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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The New York Yankees host the Los Angeles Angels in Sunday Night Baseball (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). Let's preview the game by looking at powerless hitters, starting pitching matchups and yet-to-be-seen closers.

Ca’No’ home runs yet
Robinson Cano has yet to hit a home run through the first eight games of the season. Over the last three seasons, Cano had homered at least once within the first three games.

Cano is missing pitches that he usually crushes. From 2009 to 2011, he was among baseball's best mashers against pitches in the strike zone.

The heat maps above show how Cano has gotten his hits and outs this season. He's just 6-for-26 against pitches judged by Pitch F/X to be within the zone.

Cano has twice had to wait as late as his 18th game before hitting his first home run, doing so in both 2005 and 2007.

Albert Pujols still homerless
Albert Pujols has not yet homered in 32 at-bats this season. The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that's the longest season-opening drought of his career. His previous worst was 27 at-bats in 2008, when he still hit 37 home runs that season.

Jerome Williams Matchups to Watch
Williams developed a pitch that is a cross between a cutter and a slider a few years ago and the pitch proved to be very effective for him during his recall last season.

When Williams is on, he’s able to move the ball down and in to a left-handed hitter, down-and-away to a righty. He rarely throws a pitch to the upper-third of the strike zone and above, rating among the least-frequent throwers to that area in the majors.

Maybe this will be the cure for what ails Mark Teixeira, who has nine home runs and 11 doubles on cutters and sliders from righties since 2009.

Teixeira has been hungry for a right-handed pitcher to throw him a pitch on the inner-third. Of the 99 pitches he’s seen from righties, only 15 have been thrown inside. Teixeira struggled against those pitches last season, but had a good history in previous seasons.

Ivan Nova Matchups to Watch
Nova was hittable for parts of his first start of the season against the Orioles, but was tough when he had to be, holding Baltimore to 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

That might be tougher tonight. The Angels are hitting .294 with runners in scoring position this season.

Most of the Angels have faced Nova only a few times, but the one who has had success is speedy centerfielder Peter Bourjos, who tagged Nova for three ground-ball singles and a home run in his five turns against him.

Nova has won 13 straight regular-season decisions. One more win would tie the second-longest win streak in Yankees history.

End Game
Neither team has used its closer in a save situation yet in this series, so perhaps the time will be right tonight.

Mariano Rivera has a history of issues against the Angels, with a 3.65 ERA, but much of that is from earlier in his career. Rivera has converted his last 14 regular-season save chances against the Angels dating back to 2008.

Angels closer Jordan Walden has appeared in only two of the first eight games of the season. He did save a pair of games against the Yankees last season, striking out four in three innings.

Walden is one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in baseball. He’s thrown 18 fastballs this season and they’ve averaged 98 miles-per-hour.

Again, the best Yankee suited for that is Teixeira, who has six hits and three home runs against 98-plus pitches since 2009. The three home runs (two against Daniel Bard, one against Joel Zumaya) is the most in the majors.

The Yankee who might have the biggest issue is Nick Swisher, who is 1-for-13 in at-bats ending against 98-plus pitches in that span.

Two of the premier second basemen in baseball have signed contract extensions over the last 24 hours. Late Monday, the Texas Rangers and Ian Kinsler agreed to a multiyear extension. Then, Tuesday afternoon, the long-rumored extension between the Cincinnati Reds and Brandon Phillips came to fruition.

Given that both play the same position, are of similar ages and signed deals of both similar value and similar length, a comparison seems natural.

Kinsler’s contract is a five-year, $75 million deal with a sixth-year option. Phillips’ is a six-year, $72.5 million deal. However, both teams functionally have their second basemen under control for at least six years, given that Kinsler’s extension does not kick in until 2013, whereas Phillips’ begins this season.

Even though the two players will be compensated in similar fashion over the next five or six seasons, the quality of their play leading up to the extensions has been of much different quality. While Kinsler may get overshadowed on a star-studded team and Phillips may garner attention for his Twitter and fielding antics, Kinsler is the far superior player.

Kinsler has out produced Phillips in every season since 2007 by WAR. In fact, Kinsler (23.2 WAR) outranks the likes of Robinson Cano (22.6 WAR) and Dan Uggla (13.4 WAR) in terms of production since 2007.

