MLB Game Picks - Friday: May 8, 2015

Sheesh! Another negative night and it took a real bad blown save by Huston Street to keep it from being worse. Of course, his meltdown hurt my fantasy team. That's four par or subpar days in a row now and I need to get on track!

Friday's picks:

• The Nationals over the Braves: Gio Gonzalez sort of confuses me. He is not as good as he was before the suspension, but not as bad as I keep thinking he is. I think he does well against the Braves and the Nats hit Eric Stults.
• The Yankees over the Orioles: Adam Warren will have to have a good night to have this pick hold out, especially since the Yankees can never seem to hit Miguel Gonzalez, which is really weird since he's not a world beater. Caution as this is a wishful thinking pick.
• The Cardinals over the Pirates: I am a huge Michael Wacha fan and so this pick is for him. Francisco Liriano is a hit or miss kind of guy and I never seem to hit it correctly. This pick was certainly wrong yesterday.
• The Blue Jays over the Red Sox: This is an interesting game. The Red Sox fired their pitching coach and we will have to see how that works out. Both Wade Miley and Aaron Sanchez have struggled, so I can only see through this glass darkly.
• The Tigers over the Royals: David Price has only had the one bad start. Otherwise he has been brilliant. Yordano Venture will try not to stir up any trouble tonight.
• The Indians over the Twins: Neither Mike Pelfrey nor Trevor Bauer have lost a game this year. That's sort of weird, but it is still early. I have no idea what to make of the Indians. I'll pick them at home, but the Twins sure have been playing well.
• The Rays over the Rangers: I have to check on the Rangers. I don't even know who plays for them anymore besides third base and shortstop. The Rays' lineup is kind of bad, but I have a feeling Nathan Karns will have a good night and better Yovani Gallardo.
• The Cubs over the Brewers: Jimmy Nelson has had a couple of real clunkers for outings lately and the Brewers are still offensively challenged. I'm going with the Cubs who start Jason Hammel tonight.
• The Reds over the White Sox: The White Sox rarely win a game that Hector Noesi starts, so I can't go there. Jason Marquis just keeps rolling along. The Reds get an extra bat with the DH.
• The Dodgers over the Rockies: I don't expect Brett Anderson to pitch as well as he did his last time out, especially at Coors. But I think the Dodgers' offense will explode again tonight starting with a short outing by Eddie Butler.
• The Diamondbacks over the Padres: Okay. The Diamondbacks have been picked against for three straight games and have made me look stupid each time. So I give in and pick them to win even with  the mediocre Jeremy Hellickson on the mound. James Shields be darned.
• The Astros over the Angels: Jered Weaver is averaging 83 MPH on his fastball this season. His arm must be Swiss cheese and he is 0-4. Not that I am a big fan of Roberto Hernandez, but let's go thatway in this one.
• The Mariners over the Athletics: I always pick Sonny Gray, but not tonight. He is simply due to lose. A lot will depend on if Tiajuan Walker is over his early season funk and pitches like he is capable.
• The Giants over the Marlins: The Fish are a long, long way from home and Tim Lincecum has turned back the clock and looks terrific. Jarred Cosart will try to prove me wrong. He is a fiery guy.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Mets over the Phillies: I cannot in good conscience ever pick against Matt Harvey even if he is facing Cole Hamels. Even if the two pitchers cancel each other out, the Mets win late.

Yesterday: 5-6, May: 51-45, Season: 215-210, Picks of the Day: 18-14

MLB Game Picks - Wednesday: April 15, 2015

I am back in the negative numbers again after two decent days. I should know better than to pick Stephen Strasburg. That never works out of me. And doggone if the Yankees can't hit a middling arm like Miguel Gonzalez. How about Shane Greene!

Wednesday's picks look like this:

