ESPN More Sports

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

1. RARE CELTICS PERFORMANCE: Paul Pierce posted a statistical performance that hadn’t been done by a Boston Celtics player in the playoffs since 1977. Pierce finished with 36 points and 14 rebounds, the first Celtic to reach those levels in a playoff game since Dave Cowens in 1977. Tommy Heinsohn in 1957 is the only other Celtic to accomplish the feat.

2. KOBE KEEPS SCORING: Pierce wasn’t the only NBA veteran with a big scoring performance on Tuesday. Kobe Bryant, at 33 years old, scored 38 points in a win against the Denver Nuggets. FROM ELIAS: It’s the first time that two players age 33 or older have scored 35 points on the same day in the NBA playoffs.

3. WALK-OFF WIN: Let’s go to the other end of the age spectrum for this note. FROM ELIAS: Brett Lawrie, who turned 22 in January, hit his second career walk-off home run in the Toronto Blue Jays’ win over the Texas Rangers. Lawrie is the only player born in the 1990s to hit a walk-off home run. He is one of three active players to hit multiple walk-off homers before turning 23 years old. The others: Carl Crawford and Ryan Zimmerman.

4. FAMILIAR HONOR FOR POPOVICH: He’s won four NBA titles, and Tuesday Gregg Popovich was awarded his second NBA Coach of the Year award. He becomes the seventh coach in NBA history to receive that honor multiple times. Pat Riley and Don Nelson are the only coaches to win three of them. But this year’s San Antonio Spurs aren’t the same as those of the past. The Spurs averaged 103.7 points (second in NBA) this season, tying their highest average under Popovich.

5. LOSING LONGORIA: The Tampa Bay Rays will be without Evan Longoria (hamstring injury) for 4-8 weeks. Over the previous three seasons (2009 to 2011), Longoria is second among all position players in wins above replacement. Only Albert Pujols contributed more during that span. On the bright side, the Rays were 18-11 in the 29 games Longoria did not play last season. That’s a better winning percentage than their 73-60 record in games he did play.

The Tampa Bay Rays play host to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the middle game of a three-game set tonight (ESPN2, 7 ET). The two teams are moving in opposite directions – the Rays have won five of six, while the Angels have lost five of seven.

What’s Wrong with the Angels?
The Angels have stumbled out of the gate, falling to 6-11 to start the season after their 5-0 loss Tuesday night. The Angels are in last place in the AL West, already 7.5 games behind the division-leading Texas Rangers. So what’s not working for LA?

• Scored 3.9 runs per game, 10th in the AL.

• Drawn a walk about once every 15 plate appearances, the 12th ranked walk rate in the AL in front of only the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles.

• Correspondingly, the Angels have a team .304 on-base percentage, 11th in the AL.

• Have hit an AL-low 11 home runs so far this year.

What’s Wrong with Albert Pujols?
Pujols has stumbled out of the gate in his first season with the Angels. After going 0-for-4 Tuesday night, he is homerless in his last 23 regular-season games dating back to last season, the second longest streak in his career (went 26 straight homerless games in 2011).

Pujols is also in danger of going hitless in five straight games. He’s done that just once before in his career – September of his 2001 rookie season!

Last season, Pujols batted .301 in at-bats ending with a curveball or slider, a mark that ranked 10th-best in the majors. He chased only 23 percent of those pitches out of the zone – better than the league average of 31 percent.

This season, Pujols has batted only .091 in at-bats ending with curves and sliders. He already has seven strikeouts on those pitches and he’s chased a whopping 58 percent of curves and sliders out of the zone.

Pitching Matchup
C.J. Wilson is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 40 career innings pitched against the Rays. Current Tampa Bay players have hit just .139 in their careers against Wilson with just three extra base hits. And four current Rays regulars are hitless in their careers against Wilson.

• B.J. Upton: 0-for-17, 8 K
• Desmond Jennings: 0-for-10, 3 K
• Jose Molina: 0-for-10, 3 K
• Carlos Pena: 0-for-8, 1 K

Jeremy Hellickson has seen his strikeout rate drop progressively in each season of his career so far (8.2 in 2010; 5.6 in 2011; 4.2 so far this season).

Last year in his only start against the Angels, he took the loss but struck out a season-high 10 batters in 5⅔ innings, including three strikeouts each of Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells.

Before this season, Hellickson’s two most effective out pitches were his curveball and changeup. He got to the most swings and misses on these pitches and hitters chased over 40 percent of his changeups out of the zone.

However, so far this season, Hellickson has curtailed the use of his two most effective pitches in favor of a new cutter.

He’s thrown the cutter for a strike at a high rate, but he’s also allowed a .953 OPS on at-bats ending with the pitch, the worst results of any of his pitches this season.