Very few second basemen retain this sort of high-level value deep into their 30’s. Kinsler will be locked up for both his age-34 and 35 seasons (as well as 36 if the option is picked up), while Phillips will be under contract in his age 34-to-36 seasons, also. The number of second basemen since 1900 who have contributed seasons of 3+ WAR at age-34 or older is exclusive and limited to some of the greatest players to play the position in MLB history.

Among second basemen, only Eddie Collins (1921-26), Jeff Kent (2002-07), Charlie Gehringer (1937-40), Lou Whitaker (1991-93) and Joe Morgan (1980-83) have at least three straight seasons of 3+ WAR since 1900. No one else has done it more than twice (Willie Randolph and Eddie Stanky have done it twice). A 3-WAR season already assumes some skill degradation for Kinsler and would actually constitute an improvement for Phillips over the last few seasons. Yet they will be paid as if 3+ WAR is almost assumed.

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 Detroit Tigers were outscored 28-17 in five games, but won the series with two one-run wins and one two-run win. Eleven runs is the biggest run differential for a team that won a League Division Series.

The New York Yankees struggled with runners in scoring position throughout the series. In Game 5, the Yankees were 2-for-9 but did not score on either hit. In the three losses, the Yankees were 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position and left 26 runners on base.

Before leaving the game in the seventh game with a mild oblique strain, Delmon Young became the first Tigers player to hit three home runs in a postseason series. When Don Kelly and Young hit consecutive first-inning pitches out of the park, they became the first Tigers to hit back-to-back postseason home runs.

A tight forearm forced Ivan Nova from the game after two innings. In those two innings, he had recorded six swings-and-misses, a personal record for the first two innings. The Yankees ended up using seven pitchers, tied for the most ever in a winner-take-all postseason game. All four teams to use seven pitchers have lost the game.

Robinson Cano hit a solo home run in the fifth inning to get the Yankees on the board. It was Cano’s eighth career postseason home run. Both of Cano’s home runs in the ALDS came off sliders. Including the postseason, 10 of his 30 home runs came against the slider, the most of any pitch type.

Max Scherzer recorded four outs while serving as the bridge from starter Doug Fister to the Tigers bullpen. Scherzer was able to keep the Yankee hitters off-balance with his changeup. Including the regular season, New York hitters missed on 16 of 36 swings (44 percent) against Scherzer’s changeup. In the ALDS, the Yankees were 0-for-8 with four strikeouts.

Mariano Rivera barely had the opportunity to pitch in the series. He threw five pitches in the ninth inning of Game 5 and just eight for the entire series. That’s the fewest pitches that Rivera has thrown in 32 career postseason series. The Yankees have lost all four series where Rivera threw 28 pitches or less.

Jose Valverde, meet Grover Cleveland Alexander. They are the only two pitchers to finish a road win in a winner-take-all one-run game at Yankee Stadium. Pitching for the Cardinals, Alexander was on the mound when Babe Ruth was caught stealing to end the 1926 World Series.

Alex Rodriguez struck out to end the game and finished the ALDS going 2-for-18 with six strikeouts. It was the second straight year that Rodriguez struck out for the final out of the Yankees season. The Elias Sports Bureau reports that he is the first player to strike out for his team’s final out in consecutive postseasons and the sixth player to make the final out (regardless of type) in two straight postseasons.

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).

With a major assist from the Elias Sports Bureau, we break down the New York Yankees' historic afternoon with 22 facts on their 22-9 victory against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday:

1. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the New York Yankees became the first team in MLB history to hit three grand slams in one game (Curtis Granderson, Russell Martin, Robinson Cano).

2. The Yankees are the sixth team all time to have three players with at least five RBIs. The last teams to do it were the Texas Rangers and Montreal Expos, both of whom did so in 1996. It’s the first time it’s happened in Yankees history.

3. According to Elias, the Yankees scored four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings, and six runs in both the seventh and eighth innings. It was the first time a team scored four or more runs in four straight innings since the Phillies in an 18-1 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 30, 1993 (5-4-4-5 from the fifth through eighth innings). It’s yet another first in Yankees history.

