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The Tampa Bay Rays scored seven runs in the first four innings to roll past the Oakland Athletics for their 10th straight win at Tropicana Field. That’s the second-longest single-season home winning streak in franchise history, trailing only an 11-game run in 2008.

The Rays are the first American League team to start 13-1 at home since the Minnesota Twins won 14 of their first 15 home games in 2002. In 2009, the Los Angeles Dodgers were the last MLB team to start 13-1.

David Price was able to shut down the Athletics with the combination of his fastball and slider.

Sixty-three percent of Price’s pitches were fastballs, and the A’s went 0-for-11 with five strikeouts in at-bats ending with the heater.

With two strikes, Price went with his slider to end the at-bat. He threw 11 of his 15 sliders with two strikes and recorded six strikeouts. That’s his most whiffs with the slider since 2009.

He didn’t even need to stay in the zone to retire the opposing hitters. Over half of his pitches (56 of 106) were outside the strike zone. The Athletics swung and missed on 58 percent of pitches outside the zone, including six strikeouts. Price hadn’t induced as many chases on pitches outside the zone in a start since his rookie season.

With the win, Price improves to 30-3 at home in his career when getting at least three runs of support.

Around the Diamond
• Albert Pujols went four at-bats without a home run on Friday. His 108 at-bats without a home run this season are his longest single-season streak in his career, passing a 105 at-bat streak last season. Two long homer droughts were snapped Friday, as Shin-Soo Choo (67 at-bats) and Mark Reynolds (66 at-bats) hit their first of the season.

• Also in Anaheim, the Los Angeles Angels were shut out with Ervin Santana on the hill for the fifth straight time. Thanks to our friends at Elias, we know that this is the first time in major-league history that a starting pitcher has received no run support over five straight starts (11 pitchers had gone four straight starts without a run scored on their behalf).

• Wilson Ramos hit a bases-loaded single in the 10th inning as the Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies to pick up their MLB-leading fifth walk-off win of the season.

• Mark Teixeira went 2-for-3 with a home run against Bruce Chen, improving to 11-for-22 with seven homers in his career against Chen. That is the most home runs he has hit against any pitcher in the majors.

• Stephen Strasburg allowed two home runs to right-handed hitters; entering the game, he had only allowed one homer to a righty in his career.

• Jerry Hairston Jr. went deep for the Dodgers, and has now hit a home run for six different teams since 2009. No other player has hit homers for as many teams in the same span.

• The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets 5-4, snapping a nine-game losing streak in one-run games. According to Elias, that was the second longest streak in franchise history; the Diamondbacks lost 13 consecutive one-run games in 2004.

• Jamey Carroll singled in the first inning to snap a streak of 47 hitless at-bats for the Twins. Elias reports that it was the longest hitless at-bat streak by a team in a season since the San Diego Padres also went 47 at-bats between hits in June 1995.

Andrew Davis contributed to this post.

David Price tossed his second career shutout as the Tampa Bay Rays downed the Los Angeles Angels 5-0 on Tuesday. It was his first complete game since July 2, 2010, a stretch of 52 starts without completing a game.

Facing an Angels’ lineup that did not feature a left-handed hitter, Price relied on his changeup. He recorded a career-high 10 outs on at-bats ending with the pitch. After throwing only 39 changeups among 296 pitches in his first three starts, 29 of his 119 pitches on Tuesday were changeups.

Success with the changeup also helped Price with his fastball. Angels’ hitters were 1-for-15 in at-bats ending with a fastball. In his first three starts this season, batters hit .225 with one home run against Price’s heat.

In his previous starts this season, Price had trouble retiring hitters after getting to two strike counts. Entering Tuesday’s game, opponents were 9-for-36 with two strikes against Price. On Tuesday, the Angels were 0-for-13 with two strikes.

Around the Diamond – Home Run Edition
• Chipper Jones turned 40 today, and hit a home run on his birthday for the fifth time in his career. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that ties Alex Rodriguez and Todd Helton for the most homers on a player’s birthday among active players.

• Two of the three shortest home runs of the season were hit Tuesday night. B.J. Upton hit the left-field foul pole for a round-tripper that traveled 323 feet. That’s the shortest ball to clear the fence so far this season. Matt Wieters hit a home run that shouldn’t even have cleared the fence – it flew 345 feet before bouncing off Eric Thames' glove and into the stands.

