ESPN More Sports

Adam Wainwright regained some of his 2009 and 2010 magic on Tuesday, tossing his third career shutout and first since August 6, 2010.

For a guy who had a 9.78 ERA in his previous four home starts this season, the shutout must have been an especially sweet breath of fresh air for Wainwright.
Here's a look at what made him so succesful:

• Wainwright lived around the edge of the zone with his fastball, especially with two strikes. Fifteen of the 18 (83.3 percent) two-strike fastballs he threw were within four inches of the edge of the zone, both in and out. In his first eight starts this season, 59 percent of his two-strike fastballs were in that location. All four of his strikeouts with his fastball were around the edge; he had only six strikeouts with his fastball there in his first eight starts.

• Wainwright threw 68 fastballs among his 111 pitches (61.3 percent), his highest percentage since coming back from Tommy John surgery and second highest since 2009.

• Wainwright also used his signature curveball to put hitters away. He recorded six outs with his curveball, including four via strikeout, without allowing a hit.

• Wainwright was efficient. He recorded 10 outs on either the first or second pitch of the at-bat, his most in a start since 2009. He averaged just 12.3 pitches per inning, well below his season average of 16.8.

Elsewhere around MLB:

How long had it been since Roy Halladay last lost to the Nationals franchise? They were the Montreal Expos, Halladay was with the Toronto Blue Jays and Halladay had only 27 career wins at the time. The year was 2002. Halladay now has 192 career wins, and had won 11 straight decisions against the Nationals/Expos before this loss.

Albert Pujols' mashed his fourth home run this season and 449th of his career. That ties him with Jeff Bagwell and Vladimir Guerrero for 35th on the all-time HR list. Next up is Carl Yastrzemski with 452.

Ricky Nolasco picked up his 69th career win, passing Dontrelle Willis for the most in Marlins franchise history. Josh Johnson (50) and A.J. Burnett (49) are third and fourth on that list.

Phil Hughes again struggled with the longball. Before Hughes, the last pitcher to allow a HR in each of his first nine starts of a season was Runelvys Hernandez who did so in 12 straight back in 2006 for the Kansas City Royals.

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

1. DARVISH ROUGHED UP, BUT GETS WIN IN DEBUT: Yu Darvish allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings in his MLB Debut, including four in the first inning. However, he got the win as the Texas Rangers won 11-5 against the Seattle Mariners. FROM ELIAS: He was the first pitcher in more than 100 years to win his major-league debut in a start in which he allowed four or more runs in the first inning. That had last been done by Bill Steele of the 1910 St. Louis Cardinals, who surrendered five runs to the Cincinnati Reds in the opening frame of his first big-league game, but was credited with the win when St. Louis rallied for a 14-7 victory.

2. ZITO THROWS FIRST SHUTOUT IN A WHILE: Barry Zito threw his first shutout since 2003 as the San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. FROM ELIAS: Zito ended his streak of 274 consecutive starts without a shutout, the third-longest drought in major-league history. Tim Wakefield (353 straight, from 1997 to 2011) and Kirk Rueter (299 in a row, from 1995-2005) had longer spans.

3. SPURS STREAK ENDS: The San Antonio Spurs' 11-game winning streak was snapped after a 91-84 loss to the Utah Jazz. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili didn’t play on Monday. It is the second time this season that Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili didn’t play in a loss that snapped an 11-game win streak. The first time was on February 21 in a 40-point loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

4. THREE TEAMS GET FIRST WIN, TWO STILL LOOKING: The Giants, Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees all won Monday, leaving just two winless teams remaining in MLB. The Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins both dropped to 0-4 with losses. It’s the Braves worst start since 1988 when they started 0-10. It’s the Twins worst start since 1981, also an 0-4 start.

5. KNICKS-BULLS ... THE REMATCH: The New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls square off in Chicago on Tuesday. The two teams met two days ago in New York with the Knicks winning 100-99 in overtime. Carmelo Anthony scored a season-high 43 points in that game and became the fifth player in the last five seasons to make a game-tying shot in the last 15 seconds in regulation, then make the game-winning shot in the last 15 seconds in OT.

