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Jamie Moyer will make his ninth start of the season for the Colorado Rockies on Monday when he faces the Miami Marlins.

Forty games into the season and the Rockies will look to the 49-year-old lefty to be the first Colorado pitcher to win back-to-back starts this season. (Moyer beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in his last start.)

The Rockies are the only team that does not have a pitcher who has won consecutive starts this season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Moyer will oppose Mark Buehrle, marking the first time in almost four years that opposing starters had made a combined 1,000 starts. On Sept. 19, 2008, Barry Zito and the Giants beat Greg Maddux and the Dodgers, in what turned out to be the final loss of Maddux's career.

Also when Moyer takes the mound on Monday at Marlins Park, it will be the 50th major-league stadium he’s pitched in during his 25-year career. The only active stadium that Moyer has not pitched in is Target Field in Minnesota. Among players to debut since 1900, Moyer has pitched at the most parks (regular-season games only), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The matchup will also feature a pitcher with more than 250 wins (Moyer, 269) against one who has thrown two no-hitters. According to Elias, the last time a pitcher with at least 250 wins opposed a pitcher with at least two no-hitters was June 21, 2005, when Randy Johnson faced Hideo Nomo.

- Kenton Wong, Doug Kern and Nate Jones contributed to this post.

Stats & Info insights into this morning's top sports stories

1. DARVISH ROUGHED UP, BUT GETS WIN IN DEBUT: Yu Darvish allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings in his MLB Debut, including four in the first inning. However, he got the win as the Texas Rangers won 11-5 against the Seattle Mariners. FROM ELIAS: He was the first pitcher in more than 100 years to win his major-league debut in a start in which he allowed four or more runs in the first inning. That had last been done by Bill Steele of the 1910 St. Louis Cardinals, who surrendered five runs to the Cincinnati Reds in the opening frame of his first big-league game, but was credited with the win when St. Louis rallied for a 14-7 victory.

2. ZITO THROWS FIRST SHUTOUT IN A WHILE: Barry Zito threw his first shutout since 2003 as the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. FROM ELIAS: Zito ended his streak of 274 consecutive starts without a shutout, the third-longest drought in major-league history. Tim Wakefield (353 straight, from 1997 to 2011) and Kirk Rueter (299 in a row, from 1995-2005) had longer spans.

3. SPURS STREAK ENDS: The San Antonio Spurs' 11-game winning streak was snapped after a 91-84 loss to the Utah Jazz. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili didn’t play on Monday. It is the second time this season that Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili didn’t play in a loss that snapped an 11-game win streak. The first time was on February 21 in a 40-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

4. THREE TEAMS GET FIRST WIN, TWO STILL LOOKING: The Giants, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees all won Monday, leaving just two winless teams remaining in MLB. The Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins both dropped to 0-4 with losses. It’s the Braves worst start since 1988 when they started 0-10. It’s the Twins worst start since 1981, also an 0-4 start.

5. KNICKS-BULLS ... THE REMATCH: The New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls square off in Chicago on Tuesday. The two teams met two days ago in New York with the Knicks winning 100-99 in overtime. Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 43 points in that game and became the fifth player in the last five seasons to make a game-tying shot in the last 15 seconds in regulation, then make the game-winning shot in the last 15 seconds in OT.

The San Francisco Giants won for the first time in four games this season behind the arm of Barry Zito, who threw a shutout against the Colorado Rockies. He was just the second visiting left-handed pitcher to throw a shutout at Coors Field, joining Tom Glavine who did it twice.

Zito hadn’t thrown a shutout since April 18, 2003. He made 274 starts between shutouts, the longest streak between shutouts in major-league history. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the third-longest streak of consecutive streaks without a shutout, but Tim Wakefield and Kirk Reuter both ended their careers without breaking the streak.

Darvish overcomes shaky start
Yu Darvish struggled early in his debut for the Texas Rangers, allowing four runs and seven runners to reach base (four hits, three walks) in the first inning. He settled down after that, allowing a single run on four hits and a walk in his final 4⅔ innings. With the Rangers scoring 11 runs, Darvish was able to pick up the win.

It’s the second straight season that Darvish had some trouble shaking off the rust in the opener. In his first start with the Nippon Ham Fighters last year, he allowed seven runs in seven innings. In his other 28 starts, he didn’t allow more than three runs in a game.

Quick hits
• The Atlanta Braves fell to 0-4 for the first time since 1988, when they lost their first 10 games. Dating to last season, the Braves have lost nine straight games.

• Daniel Murphy recorded his second career walk-off hit as the New York Mets improved to 4-0 for the fourth time in franchise history.

