Padres 2, @Pirates 0 — Andrew Cashner went the route and faced the minimum 27 batters, a franchise first, and his one-hitter briefly knocked the Pirates off their perch.

Jose Tabata slashed a single inside first to start the 7th, just past Tommy Medica’s laid-out glove — the first Buc on board, and also the last. Andrew McCutchen’s GDP ended that frame and reset Cashner’s batter count. He’d never gone past 8 innings before, but with no 3-ball counts, he took just 97 pitches to finish off the 19th one-hitter in Padres history, and the third with just one baserunner.

• A.J. Burnett gave up both runs in the 7th on 3 singles, as his record fell to 8-11.
• Cashner also swiped a base and scored, joining Zack Greinke as the only pitchers with 2 steals in a year since 2007.
• Cashner’s turned in a quality start in 9 of his last 10 outings, with a 2.36 ERA, and allowed just 3 runs over his last 4 games (all 7+ IP).
• The other Padres CGs with one baserunner: Mat Latos, 2010 (6th-inning single); Jimmy Jones, 1986 (3rd-inning triple by the pitcher, in Jones’s MLB debut).
• MLB’s last 27-batter CG that wasn’t a no-hitter: Roy Oswalt, 2008, against the Pirates.

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@Rockies 6, Cardinals 2 — Matt Carpenter had tied it with 2 outs in the 8th, but Colorado banged home 4 in their half, giving Trevor Rosenthal the worst night of his young career. Charlie Blackmon had 3 hits, two driving in runs, including a go-ahead, left-on-left single off Kevin Siegrist in the 7th. Collin McHugh logged a solid start for the first time since his debut last year.

• Silver lining for St. Louis: Lance Lynn’s 2nd straight good outing.

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Reds 6, @Astros 1 — Zack Cozart drove in the first 4 runs with 2-out hits, and Johnny Cueto was effective in his first start since June 28 (1 walk, 5 Ks in 5 IP).

• After 2 more with Houston, the Reds have 6 of their last 9 against the Pirates, with the Mets in between. If the Cards should falter further, Cincinnati could seize control; they trail the leaders by 2.5 games.
• Reds and Pirates haven’t met since just after the All-Star Break.
• Jay Bruce reached 95 RBI. Should he fall short of 100 (again), he would be the 4th player with 3 seasons of 95+ RBI but none with 100 (Arky Vaughan, Donn Clendenon, Kevin McReynolds).

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@Rays 6, Rangers 2 — Tampa busted up a 2-2 game in the 5th with 4 runs on 5 straight hits, capped by Wil Myers’s 2-run rocket double, and Alex Cobb picked up steam from there, finishing with 10 strikeouts over 8 innings. The Rays pulled one game up on the Rangers, who’ve lost 7 in a row and 10 out of 11.

• In the 2nd, Myers homered right down the (opposite) line. He goes the other way only about once per eight trips, but when he does, good things happen.
• Ian Kinsler hit 2 doubles, but took himself off the bases both times: on 3rd base, with Cobb in the wind-up, he bluffed(?) too far towards home and got caught in the middle on a grounder right to Longoria; then picked off trying to steal 3rd with 2 outs in a tie game.
• In the 3rd, Yunel Escobar was on his horse, but Leonys Martin caught a non-stop flight and beat him to the barn. The rookie has 14 OF assists (AL-high 11 from CF), and is 4th in dWAR among AL grazers. Escobar had scored from second on 14 of 17 singles, and hadn’t been thrown out at the plate this year. The Rays were tied for fewest outs on bases.
• But Martin misread Myers’s second big hit, a straightaway shot on a center-cut fastball from Jason Frasor, who had just relieved Matt Garza.
• Cobb at the Trop, career: 22% strikeouts, .224 BA. On the road, 18% strikeouts, .269 BA.