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

1. FREESE PICKS UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF: The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Miami Marlins 4-1 in the first regular-season game at Marlins Park. FROM ELIAS: David Freese had three hits with two RBI. The only other reigning World Series MVP to have at least three hits and two RBI in his team's season opener was Pete Rose, who had three hits and two RBI for the Reds in their 1976 opener.

2. LeBRON ON FIRE: In a potential NBA Finals preview, the Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 98-93. LeBron James scored 34 points. NEXT LEVEL: James accounted for 59.2 percent of the Heat’s points (58 of 98), his highest percentage in any game this season.

3. DYNAMIC DUO: The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Los Angeles Clippers, 113-108. Andrew Bynum scored a game-high 36 points, and Kobe Bryant added 31. FROM ELIAS: Since 1990, the only other pair of Lakers teammates to each score 30 or more points and make at least 65 percent of their shots in one game was Bryant (35 points, 11-16) and Shaquille O'Neal (31 points, 15-23) against Golden State on Feb. 18, 2004.

4. SPURS SPREAD THE WEALTH: FROM ELIAS: The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Boston Celtics despite no San Antonio player scoring 15 points. (Danny Green led the team with 14 points.) It was the fifth win in the Spurs' NBA history in which they didn't have a player score 15 points, and their first since March 27, 2004 against Phoenix.

5. MASTERS TEES OFF: The Masters Tournament begins on Thursday, and since the Augusta National Golf Club added length in 2006, the Elias Sports Bureau says that no champion has finished the first round outside of the top seven on the leaderboard.

Since the inception of the World Series in 1903, there have been three changes to the number of teams qualifying for postseason play: in 1969 with the addition of divisions; in 1994 with the change to three divisions plus the Wild Card; and in 2012 with the inclusion of a second Wild Card in each league.

In the previous system, 26 percent of MLB’s 30 teams made the playoffs each season. The new system raises that number to 33, much closer to the other major North American sports (though MLB still has the lowest percentage of the four).

WILD CARD’S IMPACT
Forcing Wild Card teams into a one-game playoff before joining the division winners in series play places more emphasis on winning the division. It’s a move possibly motivated by the success Wild Cards have had in the past.

In its 17-season existence, five Wild Card teams won the World Series (1997 Florida Marlins, 2002 Anaheim Angels, 2003 Marlins, 2004 Boston Red Sox and 2011 St. Louis Cardinals) and five others won a pennant.

The addition of another spot would seem particularly good news for National League teams.

During the Wild Card era, there have been 14 teams to finish outside the playoffs despite having a better record than one of the division winners in its league. Twelve of those teams were from the National League.

MORE DRAMA?
So exactly how many more teams will be “in the race” down the stretch with another Wild Card team added to the postseason?

Using the admittedly arbitrary premise that any team finishing within five games of a playoff spot could be considered to have been in the race, we found the following:

• In the NL, every season but 2000 saw at least one team within five games of the Wild Card winner. But during that same time, there were 33 teams to finish within five games of the 5th-place team -- or the team that would be the “other” Wild Card.

• In the AL, there hasn’t been a 5th-place team to finish within five games of the Wild Card winner in 10 of the 17 Wild Card seasons. But, in that same span, there have been 27 teams to finish within five games of the 5th-place team -- or the “other” Wild Card.

Using the aforementioned premise, there were about 2.4 teams per season to finish out of the playoffs, but in the race.

In that same period, under the new playoff format, that number would rise to 3.5 teams finishing out of the playoffs, but in the race -- a little more than one extra contending team per season, but not including the extra two playoff teams.

There’s no doubting Albert Pujols’ credentials and accomplishments on the diamond. He’s one of six players with at least 400 home runs, 1,300 RBI and a .325 batting average of the course of a MLB career, joining Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams.

But, Pujols has now made history off the field by signing a 10-year, $250 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels, just the third $200 million contract in MLB history. The other two were signed by Alex Rodriguez.

The overall length of the deal, 10 years, is also historical, as it’s just the sixth contract of that length to be signed in MLB history.

•Dave Winfield (1981-90): After an eight-year run with the San Diego Padres, Winfield headed to the New York Yankees with a 10-year deal worth in excess of $20 million.
•Derek Jeter (2001-10): With four World Series titles under his belt, Jeter got a 10-year, $189 million deal with the Bronx Bombers. He had nearly 2,000 hits during the length of the deal.
•Alex Rodriguez (2001-10 and 2008-17): Rodriguez became the highest-paid player in baseball history with the first deal, signed with the Texas Rangers, but later traded to the Yankees, and upped it with the second deal.
•Troy Tulowitzki (2011-20): Tulowitzki’s 10-year, $157.75 million contract started this year with a good return, as Tulowitzki hit over .300 with 30 home runs and 105 RBI.

