Elias Says...
Special to ESPN.com
NBA
RONDO TRIPS HAWKS
From Elias: Rajon Rondo scored 17 points, handed out 12 assists and grabbed 14 rebounds in the Celtics' overtime win over the Hawks. It was Rondo's seventh triple-double over the last four playoff seasons, the most in the NBA over that span. LeBron James (four) is the only other NBA player with more than one playoff triple-double since 2009.
MCGEE BENCHES LAKERS
From Elias: JaVale McGee scored 16 points and grabbed 15 rebounds off the bench in the Nuggets' win over the Lakers. McGee is only the second player in the Nuggets' NBA history to score that many points and grab that many rebounds as a substitute in a playoff game. Bison Dele had 17 points and 19 rebounds in an overtime game at Seattle in 1994.
Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets
QUALITY TIME FOR HAWES IN THE FOURTH QUARTER
From Elias: Spencer Hawes scored 10 fourth-quarter points in the 76ers' win over the Bulls. It was only the third time in his NBA career - regular season or playoffs - that Hawes reached double-digits in points in the final quarter of a game. In his previous two games, both in the regular season for the Kings, Hawes' team was getting blown out, one loss by 16 points and the other by 18 points.
Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls
NHL
DOAN DELIVERS
From Elias: Shane Doan scored the only goal in the Coyotes' 1-0 victory over the Predators in Game 4 of their second-round series. The thirty-five year old Doan is the oldest player to score a goal in 1-0 playoff game since Patrice Brisebois, at age 37, did it for the Canadiens at Boston in Game 4 in 2008.
Nashville Predators, Phoenix Coyotes
MLB
SANTANA SHOULD SUE FOR LACK OF SUPPORT
From Elias: The Angels have been shutout in each of Ervin Santana's last five starts: 5-0 at New York, 6-0 vs. Oakland, 5-0 at Tampa, 4-0 at Cleveland and 4-0 vs. Toronto. Santana is the first pitcher in major- league history that has seen his team get blanked in five consecutive starts.
Los Angeles Angels, Toronto Blue Jays
LOTS OF BLANKS IN ANGELS GAMES
From Elias: Jerome Williams threw a shutout for the Angels on Tuesday night; Jered Weaver threw a no-run, no-hit game on Wednesday night for the Angels. Those two games were followed by Brandon Morrow and Henderson Alvarez throwing shutouts against the Angels. The Halos are the first team since the 1968 Indians to win two games via a complete-game shutout then lose the next two games in the same fashion.
Los Angeles Angels, Toronto Blue Jays
YOUNG JAY THROWS SHUTOUT
From Elias: Twenty-two year old Henderson Alvarez shut out the Angels Friday night. Alvarez is the fifth-youngest pitcher in Blue Jays history to throw a shutout. The four younger were Phil Huffman (21 years old in 1979), Jim Clancy (21 in 1977), Jerry Garvin (21 in 1977) and Roy Halladay (a younger 22 than Alvarez, in 1999).
Los Angeles Angels, Toronto Blue Jays
CUETO IS RED HOT
From Elias: Johnny Cueto improved his record to 4-0 with an earned-run average of 1.31 in six starts with a stellar performance against the Pirates Friday night. Cueto is the fourth Reds pitcher since 1912 - the first year earned runs were compiled on official scores in the National League - to go 4-0 or better with an earned-run average under 1.50 over his first six starts of a season. The others to do it were Clarence Mitchell in 1916 (5-0, 1.44), Fred Toney in 1918 (4-0, 1.15) and Jim Maloney in 1966 (4-0, 1.03).
Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates
TWINS GET A HIT!
From Elias: Jamey Carroll's single in the first inning ended a streak of 47 hitless at bats for the Twins. That was the longest hitless streak by a major-league team since the Padres went 47 at-bats without a hit in June 1995. Prior to Carroll's single, the last Twins hit was a Denard Span single in the third inning of their game against the Angels on Tuesday night. Minnesota was hitless in its final 18 at-bats in that game, all 28 at-bats in Jered Weaver's no-hitter on Wednesday night and the first at-bat of their game against the Mariners on Friday night.
Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners
ROYALS THROW LEFTIES AT CC
From Elias: The Royals' starting lineup against CC Sabathia featured five left-handed batters: Jarrod Dyson, Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Chris Getz. This is the fourth time in his major league career that Sabathia faced an opposing starting lineup that had five left-handed batters in it. It also happened on June 28, 2002 against the Diamondbacks, September 12, 2002 against Minnesota and August 18, 2011, also against Minnesota. Sabathia is 3-1 with a 2.83 earned-run average in those four starts.
Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees
MARK SENDS LOTS OF TEXT MESSAGES TO CHEN
From Elias: Mark Teixeira hit a first-inning two-run home run off Bruce Chen Friday night. It was Teixeira's seventh home run in his first 20 at-bats against Chen. The last batter to hit seven home runs in his first 20 or fewer at-bats against a certain pitcher was Cliff Johnson, who hit seven homers in his first 15 at-bats against Jerry Garvin.
Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees
ELVIS IS CRUEL TO INDIANS
From Elias: Elvis Andrus went 1-for-4 in the Rangers' loss to the Indians. Andrus has at least one hit in all 24 games he has played against the Indians. The last player to get a hit in each of his first 24 or more games against a particular opponent was Vladimir Guerrero. Vlad had a hit in his first 44 career games against the Rangers (2004-06).
Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers
RAYS' CO-ACES EACH HAVE FIVE WINS
From Elias: David Price earned his fifth win of the season for the Rays Friday night joining his teammate James Shields in the five-win club. The Rays are the first team in six years to have two pitchers with at least five wins in the teams' first 27 games of a season. The 2006 Yankees, with Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson, were the last team to do that.
MAHOLM FINDING THE RANGE
From Elias: Paul Maholm has won each of his last three starts while throwing at least six innings and allowing no more than one run in any of the games. It's the first time in his major-league career in which he had three straight starts like that.
THORNTON TAKES WALK OF SHAME
From Elias: Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run walk-off home run in the ninth inning off Matt Thornton in the Tigers' 5-4 win over the White Sox. It was the fourth game-ending home run allowed by Thornton since 2007, tied for the second-most in the major leagues over that span, behind Matt Capps, who has allowed five. Jesse Chavez, Bob Howry, Brandon League and Dan Wheeler have also allowed four walk-off homers since 2007.
Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers
D-BACKS END STREAK
From Elias: The Diamondbacks beat the Mets 5-4 Friday night snapping their nine-game losing streak in games decided by a one-run margin. That was the longest current losing streak of its kind in the majors and the second-longest in team history. The Diamondbacks lost 13 consecutive one-run games in 2004.
Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets
PENCE TAKES STRASBURG DEEP
From Elias: Hunter Pence hit a home run off Stephen Strasburg in the fourth inning. It was the first home run allowed by Strasburg in 66 1/3 innings pitched. That was the longest current homerless streak for any starting pitcher in the major leagues. That distinction now belongs to Wandy Rodriguez, who has not allowed a dinger over his last 49 2/3 innings pitched.
Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals
ALTUVE IS THE FIRST SINCE BIGGIO
From Elias: Jose Altuve went 2-for-5 including a three-run homer in the Astros' win over the Cardinals Friday night. Altuve has 36 hits in 25 games played this season. The last Astros player with that many hits over his first 25 games of a season was Craig Biggio in 2004 (36).
Houston Astros, St. Louis Cardinals
BRAVES SPOT ROCKIES A FIVE-RUN LEAD
From Elias: The Braves spotted the Rockies a 5-0 first-inning lead Friday night and fought back for a 9-8 11-inning victory. It's the first time in more than 20 years that the Braves overcame a five-run first-inning deficit to win. On October 1, 1991, Atlanta trailed the Reds 6-0 at the end of the first inning and came back to win 7-6.
Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies