Kuzul

Friday night’s scolding of the Colorado Rockies marked the end of Clayton Kershaw‘s 2013 regular season. The southpaw has now completed six sensational years at the major league level, and over the past half-century, few other pitchers have realized comparable success at such a young age.

Not yet 26 years old, the All-Star left-hander has led the National League in earned run average for three consecutive summers. According to FanGraphs, he also boasts the lowest earned run average in the majors since debuting in 2008 (min. 400 IP). His 1.83 ERA this year is the best posted by any qualified starter since Pedro Martinez in 2000.

We’ll look at how Kershaw‘s first half-dozen MLB campaigns stack up against those of all others who have debuted since 1964. More specifically, we’re intrigued by those who reached the The Show early—Kershaw was called up to the Los Angeles Dodgers as a 20-year-old—and quickly proved themselves to be both dominant and durable.

Identifying Legitimate Challengers

Let’s begin with a list that includes all pitchers of the past 50 years who amassed at least 1,000 innings through their age-25 campaigns. Check it out on either the Baseball-Reference.com Play Index or FanGraphs (whichever color scheme is easier on your eyes).

There are only 44 names, including a handful of Hall of Famers and a few strong candidates for future induction, as well as plenty of former stars who couldn’t make the necessary adjustments as they matured.

Using either source of Wins Above Replacement, Kershaw cracks the top 10. He’s just as impressive in terms of adjusted earned run average, batting average against, OPS against, quality start percentage and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Indeed, it’s at least worth discussing whether or not the start of his career is the best of these past several generations.

The following pitchers contended with Kershaw for the top spot in all of the aforementioned categories, and therefore received serious consideration: Bert Blyleven, Roger Clemens, Doc Gooden, Bret Saberhagen, Tom Seaver and Fernando Valenzuela.

(Sam McDowell was on par with those guys from 1964 to 1968, but actually debuted back in 1961. He struggled during his first couple of seasons and never really solved his command issues.)

Kershaw Isn’t No. 1

Sorry for spoiling the suspense, but Kershaw frankly doesn’t belong in the same sentence as the young versions of Blyleven or Seaver.

Here’s a comparison of their rookie campaigns. Keep in mind that for IP, ERA+ and K/BB, higher is better:

Blyleven was actually the youngest player in the entire American League during his debut season. Thanks to that early call-up, he has posted by far the highest 25-and-under career WAR of any pitcher over the past 50 years.

Breaking through in the 1970s deprived Blyleven of the major award recognition that he sorely deserved. Sportswriters overlooked him because of a pedestrian win-loss record. He was 108-101 overall through age 25 and never better than five games above .500 in a season. Nonetheless, he had a virtually identical quality start percentage to Kershaw at those ages, not to mention 115 complete games and 30 shutouts.

Meanwhile, Seaver kicked off his career with several more years of life experience, and his immediate excellence reflected that. He earned National League Rookie of the Year honors in 1967 and the NL Cy Young Award in 1969. Tom Terrific logged at least 250 innings in each of his first six seasons, whereas Kershaw has never reached that milestone.

The adjusted earned run average and batting average against of 2008 to 2013 Kershaw and 1967 to 1972 Seaver practically match, but remember that Seaver was frequently pushed into the later innings or used on three days’ rest (often both).

Valenzuela Peaked Early, Saberhagen Wasn’t Steady

On the other hand, Kershaw belongs ahead of both Fernandomania and Sabes considering their inconsistencies.

Valenzuela was unstoppable for much of the strike-shortened 1981 season. He led the National League in innings pitched and strikeouts at age 20 en route to the NL Cy Young Award.

Unfortunately, the Mexican lefty couldn’t sustain that excellence. Although nearly as effective in 1982, his WHIP bloated to 1.34 the following season. Then in 1984 and 1985, walks became somewhat of a concern (3.66 BB/9 and 3.34 BB/9, respectively).

Of course, Valenzuela was still a great pitcher in his mid-20s, just not on par with what Kershaw has been for the Dodgers the past several years.

This coming offseason, Kershaw will join Saberhagen in an elite fraternity of pitchers to hoist two Cy Young Awards prior to turning 26. The difference is that Kershaw was more productive in his non-award-winning campaigns.