4. The Yankees erased a six-run deficit and won by a final margin of 13 runs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that tied with the 1913 Philadelphia A's and 1990 Milwaukee Brewers for the largest margin of victory by a team that trailed by as many as six runs in a single game.

5. It’s the fourth time since 1920 the Yankees scored 22 runs or more, all of them earned, and the first time since 1953. The last time they scored more runs, all earned, was in 1936 when they scored 25.

6. The last time the Yankees scored 22 runs in a home game was July 26, 1931.

7. Yankees starter Phil Hughes allowed six runs in 2 2/3 innings. It was his shortest start since returning to the Yankees' roster July 6.

8. Reliever Boone Logan was credited with the win, striking out all four batters he faced. It's his sixth game this season in which he recorded multiple strikeouts in an appearance.

9. Russell Martin had five hits, including two home runs and six RBIs. He's the seventh Yankee all time with at least five hits, two home runs and five RBIs in a game.

10. The 22 runs are the most by any team this season. It’s the most runs by one team since the Phillies scored 22 runs July 6, 2009, against the Reds.

11. Jorge Posada assisted on the final out -- from second base. It was Posada’s first career appearance at second base.

12. The combined distance of the Yankees’ three grand slams: 1,155 feet.

13. The Yankees had 16 plate appearances with the bases loaded. The breakdown: three grand slams, three singles, three groundouts, two popouts, two walks, one sacrifice fly, one line out, one strikeout.

14. It had been 18 games since the Yankees scored at least 10 runs, having scored 18 runs against the White Sox on Aug. 3.

15. This is the fourth time, according to Elias, that the Yankees have hit multiple grand slams in a game in their franchise history, last doing so in September 1999 against the Toronto Blue Jays.

16. Granderson's past two home runs: an inside-the-park home run (Sunday) and a grand slam (Thursday). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last player to have two consecutive homers be an inside-the-park homer and a grand slam was Carl Crawford in April 2007.

17. Martin's grand slam came on a fastball high in the strike zone. Martin has batted .316 on pitches up in the strike zone with four home runs this season.

18. Oakland issued 13 walks, and allowed 22 runs and 21 hits. The last team to allow 22 runs and 21 hits while issuing 13 walks in a single game was the Boston Red Sox on July 7, 1923, at the Cleveland Indians.

19. All told, six A's pitchers combined to throw 237 total pitches.

20. The game took a total of 4 hours, 31 minutes. It's the longest nine-inning game this season by 33 minutes. It fell just 14 minutes shy of the longest nine-inning game in MLB history (Yankees-Red Sox in August 2006, 4 hours, 45 minutes).

21. Mark Teixeira was the lone Yankees starter to finish without a hit. But he did draw two walks and still drove in two runs (RBI groundout, bases-loaded BB).

22. The Yankees' 22-9 win is the first 22-9 final score in MLB since July 8, 1902 -- this, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Boston Americans 22-9 that day.

Ubaldo Jimenez was traded from the Colorado Rockies to the Cleveland Indians Saturday in exchange for three minor league prospects and a player to be named later.

The Indians trail the division-leading Tigers by 1.5 games and Jimenez could be the jolt their team -- and specifically their rotation -- needs down the stretch. The Indians' starters are in the bottom third of all MLB teams in winning percentage, ERA and innings pitched.

The trade is a change of pace for the Indians, who had been trading away notable players during the season since 2008. CC Sabathia (2008), Cliff Lee (2009), Victor Martinez (2009) and Jake Westbrook (2010) all left the Tribe in in-season deals.

After starting this season 0-5 with a 5.86 ERA, Jimenez has been much closer to his 2010 self in his last 12 starts. Since June 1, Jimenez is 6-4 with a 3.48 ERA and 1.27 WHIP.

Another positive sign for the Indians is that Jimenez’s numbers have been very good away from Coors Field. His record is 3-4 away from Colorado, but his ERA is 3.38 -- as opposed to 5.55 at Coors. In addition, he is holding hitters to a .183 average and striking out 9.8 batters per nine innings away from Coors.

