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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Los Angeles Dodgers visit the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday Night Baseball (ESPN, 8 ET).

Last month, the Angels released Scott Kazmir and ate the remaining $9.5 million on his contract. It's another chapter in a run of very expensive acquisitions that have not played out well for the Angels.

While the pattern started before GM Tony Reagins took over, the situation has worsened since. To see how unsuccessful the moves have been we can look at dollars spent per wins above replacement (WAR).

Gary Matthews Jr. -- Offseason prior to 2007 (free agency)
Contract: five years, $50 million (2007-11)

Matthews Jr.

Comments: Matthews was both the first in the run of bad acquisitions and looked to be easily the worst until the Vernon Wells trade. The Angels bit on Matthews’ career year with the Rangers in 2006, which was both out of line with his career and oddly timed given his age. The Angels released Scott Kazmir with part of a season left on his deal; they released Matthews Jr. with two full seasons left on his deal. In the three seasons he did play for the Angels, he contributed production below replacement value. For the cost of $50M, Matthews Jr. provided a robust minus-0.5 wins above replacement. Net result: $50M for minus-0.5 WAR.

Scott Kazmir -- Midway through 2009 season (via trade with Rays)
Contract: $22.5 remaining at time of trade (2010-11, 2012 buyout)

Kazmir

Comments: Kazmir was effective for the Angels in 2009, going 2-2 with a 1.73 ERA in six starts. Unfortunately, the wheels came off after that, as Kazmir’s velocity declined and his effectiveness went with it. In 2010 and 2011, Kazmir combined to go 9-15 with a 6.17 ERA in 151 ⅔ IP. Between 2010 and 2011, the Angels paid Kazmir $20M and received below replacement level production. Net result: $22.5M for minus-1.0 WAR. **Excludes 2009 partial season given difficulties in parsing out split-season WAR.**

Fernando Rodney -- Offseason prior to 2010
Contract: two years, $11 million (2010-11)

Rodney

Comments: This contract is obviously still going, but Rodney has been a mix of ineffective and unavailable during his tenure with the Angels. Rodney contributed just 0.3 WAR during his 2010 season and, in his brief time in 2011, went backward, contributing minus-0.1 WAR. While Rodney still has time to turn around this particular season, it’s almost certain he’s not going to be able to turn around the value of the contract. More than 40 percent through this season, the Angels have paid him approximately $8M of the $11M he’s owed. Net result: $8M for 0.2 WAR.

Vernon Wells -- Offseason prior to 2011
Contract: $81M remaining on contract at time of trade

Wells

Comments: Even though he possessed a contract that was largely considered unmovable within baseball, the Angels welcomed Wells -- a player clearly on the downslope of his career -- and almost the entirety of his contract. He’s owed $23M in 2011 and $21M in each season from 2012 to 2014. The Blue Jays chipped in only $5M to facilitate the deal.

Not only did the acquisition of Wells result in $80M worth of dead weight, it also blocked the team’s best prospect -- arguably the best prospect in baseball -- Mike Trout. Wells has posted a .212/.244/.385 line this season, good for minus-0.3 WAR. There are three full seasons left on this deal, but they’ve already paid him approximately $10M and received below replacement level production. Net result: $10M for minus-0.3 WAR.

The Angels have spent approximately $90 million on players who have actually provided a net negative contribution (relative to replacement level).

Given that teams usually spend somewhere around $4-5 million per marginal win on the open market, the idea of paying more than $90 million for negative wins is almost unfathomable.

The most eye-opening angle is that the team still owes Wells more than $70 million, which means there’s a good chance this below-replacement-level bill could ultimately exceed $150 million. Or, in other words, approximately the Florida Marlins' team payrolls from 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 … combined.

(What you need to know for tonight’s Angels-Red Sox game at 7 ET on ESPN.)

This series between the Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox is the last time they will play this season, and Los Angeles probably can’t wait to get out of Boston. Since 1987 -- the year after the Red Sox erased a 3-1 deficit in the 1986 ALCS -- the Angels are 49-82 at Fenway Park.

After taking nine of 10 from the Angels last season, Boston this season is 6-0 against them. In those 16 games, the Red Sox have outscored the Angels 104-49.

