Hey, gang — I’ve been tied up for a bit, getting my house ready to sell … Here’s some scattered game notes from recent weeks:

Thursday, Sept. 11 — After falling to Chris Sale by 1-0, Oakland’s latest 2-7 stretch includes seven one-run defeats … I don’t know if I can add anything to the “what happened?” analysis, better known as “how much do they miss Cespedes?” But I looked into their batting splits before and after the trade, with a focus on high-leverage situations — searching for signs of pressing.

Before the trade, the A’s “raised their game” in hi-lev spots; afterward, they’ve fared worse in those spots than otherwise:

• Through 7/31: Hi-lev — BA .291/OPS .817 … Other — BA .244/OPS .713 … Hi-lev vs. Other — BA +19%/OPS +15%
• 8/1 thru 9/10: Hi-lev — BA .223/OPS .637 … Other — BA .231/OPS .645 … Hi-lev vs. Other — BA -4%/OPS -1%
• Net change in: Hi-lev — BA -24%/OPS -22% … Other — BA -5%/OPS -10%

One take: Their high-leverage performance was bound to tumble, as it sat on a .329 BAbip, compared to .276 in other spots. And it has tumbled — since 8/1, their BAbip is .262 in hi-lev, .269 in other. But it’s anyone’s guess how much of this is due to luck, and how much (if any) due to individuals pressing to make up for their lost cleanup hitter.

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You’re Mike Matheny, trailing the Reds by 1-0 in the 9th. You haven’t used any bench players yet. Are you letting lefty Matt Carpenter lead off against Aroldis Chapman? Matheny stuck with his leadoff man … Carpenter went the way of half the lefties Chapman has ever faced … and the Cards dropped a third straight game to Cincinnati.

• That was an honest question, not a snarky “I can’t believe he did that!” With the inherent disadvantage of pinch-hitting, it’s not clear that any bench RHB would have a better chance than Carpenter. But the sum of Matheny’s moves in that inning just seems odd: After Carpenter whiffed, rookie Randall Grichuk batted for Jon Jay, who’s about the same hitter as Carpenter against southpaws (.356 OBP), and certainly a faster runner than Grichuk. Okay, I guess with one out and none on, Matheny was looking for power. But after Grichuk flied out and Matt Holliday worked a two-out walk, Mark Ellis hit for Matt Adams — giving up both power and the lefty-pull-through-the-1B-hole factor (Adams is a .339 career hitter with a man on first only), to gain the platoon edge … but then, no pinch-runner for Holliday? Someone like Peter Bourjos, with at least the threat of a steal, and a better chance to score on a double? The whole approach just seems kind of random.

They’re not still asking if Corey Kluber’s a “true ace”? 230 Ks, 45 walks and a 2.45 ERA — that 5.0 K/W ratio is 2nd-best for a Clevelander with 200 Ks. His 16 starts of 7+ IP and 2 runs or less trails only King Felix in the AL, and is three more than all other Clevelanders. In the DH era, only Gaylord Perry had more in a year for that team; Cliff Lee had 16 in his ’08 Cy Young season.

• 2.51 ERA, 235 Ks and 60 walks in 233 IP … A Cy Young candidate? No, the combined work of Cleveland starters in August and September.
• Carlos Santana hit a go-ahead homer in both ends of the doubleheader sweep … Some folks question the value of Santana’s MLB-high 101 walks, since he’s not a fast runner, and has scored only 65 runs despite 27 HRs. What we need is a count of team runs in innings when a given player reached base.
• Seesaw Gibson is still at it, serving Cleveland a 7-spot in just three innings. It’s his 11th start yielding 5 runs or more (trailing only Justin Masterson), to go with 13 starts of one run or less (behind Kershaw, Wainwright and King Felix). To recap:
  — 41 other pitchers have at least 10 starts of 0-1 runs; those guys average about 4 starts of 5+ runs.
  — 10 others have at least 9 starts of 5+ runs; those guys average about 5 starts of 0-1 runs.
  — Only Drew Hutchison is on the same planet as Gibson — 11 starts of one run or less, 8 of 5+ runs.

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Wednesday, Sept. 10

Big game, James.

• No team hits more grounders than the Royals, which can play to Rick Porcello’s strength. But four daisy-cutters found a hole in the 4th, plating the only two runs he’d allow.

Matt Shoemaker is the 5th pitcher since 1993 to notch his 15th win in his 27th career game. Only El Duque Hernandez (gm. 25) and Justin Verlander (#26) were faster to 15 wins in that span.

