Tim Lincecum looks like he belongs in a pre-teen boy band. Don't tell that to the 11 batters he whiffed Monday.
The National League Cy Young race moves in The Freak's direction.
Mariano Rivera has 40 saves in a season for the first time since 2005. Amazingly, 11 pitchers have reached the 40 save barrier at least once in a season since then. Who are they?
You want magic numbers. We've got magic numbers.
Leading Off
The Cy Young race in the National League took a turn the last two days.
While Adam Wainwright leads the league in starts, wins and innings pitched, he's not even the best pitcher on his team.
Wainright is third in the league in ERA, second to fellow Cardinal Chris Carpenter, who leads the league in winning percentage.
However, Carpenter got hit pretty hard in his start on Sunday, which means The Freak leads the Cy Young race.
That's right, last year's winner.
The guy you thought was a fluke and was destined for arm injury.
Sure, he only has 14 wins. But the rest of his numbers are off the charts.
After another dominant performance he leads the league with 244 punchouts, a 2.30 ERA, four complete games and two shutouts.
Lincecum could become the first right-hander to lead the National League in strikeouts in back-to-back seasons since Curt Schilling did so in 1998 and 1997.
Most important for the Giants, however, was that the game pulled them closer in the Wild Card race.
Regional Roundup
Two rookies have impressive seasons, the Pirates talk celebration, but not 1979 and the Orioles are struggling.
- Tyler Walker is raising eyebrows in Philadelphia.
- The O's couldn't handle the Devil Rays, who still have a shot at a winning season.
- The Pirates discuss celebrations. And no, they're not talking about Cool and The Gang.
- This is the story of a man making the most of his September call up.
Best of Rest
There wasn't much relevant action Monday night. But there is tons of news today.
- Justin Morneau is out for the season. The Twins also lost Joe Crede. While they might not be mathematically eliminated, they're done for sure.
- Mark Teixeira has been the most consistent Yankee since May.
- Daisuke Matsuzaka has something to prove.
- Matt Holliday has been lights out since joining the Redbirds. He has three 100-RBI seasons in the past four years and 48 since coming over from Oakland.
- Randy Johnson is looking to return to The Bigs this season.
- Hard to believe, but it's been four years since Mariano Rivera saved 40 games in a season.
Here are the relievers who've gotten 40 saves in a season:
Francisco Rodriguez (06, 07, 08)
Bobby Jenks (06, 07)
Trevor Hoffman (06, 07)
Jose Valverde (07, 08)
Billy Wagner (06)
JJ Putz (07)
Francisco Cordero (07)
Joe Borowski (07)
Jonathan Papelbon (08)
Brian WIlson (08)
Joakim Soria (08)
Brad Lidge (08)
1938 -- Brothers Lloyd and Paul Waner hit back-to-back homers for the Pittsburgh Pirates off Cliff Melton of the New York Giants. This was the only time brothers hit successive home runs in a major league game. It was Lloyd's last homer.
1946 -- The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs 2-0 in five innings when the game was called because of gnats. The insects became such a problem for the players, umpires and fans that the game had to be stopped.
The Closer For the record, here are the magic numbers for each of the Division Leaders to clinch their divisions.
Central Tigers - 14
West Angels - 13
Wild Card
Red Sox - 16
National League
East Phillies - 13
Central Cardinals - 8
West Dodgers - 13
Wild Card Rockies - 14
So, the shocking fact: The Cardinals are the closest team to clinching a berth.
The most interesting fact: While only four of the eight teams are returning participants in the 2008 post season, all of them have been there at least once since 2006, when the Cardinals topped the Tigers.
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