The Angels do have the second-best road record in the American League behind the Tampa Bay Rays, but have allowed 16 runs to the Red Sox in the first two games of this four-game series.

On Tuesday, Angels hitters struck out 12 times. They lead the American League with 234. That’s very unusual for a Mike Scioscia managed-team. Since Scioscia took over as Angels manager in 2000, they’ve struck out the fewest times of any team in baseball, and have ranked in the top half of the American League at avoiding strikeouts in each of the last 10 seasons. The only season they ranked in the top five for most strikeouts was in 2000, Scioscia’s first season.

Vernon Wells, who’s struck out 24 times this season, is still hitting under .200 (.176) with just two home runs.

Why has Wells struggled thus far? He’s not chasing or swinging at more pitches this season, but he’s missing more pitches. Last season, Wells’ miss percentage was 20.7 percent. This year it’s 24.6 percent. He’s also hitting just .163 against right-handed pitching this season after hitting .291 against righties last season.

Perhaps Josh Beckett, who’s on the mound tonight for the Red Sox, is just what Wells needs to break out of his season-long slump. In 41 at-bats against Beckett, Wells has hit five home runs -- but only one in his last 30 at-bats.

Beckett will be pitching for the first time in a week. Boston has lost Beckett’s last four regular-season starts against the Angels in Fenway Park. In those starts, he’s 0-2 with a 5.74 ERA

Boston started 2-10, but has rebounded to go 12-5, and starting pitching has been key. In the first 12 games, Boston's starters had a 6.71 ERA and allowed 14 home runs, both of which were worst in the American League through April 15. In their last 17 games, the starters have a AL-best 1.86 ERA and have allowed just six home runs.

With Beckett on the mound, will Jason Varitek be behind the plate? If so, don’t expect him to have much success at the plate against Angels starter Ervin Santana (1-for-15 lifetime). The only active pitcher Varitek has faced at least 15 times and fared worse against is Santana’s teammate, Joel Pineiro (0-for-16).

In fact, the Red Sox have received very little offensive production from their catchers. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Varitek have combined to hit .167 with no home runs and seven RBI.

While Varitek has struggled against Santana, Carl Crawford has not. He’s 10-for-31 against Santana, and Crawford is showing signs of putting his bad start behind him.

Although Crawford is starting to hit (6-for-11 in May), Boston still is not hitting when it counts. The Red Sox rank 12th in the American League in batting with runners in scoring position (.225), and seventh in the league with the bases loaded (.267).

Today’s Trivia: On Monday, the Los Angeles Angels' Jered Weaver looks to become the first American League pitcher since Zack Greinke in 2009 to win each of his first six starts. Who was the last American League pitcher to lose each of his first six starts in a season?

Weaver is off to one of the hottest starts in the American League, but there are several others who are not:

• The New York Yankees' Brett Gardner is hitting .140, which ranks last among 187 qualifying hitters. He’s 0-for-21 with 10 strikeouts on at-bats ending in an off-speed pitch.

• Gardner’s teammate Nick Swisher is 4-for-43 (.093) against right-handed pitches, a year after hitting a career-best .285 with 25 home runs against them.

• As a member of the Washington Nationals last season, Adam Dunn hit .314 with 24 home runs on at-bats ending in a fastball. In his first season in the American League, Dunn’s hitting .067 with two hits in 30 at-bats.

• The Chicago White Sox's Alex Rios is hitless in his last 20 at-bats, and has seen his batting average drop to .160. Last season, on pitches down the middle, Rios hit .392. This season? 1-for-12 (.083).

• The Angels Vernon Wells is 1-for-29 (.034) with two strikes in the count.

• Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury already has struck out looking 11 times this season, tied for the most in the majors.

• The Oakland Athletics' Daric Barton is 0-for-19 this season on pitches located up in the strike zone or above the strike zone. Last season, he hit .315 (34-108) on those pitches.

• With a 29.4 swing percent, Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana has been swinging at fewer pitches than anyone else in the league. (He was at 38.7 last season.) But the bigger discrepancy is his swing percent at pitches in the strike zone. Last season it was 61.9. In 2011, it’s just 47.2, fifth lowest in the majors.

