The Marlins' bullpen resurgence
Buster Olney
ESPN Insider
There wasn't much for the Florida Marlins' bullpen to do on Friday night, as Anibal Sanchez pursued a no-hitter. Maybe this left more time for Edward Mujica to watch teammates and hone his imitations of them.
Mujica came to the Marlins with Ryan Webb in a trade with the San Diego Padres, and right away Mujica demonstrated his ability to copy -- to near perfection -- how Webb moves, from the time that the phone in the bullpen rings to how he starts to get ready in the bullpen to how he runs onto the field and sets up on the mound. The other Florida relievers thought this might just be a case of one reliever knowing the other well after playing together for a long time in San Diego -- until Mujica started imitating all the other relievers, as well.
"He's unbelievable," said reliever Brian Sanches. "He might be one of the funniest guys I've ever been around."
If Mujica were to do a proper impersonation of a Marlins reliever these days, he'd have to include the act of registering outs on the mound. So far this year, no bullpen has had more success than that of Florida, an extraordinary turnaround from a year ago. The Marlins' bullpen was a major problem for Florida in 2010, especially early in the year, when Fredi Gonzalez had no left-handers at his disposal.
But general manager Larry Beinfest filled that hole in the offseason, signing free agent Randy Choate and trading for Mike Dunn, and beyond balancing the bullpen, he put together a whole lot of power arms. The Marlins -- who finished 17th in bullpen ERA last year, at 4.01 -- have a 1.63 ERA so far this season, the best in the majors.
Some of the numbers they've generated:
• Opposing hitters are batting .180 against the Florida bullpen, and have an OPS of .517.
• The Marlins' relievers have issued just 18 walks in 55⅓ innings.
• The Marlins are 5-for-5 in save chances.
• Dunn has allowed one hit and no runs in seven appearances, generating nine strikeouts in 5⅔ innings.
• Sanches has allowed one hit and no runs in 10⅔ innings.
• Leo Nunez has a 2.00 ERA, while converting all of Florida's save chances.
• Webb has pitched 11 innings, with a 1.18 WHIP.
"If you go back to last year," Sanches said the other day, "we had a bunch of open spots when spring training started. The whole spring was an audition.
"This year, we came in pretty much set. We had eight guys competing for seven spots. It allowed us to build chemistry early."
<OFFER>
Which means playing golf together, or going to dinner together, or laughing as Mujica does one of his spot-on imitations. Or maybe just turning at the sound when one of the other hard throwers warms up -- something Sanches has done when Dunn starts to explode the catcher's mitt as he gets ready to pitch in the bullpen, throwing in the mid-90s. "He's got that backspin -- that heavy, hard fastball," Sanches said.
"It's been a big difference from the start of last year."
The Marlins' bullpen just sat and watched as Sanchez came within three outs of becoming the 29th pitcher in history to throw at least two no-hitters, Juan Rodriguez writes. Edwin Rodriguez let Sanchez finish what he started.
From Daniel Braunstein of ESPN Stats & Info:
Longest no-hit bids, 2011 season
Anibal Sanchez, Florida, 4/22 vs. Colorado, 8 innings
Josh Johnson, Florida, 4/13 at Atlanta, 7⅓
Orioles combined, 4/2 at Tampa Bay, 6⅔
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco, 4/18 at Colorado, 6⅓
Josh Johnson, Florida, 4/1 vs. New York Mets, 6
Last season, there were five no-hit bids that were broken up in the ninth inning, the highest number since 1990. Anibal Sanchez is the first to lose a no-hit bid in the ninth this season.
<!-- begin inline 1 -->No more no-no
No-hitters broken up in ninth inning, past two seasons
<TABLE><THEAD><TR><TH>Date</TH><TH>Pitcher(s)</TH><TH>Game</TH><TH>Outs in 9th</TH></TR></THEAD><TBODY><TR class=last><TD>Friday</TD><TD>Anibal Sanchez</TD><TD>Marlins vs. Rockies</TD><TD>0 out</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>August 8</TD><TD>Brandon Morrow</TD><TD>Blue Jays vs. Rays</TD><TD>2 out</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>July 10</TD><TD>Travis Wood</TD><TD>Reds vs. Phillies</TD><TD>0 out</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>June 13</TD><TD>Ted Lilly</TD><TD>Cubs vs. White Sox</TD><TD>0 out</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>June 2</TD><TD>Armando Galarraga</TD><TD>Tigers vs. Indians</TD><TD>2 out</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>May 6</TD><TD>Harden/Harrison/O'Day/Feliz</TD><TD>Rangers vs. Twins</TD><TD>1 out</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- end inline 1 -->Most complete game wins allowing one hit or fewer (since 1998)
Roy Halladay -- 3
Anibal Sanchez -- 3
Mark Buehrle -- 3
Randy Johnson -- 3
How Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez nearly no-hit the Rockies:
A.) He had a great fastball: Sanchez's fastball averaged 92.1 MPH, only the eighth time since the 2009 season he averaged 92 or higher in a start. Seventy-one of his 123 pitches (57.7 percent) were fastballs, above his average of 53.7 through his first three starts. He recorded eight misses on 26 swings on his fastball (30.8 percent), the third-highest miss percentage on his fastball in the past three seasons.
<!-- begin inline 2 -->Throwin' smoke
Anibal Sanchez's fastball, 2011 season
<TABLE><THEAD><TR><TH>Stat</TH><TH>First 3 Starts</TH><TH>Friday</TH></TR></THEAD><TBODY><TR class=last><TD>Velocity</TD><TD>91.1</TD><TD>92.1</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Miss pct</TD><TD>23.1</TD><TD>30.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Opp BA</TD><TD>.395</TD><TD>.111</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- end inline 2 -->
B.) Sanchez often put himself in hitters' counts, going to a 2-0 or 3-1 count nine times to six hitters. However, he was able to recover by being aggressive. Sanchez threw five of his nine 2-0 or 3-1 pitches up in the zone, all on fastballs, with the Rockies missing on all four they swung at. Overall, five of Sanchez's 16 swings-and-misses for the game came on the nine pitches he made when behind 2-0 or 3-1.
C.) While his fastball was the best it had been in a while, Sanchez used his off-speed pitches to get hitters out, especially with two strikes. With two strikes, Sanchez retired 13 Rockies hitters with off-speed pitches, despite throwing just 17 off-speed pitches with two strikes the entire game. Sanchez recorded 12 outs on his slider, including nine with two strikes -- the most in a start since September 2009.
• Steve Garvey is looking to buy the Dodgers, as part of a group, writes Bill Shaikin.
Many folks within the sport believe that Dennis Gilbert will wind up as part of the group that owns the Dodgers -- assuming that Frank McCourt's days as Dodgers owner are over.
Steve Soboroff says he has not lost his mind, Robin Abcarian writes.
Ned Colletti has been given budgetary guidelines. Heard this: Major League Baseball has presented the Dodgers with an approval process they should follow if they are presented with a trade opportunity.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers are 3-0 in their Bud Selig era.
• Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy have been hammering each other on Twitter, writes Susan Slusser.
• Speaking of Twitter: Asked a couple of Twitter brethren about whether they would prefer a best-of-three format for the No. 4 and 5 seeds in the playoffs, or just a one-game playoff.
@Jguthrie46: "I prefer a best of 3 to be played 3 consecutive days after season ends. 1-1-1 game setup so each team has home playoff game. If teams are separated by large distance, one off day in series. This gives division winners opp. to set up rotations while wild cards battle it out (an advantage they earned)."
@PeterMoylan: "Best of three."
Mark Teixeira doesn't like the idea to expand the playoffs. Jim Leyland likes it, as mentioned within this notebook.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. The Pirates claimed Brandon Wood on waivers. It's an interesting choice for Pittsburgh, given Wood's acute results in the majors.