• Homer Bailey allowed three home runs to the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning. It was the second time in his career that he allowed three homers in a game. The last time the Cardinals hit three home runs in the opening frame was a loss to the Chicago Cubs on July 24, 2005.

• Derek Jeter and Matt Wieters each recorded four hits in the New York Yankees win over the Baltimore Orioles. It was the 41st time that Jeter recorded at least four hits in a game but just the second time for Wieters.

• The Boston Red Sox scored three runs in the ninth inning to avoid starting back-to-back seasons at 0-4 for the first time in franchise history.

• Starlin Castro went 0-for-5, snapping his streak of reaching base safely at 43 games. That was one short of the most for the Cubs in the Live Ball Era (since 1920). Riggs Stephenson reach base safely in 44 straight games in 1928.

Despite going 0-3 with a 6.08 ERA in five postseason starts, Texas Rangers ace C.J. Wilson is in a great position this offseason. Wilson is the best starter available on the free agent market, now that CC Sabathia signed an extension with the New York Yankees. His case is aided by the recent history of free-agent spending on starting pitchers.

Going back to the offseason prior to 2006, there have been nine contracts of $50 million or more given to starting pitchers. Excluding Daisuke Matsuzaka -- since he had no major-league statistics to compare prior to coming to MLB -- Wilson’s seasons leading into free agency compare well.

Derek Lowe, Ryan Dempster and Gil Meche are poor comparisons given pre-free agency track record and the return expected around the industry. Wilson will be in his age-31 season in 2012. He’s accumulated 10.5 Wins Above Replacement in the two seasons preceding his free agency, third behind only Sabathia and Lee during the period being analyzed.

Interestingly enough, the three best-compensated pitchers during this period are all left-handers. Barry Zito’s contract is considered among the worst ideas of all-time, which seems to place Wilson in the “gap” between the Sabathia/Lee class and the Burnett/Lackey class.

Wilson’s 10.5 WAR is 29.6 percent higher than Burnett’s 8.1 mark prior to his free agency. If you scale that relative to Burnett's contract, Wilson could expect to receive $21 million per season.

On the flip side, Wilson contributed 76.1 percent of what Lee did prior to his free agency. Based on that, he’d be expected to receive $18 million per season. Splitting the difference, Wilson could be looking at a contract with an average annual value of $19.5 million, or $97.5 million in a five-year deal.

His agent can argue Wilson is superior to the likes of John Lackey and A.J. Burnett -- even without the aid of hindsight -- and thus we’re already starting to look at contracts approaching $90 million.

As we saw with Jayson Werth this past offseason, it only takes one team to change the expected market for a player. As such, don’t be surprised if the Rangers ace lands one of the richest contracts in the history of the sport for his position, particularly given the idea that he has so few innings on his arm relative to most pitchers who reach free agency.

The third, and final, winner-take-all game of the 2011 LDS takes place in the City of Brotherly Love as the Philadelphia Phillies host the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals are 8-5 against the Phillies this season, including playoffs, and have won four of the six meetings in Philadelphia.

Divisional Series History
The Cardinals are 10-5 all-time in winner-take-all games. Their most recent was a 3-1 win over the New York Mets in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, won on Yadier Molina ninth-inning home run. St. Louis is 4-4 all-time in winner-take-all games on the road.

The Phillies have only played two winner-take-all games. They beat the Houston Astros 8-7 in Houston in Game 5 of the 1980 NLCS, winning on a hit in the 10th inning by Garry Maddox. They also lost to the Montreal Expos 3-0 at home in Game 5 of the 1981 LDS. Steve Rogers pitched a six-hit shutout to beat them.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Philadelphia's 13 consecutive playoff series that did not go the distance was the longest such streak in major league history. The previous record was held by the Oakland Athletics, who went 12 consecutive series without playing a decisive game, from 1974 to 1992.

On the Mound
Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay lead the Cardinals and Phillies, respectively, in this game. Since the Cy Young Award was introduced in 1956, this is the third winner-take-all playoff game in which previous Cy Young winners faced off. The others were Pedro Martinez against Roger Clemens in the 2003 ALCS and Pedro Martinez against Barry Zito in the 2003 ALDS.

Carpenter went only three innings in his Game 2 start (throwing 64 pitches), his shortest postseason start of his career. The Cardinals won that game, improving Carpenter’s teams to 8-2 in his 10 career postseason starts. In his last four road postseason starts, Carpenter is 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA.

Halladay is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in two career NLDS starts, including his no-hitter in the 2010 NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds. Despite the success in this round, Halladay has allowed seven earned runs in 16.0 innings in his last two starts against the Cardinals.


