Three stars: Detroit Tigers' Anibal Sanchez rebounds after early mishap, Jose Ortega flawless in debut

Kernels: Another big week of strikeout feats

Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY SportsAnibal Sanchez had his best stuff on Friday. Let's review another week in statistical marvels and oddities in Major League Baseball. Feat of the Week: Anibal Sanchez 17 K There were plenty of impressive strikeout-related performances this week (we’ll note one more below), but none topped Detroit Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez who set a franchise record with an 8-inning, 17-strikeout outing against the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

Anibal Goes Wild On Braves

From Elias: Anibal Sanchez struck out 17 Braves batters in the Tigers' win on Friday, setting a Tigers team record and also a record for an interleague game. Detroit's previous best was 16 strikeouts, set by Mickey Lolich on May 23, 1969 and matched by Lolich less than three weeks later (June 9). The previous record for an interleague game was also 16, by Pedro Martinez for the Red Sox against the Braves in 1999 and Curt Schilling for the Phillies versus the Yankees in 1997. Sanchez is now one of two players who hold the single-game strikeout record for his current team, along with Ricky Nolasco (Marlins). Sanchez entered the game 4-11 with a 5.42 ERA against Atlanta and he had been 0-6 with a 6.81 ERA in his previous seven starts against the Braves. Atlanta didn't allow more than six runs in any of its first 21 games this season, before losing on Friday, 10-0, and allowing six runs in the 4th inning alone. Before this year, the most games the Braves went into a season without allowing more than six runs was 17 games (1919 and 1982).

MLB - Sanchez joins Johan and Big Unit

MLB - Sanchez With 17 K

Tigers' Anibal Sanchez has 17 strikeouts tonight through 8 IP vs the Braves, the most by a pitcher this season (previous high: Yu Darvish's 14 strikeout performance vs the Astros on April 2).

Under the Microscope: Starting pitchers off to hot starts

Todd Zola examines the peripheral numbers of several starting pitchers off to hot starts, such as Matt Harvey, Jon Lester and Justin Masterson, to see whether they can be expected to maintain their early success.

Cockcroft: "Tristan's Twenty" for 2013

Tristan H. Cockcroft lists 20 players for 2013 he really likes -- at least compared to the general consensus.

Kings of Command: Baseball's 'sneaky good' pitchers

Tristan H. Cockcroft highlights pitchers who met specific criteria in 2012, which can be used to predict strong future performance.

Ramirez carries Dominican Republic past Phils

Cole Hamels' third start of spring training looked more like batting practice for the Dominican Republic.