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Albert Pujols continues to struggle since joining the Los Angeles Angels, going 0-for-3 on Wednesday as the Angels lost 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Pujols has not recorded a hit in his last 19 at-bats. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the longest hitless streak of his major-league career. He failed to get a hit in 18 consecutive at-bats from August to September in 2010. It is only the fourth time in his career that Pujols has gone more than 15 straight at-bats without a hit.

Dating to last season, he has failed to hit a home run in his last 24 regular-season games, the second-longest streak in his career. Pujols had 26 straight games without a home run last season.

The home run drought to start the season has reached 72 at-bats. Pujols hit 37 homers last year for the St. Louis Cardinals. Elias reports that his season-opening drought is the second-longest to begin a season by a player who hit at least 35 home runs for a different team the previous season. After hitting 46 home runs for the Washington Nationals in 2006, Alfonso Soriano didn’t hit a homer until his 75th at-bat for the Chicago Cubs in 2007.

The problem for Pujols this season has been offspeed pitches. After hitting .302 with 12 home runs against such pitches last season, he is just 3-for-31 with no extra-base hits so far this year. His batting average against offspeed pitches was ninth in the majors last year; so far this year, he’s barely in the top 200.

He has been struggling to hold off on slow pitches outside the strike zone. After chasing only 28 percent of offspeed pitches outside the strike zone last year, he has swung on 31 of 62 such pitches so far this year. Two of his three hits against offspeed pitches this season are on pitches outside the strike zone … on those inside the zone, he is just 1-for-19.

Around the Diamond
• Clay Buchholz allowed five earned runs in 5⅓ innings against the Minnesota Twins. He’s the only Boston Red Sox pitcher in the Live Ball Era to allow at least five earned runs in each of his first four appearances in a season.

• Robbie Ross picked up another win in relief for the Texas Rangers. Ross is the first pitcher in major-league history to record four wins in the first six appearances of his career as a relief pitcher.

• David Wright hit a two-run homer in sixth inning to move past Darryl Strawberry for the most RBI in New York Mets history. Strawberry had 733 for the club, and Wright now has 735.

• Jordan Zimmermann allowed a run in the fifth inning for the Nationals, snapping a franchise-record 26-inning scoreless streak for Nationals starting pitchers.

• Pablo Sandoval extended his hitting streak to 18 games. That ties the Giants franchise record for longest hit streak to start a season. Johnny Rucker hit safely in 18 straight games to start the 1945 season.

Ryan Feldman 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 National League made it two wins in a row at the All-Star Game for the first time since it won three straight from 1994-96, with a 5-1 victory at Chase Field Tuesday night. Before last season's win, the NL had been winless in 13 straight All-Star Games.

It’s the first time since a 9-4 AL win in 2004 that the game has been decided by more than two runs, and it’s the largest victory margin for the NL since a 6-0 win in 1996. The NL has allowed just one run in each of the last two contests, the first time they’ve done that since 1984 and 1985.

This marks the sixth consecutive All-Star Game in which the winning team has not scored more than five runs. That matches the longest such streak in the history of the game, set from 1986-91.

Prince Fielder put the NL in the lead for good with a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning. He’s the first Brewer to homer in an All-Star Game and the sixth player in the last 35 seasons to hit a three-run homer or a grand slam in the Midsummer Classic. The last to do it was Alfonso Soriano in 2004.

Fielder earned MVP honors for his performance, becoming the first Brewer to be named MVP at the All-Star Game and just the fourth first baseman to win the award.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Fielder is the fourth son of a major-leaguer to win All-Star Game MVP. The others are Ken Griffey Jr (1992), Sandy Alomar (1997) and Roberto Alomar (1998).

Roy Halladay, who was the first pitcher to start an All-Star Game in both leagues, threw two perfect innings for the NL. In his first five All-Star appearances Halladay had been knocked around, allowing 13 hits in 29 at-bats.

The AL didn’t have a player reach base until the fourth inning, when Adrian Gonzalez homered, snapping a streak of 3⅔ perfect innings pitched by NL pitchers. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the longest perfect game bid in an All-Star Game since a 4⅓ inning bid by the AL in 1986.

Gonzalez's home run was the first homer by either team in an All-Star game since J.D. Drew went yard in the seventh inning of the 2008 game. That ended a drought of 206 at-bats in the All-Star Game without a home run.

C.J. Wilson took the loss, allowing all three runs in the fourth inning. Wilson is the second Rangers pitcher to lose an All-Star Game, joining Jim Kern in 1979.