Players to Watch
Albert Pujols could be playing his final game in a Cardinal uniform, as he becomes a free agent at season’s end. Pujols ranks as the all-time leader in home runs and RBI for players within their first 11 major-league seasons. In Cardinals history, he ranks second or third in just about every major statistical category, trailing either Stan Musial or Mark McGwire.

Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley have been driving the Phillies offensive bus this series. The two have a combined .517 batting average (15-for-29) with a 1.381 OPS while hitting seven of the teams 10 extra-base hits. The rest of the Phillies are hitting .181 with a .474 OPS.

Rollins, specifically, has been killing the ball. His performance against non-fastballs this postseason, although a small sample size, has been solid (5-for-8 with a double). And he’s not wasting any time at the plate – if he gets a pitch to hit, he’s taking his cuts.

Justin Verlander goes for his 21st win on Friday, as the Detroit Tigers host the Chicago White Sox. Presuming he starts every fifth day, mark Verlander down for six more starts in 2011. That puts some notable milestones within his grasp.

Could Verlander be the first pitcher in 21 years to win 25 games in a season? In 1990, Bob Welch went 27-6 for the A’s on his way to the Cy Young Award. Since then, two pitchers reached 24 wins (John Smoltz in 1996 and Randy Johnson in 2002), but no one made it to a quarter-century. In fact, only two AL pitchers have even reached 23 wins (Pedro Martinez in 1999 and Barry Zito in 2003).

If he reaches 25 wins, Verlander would be just the sixth pitcher to do so since the designated hitter arrived in 1973. In the past 30 years, Welch’s season stands alone.

On Friday, Verlander could be the first Tigers pitcher to reach 21 wins since Jack Morris in 1985. You have to go back to Mickey Lolich in 1971 to find their last 25-game winner.

With 218 strikeouts, Verlander also has a shot at a rare 25-win, 250-strikeout season. In the past 65 seasons, only four pitchers have pulled that off: Steve Carlton (1972), Lolich (1971), Denny McLain (1968) and Sandy Koufax (three times).

Verlander has put himself in this position thanks to wins in each of his past eight starts. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Brandon Webb in 2008 was the last pitcher to win nine straight, and the last Tigers pitcher to do so was McLain in 1968.

With these lofty numbers potentially looming, MVP buzz now accompanies each start. Appearing only every fifth day, starting pitchers are debatable MVP candidates. However, in terms of value to his team, it’s hard to ignore what Verlander has done.

Consider the following from Elias: Verlander is 14-3 in games following a Detroit loss. In the past 30 years, only two pitchers have earned 15 victories following a team loss in a single season: Felix Hernandez (15 in 2009) and Roger Clemens (15 in 1992).

Verlander has already reached the historical minimum win total for a starter to win the award. In 1943, Spud Chandler won 20 games on his way to the MVP. The eight starters to win it since have all won at least 22 games.

Even with more wins, Verlander’s ERA might not be low enough. Four of the last five starting pitchers to win an MVP finished with an ERA below 2.00. The exception was Roger Clemens (24-4, 2.48 ERA) for the 1986 Red Sox.

A new season of Sunday Night Baseball coverage kicks off on ESPN2 at 8 ET when the Giants try to salvage a series split with the Dodgers. The new announcing team of Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine will have plenty to talk about. Here are a few subjects they might touch on tonight, specific to starting pitchers Barry Zito and Hiroki Kuroda:

•  If past patterns hold, runs may be at a premium. Both of tonight’s starters are among the worst-supported pitchers in the last few years.

Since 2008, the Giants have averaged just 3.6 runs per game in Zito’s starts, the second-lowest mark among major-league starters. This lack of run support was a familiar theme for Zito against Los Angeles last year. Despite holding Dodgers batters to a .192 batting average and posting a 2.42 ERA, the Giants went 1-5 in his six starts, scoring a total of just seven runs.

Kuroda, entering his fourth season as a starter, is just 28-30 in his career despite a 3.60 ERA. Since 2008, that’s the lowest ERA among pitchers with a losing record, and he’s the only one with an ERA below four among those losing pitchers with at least 75 starts. Last year the Dodgers were held scoreless in six of his 13 losses as he posted just a 11-13 record despite a 3.39 ERA.

Hershiser can sympathize. In 1989 with the Dodgers, he went 15-15 with a 2.31 ERA. Hershiser had a late-season stretch in which he went 0-7, but got beat 1-0 three times.

•  The late-arriving fans in Los Angeles might miss out on a souvenir tonight if Kuroda can’t overcome his struggles in the first inning from last year. Six of his 15 home runs allowed in 2010 came during the first frame. Only two NL pitchers allowed more first inning homers, Chris Narveson (8) and Dan Haren (7).