Stat of the Game
Evan Longoria has continued on a tear he began starting last September. Since then, Longoria is batting .309 with a .451 on-base percentage, ranking him third in the majors over that span, trailing only Miguel Cabrera (.470) and Matt Kemp (.456). In addition, his 1.036 OPS is fourth highest in the AL since last September.

For the fourth time, both leagues gave rookie of the year honors to a pitcher. The last time it happened was in 1981 when Dodgers lefty Fernando Valenzuela won National League honors and Yankees southpaw Dave Righetti won the American League award.

Jeremy Hellickson is the second player from the Rays to win the award, joining third baseman Evan Longoria, who won in 2008, and the third straight pitcher to win the AL Rookie of the Year, joining Athletics reliever Andrew Bailey, who won in 2009, and Rangers closer Neftali Feliz, who won in 2010.

It’s the first time that the AL Rookie of the Year has been won by a pitcher in three straight seasons. It happened once in the NL, from 1979 to 1981, when the award was won by Rick Sutcliffe (1979), Steve Howe (1980) and Valenzuela, all with the Dodgers.

Kimbrel is the fifth NL reliever to win rookie of the year, the first since Scott Williamson in 1999. Kimbrel set the rookie save record with 46 this season, surpassing the mark of 40 set by Feliz in 2010. He’s the first Brave to win rookie of the year since shortstop Rafael Furcal in 2000.

How was each so successful?

Kimbrel averaged 14.8 strikeouts per nine innings, a rate that ranked second-best in the majors in 2011 (minimum 50 innings pitched) and sixth-best all-time.

From June 14 to Sept. 8, Kimbrel pitched 37 2/3 innings without allowing either a run or any of the three baserunners he inherited to score. In that stretch he allowed only 14 hits and 11 walks, striking out 67.

Kimbrel allowed only two extra-base hits to the 147 left-handed hitters he faced, neutralizing them with a nasty slider. The images at the top of this article show where Kimbrel struck out left-handed hitters with his fastball (image on left) and slider (image on right). He struck out 60 left-handed hitters, the most of any relief pitcher.

Hellickson was far less reliant on the strikeout, whiffing 117 in 189 innings. His high point came in May when he went 4-1 with a 1.36 ERA and a .168 opponents' batting average in 33 innings, winning AL Pitcher of the Month honors.

As Matt Meyers noted in his Insider piece, the Rays defended very well behind Hellickson, particularly against ground balls. Opponents hit .161 when hitting a ground ball against Hellickson, 68 points below the major league average and best among all AL starting pitchers who got at least 100 ground balls last season.

Hellickson succeeded largely on the strength of his changeup, with which he held opponents to a .210 opponents' batting average, and a .221 opponents' batting average on balls in play, both of which ranked in the top 10 among starting pitchers who threw at least 100 changeups last season.

Hellickson was unusual in that he was a right-handed pitcher who wasn’t shy about throwing his changeup to right-handed hitters. He threw it at a rate of about once every three pitches to right-handed batters, the second-highest frequency among starting pitchers (Rich Harden of the Athletics threw it 40 percent of the time).

Just two days removed from completing the greatest September rally in MLB history, the Tampa Bay Rays look to build on their strong finish against the Texas Rangers in the American League Division Series.

Inside the Series
This is a rematch of last year’s ALDS, a series Texas won in five games. The series was unique in that it was the first in postseason history where the road team won every game.

The Rangers edged the Rays during the regular season, taking five of the nine meetings.

Rangers catcher Mike Napoli proved a particularly tough out against Tampa Bay this season, batting .407 with three home runs.

On the Mound
Taking the mound for the Rays will be left-hander Matt Moore, a September call-up who began this season as the top pitching prospect in all of baseball.

Moore has made only one career start (with two appearances out of the bullpen), going 5.0 innings while allowing no runs on four hits, 1 walk and 11 strikeouts against the New York Yankees on Sept. 22 at Yankee Stadium.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Moore’s one career start is the fewest by a Game 1 starter in MLB postseason history.

Texas brings its own lefty to the mound in Game 1, sending C.J. Wilson to the hill. Wilson’s 2.56 ERA after the All-Star Break was second-best in the AL, behind Doug Fister (2.47). He had a 1.21 ERA in September and is 4-0 as a starter in his career against the Rays, combining regular season and the playoffs.

Getting Defensive
These teams ranked in the top four in the majors in Defensive Runs Saved this season – Tampa Bay was first, Texas was fourth. The strengths of these teams defensively have come at second, short and third base.

Ben Zobrist (17) and Ian Kinsler (16) ranked 1-2 in MLB in Defensive Runs Saved at second base. Elvis Andrus (13) ranked third in the majors, Elliot Johnson (11) ranked tied for fifth and Reid Brignac (8) tied for seventh among shortstops. Among third basemen, Adrian Beltre (17) ranked second in the majors and Evan Longoria (12) was fifth.