Sunday was Derek Jeter’s first four-hit game before the month of May since April 9, 2001, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Jeter now has 36 four-hit games in his career, tied for third among Yankees in the Live Ball era (since 1920). Lou Gehrig has the most with 53 followed by Earle Combs’ 37.

Staying with the Yankees, A.J. Burnett is 8-0 in the month of April as a member of the Yankees, and 18-24 after April. The Yankees will be facing Phil Humber tonight at Yankee Stadium. Opponents are hitting just .061 (2-33) against Humber’s off-speed pitches this season.

Trivia Answer: In 2007, Jered’s brother Jeff Weaver was 0-6 after six starts for the Seattle Mariners.

Today’s Trivia: Can you name the only two players with 50+ home runs for both the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees?

Quick Hits: Let’s take a look at some fast facts regarding the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry and what the fresh faces might mean for 2011.

• The Red Sox and Yankees have split the season series 9-9 in each of the past three seasons. That includes 2009 when the Red Sox took the first eight games against New York.

• Joe Girardi took over in 2008, so that makes him an even 27-27 against Boston while with New York. Including the postseason, Terry Francona is 67-69 against the Yankees as Boston manager.

• According to Elias, this will be the 28th time that the Red Sox have had their home opener against the Yankees. Boston has won the last six and in 14-13 overall.

• The last time the Red Sox faced the Yankees while on a six-game losing streak. According to Elias, it was in the midst of a nine-game streak in 2001. The last time the Red Sox snapped a six-game losing streak against the Yankees? May 1998.

• Mark Teixeira hit eight home runs against the Red Sox last season. That’s the most by a Yankees hitter since Mickey Mantle clubbed nine in 1958. Oddly, Teixeira hit just .237 against Boston in 2010.

• Adrian Gonzalez has never beaten the Yankees, though he’s only had had three chances. Friday is also the Fenway Park debut for the hitter who has the most opposite field home runs in the majors since 2008.

• By contrast, Carl Crawford has almost a full season of data against New York. With a .301 lifetime average, he has 171 hits in 138 games. Among active players, only Manny Ramirez and Vernon Wells have more hits against New York, who is actually tied with David Ortiz for third. In 2005, Crawford tallied 35 hits against the Yankees, the first person to do that since Dale Mitchell in 1952.

• Since 2009, Dan Wheeler has made 10 appearances against the Yankees, but only lasted 5⅓ innings while allowing six home runs. His ERA in that span? 20.25. The Yankees are hitting .467 with a 1.634 OPS.

• It looks like Dennys Reyes won’t quite get to experience the rivalry, as he was designated for assignment Friday. If this is it for Reyes in a Boston uniform, he will go down as the only pitcher in Red Sox history with more hit batsmen (2) than innings pitched (1⅔).

• Russell Martin has faced the Red Sox in three games, and is just 1-for-11 (.091).

• Rafael Soriano has been excellent against the Red Sox in his career with a 2.61 ERA and .178 opponent batting average. He had five saves against Boston last season, the most for a pitcher since Francisco Rodriguez in 2008.

Trivia Answer: Johnny Damon and Mike Stanley are the only players with 50+ HR with both the Yankees and Red Sox. Babe Ruth? He only had 49 homers with Boston.

The Los Angeles Angels didn’t make any moves Tuesday, yet the team’s offseason managed to become even more bizarre.

Last week, the Angels traded catcher Mike Napoli and outfielder/DH Juan Rivera to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Vernon Wells. As the trade was almost entirely about dumping salary for the Blue Jays, the inclusion of Napoli and Rivera can be viewed as a throw-in from the Angels side to help mitigate the impending payroll increase.

That trade has been analyzed by many, but it became even more perplexing Tuesday.

Why? Because on Tuesday, Toronto traded Napoli to the Texas Rangers for reliever Frank Francisco. While neither of those names is front-page material, it relates directly to the core issues: the Angels undervaluing Napoli, and their offseason-long pursuit of relief pitching.