•  Zito’s career matchup numbers against several Dodgers may look depressing for Giants fans, but much of that damage came during his first two seasons in San Francisco and while with Oakland. Matt Kemp has a career .419 batting average vs. Zito, but has just two hits in his last nine at-bats against him. Similarly, Rafael Furcal is a .342 hitter against Zito, but is only two for his last 10 versus him. And Rod Barajas is hitting .314 against Zito, but is just 6-for-24 after a 5-for-11 start.

With Buster Posey likely behind the plate, one likely discussion for our announcing team may be on the pitcher-catcher relationship. Last season, Zito had a 4.67 ERA in the 15 games in which he was caught by Buster Posey. He had a 2.71 ERA in the 13 games he was caught by Bengie Molina.

Today’s Trivia: Happy 27th Birthday to Joey Votto. Can you name the only two players to win the Triple Crown after turning 30?

Quick Hits: Let’s check in on some eye-popping pitching stats being put up since the All-Star break.

• In his last six starts, Felix Hernandez has a 0.20 ERA (Side note: All 11 of his wins have come in games where he allowed two runs or fewer). Since the break, King Felix has a 1.32 ERA. Over the last 25 years, only two AL pitchers have had a lower post-ASB ERA: Roger Clemens (0.97 in 1990) and Johan Santana (1.21 in 2004).

• Lost amid Chris Nelson’s straight steal of home Thursday was the fact that Cincinnati Reds’ reliever Nick Masset actually gave up an earned run on Troy Tulowitzki’s home run. (Nelson’s run was unearned). It was just the second earned run allowed by Masset in 29 innings since the All-Star break. That 0.62 ERA is best among relievers.

• Barry Zito’s eight losses since the break are the most in the majors. The last San Francisco Giants pitcher with 10 losses after the break is sitting in the opposing dugout tonight. Back in 1992, Bud Black went 3-10 in the second half after starting the season 7-2.

• Minnesota Twins starting pitchers are 28-9 with a 3.14 ERA since the break. Oakland Athletics starters are 22-21 with a 3.06 ERA.

• The Chicago Cubs have issued 44 more walks than any other MLB team since the break. Their 4.44 BB per nine would be the worst over the second half by an NL team since the 2000 Pittsburgh Pirates.

• Which team has held opponents to the lowest batting average since the break? Here’s a hint: They are just 20-33 since the All-Star Game. Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers have held opponents to a .229 average. That would be the lowest in the NL since the 1986 Houston Astros held opponents to a .218 average post-ASB.

• Meanwhile, the New York Mets offense is hitting just .226 since the break. That would be the lowest since the 1974 San Diego Padres hit .212.

Today’s Leaderboard: Hiroki Kuroda takes the hill against the Astros on Friday. No pitcher has held opponents to a lower OPS since the All-Star Break.

Key Matchups:
• Texas Rangers’ starter C.J. Wilson has been a lefty killer this season, holding them to .132 average and .381 OPS, both best in the majors. To find a starting pitcher who was this effective against lefties, you have to go back 10 years. In 2000, Al Leiter held them to a .119 average while with the Mets. But as he gets ready to face the New York Yankees, it’s a right-handed hitter that he has really dominated. Oh, and it’s not just any righty. Alex Rodriguez is 0-for-12 in his career against Wilson. That’s the most he’s faced any pitcher without a hit.

• James Shields would certainly like to forget his last start against the Toronto Blue Jays. On August 8, he tied a modern MLB record by allowing six home runs. Shields has allowed 30 homers on the season, most in the AL. Of the 11 active Blue Jays to face Shields, eight have hit home runs. That includes J.P. Arencibia, who went deep on the first pitch he saw as a major leaguer in that last meeting. Shields is 7-3 when he doesn’t allow a home run this season, compared to 6-9 when he does.

Trivia Answer: Frank Robinson was 31 in 1966 and Lou Gehrig was 31 in 1934 when they won their Triple Crowns.

What a wild Wednesday afternoon in baseball. Two teams (the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds) established 10-1 leads. Both of them coughed up every last run of those leads! The Braves fell to the Colorado Rockies, but the Reds hung on to defeat the San Francisco Giants in 12 innings. Had the Giants come back to win, it would have been the first time in MLB history (according to the Elias Sports Bureau) that two teams came back from at least nine runs down to win on the same day. Let's dig through some of the numbers.

