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Fireworks could fly tonight on Wednesday Night Baseball (ESPN2, 7 ET) when the Washington Nationals take on the Philadelphia Phillies.

Tonight will be Cole Hamels first start against the Nationals since admitting to intentionally plunking Bryce Harper in the back in the first inning of a game on May 6 (a 9-3 Phillies win).

Harper might have gained his revenge already as he went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored against Hamels after being intentionally hit.

One of the reasons Hamels said he hit Harper was because he thought Harper was getting calls that a rookie shouldn’t.

In the two games against the Phillies before being plunked, Harper took 25 pitches that were called balls. Of those 25, four were actually in the strike zone (16.0 percent), according to Inside Edge pitch-location tracking. Only Jayson Werth (5) saw more such pitches in the two games for either team.

The Phillies were not as fortunate. Only seven of 89 called balls against their hitters were in the strike zone (7.9 percent), meaning that they caught a break less than half as often as Harper.

Pitching Matchup
Edwin Jackson is off to the best start of his career. He is striking out hitters at the highest rate of his career (8.0 K/9) while walking fewer batters than ever (1.7 BB/9 – 10th-best in the NL). He correspondingly is on pace to have the lowest qualified ERA of his career at 3.31.

The key to Jackson’s success might be as simple as getting ahead in the count more often. He had been improving slightly each season, but took a leap to another level this season as he has thrown a strike 66 percent of the time on his first pitch, 14th-best among MLB starting pitchers (the league average is 59 percent). From 2009-11, Jackson never had a first-pitch strike percentage higher than 58.

Since dropping his first start of the season, Hamels is 6-0 with a 2.20 ERA and a .212 opponent batting average over his last seven starts.

His seven straight quality starts is tied for the second-longest active streak in the majors and he’s helped keep a Phillies team afloat that’s battling a host of injuries.

Hitters to Watch
Adam LaRoche is 4-for-16 lifetime against Hamels, but all four of his hits have gone for extra bases, including three home runs, giving him a 1.208 OPS against Hamels.

Since being plunked, Harper is just 15-for-56 (.246 BA), but has picked things up recently. Over his last 10 games, Harper is hitting .325 (13-for-40) with six RBI.

Sunday Night Baseball will be the setting for not just a pretty good pitchers duel, but the latest appearance for Washington Nationals phenom Bryce Harper.

Both pitchers have impressed through the first month of the season. Harper has made a significant mark already in his first week.

Let’s take a look at a few of the interesting numbers regarding tonight’s contest, as the Nationals go for the sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cole Hamels Stats to Watch
Adam LaRoche, the Nationals top hitter this season, has only four hits in 16 at-bats against Hamels, but three of the four hits have been home runs. That matches the most home runs that Hamels has given up to any left-handed hitter.

Hamels has 21 strikeouts with his changeup, the second-most of any pitcher in the majors (Seattle Mariners starter Felix Hernandez has 30). He’s the rare lefty willing to throw it to left-handed hitters (such as LaRoche). He’s registered seven strikeouts with the changeup against lefties, the most for any left-handed pitcher this season.

Hamels is 10-4 in his career against the Nationals. His 10 wins against Washington are one shy of his most against any team. Since the Nationals moved to Washington in 2005, only Tim Hudson (13-3) has more wins against them.

Hamels is 2-0 with a 2.05 ERA in Nationals Park, though he hasn’t pitched there since 2010.

Bryce Harper Makes An Impact
Harper will be playing in his eighth game of the season on Sunday night. His four doubles since his debut on April 28 are tied for the most in the majors in that time period.

Harper has an OPS of .814 through his first seven games, a mark higher than Mickey Mantle, Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. among others, had in their first big-league week as teens.

Harper is 3-for-8 against left-handed pitching in his career, with four of the five outs coming on breaking pitches. He's yet to see a changeup from a left-handed pitcher.

Jordan Zimmermann Stats to Watch
Zimmermann has five straight quality starts, one shy of teammate Stephen Stasburg, who has run off six in a row. The last Nationals pitcher prior to Strasburg to start a season with six straight quality starts is Javier Vazquez, who did so in 2000.

Zimmermann is the major-league-leader in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.33). Coincidentally, that’s just a hair ahead of the pitcher he’s facing tonight (Hamels—7.20)

Zimmerman’s high mark comes partly due to his success rate when a hitter takes a pitch. He’s registered strikes on 42 percent of his pitches this season, the second-highest rate among major league starters.