Stat of the Game
While the Rays dominated headlines for their late-season surge, they aren’t the only team in this series coming off a noteworthy September. The Rangers closed the book on the regular season with a .544 slugging percentage in September, the highest slugging percentage by a team in September in the live-ball era (since 1920).

Evan Longoria had a heck of a season for a guy who finished the year with a .244 batting average for the Tampa Bay Rays. The Boston Red Sox may have collapsed, but Longoria was as responsible for carrying his team as any player has been all season.

Longoria’s second home run of the game Wednesday night – a walk-off with one out in the 12th inning against the New York Yankees that gave Tampa an 8-7 win and the AL Wild Card berth – was his fourth career walk-off HR and second of this season. Longoria's HR is the sixth game-ending HR in MLB history which clinched a postseason berth, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Here’s a closer look Longoria’s 2011 season:

• All 31 of his HR hit came with the score tied, or within four runs, one way or the other.

• The last 10 home runs he hit during the regular season either tied a game, gave the Rays a lead, extended a lead of one or two runs, or cut a deficit to a run.

• Longoria had four home runs in the eighth inning or later that either tied a game or put the Rays ahead. Only two players in MLB had more -- Jose Bautista with six, and Jay Bruce with five.

• In the two-week stretch from September 15 to the end of the season, Longoria faced a two-strike situation 32 times. He reached nine times via hit and seven times via walk, giving him a two-strike on-base percentage of .500 (MLB average for the season was .247). He also reached base via error once.

• Despite missing 29 games, Longoria entered the final day of the season fifth in the major leagues in Defensive Runs Saved among third basemen with 12.

A chronology of some of Longoria's biggest moments down the stretch:

September 15-18 - Longoria was 6-for-15 with two home runs and seven RBI as the Rays won three of four games in Fenway Park from the Red Sox. In the game the Rays lost, Longoria homered, singled, walked twice, and made an amazing catch on a Dustin Pedroia line drive that turned into a double play in the seventh inning, with the Rays down a run.

September 27 - With the Rays down 3-2 in the sixth inning against the Yankees, and the bases loaded with nobody out, Longoria starts a 5-4-3 triple play to get the Rays out of a jam.

Then, in the seventh inning, facing an 0-2 count, Longoria fouls off three pitches (including two well out of the strike zone) and works out a walk from Rafael Soriano. The next batter, Matt Joyce, hits a home run that propels the Rays to a 5-3 win.

September 28 - Longoria helps the Rays rally from a 7-0 deficit. He hits a three-run home run to cut the lead to 7-6 in the eighth inning. Then, he hits a walk-off home run to win the game and clinch the wild card in the 12th inning.

After leading by nine games over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Wild Card race through games of September 2nd, the Boston Red Sox ended up failing to reach the postseason as the final day of the regular season came to a close. The Red Sox lost 4-3 to the Baltimore Orioles Wednesday after leading 3-2 going into the ninth inning.

Jonathan Papelbon blew his second save in his last four chances after converting his previous 25 save opportunities. Also for the second time in the last three games against Boston, Robert Andino had a hit that turned out to be the difference in the game. Andino singled home the winning run Wednesday two days after hitting a three-run inside-the-park home run Monday. Boston had been 89-0 this season in games in which they led in the ninth inning or later.

The Red Sox finished the month of September with a 7-20 record and a .259 win percentage. That percentage is the team's worst in any calendar month since August 1964 when they had a .241 win percentage. The 20 losses is tied for the most in September in franchise history.

Down in St. Petersburg, the Rays defeated the New York Yankees 8-7 in 12 innings after trailing 7-0 entering the eighth inning. In doing so Tampa Bay clinched the AL Wild Card berth and will play the Texas Rangers in the Division Series beginning Friday.

With the Rays trailing 7-6 and down to their final strike in the ninth inning, Dan Johnson hit his second home run of the season to tie the game. Then in the 12th, Evan Longoria became only the second player in major-league history to hit a walk-off home run in his team’s final game of the regular season and thus clinch a postseason berth for his club. That according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The other player to do that, of course, was Bobby Thomson with his “shot heard ’round the world” against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951.

The Rays' nine-game deficit in September was the largest by any team to make the postseason in MLB history.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Tampa Bay is the first team to earn a postseason berth by overcoming a deficit of seven or more runs to win their final game of the regular season. The previous record for the largest deficit overcome to clinch a postseason spot with a win in a team’s last regular-season game was six runs by the Rockies against the Giants in 1995. Colorado overcame an 8–2 San Francisco lead that day to win their season finale 10–9 and clinch a Wild Card position.

The Boston Red Sox entered the month of September leading the AL East by 1½ games. They have since gone 6-18 this month and now cling to a one game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card race. If the Red Sox fail to make the postseason, their collapse would be historic.

No team with a lead of nine-or-more games entering the final month of the season has failed to reach the playoffs. The largest deficit overcome by a team in September to make the postseason was 8½ games by the 1964 St. Louis Cardinals.