So, what are the Angels getting? They’re getting a player who has never finished outside the top nine in MVP voting, with three MVP awards and a pair of Gold Gloves in his time with the St. Louis Cardinals.

He’s already more than two-thirds of the way to 3,000 hits, and his 445 home runs put him in the top 40 all-time. He’s also the active leader in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage among players with at least 3,000 plate appearances.

The Angels weren’t getting much production out of the third spot in the batting order last season, ranking 10th in the American League in OPS, 13th in home runs and 14th in RBI.

Pujols, on the other side, had a .906 OPS, 37 HR and 99 RBI last season, even with playing 147 games. The 99 RBI was a career low.

Pujols should also benefit from moving from Busch Stadium to Angels Stadium.

Over the last three seasons, there have been 236 home runs hit by right-handed batters in Cardinals home games by both teams, and 326 in Cardinals road games.

That converts to a Ballpark Factor of 74, meaning the park depresses home runs by 26 percent, the second-worst mark in MLB for a right-handed power hitter.

At Angels Stadium, the Ballpark Factor is a near-average 96. So if a right-handed hitter hits 20 homers in a season at Busch, it’d translate to 24.7 in Angels Stadium.

Pujols will have to play a considerable number of road games in Seattle and Oakland, ballparks that are unfavorable to right-handed power hitters, but also will be playing road games in Texas and (in 2013 and beyond) in Houston, which are far more favorable.

On Tuesday night, ESPN and Rawlings announced the Gold Glove Award winners for 2011. There were 18 players selected for Gold Gloves and nine of them were first-time winners. Here's a closer look at some notable selections this year:

National League
• St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina won his fourth consecutive Gold Glove. The last National League catcher to win four straight Gold Glove was Charles Johnson, from 1995 to 1998.

Video review by Baseball Info Solutions (BIS), a company that charts every pitch of every game, showed that Molina led the majors in blocks of pitches that were in the dirt with 657.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers outfield duo of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier each won Gold Gloves, with Kemp netting his second and Ethier his first. They’re the first pair of outfield teammates to win Gold Glove Awards in the National League since Andruw Jones and Jeff Francoeur for the 2007 Braves. It’s also the first time Dodgers outfielders have won Gold Gloves in the same season.

• Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Placido Polanco became the second player to win Gold Gloves at multiple positions, joining Darin Erstad, who won as both an outfielder and first baseman. Polanco also won twice previously as a second baseman.

Polanco, in his second season at third base for the Phillies, saw his errors increase from five in 2010 to eight in 2011. However, a closer look at his defensive skills using advanced metrics shows that he actually made big strides in his defensive play this year.

Polanco finished second to San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval in defensive runs saved, a stat devised by sabermetricians Bill James and John Dewan that measures a third baseman’s ability to turn batted balls into outs and defend bunts.

Polanco really improved in turning grounders into outs. Specifically he was much better on balls hit into the areas where third basemen most frequently field balls and balls hit down the third-base line. According to the plus-minus system from BIS, Polanco went from saving five total bases on balls hit to those spots in 2010 to saving 23 bases this year.

American League
• Boston Red Sox centerfielder Jacoby Ellsbury became the first Red Sox outfielder to win a Gold Glove Award since Ellis Burks in 1990. Like Polanco, Ellsbury made a significant statistical jump in his defensive performance from 2009 (his last healthy season) to 2011.

In 2009, he finished near the bottom among center fielders in defensive runs saved, which for outfielders measures their effectiveness at turning batted balls into outs and the value of his throwing arm as a baserunner deterrent. Ellsbury’s defense cost the Red Sox nine runs in 2009, but saved them six runs in 2011, tied for sixth-best in the American League.

• One of the more intriguing selections was in left field where Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon became the first Royals outfielder to win a Gold Glove Award since Jermaine Dye in 2000.

Gordon won on the strength of his major league-best 20 outfield assists, a Royals record and eight more than any other left fielder. However, Gordon’s win deprived New York Yankees leftfielder Brett Gardner of his first Gold Glove Award.