Zimmermann does not typically go deep into games in terms of pitch count. He’s yet to throw more than 100 pitches in any start this season. Last season, opponents were 7-for-11 with three home runs when Zimmermann surpassed the 100-pitch mark.

In Zimmermann’s first two career starts against the Phillies, he allowed 10 runs in eight innings. But his most recent start against them last season, he yielded only one run in seven innings.

An Offense Unful’Phill’ed
The Phillies have already had 15 games this season in which they’ve scored three runs or fewer, and they are 3-12 in those 15 games.

The Phillies are without both Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, both of whom ideally would be candidates to hit in the No. 3 position. In their place, Phillies No. 3 hitters are hitting .233 with a .558 OPS.

In Utley’s absence, Phillies second basemen have a .593 OPS, third-worst among National League second basemen.

The Philadelphia Phillies took a 2-1 lead in their NLDS with the St. Louis Cardinals behind Ben Francisco, whose pinch-hit three-run home run in the seventh inning was the first pinch-hit home run to snap a scoreless tie in postseason history.

It’s Francisco’s second career pinch-hit homer and it’s the third pinch-hit go-ahead home run in Phillies postseason history.

Francisco was 1-for-18 in his postseason career entering Tuesday. The Cardinals walked Carlos Ruiz, putting runners at first and second for Francisco, who appeared just once in last year’s NLDS and was hit in the head by a pitch from Aroldis Chapman.

Francisco hit for Cole Hamels, who needed 117 pitches but struck out eight in six scoreless innings. He got the win and lowered his ERA in the LDS to 1.82, the second-lowest in LDS history behind Curt Schilling (minimum five starts).

Hamels improves to 5-1 with a 2.01 ERA in six career postseason starts on the road compared to 2-3 with a 4.14 ERA in seven postseason starts at home.

He's also 2-0 with a 0.46 ERA in three career starts with umpire Jerry Layne behind the plate.

The Cardinals didn’t go quietly in this game though. They outhit the Phillies 12-7 and both Albert Pujols and Ryan Theriot had four hits. It’s the first game in postseason history in which a pair of players from the losing team each had at least four hits.

Ryan Madson put out a huge fire with the Phillies leading by two in the eighth inning, inducing an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded and Pujols on deck. Pujols would double to lead off the ninth and eventually come around to score, but Madson got his third career save of at least five outs, and just the second in Phillies postseason history.

In total, St. Louis went 3-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base, the latter of which tied a team postseason record. That matched the mark set in Game 1 of the 2009 LDS in a loss to the Dodgers.

In each game this series, their batting average with runners in scoring position has gone down and they’ve left more runners on base.

The National League Division Series shifts to St. Louis for a pivotal Game 3 between the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals tonight.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, in a five-game Division Series that is tied after the first two games, the winner of Game 3 has gone on to win the series 19 of the 23 times since 1995, including 11 of the 12 series in the National League.

However, by winning Game 1, the Phillies have history on their side. In the Wild Card Era (since 1995), the Game 1 winner in the Division Series has won 73 percent of the time, including wins in 29 of the 32 NL series.

Inside the Series
Sunday night’s loss snapped a six-game winning streak in the Division Series for the Phillies. That was tied for the third-longest all-time and second-longest among NL teams. Since their World Series run in 2008, the Phillies are 10-3 in Division Series.

Despite their victory on Sunday, the Cardinals are still just 2-5 in their last seven Division Series games. However, the Redbirds have won six of their last eight postseason games at Busch Stadium and are an impressive 11-3 all-time in Division Series games in St. Louis.

On the Mound
Cole Hamels, the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP, makes his 13th career postseason start. Hamels has had success in this situation before, when he threw a five-hit, nine-strikeout shutout in Game 3 of the NLDS last year against the Reds.

Hamels struggled down the stretch this year, with a 3.79 ERA in September that was his highest in any month. He allowed four runs in two of his final five starts, after doing so in just three of his first 26 starts.

Hamels had trouble with the longball last month, during which he allowed nine of his 19 homers. Luck may not have been on his side, though, as one of every five flyballs hit against him went over the fence in September; in the first five months, he gave up a homer on just one of every 15 flyballs he allowed.

Jaime Garcia gets the nod for the Cardinals, making his first career postseason start. Garcia was much more effective at home this season, with an ERA in St. Louis that was more than two runs better than on the road.

