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The major league leader in ERA takes the hill Monday when Ryan Dempster and the Chicago Cubs visit the St. Louis Cardinals (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET).

Dempster has allowed just four earned runs in five starts -- a 1.02 ERA -- but is 0-1. The Cubs have lost all of Dempster's starts, scoring a total of eight runs in the five games.

According to The Elias Sports Bureau, no pitcher in major league history has had an ERA as low as Dempster through five starts without a win.

He’s using his slider more often this season while decreasing the use of his fastball and splitter. That slider has been one of the best in baseball. Hitters are just 5-for-56 against Dempster’s slider this season, a paltry .094 batting average. (Last year through five starts, he allowed 11 hits against the slide piece.) Only one pitcher in baseball -- Matt Cain -- has a lower batting average against his slider (min. 50 PA ending with a slider).

Dempster’s opponent, Jake Westbrook, is off to a fine start of his own. He’s 4-2 with a 1.76 ERA and has pitched into the seventh inning in all six of his starts. Only Felix Hernandez and Roy Halladay have pitched into the seventh inning more often this season.

Westbrook has improved his slider by keeping it out of the middle of the strike zone. Last season, more than 21 percent of his sliders were in the middle-third of the strike zone and just 52 percent were away. This season, fewer than 13 percent of his sliders are in the middle and more than 62 percent are away from hitters. As the chart to the right shows, hitters are swinging at the pitch less but are missing it nearly twice as often.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH
• Skip Schumaker is hitting .417 (20-for-48) against Dempster, the second-highest batting average by any hitter with 40 plate appearances against him.

• Rafael Furcal is hitting .154 (6-for-39) against Dempster, the lowest batting average by any player with 40 plate appearances against him.

• Alfonso Soriano is hitting .120 (3-for-25) against Westbrook, the third-lowest batting average by any player with 25 plate appearances against him.

• David DeJesus is 7-for-26 against Westbrook, just a .269 batting average, but he’s the only Cub who’s homered off the Cardinals righty. Plus, only two players have faced Westbrook more often without a strikeout.

RIVALRY REVISITED
These two teams first met in 1892, when the Chicago Colts beat the St. Louis Browns 14-10 on Opening Day. The Cubs lead the all-time series 1,169-1,107. Since the start of the 2002 season, the series is tied 86-86.

After one month of baseball, the American League East sits atop ESPN Stats & Info’s MLB Divisional Power Rankings by a wide margin.

Dating to last season, the AL East has never held a larger lead than its current 25.6-point lead over the National League East. Strong starts by the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays have given the AL East five of the top 12 teams in baseball, according to ESPN.com’s most recent power rankings.

Additionally, the AL East has been close to unstoppable outside of the division, posting a 44-25 (.637 win percentage) record in games against non-divisional opponents. No other division has a win percentage above .515 in non-divisional games.

What may be most surprising about the AL East is that unheralded names are making an impact for their teams. Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion and Kelly Johnson rank fourth and 20th, respectively, in ESPN’s Player Rating system, combining for 15 of Toronto’s 32 home runs through May 2.

The AL West has its share of players off to fast starts with Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, Felix Hernandez, Yu Darvish and Jered Weaver all ranking in the top 10 of ESPN’s batter and pitcher ratings. Five players from the AL West is the most from one division.

The Los Angeles Angels play 17 more games in May against teams that currently do not have a winning record. If the Angels can turn things around and live up to preseason expectations, the AL West has a chance to close the gap on the AL East.

The AL Central currently sits at the bottom of the divisional rankings with only one team above .500. Against non-divisional opponents, the AL Central is 29-48 (.377 win percent), by far the worst win percentage of any division.

The Minnesota Twins have been the worst team in baseball outside their division, winning five of 17 games against non-divisional opponents.

The weekend of May 18 presents several opportunities to shake up the rankings.

Divisional leaders clash in the National League, with the St. Louis Cardinals visiting the Los Angeles Dodgers. Interleague highlights include the Philadelphia Phillies hosting the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds visiting the New York Yankees.

For a brief recap of how we rank the divisions, click here.

Wondering why those who are in the top 10 were picked in those spots? Here are some numbers to know about each of the top 10 players in the ESPN 500.

