Whoops! I did it again, for the Battle of the Justins. We’ll make it the last one for this series (the outcome took the edge off), and get back to regular Game Notes next post. Once again, this is working from ESPN’s printed play-by-play, as it happened, with the video links added later. (Oh, and a few oldies tacked on at the end. I hope you’re suitably giddy if you get to the Sunday Leftovers.)

1st/Top — Justin Masterson has lost his last 3 starts against Detroit, but he breezes here: 8 pitches, 7 strikes, 3 groundouts.

1st/Bottom — Justin Verlander gets 2-and-2 on Michael Bourn, who singles. JV has become runnable in recent years. Now Nick Swisher, who has 8 extra-base hits but also 24 Ks and a .185 BA in this matchup (Verlander vs. current Indians) — and after a 2-0 start, it’s 25 Ks, with Bourn staying put. Jason Kipnis hasn’t much to show for his time with Verlander; 3 for 19, 8 Ks. He gets ahead, 2-1, but slaps it to Miggy, who goes around the horn, inning over.

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2nd/Top — Several Tigers have had success with Masterson, including Prince Fielder — 6-16, a HR and (now) 4 walks. Victor Martinez is 9-19 with 5 walks; 3-and-0, he takes a strike, then walks. That’s the only real hole in Masterson’s stat sheet, a career rate of 3.5 BB/9. Don Kelly singles on the first pitch and loads ’em up with no outs; he’s 9 for 22 off Masterson, who won’t find much respite in this lineup. Now Alex Avila, Monday’s hero, and they’ll play at DP depth, although he doesn’t hit many grounders. Masterson comes back from 2-0 and gets Avila swinging; that’s 6 Ks in 19 bases-loaded PAs for Justin, no walks and 4 hits. Now it’s 7 Ks, as Jose Iglesias chases a 2-and-2 slider. Looking like a wasted chance, as 9th-place Ramon Santiago steps in; he’d bat 10th if it was offered. He chips to SS Asdrubal Cabrera for the force, and the Bengals go away hungry.

2nd/Bottom — Cabrera leads off for the Tribe; 10-49, 19 Ks against Verlander. But at-bat #50 is a double to right, and they’re in business. JV has a history of stiffening with a man on 2nd only (as many pitchers do, working carefully with a base open). But it’s been a weakness this year, and Michael Brantley singles to left, Cabrera to 3rd with no outs. Carlos Santana is the one guy Verlander didn’t want to see in a tight spot — 3 HRs and a double in 26 ABs. Carlos fouls off 1-2, gets even; he grounds to Fielder, who looks towards home, and Cabrera’s trapped off 3rd! Prince runs him towards the bag, Asdrubal freezes, and Prince throws too soon behind him — a blunder — and though Cabrera is tagged out, Brantley and Santana wind up at 3rd and 2nd. That proves big when Ryan Raburn grounds out to Santiago, playing deep at 2B, and the run scores. Lonnie Chisenhall fouls the first pitch and Avila makes a pretty, sliding grab, but the Tribe has jumped on top, and contact made the difference in these two half-innings.

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3rd/Top — Austin Jackson goes one-looking, two-foul, three-swinging. He’s slumping. Now Torii Hunter, another one who’s really hurt Masterson: 10-26, 3 HRs. He gets behind, 1-2, as in his first trip; fouls off a pair, but he succumbs. Masterson gaining steam from last inning’s escape. Miguel Cabrera hasn’t looked quite himself at bat with the sore midsection, but he volleys the first offer to right for a 2-out hit; he’s still a hitter first, slugger second. But Fielder grounds to short, side retired.

3rd/Bottom — Yan Gomes gets the start behind the plate tonight, with Santana at DH. He’s been doing damage, but he pops to second. Bourn grounds to Fielder. Verlander could use a quick inning, but he misses with the first 3 to Swisher, who takes a a strike and grounds to Santiago. Still just one strikeout for the Tiger ace, who hasn’t topped 6 Ks in his last 9 outings, the longest streak since his rookie year.

In Chicago, a great matchup between Hiroki Kuroda and hard-luck Chris Sale. The Yankees jump on top in the 1st, as Alfonso Soriano steals 2nd, and scores from there on a wild pitch.

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4th/Top — V-Mart’s been hot since July began, .387 in his last 30 games. Masterson goes up, 1-2, and Victor grounds to Swisher at 1B. Kelly, too, goes 1-and-2, but he singles again; Masterson has never gotten strike three past him, in 24 PAs. Avila wants for redemption for his bags-full whiff, but he flies the first pitch out to left. The bottom of this order can be a black hole, if Iglesias can’t get going, and he grounds into the 3rd straight inning-ending 6-4 forceout. Other than the 2 walks, Masterson has pounded the zone; 40 strikes in 59 pitches so far.

4th/Bottom — Kipnis fouls off 3 straight 2-2 pitches, then he’s called out on strikes, and Asdrubal swings through 1-and-2. Brantley steps in at 14-33 off Justin, who can’t put him away from 0-2 — two fouls, two balls, but finally he grounds to Iglesias at short, and that’s 9 straight outs for Verlander.

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5th/Top — Santiago takes one for the team, Jackson pulls a base hit into left and Ramon gets around to 3rd. Hunter gets a 2-0 count, then grounds to short, not quite hard enough to turn it over, and the tying run comes in. Now Miggy, still sitting on 99 RBI; but he rakes the first pitch, a screaming liner that beats Bourn to the base of the wall in dead center for an RBI double. That’s 10 straight 100-RBI seasons for Miguel Cabrera; he joins Albert, A-Rod and Foxx in amassing 10 such years by age 30, and ties Albert (2nd to Al Simmons) with 10 such years among his first 11. Fielder pulls it on the ground to Swisher, Miggy to 3rd, and Masterson ankles V-Mart on pitch one (he’ll walk it off); 14 HBP is a new career high for the big right-hander, and ties him with Doug Fister for the AL lead. If it was another pitcher, with 1st base open and Don Kelly next, you might suspect intent, but not the way Kelly has hit Masterson. He takes a strike, a ball, then gets a belt-high fastball and parks it in the RF bleachers for 3 runs. (It’s deja vu, one inning early.) Avila singles on 1-2, but Masterson finally gets off the field with another 6-4 force from Iglesias. Detroit batted around, taking a 5-1 lead.

In Kansas City, James Shields gives up 2 HRs in the top of the 1st, sandwiching his own error, and the Twins take a quick 3-0 lead.

5th/Bottom — Now it’s Verlander’s turn to seek a shut-down frame. Carlos Santana watches 4 go by, 2-and-2, then hits back to the mound. Raburn goes down swinging at 2-2, and Chisenhall runs a full count, then fouls to Miggy.

In Houston, it’s a poo-pourri home 1st, as BoSox catcher Ryan Lavarnway is charged with 4 passed balls in the 1st inning, scattered among 2 walks, a hit by pitch, a steal, a wild pitch … where’s the balk? Astros score 3 runs on one hit, a single. Sox SP Steven Wright throws a knuckleball, which usually gives the catcher the benefit of all doubt in PB/WP scoring decisions. (But remember, never trust a Houston lead.)

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6th/Top — Masterson makes quick work of Detroit this time, two grounders around another 3-pitch whiff of Jackson, who’s fanned 13 times in 36 trips against Justin.

6th/Bottom — Yan Gomes is hit on an 0-1 pitch, snapping Verlander’s string at 12 straight outs, and Bourn singles on 2-2; he’s 7-15 off Justin, all singles. Swisher’s futility continues with a fly to right, but Gomes takes 3rd. On the second pitch to Kipnis, Bourn swipes 2nd, but Jason goes down swinging. A big out, and it’s up to Asdrubal Cabrera, who doubled his last time. Two balls, then two strikes, and Cabrera grounds to second.

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7th/Top — Miggy fans on 4 pitches; 6 Ks for Masterson. Fielder lines to Bourn in CF, and V-Mart grounds to Asdrubal. One hundred pitches for Masterson, who would be good for another frame, but … Kelly’s due up next.

7th/Bottom — After the stretch, it’ll be Brantley, Santana and Raburn. Michael fouls off 3-and-1, goes full and fans. Santana grounds out for the 3rd time, and Raburn takes a 2-2 pitch, called strike three — the 7th K for Verlander, his first such game since June 12. In those next 9 starts, 57 IP, JV allowed 62 hits and 28 walks, with 37 strikeouts. Tonight: 4 hits, no walks. He might be done; 106 pitches isn’t among his top 162 career totals, but with Drew Smyly rested, Jim Leyland might want Justin out on a high note.

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8th/Top — Marc Rzepczynski takes the ball from Masterson, putting Kelly left-on-left, and he slaps to 3rd. (If this were the ’30s, Rzepczynski would’ve changed his name to Marc Zip by now.) Avila and Iglesias go down swinging. A 10-pitch inning — not much rest for Verlander, if he’s coming back.