L.A.’s present-day ace didn’t take home the hardware in 2009, 2010 or 2012, but he still posted adjusted earned run averages of 143, 133 and 150, respectively. Saberhagen pales in comparison, as he only totaled 156 innings and a 102 ERA+ in 1986 (following his first award). After an outstanding ’87 season, he regressed again in 1988. In that era, it wasn’t acceptable for a rotation leader to go a full year without recording a complete-game shutout, yet that’s exactly what happened.

Deciding No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5

Kershaw, Gooden and Clemens. Kershaw, Clemens and Gooden. Gooden, Clemens and Kershaw. Gooden, Kershaw and Clemens. Clemens, Kershaw and Gooden. Clemens, Gooden and Kershaw.

Those are our six options.

Actually, we can narrow them down to three. Clemens had the obvious early career edge over Kershaw.

Their MLB debuts were eerily similar—Clemens had a 97 ERA+ and 8.5 K/9 in 1984, much like Kershaw‘s 98 ERA+ and 8.4 K/9 in 2008.

They diverged, however, after Clemens’ rotator cuff surgery in ’85. With a little help from Dr. James Andrews, the Rocket came back better than ever. Comparing their third, fourth and fifth years, he beat Kershaw in ERA+ (154 to 148) and K/BB (3.70 to 3.48) while averaging about an extra inning per start.

So…Kershaw, Gooden and Clemens. Kershaw, Clemens and Gooden, Gooden, Clemens and Kershaw. Gooden, Kershaw and Clemens, Clemens, Kershaw and Gooden. Clemens, Gooden and Kershaw.

Gooden was initially far superior to Clemens and Kershaw. He made 66 regular-season starts through age 20, unbelievably maintaining a 176 ERA+, 1.01 WHIP and 9.9 K/9. Then again, being less than stellar from ages 21 to 25 negates that (110 ERA+, 1.20 WHIP, 7.4 K/9). He ranks last among this trio as a result.

In other words, relative to other pitchers from the past five decades who were moved into MLB starting duty so early in life, Kershaw has bolted to the fourth-best start. He’s only looking up at two Hall of Famers and a third icon who’s a G.O.A.T. candidate (albeit with an asterisk).

Kershaw‘s agents, Casey Close and J.D. Smart, would be wise to quote that paragraph when they negotiate a long-term contract with the Dodgers this winter.

Follow @MrElyminator

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

When Mariano Rivera retires after the 2013 MLB season, his cutter will also leave the sport forever. All active players who have been victimized by it will rejoice, knowing that they’ve outlasted a near-unhittable pitch.

How does it compare to baseball’s filthiest offerings ever? That’s what we’ll be ranking in the following slides.

Thanks to the evolution of pitch-tracking technology, it’s now possible to determine which particular pitch is being thrown in any situation. Using that information, we can see precisely how unhittable a pitch is in terms of the batting average against it, and how often it results in contact, a home run or a strikeout.

These advances, unfortunately, didn’t come along until the 21st century. Therefore, in creating this list, we needed to rely quite a bit on broader statistics and personal testimony.

You will hopefully find it enlightening, nonetheless.

*Stats provided by Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. Updated through the games of Sept. 20, 2013.

Begin Slideshow

With the St. Louis Cardinals clinging to the NL Central lead, the Pittsburgh Pirates may reluctantly settle for a National League wild-card berth.

Should that happen and set up a one-game, win-or-go-home scenario, manager Clint Hurdle will trust left-hander Francisco Liriano with the starting responsibility, according to Jenn Menendez of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

It’s an option that we’ve talked about. I think the way it lines up right now, if there were no changes, Liriano would be able to pitch a play-in game or the first wild-card game which isn’t a bad option to have if that’s where you end up going.

Liriano has exceeded everybody’s expectations in 2013 by solidifying Pittsburgh’s rotation, but is he Hurdle’s best option for that Oct. 1 elimination game? What about A.J. Burnett? Or red-hot rookie Gerrit Cole?

Each individual obviously comes with his unique pros and cons. Taking their pitch selections, past experiences, major weaknesses and personal schedules into consideration, which of them would actually fit this assignment?

We’re committed to resolving that dilemma.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. Updated through Pittsburgh’s Sept. 20 game.

Francisco Liriano

When Liriano repeats his delivery and possesses his Grade-A stuff, he’s the best hope that the Pirates have of advancing.