• The Indians over the White Sox: Indians' players are dropping like flies, but I still like Trevor Bauer over John Danks.
• The Marlins over the Braves: The Braves have played above water in the early going. I don't think it will last. On top of that, I have little faith in Eric Stultz. Then again, I have no idea what Dan Haren is going to do.
• The Red Sox over the Nationals: I have no idea anymore with these two teams. Are the Red Sox this good? I thought the Nationals were supposed to be good? Wade Miley gets the not over Gio Gonzalez.
• The Rangers over the Angels: Anthony Ranaudo has taken over Derek Holland's spot for now and he has a chance to succeed. Hector Santiago doesn't thrill me very much. This could be a high scoring game.
• The Pirates over the Tigers: Francisco Liriano has to be on to beat the Tigers. That is a 50/50 proposition. The Tigers lose the DH in Pittsburgh and have Alfredo Simon on the mound. That combination makes me lean to the Pirates.
• The Yankees over the Orioles: Bud Norris isn't the craftsman that some of the other Orioles pitchers are. That means he won't take advantage of bad swings by Yankee pull hitters as often as his compadres. A lot depends on the evolution of Nate Eovaldi.
• The Blue Jays over the Bay Rays: The battle of the Ays continues and I will take Mark Buehrle over Erasmo Ramirez any day.
• The Reds over the Cubs: Travis Wood's velocity is in the Jered Weaver range and he doesn't strike anyone out. That's tough in today's market. Jason Marquis just rolls along singing his song year by year.
• The Royals over the Twins: I think most of us highly over-anticipated a better Twins club this season. As to this point, they look awful. The Royals are rolling, but that law of averages thing is staring me in the face. Edinson Volquez versus Kyle Gibson.
• The Athletics over the Astros: Drew Pomeranz and Collin McHugh both pitched really well their first times out. With the pitching seeming to cancel each other out, I have to go with the better team, and that is the A's.
• The Cardinals over the Brewers: My friend, Bob, still things I jinx the Cardinals when I pick them. I don't know how to react. I can't just pick them to lose every day, especially when I think they can win. And I still think they should have kept Allen Craig over Matt  Adams, but that's just me. Lance Lynn over Wily Peralta.
• The Padres over the Diamondbacks: This is an emotional pick so you are all warned. I just want Brandon Morrow to pitch well after several hurt seasons. Chase Anderson threw well his first time out.
• The Mariners over the Dodgers: Brett Anderson did well in his first start. But will that last? Will he stay healthy? The track record says no. Taijuan Walker was pounded his last time out. That isn't him though.
• The Giants over the Rockies: Tim Lincecum had a successful first start, but that was against the Padres, a team he seems to own. The Rockies are another story. That said, I'm still not all in on Tyler Matzek.

And the Pick of the Day:

• The Mets over the Phillies: Jerome Williams makes about three good starts a season. The trick is to pick when they will be. Jon Niese will make it a moot point either way as the Phillies aren't hitting much anyway.

Yesterday: 6-7, Season: 55-63, Picks of the Day: 3-6.

MLB Game Picks - Thursday: June 20, 2013

Finally! A good day of picking! Oh, man, did I need that. There were only four incorrect picks out of sixteen. They were: The Yankees second game, where they were as limp as a noodle; The Marlins, which was a stupid pick; The Pirates (and that took thirteen innings to go wrong) and the Red Sox, who had their hands full with the Rays. Otherwise, spot on. There were two blown saves last night. One helped me when Jonathan Papelbon blew one and the other was the Pirates Jason Grilli, which was unusual, and led to that pick going bad.

There are twelve games on the schedule tonight, which is a lot for a Thursday. Here are the picks:

• The Reds over the Pirates: This early afternoon game should see two tired teams after a thirteen inning game yesterday. The Reds have the advantage with experience in Homer Bailey over the inexperience of Brandon Cumpton.
• The Twins over the White Sox: John Danks has not been pitching badly for the White Sox since his return and his left arm causes problems for some of the lefty bats of the Twins. But I will still pick the Twins though it is with some Scott Diamond reservations.
• The Athletics over the Rangers: The Rangers needed to win this series but the A's should finish it with a 2-2 tie. A.J. Griffin will hold the Rangers to just a few runs and the A's should score often against Josh Lindblom, who has not looked like he can get Major League hitters out thus far.
• The Brewers over the Astros: Yovani Gallardo looks like he is rounding into mid-season form, which is not good news for the Astros. Lucas Harrell will keep his team in the game, as always, but the Brewers squeak by.
• The Nationals over the Rockies: At least Roy Oswalt's 2013 debut will not happen at Coors. I just cannot imagine him being overly effective. Jayson Werth has been hot lately and will factor in here somehow. And my man, Jordan Zimmermann, will bounce back after a rare bad outing.
• The Bay Rays over the Yankees: It would seem just right for Matt Moore to regain his footing against a terrible Yankees' lineup. The Yankees do not hit lefties at all and Joe Girardi insists on not only playing Vernon Wells, but batting him cleanup. Strange. Andy Pettitte will keep it close.
• The Tigers over the Red Sox: The Tigers lead the world in Venezuelan ball players. Rookie, Jose Alvarez, is yet another. Alvarez has a good left arm and his first start of his career went very well. The Red Sox are a tough team though. John Lackey runs into Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder and should be shouting on the mound by the fourth inning.
• The Braves over the Mets: Mike Minor has sort of been stuck a little bit lately, but he should have little trouble from the Mets. Jonathon Niese never seems to win. And I am thinking tonight will be no different.
• The Cardinals over the Cubs: I have loved what Scott Feldman has brought to the Cubs this season. I knew he had it in him. But the Cardinals have the best lineup in the National League and Lance Lynn is 9-1. Yeah, that will work. Doesn't it seem that the Cardinals are always home?
• The Mariners over the Angels: As I have stated before, just because Felix Hernandez is pitching, it does not mean his team is going to win. But at least they have a better chance to win and that is what this pick is about. I think Tommy Hanson gives up two runs and King Felix, one.
• The Padres over the Dodgers: The Dodgers played two games against the Yankees and then flew all the way to San Diego overnight. I would imagine they could be flatter than flapjacks. Plus, I am not a big Stephen Fife fan and Jason Marquis has been tough at home.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Giants over the Marlins: My problem with this one is that the Chad Gaudin I remember was the Yankees' version. And he caused nightmares there he was so bad. But he has been good for the Giants and I should stop being surprised. Of course, I will pick him here and he will turn back into a pumpkin. Tom Koehler gets another loss.