Gardner tied for the major-league lead in defensive runs saved, saving the Yankees 22 runs with his defense. Video review by scouts at BIS also showed Gardner leading all left fielders in “Good Fielding Plays,” which are similar to Web Gem nominees.

In a season filled with so many improbable comebacks, the St. Louis Cardinals had one more rally left in the World Series on Friday night at Busch Stadium.

The Redbirds erased an early 2-0 deficit in the first inning and cruised to a 6-2 victory in Game 7, which gave the Midwestern franchise its 11th World Series title, second-most all-time, and first since 2006.

Let’s recap some of the come-from-behind heroics of these “Cardiac Cards”:

• Cardinals are the second team to win a World Series after being one strike from postseason elimination, joining the 1986 Mets.

• Cardinals are the eighth team since 1980 to come back from a 3-2 series deficit to win the World Series. The last team to do it was the 2002 Angels against the Giants.

• Cardinals clinched a postseason spot on the final day of the regular season. They are the third team in Wild Card Era (since 1995) to do that and win the World Series, joining the 2006 Cardinals and 2010 Giants.

• Cardinals were the sixth team in the Divisional Era (since 1969) to be 10 games out of playoff contention on August 1 or later to make the postseason. The only other team to win the World Series in this span was the 1969 Mets.

The hometown hero, David Freese, earned the World Series MVP. This award came less than two weeks after he won the NLCS MVP. With those two trophies, he became the sixth player to win the LCS and World Series MVP in the same postseason. The others are Willie Stargell (1979), Darrell Porter (1982), Orel Hershiser (1988), Livan Hernandez (1997) and Cole Hamels (2008).

Freese drove in two runs in this deciding game, which gave him a major-league record 21 RBI in the 2011 postseason. He passed Sandy Alomar, Jr. (1997), Scott Spiezio (2002) and David Ortiz (2004), who each had 19.

Chris Carpenter, pitching on three days’ rest, threw six innings of two-run ball to get the win. Carpenter, who also won the deciding Game 5 of the NLDS, is the first pitcher in major-league history to win two winner-take-all games in one postseason.

With the victory, Carpenter improved to 7-0 in postseason home games, joining Curt Schilling as the only pitchers to win their first seven career postseason decisions at home.

Tony La Russa, who joined Bobby Cox and Casey Stengel as the only managers to win three postseason Game 7’s, is now the ninth manager to win at least three World Series titles. Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel have the most rings with seven each.

The Texas Rangers again tasted defeat in the Fall Classic as they became the first American League team to lose back-to-back World Series since the Yankees in 1963 and 1964.

The Rangers still have not won a World Series title in their 51 seasons as a major-league franchise. Of the eight current MLB franchises to never win a World Series, the Rangers have been in existence the longest.

In fact, the Elias Sports Bureau tells us that the Rangers and the Minnesota Vikings are tied for the most seasons played by any franchise - in the NFL, NBA, NHL or MLB - that has never won a championship.

The loss by the Rangers was hardly predictable. Prior to Friday night, the Rangers had not lost consecutive games in more than two months, when they lost three in a row to the Red Sox at home August 23-25.

Was this the most exciting postseason ever? There were 13 one-run games, which is the most in a single postseason all-time. There were also 22 game-tying or go-ahead hits in the World Series, tied for the most in a single World Series with the 1975 series.

The hometown kid was the hero on Thursday night in St. Louis, as the Cardinals staved off elimination in the World Series with a come-from-behind 10-9 win in Game 6.

The Redbirds came back from two-run deficits in both the ninth and 10th innings. No other team has won a postseason game after trailing by two or more runs in the ninth inning and again in extra innings, according to Elias.

David Freese, who went to high school in Wildwood, Missouri, hit the first World Series walk-off homer in Cardinals history to give the Redbirds the win in the 11th inning. Freese also joins Tim McCarver in 1964 as the only Cardinals to hit an extra-inning World Series home run.

The longball gave Freese 19 RBI in the postseason this year, which matches Sandy Alomar, Jr. (1997), Scott Spiezio (2002) and David Ortiz (2004) for the most in a single postseason.

Freese earlier had tied the game with a two-run, two-out triple in the ninth. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Freese is the first player in World Series history to have a game-tying RBI in the ninth inning and then the game-winning RBI in extra innings.