What’s gone wrong and who’s to blame for the Red Sox?

Red Sox starting pitching has struggled throughout September. Red Sox starters are 4-12 with an MLB-worst 7.17 ERA this month and have made just four quality starts in September.

The Red Sox have frequently found themselves facing early deficits. They’ve allowed their opponents to score first in 20 of 24 games this month, and are 4-16 in those 20 games.

The Red Sox offense has been boom-or-bust in September. They are 4-1 when scoring at least 10 runs, but are just 2-17 when they fail to score in double figures. They have scored two runs or fewer eight times this month.

The Red Sox defense has also been ineffective. The Red Sox have allowed a MLB-high 34 steals in September, and their pitchers have given up 14 unearned runs this month, which is the second-most among AL teams.

At the other end of the east coast, the Rays were 53-50 after a 13-4 loss to the Athletics on July 27. They were 8½ games behind the Yankees for the AL Wild Card lead, and 11½ behind the Red Sox for the AL East lead.

What’s gone right for the Rays?

Desmond Jennings, who made his debut on July 23, was an integral part of the early part of the Rays’ run. Over a 29-game stretch from July 28 to August 28, he hit .339 with eight home runs, 16 RBI, and 11 stolen bases.

Evan Longoria has been clutch. Since July 28, he’s hit 16 home runs, and 15 of the 16 have come in situations in which the score was within three runs. Longoria has 45 RBI since July 28, the third-most in the AL.

The Rays have gotten big contributions recently from a pair of rookie pitchers. Matt Moore pitched three innings of relief in a win over the Red Sox, then struck out 11 Yankees in a win last Thursday. Alex Torres pitched five scoreless innings in relief of injured starter Jeff Niemann in Saturday’s win over the Blue Jays.

However, the Rays are going against history in one regard. They’ve never had a winning September. Their best previous September was in 2008 and 2010 when they went 13-14. They enter Monday 14-10 in September.

The Rays finish up with three home games against the best team in the AL, the New York Yankees, while the Red Sox have their final three games against the division's cellar-dweller, the Baltimore Orioles.

What will it take for the Tampa Bay Rays to overtake the Boston Red Sox in the wild card chase?

It won’t be easy, as the Rays have two series remaining with the New York Yankees, and the Red Sox have a pair with the Baltimore Orioles.

Let’s examine three key factors that have helped the Rays down the stretch and will be vital to their success these last 10 days.

Evan Longoria’s clutch hitting
Evan Longoria had an amazing series against the Red Sox last weekend, going 6-for-15 with two home runs, six RBI, and a stolen base.

Longoria’s season batting average of .244 is not overwhelming, but he’s had a knack for the timely hit. Of the last 10 home runs he’s hit, nine have come with the score within two runs.

Over the two-week period from September 5-18, no American League player’s plate appearances had more value than Longoria.

Longoria hit .324 with 13 RBI in that stretch, leading the league in Win Probability Added, which measures offensive contribution on a play-by-play basis, based on how much that player contributed to winning or losing.

Defense
The Rays showed why they lead the majors in Defensive Runs Saved on a few occasions in the Red Sox series, with fine glovework turned in by Longoria and Desmond Jennings.

The Rays rank second-best in the majors in No. 1 Web Gems this season with 11, and second in total Web Gem Points (a formula based on giving five points to Baseball Tonight’s best gem of the day, one point to its No. 5 gem) to the Indians.

Tampa Bay’s defense is predicated on being in the right spot at the right time and the payoff for that is shown in its opponents' batting average on balls in play -- .267, 15 points better than the next-closest team in the majors.

The chart on the right, inspired by an article in the blog DRays Bay, shows which areas the Rays have defended best this season.

Joel Peralta
The signing of reliever Joel Peralta for $900,000 was an afterthought to most in baseball circles, but the Rays right-hander has shown to be worth every penny.

After a year in which he dominated right-handed hitters, Peralta has converted his skills into success against lefties, who are hitting .152 with 33 strikeouts and six walks against him. Peralta ranks second in baseball in both opposing left-handers batting average and on-base percentage (.198).

Dating to July 9, Peralta has faced 40 left-handed hitters, giving up just two hits and one walk.

He’d retired 22 straight before allowing Jacoby Ellsbury’s ninth-inning double Sunday, thanks largely to a dominant splitter. Since the All-Star break, Peralta has induced misses on nearly one-third of swings by lefties. That rates fifth-best among more than 100 AL right-handed pitchers.

What’s also working for Peralta is that when a lefty hits a ball on the ground, the Rays defense makes it an automatic out. Of the 24 lefties to hit a ground ball against Peralta, only one has a base hit.

He’s ground up opponents just as the Rays have, in pursuit of an unlikely postseason spot.