Yesterday: 12-4

Week: 36-23

Month: 136-125

Season: 599-475

Games of the Day: 46-32

MLB Game Picks - Wednesday: May 8, 2013

The day started so well, but like the Atlanta Braves, could not finish well. Too soon? Probably. But anyway, the pick started the evening yesterday at 6-1 with only the Twins messing up the party as Scott Diamond shut down the Red Sox. The big inning for the Twins started on two straight errors by third base replacement, Pedro Ciriaco. Ouch. But the rest of the day limped in at 3-4 and I will never pick the Cardinals as the Game of the Day again. Stupid Cardinals.

Of course, the 9-5 day saw yet another postponed game but benefited by a couple of major blown saves. The Braves and Rays have blown an incredible number of runs in the late innings in the last few days. Elsewhere, Matt Harvey was spectacular but got a no decision as the Mets could not score a run until the tenth inning. And all prayers and thoughts go to J.A. Happ who was struck in the head with a line drive and sent to the hospital.

Wednesday's picks:

• The Braves over the Reds: The Braves will score enough runs off of Mike Leake to not have to worry about closing the game. The only worry here is whether Mike Minor will be good enough to hold back the Reds' offense.
• The Mariners over the Pirates: I hate to pick against A.J. Burnett (I like him, so what?), but the pick has to go to Felix Hernandez even though he will have to bat in this game. The King would probably like that anyway.
• The Cardinals over the Cubs: Freakin' Cardinals. It is the Cubs here, guys. Jake Westbrook goes against Carlos Villanueva, who is actually pretty good. Oh brother.
• The Padres over the Marlins: Ricky Nolasco should pitch well in Petco. But the Marlins will beat the ball into the ground all day against Jason Marquis who has a 1.93 ground ball to fly ball ratio. That is almost as high as Ichiro.
• The Giants over the Phillies: Who knows what Barry Zito will do. And I hate picking against Jonathan Pettibone. But that is the pick.
• The Nationals over the Tigers: These two teams will try to get the game in today. The pitching match-up is the same. Jordan Zimmermann over Anibal Sanchez.
• The Orioles over the Royals: I think the Orioles' offense will overwhelm Luis Mendoza and then the only question is what kind of outing will Chris Tillman have? We will have to find out together.
• The Indians over the Athletics: A.J. Griffin sure looked studly against the Yankees last week with his pitching and his long, blond locks flying. But yeah, at this point, the Indians have a better offense than the Yankees and Justin Masterson is capable of shutting down the A's who are scuffling at the moment.
• The Mets over the White Sox: Normally, I would pick Jake Peavy all the time in this game, but his health has become a question. Jeremy Hefner is not endearing to pick either. Neither team has much of an offense. Oh boy.
• The Red Sox over the Twins: This is Allen Webster's second start? How did I miss the first one? When did that happen? Judging from the outcome, he pitched well. Pedro Hernandez has struck out 3.92 batters per nine innings. That is a tough way to pitch against the Red Sox.
• The Bay Rays over the Blue Jays: The battle of the Ays has gone all the Blue Jays' way thus far. But Matt Moore is a different kettle of fish for the Blue Jays. He should strike out a bunch of Jays and hope he can keep Bautista and Encarnacion in the park. The Jays give the start to Ricky Romero with a hope and a prayer.
• The Astros over the Angels: Okay, why the heck not. Geez, these Angels. What is up there? Bud Norris rarely seems to harness his talent. But the Astros should be able to score a few off of Joe Blanton who is 0-5 so far. Ugh.
• The Brewers over the Rangers: The Rangers are in a funk lately. And Kyle Lohse is a lot better than people think. The guy knows how to pitch. Derek Holland was much better his last time out though, so this pick might blow up if it gets to the Brewers' bullpen.
• The Rockies over the Yankees: Juan Nicasio knows how to pitch at Coors. David Phelps relies on movement that will not happen there. This could get ugly for the Yankees as some of their early Cinderellas are turning into pumpkins.