Tyler Clippard pitched a scoreless one-third of an inning for the win. He’s the fouth pitcher to win an All-Star Game in Nationals/Expos franchise history. Matt Capps won last year, Steve Rogers won in 1982 and Charlie Lea won in 1984.

Brian Wilson got the final two outs for the save. He’s the first Giants pitcher to get a save in an All-Star Game since the save became an official stat in 1969.

What does the National League’s win mean for the Senior Circuit team that reaches the World Series? Since 1985, the team with home-field advantage has won 20 of the last 25 World Series. And if it goes to a decisive Game 7, the home team has won each of the last eight times, with the last road win in a Game 7 by the 1979 Pirates.

In the San Francisco Bay Area fans describe Giants baseball as "torture". The Giants picked up their sixth win this postseason Wednesday; this time by a narrow 6-5 margin. That is San Francisco's fifth one-run win this postseason. They finished tied for second in the National League with 28 one-run wins during the regular season. Who led the NL? The Phillies with 29.

After going 6-16 during the NLDS against the Braves, Buster Posey was mired in a 1-11 slump through the first 3 games of the NLCS. He picked a good time to break out. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Buster Posey is just the fifth rookie to have four hits and two RBIs in a postseason game. The others are Jacoby Ellsbury (2007 Red Sox), Miguel Cabrera (2003 Marlins), Joe Garagiola (1946 Cardinals) and Freddie Lindstrom (1924 Giants).
Pablo Sandoval came up with a key 2-run double for the Giants. Last season that wouldn't have surprised many, but this season Sandoval hit .208 with runners in scoring position. That was the 3rd-worst among NL hitters with at least 100 AB with RISP. He was 0-1 in the postseason entering Game 4. He had just 2 hits in his last 12 at-bats with RISP to end the regular season.

From the Elias Sports Bureau: Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner was lifted with a 2-1 lead with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, and then in the bottom of the inning, Phillies starter Joe Blanton was removed from the game with two out and Philadelphia holding a 4-3 lead. That marked the first time in major league history that both starting pitchers were lifted from a postseason game one out away from being eligible for a victory.

This is the third time the San Francisco Giants have been up 3-1 in a Best-of-7 LCS. The two previous times (1989 against the Cubs and 2002 against the Cardinals), they closed out the series in five games. As for the Phillies, they are down 3-1 for the fifth time in franchise history. They've won Game 5 twice (2009 World Series, 1993 World Series), but they have never won a series when down 3-1.

Juan Uribe's sacrifice fly was the fourth game-ending postseason RBI in franchise history and the first since Kenny Lofton in the 2002 NLCS. Fred Merkle is the only other Giant with a walk-off sac fly (Game 5 of the 1911 World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics).

The last time the Phillies lost a postseason game by walk-off was in one of the most dramatic games in history -- Game 6 of the 1993 World Series. Joe Carter hit a home run off Mitch Williams to win the game and the series.

HOW DO WE KNOW DEREK JETER WILL HAVE A GOOD ALCS?

1. He’s comfortable against all four of the starting pitchers in this series

Derek Jeter has a .432 batting average and 1.081 OPS against Cliff Lee, combining both regular season and postseason. There are 62 hitters who have faced Cliff Lee at least 25 times in their careers. None has a better batting average than Jeter.

Jeter homered in his first career at-bat against C.J. Wilson in 2005, and is 5-for-14 with three walks against him. Sometimes he gets a little lucky – two of his three hits against Wilson this season have been of the infield variety.

It’s been a long time since Jeter saw Colby Lewis, but he’s 3-for-5 against the Rangers righty, homering twice against him in their last meeting – in 2003.

Jeter also went 2-for-3 in his career against Tommy Hunter.

2. He’s looking better at the plate

Jeter had hits in all three games of the ALDS, going 2-for-4 in the third game of the sweep after a pair of 1-for-5s. Perhaps of greater significance, he’s getting better swings. He hit five line drives in his 14 plate appearances, a small-sample rate more commensurate with an effective Jeter, rather than the one who had issues throughout 2010.

3. History says he’s due for some hits

Jeter is a .313 career hitter in postseason play, but his LCS numbers (.262 batting average) don’t quite match that level of performance. It’s been awhile since Jeter last had a good LCS. In his last four, he’s hit .118 (2001 vs Mariners), .233 (2003 vs Red Sox), .200 (2004 vs Red Sox) and .259 (2009 vs Rangers). So he’s due to match the likes of 10 years ago, when he hit .318 with two home runs and five RBI in a win over the Mariners.

HOW DO WE KNOW THE GIANTS OFFENSE WILL STRUGGLE?

1. They had the worst offense of the eight playoff teams during the regular season

They were the only team to make the postseason scoring less than 700 runs, ranked in the middle of the pack in batting average and in the bottom half of the league in walks and OBP. Despite such trouble getting on base, the Giants managed to ground into 158 double plays, with 3B Pablo Sandoval leading the NL with 26. That's the most double plays grounded into by a National League team since 1958, when the Cardinals grounded into 166.

This explains why the Giants ranked ninth in the National League in runs scored during the regular season. Keep in mind, only two teams since 1974 have won the National League pennant with a ranking that low.

2. Their offensive struggles continued in the NLDS

The Giants grounded into six more double plays in the NLDS after finishing one behind the Minnesota Twins for the major league lead during the regular season. And after finishing last in the National League in BA with RISP (.248) during the regular season, they hit just .185 (5-for-27) in that situation against the Braves in the NLDS.

3. The Phillies pitchers are pretty good

Everyone knows by now that the Phillies have a star-studded rotation, and their entire staff allowed only 11 hits in three games in the NLDS. During the regular season their pitching staff was fifth in the National League by inducing 132 groundball double plays – even though they were next to last in GIDP opportunities! In fact, three of their pitchers ranked in the top 14 of the league in that category. How did they do that? Their pitching staff was third in the majors this season in groundball percentage.

Today’s Trivia: Paul Maholm takes the hill for the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday holding the team-lead in strikeouts with 90 (Side note: 34 pitchers had more than that before the All-Star break). Not having a 100-K pitcher is a bit more common than you might think. In fact, it happened five times last decade, including last season to the Washington Nationals. Which brings us today’s trivia question: Which pitcher led the Nationals in strikeouts last season?

The standings might say otherwise, but there’s always something to play for – in this case, history. In the first of a series of divisional breakdowns, here’s some statistical minutiae to keep an eye on in the closing weeks. First the AL West.

Los Angeles Angels

• Bobby Abreu needs one stolen base for 20 on the season. That would give him 12 straight seasons of 15 HR and 20 SB, extending his own record streak. Barry Bonds (10 straight) has the next longest such stretch.
• Brandon Wood’s .397 OPS would be the lowest for a player with 200 plate appearances since Frank O’Rourke posted a .325 OPS for the 1912 Boston Braves. Wood is just below Tony Pena Jr.’s .398 for the Kansas City Royals in 2008. Wood’s .185 on-base percentage would be the seventh lowest since 1900 for players with 200 PA.
• With 56 strikeouts and only four walks, Wood would have the most strikeouts for a player with fewer than five walks since Rob Picciolo (63 K, 2 BB) of the 1980 Oakland A’s.

Oakland A’s

• Both the Seattle Mariners and A’s do not have a player with 15 home runs. The difference is that the A’s leader Kevin Kouzmanoff (14 HR) has been missing time with a back injury. The last AL team without a 15-HR player was the 1992 Angels, who were led by Gary Gaetti’s 12.
• If Daric Barton (100 BB, 88 K) stays below 100 strikeouts, he’d be the first American League player since Rafael Palmeiro to do that in a season with over 100 walks. Since Palmeiro’s 2002 campaign, 16 players have done this, but all were in the National League. With only eight HR, Barton would be the first to do this with fewer than 10 HR since Rickey Henderson in 1996.
• How does a pitcher with only 98 strikeouts have the lowest opponent OPS in the AL since Tim Hudson in 2003? There just might be some luck involved for Trevor Cahill. The .224 BABIP against Cahill is the lowest against a qualifying AL pitcher since opponents had a .212 BABIP against the Detroit Tigers Jeff Robinson in 1988. Not only was that Robinson’s only season with a sub-3.00 ERA, but his next best was 4.73.

Seattle Mariners

• With Franklin Gutierrez currently leading the team with 56 RBI, the Mariners could become the first team since the 1983 Cincinnati Reds without a 60 RBI player in a non-strike shortened season. That Reds squad was led by Ron Oester’s 58 RBI.
• Russell Branyan only has 56 RBI to go with the 24 home runs he’s hit between the Cleveland Indians and Mariners. He’s safe though. The fewest RBI for a player with 25+ HR is 54 by Ron Gant when he played for the Philadelphia Phillies and Angels in 2000. The AL “record” is shared by Fred Lynn (1988 Orioles/Tigers) and Marcus Thames (2008 Tigers) with 56.
• Mariners designated hitters are batting just .190 at the plate this season. Over the last 35 years, the only AL team to hit below the Mendoza Line at DH was the Texas Rangers (.197) in 1988. Larry Parrish was the most frequent DH on that squad.

Texas Rangers

• Left-handed hitters are batting just .136 against C.J. Wilson. That’s the second lowest for a qualifying AL starter over the last 35 years. In 1995, lefties hit just .129 against Randy Johnson. The difference is that Johnson only faced 92 lefties that season, while Wilson has done battle with 156.
• If he doesn’t suit up again in the regular season, Josh Hamilton will finish with 21 home runs and .395 batting average at home. Over the last 50 years, the only other AL player to hit .390 with 20 HR at home was Albert Belle for the 1994 Indians.
• Elvis Andrus has 145 hits, but only 17 have gone for extra bases. The last player with over 150 hits in a season with 17 of fewer extra base hits was Kirby Puckett in 1984. Only 17 of his 165 hits were no singles.

Key Matchups: Alex Rodriguez (.208) and Mark Teixeira (.143) have been baffled by James Shields in the past. However, no one compares to Curtis Granderson. His .077 average is lowest for anyone that Shields has faced at least 20 times. Granderson’s struggles are notable for the fact that he usually struggles against right-handed pitchers. In fact, against righties not named James Shields, he has a .289 career average compared to .216 against southpaws.

Chad Billingsley has an 0.61 in 29 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, good enough for a 2-0 record in four starts. In fact, Billingsley has tossed 23 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings against San Francisco. Both Juan Uribe and Pablo Sandoval are 0-for-10 against him in 2010. Uribe was 5-for-10 entering the season.

Trivia Answer: With 92 strikeouts, Jordan Zimmermann led the 2009 Nationals, despite making only one appearance after the break. Washington’s Tyler Clippard (97) had already eclipsed that total while pitching solely in relief.

Today’s Trivia:
Roger Clemens finds himself back in the news today, so let’s take a look back at the Rocket’s playing days. Clemens won seven Cy Young awards – his first in 1986 and last in 2004. Five pitchers finished second behind Clemens in Cy Voting once, but one pitcher did it twice. Who is he?

Bonus question: Clemens not only won the Cy in 1986, he was the MVP as well. Who was runner-up to Clemens that year in MVP voting?

Quick Hits:
The Philadelphia Phillies are expected to chalk up their 100th straight home sellout on Thursday. The last game the Phillies did not sell out was July 6 of last season when they drew 41,548 for a game against the Reds. Let’s take a look at some parks that have seen attendance boosts or attendance swoons since last season.

Note: all comparisons are through the same number of home games for each season, so since the Reds have played 62 home games this season, their figures are compared to the numbers through 62 home games of last season (not through all 81 home games).

• It is no surprise that the Minnesota Twins are seeing the biggest boost, though they have a new park to thank. They’re drawing more than 10,200 fans per game MORE than they did last season at the Metrodome.

• In the non-new-ballpark category, hats off to the Colorado Rockies. They’re getting a 2,700 fans-per-game boost over last year, even though they made the playoffs last season.

• Give the consistency award to the fans at Busch Stadium. Their change this year is a whopping one, yes one, fan less per game. They averaged 40,846 last year and this year are bringing in 40,845.

• Hardest hit this year is the New York Mets, whose honeymoon with Citi Field has worn off. They’re seeing a decrease of more than 6,000 fans per game.

• And someone wake up the fans in Tampa. Though the Rays are in a division battle and have one of the best records in MLB, their attendance is down by almost 1,400 fans per game.

• Overall, 11 teams are drawing more fans per game this year compared to last, while the 19 others find themselves in the red. The average, through the same number of home games in each season, is 380 less fans per game this year.

Today’s Leaderboard:
Today is the anniversary of Eddie Gaedel and his only career plate appearance. So to honor the 3'7" big leaguer, here are the modern-day Gaedel's, or at least as close as we can get. As you can see, there are plenty of varying body types on this list:

Most Four-Pitch Walks This Season by Players Under Six Feet Tall:
5'11'' Prince Fielder - 16
5'11" Shin-Soo Choo - 13
5'11" Pablo Sandoval - 12
5'10" Andrew McCutchen - 12
5'11" Bengie Molina - 12
5'11" Blake Dewitt - 12
Excludes intentional walks

And, just for fun, let’s use Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon to connect Gaedel with Fielder, his modern-day “counterpart”.