Garcia shut down the Phillies in his two starts against them this season, allowing just one earned run in 15 innings while holding the Phillies batters to a sub-.200 average. Garcia owns a 1.20 ERA in six career games against Philly, the lowest ERA among active pitchers versus the team (min. four starts).

Matchups to Watch
Albert Pujols hasn’t been able to solve Hamels during his career. He is 4-for-23 (.174) in their matchups, although two of his four hits are homers. That’s his lowest batting average vs. any active pitcher (min. 20 at-bats).

Garcia has been able to neutralize the current Phillies hitters, holding them to a .186 batting average and .547 OPS in his career. Of note, lefties Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are a combined 2-18 (.111) while switch-hitters Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino are a combined 3-20 (.150).

The National League Wild Card race goes to the final day with the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals tied at 89-72. The Braves entered Tuesday with a one game lead in the Wild Card, but lost 7-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies, while the Cardinals scored 13 of the game’s final 14 runs against the Houston Astros in a 13-6 win.

In Wednesday’s Wild Card madness, Atlanta’s Tim Hudson gets the call at home against the Phillies (7 ET on ESPN2). Over the last two years, Hudson is 21-9 with a 2.38 ERA at home, including a 2.29 ERA there this season. Last year, Hudson pitched in the final game of the regular season, when the Braves clinched a playoff spot. He allowed four ER in seven IP and got the win over the Phillies.

Chris Carpenter will start for the Cardinals against the Astros at Minute Maid Park, where he has not won since September 3, 2005 (he’s made five starts in Houston since that last win). If both teams are still tied after Wednesday, a one-game tiebreaker would be Thursday at Atlanta.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, since 1995, 13 different teams have clinched a playoff spot on the final day of the postseason, not including regular season playoff games. The biggest September deficit ever overcome by a team that made the postseason was 8½ games by the 1964 Cardinals, who went on to win the World Series. The 2011 Cardinals were 8½ out after games of September 5.

Story to Watch
The Braves were 81-55 through September 1 and seemingly in command of the NL wild card race, with an 8½ game lead over the Cardinals. They were leading the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 at home on September 2, but blew the game, losing 8-6. That started their collapse.

What’s gone wrong for the Braves and who’s to blame? Well, Atlanta is struggling against left-handed pitching during its September to forget. The team is hitting .231/.263/.332 against left-handed pitching this month. The Phillies will start the right-handed Joe Blanton but lefty Cole Hamels is expected to pitch in relief.

Those who were reliable in the Braves bullpen in the first five months of the season have not been in the final month. Jonny Venters has a 6.08 ERA since August 26. Craig Kimbrel has a 6.75 ERA since September 9.

Key Stats
Chipper Jones has hit a wall. He’s 8-for-41 (.195) in his last 12 games. Brian McCann is hitting .180 in 36 games since coming off the DL in mid-August.

With a win, the Phillies would set a franchise record with their 102nd win of the season.

Story to Watch
The Cardinals looked to be out of the Wild Card race, but have won 15 of 19, including a 3-game sweep of the Braves, to move into a tie for the NL Wild Card lead. What’s gone right for St. Louis?

Albert Pujols has looked like the Albert Pujols we’ve come to expect at this time of the season. He’s hitting .363 (fifth-best in the NL) with five HR and 19 RBI (tied for fifth-most in the NL) in September. Pujols had one of the biggest hits for the Cardinals, a two-run game-tying single with two outs in the ninth inning of the series opener against the Braves, a game the Cardinals would win in extra innings.

Key Stat
Pujols is hitting .300 with 98 RBI. He has never finished a season batting under .300 (he will do so with a 1-for-4 or worse Wednesday if the season ends) or with fewer than 100 RBI.

The Philadelphia Phillies, one night after clinching their fifth straight NL East title, host the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday Night Baseball (ESPN, 8 ET). The Cardinals are only 4½ games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL Wild Card race by going 16-5 since being swept by the Dodgers in late August. Since August 25, that’s the fifth-best record in the major leagues.

Starting Pitchers
Chris Carpenter is 9-9, tied for the most losses he’s had in a season since 2001 when he was with the Toronto Blue Jays. His ERA is more than half a run higher than last season but he’s actually pitching better than last year.

His strikeout, walk and home run rates -- the things he has the most control over -- are all improved from a year ago.

He’s allowing more hits, but his batting average on balls in play in .324 this season compared to .282 last year (career mark is .298). The defense behind him has been worse this season as well; the Cardinals have made 104 errors this season, tied for eighth-most in baseball.