On December 2, 2010, the Angels signed Hisanori Takahashi to a two-year, $8 million deal. Ten days later, they signed Scott Downs to a three-year, $15 million contract. Clearly, the bullpen was an area in which the Angels were looking to invest.

While Downs has been a consistently good reliever, and Takahashi showed the ability in his first major-league season last year, Francisco has also shown that ability.

Rather than committing multiple years to multiple relievers, the Angels could have used a commodity (Napoli) to acquire a high-strikeout pitcher for the back end of the bullpen (Francisco). While Downs is solid, predicting reliever performance two or three years down the line is difficult.

The Angels would have been on the hook for just one year with Francisco instead of multiple years for Downs and Takahashi, not to mention at a lower yearly rate.

To make matters worse, the Angels surrendered a second-round pick in this year’s MLB Draft to the Blue Jays when they signed Downs.

So, while the Wells trade made headlines, the peripheral moves have been filled with questions.

Francisco has equaled Downs in Wins Above Replacement the last three seasons (3.6), while posting a significantly higher strikeout rate per nine innings (10.6 to 7.5).

Although both Downs and Takahashi might have been effective last season, it’s an issue of efficiency. The Angels spent $23 million on free agent relievers, when Napoli could have been moved to acquire a much less expensive reliever of similar value.

Our regular statistical survey on some of the notable baseball moves from the past week

What are the biggest areas to watch for new Tampa Bay Rays DH Manny Ramirez in 2011?

Two things to track, based on the data provided to us by Inside Edge (which does video review for every major league pitch) are his performance against breaking pitches, and his production against pitches that are thrown in areas in which he has a history of driving the ball.

The biggest area of decline for Ramirez has been in how he fared when a right-handed pitcher threw him a curveball or slider.

Last season, Ramirez missed on 49 percent of the swings he took against those pitches from right-handers, a significant jump from how frequently he missed in each of the prior three seasons (28 percent in 2007, 34 percent in 2008, 35 percent in 2009).

That led to him hitting .140 in at-bats that ended with a breaking ball from a righty, a figure 86 points below league average and 96 points below what he’d done in 2009.

One particular area of the strike zone Ramirez struggled with was on pitches located in the middle of the plate, and those that came middle-in.

Inside Edge charts a stat, “Well-Hit Average,” a rating based primarily on line drives and deep outfield fly balls. From 2005 to 2009, Ramirez’s Well-Hit Average on pitches charted by Inside Edge was .199 on pitches over the middle of the plate, and .114 against pitches that were middle-in. Both of those are significantly better than league average.

In 2010, those numbers dipped to .127 and .075 respectively, partly explaining the struggles he had last season.
-- Derek Czenczelewski

Damon, Pavano contracts in perspective
At the moment, Johnny Damon’s $5.25 million salary makes the highest-paid player on the Tampa Bay Rays for 2011. He’s the only player on the team slated to earn at least $5 million next season.

A search of Cot’s Baseball Contracts shows that every team has at least one player earning at least $5 million in 2011.

The Royals are the only team without a player whose base salary is $5 million, but newly-signed Billy Butler’s $3 million salary and $2 million signing bonus put that deal at the $5 million mark for this season.

The two-year, $16.5 million contract that Carl Pavano inked with the Minnesota Twins is nearly an unprecedented free agent signing for the franchise.

Not only is it just the third multi-year free agent contract given to a pitcher by the team, but it’s also only the second time that Minnesota has spent at least $10 million on a free agent pitcher over the last 20 offseasons.

In 1995 the team handed Rick Aguilera a three-year $9 million contract , its longest for a pitcher and their only previous multi-year deal.

In 2004 the Twins gave Brad Radke a two-year, $18 million dollar deal, its largest contract given to a free agent pitcher.
-- Katie Sharp

Boyer suited for ROOGY role
Over the last few years, statisticians have referred to left-handed specialists as LOOGYs (left-handed one-out guys). Now, we’ve begun to see the term ROOGY (for right-handers) tossed around a little bit. The pitcher for whom it may be the best fit is recently-signed New York Mets reliever, Blaine Boyer.

