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(The Los Angeles Dodgers host the St. Louis Cardinals, Sunday at 8 ET on ESPN)

The post-Albert Pujols era is in its first season in St. Louis, and right now the Cardinals do not appear to miss the second-most prolific home run hitter in franchise history.

In fact, the Cardinals are in first place in the National League Central thanks in part to some savvy offseason moves.

Carlos Beltran and Rafael Furcal have been two of the three most effective free agent signings. Beltran’s 1.9 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is tied with Kelly Johnson for the highest this season among 2012 free agent signings. Furcal is third with a 1.8 WAR.

In fact, Beltran and Furcal are part of an interesting 2012 trend: rejuvenation of older players once thought to be done.

• Carlos Beltran (35) Leads NL in home runs (hasn’t hit 30 HR since 2007)
• Rafael Furcal (34) .351 BA ranks 4th in NL (.231 BA in 2011; didn’t play 100 games in either of last 2 seasons)
• Derek Jeter (37) .355 BA ranks 3rd in AL (hit .282 in previous 2 seasons)
• David Ortiz (35) 3rd in AL in OPS and 4th in BA (hit .257 from 2008-10)
• Paul Konerko (36) .367 BA is 2nd in AL (hit .240 in 2008)

Beltran has 13 home runs through 40 games, the most he’s ever hit in his team’s first 40 games. (Before 2012, the most HR Beltran hit in his team’s first 40 games was 11 in 2004.) In addition to leading the National League in home runs, Beltran ranks fifth in OPS (1.036).

He’s also two stolen bases from becoming the eighth player in major-league history with 300 HR and 300 stolen bases. With a .861 career OPS, he’d join Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds as the only 300-300 players with an .850 OPS.

As good as Beltran has been, Furcal has been just as impressive. He’s hitting .400 this month, which is the fourth-highest NL average in May behind David Wright (.436), Andrew McCutchen (.420) and Carlos Ruiz (.411) Furcal also is one of the best NL hitters with two strikes. His .293 average with two strikes is third in the National League.

One part of Furcal’s success is that he isn’t so pull happy. Last season, Furcal pulled 42 percent of all balls that he put in play. In 2012, that percentage is down to 34 percent.

Furcal and Beltran are also two of the most prolific active switch hitters. Beltran ranks third among active players with 1,956 hits and Furcal is sixth with 1,739.

Jon Lester narrowly missed out on tossing his first shutout since 2008, but he did manage his second complete game of the year as the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 6-1.

The win was the fourth straight at home for the Red Sox after starting the season with a 4-11 record at Fenway Park. It’s their longest home winning streak since taking nine in a row last July.

With the win, Lester improves to 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA in his last four starts, a stark contrast with his 0-2 record and 6.00 ERA through his first four games.

He was able to get the Mariners out by featuring his hard stuff. He threw a fastball, cutter or sinker on 94 of his 119 pitches. The only time this season that he threw a similar number was against the Chicago White Sox on April 28, when he pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out a season-high seven batters.

The Mariners’ lack of plate discipline played into his hands as well. He didn’t walk a hitter and only threw six pitches when facing a three-ball count. That was despite the fact that less than half of his pitches – 58 of 119 – were actually in the strike zone. He tied a season-high inducing 14 swinging strikes.

He threw 12 curveballs in the game, right at his season average, but used it as his out pitch. Lester recorded four outs, including two strikeouts, without allowing a hit against his curve.

On the flip side, the Mariners lost for the ninth time in their last 10 road games. They had started the season by winning eight of their first 12 games away from Safeco Field.

Seattle starter Jason Vargas allowed home runs to Daniel Nava and Kelly Shoppach during his outing. He has allowed seven homers this season, all of them on the road.

Quick Hits
• Bryce Harper hit his first career home run. He’s the youngest player to homer in the majors since Adrian Beltre hit seven home runs in 1998.

• Speaking of the Washington Nationals, they scored eight runs in today’s win against the San Diego Padres, becoming the last team in the majors to reach that mark this season.

