Daily Baseball Update: 5/11

Historical Individual Seasons: Dennis Eckersley 1990

Stat Line: 4-2, 0.61 ERA, 0.61 WHIP, 48 saves, 73 K's in 73.1 innings.  Age 35.

Coming off a season where he was 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA and 33 saves, the expectations could not have been higher for the 35 year old A's closer in 1990.  However, he met them quite well.  In his 73.1 innings of work on the mound, he allowed just five runs all season, setting an ERA of 0.61 that stood as the lowest single season mark for 22 years.  He averaged just 0.61 base runners per inning and saved 48 games.  He was even better on the road.  In 33 appearances away from the Coliseum, he allowed just one run in 38 innings and walked exactly zero batters.  That was good for a 0.24 ERA and a 0.55 WHIP.  26 of his 48 saves occurred on the road.  The 0.61 ERA stood as a single season record until 2012, when the Rays' Fernando Rodney posted a 0.60 ERA. 

News

Cardinals pitcher Shelby Miller allowed a first inning single and then retired the next 27 batters he faced for a complete game one hitter.  Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester had a similar game, retiring the first 17 batters he faced before allowing a single and retiring 10 more batters to finish with a one hitter.

Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay will have shoulder surgery and may be out for the rest of the year.

Cardinals closer Jason Motte will have Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season.

David Ortiz' 27 game hitting streak was snapped with an 0-5.

Dodgers lost their eighth straight game.

Game Scores

Nationals (20-15) beat the Cubs (13-22) 7-3.

Red Sox (22-14) beat the Blue Jays (13-24) 5-0.

Yankees (21-13) beat the Royals (18-14) 11-6.

Diamondbacks (21-15) beat the Phillies (16-21) 3-2.

Marlins (11-25) beat the Dodgers (13-21) 5-4.

Rays (17-18) beat the Padres (16-19) 6-3.

Tigers (20-13) beat the Indians (18-15) 10-4.

Cardinals (22-12) beat the Rockies (19-16) 3-0.

Top Scorers: Yankees beat the Royals 11-6.

Standings

AL East: Red Sox (21-13, .618 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (20-13, .606).  AL West: Rangers (22-13, .629).

NL East: Braves (21-14, .600).  NL Central: Cardinals (22-12, .647).  NL West: Diamondbacks and Giants (21-15, .583).

AL Wild Cards: Orioles and Red Sox (22-14, .611).  NL Wild Cards: D-Backs/Giants (21-15, .583) and Nationals (20-15, .571).

Bottom Team: Astros (10-26, .278).  Longest W Streak: Nationals and Diamondbacks, 5 games.  Longest L Streak: Dodgers, 8 games.

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), .382 (52-136).  Home runs: Justin Upton (Braves), 12.  RBI: Miguel Cabrera, 40.  Stolen bases: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox) and Juan Pierre (Marlins), 12.

Pitching: Wins: Clay Buchholz (Red Sox), Matt Moore (Rays), and Jordan Zimmermann (Nationals), 6.  K's: Yu Darvish (Rangers), 72.  ERA: Matt Harvey (Mets), 1.28 (49.1 innings, 7 earned runs).  Saves: Jason Grilli (Pirates) and Jim Johnson (Orioles), 14.

Top Performers

Offensive: Lyle Overbay (Yankees): 4-5, 2 doubles, home run (6), 5 RBI, 2 runs, AVG up .026 from .238 to .264, hitting streak to 2 games (5-9, .556 AVG).

Pitching: Shelby Miller (Cardinals): Win (5-2), 9 shutout innings, 1 hit, no walks, 13 K's (51), ERA drop: 0.38 runs from 1.96 to 1.58.

Worst Pitching Performance: Corey Kluber (Indians): Loss (2-2), 4.2 innings, 8 earned runs, 11 hits, 2 walks, 4 K's (20), ERA jump: 2.58 runs from 3.06 to 5.64.

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman