A busy back-to-baseball weekend tightened four division races, while the others stood pat. All three NL quintets are tied, while three AL runners-up moved within two games of Seattle’s wild-card seat, and the cellar-dwelling Rays & Red Sox found some reasons to believe. A look at the series that were:

@Athletics 5, Orioles 4 (Fri.) — A game-winning, turnaround blast by Josh Donaldson: Seems like I’ve seen that before….

• Out of 24 walk-off-from-behind homers since 2013, only Donaldson has two. The only other Oakland Athletic with two in a career is Olmedo Saenz, a deadly pinch-hitter.
• Zach Britton has only blown three out of 18 save tries, but two were hum-dingers, among the eight worst WPA scores in blown saves this year.
• Lost in the shuffle, Manny Machado is smokin’ over his last 17 games.
• Do you think of the O’s as a slow team? They’re next-to-last in AL baserunning WAR and rate of extra bases taken; last in steal tries; 12th in percentage of baserunners scored.
• The A’s are 10-26 (.277) when behind after 7 innings, compared to .077 for other AL teams in that predicament.

Orioles 8, @Athletics 4 (Sat.) — Adam Jones and friends hammered ex-mate Jason Hammel to an early exit, having retired just six of 14 batters, enabling Wei-Yin Chen’s sixth win this year with less than six innings served. Balto’s 1-2-3 hitters went 7 for 13 — four singles by Nick Markakis, three hits (two doubles) for Steve Pearce, and a career-high-tying 5 RBI from Jones.

• Chris Davis chipped in a homer and a double, matching the total extra-base hits in the prior 19 games for last year’s runaway leader in XBH and total bases.
• How utterly irrelevant has Jim Johnson become? The MLB saves leader each of the past two years hasn’t pitched with a lead in nine outings since June 15, when he started the 9th with a 10-3 bulge but had to be bailed out, and hasn’t notched a save or hold in 22 appearances since May 7. (How long until the inevitable swap for Joe Nathan?)
• All five AL East teams won, raising the division’s record to .500.

@A’s 10, O’s 2 (Sun.) — Oakland can blow you out with small-ball, too: 15 hits, all in play. They’re 17-16 when they don’t go yard, joining the Angels as the only AL clubs with such winning marks.

• Sonny Gray’s career rate of 0.50 HR/9 is best among actives with 25+ starts. He’s yet to serve more than one tater in 32 career starts (including postseason).
• Three hits pushed Stephen Vogt’s BA back up to .364, in 126 PAs. One player in the last 30 years hit .350+ with between 200 and 400 PAs — Jim Eisenreich, .361, 1996.

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@Angels 3, Mariners 2 (Fri., 16 inn.) — The very night they scored another much-needed reliever, the Angels got nine scoreless frames from their bullpen and a game-winning hit from Efren Navarro, to match the 2nd-longest win in franchise history.

• They say a pinch-hitter should come out hacking, and it’s not bad advice. But Navarro’s hit was the first among the last 23 pinch-walk-offs that came on the initial offering, dating to last July.
• Lloyd McClendon pulled Hisashi Iwakuma after 7 innings and 77 pitches, then burned through three relievers for the next five batters. Former closer Tom Wilhelmsen went 4 innings, a career high.
• Great snag by Fernando Salas, but pinch-runner Willie Bloomquist got his fundies pulled down.
• Before replay, we rarely saw outs from coming off the bag on a routine slide.
• Seattle has managed a decent 4 runs per game by clustering their hits with men on. With bases empty, they have the AL’s worst in all slash marks, including a .286 OBP. Friday, they got at least one man aboard in each of their last nine times up, but no cluster luck. Sez here they won’t make the playoffs with the current lineup.
• The longest win in Angels history: 20 innings in 1982, also hosting Seattle. (Best part of that box: Don Aase blew the save in the 9th, and stayed on through the 14th.)
• The Angels have the best record over the last ten (9-1), twenty (16-4) and thirty games (22-8), and the best home record (33-15), winning 18 of those last 20. They’re five games better than any NL team, but still face a win-or-go-home game.