However, some baseball people are wondering why the Rockies are trading a 27-year-old frontline starter who's under contract 2 ½ more years at a team-friendly price in the first place. Do they know something, health wise, that other teams don't? From 2009-10, no starter averaged more velocity on his fastball than Jimenez. This season, after losing nearly three MPH off his fastball, his velocity ranks just 16th among qualified starters.

In other news around baseball Saturday:

• Cliff Lee struck out 11 as the Phillies dropped the Pirates, 7-4. It is Lee’s seventh double-digit strikeout game this season, the most in the majors. Also, it is the most such games in a season by a Phillies pitcher since Curt Schilling recorded 15 in 1998.

• Atlanta’s Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to 21 games. Elias tells us that Uggla's .173 mark at the start of his hitting streak is the lowest in the Live Ball Era (since 1920) for a player with a hitting streak of 20 or more games (minimum 200 at-bats at the start of the hitting streak).

• Robinson Cano joined some exclusive company Saturday, becoming the sixth Yankees hitter to go 5-for-5 or better with 5 or more RBI at home in the Live Ball Era (since 1920). Among those to accomplish the feat are Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio.

Robinson Cano etched his name in the history books with a record-setting championship performance at the Home Run Derby. By outslugging Adrian Gonzalez 12-11 in the finals, Cano set the record for most homers in the final round, since individual competition began in 1995. Cano hit 32 total home runs, tying for the third-most in a single Derby all-time.

Cano also joins Ryne Sandberg in 1990 as the only second baseman to take home the title, and is the third Yankee to win, along with Tino Martinez (1997) and Jason Giambi (2002). With his victory, the Derby has now been won by a left-handed batter in each of the last four years, and in 13 of the last 16 contests.

The New York Yankees are the third team to have three different players win the Derby, along with the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles/California Angels. Andre Dawson (1987), Ryne Sandberg (1990) and Sammy Sosa (2000) did it for the Cubs. Wally Joyner (1986), Garrett Anderson (2003) and Vladimir Guerrero (2007) did it for the Angels.

Adrian Gonzalez came up just short in the finals but had a noteworthy night at the plate. His 11 home runs in the second round are tied for the second-most since 1995, and, with 31 home runs total, he is the fifth player to hit at least 30 homers in a single Derby.

The 23 combined home runs by Cano and Gonzalez in the final round are easily the most by the two participants in the finals under the current format. The previous mark was set by Garret Anderson and Albert Pujols, who combined for 17 in 2003.

David Ortiz bowed out after the second round, but his nine homers in the first two rounds made him the all-time career Home Run Derby leader with 77, three more than Ken Griffey Jr. hit in his eight Derby appearances.

The Yankees and their fans may be excited that Cano is the 2011 Home Run Derby champion, but it’s worth noting this fact: since the current format began in 1995, the Arizona Diamondbacks' Luis Gonzalez in 2001 is the only player to win the Derby and play on a World Series-winning team in the same season.

The 2011 Home Run Derby will take place at Chase Field Monday night. This year the event features simultaneous individual and team contests, as well as a roster of four American League and four National League sluggers selected by captains (and former Derby champions) David Ortiz of the AL and Prince Fielder of the NL.

Let’s take a closer look at the participants and their long-ball credentials heading into the annual slugfest.

American League:

David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox
Season max: 54 in 2006
2011 HR: 19
Longest HR since 2006: May 14, 2010 at Comerica Park (459 feet)
450+ foot HR since 2006: 4
Derby experience: 2004 (three HR, eighth place), 2005 (20 HR, third place), 2006 (13 HR, fourth place), 2010 (32 HR, first place)

Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox
Season max: 40 in 2009
2011 HR: 17
Longest HR since 2006: April 26, 2009 at PETCO Park (471 feet)
450+ foot HR since 2006: 5
Derby experience: 2009 (two HR, seventh place)


Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays
Season max: 54 in 2010
2011 HR: 31
Longest HR since 2006: April 1, 2011 at Rogers Centre (456 feet)
450+ foot HR since 2006: 4
Derby experience: none

Robinson Cano, New York Yankees
Season max: 29 in 2010
2011 HR: 15
Longest HR since 2006: June 16, 2010 at Yankee Stadium (451 feet)
450+ foot HR since 2006: 2
Derby experience: none