The Tampa Bay Rays will complete the rare feat of playing twice on Monday on ESPN as they host the New York Yankees on Monday Night Baseball. The Rays played into the wee hours of the morning before losing to the Red Sox 1-0 in 16 innings. It marked the team's fourth loss in their last five games.

Tampa Bay will look to rebound against A.J. Burnett who takes the mound for New York. Burnett was 4-0, 1.97 ERA against the Rays in his first season with the Yankees (2009). In the two years since he has struggled going 1-4 with a 6.60 ERA.

He has struggled to keep the ball in the park in his two starts against the Rays this season, allowing five home runs in 11⅓ innings pitched.

He allowed three long balls in his only start at Tropicana Field this season. In 11 career starts at the stadium prior to 2011 he had allowed only four home runs.

What has caused these struggles for Burnett?

The Rays have been able to take advantage of his fastball these last two seasons. In 2009 he struck out 13 batters while allowing only one home run in 71 at-bats ending in fastballs.

In the past two seasons he has struck out only four batters while allowing six home runs in 75 such at-bats.

Tampa Bay has been much more selective against Burnett's fastball, with its team chase percentage dropping from 24.3 percent in 2009 to 20.7 percent in the 2010-11 seasons. That has translated into more walks in at-bats ending in fastballs. The Rays on base percentage in those situations jumped from .259 to .404 during that span.

One matchup to watch for is Burnett going up against Rays slugger Evan Longoria, who has owned the matchup. Longoria has a .342 average in 38 at-bats against Burnett, although only three of his 13 hits have gone for extra-bases.

Much like Burnett's recent struggles against the Rays, Longoria has struggled against the Yankees the last two seasons after connecting on seven home runs in 17 games in 2009. He has just one home run in 23 games against the Yankees since. For more on how the Yankees have handled Longoria you can read this feature.

Longoria has not had the season many expected, with his .233 batting average 50 points below his career numbers. His biggest struggles this season have come against offspeed pitches, and his inability to recognize strikes.

Last season, his called strike percentage (called strikes/takes) was 26.9 pct - meaning that one out of every four offspeed pitches he took were strikes. This season, it is a whopping 38.4 pct - nearly two out of every five.

Today’s Trivia: Andre Ethier has hit in 28 consecutive games, halfway to Joe DiMaggio’s record 56-game streak. Who holds the all-time "professional" baseball hit streak record?

A closer look at Andre Ethier’s 28-game hit streak:
He’s hitting .393 with 10 multi-hit games since the streak started on April 2.

He hasn’t waited long to continue the streak, extending it in the first inning eight times and the fourth inning (usually his second at-bat) seven times.

Since Joe DiMaggio’s streak in 1941, Ethier is the 40th different player to make it halfway to 56 in a single season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, 23 made it to 30 straight games, and only six made it to 35.

Assuming he plays each game and there aren't any rainouts, Ethier would tie DiMaggio’s hit streak on June 1 against the Colorado Rockies. Game No. 57 would be on June 3 at the Cincinnati Reds.

Prior to his current streak, Ethier’s longest hitting streak was 16 games, from July 26-Aug. 12 of 2006. That’s his only other double-digit hit streak.

Looking Ahead to Tuesday night:
• Evan Longoria -- out since April 2 with a strained left oblique -- is expected to return to the Tampa Bay Rays. There are two ways to illustrate Longoria's value to the Rays.

In terms of basic statistics, Rays’ third basemen in Longoria’s absence hit less than .200 (.188) with 11 RBI and 32 strikeouts.

Using more advanced measures, Longoria led American League position players from 2008-10 in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), which measures a player's offensive and defensive value compared to a player who would be used to replace him. He ranked third in all of baseball in WAR from 2008-10, behind Albert Pujols and Chase Utley.

• After hitting three grand slams in 2010, the Florida Marlins already have a major-league leading three following Gaby Sanchez’s first career slam Monday at St. Louis.

• Raul Ibanez is hitless in his last 34 at-bats. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only three other position players since 2005 had droughts of 0-for-34 or worse within one season: Brad Ausmus was 0-for-40 in 2006; Josh Wilson 0-for-35 in 2007; and Akinori Iwamura was 0-for-34 in 2010.

• The San Diego Padres Mat Latos will take the mound tonight against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Dating to last season, Latos has lost nine consecutive starts, tied with Andy Benes (1993-94) Dennis Rasmussen (1991)for the longest losing streak in franchise history.

Trivia Answer: Joe Wilhoit holds the all-time "professional" baseball hit streak record. He hit in 69 consecutive games for the 1919 Wichita Jobbers, who played in the Western League (minor leagues).

Today’s Trivia: For the first time since 2002, Roy Oswalt will not be the Opening Day starter for the Houston Astros. Who was the Opening Day starter for the Astros in 2002?

Quick Hits: A quick look at more Opening Day longevity.