And the Game of the Day!

• The Dodgers over the Diamondbacks: The D-backs have had an exciting series and I really like Wade Miley. But Clayton Kershaw is a difference maker and you have to pick him at home.

Yesterday: 9-5

Week: 22-16

Month: 47-42

Season: 277-206

Games of the Day: 26-10   Freakin' Cardianals...

The Comeback "Kids"

Who doesn't love a good comeback story? Granted, they never usually end up well. But for brief, shining moments, they make us smile with the improbability. Erik Bedard, Bartolo Colon, Jason Marquis and Jake Peavy have all provided those smile-making moments this season. Bedard and Colon did not pitch in the majors at all last year. Marquis was abysmal last year in an injury-plagued season and Peavy is pitching after a shoulder surgery that was as radical as the Tommy John surgery was for that pitcher all those years ago. Peavy is 2-0 after beating the mighty Boston Red Sox the other day. Bedard and Colon are only a combined 6-7 in their records, but both a pitching far more effectively than anyone could have imagined. Marquis is 6-2 for the lowly Nationals and he's pitching way better than his 4.13 ERA.

The thing about these four pitchers is that they were once very successful. Colon and Peavy have Cy Young Award hardware and Bedard went 28-16 for the Orioles back in 2006 and 2007. Jason Marquis has won fifteen games twice in his career. And it just goes to show you that as long as a good pitcher has his health, he's going to get batters out. All have had their share of success in that category this year.

Let's start with Colon. The guy is 38 years old. He was finished. His last couple of years were filled with injuries and fat jokes. He's still not the slimmest of dudes, but wowed people all during Spring Training. This writer yelled loudly when he wasn't named as a member of the starting rotation for the Yankees at the start of the season. He had earned the right. But Phil Hughes had nothing to start the season and was pulled from the rotation after a few starts and ultimately ended on the disabled list. Colon cut his teeth on the season relieving Hughes on his short outings.

Since then Colon has made eight starts. Only one of them has been bad. He's striking out 8.41 batters per nine innings with a strikeout to walk ratio of over 4 to 1. His ERA is 3.26 and he has a WPA in the positive numbers for the first time since 2005. Throwing almost all fastballs, he still has plus gas with plenty of movement and he's a strike throwing machine. He only needed 103 pitches to pitch a complete game shutout of the Oakland A's, his first since 2006. Amazing. As for the flak about his surgery. this Fan thinks such people should shut up. This is where medicine is going. Go back to your track phones and get a life.

Erik Bedard was the Nick Johnson of pitchers. He was always hurt. The Mariners paid him a lot of money and traded away Adam Jones to get him. They got nothing for either investment. Now that Bedard is making little money, he has become healthy enough to pitch. But we are talking about a guy who has always been a good pitcher. His career ERA+ is 120 and that includes years he pitched when he wasn't right. Armed with perhaps the best curveball in baseball, he started slowly this season. In fact, his first four starts were pretty bad. The Mariners lost them all. But five of his last six starts have been quality starts and the Mariners have won five of them. He is on a three game winning streak. He is striking out 8.1 batters per nine innings this season. And just the fact that he's made all of his ten starts is a total victory for him.