Right-handed hitters hit .198 against him last season. Left-handed hitters drilled him for a .352 opponents batting average. Among those who faced at least 100 hitters from each side of the plate, no pitcher last season had a wider gap in opponents batting average between righties and lefties than Boyer did, 154 points.

The pitcher on the opposite end of the spectrum was Angels righty Scot Shields. Right-handed hitters batted .333 against him. Left-handers hit just .172, an unusual 161-point difference for a right-handed pitcher.
-- Mark Simon

Frustrated in their attempts to sign a big-ticket free agent, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are on the verge of a major pickup, outfielder Vernon Wells, but he’s one who may hurt them statistically in one significant area.

The Angels may have weakened their lineup against left-handed pitching, against which they hit .243 in 2010, fourth-worst among major league teams. They also hurt themselves against lefties by dealing catcher/first baseman Mike Napoli to the Blue Jays -- a team that had the lowest batting average in the majors against southpaws last season (.215).

Of the 96 right-handed hitters with at least 250 plate appearances against left-handed pitching in the last two seasons, Wells’ .619 OPS ranks second-worst, trailing only Brendan Ryan. His .201 batting average against lefties in that span is the worst in baseball.

Yet Wells’ numbers against right-handed pitching are pretty good -- a .285 batting average and .822 OPS over the last two seasons.

The difference in Wells’ splits vs left-handed and right-handed pitching, in both batting average and slugging percentage, is the greatest for any right-handed hitter in baseball.

The Angels felt it was worth the risk to pick up a player who ranked in the top 10 in the American League in extra-base hits, home runs, and slugging percentage last season.

It’s also possible that Wells could revert to the form that made him a quality hitter against lefties. From 2005 to 2008, he had a .331 batting average and .924 OPS against left-handed pitching.

The biggest issue that has led to Wells’ decline in that area has been his struggles with breaking pitches. We can break that down with our Inside Edge video scouting data.

While many right-handed hitters mash a curve or slider from a lefty, Wells struggles to get hits against that pitch. In 2007 and 2008, Wells got hits on 13 and 14 percent of his swings against breaking balls from lefties, respectively. Over the last two seasons, those numbers dropped dramatically, to four percent of swings in 2009 and eight percent in 2010.

Last season, Wells missed on 41 percent of the swings he took at lefties’ breaking balls. That’s a huge jump from the 27 percent rate he maintained in both 2008 and 2009.

Wells won’t be able to get any tutelage from Napoli, who is one of the best in baseball at hitting left-handed pitching. His .966 OPS against southpaws last season rated fourth-best in the American League. But Napoli is headed eastward, to the Rogers Centre, a ballpark that might allow him to boost those totals even further.

That’s another factor that may concern Wells and his new team. Last season, he hit .321 and averaged a home run every 14.5 at-bats at home, but just .227 with a homer nearly half as often in road contests.

With each home run, the Toronto Blue Jays seem to tie or break a statistical mark.

In a 5-4 loss on Saturday to the Minnesota Twins, Edwin Encarnacion hit his 20th home run of the season. He's the seventh Blue Jay this season with at least 20 HR: Jose Bautista (54), Vernon Wells (31), Aaron Hill (26), Adam Lind (22), Lyle Overbay and John Buck, each with 20. (Alex Gonzalez hit 17 HR with Toronto before he was traded to the Atlanta Braves, and he has six HR with the Braves.)

Seven players with at least 20 home runs ties the MLB single-season record, set by four other teams - 2009 Yankees, 2005 Rangers, 2000 Blue Jays and 1996 Orioles.

Encarnacion's home run was a two-run shot, giving him 50 RBI this season. If he finishes with 20 HR and 50 RBI, he would be the 18th player since 1900 with at least 20 HR and 50 RBI or fewer in a season with 350 plate appearances. Only two players since 2000 have had 20 HR, 50 RBI or fewer in a season with at least 350 plate appearances: The Pittsburgh Pirates' Garrett Jones in 2009 (21 HR, 44 RBI), and Jeremy Giambi in 2002 with the Oakland Athletics and Philadelphia Phillies (20-45).