* With Vladimir Guerrero gone, the Texas Rangers will have a different Opening Day designated hitter for the 12th straight season. The last to go back-to-back was Rafael Palmeiro in 1999-2000.

* The most storied position in franchise history, the Boston Red Sox may have finally found their man in left. Carl Crawford will be the fourth different Opening Day starter in as many years. That hasn’t happened in Boston since 1973-76 when the team was transitioning from Carl Yastrzemski to Jim Rice.

* The Chicago White Sox appear set to start the same outfield trio that began the 2010 season. In the past 35 years, the White Sox have had the same Opening Day outfield in back-to-back seasons just once. That was in 2003-04 with Carlos Lee, Aaron Rowand and Magglio Ordonez.

* Here's a glimmer of hope for New York Mets fans: the Mets have won five straight games on Opening Day, the longest active Opening Day win streak. Of course, Friday starter Mike Pelfrey may not evoke memories of Johan Santana or Tom Glavine, the starting pitchers in those five Mets wins.

* Conversely, no team has a worse recent Opening Day history than the Oakland Athletics. The A's have lost six straight times on Opening Day, the longest current streak in baseball. Oakland's most recent win was 2004, which was the last Opening Day start that Tim Hudson made in an A's uniform.

* Apart from first base, the entire Minnesota Twins infield falls into this category. In its Opening Day lineup, Minnesota will have its fifth second baseman in five years and eighth shortstop in eight years. It also will be the ninth straight year that the starting third baseman is different from the year before.

* Evan Longoria will be the only player in the Tampa Bay Rays lineup who started each of the last two opening days.

* Yunel Escobar will be the Toronto Blue Jays sixth different Opening Day shortstop in six years. Russ Adams was the last to start back-to-back openers in 2005-06.

* Similarly, Josh Willingham will be the A’s 12th Opening Day leftfielder in 12 years. Ben Grieve was the last to go back-to-back.

* Carlos Beltran is expected to be the 13th different person to man right field on Opening Day for the Mets in the past 15 years. Only Ryan Church and Jeromy Burnitz managed two such starts in that span, which included the likes of Eric Valent and Butch Huskey.

* The Colorado Rockies have only had two Opening Day first basemen: Todd Helton and Andres Galarraga. Jose Lopez will be the 14th to start at second in the opener. The last to do so in back-to-back seasons was Mike Lansing (1998-2000).

* Kevin Correia will be the 15th different Opener Day starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 19 years. That’s the period since Doug Drabek left via free agency.

Trivia Answer: Wade Miller was the last Astros pitcher not named Roy Oswalt to start on Opening Day.

One of the keys to the Baltimore Orioles replicating their late-season success could be whether left-handed starter Brian Matusz is able to perform at the level he did at the end of 2010.

Matusz went 7-1 with a 2.18 ERA, with 52 strikeouts and 16 walks over 62 innings in 11 starts in August, September and October. (That also coincided with Buck Showalter’s hiring.) It’s not like he was significantly supported by the Orioles offense, either. In Matusz’s last eight starts, all of which the Orioles won, the team totaled 31 runs (fewer than four per game).

What did Matusz do to help himself and his team so significantly during this stretch?

The biggest difference in Matusz’s performance was his work against left-handed hitters. In those 11 starts, lefties were just 4-for-47 with 17 strikeouts. Basically, he turned into Randy Johnson against left-handed hitters (only with a fastball averaging 90 mph instead of 98). You can see from the chart just how much of an improvement he made.

Both our data from video review and Pitch F/X (a multi-camera pitch-tracking system) showed that left-handed hitters were more willing to chase Matusz’s pitches out of the strike zone, which boosted his strikeout rate. As September came, Matusz increased the frequency with which he worked away to left-handed hitters. Even when they were able to put the ball in play against him, they struggled.

The difference in lefties’ batting average on balls in play against Matusz was huge -- .400 in the first four months of the season, .133 the rest of the way. Hitters were putting the ball in play at the same rate. They just didn’t get hits.

Could this have been because of good luck? Maybe. But maybe not. Consider this:

Inside Edge, which does video review of every pitch thrown, charts a “well-hit average” based on frequency of line drives and deep fly balls.

Last season from April to July, left-handed hitters had 18 “well-hit” balls out of 68 at-bats that ended with contact. In other words, when a left-handed hitter made contact, he had about a 26 percent chance of hitting the ball hard against Matusz.

Those numbers took a significant dip in his last 11 starts, to a 10 percent well-hit rate. In those games, lefties hit just three balls hard in 30 times in which they made contact.

Now for those who may argue that some of Matusz’s success came against cupcake September lineups, that’s partly true, but not entirely the case.

Matusz allowed three runs in a 21-inning stretch prior to September in wins against the Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox. He also beat a full-strength Yankees lineup on September 6.

