You Don't See That Very Often

Dodgers rookie center fielder Joc Pederson has slammed 18 home runs three weeks short of the All-Star break. Only three rookies in National League history have gone yard 18 or more times before the All-Star break. The names with which Pederson cohabits are: Mike Piazza, Frank Robinson and Albert Pujols.

Chris Sale shut down the Texas Rangers for eight shutout innings, allowing just two hits and no walks while whiffing 14 batters. But Sale didn't earn a win. His team lost when reliever David Robertson allowed the same number of hits, plus two walks and two runs in a single inning.

On the other side of the equation, Phillies starter Phillipe Aumont walked seven Cardinals while fanning three in just four innings. That's just the fifth time in the last two years that a pitcher has walked seven or more and struck out three or fewer.

The near-perfection of Max Scherzer's performance Saturday pointed out how prosaic his no-no was. There have been 289 no-hitters in MLB history, roughly two-a-year, including Edwin Jackson's sow's ear in 2010 when he walked 8 Rays, hit a batter and missed the strike zone on 47% of his 149 pitches. Perfectos? Just 23 all time, or fewer than two-a-decade.

That's even less often than an everyday player reaches 3,000 hits. Remember when that was special? Alex Rodriguez became the 29th to join the club last week, but only the third member to reach the 600 HR/3,000 hit heights, which he achieved, appropriately, with a dinger. Yet zzzzz. I hope we care more when Ichiro, Prince Albert and Miguel Cabrera reach that vaunted status.

Three position players toed the rubber on Friday, and not in the same game. It's the first time that happened in nearly 100 years -- since 1918 to be exact.

One of those "pitchers" was Rays keystoner Nick Franklin, who hurled a frame of three-hit, two-run ball against the Nats. During that contest, the Nats ran out pitcher Joe Ross to replace the DH, thereby becoming the first National League pitcher to DH. Ever. That he did so against a position player will probably leave him alone in history for awhile.

Remember all that talk about the Kansas City Royals dominating the All-Star voting? As more precincts report it will seem like ancient history. Most knowledgeable voters, the kind who exercise their 35 ballots, wait until the last weeks to weigh in. By then, the ranks of the deserving -- e.g. Josh Donaldson at third, Miguel Cabrera at first, Nelson Cruz at DH, Jason Kipnis or Dustin Pedroia at second -- will claim their rightful spots.

Chris Young, the Yankees' ostensible outfielder, needed six weeks in May and June to cobble together three RBIs. Chris Young, the Royals pitcher, drove in three runs in an inter-league game last week.

The Houston Astros lead the AL in homers, steals and strikeouts. They are the first AL team in nearly 80 years to nail all three legs of that stool. They also sport the third lowest batting average in the league. Drop down two more notches and they will be alone in history.

Pirates starter Charlie Morton entered his tilt against the Nationals Sunday with a 1.62 ERA. After two-thirds of an inning, during which the Nats pounded Morton for eight hits and nine runs, he left with a 3.97 ERA. There goes the All-Star berth.