They’re 10th in the National League with -11 Defensive Runs Saved this season after leading the league with 61 a year ago.

Cole Hamels takes the mound for the Phillies having the best season of his career. He’s one of three Phillies starters (Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee are the others) with an ERA of 2.75 or better this season -- if their statistics hold for the rest of the season, they’d be the first team with three such qualified pitchers since the 1985 Los Angeles Dodgers.

If Hamels gets another win and those same statistics hold, they’d be the first team with three pitchers with 15 wins and a sub-2.75 ERA since the 1972 Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics, and the first National League team since the 1944 Cardinals.

Hamels hasn’t faced the Cardinals this season but he dominated them last year. In two starts he allowed one run, struck out 15 and walked just three batters in 16 innings and the Cardinals hit just .164 against him.

This season Hamels has been at his best against the best teams. In nine starts against winning teams he’s got a 2.23 ERA, .188 opponents’ batting average and a 5.9 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In 20 starts against teams below .500, those numbers are 2.95, .223 and 3.9, respectively.

He’s also got the best marks in the major leagues in opponents’ batting average (.118), on-base percentage (.151) and OPS (.303) with two strikes (minimum 200 batters faced).

Matchups to Watch
Albert Pujols is hitting .150 (3-for-20) with no walks in his career against Hamels and he’s hitless in his past 13 at-bats against him.

Jimmy Rollins is hitting .167 (4-for-24) in his career against Carpenter and he’s hitless in his past 10 at-bats against him.

-- Katie Sharp contributed

There were a number of strong performances on the mound Monday. Here's a look at how some of Monday's pitchers got the job done:

How Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle shut out the Minnesota Twins:
• Buehrle struck out four in 7 2/3 scoreless innings to lead the White Sox to a 3-0 win over the Twins. Buehrle earned his 27th career win against the Twins, the most wins for any active pitcher against a single team. Buehrle is now 27-19 in his career versus the Twins (most wins versus Minnesota since the team moved to Minnesota in 1960).

• In four starts against the Twins this season, Buehrle is 2-1 with a 0.29 ERA (30 2/3 IP, 1 ER). Buehrle is holding the Twins to a .144 average this season, but the numbers are even better against non-fastballs. After a 2 for 17 effort Monday, the Twins are now 5 for 51 (.098) in at-bats ending with Buehrle's non-fastballs.

• Buehrle did walk two hitters, but of the 29 hitters he faced, only one saw a 2-0 count. In addition, he only went to a three-ball count on four hitters (including the two walks).

How Philadelphia Phillies starter Cole Hamels bounced back against Cincinnati:
• Hamels may not have gotten the win in his first start back from the disabled list, but he still pitched well enough to help the Phillies beat the Reds, 3-2. In his previous start before hitting the disabled list with shoulder inflammation, Hamels' fastball averaged just 88.6 MPH, almost a full three MPH below his season average of 91.5. On Monday, Hamels' fastball averaged 90.1, a big step up from his last start, but still his second-slowest fastball of the season.

• Despite that, the pitch was effective for him. Reds hitters were just 1 for 11 with two strikeouts on at-bats ending with a Hamels fastball. Only one of the nine fastballs hitters put in play was well hit, according to Inside Edge.

• Hamels' changeup was dominant, as usual. Five of the six outs he recorded on his changeup were strikeouts. Reds hitters missed on eight of their 11 swings (72.7 percent) against the pitch, Hamels' third-highest miss percentage on his changeup in a start this season. No starter in baseball has induced swings and misses on changeups at a higher rate (51.2 percent) this season than Hamels.

How New York Yankees pitcher Freddy Garcia beat the Baltimore Orioles:
• Forty-four percent of pitches taken against him were called strikes, his highest percentage of the season.

• His fastest pitch was clocked at 89.6 mph. It was his fastest pitch since June 28, when he reached 90.9 mph on the gun.

•He recorded four strikeouts on the night – all four at-bats ended with a splitter.

• The home run Garcia surrendered to Mark Reynolds was his first allowed since June 7. Garcia went 69 innings between gopher balls – the longest active homerless streak among starting pitchers, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Lee Singer and Mike Trainor contributed to this story.

(The Cincinnati Reds host the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.)

On almost any other team, a pitcher who has a 2.62 ERA, a WHIP under 1.0 and a wins above replacement (WAR) of 5.0 would be a staff ace.