2. The Rangers are not restricting Alexi Ogando to a pitch or innings count.
3. It looks like the Cubs are going to replace James Russell in their rotation, as they scramble for solutions.
4. The Orioles are skipping Chris Tillman's spot in the rotation.
5. The Rockies made a trade for a former Rule 5 pick.
6. The Marlins will use a couple of guys to replace Logan Morrison.
Dings and dents
1. Brad Lidge is cautious as he goes through his recovery.
2. The Twins have seen an improvement in Joe Mauer's condition.
3. Kevin Youkilis got a day off.
4. Corey Hart is getting very close to coming off the disabled list.
5. Angel Pagan wound up on the disabled list.
6. Phil Hughes continues to work through his throwing program.
7. Brian Matusz had a pain-free throwing session.
8. Jake Peavy is reporting some progress.
9. Bruce Bochy is not optimistic that Andres Torres can come off the disabled list Tuesday.
Friday's games
Michael Pineda firmly established himself as the early leader for the AL Rookie of the Year with his latest outing. How Pineda won:
A.) He pounded the strike zone with his mid-90s fastball, throwing 41 of his 61 fastballs in the zone (67.2 percent). A's hitters put just nine of their 31 swings (29 percent) on his fastballs in the zone in play, fouling off a whopping 16 of them. The A's finished just 1-for-11 on at-bats ending in fastballs.
B.) Pineda got ahead of A's hitters, throwing first-pitch strikes to 19 of the 25 batters he faced (76 percent). This helped him avoid hitters' counts, as he went to only one 2-0 and zero 3-1 counts.
Highest average fastball velocity (among starters, 2011 season)
Michael Pineda -- 95.9*
David Price -- 94.5
Alexi Ogando -- 94.2
Josh Johnson -- 93.9
Justin Verlander -- 93.8*
*Entering Friday
1. Cole Hamels had a great night on his return to his hometown. From Mr. Braunstein, how Hamels won:
A.) With his great changeup: Hamels threw 29 changeups, using it most effectively as a put-away pitch. Only 11 of his changeups came with two strikes, but the Padres swung at nine of them, missing on five. He retired seven hitters on those 11 pitches, including five by strikeout.
B.) He recorded 12 of his 16 swings-and-misses on his changeup. The 12 misses tied the second most anyone has recorded on a changeup in a start this season, trailing only James Shields' 13 on April 2.
2. Ryan Braun had a really big day, the day after finishing his new contract.
3. A move by Tony La Russa paid off.
4. Tommy Hanson had his best outing of the year, David O'Brien writes.
5. Oakland's run production continues to be a problem.
6. John McDonald -- yes, him -- slammed a decisive homer, Bill Lankhof writes.
7. Justin Verlander kept his focus after giving up a couple of homers and racked up strikeout No. 1,000.
8. The Red Sox battled through another one-run victory against the Angels -- the sixth win in Boston's past seven games. Boston's starters have a 1.19 ERA in those games, Peter Abraham writes.
9. Miller Park has been a house of dejection and ejection for the Astros, writes Steve Campbell.
10. Ike Davis was The Man for the Mets.
11. Derek Holland made an adjustment, and was helped by a bunch of homers.
12. The Rockies have been struggling to hit on the road, and they were nearly no-hit … again.
13. The Nationals are getting hammered by rain in the past week.
14. The Yankees were rained out again, and they know that down the road, they will pay a price for it.
15. The Royals' pitchers got hammered in Texas.
16. The Reds' starting pitcher warmed up and was ready to go -- and never got to throw a pitch; Dusty Baker wondered aloud if the Reds got the same information from the weatherman that the Cardinals did.
17. The Twins are not upset their game was rained out; Justin Morneau could play today.
18. The White Sox are in a serious spiral -- that's eight losses in the past nine games -- but the veterans on the team say it's too early to panic, Mark Gonzales writes.
19. Casey Coleman got hit hard.
20. Madison Bumgarner didn't see the fourth inning, Ron Kroichick writes.
21. Dan Haren is mortal.
22. The Padres were shut out for the sixth time. It's going to be hard for the Padres to keep Anthony Rizzo down in the minors, writes Tim Sullivan.