Albert Pujols –- Pujols is in very elite company. He’s one of six players to hit 400 career home runs and bat at least .325. The other five: Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig and Stan Musial. Pujols’ 445 home runs through his first 11 seasons are the most all-time through a player’s initial 11 years in the majors.

Roy Halladay -- Halladay has 170 wins and a 2.97 ERA, averaging almost 210 innings per year over the last 10 seasons. The last pitcher to average 17 wins and 200 innings a season, over a 10-season span, and do so with a sub-3.00 ERA was Greg Maddux from 1995 to 2004.

Miguel Cabrera -- Cabrera has led the American League in at least two significant offensive categories in three of the last four seasons. Cabrera’s .977 OPS over the last six seasons trails only Albert Pujols in that span.

Justin Verlander -– Verlander won both the AL MVP and Cy Young awards in 2011, the first pitcher to win both since Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in 1992, and the first starter to do so since Roger Clemens in 1986. Over the last three seasons, Verlander leads the majors in wins (61) and strikeouts (738) and is third in opponents BA (.221).

Felix Hernandez -- Hernandez and Roy Halladay are the only two pitchers to average 240 innings per season over the last three seasons, and his ERA, when adjusted for ballpark, ranks second to Halladay in that span as well.

Ryan Braun –- Braun has led all major league outfielders in batting average (.318), RBI (328), runs (323) and doubles (122) over the last three seasons. The 2007 NL Rookie the Year and 2011 NL MVP has hit 161 HR in his first five seasons, the 10th-most by a player in his first five seasons.

Clayton Kershaw –- Kershaw is second to Roy Halladay among National League starters in both wins and ERA, but leads in strikeouts and opponent batting average over the last two seasons.

Troy Tulowitzki -- Over the last three seasons, Tulowitzki has 89 home runs, 34 more than any other player whose primary position is shortstop. His OPS+ of 134 also tops all shortstops in that span. Tulowitzki also ranks third among shortstops over the last three seasons in Defensive Runs Saved.

Tim Lincecum –- Since making his debut in May of 2007, Lincecum has struck out at least 10 batters in a game 31 times, the most in the majors over that span. His 977 strikeouts over the last four years is tops among all pitchers.

Robinson Cano -- Cano has led major-league second baseman in both slugging percentage and OPS in each of the last two seasons. This season, he will likely break the Yankees record for career home runs as a second baseman, a mark currently held by Tony Lazzeri (147- eight more than Cano) that has stood for more than half a century.

The Major League Baseball regular-season opens in Japan for the fourth time, with the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics squaring off at 6:10 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

Felix Hernandez will make his fourth straight Opening day start for the Mariners. It’s the third straight time that his opening start has been against the Athletics. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only one other active pitcher has thrown three consecutive season openers for one team against the same opponent. While with the Indians, CC Sabathia started on Opening Day from 2006 to 2008, with all three games coming against the White Sox.

His opposite number will be Brandon McCarthy, who will be the seventh different Opening Day starting pitcher for Oakland in the last seven years. Elias points out that the Athletics are the only team in the majors to use six different pitchers to open the last six seasons. That’s nothing new for Oakland, which tabbed different starting pitchers for 10 consecutive Opening Day games from 1993 to 2002.

Hernandez is the more well-known of the two Opening Day starters, but McCarthy garnered a lot of attention this offseason for his commitment to analytics and was the cover story in a recent issue of ESPN The Magazine.

In 170⅔ IP last season, McCarthy allowed only five home runs and had a nearly 5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He did so by transforming himself into a ground-ball pitcher.

The pitch that made McCarthy into a successful major league pitcher in 2011 was the cutter. After missing 2010 due to injury, McCarthy made a very strong impression in his return to the majors, pitching with much better control. The cutter played a big part in that.

Last season, 69 percent of McCarthy’s cutters were thrown for strikes. Opposing hitters recorded just 16 hits in 100 at bats that ended with a cutter. He was even more dominant with two strikes, allowing just one hit in 52 at bats ending with two-strike cutters.

Quick hits
The two franchises have headed in opposite directions on Opening Day recently. The Athletics have lost seven straight season openers, including one against the Red Sox in Japan in 2008. The Mariners have won five straight Opening Day games since losing to the Angels in 2006.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, only one American League team has lost eight straight Opening Day games. The Washington Senators dropped eight straight from 1963 through 1970.

Also from Elias, the Mariners' five-year Opening Day win streak is tied for the longest in franchise history. They previously won five straight openers from 1982 to 1986.

Yoenis Cespedes is expected to make his major-league debut for Oakland. He signed a four-year, $36-million contract with the Athletics this offseason after hitting 33 home runs for Granma in the Cuban National Series during the 2010-11 season. That’s tied for the most home runs in a single season in Cuba.

Ichiro Suzuki is 13-for-42 on Opening Day, and all 13 hits have been singles.

Justin Havens contributed to this post.

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (who pitches Wednesday) leads the National League in strikeouts (231), is tied for first with Johnny Cueto of the Cincinnati Reds in ERA (2.36) and trails Ian Kennedy of the Arizona Diamondbacks by one for the most wins (Kershaw has 18).

Eight pitchers have won the pitching triple crown (wins, ERA, and strikeouts) a combined 11 times since the Cy Young Award was first given out in 1956. All 11 of those seasons resulted in a first-place finish in Cy Young voting.

If Kershaw were to win, it wouldn’t be shocking for the award to go to a player from a losing team (the Dodgers are currently three games under .500). It’s happened 15 times including each of the last three seasons. The Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez (2010) and Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals (2009) won the AL Cy Young, and the San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum took home the NL award in 2008.

However, if teammate Matt Kemp were to win MVP he would become just the sixth winner from a losing team since the Baseball Writers started giving the award in 1931.

If Kemp and Kershaw were to pull off the double they would be the 19th set of teammates to do so but could be the first from a losing team.

Seventeen of the previous 18 teams that had both a Cy Young Award winner and a league MVP went to the playoffs with the exception being the 1962 Dodgers, who won 102 games but lost a best-of-three playoff to the Giants for the pennant. The worst team in terms of win percentage was the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies, who were 91-71 (.562).

If 2011 numbers are any indication, the Boston Red Sox have the right pitcher on the mound to even the series with the New York Yankees on Wednesday (ESPN, 7 p.m. ET).

In his four starts against the Yankees this season, Josh Beckett is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA. In the past 35 years, only three pitchers have posted an ERA of 1.00 or lower against the Yankees with at least 25 innings: Felix Hernandez (0.35 in 2010), Chuck Finley (0.57 in 1996) and Mike Caldwell (0.99 in 1978).

The key to Beckett’s success? The heart of the Yankees' order -- the 3-4-5-6 hitters -- are a combined 2-for-32 (.063) with 15 strikeouts. The only two hits belong to Robinson Cano (2-for-9).

That level of dominance was hard to envision after Beckett’s Bronx struggles in 2010, when he posted a 10.04 ERA against the Yankees. That was the fifth-highest ERA against the Yankees in the past 50 seasons (minimum four starts).

Last season, left-handed batters on the Yankees hit .354 with eight home runs against Beckett. This season, he has been able to neutralize them: a .156 batting average and one home run.

Beckett will be going for his fourth win against New York this season, a rare feat among Red Sox pitchers. Al Nipper went 4-0 with a 3.00 ERA against the Yankees in 1987, a season in which he won only seven other games. No Red Sox pitcher has won four against New York since, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

According to Elias, only three pitchers since 1995 have four wins against the Yankees in a season: Brett Cecil (4–0 in 2010), Roy Halladay (5–1 in 2008) and Chuck Finley (4–0 in 1996).

On the last day of August, Beckett looks for a positive end to a relatively shaky month. In five starts, he’s allowed seven home runs. Compare that to just nine in his first 20 starts. For his career, August is the only month in which Beckett has an ERA (4.53) over 4.00 or a record below .500 (18-20).

Beckett also looks to continue an impressive streak at home. In each of his first 11 starts at Fenway, he’s held the opponent to three runs or fewer. In the live ball era (since 1920), the Red Sox have had only two longer such streaks to start a season: Roger Clemens (15 in 1990) and Pedro Martinez (13 in 2000).

In the midst of a franchise-record 17-game losing streak, the Seattle Mariners turned to their ace, Felix Hernandez.

Turns out, "King Felix" and a little bit of offense were all the Mariners would need Wednesday.

One day after nearly being no-hit, the Mariners collected a season-high 17 hits against Phil Hughes and the New York Yankees, to win for the first time since July 5.