• One player who hasn’t been hitting home runs this season is Albert Pujols. Pujols went 0-for-4 for the Angels in their loss at the Rays. Dating back to last season, he has gone 23 games without a homer. That’s the second longest drought of his career, behind only a 26-game streak last season.

He has gone 69 at-bats this season without going deep, the fifth-longest run of at-bats without a home run in a single season in his career. Among players who changed teams after hitting 400 or more home runs with one team, only Willie McCovey went longer before hitting a homer for his new team.

Dan Braunstein contributed to this post.

After spending the past seven seasons on the East and West Coast, Carlos Beltran is headed back to the Midwest. Beltran agreed to a two-year deal with the world champion St. Louis Cardinals Thursday, according to sources. The six-time All-Star batted .300 and hit 22 home runs with 84 RBI last season with the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants.

This will be Beltran's second stint with a team in the state of Missouri. He spent seven seasons with the Kansas City Royals winning Rookie of the Year in 1999.

While he’s no longer a borderline MVP-candidate, Beltran’s track record of productivity can be matched by few in the National League since 2005. Beltran ranks sixth in the NL among position players in Wins Above Replacement over that span.

Besides his offensive and defensive skills, Beltran has a history of excelling in the postseason. No player in MLB history with a minimum 75 plate appearances has a higher OPS in the postseason than Beltran's 1.302.

With Beltran joining the Cardinals, St. Louis now has the two best offensive switch-hitters in the majors from last year. Lance Berkman's OPS was .959 last season while Beltran's was .910.

Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics traded All-Star pitcher Gio Gonzalez to the Washington Nationals for four prospects according to sources. The Nationals receive pitchers Brad Peacock, A.J. Cole, Tom Milone and catcher Derek Norris. Gonzalez had a career best in wins (16), ERA (3.12) and strikeouts (197) last season, but also led the league in walks (91).

Few pitchers have provided a greater value for the dollar than Gonzalez. Over the last two seasons, 13 pitchers have won at least 30 games. Of those, Gonzalez has been the most cost-effective option, earning $26,613 for every win since 2010.

Gonzalez is under team control through 2015, but he's about to get more expensive. MLBtraderumors.com projects a $4.2 million salary in 2012, the first of Gonzalez's four arbitration-eligible years.

With the acquisition of Gonzalez, the Nationals now have three pitchers (Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann) who will all be age 26 or younger in 2012. They join two other franchises (Braves, Diamondbacks) who have at least three starters – all of whom were 25 or younger in 2011 - who posted a cumulative ERA better than 4.00 since the start of the 2010 season.

As the Tampa Bay Rays look to take a 2-1 edge Monday in the series, David Price looks to do something he’s never done before: Defeat the Texas Rangers.

Price is winless in six career regular season starts and two postseason starts against the Rangers. All together, Price is 0-5 with a 5.48 ERA. That’s his most losses against a single opponent, and Texas is just one of two teams against which he is two or more games under .500.

Among active starters, Kyle Davies (also 0-5) is the only other pitcher with more than four starts against the Rangers and no wins. In fact, you have to go all the way back to Scott Bailes to find a pitcher with a worse career record against Texas. Bailes, who last faced the Rangers in 1992, finished 0-7 against them.

In the 2010 ALDS, Price lost both Game 1 and the deciding Game 5 against the Rangers despite both starts coming at home. Oddly, the road team has won six of seven postseason games between these clubs. Price came up short despite a 14-0 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Price has handled two of the Rangers’ top offensive weapons. Josh Hamilton, is 3-for-20 with six strikeouts in his career against the southpaw. Michael Young (2-for-19, 8 K) has also struggled against Price.

However, it’s been a much different story against Nelson Cruz. He is 7-for-13 (.538) lifetime against Price with two home runs. Among those with at least 10 plate appearances against Price, only Alex Rios and Victor Martinez have higher slugging percentages.

Both of Cruz’s home runs off of Price came on fastballs that drifted up and in. Coincidentally, that’s been an area of concern for Price.


In his last two starts, Price is 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA. Those came after Price was struck by a Mike Aviles line drive on September 18 against the Boston Red Sox.

