1. Lucky #13: Two pitchers joined Josh Beckett as 13-game winners yesterday, including a teammate of Beckett’s. 13-3 Curt Schilling and 13-2 Roy Halladay each won last night to join Beckett at the top of the leaderboard. Halladay now has the best winning percentage of any pitcher in the AL after defeating the Seattle Mariners and red-hot Gil Meche. Meche had come into the game with 5 straight wins but was blasted by Troy Glaus and Toronto’s offense. Meanwhile, Halladay allowed just 2 runs and now ranks in the AL top ten in almost every significant pitching category. Schilling didn’t pitch quite as well as Halladay, allowing 4 runs, but he got plenty of support from Boston’s offense as they routed Oakland 13-5. Each of the 13-win pitchers are now on pace for a 20-win season, which seems to be harder to achieve as the years go on. Only 12 pitchers have done it since 2003.
2. Aces High: Two of the American League’s other top pitchers met yesterday. The Twins’ Johan Santana and the White Sox’s Jose Contreras was the matchup, and Minnesota was able to take their second straight game of the series. Contreras pitched decently, but his luck has completely turned since his 17 game winning streak was snapped. Since the All Star break Contreras has lost all three of his starts despite a 4.29 ERA and the league’s best offense behind him. Meanwhile, Santana won his third straight start to improve to 12-5. Despite an awful start to his season, he leads the AL in innings pitched and strikeouts and is in the top 5 in ERA and WHIP. Expect Johan to do even better down the stretch: since 2003 he is 30-3 after the All Star break. The Twins have now won 9 of their last 10 while the White Sox are in a free-fall. Could the Twins pass up the defending World Series champs? They can do so tonight.
3. Why the Cardinals win: The reason the Cardinals are in first place as usual is simple: they have Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter on their team. That was especially showcased last night, when they used the exceptional play of both stars to edge the Rockies 1-0. Carpenter pitched seven solid innings, while Pujols hit a homerun in the 6th that turned out to be the game’s only score. Carpenter is now second in the National League in ERA with 2.68; he also has 10 wins and is second in WHIP. Pujols, of course, is leading the NL in homers with his 33rd. He is on pace for a monstrous 58 and 152, which would both be career highs for this slugger. For the Rockies, Jason Jennings got screwed over once again. Despite having a 3.70 ERA that is almost two runs better than Jason Marquis’, Jennings has half the win total of Marquis with a 6-9 record. He is 0-3 in July despite a 3.00 ERA.
4. Could there be another piece on pitchers?: Amazingly, there will be another section about pitchers. Let’s start with Kenny Rogers, the All Star game starter and Tigers ace. Rogers had probably the worst start of his career, recording only 2 outs and allowing 7 runs against the Indians. In July now Rogers has a 9.37 ERA, and he has now become Detroit’s worst starter. Meanwhile. Carlos Zambrano is doing well with both his arm and his bat. He hit his fourth homer of the season while winning his 8th straight decision as the Cubs defeated the Mets 8-7. Zambrano has walked the most batters in the league but has the most strikeouts. Go figure. And finally, Ervin Santana has lost a game. He had won seven consecutive starts before bowing down to the Devil Rays yesterday. Now back to the NL, where Roger Clemens continues his streak of terrible luck. He has a 2.44 ERA and a 2-4 record, two things that shouldn’t go together. He was defeated by Aaron Harang, who shut out the Stros for his 11th win.
5. From the not-gonna-happen file: Sammy Sosa is considering a return to baseball in 2007 and said he would play for the Cubs again. Considering Jacque Jones is already in right field, this doesn’t seem likely. Also, unless MLB decides to unban steroids, the chances of Sosa getting back into playing shape are slim to none. Maybe he and Raffy Palmeiro can go play in an independent league with Jose Canseco.
