From Last Night:

• Felix and Holland hold both clubs to 2 runs, but the bullpens settle it in 10 on a Seager bomb
• Gomes walks off on the Padres
• Nolasco does well in front of the scouts, beats the Braves
• Norris pitches well in trade audition to beat the Rays
• CC goes 7 to beat the Twins
• Grilli gives up 2 runs, gets a save anyway because the save rule is silly
• Lohse twirls a gem to top the Nats

What I’m Watching Today:

• Cain and Leake in Cinci (1p Eastern)
• Gerrit Cole Hamles matchup! (1p Eastern)
• Shields continues to get no help from his team (2p Eastern)
• Wainwright takes on the Angels (9p Eastern)

The Big Question:

• What’s your take on the no-hitter war?

Brian Kenny, who we’re quite fond of at New English D, took to the airwaves and Twitter on Wednesday to mock the attention give to no-hitters because walks and hit batters are part of the game and that separating it into hits and other ways to get on base is misguided. While I understand the sentiment and am I big believing in walks as offensive weapons, there is a different argument that Kenny hasn’t responded to at this point. No hitters are not always great performances, I fully agree. A one hit shutout is better than a 5 walk no hitter, but no hitters in all their forms are much rarer that no walk games. Since 1916, there have been more than 9,000 CG with no BB or HBP, but less than 300 CG with no hits. Less than 30 with no baserunners, period. The point here is that one baserunner is one baserunner no matter how he gets on, but it is much rarer to allow no hits than no walks and that is something worth celebrating. Kenny is right that the mainstream press doesn’t cover one hitters appropriately compared to no hitters with several walks, but I think the problem is in the other direction. Kenny thinks no-hitters are no big deal when the pitcher walks a couple guys, but I think we just don’t give enough credit to 1 and 2 hitters. Here at New English D, we make an attempt to highlight all great pitching performances, but do value the no hitter because the no hitter is rare and it’s quirky. After all, baseball is fun. I don’t usually disagree with Kenny, but on this issue I do.