Right-handed hitters have given him particular trouble over this time, as they have a .387 OBP and are slugging .577. Price typically works away to righties with his fastball, as the above heat map indicates. However, since being hit with the line drive, Price has lived up in the zone and inside to righties, with poor results that include a pair of home runs allowed. In his first 32 starts, 22.6 percent of Price's fastballs to righties went up and in. In those last two starts, that's jumped to 41.5 percent.

The American League Wild Card race goes to the final day with the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays tied at 90-71. The Red Sox will turn to Jon Lester against the Baltimore Orioles (7 ET on ESPN) while David Price will pitch for the Rays at home against the New York Yankees (7 ET on ESPN3). If both teams are still tied after Wednesday, a one-game tiebreaker would be Thursday at Tampa Bay.

Since 1995, 13 different teams have clinched a playoff spot on the final day of the postseason, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, 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 St. Louis Cardinals, who went on to win the World Series. The Rays were nine games out of a playoff spot on Sept. 2.

The Red Sox actually entered September leading the AL East by 1½ games. They have since gone 7-19 (.269 win pct), and with one more loss, Boston will match the 1952 team (7-20) for the most losses in September in team history. According to Elias, the worst Sept/Oct winning percentage by a team that made the postseason was .375 by the 1998 San Diego Padres.

Story to Watch
Jon Lester is 14-0 with a 2.33 ERA in 17 career starts against the Orioles, including a win in his only start against them this season. Lester has made one career start on three days' rest – April 23, 2008 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He allowed four runs, nine hits, two home runs and struck out one batter in five innings and did not factor in the decision.

Lester has struggled over his last three starts, going 0-3 with a 10.54 ERA. One problem has been his lack of success with his fastball and cutter, indicated by his opponent’s .448 BA against his fastball and .400 average against his cutter.

Key Stat
Red Sox starting pitching has struggled throughout September. Boston starters are 4-13 with a 7.28 ERA this month. They have made four quality starts (three ER or fewer in six or more IP) this month, but only one in their last 11 games, and it was by John Lackey on Sunday (six IP, three ER).

For Tampa Bay, David Price takes the mound against the Yankees. Price is 0-2 in five September starts, though he has a 3.03 ERA. He has allowed two ER or fewer in eight of his last nine starts. In his last seven home starts, Price is 0-5 with a 3.55 ERA. The Rays have scored a total of five runs in those five losses.

Against New York, Price has a 4.26 ERA in four starts this year. However, he has allowed just three ER in 15⅓ IP (1.76 ERA) in his last two starts against the Yankees.

Story to Watch
It will be interesting to see how much Price uses his changeup against the Yankees. During a four-start stretch in August, beginning with a win over the Yankees on Aug. 12, Price dominated, and much of the credit for that was given to increased usage of the changeup.

He got a season-high six outs with the pitch against the Yankees that day, then got seven outs with it in his next start, a win over the Red Sox.

In those starts, Price threw 18 percent changeups (one of every six pitches). The feeling was that the changeup would help make Price’s fastball even harder to hit, and it did. In his start against the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 28, Price threw changeups a season-high 21 percent of the time, but used the fastball as his out pitch, using it to net 10 strikeouts.

In that four-start stretch, Price beat the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays, and lost to the Detroit Tigers, finishing 3-1 with an 0.87 ERA.

However, in September, Price has gotten away from the changeup. He’s only thrown it 9 percent of the time, and in his most recent start against the Blue Jays (one in which Price was done in partly by his own bad fielding), he only threw two changeups. This month, Price is 0-2 with a 3.03 ERA.

Key Stat
Derek Jeter is 11-for-36 (.306) in his career against Price, including getting his 3,000th career hit on July 9.

In their last 14 games, Tampa Bay Rays' starting pitchers have put up great numbers: they are 6-5 with a 2.55 ERA and 105 innings pitched. They have also allowed only 80 hits and garnered 101 strikeouts.

The Rays starting pitchers are challenging the Philadelphia Phillies starting pitchers for the title of best rotation in the majors. The Rays and Phillies are the only two major league teams to have four pitchers who have made at least 15 starts, and who all have ERAs of 3.50 or lower.

Here are some notes on the adjustments each Rays starter has made this season to reach this point:
• David Price has increased the use of his changeup in his last four starts, nearly doubling its usage. He’s thrown it about 21 pitches per start over his last four starts.