• Adam Dunn homered off Drew Smyly, the first time he went deep against a southpaw since hitting two homers against Clayton Kershaw in August 2010. His last 30 homers had been against right-handed pitchers.

It was his 12th home run of the season, surpassing his total of 11 from last year.

• Emilio Bonifacio stole his MLB-leading 18th base on Monday. He has yet to be caught stealing this season. No other player in the majors has more than seven steals without being caught.

• On the career hit front, Derek Jeter and Placido Polanco both reached milestones on Monday.

Jeter went 1-for-5 to move past Robin Yount into sole possession of 16th place on the all-time hit list. Polanco became the 17th active player to reach 2,000 career hits.

When the Chicago White Sox acquired Jake Peavy toward the end of the 2009 season, they anticipated they were getting a Cy Young-caliber pitcher.

Turns out, they had to wait three years for that to happen.

In his seventh start this year, Peavy held the Cleveland Indians to one run in seven innings of work, improving to 4-1 this season with a 1.89 ERA.

His fast start is comparable to the one he had during his Cy Young Award-winning season in 2007, when he also started 4-1, with an even-lower 1.75 ERA.

But the 2012 version of Peavy is much different than in past seasons.

In 2007, Peavy's fastball averaged 93.9 mph. This season? 91.0 mph. In fact, his fastest pitch all season topped out at 93.5 mph.

To make up for a decline in velocity, Peavy has exercised control. Among American League starting pitchers, Peavy's strikeout-to-walk ratio of 6.29 is tops. Peavy's never finished a season with a strikeout-walk ratio higher than 4.32 (2005).

On Wednesday, Peavy got the Indians out of character, getting them to expand their strike zone, something they’ve done less often than any team in baseball this season.

The Indians swung at 23 of Peavy’s 56 pitches out of the zone (41 percent), their highest chase percentage against any starter this season. This season, the Indians have the lowest chase percentage in baseball (21.7 percent).

NEW YORK MINUTE
• With a hit in his first at-bat Wednesday, Derek Jeter became the first player in New York Yankees history with at least 50 hits in the team’s first 30 games of a season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Looking way ahead, if Jeter plays 148 games this season, at his current pace, he would finish this season with 197 hits. That would give him 3,285 career hits, which would put him two past Willie Mays for 11th on the all-time list.

If he maintained a 197-hit season pace, Jeter would get his 4,000th career hit sometime around the All-Star break of the 2016 season. He still would not pass Pete Rose on the all-time hits list until sometime toward the end of the 2017 season, when he'd be 43 years old and would end that season with 4,270 hits. Rose has 4,256 career hits.

• The New York Mets swept the Philadelphia Phillies on the road and they trailed in each of the three games. It's only the third time in franchise history the Mets won a road series of three or more games despite trailing in each of those games, according to Elias.

The others were in July 1986 at Cincinnati (3-0) and August-September 1987 at San Diego (3-0).

(The New York Yankees host the Tampa Bay Rays, Wednesday at 7 ET on ESPN)

Curtis Granderson has reached base in 28 straight games, which is the longest active streak in baseball.

However, if the Tampa Bay Rays’ Jeff Niemann pitches against the Yankees -- and Granderson -- like he has in the past, then Granderson’s streak could come to an end Wednesday night in Yankee Stadium.

In five starts against the Yankees, Niemann is 3-0 with a 3.10 ERA. He hasn’t allowed more than four earned runs in any of those five starts.

Current members of the Yankees are a combined 21-94 (.223) against Niemann. Granderson is 1-14 (.071) against Niemann, matching his lowest batting average against an American League pitcher (minimum 15 plate appearances.)

This season, Niemann has yet to allow more than three earned runs in any of his five starts; however, he has also failed to complete six innings in any start.

Niemann is having a hard time getting through the lineup the third time around. He’s averaged less than 23 batters faced per start (the league average for a starting pitcher is 25.3), and hasn’t faced more than 25 in a start.

Conversely, the Yankees have jumped on opponents early. They have scored 24 first-inning runs, matching the most they have scored in an inning this season. (They have also scored 24 runs in the seventh inning.)

Opponents are hitting .400 this season against Niemann the third time through the order, compared to .214 the first time and .132 the second time through the order.