• Shoemaker is 13-3, 3.01 as a starter this year. He’s feasted on Texas and Tampa Bay — 5-0, 2.03 in five tries — but in six starts against leading AL contenders, he’s allowed 18 runs in 34 IP. Anything to it? I’d guess that 36 Ks against 2 walks in those six games are more telling than the hits and runs.
• Two Angels have homered in three straight games this year: Pujols? Hamilton? Trout? Nope … Kole Calhoun and C.J. Cron.

Atlanta beat Stephen Strasburg to stop a 3-game skid. An occasional win is all it takes to keep pace in the slog for the NL’s second wild card; despite a 4-7 stretch, they’re still in easy striking distance.

• Strasburg’s outing typified his year: eight whiffs and no walks in 6 IP, but 3 runs on 7 hits. He’s fanned almost 28% of all batters this season, but his .253 BA allowed is the highest ever by a qualifier with at least 25% strikeouts.

The day after Michael Wacha’s 4-inning start, John Lackey got himself tossed after two stanzas for disputing Tom Hallion’s ball calls.

Opposing starters Ryan Vogelsong and Josh Collmenter put up zeroes for 6.2 and 6 IP, respectively.

• Both starters removed after shutout ball for at least five but less than innings:
  — From 2000-14: 40 times (six this year alone).
  — From 1914-99: 12 times.

The Mets got their first back-to-back shutouts since June 29-30, 2012. That was the last of four pairs in a 5-week span, all started by R.A. Dickey and Johan Santana, including Johan’s no-hitter and Dickey’s back-to-back one-hitters, ending with Johan’s final(?) MLB victory.

J.P. Howell’s 1.17 ERA would be the lowest ever by a Dodger with 40+ innings. He’s let in just two of 35 inherited runners, and has preserved all 37 leads he’s been handed.

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Tuesday, Sept. 9

The AL Central is tied again. Detroit’s 11-4 domination of this season series has kept them in this race. And KC’s suspended game with Cleveland — to resume on Sept. 22 (after the final DET-KC series) with the Royals down two runs in the 10th inning — looms larger than ever.

• The Royals lead the majors in stolen bases and success rate, and Jarrod Dyson is one of the best thieves going. But he got picked off second base for the second out of the 9th, with the tying run on first and a double-steal on tap, as Joe Nathan snuck out of another jam.

The Nats stuck a 9-game fork in the NL East race with a second straight win over `Atlanta. But the Pirates couldn’t capitalize on losses by the Bravos and Brewers, holding at 1.5 games up for the second wild card.

Milwaukee and Miami were tied into the home 8th. The Crew filled their sacks with no outs … nuthin’. Then Francisco Rodriguez retired the first two Fish before walking Giancarlo … next thing you know, two bombs and a brand-new 4-game slide for Bernie Brewer.

Baltimore is one shy of the record of 20 wins by starting pitchers lasting less than 6 innings.

It hardly mattered in Collin McHugh’s stifling of Seattle, but his RISP splits are the best this year with 100+ PAs: .150 BA, .442 OPS.

• In 14 starts against winning teams, McHugh has a 2.53 ERA and 0.92 WHIP.

Yusmeiro Petit dominated the D-backs again: A 4-hitter on 84 pitches, 68 strikes, with no three-ball counts and just a trio of two-ball counts. For a 9-inning effort:

• 84 pitches is the fewest in the last two seasons.
• 16 balls matches the fewest since 1997. With pitch counts known back to 1988, only Greg Maddux (13 balls), John Smiley (14) and Chris Bosio (15) have tossed fewer than 16 balls.
• Petit’s 81% strike rate is 8th-best in this era.

Devin Mesoraco’s 23rd homer plus a double raised his Isolated Power to .270. Only 11 catchers have had any year with 100+ games played and .270 ISO, and only Mike Napoli in the past 10 years.

Jacob deGrom logged a career-best eight scoreless frames for his 15th quality start in 20 outings, tying the Mets mark shared by Ron Darling, Gary Gentry and Jason Isringhausen. Since 2004, only Masahiro Tanaka had more QS in his first 20 games (16); Jered Weaver, Hyun-jin Ryu and Gerrit Cole also had 15.

• deGrom’s 2.62 ERA would be 4th-best by a Mets rookie with 15+ starts, after Jerry Koosman (2.08 in ’68) and ROY winners Jon Matlack (2.32 in ’72) and Dwight Gooden (2.60 in ’84).