This came after a seven-start slump in which Price had an ERA of 5.18.

With the changeup added to his arsenal, Price has now beaten the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays, and lost 2-1 to the Detroit Tigers. In those four starts, he’s allowed three runs in 31 innings.

• In his last start, James Shields pitched his 10th complete game of the season, becoming the second pitcher since 2000 to throw 10 complete games in a season (CC Sabathia had 10 in 2008).

As we noted earlier this season, Shields changed his pitching pattern this season. He’s gone from throwing first-pitch fastballs 65 percent of the time (2010) to just 51 percent of the time in 2011. It’s worked.

He’s pitched nearly the same number of innings as last season, but decreased his runs allowed from 128 to 71 and home runs allowed from 34 to 22.
• Jeff Niemann is 8-1 with a 2.57 ERA since returning to the rotation on June 20, averaging eight strikeouts per nine innings in that stretch. That’s a significant jump from the 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings he’s averaged in the first three seasons of his career.

Niemann has changed the pattern of breaking balls he throws. He’s gone from throwing his curveball one in seven pitches to one in four. He’s already got more strikeouts with his curveball this season (40) than last season (37) despite having thrown 62 fewer innings.

• Jeremy Hellickson is 4-2 with a 2.72 ERA in his last eight starts. That followed a four-start slump in which he was 0-4 with a 4.74 ERA.

Hellickson has succeeded recently by coming further inside to right-handed hitters. During his slump (heat map on left), right-handed hitters were 7-for-13 with three home runs against inside fastballs.

During his hot streak (heat map on right), righty hitters are 5-for-32 against inside pitches. They’ve increased the rate by which they’ve chased such pitches from 27 percent to 40 percent.






Dan Braunstein, Mark Simon and Lee Singer contributed to this story.

David Price set a single-game Tampa Bay Rays record with 14 strikeouts in a 12-0 victory Sunday over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Price's 14 strikeouts passed the previous Rays record of 13 set by James Shields earlier this season and first done by Scott Kazmir in 2007. Price's strikeout total finished one shy of the most by an American League pitcher this season. Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels struck out 15 -- also against the Blue Jays -- on April 10.

The most strikeouts in a game this season belongs to Cliff Lee of the Philadelphia Phillies, who struck out 16 against the Atlanta Braves in seven innings on May 6.

Price, who just turned 26 years old on Friday, flirted with the possibility of nearing the MLB record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game of 20 held by Roger Clemens (done twice in 1986 and 1996) and Kerry Wood in 1998.

Price struck out 10 batters through four innings, which was one more than what Clemens had in his two 20-strikeout games and was two more than what Wood had.

Price proceeded to strike out two more batters in the fifth, which kept him on pace with what Clemens had and was one ahead of Wood's pace. However, Price did not strike out a batter in the sixth inning, the only frame in which a batter did not go down on strikes.

But the left-hander finished with two more in his seventh and final inning of the game. He became the fourth pitcher this season to record 14 strikeouts in seven or fewer innings.

Price became the fourth pitcher to record at least 14 strikeouts on the road against the Blue Jays and the first since Bartolo Colon on May 29, 1998. The first to do it was Mark Langston in 1988 at Exhibition Stadium, the Blue Jays original home from 1977 until 1989.

So how was Price able to rack up so many strikeouts? He relied on what he always does, the fastball. He picked up 10 of his 14 strikeouts on pitches ending on the fastball. It's his third start this season in which he had 10 strikeouts with his fastball. No other starter in baseball even has one. This season, Price has 128 strikeouts ending on the fastball, 30 more than Colon, who is second with 98.

Blue Jays hitters swung 32 times against the pitch and put only four in play, the fewest fastballs ever put in play in a start against Price with a minimum of 20 swings.

Derek Jeter became the 28th player to reach the 3,000-hit milestone, with a home run off Rays starter David Price Saturday at Yankee Stadium. Here are some other facts about Jeter's entry into this exclusive club:


• He is the second player to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit (Wade Boggs).

• At 37 years, 13 days, he is the fourth-youngest player to reach 3,000. Only Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron and Robin Yount were younger.

• He recorded five hits Saturday - the second player to collect five hits in the game he reached the 3,000 plateau (Craig Biggio).