Niemann has won his last two starts at Yankee Stadium, but this season on the road he’s winless (0-3). In those three games the Rays have provided a total of four runs of support.

One Yankee who has hit Niemann well is Derek Jeter, who is 6-13 with two doubles.

Only Josh Hamilton (.406) and Matt Kemp (.404) have a higher average this season than Jeter’s .392. He’s also hitting .500 in the first inning (14-28, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 K), that’s the highest average among hitters with at least 25 first-inning plate appearances.

Jeter is hitting to the opposite field with authority, and leads the league in that category as well with 19 hits the other way.

Amidst the NFL Draft craziness, the baseball season continues tonight, with the top two finishers in last year's AL Cy Young voting on the mound, looking to continue their hot streaks.

In New York, a Yankee tries to match Roger Clemens’ team record. Plus the Pirates are the first team to accomplish something, and it’s not entirely bad.

Jered Weaver Owns April
The Cy Young runner-up a season ago, Jered Weaver faces the Indians tonight, looking to continue his strong early-season pitching.

Weaver is 13-0 in his last 17 starts in March and April, the longest streak of undefeated starts in March and April since Brad Penny went 17 straight from 2004 to 2008 (thanks, Elias).

The last guy to go undefeated in 18 such starts was Pedro Martinez. The last pitcher to win 14 consecutive decisions in March and April was the always-menacing Dave Stewart, who won 20 straight decisions from 1987 to 1991.

Weaver’s career ERA of 2.66 in March and April is the third-lowest among active pitchers, trailing Mariano Rivera and Zack Greinke.

Pitching Duel in the Bronx
The man who topped Weaver in the 2011 Cy Young voting was Justin Verlander, who is 21-3 with a 1.98 ERA since last June 1.

Verlander’s counterpart on the mound tonight is Ivan Nova, who is 15-1 with a 3.31 ERA in that time span. Nova has won his last 15 decisions, which Elias says is the longest for any pitcher entering a start against a defending Cy Young winner

A win tonight would tie Nova with Roger Clemens for most consecutive decisions won in Yankees history, but he'll need help from an offense that has struggled against Verlander.

Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher all have career averages below .170 against Verlander.

The exception in the Yankees lineup is Derek Jeter, who is 12-33 (.364) in his career against Verlander.

Dead Ball Era in Pittsburgh?
In the National League, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in the midst of a quirky and remarkable run.

Neither team has scored more than five runs in any of Pittsburgh’s first 18 games, the longest streak to start a season in MLB history.

The Pirates are still 13 games away from matching the longest season-opening streak without scoring five runs, which was 31 games by the 1972 Milwaukee Brewers.

Thirty-one games is also the longest season-opening streak of allowing five or fewer runs, accomplished previously by the 1972 Twins. The last team to start with 18 such games was the Athletics in 1981. Pittsburgh looks to best that mark tonight in Atlanta.

Paul Carr contributed to this post.

Jose Reyes returns to Flushing, NY to face his former team, the New York Mets, starting tonight at Citi Field as the Miami Marlins begin a three-game set against the Mets.

Reyes began his career in the Mets organization before signing a six-year, $106 million deal with the Marlins this past offseason.

Reyes ranks in the top three in several career categories in Mets history: first in runs (735), triples (99) and steals (370); second in hits (1,300) and third in doubles (222).

With a healthy Reyes in the lineup, the Mets were a much different team, winning over 53 percent of the time, compared to a .437 win percentage without him in the lineup.

Check out the article written by ESPN The Magazine’s Jorge Arangure Jr. about Reyes and his return to New York.

Early Morning Baseball in Japan
The New York Yankees and Texas Rangers play the second game of their three-game set in Arlington tonight with Hiroki Kuroda facing off against Yu Darvish at 8:05 pm ET (9:05 am Wednesday in Japan).

This is just the seventh time that two Japanese pitchers have started against each other in MLB history and the first time since July 22, 2010 when Kuroda (the pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers) pitched against the Mets Hisanori Takahashi.