Mariners 3, @Angels 2 (Sat., 12 inn.) — A second straight matchup of premier starters once again came down to bullpen depth, and this one ran to form, as Seattle’s top-ranked relief corps edged out LA’s trade-fortified assortment. Recent addition Joe Thatcher, the lone southpaw in Mike Scioscia’s toolkit, was the logical selection to start the 12th against Kyle Seager and Logan Morrison, but both lefties doubled for a 2-1 M’s lead. Another run was scraped together from two infield pinch-hits against the rookie Mike Morin, each one unlikely for a different reason: A bunt by Endy Chavez was redirected fair by cleat marks in the chalk, and then with two out and two strikes, Justin Smoak doinked a shift-confounder for his first RBI in 13 games since May 31. David Freese homered off Friday’s loser, Dominic Leone, but Charlie Furbush came on for the last three outs and his first career save.

In the main event, Felix Hernandez and Garrett Richards showed how they got to be the AL’s best at hit prevention. Neither was nicked until Mike Trout’s double opened the home 4th, whereupon King Felix handled Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Howie Kendrick with infield outs, starting a stretch of nine straight Halos humbled. Richards was even better — perfect, in fact, until Dustin Ackley doubled to begin the 6th. Brad Miller pulled a grounder that pushed Ackley to third, and pulled the infield in. Reserve catcher Jesus Sucre, starting after Mike Zunino caught all 16 innings Friday, attacked a mystery first pitch that you might call a hanger, if it wasn’t eight inches inside and chest high — hardly a “hit-me,” but Sucre’s soft liner was high enough to clear the drawn-in shortstop, scoring Seattle’s first run in their last 15 times at bat.

The Angels pulled even in the 7th, starting with a walk that Albert earned by fouling off five straight full-count pitches. A pass to Hamilton (season-high 4th for Felix) set up Kendrick’s bouncer towards the middle and Brad Miller’s compound error — first seeming to misjudge its path. or whether it was his play, then throwing wildly from his knees to let Pujols score. Nice teamwork by Seager and Sucre helped keep it tied, as they executed a two-throw rundown on Hamilton that kept the other runners from advancing. Felix escaped the threat with a groundout and his 9th whiff, then bowed out after 114 pitches.

• Felix’s 12 straight starts of 7+ IP and 2 runs or less is the longest such streak since 1986, and one shy of Tom Seaver’s post-1914 record. Mike Scott is the only other with 12 straight in one year, and Felix is the first since then with more than nine straight in one year.
• In 11 Felix starts this year wherein Seattle scored 3 runs or less, he’s totaled 83.1 IP and 19 runs (14 ER), a 1.51 ERA and 2.05 RA/9. They’re 6-1 when scoring exactly 3 runs in a Felix start.
• Felix’s 0.899 WHIP would be the best in MLB since 2004, AL’s best since 2000. Ten live-ball seasons with 0.90 WHIP or better and 180+ IP: Koufax, 1963 and ’65; Maddux, 1994-95; Marichal, ’66; Gibson, Tiant & McNally in ’68; Pedro, 2000; and Big Unit, 2004.
• Richards’s last 9 starts have yielded just 9 runs and 36 hits.

@Angels 6, Mariners 5 — Down 5-4 in the 9th, the Angels quickly tied it off Fernando Rodney, on Albert’s double after a walk to Trout. A desperation 6-2-3 DP made it seem that extra time was destined, but Grant Green stroked a 1-2 pitch for his first game-winner. Trout’s big day featured three runs and his 23rd homer, and LA’s top five combined to go 12 for 22 with an RBI apiece.

• In six innings, Chris Young allowed 10 hits, with two homers and three doubles, but just 3 runs. It’s the 4th start since 1914 with those events in 6 IP or less and just 3 runs (none have allowed less than three). Mike Cuellar did it in just 5-plus innings, with 3 walks mixed in.