• He is the the fourth player to join the club in July (Cap Anson, Willie Mays, Rafael Palmeiro).

• Now that Jeter has joined, half of the club's 28 members collected their first 3,000 hits with one team.

• Not only is he the first Yankee to join the club, but he's the first to get there wearing any New York uniform (Mets, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants).

• He is the fifth member to play for the Yankees at any time during their career (Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield, Paul Waner, Boggs).

• David Price surrendered the big hit. Price's FIRST hit allowed in the majors was a home run to Derek Jeter (Sept. 14, 2008).

With the summer upon us, many are enjoying the warmer weather. But MLB players, managers and umpires are just bothered.

Not by the weather, but by one another. There were 16 ejections in the first five days of July. Overall, 54 of the 85 umpires to preside over an MLB game have ejected at least one person this season (64 percent).

Some other fun facts about the men commonly referred to as “Blue”:

Rob Drake, an MLB umpire for three years, leads all umpires with six ejections this season. The majority of Drake’s work came on June 5, when he ejected four people in the Nationals-Diamondbacks game for some back-and-forth of hit batsmen.

The four ejections are the most in one game this season and matched Drake’s 2010 total. But the four ejections in one game are still behind the six Marvin Hudson had in the Nationals brawl with the Marlins on September 1 last season.

Veteran umpires Bob Davidson (22 years) and Joe West (33 years) were last season’s “Kings of the Toss-Out” with 10 and 9 ejections, respectively.

Once again, they have provided value in the Umpire Fantasy Ejection League of 2011.

They sit in a tie for second with five ejections apiece, one behind Drake. Davidson was rather reserved during the spring, tossing only one manager. In June, Davidson tossed four in a span of eight days. West has made an enemy of managers, tossing out a league-high four (Brad Mills, Joe Maddon, Ron Gardenhire and Jim Leyland).

Now that you know some of the umpires, let’s explore who is feeling their fury -- and when:

Three managers lead the league with four ejections (Mills, Maddon, and Gardenhire). Of those who have managed the whole season, Baltimore’s Buck Showalter, Cincinnati’s Dusty Baker and Los Angeles’ Mike Scioscia are the lone survivors of an umpire's wrath.

On the player side, 45 have hit the showers early, including four players twice: Rays pitcher David Price, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, Nationals third baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. and former Mariners outfielder Milton Bradley.

In large part due to Price and Maddon leading their respective categories, the Rays have had the most ejections (10). All 30 teams have had at least one person thrown out of a game.

This season, 24 ejections happened in the first five innings while 85 players and managers were ejected in the sixth or later. The sixth inning has had the most ejections (20).

After 21 ejections in the month of April it nearly doubled in May with 38. June saw a slight drop to 34, however things have heated up again in July.

Through six days we’re on pace for 74 ejections this month. But it remains to be seen if the bad relationship between teams and umpires will continue throughout the season.

An A-to-W look at some notable 2011 American League All-Stars. You can view the entire AL All-Star roster here:

Alex Avila, Tigers: First Tigers catcher elected to start the All-Star Game since Ivan Rodriguez in 2007. He ended Joe Mauer’s three-year run of election wins.

Jose Bautista, Blue Jays: Will be first Blue Jay elected to start an All-Star Game since Carlos Delgado in 2003.

Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians: First Indians shortstop selected to the All-Star Game since Omar Vizquel in 2002.

Robinson Cano, Yankees: Elected to start for second straight season. He’s the first Yankees second baseman elected to start in consecutive seasons since Alfonso Soriano (2002-03).

Aaron Crow, Royals: Second All-Star born in Topeka, Kansas. The other was Ross Grimsley of the 1978 Expos. It’s the sixth year in a row that a Royals pitcher has made the All-Star team.

Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox: Fourth time a Red Sox first baseman has been elected to start at first base in the past six years, joining David Ortiz (2006, 2007) and Kevin Youkilis (2008). He is the first Red Sox player to be elected a starter in his first season with the club since Mark Loretta at second base in 2006. It’s the seventh straight season that the Red Sox have had at least four All-Stars.

Gio Gonzalez, Athletics: First Athletics left-handed pitcher to make the All-Star team since Barry Zito in 2006. ESPN’s Mark Mulder was the last before that, in 2004.