If you're Cole Hamels, that makes you the No. 3 starter in the Philadelphia Phillies' rotation.

But really, Hamels is one of three aces on a Phillies staff that’s trying to become the first team since the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers to finish with an ERA under 3.00. Currently, Philadelphia’s team ERA is 3.09.

There are areas where Hamels has been better than both Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Hamels’ 0.99 WHIP is the lowest in the National League, and no pitcher has made more starts of seven innings allowing two earned runs or fewer than Hamels has in 2011 (see chart).

If you asked the Reds, chances are they would prefer to face Lee or Halladay. In eight career starts against Cincinnati, Hamels is 7-0 with a 1.43 ERA. (At Great American Ballpark, Hamels is 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA.)

Monday will be Hamels’ first start since Aug. 12. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list earlier this month with a left elbow strain.

Very few Reds players have had success against Hamels, but one player who has is catcher Ramon Hernandez (4-for-9, home run).

Reigning National League MVP Joey Votto has not fared well against Hamels, with just two hits in 16 at-bats. However, Votto is having a great August. He’s hitting .353 and has nine home runs -- only Dan Uggla has more homers (10) in the National League this month.

Votto’s hot August can be traced to his performance when he’s been ahead in the count. Votto is 11-for-21 (.524) with four home runs this month when ahead in the count.

If Hamels wants to get Votto out, he should stick to the changeup. Votto is hitting just .222 against changeups this month, and Hamels' opponents have been hitting just .138 against his changeup.

With all the firepower of the Philadelphia Phillies rotation entering the season, what are the chances the Phils would find the most success not in games started by Roy Halladay, he of the two Cy Youngs and two no-hitters? Not in starts by $120 million man Cliff Lee? Not in the starts of former World Series MVP Cole Hamels? Nor the outings of 3-time All-Star Roy Oswalt? Against all odds, the top team in the majors has been at its best when a 23-year old rookie is on the mound.

When the Phillies beat the New York Mets Tuesday, they improved to 14-2 in games started by Vance Worley this season. Not only is that Philadelphia’s best record with any pitcher on the mound, the Elias Sports Bureau tells us it’s the best mark any team has in games started by a single pitcher in 2011 (minimum 15 starts).

Worley allowed one run on five hits while striking out a career-high nine and walking one over seven innings. The win was the Phillies 12th straight in a game started by Worley, the longest team win streak in starts by a single pitcher since the Boston Red Sox won 12 straight starts by Daisuke Matsuzaka over the 2007-2008 seasons.

Prior to Tuesday, the last time the Phillies had won 12 consecutive starts by a single pitcher was 1972 when they won 15 straight outings by Steve Carlton. Worley’s next start is scheduled for Tuesday in Cincinnati. If the Phillies win, Worley would be the first pitcher to have his team win 13 of his starts in a row since the Oakland Athletics won 14 straight starts by Dan Haren in 2005.

Elsewhere around the majors:

• Craig Kimbrel worked a scoreless 9th inning for his 40th save of the season, tying the MLB rookie record set by Neftali Feliz last year. Kimbrel has not allowed a run in his last 31T innings, the longest streak by a rookie since Brad Ziegler in 2008 (39 innings), according to Elias.

• Sean Burroughs provided the only offense in the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 win vs the Washington Nationals, hitting a two-run HR in 7th inning. It was Burroughs’ first HR since April 30, 2005, a span of 2,306 days. During that span, the MLB HR leader was Ryan Howard with 277.

• Prince Fielder became the first player to reach 100 RBI in 2011, scoring Ryan Braun on a double in the 6th inning in the Milwaukee Brewers win over the slumping Pittsburgh Pirates. Fielder now has four career seasons with at least 100 RBI, tying Cecil Cooper’s franchise record.

• Ricky Nolasco passed Dontrelle Willis for the most strikeouts in Florida Marlins history when he fanned Johnny Cueto in the 2nd inning. Nolasco finished the night with eight strikeouts, tied for his second most in an outing this year.

With the Red Sox prevailing 10-4 in this afternoon’s matchup against the Yankees, Boston and New York are once again tied atop the AL East standings. However, the season series has hardly been even, as the Red Sox have won nine of the first 11 matchups, outscoring the Yankees 72-44.

CC Sabathia brought a 0-3 record and 6.16 ERA into the game and both those numbers got worse, as he allowed seven earned runs in the loss.

