Around the AL: No-hit madness

After going more than two years without a no-hitter in major league baseball, Justin Verlander pitched the third in the last four months of regular season play on June 12 when he shut out the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.

With ninth-inning pitches that still registered in triple digits on the radar gun, the 24-year-old Verlander etched his place in history, right behind Chicago’s Mark Buehrle, who threw a no-hitter against the Rangers on April 18, and Florida’s Anibal Sanchez, who no-hit Arizona on Sept. 9, 2006.

The recent outburst of no-hitness got us at Around the AL thinking: When was the last time three no hitters were thrown so closely together? The answer is 1999. That year, St. Louis’ Jose Jimenez no-hit Arizona on June 25, New York’s David Cone threw a perfect game against Montreal on July 18 and Minnesota’s Eric Milton stopped Anaheim on Sept. 11.

In other useless no-hit trivia news, Verlander is the fourth pitcher to throw a no-hitter on June 12.

First One Out
The winner of the first manager to get fired contest this season is Baltimore’s Sam Perlozzo, who has not been able to turn the Orioles into a legitimate contender in the AL East in his brief two-year stint with the club. Perlozzo replaced former manager Lee Mazzilli in the summer of 2005 and managed the club to a 122–164 record since then. The O’s, which haven’t had a winning season since 1997, named bullpen coach Dave Trembley as the interim manager.

Other AL managers to keep an eye on this season are Chicago’s Ozzie Guillen and Toronto’s John Gibbons.

All-Star Watch
Balloting for the 2007 All-Star Game ends June 28, so with a little more than a week to vote, I present my group of American Leaguers. Obviously there’s still a little time for players to make a late charge, but up to this point, here are my guys:

C: Victor Martinez
1B: David Ortiz
2B: Brian Roberts
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Derek Jeter
OF: Vladimir Guerrero
OF: Magglio Ordonez
OF: Ichiro Suzuki

And as of June 18th, the actually leading vote getters are:

C: Ivan Rodriguez
1B: David Ortiz
2B: Placido Polanco
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Derek Jeter
OF: Vladimir Guerrero
OF: Manny Ramirez
OF: Ichiro Suzuki

I have no problems with Polanco at second base as it was a toss-up between he and Roberts for me, but Ramirez in the outfield and Rodriguez at catcher don’t make much sense. I can see Jorge Posada at catcher instead of Martinez, but Pudge is the fourth-best catcher this season (K-Jo in Seattle). Also, there’s no reason one of the leading candidates for AL MVP in Ordonez should be left off that outfield list.

Player of the Week: Alex Rodriguez, 3B, New York Yankees
This looks familiar. Rodriguez occupies this spot for the second consecutive week and the third time this season after going 9-for-21 (.429) with nine runs, three home runs, 10 RBIs, a 1.432 OPS and a stolen base. Rodriguez’s second extended hot streak this season has coincided with the Yankees’ revival in the AL East. He leads the league with 27 home runs and 73 RBIs.

Previous Recipients: Gary Sheffield, Grady Sizemore, Jack Cust, Troy Glaus, Magglio Ordonez, Alex Rodriguez (2), Ian Kinsler, Vladimir Guerrero.

Pitcher of the Week: Justin Verlander, SP, Detroit Tigers
With respect to Chien Ming-Wang’s impressive week, this winner of this spot was a no-brainer. Verlander went 2–0 on the week with a 1.80 ERA and 18 strikeouts, but his big moment came last Tuesday when he threw the Major League’s second no-hitter of the season. Verlander allowed four walks and struck out 12 batters as he held the Brewers in check for nine innings of no-hit ball.

Previous Recipients: Joe Blanton, Daisuke Matsuzana, Fausto Carmona, C.C. Sabathia (2), Dan Haren, Mark Buehrle, Felix Hernandez, John Lackey.

League Leaders (through June 17th games):
Batting Average:
1.    Magglio Ordonez (.371)
2.    Ichiro Suzuki (.356)
3.    Jorge Posada (.345)

Home Runs:
1.    Alex Rodriguez (27)
2.    Justin Morneau (20)
2.    Gary Sheffield (17)

RBIs:
1.    Alex Rodriguez (73)
2.    Magglio Ordonez (64)
3.    Vladimir Guerrero (62)

Stolen Bases:
1.    Brian Roberts (22)
2.    Grady Sizemore (20)
3.    Julio Lugo (19)
3.    Ichiro Suzuki (19)

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