The Cardinals rallied to tie the game with six combined runs in innings eight through 11. Elias tells us that the Cardinals were the first team in postseason history to score in the eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th inning in one game.

The Cardinals have now won Game 6 in five of the last six World Series in which they were down 3-games-to-2. Good news for Cardinals fans: of the five previous times that their team trailed 3-2 in the Fall Classic, they eventually rallied to win the title four times.

Alexi Ogando, Neftali Feliz, and Scott Feldman were all credited with blown saves in Game 6 for the Rangers as the Cardinals made five separate comebacks. It is the first time in World Series history that a team has had three blown saves in a single game.

Josh Hamilton nearly sent the Rangers home winners in the 10th inning, launching a first-pitch fastball over the fence to give the Rangers a 9-7 lead. With that blast, this became the first World Series in major-league history to feature a pair of extra-inning home runs.

Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning to put the Rangers ahead 6-4. Cruz’s homer was his eighth of the postseason, tying Barry Bonds (2002) and Carlos Beltran (2004) for the most in a single postseason in major-league history.

Friday night the Cardinals will host the first World Series Game 7 since 2002 between the Giants and Angels. The Redbirds will have history on their side in the deciding game. The home team has won eight straight World Series Game 7’s. The last team to lose a World Series Game 7 at home was the Orioles in 1979 against the Pirates.

Edwin Jackson's success will be largely predicated on his ability to maintain the success he’s had using the slider as a putaway pitch over the last seven weeks.

In his last 11 appearances, including his NLDS start against the Phillies, Jackson has had great success finishing hitters off with his key pitch. He’s used it to get 42 outs, while yielding only five hits. His ratio of getting better than eight outs for every hit he’s allowed with that pitch is twice the rate that he was getting this season prior to that.

The difference over the last couple of months for Jackson is the location of the pitch. Earlier in the season, Jackson hung a few too many to right-handed hitters over the middle of the plate. But in the last month, the pitch has had a greater drop, hitting the edges of the plate, or tumbling out of the strike zone.

The heat maps above show the difference in Jackson’s slider location in July and August versus what it was in September.

The Brewers have seen plenty of Jackson’s slider over the last two seasons, and they’re a bit overeager against it. Jackson has gotten strikes with his slider nearly 70 percent of the time against the Brewers since 2010. They’ve chased more than half of the ones he’s thrown out of the strike zone. Comparitively, other teams chase that pitch from him about one-third of the time.

Over the last two seasons, Jackson has rung up 18 strikeouts of Brewers batters in four games. Twelve of those have been on the slider, 11 of them swinging-- and all 11 on sliders out of the zone.

Three games in action on the diamond Sunday, with plenty to digest. Here's the Stats & Info roundup on the Sunday that was:

Tigers 5, Yankees 3 (series tied 1-1)
Detroit starter Max Scherzer became the third pitcher to throw at least six scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits or fewer, in a postseason game against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium (other two are Warren Spahn and Cliff Lee).

Miguel Cabrera became the first Tigers player with three hits and three RBI in a postseason game since Kirk Gibson in Game 5 of the 1984 World Series.

Cabrera is the fifth player in Tigers history with such a game, joining Hank Greenberg (twice), Al Kaline, Alan Trammell (twice) and Gibson.

Looking ahead: The last eight times the Yankees have played in a division series, their Game 2 result matched the series result.

Brewers 9, Diamondbacks 4 (Brewers lead series 2-0)
Milwaukee won Game 2 of a postseason series for the first time in five tries. Their 9 runs tied the second-most they'd ever scored in a postseason game. It also tied the second-most runs allowed by the Diamondbacks in a postseason game.

Brewers pitchers struck out a team postseason-record 13, surpassing the mark of 11 set in Game 3 of the 1982 ALCS against the Angels.

The Brewers bullpen, which had a 1.14 ERA in September, pitched four scoreless innings of relief. They've thrown five scoreless innings this series.

Looking ahead: While the Brewers are now 8-4 at home in postseason history, they're just 3-8 on the road.