Full disclosure: He did shut out the Rays on a day in which they didn’t have Evan Longoria, beat an injury-depleted Boston team again in late September, and allowed one run in six innings against a Tigers team sans Miguel Cabrera and Magglio Ordonez.

But keep in mind that Matusz did shut down some pretty good hitters, particularly the left-handers. Carl Crawford, J.D. Drew, David Ortiz and Josh Hamilton were a combined 0-for-14 against him in his impressive stretch at season’s end.

Matusz made the necessary adjustments to his game to dominate lefties as the 2010 season reached its conclusion. Opposing hitters had six months to ponder new approaches against him. Who will prevail? It’s something to watch as the season unfolds.

Below is a look at some notable winners from the 2010 Rawlings American League Gold Glove voting. While analysis of fielding remains behind similar evaluations of pitching and hitting, there can be no disputing that some of the voting results and advanced fielding metrics are at odds.

Perhaps the most interesting result was that, whether you look at Baseball Info Solutions plus-minus or Fangraphs.com’s Ultimate Zone Rating, not a single player who ranked first in his respective position finished first in the Gold Glove voting. That’s not to say that several high-quality performers weren’t recognized, but that the elite defenders at each position by advanced metrics were shut out across the board.

SS Derek Jeter

The yearly debate continues. The New York Yankees Derek Jeter received his fifth career Gold Glove award this season, and, according to Baseball Info Solutions, it’s nearly indefensible. According BIS, Jeter’s plus-minus was -13 in 2010, the second worst among all shortstops. In the same vein, Jeter had 33 defensive misplays, second most among AL shortstops to the Los Angeles Angels Erick Aybar. By another metric, UZR/150 (Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 defensive games), Jeter also failed to hold up, coming in as the third-worst at the position, ahead of only Kansas City Royals Yuniesky Betancourt and the Tampa Bay Rays Jason Bartlett.

What’s equally interesting is that Jeter ranked first among shortstops in fielding percentage at .989 (among those with at least 500 innings), thanks to only six errors. This suggests that the voters are looking at only one aspect of fielding (errors), while ignoring equally important aspects such as range. As the advanced metrics suggest, it’s not Jeter’s ability to field balls he gets to that’s the issue, but rather his ability to get to balls in general.

OF Carl Crawford and 3B Evan Longoria

The two winners from the Tampa Bay Rays represent arguably the strongest choices in the AL. Crawford has long been one of the best left fielders in the game and was rewarded in 2010. He ranked second among all AL left fielders in plus-minus at +12, while also ranking second among outfielders in UZR/150 (Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 defensive games). Longoria also holds up well under these metrics, ranking third among AL third basemen in plus-minus at +13, first in Good Fielding Plays with 60 and, in terms of spectacular plays, ranked first among third basemen in Web Gems points this season.

OF Franklin Gutierrez

Gutierrez’s selection is noteworthy because it arguably comes a year too late. Gutierrez was the most dynamic defender in baseball last season according to UZR/150, leading all of baseball with a +28.9 mark. In 2010, however, that fell back to +6.8, still quite good but just seventh overall among outfielders. Gutierrez and Seattle Mariners teammate Ichiro Suzuki (also a winner) tied for the MLB lead with three home run-saving catches, while Gutierrez also had the most Web Gem points among AL outfielders. So while Gutierrez was not the best outfielder this season, or even one of the top three, the voters probably took a year to catch up to his fielding excellence.

A capsule stat-based preview of the Texas Rangers-Tampa Bay Rays ALDS matchup.

Top things to know

The Rays led the American League in both walks and stolen bases, which partly accounts for how a team could finish near the bottom of the AL in batting average, yet near the top of baseball in runs scored (third-best in the majors).

The Rays also rank atop the majors by a huge margin in a Bill James-devised metric Baserunning Gain (ability to take an extra base on hits, outs and other plays). The Rangers rank second (+66 bases, 52 behind the Rays).

Josh Hamilton had the greatest offensive season by a member of the Texas Rangers. He had the highest batting average (.359) of any player in Rangers team history (for a team that led the AL in the stat), as well as the best OPS+ (OPS compared to league average, adjusted for ballpark), a 174.

Deciding factor

The Rays had the second-best record in baseball when opponents started a left-handed pitcher, and they'll face left-handers in each of the first two games. They beat Cliff Lee three times during the regular season in 2010. Evan Longoria, currently battling an injury, led the way with a .956 OPS against lefties, followed by B.J. Upton's .919.

The Rangers bullpen won 32 games this season, most of any American League team. Their four most frequently used relievers who are available for the ALDS (Neftali Feliz, Darren O'Day, Darren Oliver and Alexi Ogando) combined for a 2.22 ERA, and had a strikeout-to-walk rate of 3.6 to 1.