The two starting pitchers – who never faced each other in Japan – have had some struggles this season. Kuroda, who spent his first four years in the majors pitching for the Dodgers, is limiting right-handed batters to a .133 average (4-for-30). However, lefties are hitting .432 (19-for-44).

Darvish allowed four runs to the Seattle Mariners in the first inning of his first MLB start (April 9), but has allowed only four runs COMBINED in his 16⅔ innings pitched since (two starts).

A Look Back at Last Night
• During the Yankees 7-4 win over the Rangers, Derek Jeter went 4-for-5 with a double and RBI.

That was Jeter’s 42nd career four-hit game and the first time he’s had two four-hit games in April in his career (went 4-for-4 against the Baltimore Orioles on April 9).

On July 9, 2011, Jeter went 5-for-5 against the Tampa Bay Rays and in the process registered his 3,000th hit. Including that game, Jeter has hit .354 in his last 81 games. Among players with at 100 plate appearances since July 9, 2011, only three other players have a higher batting average.

In his previous 81 games (Sept. 17, 2010 to July 8, 2011), Jeter had batted just .274

• The Kansas City Royals lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1, the Royals 11th straight home loss dating back to last season (the longest home losing streak in franchise history).

Kansas City finished its homestand 0-10. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only two other teams in major-league history went 0-10 or worse on a homestand: the Seattle Pilots (a first-year expansion team that became the Milwaukee Brewers in 1970) lost all 10 games of a homestand in August 1969; and the Arizona Diamondbacks went 0-11 on a homestand in July of 2004.

• The Chicago Cubs scored its first walk-off win of the season by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Joe Mather's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth, his second career walk-off hit.

The Elias Sports Bureau tells us over the last 20 years the Cubs had only one other home win against St. Louis after trailing in the ninth inning or later. That occurred on May 29, 1999, with a ninth-inning rally that featured a game-tying home run by Glenallen Hill and a walkoff double by Mark Grace. Mather became the first former Cardinals player to have a walk-off RBI for the Cubs against St. Louis since Jerry Morales on September 22, 1981.

Nate Jones contributed to this post

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


1. SPURS CLINCH TOP SEED: The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 124-89, and clinched the top seed in the Western Conference. Last season, as a one-seed, the Spurs were eliminated in the first round of their playoff series with the Grizzlies. It was the fourth time since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams that a one-seed lost to an eight-seed.

2. COYOTES FINALLY WIN A SERIES: The Phoenix Coyotes defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0, to win the Western Conference Quarterfinals in six games. It’s the franchise’s first playoff series win since 1987. According to Elias, their streak of 23 consecutive seasons without winning a playoff series (1987-88 through 2010-11) is a NHL record.

3. KREIDER TO THE RESCUE: The New York Rangers defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, to force Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. 20-year old Chris Kreider scored the game-winning goal. According to Elias, Kreider is the third Rangers player to score a playoff goal, before playing in a regular-season game.

4. JETER HITS HOLLAND: Derek Jeter went 4-5 in the New York Yankees’ 7-4 win over the Texas Rangers. All four of Jeter’s hits came off Derek Holland. According to Elias, that tied Jeter's career high for hits off the same pitcher in one game. He had previously recorded four hits in a game against Greg Maddux and Bob Tewksbury.

5. ROSS SHOWS POWER: Cody Ross hit two home runs in the Boston Red Sox’ 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins. Ross tied the game in the seventh inning with a two-run blast, then hit a solo shot in the ninth to put the Red Sox ahead. According to Elias, prior to Ross, the last Red Sox player with a game-tying and game-winning home run, each in the seventh inning or later, was Dwight Evans on June 23, 1990 against the Orioles at Fenway Park.

6. PANDA KEEPS HITTING: Pablo Sandoval recorded hits in both games of the Giants-Mets doubleheader on Monday (Giants won both games). Sandoval has hit safely in his first 16 games this season. According to Elias, he tied the second-longest hit streak to start a season by a Giants player since 1900. The record of 18 was set by Johnny Rucker in 1945.

The New York Yankees will try to complete a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball (8 pm ET).

Here's a closer look at the key matchups that figure to play a significant role in this contest.