Is Hector Santiago the wave of future starting pitchers? In the last three seasons, his 3.44 ERA as a starter ranks in the top quartile of those with 40+ starts; the AL starting average is 4.18 in that span. Meanwhile, Santiago’s average of 5.40 innings per start is next-to-last, besting only the perpetually injured Erik Bedard. Historically, his starting ERA is #1 among 177 pitchers who averaged 5.5 IP or less in 40+ starts. The short stints are partly due to working as a swing man. But I think there’s more. The Angels surely know of the following career splits; he’s faced just seven batters in the 7th:

• First two times facing a batter in a game, .222 BA/.649 OPS. Third time, .290/.890.
• Pitches 1 to 75, .226/.673; pitches 76-100, .266/.807.
• Innings 1-5, 2.91 ERA; 6th inning, 7.34 ERA and .942 OPS.
• By the way, Santiago’s “third-time-through” splits are extreme, but they track the modern trend. From 1973-90, the OPS split for AL starters on the third time through the order was just 1.9% higher than their overall mark. From 1991-present, it’s 4.5% higher.

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Monday, Sept. 8

Did the A’s find Flowers on their grave?

• With a 2-out tying homer in the 9th and a walk-off blast in the 12th, Tyler Flowers scored 0.998 Win Probability Added — the highest by a ChiSox since Carlos May in 1973. Flowers joined Andrew McCutchen as the only players this year with two tying or go-ahead homers in the 9th or later within the same game.
• In less than a month, Oakland has fallen from top dog, 4 games better than ever other team, into the wild-card jungle — and by Wednesday night, they could be with the have-nots. Their 8-18 record since August 10 is the AL’s worst.

Victor Martinez leads the majors with a .407 OBP and .982 OPS. Only Edgar Martinez and Frank Thomas led MLB in OPS as a DH. Betcha can’t name all five DHs who’ve won an AL OBP crown. (DH’ed in at least 50% of their games in that season; list at bottom.)

• Martinez is batting .337, one point behind Jose Altuve for the MLB lead. Only Edgar ever won a batting crown or hit above .341 as a DH. No DH has led the majors in BA, OBP and OPS.
• With two strikes, V-Mart has 81 hits and 39 whiffs. Since 1988 (the dawn of pitch data), only Wade Boggs, Jason Kendall, Juan Pierre and Placido Polanco had 70+ two-strike hits and twice as many hits as strikeouts. Those four totaled 7 two-strike homers; V-Mart has 13 HRs. Out of 593 player-seasons with 10+ two-strike homers, only Albert Pujols (2004) had at least one-third as many two-strike HRs as Ks.

Catch/release/laser: Rene Rivera in a blur of motion.

Yeah, I guess those last two runs off Kershaw were unearned.

The Mets had six hits, but no singles — a club record for all-extra-baggers.

Colorado’s home/away scoring ratio, currently 1.80, is a safe bet to place in the all-time top 10 — which would knock out the ’55 BoSox, and give the Rockies nine of those top 10 marks.

• Colorado’s home OPS is 15.4% above their overall mark — the 2nd-highest ratio of any team since 1914. Of course, the Rockies hold the top six spots on that list, and 11 of the top 12.

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Sunday, Sept. 7

Since July 2 — the day the final team reached its schedule midpoint — all six divisions have a new leader:

• AL East: Toronto was up by 1.0 … now Baltimore up by 9.5
• AL Central: Detroit was up by 4.5 … now Kansas City up by 2.0
• AL West: Oakland was up by 3.5 … now Angels up by 7.0
• NL East: Atlanta was up by 0.5 … now Washington up by 7.0
• NL Central: Milwaukee was up by 5.5 … now St. Louis up by 4.5
• NL West: San Francisco was up by 1.0 … now Dodgers up by 3.0

What’s more, of those six previous leaders, only the Giants have played above .500 since (30-28); they’re 166-183 combined. Of the six new leaders, only the Angels (40-19) and Orioles (38-20) have played above a 98-win pace since July 2.

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Mike Olt had three singles and a walk. In 62 prior starts, he never had three hits, or even two singles, and just 14 of his 32 career hits were singles. Olt began the day batting .141 on 27 for 191; in the live-ball era, only Ray Oyler hit under .145 in at least 200 PAs.