Sabathia is the first Yankee pitcher to lose four games in a single season to the Red Sox since Pat Dobson went 1-4 in 1975. He also became the first Yankee pitcher in the Live Ball Era to allow six-or-more earned runs in three straight starts vs Boston.

Red Sox lefties teed off on Sabathia, going 5-for-11, including a three-run homer by Jacoby Ellsbury and a double by Carl Crawford. The five hits by lefty batters matches the second-most Sabathia has allowed in his career.

Ellsbury now has 19 home runs this season, one shy of matching his total in 349 career games entering 2011. Ellsbury finished with six RBI, the most runs driven in by a Red Sox leadoff batter since Ellis Burks had seven RBI on June 10, 1987 against the Orioles.

Crawford went 4-for-4 with three runs scored for his fourth four-hit game this season. Three of the four hits came off the lefty Sabathia. Entering Saturday, Crawford had just three hits in his last 24 at-bats versus lefties.

On the west coast...

The Phillies beat the Giants 2-1, as they extended their win streak to nine games and sent the Giants to their eighth loss in their last nine games.

Cole Hamels tossed his ninth career complete game and second one this season for the victory. Hamels threw first-pitch strikes to 28 of 32 batters, including 22 straight between the second and eighth innings.

Hamels continued his dominance with his changeup. The Giants went 2-for-17 in at-bats ending in the pitch, and chased 13 changeups out of the zone. Opponents are now hitting .125 against his changepiece this season, the fourth-best mark among starters.

Both the Phillies and Giants made significant trades at the deadline, with the Phillies acquiring Hunter Pence and the Giants getting Carlos Beltran, but the teams have gone in different directions since making the moves.

The Phillies are 8-0 with Pence in the lineup, and Pence is hitting .382 with two homers and seven RBI during this stretch. The Giants are 2-8 since Beltran joined the team, and Beltran is batting .244 with a .366 slugging percentage in his first 10 games with the Giants.

(San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies play the second game of their three-game series, Wednesday at 7 ET on ESPN.)

Last year, the Giants celebrated a trip to the World Series with a win in Game 6 of the NLCS at Citizens Bank Ballpark. With the two of the three best records in the Senior Circuit this year, these two teams are on a collision course to meet again in the league championship series.

The Phillies entered this series, which they started with a 7-2 win Tuesday, on a roll. They have won their last nine series and haven’t lost consecutive games since a four-game slide May 31-June 4. Even better, they have lost back-to-back home games just once this season, on April 18-19 against the Brewers.

The Giants have the second-best record in the National League behind the Phillies, and arguably have been the most resilient team in baseball. Their 18 wins in their last at-bat are tied for the most in the major leagues, and they also have an MLB-best 29 comeback wins.

On the Mound
Cole Hamels takes the mound for the Phillies looking for his NL-best 13th win. He's allowed three runs or fewer in 12 of his last 13 starts, during which he has a 2.25 ERA. Much of his success this season has been a result of his nearly unhittable changeup.

Hamels has held batters to a .133 average in at-bats ending with his changeup, fourth-best among NL starters. He’s gotten an MLB-best 145 swings-and-misses on the pitch, and 57 strikeouts, the most in the NL. In his last start, the Padres went 0-for-8 with five strikeouts against the pitch.

Tim Lincecum, whose start was pushed back a day because of the flu, has made three career regular-season road starts against the Phillies. Despite a 3.66 ERA, the Giants have lost all three of those starts.

Lincecum has allowed just one home run in his last eight starts, including none in his last three road starts.

Opponents are hitting .212 against Lincecum curveballs in 2011 compared to .362 last season. The biggest difference is that he’s getting more swings and misses. His miss percentage is 31.7 percent on curves this year. Last year it was 20.9 percent.

Lincecum has had control problems this season, which are related mostly to his changeup. More than 60 percent (61.4) of his changeups have been thrown for strikes in 2011, way down from 70.8 percent in 2010.

Matchup to Watch
Cody Ross, the NLCS MVP last year, looks to continue his success at the plate when facing Hamels. Ross has nine hits in his last 22 at-bats against the southpaw, including four home runs. Ross is the only player to hit four long balls against Hamels.

Stat of the Game
The Giants lead the majors with a 27-13 record in one-run games. They are on pace for 42 one-run wins. That would tie the major-league record for one-run victories, set by the 1978 Giants.

Things went according to form Friday night around the majors: The sport’s top four teams all won, the Mariners lost and Albert Pujols hit Paul Maholm hard.