C.C. Sabathia Matchups to Watch
Although Sabathia is 7-9 career against the Red Sox and 3-4 against them at Fenway Park, his individual batter-pitcher matchups aren’t as bad as you think.

Adrian Gonzalez is 5-for-25 against Sabathia and struck out three times against him in their last meeting on August 30.

Dustin Pedroia has an odd history against Sabathia -- a .244 batting average (combining both regular season and postseason)- but he was 7-for-13 against Sabathia last season, albeit with five strikeouts.

David Ortiz is 5-for-30 against Sabathia since homering against him the first time that Sabathia faced him as a Yankee.

Ortiz has hit .346 against left-handed pitching since the start of 2011. That’s a jump of 128 points from what he averaged against lefties from 2008 to 2010.

Sabathia has a 5.59 ERA in three starts this season. His April ERA is 4.16, his highest for any calendar month from April to September (his September ERA of 2.77 is his lowest).

Sabathia has averaged 91.5 miles-per-hour with his fastball in 2012. That’s down a full mile-per-hour from what he averaged in both 2010 and 2011.

Hitters have swung and missed at the pitch at about a rate of one for every eight pitches thrown. In April, 2011, he got misses on about one of every six swings versus his heater.

With his 57th pitch on Sunday, Sabathia will have thrown 20,000 pitches (combining regular season and postseason) since 2007, the most of anyone in the majors.

Daniel Bard Matchups to Watch
Bard has the number of two Yankees hitters. Robinson Cano is 0-for-8 against him. Derek Jeter is 0-for-7. The only active pitcher whom Jeter has a worse-0-for against is Casey Janssen, against whom Jeter is 0-for-12. The only one for Cano is Gio Gonzalez (0-for-9).

Mark Teixeira has four home runs in 15 at-bats against Bard. The last three of those home runs came off fastballs recorded at 97 miles-per-hour or faster by Pitch F/X calculations. The only pitchers against whom he has more home runs are Bruce Chen (6) and Felix Hernandez (5).

Bard’s fastball velocity has come down from the 97 miles-per-hour he averaged as a reliever to about 94 miles-per-hour. He threw the fastball for strikes 75 percent of the time in his first start of the season, but that dropped to 57 percent in his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Bard has a 4-4 record and a 1.69 at Fenway Park. He’s 1-11 elsewhere, with a 4.19 ERA.

It’s Not How You Start. It’s How You Finish
There is a sharp statistical contrast between the performance of the Yankees and Red Sox bullpens this season, evident Saturday when Red Sox relievers combined to yield 14 runs.

The chart on the right shows the difference between the two. Red Sox relievers rank last in the majors in all three categories listed. Yankees relievers rank second in ERA, fourth in home runs per nine innings, and ninth in opponents batting average.

Elias Sports Bureau Stat of the Game
A Yankees win would make them 459-459-4 against the Red Sox in Fenway Park. They have outscored the Red Sox there, 4,687-4,481

After narrowly missing out on the Triple Crown last season, Matt Kemp is off to a fast start in 2012.

Through 13 games, Kemp is hitting .451 with seven home runs and 18 runs batted in. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, he is the third player since RBI became official in 1920 to reach each of those thresholds in his team’s first 13 games. The others were Larry Walker for the Colorado Rockies in 1997 and Willie Mays for the San Francisco Giants in 1964.

Kemp has shown tremendous power to the opposite field in the early going, in large part because of how he is handling pitches on the outside part of the plate.

As shown in the heat maps at the top of the article, Kemp’s ability to drive pitches on the outer portion of the plate has markedly improved since last season. In 2011, he had six home runs in 207 at-bats that ended on outside pitches. Through the first two weeks this season, he has three home runs in 22 at-bats ending on such pitches.

This isn’t the case of Kemp doing better against outside pitches as a function of doing better against everything. His numbers against inside pitches are slightly improved from last year, with his slugging percentage up from .672 to .727. Against outside pitches, his slugging percentage has more than doubled from .362 to .727.