Most interesting matchups

Vladimir Guerrero has good numbers against almost every Rays reliever of note, albeit in a limited number of meetings. He's 5-for-9 against Rafael Soriano, 3-for-5 against Dan Wheeler, 3-for-6 against Grant Balfour, and 4-for-15 (with four walks and a .450 on-base percentage) against Joaquin Benoit. If Tampa Bay puts James Shields in the bullpen, Guerrero is good against him too (.394 BA, 1.030 OPS).

With the first two games taking place in the afternoon, it's worth noting that the Rays .587 win percentage in day games ranked sixth-best in baseball. The Rangers were 24th out of 30 (19-25, .432 win pct). The biggest impact seemed to be with Hamilton, who hit .384 with an 1.121 OPS at night, compared to .286/.819 during the day.

Statistical secrets

Rays second baseman Sean Rodriguez has all sorts of value to his team. His 18 defensive runs saved (a metric that measures ability to turn batted balls into outs, and turn double plays) rank best in baseball among second basemen.

Rodriguez also had an unusual knack for getting hits in big spots. He hit .400 (18-for-45) in "close and late" situations (defined by Baseball-Reference.com as plate appearances in the seventh inning or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck).

The Rangers combination of Elvis Andrus and Julio Borbon bunt for hits better than almost anyone. Fangraphs.com charted Borbon as tied with Erick Aybar for the major league lead with 18 bunts hits. Andrus ranked third with 13. Combining bunt hits and infield hits, the Rangers rated tops in the majors, by Fangraphs calculations, with 187.

SIG's Picks

Albert Larcada of ESPN Stats & Info did statistical analysis of the last 10 postseasons, looking for the factors that most separate winning and losing teams. He found three -- power hitting, front-end starting pitching, and the ability to turn batted balls into outs. Using his findings, he was able to make a projection.

For the Rangers-Rays matchup, Larcada's system picks the Rays in four games. He gives the Rays a 56.6 percent chance to win the series.

Someday, it might be one year or 12 years from now, St. Louis Cardinals fans will look back at this season and try to pinpoint where it all went wrong.

They had the rare trifecta of an MVP contender (Albert Pujols), a Cy Young contender (Adam Wainwright) and a Rookie of the Year contender (Jaime Garcia). The payroll was competitive, there was young and cheap talent blossoming and the headlining offseason move (Matt Holliday) had one of the best seasons of his career.

But David Freese -- or more appropriately, David Freese’s injury -- is one big reason why the Cardinals won't be in the postseason.

Freese didn’t play after June 27 because of various foot injuries (mostly ankle-related), and was hobbled for a few weeks before then. All told, Freese will miss 92 games.

The Cardinals were 10 games above .500 in games Freese started (37-27) and four games under .500 when he didn’t (entering Thursday, as are all the below numbers).

How much can losing a rookie third baseman really hurt? Take a look at the ramifications:

Freese was having a high-end offensive season at his position.

His OPS of .765 wasn't elite (think Evan Longoria) but solid (think Casey McGehee). And before the injury started hobbling him, Freese’s OPS was .832. That’s between a Chipper Jones and Alex Rodriguez level of production.

Freese’s absence forced Yadier Molina to bat one spot higher.

The No. 3 and No. 4 spots in the order, of course, go to Pujols and Holliday. The No. 5 spot went mostly to Colby Rasmus, though Freese batted there as well. But it’s the No. 6 spot that’s crucial. That’s where Yadier Molina took the majority of his plate appearances -- especially after Freese went out. With Freese in the lineup, Molina’s bat was free to be moved lower in the lineup. While Molina had a typical year by his standards at the plate, downgrading from Freese to Molina is a drop in OPS from .765 to .671. When you have Pujols, Holliday and Rasmus hitting in front of you, that difference can mean a lot of runners left on base.

The other third basemen fielded below Freese’s level.

From Fangraphs, Freese provided a 0.1 UZR at third base. Lopez was a -0.4 and Pedro Feliz was a -0.2. Freese was 0.2 runs above replacement, Lopez was -6.6 and Feliz -0.2.

Freese’s absence forced lesser offensive players into more plate appearances.

Lopez covering for Freese meant he couldn’t take the spot of Brendan Ryan at shortstop. Ryan, while a fine defender, was no match for Lopez’s production at the plate, even in a down year for Lopez. Ryan was one of the worst batters in MLB (.567 OPS), while Feliz, a midseason acquisition who received plenty of playing time, was even worse (.492 OPS with the Cardinals). Neither of those players figured to see nearly as much playing time with a healthy Freese in the lineup.

Freese’s injury raises questions about the future at the position for the Cardinals.

Freese hasn’t been injured just once. He now has an injury history that brings his durability into question. And, as a young and cost-controlled player this season, Freese was one of the team’s most valuable assets. After the injury, he’s now one year older and one year closer to not being cost-controlled. The Cardinals will head into next spring with Freese as the incumbent starter, while trying to develop third base replacements behind him. But if another injury strikes and the replacements aren’t ready, they could find themselves in the same predicament.