Our divisional theme heads west … and just like your morning paper, the scores from the coast come a day late.
@Dodgers 3, Angels 0 (box): Hyun-jin Ryu went past the 8th for the first time in America, and it felt so good, he just kept going, polishing off a 2-hit shutout with 7 Ks and no walks. It’s the Dodgers’ first individual shutout in their 94 games against the Angels, and was completed in 2 hours, 11 minutes.
Game Notes is scaling back coverage in favor of depth, so we’ll focus on one division per day (both leagues), with occasional noteworthy games tacked on. We begin with the Central Divisions; but feel free to comment on other games.
Pirates 5, @Brewers 4: The Bucs have allowed 4 earned runs or less in 19 straight games, the longest such streak this year and their longest since 1970. Their May pitching stats look like some Cy Young seasons: 2.44 ERA in 210 IP, 199 Ks, 58 walks, 14 HRs and a 16-7 record. A 2-inning stint by Vin Mazzaro ran his scoreless string to 12.2 IP (plus stranding all 5 inherited). Jason Grilli converted his 20th straight save; he’s 5 saves ahead of any other Pirate after 50 games.
In Part 1, we saw that whatever correlation had existed between no-hitters and strikeout rates was broken in the last 20 to 30 years. But why?
I can’t study that question in depth, but we can dip a toe in the water by starting with a simpler question: What basic measure would we expect to show the strongest correlation to no-hit rates?
“The less often the ball is in play, the more likely a no-hitter becomes.”
Tom Verducci wrote that in a June 2012 Sports Illustrated column titled, “Flurry of no-hitters and perfect games reflect changes in baseball.” You’ve probably heard the same claim elsewhere.
It sounds good in theory, and it may hold for individual games. But on a league-wide basis, it’s not supported by results in the current era, once you look beyond a very small sample. The high-strikeout era as a whole has actually seen a decline in no-hitters, compared to prior rates.
@Tigers 6, Twins 0: Joe Mauer timed a 1-and-1 curve from a tiring Anibal Sanchez and lined it through the middle, a foot above the hurler’s head, spoiling the no-hit bid with 1 out in the 9th on his 121st pitch. Sanchez fanned the last 2 men for 12 Ks, a career-high 130 pitches, and his 4th career 1-hitter. Since his 2006 debut, he leads the majors with 5 regulation CGs of 1 hit or less; Matt Cain has 4 in that time, Verlander and Dickey 3 each. Sanchez allowed 5 hits in his 17-K game last month.
Baseball Fates, please note (please?): I’m just playing around here! None of these things will actually come to pass; it’s just a way of expressing how hot he’s been so far.
Miguel Cabrera finished Thursday’s game #45 with a .391 BA, .701 slugging, 1.168 OPS, 14 HRs, 55 RBI, 39 Runs, 72 hits, 129 total bases, and an OPS+ well north of 200.
@Giants 4, Nationals 2 (10): What’s better than a game-tying triple with 2 outs in the 9th? Panda-monium, of course. Matt Cain worked 7 strong for the 3rd time in 4 May outings (the good ones all at home), and the Giants took the MLB lead in walk-off wins, each of their six delivered by a different driver.
@Phillies 3, Reds 2: Did I read this right? With a 1-run lead, Aroldis Chapman started the 9th by walking Delmon Young, on 4 pitches. Then Cliff Lee pinch-ran — and got picked off. But never mind; Erik Kratz homered to tie it …
Did I miss the fanfare? I found no mention of it in the news accounts. But according to the B-R Split Finder, when he led off the 6th inning Friday, David Ortiz became the all-time leader in plate appearances as a designated hitter.* He passed Harold Baines in his 3rd trip to the plate that night, which also became his 3rd single of the game. He later walked to help produce the winning run.