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Brewers 4, @Nationals 2 (Fri.) — Ten hits in 7 IP by Kyle Lohse — five leadoff knocks — but no walks, and just one run. His nine walk-free starts of 6+ IP trail only Phil Hughes this year.

• Scooter Gennett and Khris Davis both tatered Stephen Strasburg, just as in their first meeting, when Strasburg tied a career worst of 7 runs allowed. Milwaukee hit just two homers in their last five games before the Break.
• RISP: Nats 1 for 10; Crew 1 for 1 — a bloop by Aramis Ramirez that capped a two-out, two-run push.

@Nationals 8, Brewers 3 (Sat.) — Tanner Roark has caused less buzz than other recent phenoms — perhaps because he’s already 27, was drafted in the 25th round six years ago, and has only twice topped 6 Ks in a game so far. But his results through 24 career starts are right up with the best of recent “frosh & sophs.” Over the last four seasons, the top 10 in ERA+ for a pitcher’s first and second years combined, with at least 20 starts:

Roark’s K rate is lowest of this group, a little below average for an NL starter. But his walk rate is the best, and his homer rate virtually so. He’s not a groundball pitcher, but neither is Harvey or Fernandez, who have similar HR rates. There’s more than one way to keep ’em in the yard. Anyway, after his winding path into the big leagues, Roark doesn’t need the buzz; he’s happy just to be here.

• First time in 211 career starts that Matt Garza got less than four outs. All five hits came with two strikes, four on 1-2.
• You’d better make it: Down 5-0 in the 2nd, Jonathan Lucroy stole third after a one-out double, and scored on the overthrow. Lucroy was 22-8 in prior steal tries, but had never tried for third.

@Nationals 5, Brewers 4 (Sun.) — A see-saw game ended with Anthony Rendon racing around from first on Jayson Werth’s two-out double down the left-field line, and Khris Davis overthrowing the cut-off man on a possible play at home.

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Philadelphia 2, @Atlanta 1 (Sat.) — Cole Hamels made do with the usual stingy support. Aaron Harang was lifted for a pinch-hitter after crafting six scoreless frames, and Jimmy Rollins broke the nullfest with a two-run shot in the 7th, the first one served up by Shae Simmons. Two Atlanta doubles halved the lead, but Hamels rang up Tommy La Stella to end his night with 9 Ks and no walks, and the Bravos would menace no more.

@Atlanta 8, Philadelphia 2 (Sun.) — Alex Wood avenged one of his April 1-0 losses, punching out 8 Phils without a walk over six 3-hit frames. All nine spots in the order chipped in a run or ribby, and Tommy La Stella’s 3-run double put a bow on Kyle Kendrick’s chaotic 3rd — two walks and two straight hit batsmen.

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@Red Sox 5, Royals 4 (Fri.) — Other bloggers have already said what I would have said about Ned Yost having Scott Downs pitch to Jonny Gomes in the 6th inning.

• Since 2005, only Matt Stairs and Jason Giambi have both more pinch-homers and a better percentage than Gomes. Against southpaws, Gomes has 5 PH bombs in 69 ABs.
• Boston’s last game with two multi-run homers was May 31. That featured the only home run this year by Jackie Bradley, for whom Jonny Gomes pinch-hit on Friday.
• The BoSox had 48 multi-homer games last year, tied for 5th in MLB; tied for last with 14 this year.
• When last we saw Clay Buchholz, he was polishing off a 3-hit gem. Not so sharp this time, but he did retire leadoff man Lorenzo Cain all three times. Buchholz has one of the best career marks against #1 batters, a .208 BA/.289 OBP/.610 OPS — all among the top-10 actives, both in raw numbers and as a percentage of his overall rates.
• Andrew Miller has fanned 40% of his 151 batters faced, 6th in MLB with 100+ BF. He’s been almost as good against righties as lefties, ranking top-4 in BA and OPS among those with 80+ LHP/RHB meetings, a tad better than Clayton Kershaw.