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@Royals 7, Indians 1 — K.C. fluffed out their slim lead with a 3-run 6th, starting with triples by Lorenzo Cain and the smoking Salvador Perez (26 RBI in his last 26 starts, OPS over 1.000). James Shields went 6 innings and fanned 10 for the first time this year, while avoiding the big hit.

• Indians trailing 2-1 in the 5th, Michael Bourn on 1st with no outs. Shields struck out Nick Swisher, Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana, while Bourn stayed put. Shields has allowed just 5 steals in 8 tries this year, and has averaged about 8 per season, with 7 either caught stealing or picked off.

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AL Wild-Card Upate: Rays 82-67, Rangers 81-68, Indians 81-69 (-0.5), Orioles 79-70 (-2.0), Royals 79-71 (-2.5), Yankees 79-71 (-2.5).

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@Tigers 4, Mariners 2 — Rick Porcello followed up his first CG with 10 Ks over 6 innings, as Detroit edged closer to the clincher. A 2-out walk to Miggy touched off a 2-run rally in the 6th, with ribby hits by V-Mart and Omar Infante.

• Abraham Almonte homered and singled for the M’s, continuing his strong September showing. Acquired last winter from the Yankees for Shawn Kelley, Almonte has suddenly emerged as a hitting prospect, with some power, speed, and a .394 OBP in the high minors.
• Drew Smyly tried to finish 2 innings for the first time since June, but gave up a run and was lifted one out short. The long season may be catching up to Smyly, in his third pro year and first as a reliever. His last 12.2 innings have brought 8 runs on 17 hits and 3 HRs; through July, he had a 1.77 ERA, .194 BA and just one HR in 61 IP.

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@Phillies 12, Marlins 2 — Memo from Cliff Lee: “I’m still damn good.” Lee struck out 14 Marlins (no walks, natch), crossing 200 strikeouts for the 3rd straight year, and added career highs of 4 RBI and 3 hits, including his first triple.

• Lee has won his last 3 starts, 8 IP each time, with 33 Ks and one walk.
• Pitchers with 200+ strikeouts each year from age 32-34: Jim Bunning, Bob Gibson, Kevin Brown, Roy Halladay, and Lee.

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More musing on the Cardinals’ RISP record

Averages for Cardinals non-pitchers:

• BA — .241 with Bases empty, .342 with RISP
• SO% — 18.2% with Bases empty, 14.3% with RISP
• BAbip — .281 with Bases empty, .381 with RISP

No typos: Their BA and BAbip are both 100 points better with RISP than with bases empty.

The Cardinals don’t strike out much, period, and they cut down even more with men in scoring position. But even that SO% differential translates into just 54 more balls in play, which would produce about 16 more hits, at a typical .300 BAbip. The Cardinals actually have 117 more hits with RISP than if they replicated their bases-empty BA of .241, or 106 more hits than if they matched the NL RISP average of .251.

Also puzzling is that .241 BA with bases empty, next-to-last in the NL — by a team whose overall BA is tied for first.

Let’s put their splits in context with the NL’s other top scoring teams (listing bases empty, then RISP, for non-pitchers):

• Cards — BA .241/.342 … SO% 18.2%/14.3% … BAbip .281/.381
• Rockies — BA .270/.270 … SO% 20.5%/17.9% … BAbip .318/.311
• Reds — BA .255/.259 … SO% 20.7%/17.2% … BAbip .297/.295
• Braves — BA .254/.256 … SO% 22.3%/20.7% … BAbip .306/.302
• D-backs — BA .265/.258 … SO% 18.1%/16.3% … BAbip .311/.287

All of these teams cut their K rate with RISP — none quite as much as St. Louis, but the Reds are close — yet none have anything like the Cards’ success.

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Among all center fielders in MLB history, Carlos Beltran ranks 10th in total bases, 8th in HRs, 7th in extra-base hits, 9th in offensive WAR, 8th in total WAR, and 7th in WAR per game. Just a thought.