Rockies 12, Braves 10
The Braves raced out to a 10-1 lead in the third inning. How thorough was the Braves offensive dominance? By the 4th inning, every single Braves starter (including pitcher Jair Jurrjens) had recorded an extra-base hit. The Braves are just the fourth NL team in the live-ball era (since 1920) to accomplish this. In fact, no NL team had done this since 1978 and the Braves did it by the fourth inning!


However, Colorado came back with 11 unanswered runs to win it, 12-10. It's their 18th comeback win of the season.

• The nine-run comeback is tied for the largest in Rockies history. The other instance was when they erased a 13-4 deficit to pull off an 18-17 win against the Marlins on July 4, 2008.

• It is also tied for largest blown lead in Braves history. According to Elias, they have previously blown nine-run leads to the Cardinals in 1992 and to the Phillies in 1933.

• This was the 48th time this season that Braves have scored at least four runs. This was just the third of those 48 games that the Braves lost.

• Remember the chart above, with the four NL teams since 1920 to have all nine starters record an extra-base hit? Each of the previous teams before the Braves went on to win their game by at least 16 runs!

• The Rockies have come back from at least five runs down three times this season. That is the most in the NL according to our friends at Elias. They also did this against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 6th and 7th.

• Rockies starter Esmil Rogers recorded just five outs. It's the 11th time this season a team has won a game despite receiving fewer than two innings pitched from its starting pitcher.

Reds 12, Giants 11 (12 innings)
Like the Braves, the Reds also took a 10-1 lead. The Giants scored 10 unanswered runs to take an 11-10 lead heading into the ninth inning. The Reds then picked up a run in top of the ninth to force extra innings. Joey Votto, who hit his 30th and 31st HR earlier in the game, won it with an RBI single in the top of the 12th.

• It was the 36th comeback win of the season for the Reds (3rd-most in MLB).

• The Giants' 11 runs scored are their most in a home loss in 27 years. They last scored that many in a home loss in a 13-11 defeat vs the San Diego Padres on April 5, 1983. The Giants are 147-3 in home games in which they score 11+ since moving to San Francisco in 1958.

• According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the second time since the team moved to San Francisco that the Giants scored scored 10+ runs in every game of a series of at least three games (other was in 2006 at Houston). It is just the 3rd time since 1920 that the Giants have scored 10+ runs in three straight home games (also in 1962 and 1953).

• The Giants' largest comeback remains eight runs (last in 1989 vs the Reds). The Reds' largest blown lead is nine (last in 2004 vs the Milwaukee Brewers).

• Joey Votto homered twice, bringing his season total to 31. He is the first Reds 1B with a 30-HR season since Lee May in 1971. No MLB team had gone longer without a 30-HR season by a 1B.

• In addition to the home runs, Votto hit the go-ahead RBI single in the 12th inning. Over the last two seasons, he has four go-ahead hits in extra-innings. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only Andre Ethier and Nelson Cruz (five each) have more such hits over this span.


• The Reds have allowed 11+ runs in three straight road games. It is just the third time in the live-ball era (since 1920) that they have done this. The other instances came in 1997 and 1922.

• The Giants committed a season-high five errors. They last committed five errors on August 7, 2009.

• Barry Zito made his second career relief appearance for the Giants and took the loss. He has lost each of his last three appearances.

FROM THE ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU:
The Boston Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia, who turns 27 Tuesday, is expected to be activated from the disabled list and play for the first time since June 25. On that date, Boston was three games back of the Yankees and tied with the Rays for the wild-card lead. Since then, Boston is 23-21 while Tampa Bay has the best record in baseball at 29-16. The Sox were averaging 5.5 runs per game before Pedroia was injured. Without him in the lineup, they have been averaging 4.5 runs.

Today’s Trivia: In a matchup of the National League Wild-Card leaders, the Philadelphia Phillies host the San Francisco Giants in a three-game series. The Phillies are one of the seven teams that have never been the NL Wild Card representative. Can you name the other six?

TUESDAY'S KEY MATCHUPS:
• Tigers at Yankees: Only one batter has struck out more against Justin Verlander than the Yankees' Nick Swisher - who has whiffed 14 times. The only player to fan more against Verlander is teammate Jhonny Peralta, who has 20 strikeouts.

• Giants at Phillies: Raul Ibanez knows how to end a hit streak in style, or lack thereof. Since the last game of his 18-game hit streak, Ibanez is 0-18 with four strikeouts. And it’s not likely to get better tonight against Barry Zito. Ibanez has an OPS of .486 against Zito in 47 at-bats. That’s Ibanez’s worst against any pitcher he’s faced at least 40 times.