Cardinals 5, Phillies 4 (series tied 1-1)
The Cardinals bullpen allowed no runs and one hit in six innings of relief. It's the second time in team history the Cardinals came back from four or more runs down to win a postseason game. The other such rally came in Game 3 of the 1987 NLCS against the Giants, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

It's the second time in Phillies history they blew a lead of four or more runs in a postseason game, with the other coming in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series against the Blue Jays, also according to Elias.

Albert Pujols hit the go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning, his third such RBI in the seventh inning or later of a postseason game. His three go-ahead hits in the seventh or later are the most by a Cardinals player in the postseason.

Cliff Lee lost his third straight postseason decision (started out 7-0), allowing five runs. His four earned runs allowed matched the number he'd allowed in 32 1/3 LDS innings prior to Sunday.

Lee is the first NL pitcher to allow at least five runs and 12 hits in a postseason game since Slim Sallee of the 1917 Giants.

Of note: With this series being even, there are three League Division Series even for the first time since 2003.

The Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals play the rubber match of their three-game series in St. Louis at 8 ET on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN.

The Rockies probably would prefer the game take place on a different day of the week -- Colorado is 2-16 (.125) on Sundays and 53-48 (1.10) the rest of the week, and has been outscored 99-43 in the 16 losses.

The Rockies have lost 16 straight games on Sunday, tied with the 1960 Phillies for the longest single-season losing streak on Sundays since 1900.

On the mound

The Rockies send Esmil Rogers to the mound on his 26th birthday. Rogers is 5-1 with a 4.91 ERA as a starter this season (six starts).

Rogers has pitched well on the road as a starter in his career. This year he is 4-0 with a 3.33 ERA and .276 opp BA in four road starts (1-1, 9.35 ERA and .351 opp BA in two home starts).

None of the past 11 pitchers to start a game on their birthday have won. These 11 pitchers are a combined 0-8. The last starting pitcher to win on his birthday was Randy Wells -- Aug. 28, 2010, for the Cubs against the Reds.

The Cardinals counter with Edwin Jackson. Since being traded to St. Louis, Jackson is 1-2 and has allowed 11 earned runs and 27 hits.

Jackson has struggled against the Rockies in his career. He has allowed at least five earned runs in each of his five starts against them and has never pitched more than five innings in any of those starts.

His 17.28 ERA against the Rockies is the WORST by any active pitcher against a team (minimum five starts). The next-worst is Jose Contreras, with a 9.79 ERA facing Texas.

Matchups

Matt Holliday was a key part of the Rockies' run to the World Series in 2007, winning the National League Championship Series MVP that year. Since leaving the team, he’s had a lot of success against them.

He’s hitting .378 (17-for-45) and slugging .644 with a 1.106 OPS, including three doubles and three home runs against the Rockies in his career. His .378 BA and 1.106 OPS are both his second best against any team he’s had at least 50 PA against.

Troy Tulowitzki is hitting .388 with 17 HR in wins (54 games), and just .220 with six HRs in losses (60 games). That’s the highest batting average in wins on the team and the second-lowest batting average in losses among the regulars (min. 300 PA).

Stat of the game

In the 63 games without at least one of their core players (Matt Holliday, Lance Berkman, Albert Pujols), the Cardinals average 4.3 runs per game and hit .257, and are 34-29. In the 55 games where the three players are all in the starting lineup, they average 5.2 runs per game and are hitting .284, and are 29-26.

Albert Pujols hit his 428th career home run in the Cardinals' 4-1 win against the Reds. With it, he passed Mike Piazza for 41st on the all-time home run list.

The long ball also happened to be Pujols' 20th of the season. He's the third player in MLB history to hit at least 20 home runs in each of his first 11 seasons, joining Eddie Mathews (14) and Frank Robinson (12).

As Pujols continued to stay hot at the plate (he has three home runs in his last four games), teammate Chris Carpenter continued to put behind him what was a rocky start to the season.

Carpenter won his fourth straight decision (in five starts), posting a 1.66 ERA in that span, a stretch only more noteworthy considering his 1-7 mark in 15 starts to begin the season.

Pujols wasn’t the only player on Saturday to hit his 20th home run.

In the Florida Marlins' 13-3 win against the Chicago Cubs, Mike Stanton hit home runs No. 19 and 20 to become the 11th player this season to reach 20 home runs.

Stanton is one of five players this season with at least 20 home runs and only one multi-HR game. The others: Matt Kemp, Prince Fielder, Jay Bruce and Nelson Cruz.