The 29-year-old has five of the top eight Game Scores for Pittsburgh this season, and nine of the top 17. For those unfamiliar, it’s a Bill James stat that evaluates a pitcher’s start based on strikeouts, innings pitched and baserunners/runs allowed.

On the flip side, Liriano is occasionally a train wreck. His implosion against the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 9, for example, received a negative Game Score and represented one of the worst pitching efforts by anyone this summer.

He consistently dominates with the platoon advantage, however, as he proved again on Saturday night. Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds are two of baseball’s biggest threats from the left side, and Liriano held them hitless.

With his final regular-season start scheduled for Sept. 25, taking the mound for the Wild Card Game would come on five days’ rest.

A.J. Burnett

The average length of Burnett’s outings this summer has been about six and one-third inning, which is slightly superior to Liriano.

He’s less flashy yet more consistent. The veteran right-hander always gives his club an opportunity to win, but not necessarily a great opportunity.

According to FanGraphs, Burnett ranks second among qualified MLB starters with his 56.6 percent ground-ball rate. His fastball-curve combo also generates plenty of whiffs, as evidenced by his 191 strikeouts through 176 innings. Therefore, he doesn’t often rely on the Pirates defense to make difficult plays.

For what’s it’s worth, the Arkansas native is less productive than Liriano in the batter’s box. He has zero extra-base hits since 2005 and weaker contact skills.

Unless Hurdle gets creative with his rotation alignment, Burnett would need to work on short rest to make an Oct. 1 appearance.

Gerrit Cole

Cole is venturing into uncharted territory by pitching far more often than he has in any previous professional campaign.

However, he’s handling the situation beautifully.

He boasts a 2.18 earned run average over his past seven starts, each time lasting at least six innings. Cole’s strikeout rate has steadily crept up, culminating in this masterpiece on Thursday, as he set a personal best by whiffing 12 San Diego Padres:

Brooks Baseball shows us that his high 90s fastball hasn’t eroded at all from start to start.

Verdict

Hurdle currently has Charlie Morton penciled in to start Game 162 on Sept. 29.

If the result of that game determines whether Pittsburgh gets a postseason berth, or even if home-field advantage for the Wild Card Game hangs in the balance, then the skipper ought to use Cole in that matchup. He’ll be fully rested coming off an outing five days prior.

The 23-year-old right-hander is the steadiest pitcher on the staff right now, but ultimately, the schedule dictates that Liriano is the best fit should the Pirates be fighting for their playoff lives on Oct. 1.

Follow @MrElyminator

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Max Scherzer wasn’t dominant on Friday night, but 12 runs of support from the Detroit Tigers was more than enough to secure his MLB-leading 20th win of the season as Detroit topped the Chicago White Sox 12-3. The right-hander failed in his four previous attempts at the milestone.

Although individual win-loss record won’t seriously impact AL Cy Young Award voting, Scherzer’s latest quality start—6.0 IP, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K—certainly bolsters his case.

The list of legitimate candidates for the award in the Amercan League is rather short in 2013.

Clay Buchholz and David Price—and to lesser extents, Bartolo Colon, Felix Hernandez, Anibal Sanchez and Jered Weaver—have had their seasons affected by injury. Their performances when healthy have been excellent, yet not quite enough to compensate for reduced workloads, or in the case of Hernandez, stats that have been hurt to do an injury down the stretch. Genuine workhorses like Hiroki Kuroda and James Shields couldn’t duplicate their exceptional first halves. Hisashi Iwakuma’s case suffers from a lack of strikeouts and complete-game efforts.

That leaves us with a three-man race between Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers, Chris Sale of the Chicago White Sox and Scherzer.

Here’s how their season stats compare:

These numbers don’t establish a clear front-runner, and neither do sabermetrics. FanGraphs values Scherzer at a significantly higher WAR than either Darvish or Sale, but Baseball-Reference.com’s version of the stat likes Chicago’s southpaw much better than the others.

Some of the sportswriters who will be voting on the award won’t like the fact that Darvish spent a brief stint on the disabled list. On the other hand, those same dissenters may be wooed by his otherworldly ability to generate swings-and-misses.

Team success can affect voting patterns. In such cases, pitchers in competitive situations get more support.

The Tigers sit comfortably atop the AL Central, a few victories away from clinching a playoff berth, while the White Sox rot in the division’s cellar and the Rangers gradually collapse. Advantage Scherzer.