Also in Saturday's game, Bautista drew his 100th walk of the season. He's the 14th player in history with 50 home runs and 100 walks in a season, and the first since Ryan Howard and David Ortiz in 2006. Bautista is the first right-handed American-League hitter with 50 HR, 100 BB in a season since Mark McGwire in 1996.

The Blue Jays now have 255 HR this season, two shy of the 1996 Baltimore Orioles for third-most HR in a single season.

Today’s Trivia: To go with 21 wins, Roy Halladay now has 219 strikeouts and just 30 walks. Who is the only pitcher since 1900 with a season of at least 21 wins and 200 strikeouts with 30 or fewer walks?

Quick Hits: Don’t be surprised if the AL Cy Young is determined on Tuesday, as CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez and David Price all take the hill. Basking in a 5-0 September, Halladay likely locked up the NL award on Monday. But let’s revisit the AL battle, which also has a pair of Red Sox quietly tapping on the door.

• As strong as all of his other numbers are, could Felix possibly win the award with a losing record? He enters today 12-12. The worst winning percentage for a starter who won the Cy Young was .600. That was Gaylord Perry in 1972 when he went 24-16.

• Hernandez has a 2.31 ERA, but there’s a decent chance he ends up with a losing record. The last AL pitcher with 30+ starts and an ERA that low to post a losing record? Dutch Leonard went 16-17 despite a 2.17 ERA for the 1917 Red Sox. Since then, the closest thing would be Joe Horlen (12-14, 2.37 ERA) for the ’68 White Sox.

• Sabathia goes for his 21st win on Tuesday. He is 10-1 combined against the Indians, Orioles and Mariners – the teams with the three worst records in the AL.

• How important is run support? Sabathia is 19-2 when the Yankees score three or more runs and just 1-5 otherwise. Hernandez is 10-2 with three or more runs of support and just 2-10 with fewer.

• Since August 1, King Felix is just 5-4 despite a 1.22 ERA. Sabathia is 7-4 with a 3.46 ERA.

• Price and Sabathia both have six no decisions this season. In his, Price has a 2.70 ERA and the Rays have offered up a total of eight runs while he was in the game. In other words, his no decisions are the result of a lack of support. Meanwhile, Sabathia has a 4.03 ERA in his six no decisions, with a total of 29 runs scored while on the mound.

• While the above may point to Price over Sabathia, factor this in as well. In his 12 losses, the Mariners have scored a total of seven runs while Hernandez was in the game. His last five losses? They have not scored a single run while he was still in the game.

• Jon Lester is 5-0 with a 2.12 ERA in September with another start scheduled for Thursday. If finishing strong is a factor in the award, consider this: With a win and six strikeouts, Lester would be just the third AL pitcher over the last 50 years to go 6-0 with 50 strikeouts in September/October. The others? Nolan Ryan in 1973 and Jim Kaat in 1967.

• Also in line for one more start, Clay Buchholz could – rather quietly – post 18 wins and an ERA under 2.30. Since 1975, only nine AL pitchers have posted those numbers. Six won the Cy Young. Randy Johnson lost out in 1997 to another pitcher with those qualifications (Roger Clemens). The other two were both Red Sox: Pedro Martinez (2002) and Clemens (1990).

Today’s Leaderboard
Hernandez makes his final road start of the season. His 2.55 road ERA is the third best in the AL, but he has just a 4-8 record to show for it. In those eight losses, the Mariners have provided just four runs while he was in the game. Meanwhile, the top two road ERAs belong to Red Sox, neither of whom have had trouble picking up wins.

Key Matchups
• With their postseason hopes dwindling, the Rockies face a familiar foe on Tuesday in Hiroki Kuroda. In possibly his last start with the Dodgers, Kuroda comes into the game with a 3.27 ERA. However, take out the 5.64 ERA from three starts against Colorado and it would fall to 2.95. It’s not CarGo or Tulo doing the most damage against Kuroda. Rather, Seth Smith has been his nemesis with six hits in 11 at-bats.

