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Seattle finally won a game Wednesday, erupting for 9 runs against the Yankees. It's no surprise that it happened the day after Doug Fister started.

On Tuesday, Doug "No Visible Means of Support" Fister was tagged with another tough loss, allowing 3 runs in 7 IP, while his mates could barely make contact off CC Sabathia. The Mariners have scored 2 runs or less in 16 of Fister's 21 starts this year.

• His last win came on May 30. In 10 starts since then, he has a 3.42 ERA, but an 0-7 record, including an agonizing 3-game stretch allowing 1 run each game while lasting 8, 8 and 9 IP -- all for an 0-1 record. He has 4 games of 8+ IP and just 1 run allowed, but no wins to show for them. All other SPs combined, when going 8+ IP and allowing 1 run this year, are 77-12, with 15 no-decisions. No other pitcher has more 2 winless games of 8+ IP and 1 run.

(1) Fister's season record is now 3-12 (.200 W%), but with a 3.33 ERA / 111 ERA+.

Since 1901, here are the 15 starting pitchers with a season Winning Pct. of .250  or worse but an ERA+ of at least 100 (min. 15 decisions):

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Ervin Santana tossed a no-hitter in Cleveland Wednesday afternoon.

Santana had 10 strikeouts and 1 walk. He allowed one unearned run; the first batter he faced reached on an E-6, stole 2nd, and eventually scored on a wild pitch. The error and the walk were the only baserunners against him.

-- It's the Angels' first individual no-hitter since Mike Witt's perfect game on the last day of the 1984 season, and the 8th in franchise history, half of those by Nolan Ryan. It's their first no-hitter of any kind since 1990, a game in which Witt got the save with 2 IP in relief of Mark Langston.

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CC Sabathia currently leads the majors with 15 wins. He also shared the MLB wins lead in 2009-10.

Since the pitching rubber was set at 60' 6" in 1893, only 4 pitchers have led the majors in wins (alone or tied) for at least 3 straight years. Can you name those 4 pitchers, and which one led for the most years in a row?

(By the way, I found that trying to identify these pitchers by eyeballing the Yearly League Leaders list was surprisingly tedious, because of all the years in which several pitchers tied for the lead; but don't let me discourage you.)

(I am away from the computer this week so pardon me as I make a series of posts written ahead of time...2011 stats will be a bit out of date by the time you read this.)

Check out the most plate appearances in a season for a non-pitcher who had at least twice as many strikeouts as hits:

This is a ho-hum three true outcomes list, or so it seems. But Dunn actually has the worst ratio on this list. The only 3 above with a ratio over 2.5 are Dunn (2.76), LaRue (2.64), and Nicholson in 1962 (2.53)

Brett Cecil's shutout of Texas earned an 84 Game Score, Toronto's highest this year. He allowed 4 singles and 2 walks in his first-ever 9-inning effort. The Rangers didn't get a runner to 2nd base until the 8th inning, on a fly out.

• It was the first shutout loss at home for the Rangers this year, where they were averaging 6 runs per game. They've been shut out 4 times on the road, where they average just 4 R/G. Texas is 33-19 at home, 25-25 away.
• Cecil has put up 14 straight zeroes. In his last start, he allowed 5 runs in the first 2 innings, but went 5 scoreless from there, and the Jays eventually won it. He had an 18-inning scoreless streak in July 2009, spread over 3 games.

Through Saturday 7/23, Red Sox hold 4 of the AL's top 5 spots in Wins Above Replacement* for position players:

• #2 - Dustin Pedroia, 5.3
• #3 (tie) - Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez, 4.8
• #5 (tie) - Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Beltre (Texas), 3.9.

All 4 hitters are on pace for at least 6.4 WAR. No team has had 4 position players at that level.

Only one team ever had 4 position players with 6 Wins Above Replacement (often called the threshold of "MVP level"): the 1902 Pirates, who went 103-36, a .741 W% that's 2nd best in modern history.

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Here are the leaders, through Thursday, for most 2011 games with at least 3 RBI:

Berkman actually had another one yesterday, but the most surprising entry here is Danny Valencia, who has just an 81 OPS+ and 11 homers through Thursday but still makes the leader board. (Valencia hit his 12th homer yesterday, too.)

Here's a quick Batting Event Finder to find the players with the most go-ahead plate appearances so far in 2011:

A few surprising entries:

• Ryan Ludwick is having a decent season for a below-average team, but he's apparently getting hits when they count. At the moment, of the top 46 leaders this year in RBI, Ludwick is the only one with an OPS+ under 100.
• The Pirates have 2 guys, Walker and McCutchen, in the top 9.
• Three Ryans in the top 10!

-- Season debut for Tampa's Desmond Jennings: 3-2-2-1, 2 walks, 3B, 2B, SB, field littered with comic-book "swoosh!" lines. In his last 3 years in the minors, Jennings had 106 SB and just 12 CS.

• Jennings is the 6th player this year with a 3B, 2B and SB in a game; only Jose Reyes has 2 such games.

-- Koji Uehara notched his 13th straight scoreless inning, with 20 Ks, 3 hits and 2 walks. He has at least 1 strikeout in 14 straight appearances, the 5th longest relief streak this year. (David Robertson logged his 15th straight today; Sergio Santos had the longest streak this year, as reported by Andy.)

• Uehara leads all relievers this year with a 0.69 WHIP and a 7.38 SO/BB ratio (min. 40 IP). Over the past 2 seasons, his SO/BB ratio is a near-Eckerslevian 8.77 (114 SO, 13 BB).
• His career SO/BB ratio of 6.44 is the best ever pitching from 60' 6" (min. 100 IP).

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Chad Qualls came into the 7th Saturday with a 4-3 lead. Pinch-hitter Ryan Howard whacked the first pitch over the CF fence, and the inning unraveled from there. Qualls wound up allowing 3 HRs, a double and a walk, getting 1 out while facing 6 batters.

Qualls this year had allowed 1 HR in 45 IP before today. He had never allowed more than 2 HRs or 3 extra-base hits in a game.

However, it's not even the worst outing of this month in terms of HRs per batter faced. On July 7, Baltimore's Pedro Viola allowed HRs to the first 3 men he faced, then walked a batter before being pulled. Five others in the searchable era have allowed 3 HRs in a 4-batter stint, including one starting pitcher.

Here are the other pitchers since 1919 who've allowed 3+ HRs while facing 5 batters or less:

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