The Patience Index
<!-- begin inline 3 -->
Hold your horses
Most pitches per plate appearance (minimum three plate appearances)
<TABLE><THEAD><TR><TH>Hitter</TH><TH>PA</TH><TH>No. Pitches</TH><TH>P per PA</TH></TR></THEAD><TBODY><TR class=last><TD>Cliff Pennington</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>21</TD><TD>7.0</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>David Wright</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>27</TD><TD>6.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Jeff Mathis</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>19</TD><TD>6.3</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Jose Reyes</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>24</TD><TD>6.0</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Freddy Sanchez</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>24</TD><TD>6.0</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Pat Burrell</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>18</TD><TD>6.0</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Jerry Sands</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>29</TD><TD>5.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Bobby Abreu</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>23</TD><TD>5.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Chad Billingsley</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>23</TD><TD>5.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Paul Konerko</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>23</TD><TD>5.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Daniel Murphy</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>23</TD><TD>5.8</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- end inline 3 -->
Other stuff
• Bryce Harper had a really good day.
• Evan Longoria will presumably pay a stiff price in the Rays' kangaroo court for this.
• Mike Quade suggested the Dodgers may have breached some baseball etiquette, as mentioned within this Paul Sullivan notebook.
• From Elias: Jo-Jo Reyes is winless in his past 22 starts, the longest streak for any major league pitcher since Matt Beech went 22 starts without a win for the Phillies over the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
• The legend of Sam Fuld continues to grow.
• A Royal is struggling, at a time when a top Kansas City prospect is killing the ball in Triple-A, Bob Dutton writes.
• Matt Holliday has been on a torrid pace.
• The Oakland pitchers have been working to slow the running game, writes Joe Stiglich.
• Dustin Pedroia put on a show the other day, writes Dan Shaughnessy.
• Strikeouts are not Austin Jackson's problem.
• The Indians are still marveling about a throw that Melky Cabrera made.
• It's way too early to make a judgment about the Indians, says Manny Acta.
• Jason Varitek is not hitting, but he is handling the Boston staff.
• Mike Gonzalez believes better days are ahead, writes Dan Connolly.
• The Mets have made a move to change their luck.
And today will be better than yesterday.
Buster Olney
ESPN Insider
There wasn't much for the Florida Marlins' bullpen to do on Friday night, as Anibal Sanchez pursued a no-hitter. Maybe this left more time for Edward Mujica to watch teammates and hone his imitations of them.
Mujica came to the Marlins with Ryan Webb in a trade with the San Diego Padres, and right away Mujica demonstrated his ability to copy -- to near perfection -- how Webb moves, from the time that the phone in the bullpen rings to how he starts to get ready in the bullpen to how he runs onto the field and sets up on the mound. The other Florida relievers thought this might just be a case of one reliever knowing the other well after playing together for a long time in San Diego -- until Mujica started imitating all the other relievers, as well.
"He's unbelievable," said reliever Brian Sanches. "He might be one of the funniest guys I've ever been around."
If Mujica were to do a proper impersonation of a Marlins reliever these days, he'd have to include the act of registering outs on the mound. So far this year, no bullpen has had more success than that of Florida, an extraordinary turnaround from a year ago. The Marlins' bullpen was a major problem for Florida in 2010, especially early in the year, when Fredi Gonzalez had no left-handers at his disposal.
But general manager Larry Beinfest filled that hole in the offseason, signing free agent Randy Choate and trading for Mike Dunn, and beyond balancing the bullpen, he put together a whole lot of power arms. The Marlins -- who finished 17th in bullpen ERA last year, at 4.01 -- have a 1.63 ERA so far this season, the best in the majors.
Some of the numbers they've generated:
• Opposing hitters are batting .180 against the Florida bullpen, and have an OPS of .517.
• The Marlins' relievers have issued just 18 walks in 55⅓ innings.
• The Marlins are 5-for-5 in save chances.
• Dunn has allowed one hit and no runs in seven appearances, generating nine strikeouts in 5⅔ innings.
• Sanches has allowed one hit and no runs in 10⅔ innings.
• Leo Nunez has a 2.00 ERA, while converting all of Florida's save chances.
• Webb has pitched 11 innings, with a 1.18 WHIP.
