Elias Says...
Special to ESPN.com
MLB
LEE NOT PITCHING LIKE A FORMER CY YOUNG WINNER
From Elias: Cliff Lee, the 2008 American League Cy Young Award winner, is 0-5 in 13 starts this season. Only one former Cy Young Award winner went winless in his first 13 or more starts of a season. Vida Blue, who won the 1971 American League Cy Young Award while pitching for the A's, failed to win any of his 14 starts for the Royals in 1983.
HILL RIDES THE CYCLE AGAIN
From Elias: Aaron Hill hit for the cycle for the second time this season in the Diamondbacks' win in Milwaukee Friday night. Hill also hit for the cycle on June 18 against Seattle. Hill is only the fourth player in major-league history to hit for the cycle twice in the same season and only the second to do it twice in a calendar month. Cincinnati's John Reilly had two in September of 1883, St. Louis' Tip O'Neill had two in 1887 and Brooklyn's Babe Herman had two in 1931.
Prior to this month only three teams in major league history had two cycles in one calendar month: Cincinnati in September 1883 (both by John Reilly), Pittsburgh in June 1925 (Kiki Cuyler and Max Carey) and the Philadelphia A's in August 1933 (three, Mickey Cochrane, Pinky Higgins and Jimmie Foxx).
Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers
JENNINGS TAKES VERLANDER DEEP TWICE
From Elias: Desmond Jennings hit two home runs off Justin Verlander in the Rays win over the Tigers Friday night. Jennings is the fourth player to hit more than one homer in a game off Verlander. The other three are Nick Swisher (April 18, 2006), Carlos Quentin (April 22, 2011) and Shelley Duncan (September 7, 2011).
Detroit Tigers, Tampa Bay Rays
DICKEY IS REALLY AWESOME
From Elias: With his win Friday night, R.A. Dickey became the fifth Mets pitcher to win 10 straight decisions. Dickey joins Tom Seaver (16 straight, his last 10 in 1969 and first six in 1970), Dwight Gooden (14 in 1985), Terry Leach (10 in 1987, including three wins as a reliever) and Johan Santana (10, his last nine in 2008 and his first in 2009). Dickey is the third pitcher in Mets history to earn 12 wins before July 1. Tom Seaver did it twice (1969 and 1970) and Bobby Jones in 1997.
MORSE MAKING AN IMPACT IN DC
From Elias: Michael Morse went 4-for-4 for the Nationals Friday night giving him 12 hits over his last four games. The last player with 12 hits over a four-game span in a Washington uniform was Irv Noren for the Senators in July 1951. Noren went 12-for-16 from July 1-3, with three hits in each of the four games.
COOK LOW-HIT, LOW-K, LOW-PITCH GAME
From Elias: Aaron Cook struck out only two batters in his two-hit shutout Friday night. The last Red Sox pitcher to throw a shutout while allowing two or fewer hits and striking out no more than two batters was Danny Darwin on August 18, 1993 against the White Sox. Darwin allowed only one hit with two strikeouts in that game.
WILL REACHES THE BIG 1-OH
From Elias: Will Middlebrooks hit his 10th home run of the season and of his career in his 46th major-league game. That's the fewest games any Red Sox player has needed to reach 10 career homers since 1987, when Sam Horn (31 games) and Ellis Burks (39 games) both did it.
KONERKO HITS HR #21 OFF THE YANKEES
From Elias: Paul Konerko hit a home run in the White Sox win over the Yankees Friday night. It was Konerko's 21st career homer off the Yankees, tying him with Joe Kuhel for the White Sox franchise record for homers versus New York. Kuhel played 18 big-league seasons (1930-37, 44-46) for the Senators and White Sox (1938-43, 1946-47).
Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees
HARRISON IS HOT
From Elias: Matt Harrison is 7-0 with a 1.42 earned-run average over his last eight starts after his performance Friday night. The last Rangers pitcher to go 7-0 or better with an ERA that low over an eight-game span within one season was Kenny Rogers in 2005. Rogers went 8-0 with a 0.92 ERA over an eight-start span from April 27 to June 5 of that season.
MAHOLM OWNS THE ASTROS
From Elias: Paul Maholm pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings in the Cubs' win over the Astros. Maholm has won 12 games against the Astros since the 2006 season, tying him with Carlos Zambrano for the most wins against Houston over that span.
LEAKE DOES IT ALL
From Elias: Mike Leake had a complete-game win and hit a home rrun in the Reds' win over the Giants. Leake the first Reds pitcher to throw a complete game and hit a home run since Pete Harnisch did it against the Braves on August 9, 2000.
Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants
HOW LOWE CAN HE GO
From Elias: Derek Lowe allowed seven runs (four earned) in the Indians' loss to the Orioles Friday night. It was the fourth time this season that Lowe allowed at least seven runs in a game, the most for any major league pitcher. Three of those games have come in June. Lowe is the fifth Cleveland pitcher over the last 70 years with three such games in one calendar month. The other four are Early Wynn (June 1951), Phil Niekro (August 1986), Cliff Lee (July 2007) and Ubaldo Jimenez (May 2012).
Cleveland Indians, Baltimore Orioles
THREE HOMERS IN THE SIXTH INNING FOR BUCS
From Elias: Clint Barmes, Alex Presley and Garrett Jones each homered in the sixth inning turning a 5-5 tie into a 9-5 Pirates lead. It was the first time since July 22, 2009 that the Pirates hit three homers in an inning. Andrew McCutchen, Garret Jones and Ryan Doumit all hit solo homers in the third inning against Milwaukee.
BELTRAN HAS AN RBI IN SEVEN STRAIGHT GAMES
From Elias: Carlos Beltran has driven in a run in each of his last seven games, matching the longest such streak in the majors this season. A.J. Pierzynski had a seven-game RBI streak in April.