Jake Peavy was a brilliant pitcher. Blessed with a heavy sinker, his Cy Young Award was no fluke. After all kinds of shoulder trouble, Peavy finally seems back and healthy. He's made four starts and is averaging 6.25 innings per start. He's 2-0 with an ERA of 3.24. His strikeouts are down. Part of that is pitching in the American League without the pitcher batting and part of it is living in the strike zone. He's amazingly only walked one batter in 25 innings of work. The only concern here is that Ozzie Guillen is letting him throw a lot of pitches. He's had two games now with more than 115 pitches. That's scary for a guy who has been hurt so often lately.
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And finally, there is Jason Marquis. Marquis isn't the kind of talent that the other three are. There are no Cy Young Awards on his resume. But he is a good pitcher who has had three really good seasons in his career. He signed a big contract with the Nationals and people scoffed. And after last year, they may have had every right to scoff. But Marquis was never right with his health last year and after a while, shut it down completely. Who knows how long he pitched hurt. Marquis is a ground ball pitcher who will never strike out a lot of batters. But in his eleven starts, he's induced seven double-plays. Seven of his eleven starts have been quality starts. He keeps the ball inside the park and though he's posted a 4.13, his FIP and xFIP are both better than that.

So there you have it. Four pitchers that aren't exactly young. All have been counted out before this season. All have faced serious health issues. And yet, all four are major comeback stories this season. They have been a lot of fun to watch. Nobody knows how long their success will last. Like missionaries, we look for demons behind every tree. Let's hope they can all hold up because stories like theirs are always worth writing.

Change Up Behind Marquis' Early Success

Jason Marquis is 3-0 with a 2.62 ERA after out pitching Tim Lincecum yesterday. Marquis' start is among the many surprises of this early 2011 season. And Marquis' success hasn't been lucky. His BABIP is normal. And the ERA is no fluke either as it is slightly higher than his FIP, which stands at 2.52 and is only slightly lower than his xFIP which stands at 3.18. Obviously, this isn't the Jason Marquis of 2010 who went 2-9 with an ERA over six. What's even more obvious is that we've never seen this Jason Marquis before.

For starters, Marquis isn't walking anyone. Even in his Dave Duncan, Cardinals seasons, Marquis walked over three batters per nine innings. His career average is 3.46 walks per nine. His lowest rate was 3.00 under Duncan in 2005. And yet this year, Marquis is only walking 1.31 batters per nine innings. That's in the Cliff Lee/Roy Halladay range.

Secondly, Marquis' strikeout rate is his highest since 2004. That was a long time ago. His 6.29 strikeouts per nine innings is more than a full strikeout over his career average of 5.26. Plus, Marquis has only given up one homer this season giving him the ridiculous rate of 0.26 homers per nine innings. His career rate in that category is 1.1. The only two seasons Marquis has kept his homer rate below one per nine innings was in 2008 for the Cubs and 2009 for the Rockies. Note: He was also under one early in his career in part time duty.

So how is Jason Marquis suddenly among the elite pitchers in the National League? Well, he's healthy for one thing. Last year's poor performance was due in part to nagging injuries that limited him to only 13 starts, his lowest total since 2003. But Marquis has been healthy plenty of years and not pitched like this. The real key to his success thus far seems to be his change up.

Why the change up? Because it's the only real anomaly in his statistics. His ground ball rate is nearly the same. The effectiveness of his fastball is not out of line with his career. His line drive rate isn't greatly changed. The only real change that jumps out at you in his statistics is his change up. He's thrown the pitch 23.2 percent of the time this season. The highest rate he's ever thrown that pitch is 13.3 percent last year. And for his career, the pitch has only been in his arsenal to the tune of 9.1 percent. His rate of pitches being chased outside the strike zone is higher to a pretty significant degree and perhaps that can be directly related to the increase in change ups and the effectiveness of that pitch.

And Fangraphs certainly seems to show the change up has been very effective. It's by far his most effective pitch type. Marquis has never had a devastating fastball and its values are always in the negative numbers. His slider is slightly more effective this year than in the past. But the change up this year is rated very highly.

Normally, you might expect Marquis to regress from his stunning 2011 early numbers. His walk and homer rate seem so out of whack with the rest of his career. But there is also the chance that he's found something like lightning in a bottle with his change up and just perhaps, he can ride that pitch all season as long if his health holds up.

Stud Pitchers On Parade

On a night when the Reds, Yankees and Bay Rays needed a win to seal their playoff spots and the Braves needed a win to keep them in charge of the wild card spot, stud pitchers stepped up and carried the day. But they weren't alone. Seattle got another ace performance from their Cy Young candidate, the Phillies got an excellent tune up outing from their trade deadline stud in a game the Phillies eventually lost because a veteran pitcher for the Nationals had a sensational start after a disappointing season and two young relievers were lights out after his night was done. Let's recap.