National League:

Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers
Season max: 50 in 2007
2011 HR: 22
Longest HR since 2006: April 29, 2011 at Minute Maid Park (486 feet)
450+ foot HR since 2006: 14
Derby experience: 2007 (three HR, sixth place), 2009 (23 HR, first place)

Rickie Weeks, Milwaukee Brewers
Season max: 29 in 2010
2011 HR: 17
Longest HR since 2006: September 20, 2007 at Turner Field (471 feet)
450+ foot HR since 2006: 4
Derby experience: none


Matt Holliday, St. Louis Cardinals
Season max: 36 in 2007
2011 HR: 14
Longest HR since 2006: September 19, 2006 at Coors Field (498 feet)
450+ foot HR since 2006: 24
Derby experience: 2007 (13 HR, third place), 2010 (five HR, fifth place)

Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers
Season max: 28 in 2010
2011 HR: 22
Longest HR since 2006: June 10, 2011 at Coors Field (458 feet)
450+ foot HR since 2006: 5
Derby experience: none


Predictions:
The AL and NL are remarkably balanced in terms of recent home run production - the four AL hitters have struck 79 home runs to the NL’s 73. The primary difference between the two leagues is in raw power, where the NL has a clear advantage: the NL’s four sluggers have combined for 47 home runs of more than 450 feet since 2006 (including 38 by Fielder and Holliday), compared to only 15 for the AL’s four representatives. The NL will exploit this advantage to win the team portion of the event this year.

For the individual title, I expect Ortiz, Bautista, Fielder and Kemp to pass on to the second round, with Bautista and Fielder slugging it out in the final. When the last ball has come to rest in the distant reaches of Chase Field, Prince Fielder will hoist the crossed-bats of the Home Run Derby Championship Trophy for the second time.

You might remember on April 5 when Delmon Young had his game-tying three-run double in the eighth inning of the Minnesota Twins eventual extra-inning win over the New York Yankees. Right fielder Nick Swisher came within a hair of making a game-saving diving catch. Instead, the ball fell just beyond his reach and the Twins tied the game and went on to win the contest a few minutes later.

On Tuesday, in a spot not far from that just-miss, Chicago White Sox right fielder Brent Lillibridge made a diving catch of Robinson Cano’s line drive to end a win over the Yankees. Lillibridge gambled with an all-or-nothing dive and came up successful. Had he missed, as Swisher did, the ball would have likely rolled by him for a walk-off two-run double.

We asked Ben Jedlovec at Baseball Info Solutions (BIS) to take a closer look at both of those plays, to help us quantify the difference between an out and a hit. The results were quite intriguing.

BIS charts every play of every game, using television telecasts to evaluate where on the field every play in a game is made. They use a timer to time how long every fly ball and line drive is in the air, allowing them to compute how often balls hit to certain spots on the field go for hits or outs.

Young’s fly ball had a hang time of 4.4 seconds. BIS was able to determine that a ball hit to a spot within a 10 foot by 10 foot zone of that hit location was a base hit approximately 57 percent of the time at that hang time within the last year. So Swisher wasn’t the only player to miss out on a ball hit into that zone.

To show you the impact that the hang time of a fly ball has on a play, check out the chart on the right, provided the day after Young got his game-tying hit. Had that ball been in the air a few tenths of a second longer, it’s almost certainly an out.

On the other end of the spectrum is Lillibridge’s play. Cano’s line drive stayed in the air for just under 2.5 seconds. Within the last year, there were 61 line drives hit to that area, with hang times that rounded to 2.5 seconds. Lillibridge was one of only three players who were able to turn that batted ball into an out.

Lillibridge’s value as a defensive replacement was accentuated by the Defensive Runs Saved stat, which relies heavily on this type of data (how frequently a fielder turns a batted ball into an out. The player who Lillibridge replaced in the eighth inning, Carlos Quentin, ranked last in the majors among right fielders in Runs Saved last season (an indication that he would have had a tough time turning that ball into an out).

Our second chart shows how frequently a line drive to that approximate spot has been turned into an out over the past season, based on hang time. Had Cano’s ball hung in the air for just a moment less, the Yankees, not the White Sox would have been celebrating.