However, the night’s top performance was in Texas, where Nelson Cruz put on a show. Cruz collected eight RBI on a 4-for-4 night with a home run. What made the effort even more remarkable was that he saw only six pitches in the game!

Cruz is the first player in the Live Ball Era (since 1920) to record exactly one run, 8 RBI and four hits in four at-bats.

Cruz is also the first player to knock in eight runs without recording an out since Vladimir Guerrero on June 2, 2004. He is the second player to knock in at least eight runs in a game this season (Ben Zobrist) and Cruz is the first Ranger to do so since Ivan Rodriguez on April 13, 1999.

Cruz’s home run Friday (No. 22) came off the slider, his sixth home run of the year off that pitch. That total is tied for second in the majors, trailing only Jose Bautista’s seven.

In Boston, the Red Sox held on to their two-game division lead with a 7-4 win over Felix Hernandez and the Mariners. The setback extended Seattle’s losing streak to 13 games, the franchise’s second-longest slide in its history. The 1992 Mariners lost 14 straight.

In Philadelphia, the Phillies rode Cole Hamels to a 3-1 win over the Padres. San Diego hitters were 0-8 in at-bats ending with a Hamels changeup, and the pitch was responsible for five of his strikeouts. Hamels got 14 swings and misses with the change, his most in a game since September 2009.

The St. Louis Cardinals picked up a 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates to jump into a virtual tie for second place with the Bucs, one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers (who defeated the Giants, 4-2, in San Francisco). Albert Pujols went 4-for-5 in the victory, with a first-inning home run off Paul Maholm. Pujols is now 21-36 (.583) against Maholm in his career.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the second-best average among active pitcher/hitter matchups (min. 30 AB).

Albert Pujols hit his 428th career home run in the Cardinals' 4-1 win against the Reds. With it, he passed Mike Piazza for 41st on the all-time home run list.

The long ball also happened to be Pujols' 20th of the season. He's the third player in MLB history to hit at least 20 home runs in each of his first 11 seasons, joining Eddie Mathews (14) and Frank Robinson (12).

As Pujols continued to stay hot at the plate (he has three home runs in his last four games), teammate Chris Carpenter continued to put behind him what was a rocky start to the season.

Carpenter won his fourth straight decision (in five starts), posting a 1.66 ERA in that span, a stretch only more noteworthy considering his 1-7 mark in 15 starts to begin the season.

Pujols wasn’t the only player on Saturday to hit his 20th home run.

In the Florida Marlins' 13-3 win against the Chicago Cubs, Mike Stanton hit home runs No. 19 and 20 to become the 11th player this season to reach 20 home runs.

Stanton is one of five players this season with at least 20 home runs and only one multi-HR game. The others: Matt Kemp, Prince Fielder, Jay Bruce and Nelson Cruz.

Stanton has an average home run distance of 414 feet this season (league average is 395.1 feet) and all but three of his 2011 homers have traveled at least 400 feet.

NOTES FROM THE MOUND

• As a member of the New York Yankees, CC Sabathia (8 IP, ER) is 4-0 in four starts against the Toronto Blue Jays. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Sabathia is the second pitcher in franchise history with at least five straight starts of at least 7 innings and one or fewer runs allowed. Steve Kline had six such straight starts in 1972.

Sabathia threw 27 sliders and the Blue Jays swung at 18, missing 10. Hitters were 1-for-11 in at-bats ending with Sabathia's slider, including six strikeouts. He also got the Blue Jays to swing at 10 of 16 sliders out of the strike zone, resulting in four of the strikeouts.

• Elsewhere, Cole Hamels’ struggles against the New York Mets continued. Hamels is just 3-10 in his career against New York and his ERA is nearly a run-and-a-half higher than against the rest of the NL East.

Hamels entered with a 1.54 ERA in his previous 9 starts, but allowed a season-high 7 runs.

A "B-to-W look" at some notable 2011 National League All-Stars. You can view the entire NL All-Star roster here:

Carlos Beltran, Mets: Fifth selection as member of Mets, second-most for a Mets outfielder (Darryl Strawberry, seven).

Lance Berkman, Cardinals: First Cardinals outfielder elected to start since Jim Edmonds in 2005.

Ryan Braun, Brewers: Elected to start for fourth straight season.

Starlin Castro, Cubs: First Cubs shortstop selected to NL All-Star team since Shawon Dunston (1990).