"If you go back to last year," Sanches said the other day, "we had a bunch of open spots when spring training started. The whole spring was an audition.
"This year, we came in pretty much set. We had eight guys competing for seven spots. It allowed us to build chemistry early."
<OFFER>
Which means playing golf together, or going to dinner together, or laughing as Mujica does one of his spot-on imitations. Or maybe just turning at the sound when one of the other hard throwers warms up -- something Sanches has done when Dunn starts to explode the catcher's mitt as he gets ready to pitch in the bullpen, throwing in the mid-90s. "He's got that backspin -- that heavy, hard fastball," Sanches said.
"It's been a big difference from the start of last year."
The Marlins' bullpen just sat and watched as Sanchez came within three outs of becoming the 29th pitcher in history to throw at least two no-hitters, Juan Rodriguez writes. Edwin Rodriguez let Sanchez finish what he started.
From Daniel Braunstein of ESPN Stats & Info:
Longest no-hit bids, 2011 season
Anibal Sanchez, Florida, 4/22 vs. Colorado, 8 innings
Josh Johnson, Florida, 4/13 at Atlanta, 7⅓
Orioles combined, 4/2 at Tampa Bay, 6⅔
Tim Lincecum, San Francisco, 4/18 at Colorado, 6⅓
Josh Johnson, Florida, 4/1 vs. New York Mets, 6
Last season, there were five no-hit bids that were broken up in the ninth inning, the highest number since 1990. Anibal Sanchez is the first to lose a no-hit bid in the ninth this season.
<!-- begin inline 1 -->No more no-no
No-hitters broken up in ninth inning, past two seasons
<TABLE><THEAD><TR><TH>Date</TH><TH>Pitcher(s)</TH><TH>Game</TH><TH>Outs in 9th</TH></TR></THEAD><TBODY><TR class=last><TD>Friday</TD><TD>Anibal Sanchez</TD><TD>Marlins vs. Rockies</TD><TD>0 out</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>August 8</TD><TD>Brandon Morrow</TD><TD>Blue Jays vs. Rays</TD><TD>2 out</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>July 10</TD><TD>Travis Wood</TD><TD>Reds vs. Phillies</TD><TD>0 out</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>June 13</TD><TD>Ted Lilly</TD><TD>Cubs vs. White Sox</TD><TD>0 out</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>June 2</TD><TD>Armando Galarraga</TD><TD>Tigers vs. Indians</TD><TD>2 out</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>May 6</TD><TD>Harden/Harrison/O'Day/Feliz</TD><TD>Rangers vs. Twins</TD><TD>1 out</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- end inline 1 -->Most complete game wins allowing one hit or fewer (since 1998)
Roy Halladay -- 3
Anibal Sanchez -- 3
Mark Buehrle -- 3
Randy Johnson -- 3
How Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez nearly no-hit the Rockies:
A.) He had a great fastball: Sanchez's fastball averaged 92.1 MPH, only the eighth time since the 2009 season he averaged 92 or higher in a start. Seventy-one of his 123 pitches (57.7 percent) were fastballs, above his average of 53.7 through his first three starts. He recorded eight misses on 26 swings on his fastball (30.8 percent), the third-highest miss percentage on his fastball in the past three seasons.
<!-- begin inline 2 -->Throwin' smoke
Anibal Sanchez's fastball, 2011 season
<TABLE><THEAD><TR><TH>Stat</TH><TH>First 3 Starts</TH><TH>Friday</TH></TR></THEAD><TBODY><TR class=last><TD>Velocity</TD><TD>91.1</TD><TD>92.1</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Miss pct</TD><TD>23.1</TD><TD>30.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Opp BA</TD><TD>.395</TD><TD>.111</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- end inline 2 -->
B.) Sanchez often put himself in hitters' counts, going to a 2-0 or 3-1 count nine times to six hitters. However, he was able to recover by being aggressive. Sanchez threw five of his nine 2-0 or 3-1 pitches up in the zone, all on fastballs, with the Rockies missing on all four they swung at. Overall, five of Sanchez's 16 swings-and-misses for the game came on the nine pitches he made when behind 2-0 or 3-1.