Stanton has an average home run distance of 414 feet this season (league average is 395.1 feet) and all but three of his 2011 homers have traveled at least 400 feet.

NOTES FROM THE MOUND

• As a member of the New York Yankees, CC Sabathia (8 IP, ER) is 4-0 in four starts against the Toronto Blue Jays. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Sabathia is the second pitcher in franchise history with at least five straight starts of at least 7 innings and one or fewer runs allowed. Steve Kline had six such straight starts in 1972.

Sabathia threw 27 sliders and the Blue Jays swung at 18, missing 10. Hitters were 1-for-11 in at-bats ending with Sabathia's slider, including six strikeouts. He also got the Blue Jays to swing at 10 of 16 sliders out of the strike zone, resulting in four of the strikeouts.

• Elsewhere, Cole Hamels’ struggles against the New York Mets continued. Hamels is just 3-10 in his career against New York and his ERA is nearly a run-and-a-half higher than against the rest of the NL East.

Hamels entered with a 1.54 ERA in his previous 9 starts, but allowed a season-high 7 runs.

Tuesday saw several notable historic achievements around Major League Baseball. Below is a series of notes and tidbits from Tuesday's slate of action.

1. Throwback night for the New York Yankees

In the Yankees' 9-2 win over the Cleveland Indians, both Curtis Granderson and CC Sabathia joined the ranks of history. Granderson hit two home runs, giving him 25 on the season. Not only does that already exceed his total from all of 2010, but it gives both he and Mark Teixeira 25 HR on the season.

The Elias Sports Bureau confirmed that the only other time in which the Yankees had two players with at least 25 HR before the All-Star break came in 1961. That season, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle did so en route to Maris' then-record-setting 61 home run season.

On the pitching side of the ledger, Sabathia became the fifth pitcher in the last 20 seasons to win at least 12 games before the All-Star break in consecutive seasons. Sabathia also firmly established himself in Yankees history, as he and Ron Guidry in 1978 are now the only Yankees pitchers with 2 straight starts of 10 or more strikeouts and zero runs allowed. Some additional details on how Sabathia won on Tuesday:

• Once again, Sabathia had his slider working. He had nine strikeouts with the pitch, his most since July 13, 2008. The Indians swung at 16 Sabathia sliders, missing on 13, the most misses by a team against Sabathia's starter since that start in 2008. The Indians missed on 81.5 percent of their swings against Sabathia's slider, highest by a team against Sabathia since 2006 in a start in which he threw at least 12 sliders.

• Sabathia went to his slider with two strikes more than in any of his starts in the last three seasons. Sixteen of his 27 two-strike pitches were sliders (59.3 percent), his highest percentage of two-strike sliders in the last three seasons. Indians hitters were 0 for 12 in at-bats ending with a slider; all of those at-bats ended in two-strike counts. The 12 outs with his slider are the most in a start by Sabathia since July 13, 2008.

• He had even more success with his slider when he kept it down. Twenty of Sabathia's 28 sliders were down in the zone or below it, and Sabathia got eight of his nine slider strikeouts on those low pitches. Indians hitters missed on 11 of 12 swings against Sabathia's slider when it was low.

• Sabathia had more velocity on his fastball than in any start this season. His fastball Tuesday averaged 95.6 MPH, almost a full mile per hour more than in any previous start this season. Sabathia's fastball has averaged more than 94.1 MPH three times this season, all in the last three starts.

2. The Good and the Bad in Reds-Cardinals

With his 23rd home run of the season, Lance Berkman now has 350 career home runs. That ties him with Chili Davis for fourth all-time among switch hitters. On the flip side, the starter for the Cincinnati Reds -- Edinson Volquez -- once again struggled in the first inning.

He entered Tuesday with a 12.00 first-inning ERA and six first-inning home runs allowed. On Tuesday, Volquez yielded two more first-inning home runs. His road ERA now stands at 6.35 for the season.

3. Pirates Up, Brewers Down in NL Central

The Pittsburgh Pirates won their 45th game this season and, consequently, moved four games above .500. Last season, Pittsburgh did not get win No. 45 until September 3. It's the first time since April 26, 2009 that the Pirates are four games above .500.