Even so, all indications are that this debate will go down to the wire. Scherzer has one remaining start against the Minnesota Twins, and only an extraordinary effort can make him a lock for major award recognition.

Follow @MrElyminator

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The San Francisco Giants went to their bullpen on Friday night with two outs in the seventh inning, and Alex Rodriguez made them regret it. His opposite-field home run not only broke a 1-1 tie; it set a new MLB record for career grand slams.

This was the 24th bases-clearing blast for the polarizing third baseman. Entering this game, he and Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig were even at 23 apiece.

A-Rod extended his arms on George Kontos’ outside fastball and deposited it several rows beyond the right-field wall into a crowd of delirious New York Yankees fans:

Twitter predictably exploded with reaction to the historic feat:

A-Rod passes Lou Gehrig with @MLB-record 24th grand slam. #Yankees lead Giants 5-1 in the 7th!

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 21, 2013

GRAND SLAM FOR A-ROD WOOOOOW

— Matt (@Matthew_Narouz) September 21, 2013

A-Rod also moves past Lou Gehrig into 1st place all-time on Grand Slam list – legendary.

— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) September 21, 2013

An A-Bomb from A-Rod! Grand slam to save the Yankees chances at the postseason!!!

— Sergio Gomez (@SigmaCrash13) September 21, 2013

Tim Lincecum started the game for the defending World Series champs and owned Rodriguez through three plate appearances, retiring him each time.

Unfortunately, the right-hander had difficulty throwing strikes to the Yankees lineup. Walking Ichiro Suzuki to load the bases in the seventh elevated his pitch count to 121, and manager Bruce Bochy thought a fresh arm like Kontos was better suited to escape the jam.

A-Rod’s clutch round-tripper gave New York a 5-1 lead with only six outs left to record. David Robertson and Mariano Rivera sealed the deal without much drama.

In 40 games played since returning from hip surgery, the 38-year-old is batting a respectable .261/.364/.458 with seven home runs. Skipper Joe Girardi certainly won’t mind keeping him at designated hitter if that production continues.

Piggy-backing off that final tweet, the Yankees absolutely needed this series-opening victory.

As Bleacher Report’s postseason tracker reveals, they’re looking up at a handful of teams in the scramble for an American League wild-card berth. The 2013 regular season ends on Sept. 29.

These heroics only temporarily silenced the boo birds. A-Rod is sure to hear more chirping the very next time he disappoints in a high-pressure situation.

Follow @MrElyminator

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Bryce Harper is already one of MLB‘s best all-around outfielders, but it often seems that we overlook the uniqueness of his rapid rise.

Remember, the Washington Nationals centerpiece hasn’t even turned 21 yet!

Matt Snyder of CBS Sports notes that Harper and Tony Conigliaro stand alone in league history with multiple seasons of 20-plus home runs at such an early age. That feat is even more impressive when you consider that the All-Star has been enduring through injury for most of 2013, according to CSNWashington.com’s Mark Zuckerman (h/t NBC Sports).

You can generate all sorts of jaw-dropping stats about Harper when comparing him to others who were rushed to the majors as teenagers. Success isn’t supposed to come so easily when some of your competition has twice as much lifetime baseball experience.

Taking age out of the equation, Baseball-Reference.com tells us that this phenom is:

• Among 111 players in history to play full-time during his first two seasons (min. 1,000 PA) and post an on-base percentage of at least .350.

• Slugging above .500 this season with more than 100 games played, which puts him on this 24-man list.

• One of five guys with 20-plus home runs and 10-plus stolen bases as both a rookie and second-year player.

Most players associated with Harper via the above indexes spent more time than he did in the minor leagues, extra years at the collegiate level or both.

Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer is convinced that Harper will dominate the sport in 2014. He ranks 27th in the B/R MLB 500 thanks to his advanced plate discipline and power to all fields.

Harper can blame Mike Trout—who’s No. 1 on Rymer’s list—for raising the bar so high and distorting our expectations. Much like in 2012, Trout is a serious American League MVP candidate, wowing us with his production in both sabermetric and traditional statistical categories. He’s undoubtedly better than Harper at this point, utilizing his athleticism more effectively in the field and on the basepaths without compromising his durability.

However, it isn’t fair to do a straight comparison.