Curtis Granderson, Yankees: First Yankees outfielder elected to start since Hideki Matsui in 2003.

Felix Hernandez, Mariners: Mariners have two All-Star pitchers (Hernandez and Brandon League) for the first time since 2003 (Jamie Moyer, Shigetoshi Hasegawa).

Derek Jeter, Yankees: Elected to start at shortstop for sixth straight season, seventh time in past eight seasons.

Chris Perez, Indians: First Indians “closer” to be selected to All-Star Game since Bob Wickman in 2005. Indians have two selections for first time since 2008 (Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee).

David Price, Rays: He and James Shields mark the first time the Rays have had two starting pitchers selected to the All-Star team. David Price is the fourth Rays player to make more than one All-Star Team: Carl Crawford (4), Evan Longoria (3), Scott Kazmir (2), Price (2).

Mariano Rivera, Yankees: Selected to 12th All-Star team, moving him into a tie for second-most All-Star selections with Tom Seaver.

Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: Ends run of back-to-back election wins at third base by Evan Longoria. Elected for first time since 2008; 12th election ties Ivan Rodriguez for most elections by an active player.

Jered Weaver, Angels: First Angels starting pitcher selected to back-to-back All-Star teams since Chuck Finley (1995-96).

Matt Wieters, Orioles: First Orioles catcher selected to All-Star team since Mickey Tettleton in 1989.

CC Sabathia leads the New York Yankees into Sunday night’s rubber match against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

In each of Sabathia’s last three road appearances, he’s lasted eight or more innings and allowed one earned run or fewer. He’s just the fifth Yankees pitcher to do so since 1970.

The last pitcher with four straight road starts of eight innings pitched and one earned run or fewer was Chris Carpenter in 2005. The last American League pitcher with four straight? Mike Mussina in 1995 with Orioles.

However you have to go all the way back to Spud Chandler in 1947 to find the last Yankees pitcher to do so in four straight road games.

Still one month shy of turning 31, Sabathia already has the third-most wins before age 31 of any pitcher in the last 30 years. With a win Sunday, he’d match Greg Maddux’s total of 166 before he turned 31.

Sabathia is 1-2 career against the Cubs. The only teams against whom he has worse records are the two teams he’s pitched for: he’s 0-1 vs the Brewers and 1-8 against the Yankees.

Sabathia has dominated left-handed batters this season. Lefties have just two extra-base hits in 94 at-bats against CC Sabathia this season. Their slugging percentage against him is .277.

The only American League starting pitchers whose opponent slugging percentage against lefties is lower are David Price (.235), Josh Beckett (.241), Tim Wakefield (.250), and Justin Verlander (.273)

While Sabathia garners many of the headlines, Sunday night is a special occasion for Cubs starting pitcher Randy Wells. In 2009 on Father’s day Wells picked up his first career victory.

Wells has struggled since coming off a stint on the disabled list. In four starts since rejoining the club he is 0-1 with a 7.00 ERA while allowing three home runs.

He has really struggled this season against leadoff hitters. The No. 1 hitter in the batting order is 5-for-13 with two walks against Wells this season.

That’s part of a career pattern. The No. 1 hitter in the batting order has a career .330 batting average and .396 on base percentage against Wells.

Cleanup hitters crushes Wells too notching a.325 batting average with eight home runs in 163 career at-bats.

This Date In Baseball History:

Lou Gehrig was born in June 19, 1903. In the 1932 World Series against the Cubs, he hit .529 with 3 HR and 8 RBI in 4 games.

Coming off consecutive starts in which he allowed five earned runs, David Price bounced back in a big way striking out a career-high 12 batters as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Cleveland Indians.

Price overpowered the Indians hitters as they swung and missed on 17 pitches against Price, the most for Price in his past 18 starts. He had great command of his fastball as 15 of the 17 swings and misses were against the heater, including seven which resulted in strikeouts.

The Rays ace displayed great control working the corners of the plate. Of Price's 110 pitches, 81 were either on the inside or outside corner of the plate. The Indians went 1-for-13 with eight strikeouts in at-bats ending with a pitch inside or outside.

Price also mixed in his slider well, throwing 14, his second highest total in any game this season. Cleveland went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in at-bats ending with the slider.