@Red Sox 2, Royals 1 (Sat.) — Mike Napoli’s home run broke a one-all tie in the 6th, and KC went down in order thereafter. Four times in seven outings, Rubby De La Rosa has gone 7 IP on one run or less; all other Red Sox have produced 11 such games out of 90 starts.

• Danny Duffy’s averaged 6 IP and 2 runs in 14 starts, but hung with a 4-9 record. KC scored one or none in seven of those losses, and he won a 1-0 game.
• Don’t blame the bullpen for the Royals’ 10-20 one-run record. They’ve scored 3 or less in 15 of those losses, and one or less in nine. They’re 27-10 when allowing 2 runs or less — worst W% in MLB, and two more losses than any other AL team. A typical AL club would have gone 32-5 in those games.
• Royals are on pace for 92 home runs. No AL team’s hit less than 99 HRs since 1992, including the strike years.
• Jarrod Dyson has 3 triples and a homer, still seeking his first double out of 45 hits this year. Rafael Belliard’s season record of 61 hits with no doubles still seems unassailable.

@Red Sox 6, Royals 0 (Sun.) — Another slow day at the office for Jon Lester — now 7-3, 1.43 in 11 starts against KC — as the BoSox brought the brooms out, and won a fourth straight game for just the second time this year. They’ll tote that streak into a 13-game stretch against division foes.

• Not featured in the streak: A combined 4 for 33 from Pedroia & Ortiz, 2 RBI, no runs.

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Giants 9, @Marlins 1 (Fri.) — Brandon Crawford has 8 homers and 8 triples. Only two SF Giants have reached 11 of each, Robby Thompson (1989) and Willie Mays (1958 & ’60); only Mays bagged a double dozen.

• Out of 58 pitchers with 35+ wins since 2011, four are current Giants, and all four are over the group average of 4.5 wins per WAR. Madison Bumgarner’s 5.5 wins per WAR is right at the median.

Giants 5, @Marlins 3 (Sat.) — Career win #213 for Tim Hudson, the active leader, tying John Smoltz for #88 all-time and 68th in the modern era. (So long, Chief Bender; enjoyed hanging with you a while.)

@Marlins 3, Giants 2 (Sun.) — No sweep for you Timmy Jim. Casey McGehee’s long-awaited second homer, and a tie-breaking wild pitch by the bronze medalist in that field since his debut, kept the Jints from pulling clear of LA.

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Cleveland 9, @Detroit 3 (Fri.) — Cleveland blew away a 3-0 deficit with a 7-run 7th, their biggest inning this year. Jason Kipnis hadn’t homered since April 21. Al Alburquerque got ahead, 0-and-2; his career line from that point in an at-bat was 12 for 124, one HR, 76 Ks. Two homers, now. Kipnis clubbed another after 0-2 in the 9th, for his second career 2-HR game.

• Before hanging the slider, Alburquerque looked like Detroit’s hero, with two straight whiffs after coming on with men on third and second, no outs in a tie game.
• Trevor Bauer’s last outing was one of eight since 1914 with 10+ Ks, 10+ baserunners, and no runs, all within 30 batters or less.

Cleveland 6, @Detroit 2 (Sat., day) — Corey Kluber’s 8-3, 2.51 in his last 15 starts, averaging 7 IP, 8 Ks, and 5 K/W.

• In his debut, Drew VerHagen kept Cleveland silent for four stanzas, but wilted in the 5th. Just six Tigers since 1914 debuted with a scoreless start, none since a 2002 shutout of Cleveland by Andy Van Hekken (from Holland, MI, aptly enough), for his only career win. I remember watching this one back in high school: Pat Underwood pitted against brother Tom in a great duel of lefties.

Cleveland 5, @Detroit 2 (Sat., nite) — How long until the straight-up swap for Jim Johnson? If this is Joe Nathan’s fastball, he’s not a big-league pitcher right now.