The Reds have been dancing around that clinching game for several days now. They simply needed to get the job done so they can start figuring out their playoff match ups. But until they slammed the door on the Cardinals, they had to keep throwing their A-game out there. Edinson Voquez is peaking at just the right time. The erstwhile ace has had a tough year returning from a long-term injury. He still had the power stuff of the past, but his command was all over the place. But he's had four good games in a row now and his efforts on Tuesday night helped his team to its clinching win.

Volquez matched the tough Wandy Rodriguez for six innings. Both pitchers only gave up two runs before departing for pinch hitters. Volquez struck out eight and more importantly, only walked one. The game became a bullpen battle after that and the Reds' bullpen was one run better than Houston's. First, the Amazing Arthur Rhodes did his thing and pitched a scoreless inning. Then Rhodes' young student, Nick Masset threw a perfect eight and then the Reds turned to their secret weapon. Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth and struck out two to give the Reds' offense a chance to win the game.

Jay Bruce won the game in walk off fashion with a homer in the ninth (more on him in the next post). It was a game the Reds needed to set their house in order and Voquez, Rhodes, Masset and Chapman made it happen. Congratulations Reds on your first division title in many years.

The Yankees seemed to be playing rope-a-dope for the previous three weeks and things got a bit surreal after A. J. Burnett again went up in flames on Monday night. In stepped Sabathia like the ace he is supposed to be and pitched eight and a third innings of three-hit, one-run ball against the mighty offense of the Toronto Blue Jays in their home ballpark. Sabathia's performance allowed the Yankee hitters to relax, take control of the game and win it easily. It also allowed Mariano Rivera to get some work in during the ninth as he came in to get the final two outs in a non-save situation. The Yankees can't relax because they are still in a dogfight for the division title and the best record in the AL is at stake. But Sabathia at least put the playoff berth to bed in a performance that the Yankees really needed to have.

David Price did the same thing for the Bay Rays. Price pitched eight scoreless innings on six hits and no walks. Price struck out eight and then Soria came in and pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two more. If it wasn't for King Felix, Price would have an excellent argument for Cy Young and won his 19th game. The win clinched a playoff spot for the Bay Rays and kept them ahead of the Yankees in the AL East. The Bay Rays only had nine base runners the entire game but scored five of them in a clutch offensive performance.

The two wins by the Bay Rays and Yankees means that the Red Sox hopes are finally dashed. You have to have much respect for the Red Sox as they battled everything under the sun and still stayed relevant right up until the last week of the season. All due credit must go to Terry Francona and David Ortiz for keeping that team from hanging their heads. They kept plugging along and came up short.

Meanwhile, Bobby Cox, manager of the Atlanta Braves, bit the bullet and all of his best starters are pitching on three days rest this week. He has no choice if his team is to get into the promised land. Tim Hudson, who is the Braves ace in heart (if not in stuff, that goes to Hanson) took the ball and gave Cox six gutty innings. They weren't spectacular innings as he allowed eleven base runners, but somehow managed to allow only one of them to score. Gaby Sanchez stranded six Marlins all by himself, Corbin Maybin got himself picked off by Hudson and Bonifacio, who shouldn't be playing, hit into a crucial double play.

The Braves' bullpen again got the job done. The amazing Billy Wagner closed the door with 36th save by striking out the side in the ninth. Wagner now has a 1.34 ERA. This may be the finest season of his stellar career and maybe he'll reconsider his retirement announcement.

The Phillies are living the high life these days as they are assured the top spot in the NL playoff pole. But they have to play out the rest of the season. Roy Oswalt got a tune up for the playoffs and pitched his obligatory five innings. He only gave up one run and was as sharp as he's been since his second start for the Phillies. On the other side, Jason Marquis, who has had nothing short of a disastrous first season with the Nationals due to injury and ineffectiveness, was juat as good for the Nationals and kept the mighty Phillies (who played most of their regulars) to just one run. He handed the ball off to young Tyler Clippard, who pitched two scoreless innings, striking out two. Drew Storen, the other Nationals phenom, pitched a perfect inning to get the win when Donkey Dunn hit his 38th homer of the season in walk off fashion off of the ancient LOOGY, Tim Byrdak.

Down in Texas, Felix Hernandez might just have sealed his Cy Young Award with another dominating performance. He pitched eight innings, allowing only seven base runners while striking out five. He only gave up one run and lowered his ERA to 2.27. With Price hitting all cylinders and Sabathia pitching the Yankees into the post season, it was a performance that Hernandez really needed to put him over the top. And over the top he should be. King Felix has to be the league's Cy Young. Forget his 13-12 record. He's just been a head above anybody else in the American League.