• Angels at Red Sox, White Sox at Twins: Good luck to the right-handed batters in the Angels and Twins lineups. The American League’s two toughest pitchers against right-handed hitters – Boston’s Clay Buchholz and Chicago’s John Danks -- toe the rubber. Buchholz is allowing a .523 OPS to righties and Danks is close behind with a .529.

• Rangers at Rays: Since throwing a no-hitter on July 26, the Rays Matt Garza is winless in three starts (0-2, 3.05 ERA).

• Blue Jays at Athletics: Toronto's Brandon Morrow makes his first start since coming within one out of a no-hitter on Saturday against the Rays. As for the A's, they have been no-hit through at least six innings in each of their last two games.

MORE FROM THE ELIAS SPORTS BUREAU:
• Ichiro Suzuki has hits against 629 different major league pitchers, but the one he enjoys seeing most is Kevin Millwood, who is scheduled to start for Baltimore on Tuesday. Ichiro has 30 hits off Millwood, the most against any pitcher he's faced. The only active player who Millwood has surrendered more hits to than Suzuki is Vladimir Guerrero (33).

• Arizona's Daniel Hudson (starting Tuesday against the Reds) will try to win his fourth straight start since joining the Diamondbacks. With a victory, Hudson would join Philadelphia's Roy Halladay as the only pitchers this season to get a victory in each of their first four starts with a new team.

• The Mets' Johan Santana brings a 16⅓-inning scoreless streak to the mound tonight against the Astros. Santana has won each of his last two starts, going at least seven innings in each game without allowing a run. No Mets pitcher has ever had three consecutive starts like that. Santana has made seven starts this season with no runs allowed in seven innings or more, tying Halladay for the league lead. The last Mets pitcher with more scoreless starts of seven or more innings in one season was Dwight Gooden, who had 11 in 1985.

• With a win tonight at Tampa Bay, the Rangers' Tommy Hunter will join Ubaldo Jimenez and Phil Hughes as the third pitcher this season to win 10 of his first 11 decisions.

Trivia Answer: The six teams other than the Phillies that have never been the NL Wild Card representative are: Braves, Reds, Padres, Diamondbacks, Nationals and Pirates.

Today’s Trivia: We’ve got a tremendous lefty showdown tonight in Tampa – Cliff Lee against David Price. Both will likely find their names on some Cy Young ballots at the end of the season. When was the last time that two left-handed pitchers finished 1st and 2nd in Cy voting in a season? When was the last time it happened in the AL?

Quick Hits: Pitchers love getting ground ball outs and pitching coaches love preaching to play to your defense. Let’s take a look at which hitters and pitchers have ratios at either end of the spectrum:

Derek Jeter has been beating the ball into the turf more than any other AL hitter. He has a 3.30 groundout-to-flyout ratio, which blows away second place on the list (Juan Pierre, at 2.28).

Meanwhile, the man who frequently bats behind Jeter in the order is a polar opposite. Nick Swisher’s 0.66 ratio is second-lowest on the list, narrowly behind Jhonny Peralta’s 0.65

Chalk up the Cleveland Indians as a team that pitches to the ground ball. Justin Masterson is the leader in groundout-to-flyout ratio among pitchers, and two other Indians (or former Indians) ranked in the top eight in that category – Fausto Carmona and the departed Jake Westbrook.

In the NL, a pair of Central division batters – Michael Bourn and Skip Schumaker – are the groundout-to-flyout frequenters. Maybe the biggest surprise comes at third on the list – Jason Heyward, with a 1.92 ratio.

Roger McDowell and Dave Duncan seem to be kindred spirits, with their pitching staffs following in tow. Of the top four groundout-to-flyout pitchers in the NL, two are Braves (Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe) and the other two are Cardinals (Jaime Garcia, Adam Wainwright).

On the other end of things, the San Francisco Giants have three starters in the top five of pitchers who get flyouts most frequently. Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Barry Zito are all among the league leaders in that category.

Today’s Leaderboard: How would you like to be Jon Rauch on Sunday – entering the game trying to continue the dominance after Kevin Slowey pitches seven no-hit innings? It didn’t end well for Rauch, who allowed a double to the second batter he faced, ending the no-hitter and eventually the shutout.

Lucky for Rauch, it was a relatively low-leverage situation, at least numbers-wise: his team was up 4-0 with only nine outs needed to polish off the A’s. But which guys have entered games in high-leverage situations the most this season? Interesting to see two Boston Red Sox pitchers on this list:

High leverage is defined here as the first PA of a pitcher’s appearance having a leverage index of 1.5 or higher. A leverage index of 1.0 is considered average, with the greater index indicating the higher pressure. By the way, Rauch has 21 high leverage appearances this season.