Eddie Gaedel played with Jim Dyck for the 1951 Browns...
• Dyck played with Frank Robinson for the 1956 Redlegs...
• Robinson played with Dennis Eckersley for the 1975 Indians...
• Eckersley played with David Bell for the 1996 Cardinals...
• and Bell played with Fielder for the 2006 Brewers.

Thursday's Key Matchup:
Put it this way: Joe Mauer is batting .256 in his career against pitchers named Mark Buehrle and .329 against pitchers not named Mark Buehrle. There are only two pitchers (Justin Verlander and John Danks) who Mauer has faced more in his career than Buehrle. He’s batting better than .340 against each of them while Buehrle has held him to 11 hits in 43 at-bats.

Trivia Answer:
Randy Johnson was the two-time bridesmaid, finishing behind Clemens in 1997 and 2004. And get this, it happened once in the AL and once in the NL. Clemens the Blue Jay beat Johnson the Mariner in 1997 and Clemens the Astro beat Johnson the Diamondback in 2004.

The MVP runner-up in 1986 was Don Mattingly, who batted .352 that season with 31 HR and a .967 OPS. Only one pitcher was among the top nine vote-getters that season, and it was Clemens.

With the 2010 season at the halfway point (and with apologies to the purists who say the halfway point was actually at the end of June), we present a handful of Next-Level Awards to a few players who have excelled (or "de-celled"?) in our favorite categories so far this season.


Since all teams have played between 86 and 90 games at this point, we're using 275 plate appearances as our minimum for all hitting awards.

The "Friendly Confines" award

Although Target Field has confounded some power hitters, Twins CF Denard Span seems to enjoy the place. He has the biggest difference between his home and road batting average this season. In Minneapolis, he's hitting .357; elsewhere, it's .198. Ironically, all three of his home runs have been in road games; however, he does have more total extra-base hits (8 doubles, 5 triples) in the Twins' new home.

The average "home" advantage in the majors, by the way, is .016.

Runners-up: Vernon Wells (.322 in Toronto, .199 on the road); Martin Prado (.389/.273); Travis Hafner (.303/.189).

Honorable mention: Jason Giambi has taken a liking to Denver. He's batting .380 at Coors Field and only .173 away from it, although his 132 PA are not enough to qualify for our award.


The "Summer Breeze" award

No surprise here. Mark Reynolds, who shattered the single-season record for strikeouts in '09 after setting it in '08, is whiffing on 40.9% of his swings this season and again leading the majors in K's. That's 8% higher than anybody else who qualifies for the award.

Far-runners-up: Mike Napoli (32.9%), Adam Dunn (32.3%), Ryan Howard (30.8).


The "Gettin' Low" award

Pitchers are always trying to keep the ball down. It takes a special hitter to go down there and get it with any degree of success. In a very tight three-way race, the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera ekes out the best average in the majors on low pitches (down in the zone or below it).

Cabrera, at .3618, just beats out Justin Morneau and the Orioles' Nick Markakis, who both have identical low-ball averages at .3613. To his credit, Miggy also has seven homers on low balls, and more extra-base hits than the other two contestants. Markakis is the most patient of the three, chasing only 16% of balls below the zone.

Which brings us to....

The "Reach For The Stars" award

Vladimir Guerrero left Los Angeles (home of the stars), but he's still chasing them in Texas. Vlad has gone reaching for 38.4% of bad balls (out of the strike zone) this season, giving him a clear lead in that category.

Runners-up: Adam Jones (36.0%), Pablo Sandoval (32.2%), Jose Guillen (32.2%).

Fifth place belongs to Ichiro Suzuki, who has set all kinds of base-hit records so far in his career. You wouldn't think of him as someone who would swing at a lot of bad balls. In Ichiro's case, though, he succeeds in making contact and finding holes.

That begets...

The "Trashman" award

Cleaning up bad balls is messy work. Not a lot of hitters do it well. Ichiro does. In fact, he's got a 52-point lead when it comes to batting average on balls out of the strike zone. And he hits almost as well (.319) on balls outside the zone as he does on balls that are in it (.329).

Runners-up: The aforementioned Guerrero, despite swinging a lot, also makes pretty good contact on bad balls. He's hitting .267, followed by Markakis (.264) and Boston's Marco Scutaro (.244).

More awards, including a few for the guys who THROW the ball, will be posted tomorrow.