Carlos Carrasco pitched shutout ball for a career-high 8.2 innings. His string of six starts yielding one run or less is tied with Bob Feller in 1946 for Cleveland’s longest since at least 1914.

• Since August 1, Cleveland starters lead MLB with a 2.33 ERA.

Nelson Cruz’s first triple since 2011 plated three Birds for a 5-4 lead in the 9th, and after the Rays tied it up, his 2-run shot in the 10th gave him all seven team RBI. That tied Eddie Murray’s 1979 franchise record for driving in all the team’s runs in a win. The last Oriole with even 5 RBI in such a win was Wayne Gross in 1984.

• Cruz scored a 1.214 Win Probability Added — the 5th-best known figure, the best in MLB since 2000, and an O’s/Browns record. (Data go back to the 1940s.)
• Russell Martin owns the longest active no-triples streak, 878 games and 3,042 PAs since late 2007. Martin hit seven triples in his first 256 games.

Derek Holland & friends blanked Seattle, 1-0, for the Rangers’ 17th shutout — third-most in MLB, their fourth against the Mariners (no team has more in a season), and almost one-third of their 54 wins. The franchise record is 19 shutouts, by the 2011 pennant winners (96 total wins). This year’s Rangers have allowed:

• No runs, 17 times
• One run, 4 times
• Two runs, 19 times
• Three runs, 13 times
• Four runs, 21 times
• Five runs, 14 times
• Six runs, 14 times
• Seven runs, 7 times
• Eight or more runs, 34 times — eight more than any other team

Miami whitewashed Atlanta for the fourth time this year, tying the most by one team since 1988.

Franklin Morales paced Colorado’s fourth shutout and third in the last eight games. It’s the third time they’ve ever blanked a team twice in one home series.

Ben Revere’s longshot batting title bid highlights his .377 slugging average, two points below the lowest SLG by a modern batting champ (Rod Carew, 1972).

Adam LaRoche’s two bombs off Cole Hamels led the Nats to a win. He has 6 HRs in 42 ABs against Hamels — his most against any pitcher, and 12% of his career total against LHPs. It’s also the most homers Hamels has allowed to any batter, and 13% of his career total to lefties.

KC shut out the Yankees twice in this series, the second time they’ve ever done that. Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera each worked a scoreless frame, extending their #1-2 streaks in club history to 31 and 27 games — as well as the #3 and #1 active homerless streaks (by innings). The last homer off Davis came in his most recent start, last August; since moving back to the pen, he’s allowed 6 runs in 73 IP, with 34 hits and 101 Ks.

• Four Royals have 10 or more wins — first time since 1988.
• On Friday, James Shields pitched the Royals to their first-ever 1-0 win in the Bronx. Each team had four baserunners (Shields hit a batter), just the second such game in the Bronx since at least 1914.
• Wade Davis’s 0.70 RA/9 would be an all-time best for 50+ innings.

Gerrit Cole hit the first homer by a Pittsburgh pitcher in almost three years, ending the longest active drought by an NL team.

Mike Trout is the 10th player since 1914 with 100 RBI out of the #2 spot in the order. The record is 114, shared by Eddie Mathews and Alex Rodriguez.

Juan Lagares has 8 steals in his last 9 games (caught once) — more steals than any other player in the last two weeks. In his prior 219 career games, 10 steals in 16 tries.

• Lagares has been a league-average hitter this year — yet his brilliant defense has raised him to 5th in NL WAR (B-R version). Many folks would balk at that value estimate, and even a fan such as I wonders how Juan can be just the second outfielder ever with two years at 3+ defensive WAR. But try this thought experiment: There are about 26 weeks in the season. Let’s say Lagares steals a hit with his glove once a week (plays an average CF wouldn’t make), and that most would be extra-base hits; say, 17 doubles and 9 singles. Now suppose that instead of making those plays, he turns 26 of his own batting outs into those same doubles and singles. Projecting his stats to a full year, he’d go from a .282 hitter to .326 with 50 doubles. Wouldn’t that guy be a star, even as an average defensive CF?

Over 77% of Zach Britton’s balls in play have been grounders, the highest rate in the 27 seasons of known data (50+ IP).

• Britton’s 3.26 GB/FB ratio — highest with 50 IP in at least 10 years — makes his .181 BA even more startling, since groundball pitchers tend to have higher BAs than flyball pitchers. But Britton’s grounders have gone for a .124 BA (17 for 137), about half the MLB average.