Key Matchups: Max Scherzer has only faced four active New York Yankees batters in his career, but he’s made them look silly. Lance Berkman, Curtis Granderson, Austin Kearns and Mark Teixeira are a combined 3-16 (.188 BA) against Scherzer. Those batters have eight strikeouts in 18 AB.

You could see why Kevin Correia might not be thrilled about taking the mound at Wrigley Field tonight – Correia has a 17.47 ERA in five games there, including one start. That’s his worst ERA of any ballpark where he’s made a start. In his last outing, a start with the Giants, Correia didn’t make it out of the fourth inning and allowed seven earned runs.

More on the potentially epic lefty matchup tonight in Tampa. Let’s breakdown their Opp BA numbers, tale-of-the-tape style:

Moral of the story? It’s better to go lefty-lefty against Lee rather than Price. And while Lee excels in keeping runners off base in the first place, Price thrives once they do get on.

Trivia Answer: Randy Johnson and Tom Glavine finished 1-2 in 2000. The NL hasn’t seen a lefty Cy winner since the Big Unit won his last in 2002. To find two leftys that finished 1-2 in the AL, you have to go all the way back to 1979, when Mike Flanagan won and Tommy John took second.

Quick Hits: The interleague season is now in the books as the AL goes 134-118 against the NL. It’s the seventh straight year that the AL bested the NL, after falling short in four of the first seven. Here’s a look at some other notables tidbits from the interleague portion of the schedule:

• Red Sox pitchers hit .313 (5-16) in interleague play. They now have half as many hits as Dodgers pitchers in 104 fewer at-bats. Since interleague play began in 1997, the highest single-season batting average for an AL pitching staff is .368 by the 1997 Rangers.


• Prior to the season, the Mariners were the only AL team with at least one hit from a pitcher in every season of interleague play. No longer, as the Mariners' staff went 0-for-18 with 12 K at the dish.
• AL pitchers went homerless in 2010 for just the fourth time in the 14 years history of interleague play. As a group, AL pitchers are hitting just .105, which would be their third lowest total.
• Jorge Cantu’s three home runs as a DH are tied for second most in NL history. In 2004, Jim Thome knocked four out while playing for the Phillies.
• The White Sox finished with a 15-3 interleague record. Only three teams have posted a better record in the last 14 years. Chicago’s four shutouts are tied for the most in an interleague season.
• Jason Berken pitched 12 2/3 interleague innings without allowing an earned run. That’s the third most innings for a pitcher with a 0.00 ERA in interleague play history.
• Mike Sweeney is hitting just .205 against AL opponents, but he posted a .476 batting average and 1.399 OPS against the NL.
• For the first time, no one hit more than seven home runs in interleague play. However, David Wright’s 24 interleague RBI is tied for the third most in a season.
• Mark Reynolds struck out in 26 of 44 interleague at-bats, tying the single-season record.

Today’s Trivia: Justice John Paul Stevens sits on the Supreme Court bench for the final day on Monday. He will retire tomorrow after over 34 years on the court. Which legendary baseball game did he attend as a 12-year-old boy?

Today’s Leaderboard: NL designated hitters managed just a .217 batting average, the league’s worst mark in interleague history. Last season, they hit .277 as a group. The worst offenders in 2010 were the Brewers, who were just 1-23 at DH. The 2002 Brewers, who went hitless in 21 at-bats, are the only NL team to have a worse interleague season at DH.

Key Matchups: Hitting just .196 in June, Matt Kemp was held out of the starting lineup on Sunday. You can bet he’ll be back in there on Monday. Kemp is 16-for-35 (.457) in his career against Barry Zito. There is no pitcher he has faced more in his career, and those 16 hits are five more than he has against any other pitcher. Interestingly, only two of those 16 have gone for extra bases, and Kemp has yet to homer off of Zito.

Going into 2009, David Wright was a .480 hitter in 25 at-bats against Ricky Nolasco. But last season was a different story, as he managed just one hit in 11 at-bats while striking out seven times. The struggles continued this season, as he went hitless in his first four at-bats against Nolasco. However, he goes into Monday’s meeting with hits in each of his last four at-bats against the Marlins righty.

Trivia Answer: "He pointed toward the scoreboard in center field," Stevens told the Orlando Sentinel in 2007. "That much I do know." Indeed, Stevens, a lifelong Cubs fan who is now 90, was in the Wrigley Field stands on October 1, 1932 when Babe Ruth is said to have called his shot during Game 3 of the World Series.

Last year on Insider, Tom Haberstroh used Pitch f/x to break down some of the nastiest pitches in baseball and earlier this season Baseball Tonight researcher Mark Simon broke down Adam Wainwright's curveball and came to the conclusion it is the best in the game.