Both were technically “rookies” last season, but Trout had a head start. The Los Angeles Angels recalled their top prospect in July 2011, and he failed to establish himself. He posted a weak .220/.281/.390 batting line in irregular playing time, and due to that ineffectiveness, he ended up a few at-bats shy of exhausting his rookie eligibility.

Moreover, Harper is still striving to justify the hype he received from Sports Illustrated in 2009. The magazine draped him across the cover, with Tom Verducci dubbing him “baseball’s chosen one” and making comparisons to the NBA’s LeBron James (at that time already a five-time All-Star and league MVP).

Far too many baseball enthusiasts unfairly condemn Harper because he hasn’t yet realized that extraordinary potential:

Harper=Most overrated player in the league

— David Baker (@babybluebaker) July 22, 2013

Is there an athlete more overrated than Bryce Harper? Potential? Yes. But not even a star player at this point

— Steve Osherow (@SteveOsherow) August 22, 2013

in all seriousness bryce harper could be the most overrated MLB in the game!

— matt da cat maher (@MattDaCat10) September 17, 2013

However, few players have excelled at age 19 like Harper did. Even fewer have overcome their opposition’s adjustments as 20-year-old MLB sophomores to perform at a higher level.

Today’s baseball fan is spoiled with dynamic, young stars: Trout, Yasiel Puig, Manny Machado, Jose Fernandez, Wil Myers and more. Harper has the same sky-high ceiling as them all, plus a later birth date.

Indeed, he is sorely underappreciated.

Follow @MrElyminator

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

By winning seven straight games and 18 of their past 23, the Washington Nationals have surged back to relevancy. They’ve been extremely inconsistent all year, but an ultra-talented core and World Series-winning manager are now thinking in concert and executing to perfection with a few weeks of the season to spare.

Sound familiar? It should.

The 2013 Nats have plenty in common with the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals.

Davey Johnson is Tony La Russa. Ryan Zimmerman is Albert Pujols. Jayson Werth is Lance Berkman. Jordan Zimmermann is Chris Carpenter. The Cincinnati Reds are the Atlanta Braves.

As a refresher, that St. Louis team overcame incredibly slim odds to qualify for the playoffs and then went on to clinch the World Series.

The Cards trailed Atlanta by 10.5 games for the National League wild-card lead on August 24, 2011. They trimmed the deficit to 4.5 games after beating the Braves on Sept. 11, at which point they only had 16 games remaining.

By comparison, on Aug. 19 of this summer, the Nats were precisely 10.5 games behind the Reds. Following both teams’ Sept. 13 results, the separation is…4.5 games. Washington has 15 games left on its schedule.

You can’t make this stuff up.

It’s not as if Johnson’s guys are benefiting from a bunch of lucky breaks. They’re just finally living up to the lofty expectations we bestowed upon them during spring training.

The Nats have outscored their opposition 128-83 during this 18-5 rampage. Zimmerman has clobbered nine home runs in an 11-game span. Denard Span owns the second-longest active hitting streak in the majors. Rafael Soriano has converted 10 consecutive save opportunities.

Unfortunately, this club didn’t reinforce itself for a late-season turnaround like those brilliant Birds did.

St. Louis addressed glaring weaknesses at shortstop and at the back end of the rotation by trading for Rafael Furcal and Edwin Jackson, respectively. Allen Craig was ready to break through into a semi-regular role, which made Colby Rasmus expendable.

Meanwhile, Washington general manager Mike Rizzo flipped veteran catcher Kurt Suzuki for a low-level pitching prospect last month, and by blinking at the wrong time, you may have missed the David DeJesus era. Rizzo shopped him to the Tampa Bay Rays after an awkward three-game stint.

A deep pitching staff enabled the Cardinals to finish off 2011 with a flourish, but the Nats never buffed up their stable of arms. Now, that neglect is coming back to bite them.

According to Amanda Comak of The Washington Times, left-hander Ross Detwiler still has a few hoops to jump through before returning to a major league mound. Mel Antonen tweets that flamethrower Stephen Strasburg was scratched from his start because of discomfort in his throwing arm. Ross Ohlendorf and Tanner Roark will fill in for the time being, so it’s difficult to take this team seriously.

The other half of this equation, of course, has to be an abrupt implosion by the Reds.

