Daily Baseball Blog: 5/12

The junior varsity Madison Warhawks completed their season, finishing with a 14-0 record and a Liberty District Title. Varsity is preparing for their District Tournament.

Did You Know

Josh Hamilton has hit eight home runs in his last five games, pushing him to 17 home runs in his teams first 33 games. He is the first player since Frank Howard accomplished the feat for the 1968 Senators. The only other player ever to hit so many home runs in his team's first 33 games was Cy Williams for the 1923 Phillies. Howard would finish with a Major League leading 44 home runs, and Williams would tie Babe Ruth for the Major League lead at 41. Hamilton is in good company.

Did You Know (x2)

I wanted to add in this fact, too. Ryan Dempster, the Major League ERA leader at 1.02, has a record of just 0-1. The next seven on the list, Johnny Cueto (4-0, 1.12), Lance Lynn (6-0, 1.40), Ted Lilly (4-0, 1.41), Drew Smyly (1-0, 1.59), and Jered Weaver (5-0, 1.60), Brandon Beachy (3-1, 1.62), and Stephen Strasburg (3-0, 1.64) are a combined 26-1. Talk about a lack of run support.

Today in Baseball History

5/12/1926: Walter Johnson becomes the second (and so far last) pitcher to win 400 games, tossing a complete game against the St. Louis Browns. Johnson gave up four earned runs on nine hits and two walks. That Browns lineup included future Hall of Famer George Sisler and superstar slugger Ken Williams.

News

Last week, Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton became the 15th player to hit four home runs in a game.

Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett was caught golfing while he was supposedly "resting" a strained lat, and has caused controversy.

Blue Jays signed Vladimir Guerrero (2011: 13 HR, 63 RBI, .290 AVG, 2 SB, age 37) to a minor league deal.

Nationals signed Michael Gonzalez (2011: 2-2, 4.39 ERA, .250 BAA, 1 save, age 34) to a minor league deal. Gonzalez is a lefty specialist with a solid but inconsistent history.

Brewers closer John Axford blew a save yesterday, ending a streak of 49 consecutive saves.

The Washington Nationals have four starters in the top 21 in ERA: Stephen Strasburg (8th at 1.64), Gio Gonzalez (11th at 1.94), Ross Detwiler (17th at 2.10) and Jordan Zimmerman (21st at 2.29).

Game Scores

Nationals (20-12) beat the Reds (16-15) 7-3.

Red Sox (13-19) beat the Indians (18-14) 7-5.

Yankees (18-14) beat the Mariners (15-19) 6-2.

Phillies (15-18) beat the Padres (11-22) 7-3.

Dodgers (21-11) beat the Rockies (13-18) 7-3.

Brewers (14-18) beat the Cubs (13-19) 8-7 (13 innings).

Braves (20-13) beat the Cardinals (20-12) 9-7 (12 innings).

Orioles (21-12) beat the Rays (20-13) 4-3.

Top Scorer: A's beat the Tigers 11-4.

Standings

AL East: Orioles (21-12, .636 WPCT). AL Central: Indians (18-14, .563). AL West: Rangers (22-11, .667).

NL East: Nationals (20-12, .625). NL Central: Cardinals (20-12, .625). NL West: Dodgers (21-11, .656).

AL Wild Cards: Rays (20-13, .606) and Yankees (18-14, .563). NL Wild Cards: Braves (20-13, .606) and Mets (18-14, .563).

Bottom Team: Twins (9-23, .281). Longest Winning Streak: White Sox, 3 games. Longest Losing Streak: Rays, Pirates, Giants, and Padres, 2 games.

League Leaders

Offensive: AVG: Josh Hamilton (Rangers), .407 (48-118). Home runs: Josh Hamilton, 17.  RBI: Josh Hamilton, 40.  Stolen bases: Emilio Bonifacio (Marlins), 17.

Pitching: Wins: Lance Lynn (Cardinals), 6. K's: Felix Hernandez (Mariners), 58. ERA: Ryan Dempster (Cubs), 1.02 (35.1 innings, 4 earned runs). Saves: Craig Kimbrel (Braves) and Chris Perez (Indians), 11.

Top Performers

Offensive: Josh Reddick (A's): 4-4, 2 home runs (8), 5 RBI, 4 runs, walk, stolen base (4), AVG up .022 from .270 to .292, hitting streak to 4 games (8-16, .500 AVG).

Pitching: Patrick Corbin (Diamondbacks): Win (2-1), 7 innings, 1 earned run, 3 hits, no walks, 4 K's (12), ERA drop: 2.50 runs from 7.00 to 4.50.

Worst Pitching Performance: Ubaldo Jimenez (Indians): Loss (3-3), 4.1 innings, 7 earned runs, 9 hits, 5 walks, 4 K's (24), ERA jump: 1.14 runs from 4.04 to 5.18.

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

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. BAA: batting average against. K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman