Daily Baseball Update: 6/9

First off, I would like to offer congratulations to my teammate, Andy McGuire, for being drafted in the 36th round by the Colorado Rockies.  He could have been drafted much higher (say 3rd round or so), but a strong commitment to the University of Texas dropped him to the 36th.  He had been ranked as the number 62 overall prospect by Jonathan Mayo. 

Historical Individual Seasons: Denny McLain 1968

Stat Line: 31-6, 1.96 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 280 K's in 336 innings.  Age 24.

While McLain's season was completely overshadowed by Bob Gibson, who went 22-9 with a 1.12 ERA, it still holds historical value.  He is the most recent, and probably the final, pitcher to win 30 games in a season.  His 31-6 record gave him the MVP and led the Tigers to the World Series Championship.  In the All Star Game, he tossed 2 shutout innings and struck out Hall of Famer Willie McCovey.  For the season, opponents batted just .200 while he held a 0.90 WHIP.  He completed 28 of his 41 starts while tossing six shutouts.  In the World Series, he posted a 3.24 ERA and won a crucial Game 6 to force a Game 7.  He pitched nine innings and gave up just one run.  His historical season earned him the AL MVP award.  

News

For just the second time in MLB history, two games went to 18 innings.  The Blue Jays walked off in the 18th inning to defeat the Rangers, while the Marlins beat the Mets in 20 innings.

Yankees starter Andy Pettitte earned his 250th career victory.

In the same game, the Twins' Joe Mauer hit his 100th career home run and the Nationals' Jayson Werth hit his 150th.

Game Scores

Twins (27-31) beat the Nationals (29-31) 4-3 (11 innings).

Angels (27-35) beat the Red Sox (38-25) 9-5 and Red Sox beat the Angels 7-2.

Yankees (36-26) beat the Mariners (27-36) 4-1.

Brewers (24-37) beat the Phillies (31-32) 4-3.

Braves (38-24) beat the Dodgers (27-34) 2-1.

Rays (38-27) beat the Orioles (34-28) 8-0.

Pirates (37-25) beat the Cubs (24-35) 6-2.

Tigers (34-26) beat the Indians (30-31) 6-4.

Top Scorer: Giants beat the Diamondbacks 10-5.

Standings

AL East: Red Sox (38-25, .603 WPCT).  AL Central: Tigers (34-26, .567).  AL West: A's (38-26, .594).

NL East: Braves (38-24, .613).  NL Central: Cardinals (40-22, .645).  NL West: Diamondbacks (35-27, .565).

AL Wild Cards: Rangers (36-25, .590) and Yankees (36-26, .581).  NL Wild Cards: Reds and Pirates (37-25, .597).

Bottom Team: Marlins (17-44, .279).  Longest W Streak: Royals, 4 games.  Longest L Streak: Indians, 6 games.

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Miguel Cabrera (Tigers), .368 (89-242).  Home runs: Chris Davis (Orioles), 20.  RBI: Miguel Cabrera, 67.  Stolen bases: Everth Cabrera (Padres), 28.

Pitching: Wins: Clay Buchholz (Red Sox), Patrick Corbin (D-Backs), and Adam Wainwright (Cardinals), 9.  K's: Yu Darvish (Rangers), 118.  ERA: Clay Buchholz, 1.71 (84.1 innings, 16 earned runs).  Saves: Jason Grilli (Pirates), 23.

Top Performers

Offensive: Hunter Pence (Giants): 2-5, double, home run (10), RBI, 3 runs, 2 stolen bases (12), AVG up .003 from .285 to .288, hitting streak to 1 game (2-5, .400).

Pitching: John Danks (White Sox): Win (1-2), 8 innings, 1 earned run, 3 hits, 1 walk, 6 K's (18), ERA drop: 1.50 runs from 5.63 to 4.13.

Worst Pitching Performance: Trevor Cahill (Diamondbacks): Loss (3-7), 3.2 innings, 8 earned runs, 9 hits, 1 walk, 3 K's (51), ERA jump: 0.75 runs from 3.27 to 4.02.

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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