That got us thinking here at TMI to take a look at the top ten pitches in the game in this week's TMI Power Poll. Although Stephen Strasburg's fastball received votes, it didn't get enough to crack the top ten (if we run this topic again in a couple months that might be a different story). Here's a look at who did make the list.

Quick Hits: Today in Quick Hits, let’s take a look at some pitchers who rise to the occasion when faced with a tough situation.

" 3-4-5 hitters are 0-16 this season with RISP against Tim Hudson, easily the worst opponents BA in the majors.

" Tony Sipp has allowed just one base runner (a walk) against 20 batters faced with RISP.

" 3-4-5 hitters are batting .135 against Barry Zito, the lowest average in the majors.

" Opponents are 0-15 against James Shields with runners on second and third.

" Opponents are 0-8 against Scott Linebrink with the bases loaded this season.

Today’s Trivia: Through the 1995 season, only nine catchers had ever hit 35 home runs in a season. In 1996, three more were added to the list – the most in any one season in baseball history. One of the players was Todd Hundley, whose birthday is today. Can you name the other two?

Today’s Leaderboard: CC Sabathia hasn’t quite lived up to lofty expectations this season. A key reason has been his inability to shut down the heart of his opponents lineup. 3-4-5 hitters are batting .309 with league-high eight home runs and a 1.102 OPS against Sabathia this season. Those numbers put him in some unwanted company:

Key Matchups: Adrian Beltre is red hot, which is bad news for Brian Bannister. In his career against Bannister, Beltre is batting .455 (5-11).

Javier Vazquez’s struggles are unlikely to end tonight in Minnesota. A number of Twins have had success against Vazquez in his career including Justin Morneau (.350 BA, 6 HR), Delmon Young (.438 BA) and Michael Cuddyer (.343 BA, 2 HR).

Trivia Answer: Mike Piazza (36) and Terry Steinbach (35). It was a career high for both, at the time. Piazza would go on to hit 40 the following season. Steinbach had never hit more than 16 prior to ’96 and never hit more than 14 after

It is widely accepted that 1968 was the year of the pitcher. Bob Gibson had a 1.12 ERA and 13 shutouts; Denny McLain won 31 games; and run scoring reached such depths that the height of the pitcher's mound was lowered to 10 inches from 15 inches for the 1969 season.

However, 2010 is starting to shape as another banner season for pitchers, at least in the National League.

At Baseball Prospectus, we use a metric called SNLVAR (support-neutral league value above replacement) to gauge how many more wins a starting pitcher provides throughout the course of the season than would a replacement-level player, someone who could be claimed off waivers or purchased from a Triple-A roster. A pitcher with an SNLVAR of 7.0 would be seven wins better than a replacement-level player, and that is considered the benchmark of an outstanding season.

Before Wednesday's action, 11 NL pitchers were on pace to finish the season with at least a 7.0 SNLVAR:


Since 1954, the earliest season from which play-by-play data are available to compute SNLVAR, no more than seven National League pitchers have had a mark of 7.0 or better in one season. In 1968, just three pitchers reached that level: Gibson, Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. (Remember, SNLVAR is neutralized relative to the run-scoring context. So, for example, Tim Lincecum's 2.48 ERA last year was roughly equivalent to about a 1.65 ERA in 1968.) Instead, 1997 was really the year of the pitcher. Here is a look at the seven pitchers who reached the magic 7.0 level in the NL that season:

Now that's a pretty strong group of pitchers. Maddux and Glavine are locks to make it into the Hall of Fame as 300-game winners, Martinez and Smoltz also are likely to be elected and few would be surprised if Schilling is immortalized in Cooperstown. Meanwhile, Brown had 211 career victories, and Kile's career was cut short when he died at age 33 in 2002.

Can the 2010 group of NL starters top that? The 11 pitchers on pace for a 7.0 SNLVAR are an accomplished group, including Cy Young Award winners (Halladay, Lincecum, Zito), 20-game winners (Hudson, Oswalt), a 19-game winner (Wainwright), a guy who threw a no-hitter (Jimenez), All-Stars (Hernandez, Penny) and two of the top young starters in the game (Garcia, Hanson). However, the peripheral stats for Hernandez, Hudson, Zito and Penny make it seem unlikely that those four can maintain their current performance. But even if those four miss out on our magic number, we'd still have seven pitchers with an SNLVAR of at least 7.0.

Thus, it could be a fun season -- if you're not a National League hitter.

John Perrotto is editor-in-chief of BaseballProspectus.com.