While Price was brilliant, he did receive some help with poor plate awareness from the Indians batters. Cleveland missed on 46 percent and chased 39 percent of balls outside of the strikezone (both season highs for Price).

Ugly swings were a theme throughout the night in this game for both teams. Matt LaPorta of the Indians and B.J. Upton of the Rays each struck out four times in Friday's game.

The only other game this season to feature two "Golden Sombreros" was on May 12, when Ian Desmond and Jayson Werth both recorded four strikeouts for the Nationals against Atlanta.

Elsewhere around the majors:

• While LaPorta and Upton had rough nights, perhaps no one had a more forgettable Friday than Drew Stubbs. Batting out of the leadoff spot, Stubbs was the only Cincinnati Reds hitter to have six plate appearances against the Atlanta Braves. He went 0-for-6 with four strikeouts.

The only other Reds player to do this in a nine-inning game in the live-ball era was Art Shamsky against the Giants on Oct. 1, 1965.

Out of the leadoff spot, Baseball-Reference.com shows us that only two other players have done it in a nine-inning game in the live-ball era. Oddly, all three of their teams won the game in spite of their dismal line.

• While former Red and current Chicago White Sox player Adam Dunn suffered a four-strikeout game on Thursday, he rebounded Friday drawing four walks in a loss against the Toronto Blue Jays.

According to Elias, the last time a player struck out four or more times and then walked four or more times the next game was Jim Thome in 2000.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price just missed out on the complete-game win against the Toronto Blue Jays, striking out 10 in 8 2/3 innings in Thursday's 3-1 win.

Ninety-nine of Price's 118 pitches were fastballs (83.9 percent), finishing nine of his strikeouts with his heater.

Thursday was merely a continuation of what Price has done to Toronto in his career, improving to 8-0 in nine career starts against Toronto.

The Elias Sports Bureau added that only one active American League pitcher has as many as eight wins without a loss (in starts) against an opposing team: Jon Lester (14-0 in starts against the Baltimore Orioles).

Price has four career 10-strikeout games, and improved to 19-7 career at home.

BERKMAN CONTINUES TO RAKE
Lance Berkman continued his tear to begin the season, hitting a go-ahead three-run home run in the St. Louis Cardinals' 6-3 win against the Florida Marlins.

The home run was Berkman's 10th of the season, and it comes in his 29th game. Last season, it took Berkman 70 games to hit his 10th home run.

This is the third-fastest Berkman has reached 10 home runs in a season; he got there in 20 games in 2002 and 24 games in 2006.

DOC HALLADAY CONTINUES NATIONAL DOMINANCE
Roy Halladay struck out 10 in seven innings of work, helping the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-3 victory against the Washington Nationals.

Halladay has simply dominated the Nationals in his career, moving his record to 10-1 with a 2.01 ERA against the Nationals.

His 32 strikeouts in his past three starts are the most in any three-start span of his career, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

All the while, Halladay avoided issuing any free passes, notching his third 10-strikeout, no-walk game in the past two years. Only Cliff Lee has as many such games in that same span.

LANNAN REMAINS WINLESS AGAINST THE PHILS
While Halladay was tossing a gem, his counterpart, John Lannan, continued to struggle against Philadelphia.

Lannan fell to 0-10 with a 6.44 ERA in 13 career starts against the Phillies.

It wasn't the only streak Lannan "managed" to keep alive. With his peg of Shane Victorino, Lannan has now hit a Phillies batter in four consecutive starts.

CLEVELAND STILL ROCKING
The Cleveland Indians won 4-3 in 12 innings against the Oakland Athletics, improving to 21-9 for the season.

It's tied for their best 30-game start to a season in franchise history, which they've done seven other times prior to this season.

In five of the seven instances they made the playoffs, twice winning the World Series.

ESPN's Home Run Tracker analyzes video of each home run hit this season. Each month, the tracker will detail the best and worst home runs, as well as some other interesting statistics pertaining to the long ball. Below are the notable home runs in the months of March and April.

Wall-Scraper: Shortest True Distance
March/April Winner: Sam Fuld, Tampa Bay Rays
Fuld’s 323-foot home run off of Daisuke Matsuzaka on April 11 took just 3.32 seconds to leave the yard. Fortunately for Fuld, his blast came while playing at Fenway Park, the only park that particular batted ball would have been a home run in. Believe it or not, Shane Victorino’s inside-the-park home run April 24 hit of Wade LeBlanc traveled 346 feet.