8th/Bottom — It’s Verlander. Two strikes on Lonnie Chisenhall, who flies to Kelly. Gomes pops the first one foul to Fielder; he’s seen 5 pitches in 3 trips. Bourn takes a strike and grounds to Santiago — a 6-pitch stanza, and Justin might go all the way.

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9th/Top — Matt Albers takes the mound, with his 4th team in 4 years. (His namesake’s having a big debut in K.C., but no relation, it seems.) Santiago grounds to short, and Jackson follows suit. Torii Hunter needs to reach if Miggy is to bat again; he takes the count full, but skims it to Kipnis. Jason will hit 2nd in the Tribe’s last raps, between Swisher and Asdrubal Cabrera.

In St. Louis, the Dodgers fail to score through 5 for Kershaw (what else is new), game scoreless to the bottom half, Joe Kelly going for the Cards.

9th/Bottom — Jose Veras takes over for Verlander. He’s not allowed a hit yet in 3 Tigers games, and Swisher skies out on the first delivery. Jason Kipnis strikes out for the 3rd time. Cabrera pulls it down to Fielder, and that’s your ballgame. The last 11 went down in order for the Indians, who got just 2 on base over the last 7 innings.

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Ten wins in a row for the Tigers, their 4th-best streak in the live-ball era. The three longer streaks came in years they reached the World (’68 win, ’34 loss) or reached the ALCS (2011 loss). They had two 9-win streaks in ’84, another Series win.

Ten straight quality starts in the streak, and totals of 13 runs and 56 hits allowed. Two runs or less in the last 7 wins, their best such streak (win or lose) since 1988; it ties their best live-ball streak for wins, from April 1982, and ties the best such win streak by any team since the 2002 D-backs had 8 behind Johnson, Schillling and Batista.

Don Kelly collects 3 hits for the 6th time in his 6 seasons, and hits just his third 3-run HR. The last one was June 9, off Masterson, breaking a 1-all tie in the 6th in a 4-1 win. Masterson has allowed just 11 HRs in 164 IP, but five of them plated 3 runs or more.

Justin Verlander gets his 12th win, and his 77 Game Score is his best in 10 starts. He’s 9th on Detroit’s career wins list with 136, closing in on Wild Bill Donovan. For the expansion era, he’s just tied Mike Mussina for #29 in wins through age 30.

The Tribe are 3-11 against Detroit, which directly accounts for their 5-game deficit in the AL Central.

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Monday Munchies

@Astros 2, Red Sox 0 —  Brett Oberholtzer backed up his impressive debut start with another 7 scoreless frames. He’s the first Astro starter this year with back-to-back no-run outings, and the first in 3 years to do that with 7+ innings in each. He’s now beaten the AL’s #2 and #3 in scoring, yielding 7 hits and 2 walks combined. L.J. Hoes doubled and singled, bagged one of Houston’s 6 steals (tying this year’s MLB high), and scored both runs, including a suicide squeeze. Shortstop Jonathan Villar reached three times, including a bunt hit that put Hoes on 3rd with no outs, and swiped 3 himself, the first such game by an AL SS this year.  Rule-5 draftee Josh Fields relieved Wesley Wright in the 8th with the tying runs aboard and fanned Mike Napoli, then blew out 3 straight in the 9th, all swinging, for his first save.

• Chris Carter‘s first of four whiffs established a new Houston record, breaking Lee May‘s mark that had stood 41 years.
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia and his pitchers have allowed 62 SB (2nd in MLB) in 87 games this year, with 19% CS. Salty was the 3rd-most-victimized last year, with 80 SB in 104 games (18% CS).
• Houston has at least 6 successful squeezes this year, roughly one-seventh of the MLB total (as near as I can tell via B-R’s Event Finder)
• Fields, now 27 but a first-time big-leaguer, rang up 78 Ks in 58 IP last year in the high minors and also tamed his control problem. He was Seattle’s 1st-round pick in 2008, joined the BoSox in their ill-conceived Erik Bedard pickup (is there another kind?), and was left off their 40-man roster last fall. If he can lick the gopher-itis….
• Villar in the minors averaged 57 SB/162 G, and has 9 SB and 2 CS through 14 games with Houston. He’s the second player since 1996 with at least 1 SB in 6 or more of his first 14 games, joining Jarrod Dyson. (Alas, the “most games with X within first N games” won’t tally the SB.) But he’ll be hard-pressed to get on base enough to keep that rate.
• I ran the SB totals through 14 career starts, for the 18 players who’ve reached 500 SB during my lifetime. They averaged 4.1 SB and 1.2 CS, and only two had 8+ steals in that stretch: Rickey Henderson, 4 SB, 3 CS; Lou Brock, 2-0; Tim Raines, 14-0; Vince Coleman, 14-3; Joe Morgan, 1-1; Willie Wilson, 7-5; Bert Campaneris, 4-0; Kenny Lofton, 1-1; Otis Nixon, 5-1; Juan Pierre, 5-2; Maury Wills, 0-2; Ozzie Smith, 1-0; Brett Butler, 4-0; Davey Lopes, 5-0 (went 10-0 his next 14 games); Cesar Cedeno, 1-0; Barry Bonds, 3-3; Luis Aparicio, 0-0; Paul Molitor, 3-1. (Ichiro isn’t quite there yet, but he went 1-2 in his first 14 starts.)