Washington won the season series, 4-3, and would therefore get home-field advantage should a 163rd game be needed to resolve a year-end tie for the second NL Wild Card. The Reds must also overcome a few tricky scheduling features. They have seven games to go on their current road trip and six total matchups with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

With that said, Cincy has ample experience when it comes to playing meaningful baseball down the stretch. It also helps to employ a mild-mannered manager like Dusty Baker to radiate positive vibes throughout the clubhouse.

For those who only trust tangibles, John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Johnny Cueto continues to progress from a lat strain and eyes an immediate return to the active roster. He has posted a 3.33 earned run average in nine starts this season and a 2.67 ERA dating back to 2011.

The St. Louis miracle we witnessed a couple of summers ago wasn’t unprecedented, and it certainly isn’t impossible to imitate.

However, the stars aren’t properly aligned for the 2013 Nationals to match that improbable accomplishment.

Follow @MrElyminator

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Major League Baseball is infatuated with round numbers. Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles reached a special one on Friday night with his 50th home run of the year.

Watch him flaunt his opposite-field power with this eighth-inning blast to break a 3-3 tie in an eventual O’s victory:

With 15 games left, Davis has already matched Baltimore’s franchise record for home runs in a season. Brady Anderson finished with exactly 50 back in 1996.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the All-Star first baseman just joined another exclusive club:

Chris Davis joins Babe Ruth and Albert Belle as only players in MLB history w/ has 50 HR & 40 2B in a season. (via @ESPNStatsInfo)

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 14, 2013

The stream of Davis-related stats keeps on flowing:

Chris Davis is 7th different AL lefty w/ 50-HR season, joining David Ortiz, Jim Thome, Ken Griffey, Brady Anderson, Roger Maris & Babe Ruth.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 14, 2013

Chris Davis has one less HR than Astros have wins #GotHeem

— GotHeem (@BWGotheem) September 14, 2013

The baseball world practically revolved around the 27-year-old earlier this summer when he threatened to make a legitimate run at the all-time single-season record. Unfortunately, that’s no longer realistic. This most recent round-tripper was only Davis’ 13th since the All-Star break and third since September began.

Even if his 2013 totals don’t have much historical significance, he’s doing awfully well in this era of dominant major league pitching. Baseball-Reference.com shows us that run-scoring (R/G) has been in steady decline.

Notice how few sluggers have topped 50 home runs during the past 10 seasons:

Davis is only the seventh one to reach that milestone in the past decade, so it’s not even an annual occurrence anymore. Thanks to all those doubles, he owns a .653 slugging percentage, which is virtually identical to Howard’s 2006 mark when he slammed 58 homers.

The Orioles also get good offensive production from J.J. Hardy, Manny Machado and Adam Jones, but let’s get real—they wouldn’t have a pulse in the American League wild-card race without Davis solidifying the middle of the lineup.

Despite this latest triumph, Baltimore (78-69) continues to chase the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees in a scramble for the last two postseason berths.  They enter Saturday two and a half games in back of the final wild card spot, held currently by the Rays.

To make the outlook even bleaker, six more games remain against the Boston Red Sox, the AL’s most dominant team.

On the bright side, Davis’ swing is tailor-made for venues like the Rogers Centre, Fenway Park and Camden Yards. He won’t let the O’s wilt down the stretch.

Follow @MrElyminator

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

We can add back-to-back-to-back home runs to the list of amazing things that the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates have accomplished.

With the Bucs trailing the Chicago Cubs, 3-0, on Friday night in the bottom of the fourth inning, Pedro Alvarez got the party started with an inside-the-park homer. Russell Martin followed with a solo blast of his own, and Garrett Jones tied the game with this round-tripper to center field.

Here’s El Toro running like you’ve never seen him before:

Just how unique is it for Pittsburgh fans to witness three straight homers from their team? Jenn Menendez of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addresses that query:

Last time the Pirates hit back to back to back homers at home in Pittsburgh? July 6, 1955 against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

— Jenn Menendez (@JennMenendez) September 14, 2013

That’s the same year Scrabble was invented, and Disneyland opened to the public.

The Elias Sports Bureau adds that the Pirates are only the third team in the past 50 years to hit three straight long balls when one of them was of the inside-the-park variety.

Alvarez was already leading the National League with 32 home runs this season. He even participated on the NL’s Home Run Derby team this past July, so the fact that he had to rely on his legs to add to his power-hitting totals is certainly ironic.