• Mark Teixeira hit a home run for the second straight game to start the season as the New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers. Teixiera is the first Yankees player since Hideki Matsui in 2005 to do so.

He is just the fourth Yankee over the last 40 seasons to hit a Home Run in each of the teams first two games of the season. Teixiera is finding the beginning of this season much more comfortable than 2010. Last year he had two home runs all of April.

• New season, same story as the Pittsburgh Pirates entered the eighth inning up 3-0, before surrendering five runs as the Chicago Cubs went on to win 5-3.

Pittsburgh allowed a team to score at least five runs in the eighth inning of a game four times last season, which was tied with the Diamondbacks for most in the National League.

• Kyle Drabek allowed just one hit over seven innings as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins. Drabek dominated Twins’ hitters with his fastball.

Of his 101 pitches, 83 were heaters (82 percent), and the Twins went 1-for-16 with five strikeouts in at-bats ending with fastballs. He also closed batters out, retiring 11 of 12 batters when the count got to two strikes.

• Today marked just the fifth time the San Francisco Giants have scored at least 10 runs in a shutout victory over their rival the Los Angeles Dodgers. The last time it happened was back in October of 2004.

• If you thought 10 runs from the Giants was surprising how about an 11-run outburst by the San Diego Padres in a win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Padres did so in a very efficient fashion with just nine hits. It's the first time since May 1, 2001 that they scored 10 runs without getting 10 hits.

• Gordon Beckham continued his scorching start to 2011 picking up two hits and two RBI in the Chicago White Sox victory over the Cleveland Indians.

Beckham kicked off his 2010 campaign in a sophomore slump, hitting just .209 in the first three months of the season. Since that time though he has batted .320 with an on base percentage of .382.

If Beckham were to keep it up he could move into the elite among second basemen. Last season only two second basemen who qualified for the batting title had an on base percentage over .380 for the season. They were Robinson Cano and Chase Utley.

Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton won the American League MVP award Tuesday after a stellar season in which he hit .359 with 32 home runs, 100 RBI and 95 runs scored in only 133 games. He led the AL in batting average, slugging and OPS, and his .359 average was the highest in Rangers franchise history in a single season.

Hamilton is only the third Ranger ever to hit .325 with 30 home runs and 100 RBI, joining former MVPs Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez. And he’s the fifth different player in franchise history to win the MVP award.

Hamilton set career highs in doubles, batting average, slugging and on-base percentage and tied his career high in home runs. Hamilton’s league-leading .359 batting average was impressive considering that he was hitting just .281 in the first two months of the season.

And the left-handed Hamilton was outstanding against right-handed pitchers, hitting .401. That’s the second-highest average against righties in the major leagues over the last 35 seasons, behind only Tony Gwynn’s .404 in 1994 (min. 2.3 PA per team game).

Since MLB went to a 162-game schedule in 1961, only four position players have won the MVP award and played in fewer games in an uninterrupted season. Those four players are some pretty good company: George Brett, Mickey Mantle, Willie Stargell and Barry Bonds.

Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera finished second after hitting .328 with a career high 38 home runs, a league-leading 126 RBI and 111 runs scored. He led the league with a .420 on-base percentage and a 179 OPS+ and slugged a career-high .622. He walked 89 times (career-high) and struck out just 95 times, his fewest strikeouts in a season in which he played at least 100 games.

He was second in the league in hitting and OPS and third in home runs and won the Silver Slugger at a typically loaded position. And Cabrera was just the third player in Tigers franchise history to hit .320 with 30 home runs and 100 RBI in a season, joining Norm Cash and Hank Greenberg.

New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano finished third after hitting .319 with 29 home runs, 109 RBI and 103 runs scored. Cano won the Rawlings Gold Glove this season and became only the fifth second baseman since 1950 to have 200 hits and 100 RBI in the same season. But he tailed off a bit in the last two months after starting the season real hot. Cano hit .334 through the end of July and just .294 from August 1 on.

Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays got a first-place vote and finished fourth after leading the league with 54 home runs and 351 total bases. He played in 161 games and set career highs in nearly every statistical category.