Who is Brett Oberholtzer?

• One of two current big-leaguers from Delaware, joining Paul Goldschmidt (though Goldy went to high school in Texas), and the first to hail from Christiana (map).
• Oberholtzer went to William Penn HS in nearby New Castle, whose other baseball alumnus is former Brewers All-Star Dave May. (Note from May’s SABR Bio: “Dave learned baseball from his older brothers, Scrappy and Gilbert.” We should all be so lucky.) Dave May, who died last fall, was the father of 10-year player Derrick May, but is perhaps best remembered as Atlanta’s return in the Hank Aaron trade; he was later dealt for Jeff Burroughs, another former MVP. But we digress.
• Oberholtzer himself was traded by Atlanta (with three others) in the Michael Bourn deal, and so far it looks like he has the best chance of paying any dividends. Jordan Schafer, also acquired by Houston in that trade, was waived back to the Braves after he failed to hit in a year-plus trial, and has become a productive fourth outfielder.
• Oberholtzer debuted in relief on April 21 and made the highlights straightaway, when his 4th pitch was railroaded by Carlos Santana. Another homer the next inning made the blooper reels (he seems to have a knack for that), and Brett was shipped back to AAA soon thereafter. His return to big-league action coincided with that of David Price, and went no better than his debut; in a game already out of hand (as so many are, for Houston), he allowed 3 runs in the top of the 9th on 4 straight 2-out hits. At least he didn’t walk anyone.
• His third and last relief appearance came in the 4th inning on July 5, after Lucas Harrell had put the Astros in a 9-0 hole with a 6-walk, 3-HR abomination. And this time, Oberholtzer  showed something, with 3.1 walk-free innings, yielding a run on 3 hits. But back he went to OK City, starting one more time before the trade of Bud Norris paved the way for his return.
• In truth, little in Brett Oberholtzer’s minor-league background suggests that he was ready to beat the AL’s best, although his last 3 starts at AAA were good ones. Control has been his calling card, with a career rate of 2.2 walks per 9 innings. He’s walked just 2 in his 21 MLB innings, throwing 67% strikes; league average is 63%.

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Dodgers 3, @Cardinals 2 — Ronald Belisario retired the RISP monsters Allen Craig (.468) and Matt Holliday (.350) with the tying run in scoring position, preserving Zack Greinke‘s slim lead in the 7th, and Paco Rodriguez got six outs from the five men he faced, leading L.A. to an amazing 15th straight road victory. Yasiel Puig‘s double in the 4th was the linchpin to the Cardinals’ comeback from a 1-0 deficit, putting two in scoring position with no outs — but since it didn’t actually score someone, it’s not in MLB.com’s highlight clips. So, here’s the exciting forceout that brought in Puig for the lead.

And here’s Puig blindly heaving a throw towards the infield, way past the first relay man, and getting bailed out by Nick Punto’s quick catch-and-fire and the grab-and-tag by A.J. Ellis, to nail Allen Craig trying to tie the game in the 5th. And what does the clip’s tag say? “Yasiel Puig fires a frozen rope from right field…” He fires a what? Hey, I’ve seen his frozen ropes. This is a blind, flat-footed heave — a rainbow, really — which could have cost his team the lead.

Why do I scold him so? Because he did everything else beautifully on this play — the hot pursuit, positioning himself to field the carom, the one-handed grab and the quick release — but the play is to get the ball quickly to the cutoff man. It makes this old outfielder’s blood sing to watch him read the ball’s trajectory, flying over the grass to the right spot, knowing he has all the tools; I get that pure feel, but then the picture has a mustache.

