Mariners 3, @A’s 1 / @Marlins 5, Padres 0 — Right now, for this one season, would you take Felix Hernandez, or Jose Fernandez? The choice might turn on quality of bullpen backing; Felix can go a little deeper into games. Miami’s 5-1 start ties the franchise record; 4 runs or more each game already matches last year’s best such streak. Seattle’s 4-1, their best git-go since 2001.

• Jose has yielded 16 runs in 110.2 IP at home, a 1.14 ERA.
• Felix has won his first two starts for just the 2nd time in 10 seasons.

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Giants 7, @Dodgers 2 — Are we buying San Fran’s offense, averaging 6.3 runs through six games? I’ll wait for their home schedule to begin. Last year they scored 4.3 R/G away, 3.5 at home. They do look more powerful than last year’s squad, which ranked 29th with 107 HRs.

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@Rays 5, Rangers 4 — Ron Washington intentionally put the lead man on to get a lefty/lefty matchup with one out in the 8th. James Loney fined him for the code infraction.

• Shin-Soo Choo’s still searching for his power; five singles so far.
• Rangers’ taters through five games, last four years: 13, 8, 5 and 1, the last matching their Texas low (’73 and ’81). Last year’s .412 slugging was their worst since 1995.

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Phillies 2, @Cubs 0 — Cliff Lee’s allowed 10+ hits back-to-back for just the second time; the other came in 2008, his Cy Young year. For 2011-13 combined, Lee ranked just behind Verlander and Kershaw in total WAR, but trailed 4-zip in trophies. Now Clayton’s on the shelf and Cliff is 2-0; the door is open….

• Chase Utley was the offense, looking very good thus far. He’s among the few who’ve hit best in April over their careers: .990 OPS ranks 9th of nearly 1,000 players with 500 searchable PAs in the first month, and +.094 for [April vs. Overall] rates 20th.
• Cubs are 4 for 40 with RISP so far, but the bigger problem is 51 whiffs against 15 walks.

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Braves 6, @Nationals 2 — This game dropped Stephen Strasburg’s career ERA+ to 129, leaving Kershaw as the only active starter 130+ and at least 400 IP. Just 3 years ago, there were eight. Roy Halladay retired; Roy Oswalt dipped under 130 and then retired; Johan got hurt. And five regressed: Tim Lincecum (140 to 112), Josh Johnson (138-123), Ubaldo Jimenez (133-112), and even Adam Wainwright (140-129) and King Felix (132-127).

But this year’s not abnormal; the prior era was. In modern history, just 25 starters finished with a 130 ERA+ and 1,000 innings. Seven of those 25 threw their last pitch between 2007 and 2013: Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Brandon Webb, Santana and Halladay.

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@Blue Jays 4, Yankees 0 — Josh Thole’s 2nd-inning ‘scuse-me produced the game’s lone run before the bottom of the 8th. In New York’s 6th and 8th, they got a leadoff hit from Ellsbury followed by a Jeter walk, but Carlos Beltran DP’d and whiffed, and those threats fizzled. Yanks’ only hit in 11 tries with RISP created conversation, but no runs.

• Melky Cabrera’s 22-69 against his original team, 5 HRs and a 1.011 OPS — but his team’s just 5-12.
• The Yanks have played to form so far: Rotation has looked good, outside of CC’s first two innings. But the lineup look their age; lone star so far is unknown Yangervis Solarte, the only regular under 30. Alfonso Soriano’s 0-for-16, no walks, runs or ribs. And Teix is on the DL again.
• No Bomber blasts through 5 games, first time since 1990, their only cellar season in the division era. From 2007-12, they never went 5 games without a homer at any point; last time with 6 straight was 1996.

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Angels 5, @Astros 1 — Tyler Skaggs gave just 4 hits over 8 IP, only one leaving the infield.

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@Tigers 7, Orioles 6 — Rick Porcello got 12 of 20 outs on grounders, and Torii Hunter’s 5 RBI built the margin big enough to keep the Bengals perfect despite another bullpen bumble.

• Wasn’t Joe Nathan s’poseta solve our “closer problem”? Meanwhile, the search for signs of usefulness in Phil Coke’s left arm continues fruitlessly.
• Good gravy: Detroit’s bottom of the order reached 7 times and scored 5. Their lineup seems top-heavy, but last year’s 7th-9th ranked 3rd in AL OPS and runs.
• O’s have dropped 4 straight since Opening Day, allowing 27 runs.

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Cardinals 6, @Pirates 1 — In a rematch of last year’s NLDS Game 3, Joe Kelly and Francisco Liriano both matched their distance, but with different results. St. Louis scratched out 3 after just 6 hitters, while Kelly survived 11 runners in his 5.1 IP; he walking home a run, but closed the 1st, 3rd and 4th on grounders, stranding seven.

• Jhonny Peralta leads the Cards with 4 RBI, on just 2 hits — both 2-out, 2-run HRs.

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Brewers 7, @Red Sox 6 (11 inn.) — Back-to-back doubles by Khris Davis and Logan Schafer put the Crew back up after they’d blown the lead on 4 unearned runs, and Francisco Rodriguez slammed the door in vintage fashion. Clay Buchholz yielded a hit for each of his 13 outs, but didn’t walk a man.

• 18 SO, 19 hits allowed by Boston. There are 21 other games since 1914 with at least 16 SO and more hits than whiffs. The others all went at least into the 13th inning; the other two with 18+ SO went at least 17 IP.
• Three games closed, six Ks, no walks or runs for K-Rod. Is he really … back? It’s crazy-early, but remember: he’s still well in front for saves through age 31.
• Something about a pitcher giving 13 hits with no walks struck a chilling chord in this Mets fan.
• If you didn’t know already, what sport might you surmise could feature Tyler Thornburg beating Burke Badenhop? I don’t know why, but I’ll say “curling.”

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@Mets 6, Reds 3 — The Mets wanted to make an out, but Cincy wouldn’t stand for it. The Reds led 3-2 in the 9th, the leadoff man aboard by walk from J.J. Hoover. Joey Votto gloved a so-so bunt but made the wrong decision, trying for the lead man against his catcher’s counsel. That call eventually got straightened out, so Ruben Tejada gave the bunt another go. He fouled off both attempts, but Hoover missed on a full count, loading the sacks for the recently benched (again) Ike Davis. And that’s a hanger.

• Dillon Gee gave up the lead on his 100th pitch, a 2-run blast by Brandon Phillips, reviving the debate about his drastic pitch-count splits. But in my view, it’s too early — in the season, and in Gee’s career — to concede such a limitation. He has good stats against RHBs: .675 OPS is #26 among 110 actives with 75+ starts. The Mets hardly have a shut-down bullpen, nor many other starters who can be trusted to deep. Let him try to work it out.