Kemp hit his fifth opposite-field home run of the season in Thursday’s win against the Milwaukee Brewers. Entering Thursday evening’s games, Derek Jeter is the only other player in the majors with more than two opposite-field homers this year. Kemp hit eight home runs to the opposite field all last season.

The 10-3 Washington Nationals are in first place in the NL East, the latest into a season that this franchise has been in first place since July 2005, the first season in Washington. That team would up finishing last in the NL East.

And they are 10-3 despite hitting just .249 and averaging 3.8 runs per game. In addition, the Nationals are 3-1 when trailing to start the eighth inning this season. Last year, they were 7-64 under those circumstances.

So what has been one of the main reasons the Nationals are an early-season surprise? The starting pitching staff sports a 1.65 ERA, the lowest by any starting unit in the majors.

In addition, here are some other reasons the Nationals are off to a hot start.

• Opponents are hitting .181 at Nationals Park

• Opponents are hitting .168 with RISP

• Opposing cleanup hitters are hitting .151 with a .367 OPS.

• In 13 games, the Nationals have allowed two HR. By contrast, the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays have allowed 18.

Derek Jeter’s Resurgence
Derek Jeter hit his fourth home run of the season on Wednesday. He hit just six home runs in 2011, and didn’t hit his fourth until July 25 (his 79th game of the season).

It’s been a far different April for Jeter this season, who had a .272 slugging percentage in April 2011. So what changed?

Jeter is also hitting to the opposite field with authority. Already this season, Jeter has 11 hits to the opposite field, the most in the majors (David Ortiz is second with nine).

One more look back at Pudge’s career
On April 23, Ivan Rodriguez will announce his retirement at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. He’s the all-time leader at catcher in hits, runs and games played. Let’s take a look at some other Pudge facts.

• Pudge caught Nolan Ryan (born in 1947) and Stephen Strasburg (born in 1988)

• Pudge has more hits (2,844) than the two active hits leaders at catcher COMBINED. A.J. Pierzynski and Ramon Hernandez have 2,829 between the two of them

• All active catchers have combined for nine Gold Gloves. Rodriguez won 13

• Among catchers to debut in 1991, the last other than Rodriguez to appear in a game was Tony Eusebio in 2001

• Pitchers who threw to both Rodriguez and Johnny Bench: Charlie Leibrandt, Jeff Russell, Jay Howell

• His first manager was Bobby Valentine, who was the same age then (40) that Pudge is now

• Ironically, he was closer in age to his first manager (21 years younger than Bobby Valentine) than his last manager (28 years younger than Davey Johnson)

• 2011 will go down as the final season for Pudge, Jason Varitek and Jorge Posada. Those three combined to catch 5,489 games

Matchup of the Day - Joey Votto vs Adam Wainwright
The best hitter in the NL Central will face arguably the division's best pitcher.

Votto is just 1-for-12 with four strikeouts in his career against Wainwright. That includes 0-for-6 with three strikeouts on at-bats ending in Wainwright's curve.

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.

One of the things we do in Stats & Information is come up with notes and tidbits that earn the billing of Next Level. These are nuggets that go beyond the box score in an attempt to tell the story of a game, moment, or player in a different manner.

With the calendar year about to end, we went back through our files and found 10 of our favorite Next Level notes.

Justin Verlander no-hitter (May 7)
In Verlander’s second career no-hitter, he saved his heat for the end of the game, averaging 99 miles-per-hour with his fastball from the seventh inning on, with five pitches over 100 miles-per-hour.

That made it tough to time his offspeed stuff. The Toronto Blue Jays did not hit a ball out of the infield against any of Verlander's 52 offspeed pitches.

Jason Giambi: among oldest players with a 3-HR game (May 19)
Giambi became the oldest player since the mound was lowered in 1969 to hit three home runs in a game (40 years, 161 days). Giambi hit two of his three home runs on 1-1 counts, notable because over the past three seasons hit .343 with 16 home runs in at-bats ending in an early count.

There was a 194 point difference in Giambi's performance in the first three pitches of an at-bat, compared to beyond that. The typical major leaguer had a difference of 116 points last season.