• Sabathia is looking for his 21st win. Jose Bautista seeks his 53rd home run. So who has the better shot? Sabathia hasn’t faced the Blue Jays in 2010, but is 8-3 lifetime against the Jays and 4-1 in Toronto. He’s owned Vernon Wells (.194) and Aaron Hill (.158). Bautista is 0-for-8 with four strikeouts against Sabathia. But in a sense, these two have never met. That is to say it was a different Bautista given that their most recent meeting was in May 2009

Trivia Answer: In 1904, Cy Young went 26-16 with 200 strikeouts and 29 walks. Of course, his miniscule walk total came in 380 innings.

Today’s Trivia: With all the talk of Triple Crown races, Rodrigo Lopez’s chase is flying under the radar. He’s allowed the most home runs (32) and runs (111) of any pitcher in the majors, while opponents are hitting .287 against him (ninth worst). Who was the last pitcher to achieve the MLB Triple Frown - being worst in the majors all three categories?

Quick Hits: Over his last nine games, Carlos Gonzalez is hitting .515 with five home runs, 13 runs batted in and 12 extra-base hits. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that nine-game stretch has only been equaled by three players over the last 40 years. Gonzalez is so hot he can just step up to the plate and get a hit. Consider this great note from Kenny Kendrena of Inside Edge: Gonzalez went 3-for-4 Wednesday night while seeing only five pitches. Elvis Andrus is the only other player in 2010 to pick up three hits on a night where he saw only five pitches. Here are some other fun notes on pitches seen via STATS LLC and Inside Edge:
• If Gonzalez and Andrus represent the successful end of the one-pitch spectrum, Alex Avila stands on the opposite side. On August 4, he went 0-for-3 on three pitches including a GIDP.

• Vernon Wells leads the majors with 111 at-bats lasting only one pitch. He won’t reach Lance Johnson status though. In 1995 and 1996, Johnson had 168 AB ending on the first pitch, most of any player over the last 20 years.

• On the flip side is Daric Barton, who has seen 125 full counts this season. He has 50 walks compared to 20 strikeouts.

• Rickie Weeks has been hit by the first pitch six times. That’s the most in the majors, but still just half of Craig Biggio’s total of 12.

• Austin Jackson has seen 10 of his plate appearances last 10 pitches or more. That’s one more than Ichiro Suzuki for most in the majors. Amazingly for a player with 139 K, only one of those plate appearances ended in a strikeout.

• The league batting average is .259. But on a 0-0 count it jumps to .334 thanks in part to the impossibility of striking out. Just don’t tell that to Tigers rookies Scott Sizemore and Will Rhymes. They are a combined 0-for-31 in one-pitch at-bats.

• How about Chris Snyder? He’s hitting .722 (13-for-18) on the first pitch, and just .181 on at-bats that go beyond a 0-0 count.

• Mike Pelfrey has suffered through the most 10-pitch plate appearances with 10.

• Jose Mijares has held opponents hitless in 17 full-count at-bats, issuing only two walks. Contrast that with Dustin Nippert, against whom hitters are 14-for-23 (.609) in full counts. They are hitting just .267 in all other counts.

Today’s Leaderboard: Skip Schumaker has 19 home runs, but enters September having never homered in that month. His 297 plate appearances without a homer in September are the most of any active player. Dodgers third base coach Larry Bowa can probably sympathize. He never hit a home run in 1,566 September plate appearances.

Key Matchups: There are 102 players who have faced Johan Santana at least 20 times. With a .533 batting average against the Mets ace, no one can top Matt Diaz’s success. He has a hit in all 10 games in which he’s faced Santana, and is 16-for-30 overall. But is it possible Johan finally figured him out? He fanned Diaz in each of their last two meetings, after having done so just once in the first 29.

On the other side of that Braves-Mets matchup, we have David Wright and Tim Hudson. Wright has struck out about once every five at-bats over the course of his career. This season, it’s a career-worst one per 3.5 AB. The strikeouts haven’t been a problem against Hudson though. In 49 at-bats, he has just three strikeouts – or one per 16.3 AB. Hudson last struck him out in 2007. That’s not to say Wright’s had success against Hudson. He’s just a .204 hitter with only one extra-base hit against Hudson.

Trivia Answer: In 2000, Jose Lima allowed 48 home runs and 152 runs, while opponents hit .313. All three were worst in the majors, giving him the most recent Triple Frown.

The Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer broke up the Texas Rangers' no-hit bid with a one-out single in the ninth inning off Neftali Feliz. This was the 10th no-hit bid taken into the 9th inning this season.

Five pitchers completed the deal (Ubaldo Jimenez, Dallas Braden, Roy Halladay, Edwin Jackson, Matt Garza) while four did not: Armando Galarraga, Ted Lilly, Travis Wood and Brandon Morrow. The Rangers, who used three relievers after Rich Harden was taken out after 6⅓ innings, were trying to become the first team since the 2003 Houston Astros (at Yankee Stadium) to throw a combined no-hitter.

This was the fifth time in team history that the Rangers had a no-hit bid broken up in the ninth inning, and the first time since Sept. 3, 2002 at Baltimore. Joaquin Benoit, the third pitcher in that game, lost the no-hitter with no outs in the 9th on a triple by Jerry Hairston.

Monday's Notables:
• The St. Louis Cardinals' Albert Pujols is now one shy of becoming the 47th player with 400 career home runs. He has 43 against the Pirates, tied for the second most he's hit against one opponent. Pujols has 46 HR against the Cubs and also has 43 against the Reds. With the obvious exception of St. Louis, Pujols has played at least one game against every team in his career. The one team he has had the most plate appearances against without a home run is the Oakland Athletics (40 PA in nine games).

• The Pittsburgh Pirates' Ross Ohlendorf left with an arm injury after the Cardinals' Skip Schumaker walked and Jon Jay singled to start the game. Both runners scored on Pujols 399th home run, and Ohlendorf wound up being the losing pitcher, falling to 1-11. Since 1920, Ohlendorf is just the second Pirates starter to lose a game despite facing two batters or fewer. In Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Boston Braves on Aug. 27, 1950, Mel Queen walked Roy Hartfield and Sam Jethroe then left the game. Both players scored and Queen ended up taking the loss.

• The Houston Astros' Brett Myers (7 IP at Philadelphia Phillies) has now pitched at least six innings in all 26 starts this season. That ties Larry Dierker's franchise record for consecutive starts with six-plus innings pitched. Myers is also the first player to start a season by pitching at least six innings in each of his first 26 starts since Curt Schilling in 2002. (Schilling went at least six innings in all 35 starts he made that season.)

• Jose Bautista joined Jesse Barfield (1986) as the second Toronto Blue Jay to be the first player in baseball to reach 40 home runs in a season. Bautista has 25 HR at home this season, five shy of the franchise record held by Carlos Delgado in 2000. Bautista also has six multi-HR games this season, tied with Delgado (1998, 1999) and Vernon Wells (2006) for the second most in a season in team history. George Bell holds the record with nine in 1987.

• Monday's loss was the first by the New York Yankees this season when Alex Rodriguez was not in the lineup (12-1).

Chipper Jones loved hitting in Shea Stadium so much that he named one of his sons Shea. Well, he's also had more than his share of his success against the Mets at Citi Field, Fulton County Stadium and - as he again proved Monday - Turner Field.

Jones hit his 43rd career home run against the Mets, passing Pat Burrell for 5th-most all-time. He trails only Hall of Famers Willie Stargell (60), Mike Schmidt (49), Willie McCovey (48) and Hank Aaron (45).

It was also Jones' 434th career homer, tying Juan Gonzalez for 37th on the all-time list.


Vernon Wells' home run off A.J. Burnett in the second inning of Monday's game at the Yankees was the second-shortest homer in MLB this season (324 feet down the right field line). The only homer that was shorter than Wells' was a 321-foot shot by Mark Teixeira on June 15 off Roy Halladay, also down the right field line at Yankee Stadium. Wells' shot would have been a home run only at Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park.

Albert Pujols homered for the third consecutive game, the first time he's accomplished that feat in 2010.

And now the daily Alex Rodriguez update:

A-Rod has gone 43 at-bats since his last home run (No. 599 on July 22). The Elias Sports Bureau tells us that is tied for the 13th-longest drought since Rodriguez joined the Yankees in 2004 and is the 30th-longest drought since the start of his MLB career.

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.