• After the bullpen worked 4 innings in the day game (and their third straight loss), Detroit hoped for a long outing by Max Scherzer. But Cleveland made him throw 91 pitches in the first four frames (4 hits, 4 walks), and while they tallied just once in that time, Chris Dickerson knocked out Max in the 6th, swatting his second solo on Scherzer’s 118th pitch.
• Victor Martinez may not be 100% yet. The doubleheader was just his second back-to-back 0-for-4 this year, and first with any strikeouts. He’s whiffed four times in 12 PAs since missing two weeks with a lat strain; averaged 1 K per 15 PAs before. (Also punchless since the break: J.D. Martinez, a single for 12, with 5 Ks, and Ian Kinsler’s 0 for his last 16.)
• I guess I’m not the only one who writes up games he didn’t witness. The Associated Press reported: “The Indians loaded the bases in the ninth against Joe Nathan (4-3) with Roberto Perez’s leadoff double, Jason Kipnis’ walk and Michael Brantley’s free pass and Santana took advantage, sending a pitch off the right-center wall after it popped out of Jackson’s glove to turn a 3-all game into a 6-3 lead. ‘I rushed my glove up to try and make the catch,’ Jackson recalled. ‘I missed it, and hit the wall.'” Actually, that was the Perez double, not the key blow by Santana, which flew high off the wall. Got the score wrong, too. Forgive us our errors….

@Detroit 5, Cleveland 1 (Sun.) — Strong work by Drew Smyly and a balanced attack helped the Bengals avoid a 4-game sweep, and get a little of their roar back from the rising Eries. Seven Tigers shared out nine hits, four went for extra bags, and six either scored or drove one in. Yan Gomes, the noted lefty-masher, led Cleveland with a double and his 13th homer, but the rest scratched just two singles as the Naps fell to 13-17 against southpaw starters.

• Cleveland’s OPS deficit between LHPs and RHPs (roughly .075) is neck-and-neck with Toronto for MLB’s largest
• In both the 5th and 6th, Detroit had two in scoring position with one out. All four batters went down swinging. Glad I couldn’t see that.

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@Pirates 4, Rockies 2 (Fri.) — After each side donated two runs to the other’s cause, Travis Snider’s pinch-double in the 8th broke the deadlock, and the Bucs held on. Both Rockies runs were fueled by infield errors, including #21 by 3B Pedro Alvarez (six more than anyone else), while Pittsburgh scored on a hit that Corey Dickerson casually played into a triple, and a bases-full HBP on 0-and-2 count.

• Platinum sombrero(?) for Carlos Gonzalez — 5 swinging Ks, three with a man on second, then the last one when he stood as the tying run in the 9th. Nine swinging strikes, seven fouls, one called. Second 5-K game in Rockies history (Roberto Mejia, in their maiden season), and the first to do it in 5 PAs. First NL 5-K game since last August (Justin Upton); Shin-Soo Choo did it this April.
• Alvarez led the majors with 27 errors each of the past two years — but his range is #1 among active 3Bs.

@Pirates 3, Rockies 2 (Sat., 11 inn.) — Jordy Mercer answered a challenge pass to Pedro Alvarez with a perfectly-placed line drive, producing Pittsburgh’s MLB-high 9th walk-off win. Neil Walker started the winning rally with his third hit; he also had the tying single in the 8th, and scored the game’s first run after a leadoff double in the 4th. Carlos Gonzalez spoiled Charlie Morton’s night with a lead-grabbing 2-run smash in the 7th, and cut down Andrew McCutchen with a mighty heave on Walker’s tying hit.

• Brett Anderson had his best time since who knows when (7 IP, 4 hits, 8 Ks, one walk) — first Rockies start of 7+ IP in their last 20 games. They’ve had just one starter go 8 IP, none longer.
• The Bucs have just begun a stretch of 32 straight games outside of their division. They can’t directly change the Central standings until August 22.

