by Bill Chuck, Dugout Central

Comment

1. On May 7 and July 10, Cubs pitchers gave up seven home runs. On September 19, the Brewers pitchers did so as well. In each case the homer-happy team was the Cincinnati Reds. Other than those three games the most Reds homers in a game was four.

2. New York is a rough place. On April 8th at Shea, Chase Utley was hit by three pitches. On July 5th at Yankee Stadium, the same thing happened to Manny Ramirez.

3. On April 17, San Diego pitchers struck out 20 Rockies but lost, 2-1, in 22 innings. On July 26, Cub pitchers struck out 20 Marlins but lost, 3-2, in 12 innings.

4. On July 6 and July 19 the Braves and the Yanks left 21 runners on base, yet each won their games.

5. On May 17, the Twins, behind Livan Hernandez and Brian Bass, lost to the Colorado Rockies, 3-2. Neither Hernandez nor Bass recorded a strikeout or a walk.

6. On April 17, the M's topped the A's, 8-1. Seattle had nine hits — none for extra bases.

7. On April 2, the Toronto Blue Jays hit into five double plays and were caught stealing twice, yet still topped the Yankees, 5-2.

8. On September 24, the Brewers were only able to muster two singles against the Pirates — they still won, 4-2, with help from the nine walks given up by the Buccos.

9. On April 15, Jose Lopez had one hit and four RBI. A grand slam? Guess again, a single and three sac flies.

We're not quite sure how the Brewers won on Sept. 24. (Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)

10. On August 22, the Cards topped the Braves 18-3; they had 21 singles and five doubles, but no triples or homers.

11. On July 7, Skip Schumaker went 6-for-7 with a sac bunt, and on June 7th, Johnny Damon went 6-for-6 with 4 RBI and a stolen base; they were the one-game hit leaders in 2008. Schumaker and Damon were their respective team's leadoff batter and left fielder.

12. On July 30, Alex Gordon played against the A's, but you can't tell much by the box score; in five plate appearances, he drew five walks.

13. On August 9th, Clayton Kershaw laid down three successful sac bunts.

14. On June 13, Gavin Floyd threw 6.1 innings against the Rockies, giving up four runs on four hits. All four hits were solo homers.

15. On July 13, Jeremy Sowers started against the Rays and faced 22 batters but only allowed contact to seven of them; he walked seven and struck out eight.

16. On August 27, Tim Lincecum threw 132 pitches. On September 13, he topped that by throwing 138 pitches, the most in the majors in one game last year. He won both games, giving up one run in 16.2 innings.

17. On July 30, Kelly Shoppach had 14 total bases against Detroit. Shoppach had three doubles, two homers and one intentional walk. He also struck out once.

18. Omar Vizquel was a .222 hitter this past season, but on May 11 the Phillies issued him three intentional walks.

19. Manny Ramirez does not hit many triples; he has 18 in 16 seasons. This year's triple came on April 8 against the Tigers, and thanks to an error by Placido Polanco, he came all the way around to score.

20. He had a bad day ... On May 25, Corey Patterson laid down a sac bunt, the rest of the game he went 0-for-8.