C.) While his fastball was the best it had been in a while, Sanchez used his off-speed pitches to get hitters out, especially with two strikes. With two strikes, Sanchez retired 13 Rockies hitters with off-speed pitches, despite throwing just 17 off-speed pitches with two strikes the entire game. Sanchez recorded 12 outs on his slider, including nine with two strikes -- the most in a start since September 2009.
• Steve Garvey is looking to buy the Dodgers, as part of a group, writes Bill Shaikin.
Many folks within the sport believe that Dennis Gilbert will wind up as part of the group that owns the Dodgers -- assuming that Frank McCourt's days as Dodgers owner are over.
Steve Soboroff says he has not lost his mind, Robin Abcarian writes.
Ned Colletti has been given budgetary guidelines. Heard this: Major League Baseball has presented the Dodgers with an approval process they should follow if they are presented with a trade opportunity.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers are 3-0 in their Bud Selig era.
• Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy have been hammering each other on Twitter, writes Susan Slusser.
• Speaking of Twitter: Asked a couple of Twitter brethren about whether they would prefer a best-of-three format for the No. 4 and 5 seeds in the playoffs, or just a one-game playoff.
@Jguthrie46: "I prefer a best of 3 to be played 3 consecutive days after season ends. 1-1-1 game setup so each team has home playoff game. If teams are separated by large distance, one off day in series. This gives division winners opp. to set up rotations while wild cards battle it out (an advantage they earned)."
@PeterMoylan: "Best of three."
Mark Teixeira doesn't like the idea to expand the playoffs. Jim Leyland likes it, as mentioned within this notebook.
Moves, deals and decisions
1. The Pirates claimed Brandon Wood on waivers. It's an interesting choice for Pittsburgh, given Wood's acute results in the majors.
2. The Rangers are not restricting Alexi Ogando to a pitch or innings count.
3. It looks like the Cubs are going to replace James Russell in their rotation, as they scramble for solutions.
4. The Orioles are skipping Chris Tillman's spot in the rotation.
5. The Rockies made a trade for a former Rule 5 pick.
6. The Marlins will use a couple of guys to replace Logan Morrison.
Dings and dents
1. Brad Lidge is cautious as he goes through his recovery.
2. The Twins have seen an improvement in Joe Mauer's condition.
3. Kevin Youkilis got a day off.
4. Corey Hart is getting very close to coming off the disabled list.
5. Angel Pagan wound up on the disabled list.
6. Phil Hughes continues to work through his throwing program.
7. Brian Matusz had a pain-free throwing session.
8. Jake Peavy is reporting some progress.
9. Bruce Bochy is not optimistic that Andres Torres can come off the disabled list Tuesday.
Friday's games
Michael Pineda firmly established himself as the early leader for the AL Rookie of the Year with his latest outing. How Pineda won:
A.) He pounded the strike zone with his mid-90s fastball, throwing 41 of his 61 fastballs in the zone (67.2 percent). A's hitters put just nine of their 31 swings (29 percent) on his fastballs in the zone in play, fouling off a whopping 16 of them. The A's finished just 1-for-11 on at-bats ending in fastballs.
B.) Pineda got ahead of A's hitters, throwing first-pitch strikes to 19 of the 25 batters he faced (76 percent). This helped him avoid hitters' counts, as he went to only one 2-0 and zero 3-1 counts.
Highest average fastball velocity (among starters, 2011 season)
Michael Pineda -- 95.9*
David Price -- 94.5
Alexi Ogando -- 94.2
Josh Johnson -- 93.9
Justin Verlander -- 93.8*
*Entering Friday
1. Cole Hamels had a great night on his return to his hometown. From Mr. Braunstein, how Hamels won:
A.) With his great changeup: Hamels threw 29 changeups, using it most effectively as a put-away pitch. Only 11 of his changeups came with two strikes, but the Padres swung at nine of them, missing on five. He retired seven hitters on those 11 pitches, including five by strikeout.
B.) He recorded 12 of his 16 swings-and-misses on his changeup. The 12 misses tied the second most anyone has recorded on a changeup in a start this season, trailing only James Shields' 13 on April 2.