Tyler Clippard, Nationals: Second straight year the Nationals have had a pitcher selected, after not having had one picked from 2006-2009. Matt Capps was selected last season.

Prince Fielder, Brewers: Ended two-year run of elections by Albert Pujols; was also elected to start in 2007.

Roy Halladay, Phillies: If Roy Halladay is selected to start the All-Star Game for the National League, he will become the fourth pitcher to make ASG starts for both leagues (Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Vida Blue).

Cole Hamels, Phillies: It’s the first time the Phillies have ever had three pitchers selected to an All-Star team (Halladay, Hamels, Cliff Lee).

Joel Hanrahan, Pirates: Third straight year Pirates have had a pitcher make it (Zach Duke, 2009; Evan Meek, 2010).

Matt Kemp, Dodgers: Second straight year a Dodgers outfielder has been elected to start (Andre Ethier, 2010).

Cliff Lee, Phillies: If Cliff Lee is selected to start the All-Star Game, he will be the 1st left-handed starter to start for the National League since Randy Johnson in 2001.

Tim Lincecum, Giants: Giants have four pitchers selected to the All-Star team for the first time.

Brian McCann: First Braves catcher elected to start since Javy Lopez in 2003. They are the only two Braves catchers elected by fan balloting since the current system took shape in 1970.

Placido Polanco, Phillies: First Phillies third baseman elected to start since Scott Rolen in 2002; ended two-year election run by David Wright.

Jose Reyes, Mets: Elected to start for third time; ends three-year election run at shortstop by Hanley Ramirez. Fourth All-Star selection, most for a shortstop in Mets history.

Gaby Sanchez, Marlins: First Marlins first baseman selected to All-Star team.

Ryan Vogelsong, Giants: Second player to be out of MLB for four full seasons and be selected to the All-Star team in his first season back. The other was pitcher Mickey Harris, who was out of MLB from 1942 to 1945 due to World War II (he was in the Air Force), then was selected as an All-Star as a member of the 1946 Red Sox.

Rickie Weeks, Brewers: Ends five-year election run at second base by Chase Utley. It’s the first time the Brewers have had three starters elected by fan voting (Fielder, Braun). He’s the first Brewers second baseman to make the All-Star team since Fernando Vina (1998).

Justin Verlander joined CC Sabathia in the 10-win club Saturday night, with a dominating performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Detroit. Verlander struck out a career-high 14 and walked just one batter in eight innings as he won his sixth consecutive start.

Verlander now has 19 career 10-strikeout games, passing Denny McLain for the fourth-most such games by a Tigers pitcher in the Live Ball Era (since 1920). His 14 strikeouts are tied for third-most in an Interleague game, surpassed only by 16-strikeout games from Curt Schilling in 1997 and Pedro Martinez in 1999.

Verlander has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his last six starts, all of them wins. It’s the longest streak of its kind by a Tigers pitcher since Doyle Alexander had six straight starts like that in 1987.

Verlander is now 5-0 in June with a 0.86 ERA, and has one start remaining in the month. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, if he keeps this pace up, he could become the first pitcher to go 6-0 with a sub-1.00 ERA in a calendar month since the Rangers’ Kenny Rogers went 6-0 with 0.98 ERA in May 2005.

He would also join Alexander (0.71 ERA in September 1987), Jack Morris (0.54 ERA in July 1986) and Frank Lary (0.86 ERA in September 1956) as the only Tigers pitchers since 1950 with a sub-1.00 ERA in a month with at least five starts.

Elsewhere around the majors on Saturday night:

• Balls were flying out of the ballpark in Baltimore as the Reds and Orioles combined for 10 home runs in the Reds' 10-5 win. It is the most homers in a game by two teams since the Red Sox and Rangers hit 10 longballs on August 12, 2010. Bronson Arroyo became the first Reds pitcher to allow four homers in a game and win since Jim Maloney in 1966.

• Cole Hamels allowed only two earned runs in eight innings but took the loss in Philly, the sixth time in his career he has lost despite pitching at least eight innings and allowing two or fewer runs. Since 2006, Hamels' first year in the league, the only other pitcher with as many such losses is Roy Halladay.

• Jair Jurrjens threw six innings of one-run ball as the Braves routed the Padres 10-1 and Jurrjens earned his 10th win of the season. Jurrjens is the first NL pitcher with 10 wins this season, and he is the first Braves pitcher to the be the first to 10 wins in the NL since Greg Maddux in 1998.