Who saw this Jose Abreu coming? He began the year by slugging at an historic pace, with 19 homers in his first 55 games — but he also had 64 Ks to 14 walks (27% K rate), a .260 BA and .314 OBP. Not that anyone minded. But since June 15 (the start of a 17-game hitting streak), Abreu has hit in 63 of 71 games for a .368 average (100 for 272), slashing his K rate to 17%, while maintaining strong power production (rates of 32 HRs and 110 RBI per 162 games). His current .320 BA would trail only Minnie Minoso among ChiSox rookies.

• Abreu leads both leagues with .598 slugging and 172 OPS+, the latter trailing only Shoeless Joe among all qualified rooks. Only four rookies ever hit at least .320 with 30 HRs and 100 RBI: Albert Pujols, Walt Dropo, Ted Williams and Hal Trosky.

Adam Eaton’s .364 OBP would be the best by a ChiSox leadoff man since Ray Durham in 1999.

Checking in on the resurgent Miguel Cabrera, the 5th player to reach 100 RBI in 11 straight seasons:

• Cabrera joins Al Simmons and Albert Pujols as the only ones with eleven 100-RBI years in their first 12 seasons; no one else had more than nine. Eleven straight 100-RBI seasons has been done only by Lou Gehrig (13 straight, in years 4-16); Jimmie Foxx and Alex Rodriguez (both 13, years 5-17); Simmons (years 1-11); and Cabrera (2-12).
• He’s on pace to join Pujols as the only players with 11 years of 300+ total bases by age 31 or in their first 12 years. Only three have reached 300 TB for at least 11 straight years: Gehrig and Willie Mays with 13, and Pujols with 12.
• Career ranks through age 31: 9th* in Hits … 7th in Times On Base … 6th in Total Bases and Extra-Base Hits … 11th* in HRs … 2nd in Doubles. (* = likely to move up one spot this year.)
• Through first 12 seasons: 13th in Hits … 11th* in Times On Base … 3rd in Total Bases … 5th in Extra-Base Hits … 12th in HRs … 6th in Doubles.
• It takes an all-time great to have an “off year” and still rank in the league’s top 10 in BA, OBP, SLG, OPS and OPS+, Runs and RBI, hits and extra-base hits, doubles, total bases, times on base, runs created, WPA
• With his next game, Miggy will surpass Cal Ripken in games played through their first 12 seasons (both age 20-31). Ripken missed 31 games from his debut through the end of his 12th year (28 of those in his first year); Cabrera has missed 52 games since his debut.

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Saturday, Sept. 6 — Jonathan Lucroy notched his 48th and 49th doubles, breaking a tie with Ivan Rodriguez for the most two-baggers by a player with at least half his games at catcher. Seven of Lucroy’s doubles came at another position, so he still needs four to pass Pudge for the most doubles hit as a catcher.

• Lucroy also leads all catchers with 5.8 WAR, ranking 2nd in both offensive and defensive WAR.

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Friday, Sept. 5

Tyler Matzek’s 3-hitter was the Rockies’ first CG shutout since June of 2011 (Ubaldo Jimenez), and just their third ever at home on 3 hits or less.

• The rookie Matzek has 21 straight scoreless frames in his last three outings.

Milwaukee’s losing streak ended at nine games. No playoff team in the wild-card era had a skid longer than nine. The 2012 A’s and the 2010 Bravos both dropped nine straight; both streaks were ended by June 2, and both teams lost in the first round.

• 18 other teams made the playoffs after an 8-game skid, including two by the champion 2006 Cardinals — the only team in these groups to reach the World Series.

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Wednesday, Sept. 3

Adam LaRoche had three tying or go-ahead events in the 9th or later: pinch-hit 2-run homer in the 9th, 2-run single in the 12th, RBI groundout in the 14th. No one else in at least 15 years had three such events so late in a game.

Before polishing off a 4-hitter, Miguel Gonzalez had started 64 games without ever throwing a pitch in the 9th inning.

• His career ERA is 3.51, his FIP 4.59 — the largest net gain from FIP to ERA for any pitcher with 50+ starts. How does he do it? It must be the defense, since his RISP stats are worse than with bases empty.

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Tuesday, Sept. 2

Never before: Opposing starters Carlos Carrasco of Cleveland and Detroit’s Kyle Lobstein both notched 10 strikeouts without finishing the 6th inning. Carrasco set another first: At least 10 Ks and 10 hits with only one run had never been done in less than eight full innings — and that just once, by Fergie Jenkins in 1969.