Quick Hits: The importance of a first-pitch strike can be summed up rather simply. After a 1-0 count, the league average is .275 with a .827 OPS. But after a count goes to 0-1, those numbers plummet to .229 BA and .619 OPS. Let’s take a look at some notable trends on the first pitch:

• Among starting pitchers, only Carlos Silva (70.0) throws a higher percentage of first-pitch strikes than Cliff Lee (69.0). So it should be little surprise that batters come out swinging. Opponents swing at 39.2 percent of Lee’s first pitches. The last starter with a higher rate? Johan Santana’s 39.7 in 2005.
• Somehow Scott Downs has put together a solid season in the Toronto bullpen despite a 45.0 first-pitch strike percentage. After a 1-0 count, opponents are hitting just .217 against Downs.
• James Shields has given up 34 hits on the first pitch, and is on pace to allow the most for the second straight year. Opponents are hitting .540 against him on the first pitch (league average is .339).
• Shields has also allowed seven first-pitch home runs. The entire Yankees’ pitching staff has allowed just four.
• Chris Carpenter has hit four batters with the first pitch. That is more than seven teams have all season.
• As a team, no one swings at the first pitch more than the Blue Jays (33.2 percent) or less than the Red Sox (19.1). Not surprisingly, the Blue Jays have the fourth-worst batting average on the first pitch (.310), while the Red Sox are fourth-best (.371).
• Of Geovany Soto’s eight home runs, five came on the first pitch. He has the highest first-pitch OPS (2.115) of any player with at least 20 plate appearances ending on the first pitch.
• Pablo Sandoval has grounded into nine double plays on the first pitch this season. That’s more than six teams and almost twice as many as the Mets (5).
• Brett Gardner has only swung at the first pitch 18 times all season and has the second lowest percentage of swings in the majors behind Franklin Gutierrez. Gardner has made those swings count, having gone 5-for-8 on the first pitch.

Today’s Trivia: Orel Hershiser retired 10 years ago today. Who is the winningest Dodgers pitcher since July 6, 2000?

Today’s Leaderboard: Given that no one swings at a higher percentage of first pitches, it should be no surprise that Vladimir Guerrero leads the majors with 22 RBI on the first pitch. Delmon Young is next with 21. In his career, Guerrero has 382 RBI coming on the first pitch. That’s 78 more than the next active player (Manny Ramirez).

Key Matchups: Zack Greinke is a perfect 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA in his career against the Mariners. Consider that the second, fourth and fifth hitters in the Mariners lineup are a combined 3-for-51 (.059), and it’s easy to see why. Chone Figgins is 0-for-16 against Greinke and hasn’t even walked. Meanwhile, Jose Lopez (1-for-17) and Franklin Gutierrez (2-for-18) have not fared much better.

Vernon Wells’ overall numbers (19 HR, .872 OPS) may have warranted his All-Star selection, but much of that is courtesy of an electric April. Over his last 25 games, Wells is hitting just .191 with a .651 OPS. Could Tuesday be the start of a turnaround? Wells is 8-for-20 with four home runs in his career against Carl Pavano. No other player has more than three long balls against the Twins hurler. Wells is hitting .600 with three home runs in his last 10 at-bats against Pavano.

Trivia Answer: Since the day of Orel Hershiser’s retirement, Derek Lowe’s 54 wins are the most in a Dodger uniform. Chad Billingsley could tie that total in his next start. Only the Pirates have fewer wins from their wins leader over that span. For comparison, Hershiser won 135 games over 13 seasons with the Dodgers.

This week in the TMI Power Poll, the topic was the best third basemen in the game today. There was a bit of a youth movement at the hot corner as four members of the top 10 have fewer than four years of service in the big leagues. Meanwhile, a former three-time MVP is not in the top spot.

Evan Longoria, the face of a young Rays team that has the best record in baseball, took the top spot. He has developed into a complete player. According to Baseball Tonight Researcher Mark Simon, Longoria is 3rd in the MLB with .738 offensive winning percentage. On the defensive side, Longoria's 17.0 UZR tied for the lead among all 3B over last two seasons (with Ryan Zimmerman).


Others receiving votes: Brandon Inge, Chipper Jones, Jose Bautista, Placido Polanco, Chase Headley, Jorge Cantu, Casey Blake, Alberto Callaspo, Nick Punto

Today’s Trivia: Derek Lowe and Kevin Millwood are both scheduled to start on Tuesday, but that’s not the only thing they have in common. Both pitchers have thrown a no-hitter on April 27 before; Lowe in 2002 and Millwood the following year. In fact, there have been six no-hitters on April 27, tied with September 20 for the most on a particular date.