He also finished tied for third in the American League in the next-level metric Wins Above Replacement, which combines a player’s performance both offensively and defensively, in an effort to gauge which player, based on performance and position played, would be toughest to replace.

Voters for the AL Cy Young had a decision to make on whether they valued wins or other statistical measures most when considering baseball’s top pitcher.

Those choosing for AL MVP have a different consideration to ponder. Is it okay for the MVP to miss a significant number of his team's games?

There are a multitude of candidates for the American League’s top honor (the winner will be announced this afternoon), and the one with the best numbers has one shortcoming. Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton played in only 133 of the team's 162 contests.

It has been a long time since AL MVP voters were willing to embrace an extended absence. The last position player to win the AL award with fewer games played in a non-strike season was George Brett (119 games played) for the 1980 Kansas City Royals.

The key to Brett’s win was that his numbers dwarfed everyone else's. Hamilton’s do in certain regards. He led the AL in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS. He hit .405 with a 1.166 OPS from June 1 on. His .401 batting average against right-handed pitching was the second-best of any big leaguer in the past 35 years.

Additionally, Hamilton had a considerable lead on anyone else in the league in the metric Wins Above Replacement. WAR, tracked by Fangraphs.com attempts to combine the value of a player’s offensive contributions (based on a weighted version of on-base average that assigns values to home runs, triples, doubles, singles and walks) and defense (based on a metric that rates the ability to turn batted balls into outs, deter baserunner advancement, and avoid errors).

Hamilton rated eight wins above a replacement-level player, considerably ahead of any other position player in the AL.

Is that enough? That depends on how you feel about the other major candidates. A quick statistical snapshot for each:

Miguel Cabrera
Cabrera, trying to become the first Detroit Tigers position player to win the MVP since Hank Greenberg in 1940, led the AL in on-base percentage and RBI and ranked in the top three in batting average, OPS, and home runs. He also topped the AL in the metric Win Probability Added (explained more in Monday’s MVP preview), which rates offensive impact on the basis of how much each plate appearance contributed to winning.

Robinson Cano
Cano ranked among the top offensive and defensive players at second base all season. He was especially dominant early in the year, hitting .334 with 21 home runs and 71 RBIs in his first 102 games. Cano was the Yankees' top clutch hitter all year. Bill James Online has a variety of measurements regarding performance in key spots and had Cano hitting .326 with a .449 slugging percentage in them. The rest of the Yankees measured .226/.375.

Paul Konerko
Konerko ranked in the top four in the American League in slugging percentage, OPS and home runs, putting him into the mix. He’s also someone whose performance was meaningful despite his team not making the postseason. Konerko hit .311 with a .947 OPS and 21 home runs in situations in which the White Sox were ahead or trailing by three runs or fewer.

CC Sabathia (six innings, 11 hits, two earned runs, no walks, seven strikeouts) is the first pitcher since Bruce Hurst in 1986 to allow at least 11 hits and two runs or fewer in a postseason start.

From the Elias Sports Bureau: Since joining the team in 2009, Sabathia has now won a team-high 16 starts (including two in the postseason) following a Yankees' loss.

Robinson Cano's four home runs in this series is one shy of the most HR in a postseason series by a second baseman. Chase Utley hit five HR in last year's World Series.

Cano and Josh Hamilton each have four HR in this series. The only other postseason series where opposing players each had four HR was the 2004 NLCS: Houston's Carlos Beltran and St. Louis' Albert Pujols.

During the regular season, C.J. Wilson allowed just one home run with no outs in an inning. In Game 5, Nick Swisher and Cano both homered off Wilson with no outs in the third inning. The home runs by Swisher and Cano were the first back-to-back home runs in a postseason game by the Yankees in an LCS since Game 3 of the 2000 ALCS at Seattle (Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez).

Kerry Wood has picked off two Rangers in this series (Ian Kinsler in Game 1, Elvis Andrus in Game 5). He's the first pitcher with two pickoffs in a postseason series since Mark Mulder did it in the 2001 ALDS against the Yankees.

In three wins, the Rangers are hitting .448 (13-for-29) with runners in scoring position, and just .176 (3-for-17) in two losses.