2. Ryan Braun had a really big day, the day after finishing his new contract.
3. A move by Tony La Russa paid off.
4. Tommy Hanson had his best outing of the year, David O'Brien writes.
5. Oakland's run production continues to be a problem.
6. John McDonald -- yes, him -- slammed a decisive homer, Bill Lankhof writes.
7. Justin Verlander kept his focus after giving up a couple of homers and racked up strikeout No. 1,000.
8. The Red Sox battled through another one-run victory against the Angels -- the sixth win in Boston's past seven games. Boston's starters have a 1.19 ERA in those games, Peter Abraham writes.
9. Miller Park has been a house of dejection and ejection for the Astros, writes Steve Campbell.
10. Ike Davis was The Man for the Mets.
11. Derek Holland made an adjustment, and was helped by a bunch of homers.
12. The Rockies have been struggling to hit on the road, and they were nearly no-hit … again.
13. The Nationals are getting hammered by rain in the past week.
14. The Yankees were rained out again, and they know that down the road, they will pay a price for it.
15. The Royals' pitchers got hammered in Texas.
16. The Reds' starting pitcher warmed up and was ready to go -- and never got to throw a pitch; Dusty Baker wondered aloud if the Reds got the same information from the weatherman that the Cardinals did.
17. The Twins are not upset their game was rained out; Justin Morneau could play today.
18. The White Sox are in a serious spiral -- that's eight losses in the past nine games -- but the veterans on the team say it's too early to panic, Mark Gonzales writes.
19. Casey Coleman got hit hard.
20. Madison Bumgarner didn't see the fourth inning, Ron Kroichick writes.
21. Dan Haren is mortal.
22. The Padres were shut out for the sixth time. It's going to be hard for the Padres to keep Anthony Rizzo down in the minors, writes Tim Sullivan.
The Patience Index
<!-- begin inline 3 -->
Hold your horses
Most pitches per plate appearance (minimum three plate appearances)
<TABLE><THEAD><TR><TH>Hitter</TH><TH>PA</TH><TH>No. Pitches</TH><TH>P per PA</TH></TR></THEAD><TBODY><TR class=last><TD>Cliff Pennington</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>21</TD><TD>7.0</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>David Wright</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>27</TD><TD>6.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Jeff Mathis</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>19</TD><TD>6.3</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Jose Reyes</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>24</TD><TD>6.0</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Freddy Sanchez</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>24</TD><TD>6.0</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Pat Burrell</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>18</TD><TD>6.0</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Jerry Sands</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>29</TD><TD>5.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Bobby Abreu</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>23</TD><TD>5.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Chad Billingsley</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>23</TD><TD>5.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Paul Konerko</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>23</TD><TD>5.8</TD></TR><TR class=last><TD>Daniel Murphy</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>23</TD><TD>5.8</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- end inline 3 -->
Other stuff
• Bryce Harper had a really good day.
• Evan Longoria will presumably pay a stiff price in the Rays' kangaroo court for this.
• Mike Quade suggested the Dodgers may have breached some baseball etiquette, as mentioned within this Paul Sullivan notebook.
• From Elias: Jo-Jo Reyes is winless in his past 22 starts, the longest streak for any major league pitcher since Matt Beech went 22 starts without a win for the Phillies over the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
• The legend of Sam Fuld continues to grow.
• A Royal is struggling, at a time when a top Kansas City prospect is killing the ball in Triple-A, Bob Dutton writes.
• Matt Holliday has been on a torrid pace.
• The Oakland pitchers have been working to slow the running game, writes Joe Stiglich.
• Dustin Pedroia put on a show the other day, writes Dan Shaughnessy.
• Strikeouts are not Austin Jackson's problem.
• The Indians are still marveling about a throw that Melky Cabrera made.
• It's way too early to make a judgment about the Indians, says Manny Acta.
• Jason Varitek is not hitting, but he is handling the Boston staff.
• Mike Gonzalez believes better days are ahead, writes Dan Connolly.
• The Mets have made a move to change their luck.
And today will be better than yesterday.