@Pirates 5, Rockies 3 (Sun.) — Andrew McCutchen picks his spots to swing on 3-and-0. He’s 5 for 5 on that count, with three tying or go-ahead ribbies.

• Since June began, Colorado has a 6.11 ERA, 5.70 from the bullpen. That’s one way to go 12-31.
• Gregory Polanco’s dealing with his first slump (3 for 35), and still struggling with LHPs (6 for 42, 14 Ks).
• Charlie Culberson never played first base professionally until this series. But I guess one hot corner is much like the other.
• Cutch hadn’t been caught in 15 steal tries, and Mike McKenry had nabbed just one of 22. Maybe a pitchout….
• I don’t want to start a WPA tussle, but here’s a fascinating piece of probability: Home 3rd, Bucs down 3-zip. After a leadoff hit, Neil Walker singled to right, and moved up on the throw to third (a major CarGo gaffe, by the way). Then Jordy Mercer’s single scored the pair and cut the deficit to one. The WPA method scored Walker’s event at +11% for Pittsburgh, Mercer’s at +10%.

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@Yankees 4, Reds 3 (Fri.) — Three steals in the first three innings off Mike Leake. He’s been one of the toughest righties to run on in past years, but this year’s thieves are 11-0, already a career high in steals allowed.

@Yankees 3, Reds 2 (Sun.) — A sweep was sealed by the slowest-unfolding walk-off “hit” we’ll see this year (though not necessarily the most “D’oh!”-provoking). Another selling point for flip-down shades.

• Two hits allowed to lefties in one game was a first for Chapman, and raised his career BA to .114 in that split — 24 for 210, with 116 Ks.
• Yanks’ broadcast noted that Hiroki Kuroda’s line had never been recorded since 1914 — 6.2 IP, 3 hits, one run (unearned), 2 walks and 6 Ks. There’s also just one with all those things and one walk, by Ricky Nolasco last September; and one that matches Kuroda but with an earned run, by Jake Peavy last May. And no starts of 6.1 IP, 3 hits, 6 Ks and one run (unearned), regardless of walks. Obviously, what makes these so rare is a rather early mid-inning removal when pitching well. Kuroda had set down six in a row and was only at 99 pitches, with light-hitting Ramon Santiago up. But he’s 39 years old, and his small sample past 100 pitches this year showed 4 hits and one whiff in 11 PAs.

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@Cardinals 3, Dodgers 2 (Fri.) — Matt Holliday drove in all three Cardinal runs with a homer and his 400th double. He has a history of hot 2nd halves — 6th in raw OPS among actives with 1,500+ PAs in that split, and top-20 in 2nd-half gain over 1st half. The Cards hope he can pour it on like he did last summer.

• Given Lance Lynn’s career 102 ERA+ and 1.296 WHIP, his 8.9 K/9 is a surprise — 8th among actives with at least 80 starts. Only three starters in MLB history have both WHIP and K rate as high as Lynn: Rich Harden, Francisco Liriano and Jonathan Sanchez.

@Cardinals 4, Dodgers 2 (Sat.) — St. Louis wrestled LA to the Matts and knocked them out of first place, while renewing pressure on Milwaukee. Matt Carpenter worked a leadoff walk in the 1st, after an 0-2 start, and Holliday & Adams rapped two-run hits back-to-back, matching the Cards’ best opening frame. They’re just 13th in the league in 1st-inning runs.

• Lousy day for the top-dollar Dodgers. Zack Greinke gave up 4 runs in the 1st, and issued a season-high 5 walks over 5.2 innings. Carl Crawford, Matt Kemp, Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez and Andre Ethier combined for two singles in 14 trips, with bookend double plays: After Dee Gordon singled to start the game, Crawford hit the first pitch into a 4-6-3; and Ethier came off the bench for a game-ending 6-4-3. In the 8th, Kemp hit for an injured Yasiel Puig and struck out, representing the tying run, followed by another Hanley whiff. Those six guys average $20 million in salary this year.
• Dodger doubters seize on this: 26-11 against the three bad teams in their division, but 28-34 against everyone else; 16-24 vs. teams at .500 or better; 7-13 vs. teams currently holding a playoff spot. They haven’t even played the other NL division leaders yet; 13 games left with Atlanta and Milwaukee, and four with the Angels.

