Elias Says...
Special to ESPN.com
MLB
FELDMAN GETS TO .500 THE HARD WAY
From Elias: Scott Feldman, who started the season 0-6, won his sixth straight decision to improve to 6-6 in the Rangers' 4-2 win at Kansas City. Feldman is the second pitcher in major-league history (dating all the way back to 1876) to win six straight decisions immediately after starting the season on a losing streak of 6+ games. Doyle Alexander started 0-8 for the Yankees and Blue Jays in 1983, but won his last seven decisions to finish the year 7-8.
HARPER HITS HIS TENTH
From Elias: Bryce Harper hit his tenth home run in the Nationals' 10-7 win over the Marlins in Washington. Harper is the sixth player to have 10 or more home runs in one season as a teenager. The other five players to do that: Tony Conigliaro (24 in 1964), Mel Ott (18, 1928), Ken Griffey Jr. (16, 1989), Mickey Mantle (13, 1951) and Ed Kranepool (10, 1964).
PAGAN BATTERS ROCKIES AGAIN
From Elias: Angel Pagan went 4-for-6 with a home run and two runs scored in the Giants' 11-6 win at Colorado Saturday. On Friday, Pagan was 3-for-4 with a double, triple, and four runs scored. The Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, and that year, Jim Davenport and Willie Mays both had two different two-game spans with at least seven hits, six runs and 13 total bases. But since then, the only Giants to do that over any two games are Robby Thompson (June 23-24, 1993) and Barry Bonds (August 27-28, 2002 at Coors Field).
YANKEE STADIUM: BUILT FOR A KING
From Elias: Felix Hernandez pitched a two-hit shutout over the Yankees in the Bronx Saturday. Hernandez now has two shutouts in five career starts at the current Yankee Stadium. That equals the number of complete-game shutouts by all other pitchers combined (591 starts) at that venue. CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda (one each) are the only others to throw complete-game shutouts at the ballpark that opened in 2009.
KURODA DOMINATES IN DAYLIGHT
From Elias: Hiroki Kuroda lost, 1-0 to Felix Hernandez and the Mariners. Before allowing a second-inning run, Kuroda had been unscored upon in 31 consecutive innings in day games. That was the longest streak by any major-league pitcher since Greg Maddux had a 32-inning streak for the Braves in 1998.
NEW RED MACHINE KEEPS ROLLING
From Elias: The Reds' 6-5 win over the Pirates improved their record to 22-3 since July 6. Cincinnati has recorded 22 wins in a 25-game span only once in the last 120 years. The "Big Red Machine" went 22-3 from June 18 to July 13, 1975.
WIETERS STEALS THE SHOW FOR THE O's
From Elias: Matt Wieters went 1-for-3 and stole two bases in the Orioles' 4-0 win over the Rays. Only two other Baltimore catchers have stolen two bases in a game since the team relocated from St. Louis in 1954: Andy Etchebarren on August 12, 1970 and Johnny Oates on June 10, 1972.
PIERZYNSKI RECORDS HIS FIRST 20-HR SEASON
From Elias: A.J. Pierzynski hit his 20th home run of the season in the White Sox' 6-5 loss to the Angels. Pierzynski, who will turn 36 in December, had never hit more than 18 homers in a season. The last player that old to hit 20 home runs in a season for the first time was 36-year-old Tony Phillips for the 1995 Angels.
FISTER THRIVES IN THE SECOND HALF
From Elias: Doug Fister pitched a complete-game four-hitter in the Tigers' 6-1 win over the Indians in Detroit. Fister has posted a 2.22 earned-run average after the All-Star break over the last two seasons. The only pitchers with better post-break ERAs since 2011 (minimum 100 IP) are Clayton Kershaw (1.69) and Cliff Lee (2.04).
MAXWELL "TOYS" WITH BRAVES
From Elias: Justin Maxwell was 4-for-4 with two home runs and drove in all three runs in the Astros' 3-2 win at Atlanta. Maxwell is the second Houston center fielder to go 4-for-4 or better in a game with two homers. Jimmy Wynn, the "Toy Cannon", was also 4-for-4 with two home runs on June 5, 1966 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
KEMP'S HOMER IS THE DIFFERENCE FOR DODGERS
From Elias: Matt Kemp's two run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning gave the Dodgers the lead for good in their 3-1 home win over the Cubs. Kemp has 16 game-winning RBIs on home runs over the last two seasons, second-most in the majors behind Curtis Granderson (18).
MAUER'S LATE BLAST DOWNS RED SOX
From Elias: Joe Mauer's three-run ninth-inning home run off Alfredo Aceves was the deciding blow in the Twins' 6-4 win at Boston. It was Mauer's first career game-winning homer in the ninth inning or later. The last Minnesota player to hit such a blast at Fenway Park was Ron Washington on May 22, 1983.
HALLADAY BLANKS D-BACKS FOR SEVEN
From Elias: Roy Halladay allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings in the Phillies' 3-0 home win over the Diamondbacks. It was the 16th time in his three seasons in Philadelphia that Halladay has pitched at least seven innings without allowing a run. That's the most such games by any major-league pitcher since 2010.
WAINWRIGHT COMES THROUGH ON MOUND, AT PLATE
From Elias: Adam Wainwright pitched a five-hitter in the Cardinals' 6-1 home win over the Brewers. At the plate, Wainwright was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. He's the first St. Louis pitcher to throw a complete-game victory of one run or fewer while registering 2+ hits and an RBI since Mark Mulder, against the Diamondbacks on August 17, 2005. And the last right-handed Cardinals hurler to do this was Danny Cox, against the Pirates on June 10, 1985.
LONG GAMES IN OAKLAND
From Elias: The Blue Jays defeated the A's, 3-1 in 11 innings at O.co Coliseum. It was the 10th time this season that an Oakland home game went more than 10 innings. That's the highest total for any team since the 1998 Cardinals also played 10. The only other year in which the Athletics played 10+ home games of at least 11 innings was 1945, when they played 12.
Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays
ANOTHER 4 HITS FOR MURPHY
From Elias: Daniel Murphy went 4-for-4 and scored two runs in the Mets' 6-2 win at San Diego. Murphy has five games in 2012 with at least four hits. That ties Andrew McCutchen for most in the majors.