Hernandez allowed five hits and one earned run over seven innings to improve to 5-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his last six starts against the Yankees.

Hernandez had success with his fastball. Seventy-five of his 112 pitches (67.0 percent) were fastballs, his second-highest percentage of the season.

All five of his strikeouts were with his fastball, as Hernandez went to the pitch even more with two strikes.

Twenty of Hernandez's 27 two-strike pitches (74.1 percent) were fastballs, his second-highest percentage in the last three seasons.

When Hernandez went to his offspeed pitches, he got groundballs. The Yankees put 10 of Hernandez's offspeed pitches in play, eight of which were groundballs.

Ichiro Suzuki went 4 for 5, his second four-hit game of the season and 45th of his career, breaking a tie with Ivan Rodriguez for the most such games among active players.

Hughes allowed two runs in 6.0 IP (allowed 7 ER last start), but took the loss.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other time the Yankees lost to a team on a losing streak of 17 games or more was September 8, 1926, when they lost 5-2 to the Red Sox, who were on a 17-game losing streak.

ELSEWHERE AROUND THE DIAMOND:

• David Ortiz hit a grand slam to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 12-5 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Ortiz's ninth grand slam in a Red Sox uniform is tied for second-most in team history (Ted Williams, 19). The Red Sox recorded 10 hits for the 11th straight home game, the most since a 20-game streak in 1950.

Dustin Pedroia extended his hit streak to 24 games.

• Mike Pelfrey threw his second complete game of the season (had two in his first five MLB seasons), to lead the New York Mets to a 8-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Pelfrey allowed two runs on seven hits and did not walk a batter, to earn his sixth win of the season.

It's the sixth time the Mets have gotten a complete game performance without allowing a walk since the beginning of the 2008 season (third by Pelfrey).

Bronson Arroyo falls to 0-3 in his last five starts for the Reds, allowing one home run. Arroyo has allowed 30 home runs on the year to lead MLB.

• Zack Greinke throws 6.2 scoreless innings, the first start this season in which he did not allow a run, as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0. It's Greinke's first win since June 21. Milwaukee posts its ninth shutout of the season, its most in a single season since 2008 when it had 10.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Seattle Mariners bring their 12-game losing streak to Fenway Park tonight for a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox. The 12-game losing streak is tied for the second-longest in team history, two games shy of the record set by the 1992 team.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last team to end a losing streak of 12-or-more games with a win against the Red Sox was the 1982 Rangers, who dropped 12 straight games before beating Boston, 1-0, in Arlington.

However, it’s been more than 50 years since a team carrying a losing streak of at least 12 games defeated the Red Sox in Fenway Park. That last happened on September 11, 1959, when the Kansas City Athletics, losers in their previous 13 games, won in Boston, 8-6.

Despite the home-field advantage of the Red Sox, the Mariners likely have the edge in the pitching matchup between Felix Hernandez and John Lackey.

Hernandez, who was on the mound the last time the Mariners won a game on July 5, has pitched brilliantly at Fenway during his career. He's posted a 3-0 record and 1.49 ERA in five career starts there. That’s the lowest ERA as a visitor at Fenway Park for any active pitcher who has thrown at least 30 innings there.

Lackey has really struggled at home this season. He’s posted a 7.68 ERA and opponents have a .891 OPS against him in eight starts at Fenway. The highest home ERA by any Red Sox pitcher for a full season (min. 75 IP) is 6.48 by Jack Lamabe in the 1964 season.

Ichiro Suzuki may be having a down season, on pace for fewer than 200 hits for the first time in his career, but he’s nearing a significant milestone.

Combining his MLB and Japanese League totals, he needs one hit to tie Stan Musial’s career hit total at 3,630 hits. Ichiro currently sits at 3,629 combined hits (2,351 in MLB; 1,278 in Japan) which is the fifth-most combined between MLB and Japanese League all-time.

What Else To Watch For Tonight
•  The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates kick off their three-game series with the NL Central title up for grabs. Albert Pujols is 19-for-33 (.576) lifetime against Pirates probable Paul Maholm. That’s the second-highest batting average in any batter-pitcher matchup with at least 30 at-bats among active players, according to Elias.