On the subject of no-hitters: Who are the three active pitchers with multiple one-hit shutouts to their credit, but no no-hitters?

Quick Hits: With some data to work with after three weeks of action, some interesting lefty-righty split trends have emerged:

* In 2008, Andruw Jones hit .178 against lefties. Last season, it trickled up to .218. So far in 2010, Jones is hitting .400 against southpaws and already has four home runs, most in the majors and equaling last season’s total.

* A career .308 hitter against lefties, Xavier Nady was brought in to provide some punch to a Cubs offense that hit only 25 home runs against lefties all last season, which was seven fewer than any other team. So far, Nady is 3-for-20 (.150) against lefties.

* Meanwhile, Marlon Byrd is 17-for-28 (.607) with a league-leading seven doubles against lefties.

* Matt LaPorta is 0-for-18 against southpaws, and hitting .294 against righties.

* In 2008, Garrett Atkins had a 1.014 OPS against lefties. This season, he’s 0-17 against lefties and hitting .310 against right-handed pitchers.

* After a 5-for-25 start, Ryan Howard is now hitting .206 against lefties since the start of 2009.

* Chone Figgins is a mere 3-for-39 against righties, a year after he hit .323 against them. Yet, only four players have more walks against righties.

* The Padres are hitting an MLB-worst .185 against lefties, and have only managed six extra-base hits.

* The Royals are hitting an MLB-best .333 against lefties, yet have done so with only seven extra-base hits.

* The Dodgers and Mariners have only managed one home run against a lefty. The Dodgers, who have 19 homers off of righties, have gone 87 at-bats without taking a southpaw deep.

* The Blue Jays’ 26 home runs against righties are the most in baseball, but they only have a pair against lefties.

Today’s Leaderboard: Colby Rasmus has the league’s highest OPS against righties (1.480), but is 0-for-11 with seven strikeouts against lefties.

Key Matchups: Jamie Moyer is just 1-3 all-time when pitching in San Francisco. That one win came on July 16, 1987 –- almost 23 years ago – in Moyer’s first full season in the big leagues. Pitching for the Cubs, Moyer had a pair of Hall of Famers behind him in Andre Dawson and Ryne Sandberg. Bruce Bochy, Moyer’s opposing manager tonight, was still an active player. But the most startling note comes from Baseball Tonight researcher Mark Simon: Pablo Sandoval was just 11 months old on that date. This will be the first time Sandoval and Moyer face one another.

If Derek Lowe wants to celebrate the eighth anniversary of his no-hitter in style, he’ll have to do something about Matt Holliday first. Holliday has a .563 career average against Lowe. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the highest average in any batter-pitcher matchup among active National League players (minimum 30 AB). However, that includes a .650 batting average when playing in Colorado. Away from Coors, Holliday is a mere .417 hitter against Lowe.

Trivia Answer: Tim Hudson, Kerry Wood and Chris Carpenter all have pitched two one-hit shutouts, but never a no-hitter. (Pedro Martinez and Jason Schmidt would also qualify if on a roster). Interestingly, Carpenter gets the start tonight against Derek Lowe.

This week in the TMI Power Poll we focus on switch hitters. No easy task to be able to rake from both sides at the major-league level.

Despite his slow start to 2010, we have Mark Teixeira firmly in the top spot thanks to his track record. Teixeira received 8 of 9 first-place votes. Here's a look at the rest of the list:
Others receiving votes: Chone Figgins, Brian Roberts, Nick Swisher, Rafael Furcal, Carlos Guillen, Shane Victorino, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jorge Posada, Erick Aybar.

Earlier today, we took a look at using ZiPS to project the American League leaders using the Monte Carlo method. Now it's the Senior Circuit's turn. Will Albert Pujols win the Triple Crown? Time to find out.


While Albert Pujols is the superior player, Ryan Howard's combination of power, his home park, and his team's offense makes him the HR/RBI favorite pretty much every season. Howard's not a great bet to age particularly well, but there's nothing to worry about right now. Despite being the active BA leader in baseball, Pujols only has one batting title so far, but he's still a good bet, with Kung Fu Panda his biggest obstacle. Holliday and last year's BA champ, Hanley Ramirez, are good candidates as well.