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Random Random Notes

This year’s home run rate is 2.30% of plate appearances. The average for the expansion era is … 2.31%.

Someone said on TV, “If Adrian Beltre is a Hall of Famer, then so is Aramis Ramirez.” Well … Yes, there are similarities in their offensive stats, and one could make a case that they’re equivalent hitters (although offensive WAR favors Beltre). But my goodness — shall we pay no mind to defense at all? Beltre is a four-time Gold Glove winner, and rates as one of the best ever at the hot corner by defensive WAR. Ramirez has not won a Gold Glove, to state the obvious, and rates as one of the worst gloves to play 1,500 games at third base. You don’t have to buy Beltre’s two-to-one edge in career WAR, but even a moment’s thought to their defensive reputations dispels the idea that they’re comparable players.

Milwaukee’s rightward offensive tilt is among the most extreme ever seen. Counting pitchers, they’re on pace for 1,188 game starts by right-handed batters, 10th-most since 1914. Taking out pitchers and DHs, their projected total of RHB starts would still crack the top 40. (Sadly, the Baseball-Reference “bats left/bats right” splits are all paired off with the kind of pitcher faced, so there’s no easy way to find out the percentage of total at-bats from each side for multiple teams at once. Please, Sean?)

• The Brewers also haven’t started a lefty pitcher in more than a year, since last August 28 (Tom Gorzelanny). Every other team has at least 11 southpaw starts this year.

On Saturday 8/30, eight Angels combined to blank the A’s. The prior three such 9-inning games all came within the last two days of the season, with expanded rosters.

Also that Saturday, Chris Sale bested Max Scherzer, shrugging off a rare 3-run 1st inning and whiffing 13 over 7 frames. The last pitcher with 13+ Ks allowing 3 runs or more? Sale himself, in June of last year.

• Another line you don’t see much: Scherzer’s 11 Ks, no walks, and 6 runs allowed in less than 7 IP. Only Ryan Dempster (2000) and Shane Reynolds (’96) share that puzzling package.
• Sale’s career .554 OPS in the 1st inning ranks 2nd-best since 1914 for those known with 250+ at-bats. He surrendered just three 1st-inning runs in his other 23 starts this year.

Jimmy Rollins is having a surprisingly good year at 35, including a 100 OPS+ (career 97). Might he have another good year left with the bat? I would bet no. J-Roll’s walk and strikeout rates have both spiked this year, combining for 27.3% of his PAs; his past rate was 19.5%, and 21.4% in the prior three years. He’s seeing 4.18 pitches per time at bat, which is 8% more than his next-highest year, and 11% more than his prior three years. Walks and deep counts are good in the abstract, but for an old player they often foretell a crash.

• Rollins used to feast on the first pitch: .340 BA, .526 SLG through 2011. But those numbers have plunged to .190/.321 in the last three years, and just 6 for 40 this year. He’s hitting finesse pitchers this year for a .280 BA/.457 SLG, but just .206/.331 against others. His production against fastballs has plummeted in the last two seasons, and his rate of contact on swings has dropped. A smart hitter who accepts his diminished abilities can become more selective and maintain his results, for a while. But when word gets around that he can’t hit a good fastball any more, the end can come quickly.

The Rockies are 0-10 when scoring four on the nose. They’d be the first team ever with no wins at that scoring level.

Kershaw’s FIP is 1.88. In the live-ball era, there have been just four qualified years with FIP 1.90 or less: Sandy Koufax, 1963, 1.85 FIP (his first Cy Young Award and 300-K season); Bob Gibson, ’68, 1.77; Doc Gooden, ’84, 1.69 (his rookie year, not his CYA); and Pedro Martinez, ’99, 1.39.

Billy Hamilton is the first Red with 50 stolen bases since … ? (“Stop those Darned Noises so I can think!”) And the first with 19 caught stealing since … ? (“Did you see those Vans Collide?”)

James Paxton has started and won 8 of his first 13 career games, a Mariners first. Only Masahiro Tanaka has more since 2007.

Wade Davis is approaching Rob Murphy’s record for run-stinginess in a season of 50+ innings. Murphy had an 0.72 RA/9 in 1986, on 4 runs in 50.1 IP; Davis has an 0.78 RA/9, 5 runs in 57.1 IP.

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Designated Hitters who led the AL in OBP: Edgar Martinez (three times, including the DH record of .479), Frank Thomas, David Ortiz, Hal McRae, and Milton Bradley.