•  The Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds face off in Cincinnati as Jair Jurrjens brings his NL-best 2.26 ERA to the mound looking for his NL-leading 13th win. Jurrjens is coming off his worst start this season, having allowed six runs against the Nationals on July 17.

•  The Detroit Tigers face the Minnesota Twins in the second game of a four-game set in Minnesota. Tigers have 10 straight wins over Twins, the longest win streak by Detroit against Minnesota in team history.

With the second half about to start, we thought we’d take a look at two potential storylines, using our new heat map technology. One involves the rise of a pitcher who is getting hitters to miss more. The other looks at a pitcher’s ability to sustain performance when hitters are missing less often.

CAN'T TOUCH THIS
White Sox closer Sergio Santos' slider is one of the most devastating pitches in baseball. While the pitch was above-average in 2010, it has been nearly unhittable this year.

Opposing hitters are just 4-for-64 against him in at-bats ending with a slider. Righties have yet to touch him this season, with zero hits in 41 at-bats ending in a slider.

Of the 104 two-strike sliders Santos has thrown to all batters, 49 have resulted in strikeouts, giving him a putaway rate of 47.1 percent, which is by far the best mark in the league.

One key to his success with the slider this season has been his ability to effectively locate the pitch out of the strike zone. Opposing hitters have only one hit in 37 at-bats ending in a slider out of the zone. Of the 36 outs he’s recorded on a chased slider, 33 of them have been strikeouts, as batters have missed on nearly 90 percent of their swings at out-of-zone sliders.



KING FELIX CHANGES UP HIS APPROACH
How has Felix Hernandez followed up his Cy Young season of 2010? One noticeable thing is that Hernandez is throwing his signature changeup more this season. In the first half of 2011, 19 percent (about one of every five) of Hernandez’s pitches have been changeups, compared to 12 percent (about one of every eight) of his pitches in 2010.

Is there any difference in the effectiveness of his changeup? When looking at him against left-handed hitters, those who would primarily face that pitch, we see that Hernandez has spread the location of his changeup out more (as you can see in the heat maps below). Even in switching approaches, Hernandez has been equally as effective as last season. While he is throwing the changeup more, his location is inducing hitters to hit the ball more often.

Hernandez’s 2011 miss percentage when throwing his changeup to left-handers is 23 percent, a drop from 43 percent in 2010. But the increased contact hasn’t done a lot of damage. That’s because his opponents’ batting average when they put the ball in play (forcing the defense to make a play) has dropped from .226 (in 2010) to .182 (in 2011).

The thing to watch in the second half will be whether opponents can get hits instead of in-play outs as they continue to put the ball in play more frequently.



-- Courtenay Harris, Jacob Nitzberg, Katie Sharp, Mark Simon contributed

The New York Mets and San Francisco Giants square off in this week's Sunday Night Baseball (ESPN, 8 ET) matchup.

Mike Pelfrey gets the ball for the Mets and enters the game with some historic numbers. Pelfrey has a 3.53 career ERA at home and a 5.44 career ERA on the road. According to Elias, Pelfrey has by far the largest discrepancy between his home and road ERA (in which the road is higher) among active pitchers (minimum 750 IP).

Next on that list would be Wandy Rodriguez (3.40 home, 4.89 road). This season, Pelfrey is 3-0 with a 2.96 ERA at home and 2-7 with a 6.05 ERA on the road. His 5.44 career ERA on the road is the fourth highest among active pitchers (min. 250 IP).

To read more about Pelfrey's road struggles, click here.

The Giants counter with Matt Cain, who also brings a unique distinction with him to the mound. According to Elias, Cain has the lowest career run support of any active pitcher with 150-plus starts (through Friday).

If there's one thing the Giants are not afraid of this season, it's close games. The Giants are 25-12 in one-run games this season, which puts them on pace for 45 one-run wins. The 1978 Giants hold the MLB record for most wins by one run with 42.

Nineteen of those 25 wins in one-run games have been at home. They are on pace for 37 one-run wins at home.

The franchise record (since 1901) for one-run wins at home is 24 in 1978 (24-10). The modern MLB record (since 1901) for one-run wins at home is 28. Of the three teams to do that, two won the World Series: the 1940 Reds and the 1943 Yankees. The third, the 1974 Orioles, lost in the American League Championship Series.

If there's one thing the Giants are afraid of this season, it's scoring runs at home. The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that San Francisco is the only team in the majors that has yet to score more than six runs in a home game this season. Every other team has had at least three such games, with Texas leading the way -- scoring six or more runs in 21 home games this season.

The Giants’ current single-season streak of 43 consecutive home games scoring six or fewer runs is the longest since the 1942 Phillies had a 55-game streak from May 23 to September 27. And it’s the longest to start a season since the Pirates did it in their first 42 games of the 1917 season.

When thinking about strikeouts, what usually comes to mind is a pitcher blowing away a hitter with high-90s heat. However, in a season in which strikeouts have been rising, pitchers have thrown fewer fastballs with two strikes in 2011 than they had through this point in 2010.

As a result, pitchers are recording a higher percentage of strikeouts using offspeed pitches.

Felix Hernandez, second in the American League with 134 strikeouts, has seen his changeup become his most effective two-strike pitch. In fact, with two strikes in the count, out of the 97 plate appearances that ended in a changeup being thrown, Hernandez recorded 58 strikeouts, the highest strikeout percentage using the changeup for any starter in the majors.

When using his fastball in those same situations, of the 108 plate appearances, only 38 resulted in strikeouts, a drop-off of more than 20 percent.

Not far behind Hernandez is James Shields, whose changeup has led to a great first half for the Rays ace. He has recorded 73 strikeouts with the changeup, the most by any pitcher so far this season. Batters are hitting only .103 off Shields' changeup with two strikes in the count, and nearly 56 percent of those plate appearances that have ended in a changeup resulted in strikeouts.

Justin Verlander, tied for the major league lead, is armed with a deadly fastball, but has also used his changeup effectively to close hitters out.

Overall, batters have been hitting .212 off his changeup. But when he throws it in a two-strike count, that number drops to a .058 average. Verlander ranks fifth in strikeout percentage when throwing the changeup with two strikes.

While the changeup has been the key strikeout pitch for some notable pitchers, it's actually the slider that has experienced the largest bump -- nearly 20 percent of Ks in 2011 versus 19 percent in 2010 -- and is a pitch many premier strikeout pitchers have relied upon this season.

No pitcher has used the slider more effectively than Clayton Kershaw, who is currently tied with Verlander for the league lead in strikeouts. Kershaw leads all pitchers with 75 strikeouts via the slider.

CC Sabathia is tied for third with 64 strikeouts using the slider. Nine of his 11 strikeouts in Tuesday's victory over the Cleveland Indians came on that pitch.

Successful relievers have also leaned on the slider in 2011, with no one being more effective than Jonny Venters. In two-strike counts, out of 41 plate appearances against Venters that ended with a slider, 37 resulted in strikeouts. In those same plate appearances, he has allowed only one hit.

Amazingly, his putaway rate, a metric diving number of strikeouts by number of pitches thrown, is 43.5 percent when he throws a slider with two strikes in the count. That's extremely efficient considering the major-league average for putaway rate on all two-strike pitches is only 17.5 percent.

-- Jason Starrett contributed to this report

Tim Lincecum pitched seven scoreless innings while striking out 12 batters as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Minnesota Twins. This marked the fourth time this season that Lincecum struck out at least 10 batters while allowing one earned run or fewer, the most such games in the majors.

According to Elias, it was the fifth time in Lincecum's five-year major-league career that he recorded 12 or more strikeouts in a game in which he did not allow a run. The only other big-league pitchers with more than one such game over the last five seasons are Felix Hernandez, Jake Peavy and Justin Verlander, with two each.

Lincecum was nearly unhittable on Thursday, as the Twins missed on 24 swings, matching the second-most misses against any pitcher in a start this season.

All 12 strikeouts against Lincecum were swinging, tied for the most swinging strikeouts by a pitcher in a start this season. Out of Lincecum's 12 strikeouts, 10 were on pitches the Twins chased out of the strike zone.

When the Twins did make contact, they hit the ball on the ground. Nine of the 11 balls in play against Lincecum were on the ground, and the Twins hit just two balls out of the infield all game (both by Michael Cuddyer).

Lincecum had success keeping the ball down in the zone. Lincecum's 60 pitches down in the zone or below it are his most this month, and he got eight of his strikeouts on those pitches.