With Chipper Jones in the twilight of his career and Barry Bonds safely retired, Pujols is the odds-on favorite to lead the NL in on-base percentage for the next several years. The competition for the slugging title is stiffer, with Howard and Prince Fielder able to surpass Albert in any individual season, but the Cardinals' first baseman is still the favorite.

Other favorites include Michael Bourn in stolen bases, Pujols in runs scored, Sandoval in doubles and Jose Reyes in triples. (ZiPS doesn't know what to do about thyroid conditions.)

The Phillies brought in Roy Halladay to win games, and that's just what he should do. One of the best pitchers in the league and on likely the best team in the National League, Halladay's a good bet to lead the league in wins. Lincecum's still likely to be the best pitcher in the NL, and it shows in the ERA chart and the near-slaughter in the K leaderboard, but the Giants' offense remains weak and has little depth. The save race is wide open, as neither the Philles nor the Cardinals have dominant closers. I wouldn't be surprised if any of the top 10 led the league in saves.

OTHER TIDBITS

" Howard occasionally hit 60 home runs, about once every 102 seasons. OK, about as often as the Cubs have won the World Series lately, but Howard was the only player in either league to clear 60.

" Luis Castillo once hit 10 home runs.

" As in the AL, nobody hit .400, with Pujols coming closest with a .387.

" Jayson Werth's batting averages are a pretty bell curve, except for the nutty season in which he hit .368 (.314 was his second best season!).

" Hanley Ramirez has the best shot at a 40/40 season at 4 percent. Nobody else comes close -- the next most likely being Brandon Phillips at 239-to-1. Of qualifying players, David Eckstein is least likely, being 1.49 decillion to-1 (1-4-9 and 31 zeroes) in favor of pulling off the feat. Just for reference for how big a number that is, if Eckstein got to play forever and not age, he's still not likely to have managed a 40/40 season by the time the universe can no longer sustain life.

" Like in the AL, only a single pitcher beat 25 wins in 1,000 seasons, with Roy Halladay putting up a single 26-win season. A handful of pitchers lost 20 games, including John Lannan and Jeff Suppan (the latter unlikely to enter the season in the rotation now, thankfully). Roy Oswalt had a particular stretch of nasty luck one season, going 7-21 but with a 3.84 ERA.

" Tim Lincecum cleared 300 strikeouts in eight seasons. In fact, the top 34 strikeout seasons were all Lincecum. Johan Santana snuck in one year to have the 35th-best K season (286) followed by another 37 Lincecum seasons. Lincecum also had the lowest-ERA year, going 15-11, 1.71 one year. ZiPS likes Tim Lincecum, if you haven't guessed.

Dan Szymborski is the editor-in-chief of Baseball Think Factory.

As one of the heftier players in baseball, 245-pound Pablo Sandoval is definitely a player to keep an eye on at all times. His aggressive approach at the plate and nickname - "Kung Fu Panda" - have already made the 1B/3B a fan favorite. Sandoval had a handful too many at-bats in 2008 for the San Francisco Giants or he would have run away with NL Rookie of the Year honors last season. Sandoval hit .330, slugged .556 and had an OPS of .943 in 2009 to finish 7th in the NL MVP vote in his first full season in the majors.

Sandoval kept San Franciscans happy by raking .361 at AT&T Park, a notorious pitcher's park, in 2009.

That's a pretty significant difference in Sandoval's home/road splits in BA and OPS, but the number that really stood out to me was the difference in HR. That's right, a whopping one more homer in San Francisco than on the road for Sandoval. When we consider the home park that he plays in, things get really interesting. Since notoriously pitcher-friendly AT&T Park opened in 2000, the only Giant with a 25-HR season besides Sandoval to hit more of his HR at home than on the road was Barry Bonds, who happened to do it 5 times..

Another reason for you to keep a close watch out for the Panda is that he has something in common with Jay-Z. Sure, it might seem like an odd pairing, considering that when Big Pimpin’ came out in 2000, Sandoval hadn't even signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent yet. But in that song, Jay-Z says that he “got no patience and I hate waitin’” – a sentiment that Sandoval would definitely share. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, 92 of Sandoval’s 189 hits last season came within the 1st two pitches that he saw of an at-bat. Those 92 hits were the 4th most of their kind in baseball.

Of the 41 players to qualify for the batting title with an OBP of at least .375 last season, only Ichiro Suzuki and Magglio Ordonez had fewer free passes than the 23-year old Sandoval. If he shows a little more patience this season, he could improve on his already stellar numbers from 2009 and reach his first All-Star game in 2010. Now that's a player who's One2Watch4.