• After Puig’s double put the go-ahead run on 2nd, I wondered if Adam Wainwright might walk Andre Ethier, who came in 9-30 with 3 HRs against him, in order to line up two righty DP candidates in A.J. Ellis and Juan Uribe. But Adam doesn’t much believe in the IBB; his only two this year were to face a pitcher. Maybe it’s because he’s been burned before; his last 3 IBBs not to face a pitcher all led to big innings and lost leads.
• Wainwright has allowed 3+ runs his last three starts — and in no other two consecutive starts this year. His longest such streak last year was three games.
• The lefty Paco Rodriguez has held both sides to a BA of .143 or lower in his 40 innings, and his .413 OPS is 2nd only to Alex Torres among those with 30+ IP.
• Despite their long hot spell, the Dodgers still lag at #12 in NL home runs. They’ve hit 37 HRs in their 32-7 surge — 9 by Hanley Ramirez, 7 by Adrian Gonzalez, 5 by Yasiel Puig.
• L.A. is 14-4 in Greinke’s starts, 13-10 in those by Clayton Kershaw. They’ve scored 2 runs or less in 3 of 14 by Greinke (1-2 team record), but 12 of 23 by Kershaw (4-8). Kershaw himself is 4-5 in those starts (.444 W%), which is astonishingly good. The other 13 pitchers with 10+ starts backed by 2 runs or less have a combined .159 W% and 4.03 ERA in those games; Kershaw’s ERA is 1.90. OK, his season ERA is 1.87, but you get the point.

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@Royals 13, Twins 0 — Jeremy Guthrie won his 4th straight start with his second 4-hit whitewash this year (each on 106 pitches), and the cornerstones Eric Hosmer  and Mike Moustakas combined for 7 hits and 7 RBI, leading Kansas City to their largest shutout margin since 1987.

And their other 13-0 shutout

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@White Sox 8, Yankees 1 — If a pitcher is good enough and healthy enough to start over 500 games in the major leagues, some bad days are bound to come. Andy Pettitte allowed 11 hits and 7 runs while getting 8 outs, and Jose Quintana became the 6th straight starter to limit New York to 2 runs or less, as Chicago won a laugher and shook a 10-game monkey off their backs. The Yanks fell 5 games from a wild-card spot, with three other teams between themselves and Texas.

• This year, 13 lefthanders have at least 100 IP and an ERA+ of 120 or better. Three of them are White Sox; the Pirates have two. Two of the ChiSox have enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, while Hector Santiago is just short. Only the 1949 Cardinals ever had 3 qualified southpaws with at least a 120 ERA+.
• Pettitte had 22 prior starts yielding 11+ hits, but this was the shortest by 2 full innings. It was nothing new for him in The Cell, where he’s allowed a .324 BA and 6.99 ERA, going 3-8 in 13 starts. In fact, he might just want to skip all future trips to the Windy City.
• Vernon Wells, who was slugging .224 in 205 PAs since his last home run, knocked a pair of doubles.
• I’m definitely holding onto my tickets for Mariano’s last [ahem] regular-season game in Yankee Stadium, Sept. 26.

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Sunday(!) Leftovers: The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth…

Blue Jays 6, @Angels 5 — What in the beaten way of friendship??? So Dane De La Rosa blows the save, then is relieved by Daniel Stange: both graduates of Elsinore HS in Wildomar, CA, and the only big-leaguers ever to come out of that school. Dane De La Rosa … from Elsinore? Pull the other one, then! Both pitchers were at AAA Salt Lake this year. In my mind’s eye … Their skipper was Luis Polonia, whose bench coach was (methinks) Reynaldo Garcia. They shared a flat (thrift, thrift!) — Apt. 2B, I think; but then again…. They caroused such public houses as the Rosined Branch and the Gilded Stern, dressed down in layered tees; and in one drunken revel, they tried to storm a nearby fort in bras, their doubleknits all unbraced. And when they finally got the call to Anaheim, they knocked on Mike Scioscia’s office door and admitted: “My lord, we were sent for.”

(Now, now — it’s not nice to attack your narrator with a bare bodkin! Help, help, ho!)

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@Red Sox 4, D-backs 0 — A deceptive delivery, as I understand it, is supposed to fool the human eye, not a radar gun. So, is Felix Doubront’s fastball really hitting 90 m.p.h.? His motion looks like Jamie Moyer’s.

• Tuffy Gosewisch? Yes, Tuffy Gosewisch! I only wisch his brother, Chip, had ever reached the majors.