How does a line of 39 innings pitched, 23 hits, eight earned runs, four walks and 23 strikeouts sound for five starts? That's a 1.85 ERA and 0.69 WHIP with a nearly six to one strikeout-to-walk ratio. And that's what the five starting pitchers from the AL East combined to do Wednesday evening.
Full Wednesday scoreboard with recaps and box scores for every game
3 UP
Brandon Morrow, Blue Jays: The Jays have now taken the first two games in the series against a team that entered as the hottest in baseball: The White Sox. Wednesday night was the Brandon Morrow Show. He only needed one run, even though his teammates provided four. Morrow went the distance, allowing only two hits and two walks (both of which came in the ninth inning). This was Morrow's third shutout of the season, giving him the major-league lead. Johan Santana has two and no one else has more than one.
Ivan Nova, Yankees: Nova's final line shows an earned run and four hits in eight innings, but he gave up two hits a run in the ninth before being removed. He entered the ninth after having spun a two-hitter through eight. And he had little margin for error, too, because the Yankees went into the bottom of the eighth with just a 2-0 lead over Alex Cobb and the Rays (they'd score twice in the eighth and the final score was 4-1).
Wei-Yin Chen, Orioles: For much of the night, Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett was carving through the Orioles' batting order with ease, so Chen had very little margin for error. And he stepped up, allowing only one run over seven innings against the potent Red Sox offense in a 2-1 Orioles victory.
3 DOWN
Brennan Boesch, Tigers: With two outs in the first inning, Boesch dropped a fly ball. The next batter hit a three-run homer. Yes, the home run and previous baserunner are on Tigers starting pitcher Max Scherzer, but you have to expect a major-league outfielder to catch the ball. Oh, Boesch went 0-for-4 and the Tigers lost by three. So ... yeah. We'll get to the Indians in On Deck below.
Daniel Murphy, Mets: Murphy committed an error with one out and no one on in the first inning. Mets starter Jeremy Hefner then walked a batter and allowed a three-run homer. Murphy would later commit a second error -- which was wiped out by a double-play, but it's still an error -- and go 0-for-4 himself. And the Mets lost by two.
Rangers' offense. It was bound to happen sometime. The Rangers were shut out for the first time in the 2012 season Wednesday night in Oakland. This wasn't the case of a rag-tag lineup due to injuries or the back-end of a doubleheader. No, this was the full-strength Rangers: Kinsler, Andrus, Hamilton, Beltre, Young, Cruz, Murphy, Napoli and Moreland. And Bartolo Colon absolutely had his way with them for eight innings, allowing only five hits and one walk. Brian Fuentes then worked a spotless ninth to close things down.
Ownership: The Dodgers have gone into Philly and won three in a row, all by one run. Thursday, they'll be going for the rare four-game sweep, and they'll be doing so against Cole Hamels (8-2, 2.81). The Dodgers will send Aaron Harang (4-3, 3.90). Might I recommend Don Mattingly not using closer Kenley Jansen again in this one? Wednesday night marked his third straight day -- and fourth in five days -- on the hill. In addition to the lack of rest, Carlos Ruiz's marathon at-bat, which ended in a walk, clearly gassed Jansen and the Dodgers were lucky to win. Anyway, we're supposed to be talking about Thursday's game in this space, so I'll shut up. 1:05 p.m. ET
More drastic Ownership: The Indians have played the Tigers five times this season. Not only have they beat them all five times, they've outscored them 24-14. Thursday they'll look to make it a clean 6-0, as Derek Lowe (7-3, 3.06) gets the ball against Casey Crosby (0-1, 16.20) of the Tigers. Judging from the pitching matchup and how these two teams are playing, the chances seem pretty good the Indians leave Detroit with a sweep. But games aren't won or lost on paper. Just ask the 2012 Tigers (so far). 1:05 p.m. ET
Lefty power: Two of baseball's better left-handed starting pitchers square off in the Bronx, as David Price (7-3, 2.44) looks to help his Rays avoid a sweep against CC Sabathia (7-2, 3.68) and the Yankees. 7:05 p.m. ET
Thursday's probable pitchers
• MLB DUI/DWI rate really low: Every time a Major League Baseball is arrested for driving while intoxicated/driving under the influence of alcohol, it comes to light nationally. And every time, judgments are passed on coddled professional athletes and how it's ridiculous how often they get arrested for this crime. And I'd agree that getting arrested for this once is one time too many. Still, it would appear the stigma on pro athletes -- specifically baseball players -- is unfair. Jon Bois at SB Nation used FBI.gov (ever heard of the FBI?) to study DUI/DWI arrests and found that 1 in 149 licensed drivers got a DUI/DWI in a one-year span, while the rate of MLB arrests in this span was 1 in 433. That's a blowout, people. Let's get ourselves in order before complaining about the players. (SB Nation)
• Stuck in the middle: As most of us know by know, the Oakland Athletics are trying to move to San Jose, and the San Francisco Giants are doing all they can to block it. Well, caught in the middle of the argument is San Jose, which happens to have the Giants' Triple-A affiliate. They would be forced to move if the A's came to town. The Wall Street Journal online has the story. A Triple-A team being forced to move by an MLB team isn't without precedent. One example is the Denver Zephyrs going to New Orleans so the Colorado Rockies could take over Denver.
• Boras calls draft a 'mockery:' Big-time MLB agent Scott Boras isn't a fan of the new draft rules, which caps the amount of money teams can spend. "There was all forms of artificial behavior in the draft,'' Boras said (USA Today). "The purpose of the draft is that it's supposed to create parity in the game. You want teams with the greatest needs to get the best available talent. That has not been achieved in this draft. It's created a mockery.'' There is a lot more from Boras. He's steamed for many reasons, but one of them is that Stanford pitcher Mark Appel, his client, fell much further than expected. The full story at USA Today is worth a read.
• Revenge of the Nerds: OK, before I dive in: I don't think these dudes are nerds at all. They are studs at baseball, for one. I just really wanted to use that movie title as a subhead. Anywho ... there have been five Ivy Leaguers selected in the MLB Draft. Well done, boys. (ivyleaguesports.com)
• Remembering Hal: Hal Keller, a long-time scout who introduced use of the radar gun to baseball, died June 5, less than a month shy of his 85th birtday. Tracy Ringolsby of FoxSports.com has the story of Keller's life. It's a great read that brings appreciation to one of baseball's best behind-the-scenes guys.
For more baseball news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnBaseball on Twitter, subscribe to the RSS feed and "like" us on Facebook.