Wilson Valdez gets the Win (May 25)

In becoming the first player to start a game as a position player and then earn a win in relief since Babe Ruth in 1921, Valdez got through the 19th inning against the Cincinnati Reds unscathed.

Valdez’s nine fastballs were clocked at 87 miles-per-hour (about the same as Freddy Garcia and Shaun Marcum).

When comparing the break and movement, the best comparison to it would probably be the fastball thrown on occasion by New York Mets knuckleball specialist R.A. Dickey.

The image on the right shows the pitch locations where Valdez got outs. All three came on pitches on the edge of the strike zone.

Cliff Lee in June
Lee went 5-0 with an 0.21 ERA in June, one of the best months in major league history.

The success was in large part due to getting fewer swings and more misses on the first pitch from his performance in the first two months. Lee gave up only two hits on the first pitch of an at-bat in June, with an opponents batting average of .154. That was down from .341 in the first two months.

Lee also increased the percentage of first-pitch swings that missed from 20 percent to 31 percent in those time periods.

Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit (July 10)
Jeter’s 3,000th hit was a home run to left field against Tampa Bay Rays starter David Price. Entering the game, just 23 percent of Jeter’s outfield hits went to left field, a drop of nearly 10 percentage points from two seasons prior.

From that point, to the rest of the season, nearly one-third of Jeter’s 85 hits were to right field.

Stephen Strasburg returns (September 6)
On September 6, Strasburg made his return to the big leagues on after missing over a year due to Tommy John surgery throwing five scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers went up hacking against him. Of 17 batters, nine of them swung at the first pitch. The Dodgers also swung at 22 of the 29 pitches Strasburg threw in the zone, his highest rate (76 percent) in a game.

Strasburg’s fastball returned to form, averaging 96.2 miles-per-hour, topping out at 98.7.

Mariano Rivera breaks all-time saves record (September 19)
Rivera became the all-time saves leader in MLB history on September 19 by pitching a perfect 9th inning in the Yankees 6-4 win over the Minnesota Twins.

To get the save, Rivera got a groundout from Trevor Plouffe and a line out from Michael Cuddyer before striking out lefty Chris Parmelee with a 93 mile-per-hour cutter away.

Rivera had been struggling in August, but started throwing his pitches (particularly his cutter, which he throws upwards of 90 percent of the time) to the outside corner much more frequently.

He went from throwing one-third of his pitches on the outer-third of the plate and further away in June and July to nearly 50 percent in August and September.

It worked. Rivera converted 17 of 18 save chances in the season’s last two months.

AL Wild Card Drama (Rays/Red Sox on September 28)
With the Yankees up 7-0 on the Rays in the seventh inning, the Rays win probability was less than one percent.

With the Red Sox up on the Orioles by a run with two outs and no one on base in the ninth inning, their win probability was 94.3 percent (not to mention that Boston was 76-0 when leading after eight innings entering the day).

At that point, the Rays were in some trouble in extra innings, with the Yankees threatening. At that point, Boston's chance of getting at least a one-game playoff was 99 percent.

But as we saw, 99 percent was not a baseball certainty.

Nelson Cruz, ALCS MVP
Cruz was named ALCS MVP after hitting six home runs and driving in 13 runs against the Detroit Tigers.

Cruz did almost of his damage on inside pitches, with five of his six home runs and 11 of his 13 RBI coming on those pitches.

The Cardinals fared considerably better than the Tigers did at pitching Cruz inside. He could not sustain his success into the World Series.

Albert Pujols hits 3 HR in Game 3 of World Series
Pujols became the third player in World Series history to hit three home runs in a game.

Pujols saw 21 pitches in Game 3 and seven were over the middle third (horizontally) of the strike zone, including five fastballs. He took advantage.

Four of Pujols’ five hits in the game came against those pitches, including each of the three home runs.

Free-agent shortstop Jose Reyes and the Miami Marlins agreed to terms on a 6-year, $106 million contract Sunday. It’s the second-largest contract in total value ever given to a shortstop behind the $252 million deal signed in 2000 by Alex Rodriguez, and it also more than doubles the largest contract ever given out by the Marlins.