The Milwaukee Brewers' loss Tuesday was their second straight home loss. They hadn't lost two straight home games all season. They had been the only team this season not to lose consecutive home games.

4. Another night, more struggles for Adam Dunn

In a season that has seen his OPS drop 282 points from 2010, Adam Dunn once again struggled on Tuesday. Dunn went 0-5 with three strikeouts in the Chicago White Sox loss to the Kansas City Royals. That marks Dunn's 75th game over the last 10 seasons where he went hitless with three or more strikeouts. That is easily the most such games during that span, a full 25 games ahead of second-place Jack Cust. It was Dunn's 12th such game this season.

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price just missed out on the complete-game win against the Toronto Blue Jays, striking out 10 in 8 2/3 innings in Thursday's 3-1 win.

Ninety-nine of Price's 118 pitches were fastballs (83.9 percent), finishing nine of his strikeouts with his heater.

Thursday was merely a continuation of what Price has done to Toronto in his career, improving to 8-0 in nine career starts against Toronto.

The Elias Sports Bureau added that only one active American League pitcher has as many as eight wins without a loss (in starts) against an opposing team: Jon Lester (14-0 in starts against the Baltimore Orioles).

Price has four career 10-strikeout games, and improved to 19-7 career at home.

BERKMAN CONTINUES TO RAKE
Lance Berkman continued his tear to begin the season, hitting a go-ahead three-run home run in the St. Louis Cardinals' 6-3 win against the Florida Marlins.

The home run was Berkman's 10th of the season, and it comes in his 29th game. Last season, it took Berkman 70 games to hit his 10th home run.

This is the third-fastest Berkman has reached 10 home runs in a season; he got there in 20 games in 2002 and 24 games in 2006.

DOC HALLADAY CONTINUES NATIONAL DOMINANCE
Roy Halladay struck out 10 in seven innings of work, helping the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-3 victory against the Washington Nationals.

Halladay has simply dominated the Nationals in his career, moving his record to 10-1 with a 2.01 ERA against the Nationals.

His 32 strikeouts in his past three starts are the most in any three-start span of his career, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

All the while, Halladay avoided issuing any free passes, notching his third 10-strikeout, no-walk game in the past two years. Only Cliff Lee has as many such games in that same span.

LANNAN REMAINS WINLESS AGAINST THE PHILS
While Halladay was tossing a gem, his counterpart, John Lannan, continued to struggle against Philadelphia.

Lannan fell to 0-10 with a 6.44 ERA in 13 career starts against the Phillies.

It wasn't the only streak Lannan "managed" to keep alive. With his peg of Shane Victorino, Lannan has now hit a Phillies batter in four consecutive starts.

CLEVELAND STILL ROCKING
The Cleveland Indians won 4-3 in 12 innings against the Oakland Athletics, improving to 21-9 for the season.

It's tied for their best 30-game start to a season in franchise history, which they've done seven other times prior to this season.

In five of the seven instances they made the playoffs, twice winning the World Series.

With a 2-for-4 day at the plate Thursday, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday continued his torrid start to the season, upping his batting average to an MLB-leading .417.

It’s almost hard to believe that this is the same Holliday who underwent an appendectomy at the beginning of the season, which forced him to miss seven games.

But he’s been locked in ever since his return on April 10. His current average is 25 points higher than the next closest player -- teammate Lance Berkman.

And while his hot start may be absent power (just four home runs in 25 games), it’s been ground balls that have helped him bat at such a high clip.

So far this season, Holliday is hitting 44.7 percent of batted balls on the ground –- not far off his career percentage of 45 percent.

But it’s his average in those instances that have been the difference. Holliday is batting a whopping .441 on ground balls, compared to a .279 BA on ground balls last season.

Another area where Holliday has improved, from this season to last, has been against left-handed pitchers.

Entering 2011, Holliday had a career .307 BA with a .509 slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers. To begin this season he is batting .429 and slugging .857 against lefties.

Overall, he’s continued to be a model of consistency. The lowest Holliday’s average has dipped this season was .333 on April 13.

But 12 multi-hit games in the 20 games since helped him keep his batting average above .400 through April into early May.

While it’s difficult to imagine Holliday continuing at such a rate, his career averages from May through July might suggest he’s just getting started.

His averages progress upward from May (.315 BA) to July, with a .327 BA in June and a .331 BA in July (his best of any month).