Joe Maddon Knows What Matters

One of the reasons you can't count out the Tampa Rays, besides a balanced lineup, solid defense and deep pitching, is their manager Joe Maddon. He's one of the best on the planet.

The Rays are hosting Boston as I write this, nursing a 2-0 lead with two outs in the fifth. Right-handed starter Jeremy Hellickson has walked a tightrope through 14 outs, allowing five hits and two walks over 96 pitches. 

If Hellickson retires Dustin Pedroia, his evening is complete and the scorekeepers can credit him with a win, as long as the Rays maintain their lead.

Instead, Pedroia rips a single up the middle, bringing up David Ortiz with a tiring Hellickson on the hill. Maddon doesn't like that matchup and he yanks his young starter in favor of a fresh southpaw.

Think about that. Hellickson had pitched a shutout and was one out from earning a win. Joe Maddon didn't care. Winning the game is more important.

The results are irrelevant. The best decisions only offer a better chance of winning, not certainty. In fact, Ortiz turned around a Jeff Beliveau heater -- right into the mitt of first baseman James Loney. The screaming liner ended the Red Sox' threat.

Hellickson won't get the win. Big whoop. The Rays will, or at least are in better position to. That would put them within three games of the Yankees and Blue Jays in the Wild Card race. And that's the statistic that matters.

Two Morals In a Very Small Story

Here's a baseball story with two morals.

Corey Kluber notched his ninth win last night in Cleveland's 7-4 victory over Chicago. Kluber has been an All-Star contender based on a 9-6, 3.01 half-season that features good peripherals including a complete game and 4.5-1 K-BB ratio.

Last night was vindication for Boston manager John Farrell's decision to bypass Kluber for the honor. The righty from Stetson managed six innings while surrendering four runs on eight hits, two walks and a home run.

The Tribe tallied three times in the fifth to bail Kluber out of a deficit. Then the real bailing began. Relievers John Axford, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen shut the door over the final three frames, fanning six of the nine batters they faced -- all outs. That is, Cleveland's defense was asked to make all of three plays behind the trio of firemen.

Allen gets credit for a save, and why not: he struck out the side. Shaw and Axford receive bupkus, except the warm feeling that their work, combined with a potent Indian offense, secured Corey Kluber a "win." 

(In the interest of redundantly flagellating an equine corpse that long ago achieved rigor mortis, the Associated Press dedicated their first two game summary paragraphs to Kluber's sub-stellar performance and none to his successors.)

The morals of the story are familiar: 1. Pitching wins are the ultimate evidence that correlation is not causation. 2. If it's not measured it's not valued by the old fogies who still think RBIs are about "clutchness," but that doesn't mean we shouldn't value it.

Fun With Conventional Wisdom

Braindrizzling should pay royalties to the Associated Press for all the knee-slapping material it provides. Let's take a spin around the Majors AP-style, which is to say, in the style of the purveyors of conventional wisdom.

Jason Heyward hit a three-run homer to lead an Atlanta offense that scored in all but two innings.

Heyward's blast came with the Braves leading 7-1 in the seventh inning, having already blitzed Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick. He didn't lead the Atlanta offense to anything they hadn't already achieved. Perhaps Dan Uggla's two-run smash in the second inning could have been described as "leading" the offense.

Jonathan Lucroy homered and Yovanni Gallardo scattered six hits over six innings while adding two hits and a pair of runs scored as Milwaukee beat the Mets.

Here's how Gallardo "scattered" six hits: he mixed in three walks, a homer and a double, surrendering four runs in six frames. That's an ERA of 6.00 and fails to attain the modest standard of a quality start. But seven Brewer runs afforded him his seventh "win," and for that Gallardo shares top billing.

Andy Pettitte threw an early pitch exactly where he wanted. Chris Davis launched it over the centerfield wall. Most of his later offerings landed in the right spot and Pettitte stopped the Orioles again.

...Besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you like the play? Pettitte also allowed nine base runners and four runs in six-and-two-thirds innings. That's an ERA of 5.40 and also not a quality start, but backed by early runs, Pettitte was credited with a victory.  

We've still got a ways to go.