It’s been a busy last few months for the Marlins, beginning with the hiring of manager Ozzie Guillen in September. Since then, the team has unveiled new uniforms, a new ballpark and a name change, as well as signing free-agent closer Heath Bell.

The addition of Reyes means one of the year’s top free agents is now claimed. Among free-agent position players, Reyes had the best 2011 season based on Wins Above Replacement, but injuries have been a concern lately. After playing in an average of 158 games a season from 2005 to 2008, Reyes has dealt with injury issues in each of the past three seasons, playing 36, 133, and 126 games from 2009 to 2011.

When he has played, he’s been more productive at the plate in the last three years, however. From 2005 until 2008, Reyes batted .287 with an OPS of .783. In the last three seasons, those numbers have risen to .306 and .804 respectively.

In 2011, Reyes won the NL batting title with a .337 average, and his .379 average against fastballs, cutters and sinkers was the best in the National League.

His value on the bases is also a big upside; since 2005, Reyes ranks second among active players in stolen bases (338) and first in triples with 93. He ranks fourth among shortstops in that span with 30.5 Wins Above Replacement, trailing Jimmy Rollins (31.1), Hanley Ramirez (31.1) and Derek Jeter (30.8).

The addition of Reyes likely means that Hanley Ramirez will be moving to third base. Both have missed significant time due to injury in the last two years, but when they were on the field last season, Reyes was a more productive player. He posted a career-high BABIP of .353, well above his .314 career BABIP. Ramirez, however, saw a career-low BABIP of .275.

The 2011 playoffs have not lost any momentum to the exciting finish to the regular season. For only the third year, three Divisional Series will last five games (also in 1981 and 2001), with the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees playing the first of the elimination games.

Divisional Series History
In the Wild Card Era (since 1994), only two teams have won Game 5 of an LDS and gone on to win the World Series: the 2000 Yankees and 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks. This will be the Tigers first Division Series Game 5 in franchise history, while the Yankees are 3-3 all-time in Division Series Game 5’s.

Detroit is 2-1 in winner-take-all games on the road, with their last win coming over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the 1968 World Series. The Yankees are 5-4 in winner-take-all games at home. The last time they played in such a game, they lost of the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS.

On the Mound
Doug Fister and Ivan Nova will both take the mound for their first career postseason STARTS (both began Game 1’s suspension on Saturday in relief roles). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this is the first time in MLB postseason history that both starting pitchers in a winner-take-all game (Game 5 of 5-game series or Game 7 of 7-game series) will be making their first career postseason starts.

Fister went 4⅔ innings while allowing six earned runs in his Game 1 appearances, the most earned runs he’s allowed since Aug. 14. In his career, Fister is 1-3 with a 7.15 ERA in four career appearances against New York and has not recorded a win against the Yankees since August 16, 2009.

Nova went 6⅓ innings while allowing two earned runs in his Game 1 appearance. Nova is 13-0 with a 3.22 ERA in his last 17 appearances going back to regular season (he has not lost since June 3).

Elias says, Nova will be the third Yankees rookie to start a postseason winner-take-all game. Spec Shea got a no-decision in Game 7 of the 1947 World Series against the Dodgers, and Mel Stottlemyre lost Game 7 of the 1964 World Series against the Cardinals.

Players to Watch
Detroit catcher Alex Avila (.295 batting average in the regular season) is 0-for-12 thus far in the series. According to Elias, since 2005, three players with a regular season batting average of .290 or higher (among batting qualifiers) went hitless in an entire postseason series (minimum 10 at-bats): Bill Mueller in the 2005 ALDS against the Chicago White Sox (0-for-11); Aramis Ramirez in the 2007 NLDS against the Diamondbacks (0-for-12); and Chone Figgins in the 2009 ALDS against the Red Sox (0-for-12).

New York’s Derek Jeter is 10-for-29 (.345) in winner-take-all postseason games. The Elias Sports Bureau says his 10 hits are tied with Jason Giambi (10-for-18, .556) for the most hits in such games in major league history. Next on the list with nine are Mickey Mantle, Pete Rose, Lonnie Smith, and Gil McDougald.

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.