With just one previous big-league start under his belt, Boston Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz no-hit the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night at Fenway. If I’m not mistaken, Wilson Alvarez was the last pitcher to throw a no-no in his second career start — on August 11, 1991, against — you guessed it, the Orioles.
Whatever the case, congrats to Buchholz…

Detroit Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander spun a no-hitter Tuesday night against the Milwaukee Brewers. Yep, he shut down the likes of J.J. Hardy, Prince Fielder, and Geoff Jenkins for a full nine innings. Walked Bill Hall all three times, but hey, a guy’s got to know his limitations.
Verlander fanned 12 batters on the night. You know how many pitches he threw? 112. That’s sick.
Another thing that’s sick is Verlander’s improvement this season. He was outstanding as a rookie, but check this out:

Justin Verlander, 2006 vs 2007

Year
Age
IP/GS
ERA+
H/9
HR/9
BB/9
K/9

Stats are through games of June 12, 2007, and are courtesy of Baseball-Reference.

2006
23
6.20
125
9.05
1.02
2.90
6.00

2007
24
6.46
156
6.96
0.75
3.21
7.29

Talk about nice …read more

Did Mark Buehrle get the calls? That’s the question Anthony asks at Friar Watch. Using MLB’s Enhanced Gameday data, he examines Buehrle’s no-hitter from last week and determines that for the most part, the plate umpire did a good job calling balls and strikes for Buehrle and his opposite number, the Rangers’ Kevin Millwood.
The charts are fascinating, but what I really appreciate are the insights that go with them:
Without having seen the game I’ll hazard a few guesses based on the data: Buehrle’s pitches are all over the place, when I see that it usually means the pitcher has good …read more

Did anyone see the Mark Buehrle no-hitter coming? You, with the hand up in the back — you’re lying.
In case you missed it, Buehrle faced the minimum against Texas on Wednesday night. The only baserunner against him came on a walk to Sammy Sosa, who promptly was picked off first base.
Others will analyze this to death, I’m sure, but I would just like to point out two things:

Buehrle was knocked out of a start two weeks ago courtesy of a line drive off the bat of Cleveland’s Ryan Garko. Nice recovery, eh?
No pitcher in the American League allowed more hits …read more