those are the best camo uniforms I’ve seen.)

• New York’s infield slung the leather all night.
• Mejia (3-0, 1.99) now has something that Matt Harvey doesn’t: Back-to-back scoreless starts. He has at times shown electric stuff in the 9 starts he’s made for the Mets since 2013. Just don’t expect him to stay healthy all year: He’s 24, and has never thrown 100 IP in a year.
• The Mets have hit .249 in their 10 wins, with just 8 HRs.
• Make of it what you will: In his last 120 games, Daniel Murphy has 25 steals and has not been thrown out. He pulled off a daring (dumb) challenge to Yadi Molina, sneaking into third with one out, later scoring the second run.
• Last time the Mets blanked the Cards was June 2, 2012, the day after Johan’s no-no.

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Angels 4, @Nationals 1 — A tight duel got away after Ian Desmond’s 8th error kicked off a 4-UER 8th by the guests, capped on a 3-run pinch-double by Raul Ibanez with two outs. LA’s Garrett Richards faced nine through three, then gave Washington a lead in the 4th — walk, walk, HBP, groundout. But Albert nailed Harper at home to cut off the next run, and the Nats got no more knocks in the righty’s six stanzas. Desmond’s solo in the 9th was too little, too late.

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Orioles 7, @Red Sox 6 —

• After 4 starts last year, Clay Buchholz was 4-0, 0.90, 19 hits in 30 IP. Right now he’s 0-2, 7.71, 33 hits in 18.2 IP.
• Really? That just doesn’t seem like Fenway baseball.

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Random notes through Sunday:

Mark Reynolds has 5 HRs, 2 doubles — and 7 runs, 8 RBI.

Melky Cabrera has 30 hits, 4 HRs, 5 doubles — and 5 RBI. He’s 1 for 12 with RISP.

Prince Fielder has 8 intentional walks, and 6 RBI. He’s 2 for 20 with RISP.

Some time in the next month or so, Derek Jeter could pass Tris Speaker and Lou Gehrig in runs scored. He has a good shot to pass A-Rod this year for 10th place on the career list — if he’s not pulled for a pinch runner too often.

Carlos Santana has 3 RBI, 7 GIDP. He hit into 7 DPs all of last year, 154 games.

Stephen Strasburg’s suffering from a .406 BAbip, which is how you get 29 hits in 28 IP despite 42 Ks. His past average was .292.

Active innings leader Mark Beuhrle needs 118 more IP for 3,000. Since 1879, there has been only one season with no active pitcher at 3,000+ career innings (1949).

AL Player of the Week, Kevin Kouzmanoff. Seriously, folks, if there’s someone whose moribund career you want breathed to life, just drop me a line. My scorn hath healing powers.

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How are these two not on each other’s “Most Similar” lists? Must be the (largely insignificant) differences in W-L and ERA.

Both are tall RHPs who debuted in 2005 and are still with the team that first signed them. They won Cy Young Awards in consecutive years, 2010-11, each leading the AL in ERA, innings, and pitcher WAR in that year. Each has thrown a no-hitter; Verlander tossed another, but Felix was perfect.

Verlander has three strikeout titles, Felix none — but Felix has more strikeouts, and both have career rates of 8.46 SO/9. Their WHIPs are almost the same (1.193, 1.196); ditto their OBP (.298, .300) and OPS (.656, .655). They rank 3rd and 4th in WAR among actives since their debut. Since 2006, their first full year, they’re #1-2 in strikeouts, #2-3 in IP, #1/3 in quality starts. Since 2009, they’re #1-2 in SO, IP and QS, #2-3 in ERA+, #1/4 in WAR.

Verlander won their first face-off, Felix the next two. They haven’t met since 2009.

And a note on those winning percentages: Since 2006, Verlander has a .647 W%, Felix .571. But Detroit has played .540 ball, Seattle .451. So Felix has a slight edge in W% over team.