Moonshot: Highest Apex (Apex: maximum vertical height ball reaches)
March/April Winner: Luke Scott, Baltimore Orioles
Although they drop jaws for their height, “moonshot” home runs tend to produce true distances that are far from astonishing. Such is the case for Scott’s fifth-inning home run off Cleveland’s Josh Tomlin on April 16. It traveled just 339 feet, but was hit 148 feet in the air. Scott’s home run took 6.39 seconds to clear the fence, nearly 1.5 seconds longer than the league average (4.85 seconds).

Line Drive: Lowest Apex
March/April Winner: Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays
Bautista’s home run off Tampa Bay’s David Price on April 23 had an apex of just 46 feet. In 3.56 seconds, Bautista’s shot traveled 383 feet.

Fast-ball: Fastest Speed Off Bat
March/April Winner: Justin Upton, Arizona Diamondbacks
There are many things that can’t travel 116.7 mph, including a large number of automobiles. But that was the speed that ball traveled off Upton’s second-inning homer on April 12 off the Cardinals’ Chris Carpenter.

Player Power Surge: Most Combined Distance by One Player
March/April Winner: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
Braun tallied 4,089 feet of total home run distance for the months of March and April, squeaking past Alfonso Soriano by 70 feet. Both Braun and Soriano hit 10 home runs in March and April. Five of Braun’s 10 home runs traveled more than 420 feet, including a pair that went 444 and 445 feet.

Server of the Month: Most Combined Distance Allowed by One Pitcher
March/April Winner: Armando Galarraga, Arizona Diamondbacks
The “Imperfect Game” winner has been far from perfect this season. In 28 innings in the month of April, Galarraga allowed 11 home runs (currently on pace to allow 71) that have traveled 4,400 feet.

Wackiest: Most Improbable
March/April Winner: Miguel Olivo, Seattle Mariners
Give an assist to Detroit Tigers outfielder Ryan Raburn on this one. Olivo’s second-inning shot off Phil Coke was about 10 feet short of being a home run, but Raburn’s glove deflected the ball over the fence at spacious Comerica Park. With an apex of just 45 feet, Olivo’s “home run” should win the award for Line Drive of the Month. But, because it required some assistance from Raburn, wackiest is more apropos.

Today’s Trivia: Want to feel old? Los Angeles Angels starter Tyler Chatwood was born 16 days too soon to be the first pitcher born in the 1990s. Who was the first pitcher born in the 1980s to appear in an MLB game?

Quick Hits: Let’s take a look at some surprising league leaders so far this season.

• Howie Kendrick leads the majors with five HRs off of left-handed pitchers. That’s three more than he had last season.

• Your MLB leader in triples? Sean Rodriguez with three. Though he’s hitting just .206, six of his seven hits this season have been for extra bases.

• Jonny Gomes leads the league with five home runs in day games, one more than he had last season.

• Juan Pierre has been caught stealing five times already. The last time an AL player was caught more in April? 1988, when both Rickey Henderson and Mark McLemore were caught six times.

• Billy Butler has already been intentionally walked five times, just three shy of his career high. Over the past 50 years, the most intentional walks for an AL player in April is seven (Ken Griffey Jr. in 1993 and Travis Hafner in 2007).

• Teammates Ryan Raburn (25) and Austin Jackson (24) have struck out more than any other hitters. Combined, those two have more strikeouts than 22 of the other 29 outfields in baseball.

• A.J. Burnett already has six wild pitches. Over the past 50 years, only three AL pitchers have had more in April: Ricky Romero in 2010, Jaime Navarro in 1997 and Bobby Witt in 1986.

• Clay Buchholz has allowed six home runs, after allowing seven all last season. But that’s not even the more surprising number in the AL. Erik Bedard’s seven home runs allowed are the most in the majors. He’s never allowed more than 19 in a season.

• David Price has already hit four batters, most in the majors and one shy of his career high.

• Brad Thomas has pitched just 6 2/3 innings, but has still allowed the most sac flies this season (5).

Trivia Answer: In April 2001, CC Sabathia became the first pitcher born in the 1980s to appear in a game.