As someone with only three career stolen bases and ordinary ratings in most advanced baserunning stats, the 26-year-old was an odd candidate to execute an inside-the-parker.

Twitter agrees:

Pedro Alvarez with an inside the park homer! @cantpredictball

— Tim Williams (@timwilliamsP2) September 14, 2013

World is ending. Pedro Alvarez inside the park HR.

— dragosgm (@smlennon) September 14, 2013

Wait, Pedro Alvarez, the clean up hitter, hit an inside the park home run? I think I can hear the twilight zone music.

— Fordy (@Short_Duration) September 14, 2013

Martin’s round-tripper was also somewhat of a shocker, but for entirely different reasons.

The veteran catcher batted an anemic .115/.223/.115 with seven strikeouts through his first eight games of September. Starting for the fifth straight day wasn’t going to help him break out of that funk. Moreover, he had been just 3-for-15 with zero extra-base hits in his career against the opposing pitcher, Jake Arrieta.

Not only did Martin beat the odds—he pimped the home run a bit by skipping down the first-base line. At least he didn’t partake in Jose Fernandez-like antics.

Compared to the aforementioned pair, Jones was under much more pressure to produce when he stepped to the plate. The 32-year-old was trying to emerge from his own mini-slump and prove that he still deserved semi-regular playing time on a roster that’s becoming increasingly crowded with first basemen and outfielders.

Reaching the seats beyond the deepest part of PNC Park was an effortless task for G.I. Jones. On two previous occasions, he has deposited baseballs into major bodies of water (the Allegheny River and McCovey Cove).

We explained earlier this week that the Pirates have a relatively weak remaining schedule compared to MLB‘s other playoff contenders. Looks like they’re already taking advantage of it.

Follow @MrElyminator

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Robinson Cano perennially ranks among MLB‘s leaders in doubles every year, so it’s no surprise he found a creative way to get another one on Friday night.

With the Boston Red Sox infield shifted to the right side during the first inning, Cano laid this unconventional bunt down the third-base line (courtesy of MLB.com):

Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe tweets that Boston might’ve secretly been satisfied with the result:

Lackey fans Soriano, now 5-38 against him. #RedSox probably didn’t mind the bunt double given Cano’s ability to put a ball across the street

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) September 13, 2013

Since 2009, the New York Yankees second baseman has nearly 29 home runs per season. Although Red Sox starter John Lackey was facing him with the bases empty, the team recognized that Cano could single-handedly turn a scoreless game into a 1-0 deficit.

The Red Sox wisely deterred him from taking a full swing by employing a shift and leaving shortstop Stephen Drew alone on the left side (h/t CBS Sports):

Cano often sees extreme shifts but seldom decides to outsmart his opponent.

Doing so in this situation could be interpreted as an act of selflessness, as he passed up the opportunity to put the Yankees ahead in order to get on base in front of Alfonso Soriano. Cano probably trusted Soriano to deliver considering the 37-year-old’s second-half hot streak. Entering that game, he had driven in 47 runs in 45 games since accepting a trade to New York.

Then again, perhaps Cano actually had the most selfish of intentions, attempting the bunt to impress the media outlets and generate nationwide reaction. If that was the case, mission accomplished.

Regardless, most of the Twitterverse was impressed:

Robinson Cano with a bunt double against the shift. Pretty nifty.

— D.J. Short (@djshort) September 13, 2013

that was the BEST double i’ve ever seen #Cano

— vinny milano (@baldvinny) September 13, 2013

Cano’s bunt for a double is the best thing ever.

— Raquel (@Numbrocker02) September 13, 2013

That’s right! Cano bunted for a double.

— Kyle Robinson (@KyleDRobinson18) September 13, 2013

The biggest takeaway might be the fact that the superstar hustled for this two-bagger. The YES Network’s Michael Kay—and countless others—have blasted Cano for jogging out of the batter’s box rather than emulating Derek Jeter’s run-like-your-hair-is-on-fire style. This perceived “laziness” occasionally prevents him from reaching base on grounders or stretching singles into doubles.

Could he have been conserving his energy all year for the urgency of the September playoff race? Prior to first pitch, the Yankees were a game behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the American League’s second wild-card spot and a mile behind Boston for the AL East lead.

Cano’s bunt ultimately didn’t result in a run, but his team will need to continue thinking outside the box to rally for a postseason berth.

Follow @MrElyminator

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com