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Rangers 5, @Blue Jays 1 (Fri.) — 12 Ks for Yu Darvish, his 26th with 10+ in 79 career games. Only Dwight Gooden (29) had more such games so soon; then Herb Score (23), Kerry Wood (21) and three tied at 17.

• For true minutiae fans … Darvish has fanned at least three in all 79 games; next-best career start is 50, by Mark Prior. Only Clayton Kershaw a longer active streak of 3+ Ks — 114 games since Sept. 2010.
• J.P. Arencibia broke it open in the 6th with a 3-run shot, his first game back after a two-month term in triple-A.
• Another third-time-through pitfall for R.A. Dickey, whose OPS is nearing 1.000 in that split.

@Blue Jays 4, Rangers 1 (Sat.) —

• Only two reasons I can imagine for reporting the cranky comments of Colby Lewis — trying to stir up trouble, or to discredit all beliefs in any kind of baseball etiquette. His position is so laughably self-centered that it’s not really worth debating. It’s definitely the first time I’ve heard someone be offended that an opponent didn’t try to steal a base.

@Blue Jays 9, Rangers 6 (Sun.) — Mark Buehrle’s first balk since 2010 began his downfall from a 5-2 lead, and kept him winless in his last eight starts. But Melky turned that frown around.

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@Diamondbacks 5, Cubs 4 (Fri.) —

• Paul Goldschmidt isn’t on track to defend his NL titles in total bases, slugging, OPS or OPS+ — but he’s doing a hair better across the board.
• Out of last year’s eight qualified hitters with at least 150 OPS+, only Goldy, Trout and McCutchen are repeating. The others: Miggy, 188 to 142; Chris Davis, 169-94; Big Papi, 160-132; Jayson Werth, 155-123; and Joey Votto, 154-124 (and injured).
• With 22 home runs, Anthony Rizzo is on pace for 37. The only Cubs lefty or switch-hitter with even 34 HRs in a year was Billy Williams (42 in 1970, 37 in ’72). They’ve had 31 such years by 13 different righties, including 16 seasons by 7 different RHBs since Williams.

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@White Sox 3, Astros 2 (Fri.) — Chicago actually held onto a late lead.

• Chris Carter fanned in the 1st for #100 this year, and kept on until he’d earned his 6th golden sombrero. But hey, Carter has five 4-K games in the last two years; George Springer has five in his 77 games this year.
• Last year, Carter and Brett Wallace became the first teammates to fan 100+ times and at least one-third of their PAs. This year, Carter (103/307) and Springer (114/341) are already there, and Jon Singleton is on track to join them (58/158 in just 39 games). There are just 19 other such season outside this group.

@White Sox, Astros (Sat.) —

Jose Altuve knocked in a pair with his 30th double. His assortment of extra-base hits (2 triples, 2 HRs) is unusual for such a fast guy. Out of 30 prior seasons of 40+ doubles and 40+ steals, only Ozzie Smith did it with no more than 5 triples or homers — 4 triples, no HRs, 40 doubles and 43 SB. Altuve’s pace is 49 doubles, 67 SB, 3 triples and 3 HRs.

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Mets 5, @Padres 4 (Fri.) … Snapping the Friars’ year-long, 18-game win streak when scoring exactly 4 runs.

Seven NL teams have pythagorean records between 48-48 and 52-44. Six are called contenders; one is called Mets. Now, even I don’t see the Mets as contenders. Most of this 9-2 stretch has come against bad teams, but that’s sort a point in itself: The Mets aren’t bad. Jonah Keri’s latest rankings pegged the Mets 21st out of 30, despite a +15 run differential. All nine teams that he put below them had negative run differentials, as did those he ranked #16-20, including the White Sox and Marlins. The Marlins? Who had just been swept by the Mets, and were 16-24 since May ended? Well, no matter … What’s nice is that the last 30 games have seen sharp improvement in things like relief work and RISP hitting that had previously inspired only the rationalization that “no team can stay that bad at that.”

@Padres 6, Mets 0 (Sat.) — I hadda open my big mouth. Seven zeroes by Tyson Ross trimmed his season ERA to 2.70

@Padres 2, Mets 1 (Sun.) — Odrisamer Despaigne fell four outs short of San Diego’s first no-hitter, and lost his 1-0 lead a moment later. But the Friars walked off winners, thanks to a leadoff walk and two pitchers’ misplays.

In his fifth big-league start, Despaigne got within one strike of eight no-hit innings, using a panoply of hump-backed curves, slithery sliders and fishtail fastballs. But then he centered one to Daniel Murphy, who stroked a double to left-center. At 118 pitches, Despaigne stayed in for David Wright and fell behind by 3-and-1, and his hard grounder up the middle just escaped the shortstop’s dive and tied the game. The Mets survived Will Venable’s leadoff triple in the home 8th with a three-pitch whiff and a room-service double play, but gave it away when Vic Black and Josh Edgin couldn’t field their position. Credit Seth Smith for scrapping from two strikes and getting wood on a tough pitch.

• An oddly fitting climax to a game that started thusly. At least Agnes kept her feet.
• Despaigne had not gone past 7 innings or 110 pitches in his four prior starts.
• Despite the disappointment, Despaigne’s just the second since 1985 to start his career with five starts of 6+ IP and 2 runs or less. Jeff Weaver began with seven straight in 2006, all wins.
• Tim Lincecum owns the only Petco no-hitter, a year ago last week. Three others have tossed no-hitters in San Diego, including the famous Dock Ellis “acid test” in 1970.
• The Pads homered four times in this series, including Yasmani Grandal’s “two fingers of Jack,” while the Mets didn’t even get one to the warning track, by my recall.

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Rays 6, @Twins 2 (Fri.) — Evan Longoria’s first 3-RBI game in a month. If he starts hitting like the back of his baseball card….

Rays 5, @Twins 1 (Sat.) — … and David Price keeps winning every game we think might be his last with Tampa, the Rays’ resurgence just might kibosh that “inevitable” trade. When Price last lost, on June 20, the Rays were 29-46, but they’ve gone 17-7 since, and he’s won five in a row, averaging a round 8 IP and one run.

• Phil Hughes may have run into some bad hit luck, yielding a .421 BAbip in his last six outings, coughing up 27 runs despite just 3 HRs and 4 walks.
• Sean Rodriguez has 10 HRs out of 36 hits, producing 2.16 bases per hit that trails only Chris Carter among those with 30 hits or more. Not quite the company you want to keep, but Sean’s OPS+ is 124, and he’s doing all his damage with men on base, producing 35 RBI in just 165 PAs.

Rays 5, @Twins 3 (Sun.) — So, is Joe Maddon just a cockeyed optimist, or is he crazy like a fox? During this 16-5 stretch, they’ve outscored foes by 103-72, scoring almost 5 runs per game (after just 3.7 in their first 79 games), with an average victory margin of 3.2 runs. And it’s not just Minnesota they’ve been beating; they’ve won 12 of their last 15 against teams that now hold winning records. They’re 7.5 games behind Baltimore in the East, and 6 back of Seattle for a wild card.

• I’m so confused: Why did Kevin Correia use the wind-up with men on first and second, two out? And what kind of half-assed wind-up was that, anyway? And what did Yunel Escobar point at? Googling has failed to solve these mysteries. Anyone?
• Brian Dozier had 51 walks and 67 Ks in 80 games through June; one walk and 15 Ks in 15 July games, starting precisely when Joe Mauer went on the D.L.