His changeup was devastating. He threw 20 of 22 changeups for strikes. Lincecum's 90.9 strike percentage with his changeup is his highest in a start in the last three seasons. The Twins swung at 18 of Lincecum's changeups, missing on 10. All were on pitches down in the zone or below, even though Lincecum threw just 14 low changeups.

Nationals Managerial Change

Despite having won 10 of his previous 11 games and leading the Washington Nationals back over the .500 mark, Jim Riggleman resigned as manager following Thursday's victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Elias tells us this is only the second time in modern major-league history (since 1900) that a team has had a mid-season managerial switch with the club having posted a .900 or higher winning percentage over its last ten or more games. The previous instance was by the 2007 Mariners, when Mike Hargrove stepped down on July 1 with Seattle on an eight-game winning streak and having won 10 of its last 11 games.

Hargrove was replaced by his bench coach, who, believe it or not, was John McLaren, the man who will be taking Riggleman's place in Washington (for the interim). McLaren led the Mariners, 45-33 at the time, to a 43-41 record over the remainder of the 2007 season.

A year removed from pitching for Seattle’s Double-A affiliate, 22-year-old rookie Michael Pineda already might be one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Through nine starts, Pineda is 6-2 with a 2.16 ERA, which is the fifth lowest in the American League. With 61 strikeouts and just 14 walks over 58 1/3 innings, he’s shown advanced command, and not just for a rookie. His strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.4:1) ranks fourth in the American League.

When Pineda takes on the New York Yankees on Friday, hitters should expect to see strikes early and often. He leads all qualified starters in both first-pitch strike percentage (70.9) and overall strike percentage (70.3).

But, he’s not just grooving his mid-90s fastball over the middle of the plate to get strike one.

The heat map above shows Pineda’s pitch frequency on the first pitch of plate appearances to both lefties and righties. Focusing on the red areas (the spots he hits most often), Pineda is pounding the outside part of the plate to get ahead.

His ability to get strike one has helped him avoid hitters' counts. He’s faced 229 batters this season and gone to 2-0 counts just 15 times, a rate of about once to every 15 hitters -- the same rate as Cliff Lee.

Pineda is dominating hitters despite relying almost exclusively on two pitches, his fastball (which averages 95.4 mph, the fastest among starters) and a mid-80s slider, which has become a more consistent offering lately.

His slider has become his put-away pitch. Over his first seven starts, hitters missed on 26.7 percent of their swings against his slider with two strikes. That number has doubled over his past two starts.

James Shields and Felix Hernandez feature two of the best changeups in baseball, and both were on display Sunday in dominating performances. Shields struck out a career-best 13 -- including eight on his changeup -- in a three-hit shutout.

Just 28 minutes after Shields walked off the mound, Hernandez threw his first pitch in a dominating eight-inning, 13-strikeout performance (nine on his changeup). Both pitchers relied on excellent command with their changeup to put hitters away. Yet they did it with very different stuff and located the pitch primarily in different spots.

Hernandez features a power change that sits at 90 MPH, the fastest among all MLB starters. It has an average separation of just four MPH from his fastball but with significant sinking action.

Shields’ change, like most pitchers', sits in the low-to-mid-80s, with a standard difference of about 7 MPH from his fastball. His change features more tailing action toward righties and away from lefties.

On Sunday, Shields threw a whopping 24 of his 25 two-strike changeups down in the zone, the most he’s thrown there in a start in the last three seasons. The Marlins were 0-for-11 in at-bats ending with a Shields changeup, all of which came with two strikes.

His eight strikeouts on his change were all swinging. At the time, Shields’ eight strikeouts on his change tied the most by any starter this season before it was topped by Hernandez just hours later.

Like Shields, Hernandez had a great feel for his changeup Sunday, using it almost exclusively as a put-away pitch. Hernandez threw 17 of his 22 changeups with two strikes, the most he’s thrown in any start in the last three seasons.

He recorded a career-best 10 outs on his change, all of which came with two strikes, including his nine strikeouts. He worked primarily to his arm side (inside to RHB, outside to LHB). He threw 76 of his 114 pitches (66.7 pct) to that location, including 19 of his 22 changeups. Ten of his 13 strikeouts came in this spot, a career-best.

Shields and Hernandez rank first and second, respectively, in strikeouts on changeups. It’s easy to see why with stuff and command like they had on Sunday.