David Price had been back with the Rays about three weeks, with inconsistent results, and Tampa Bay pitching coach Jim Hickey was asked about what he and the young left-hander were working on during his bullpen sessions. "Nothing specific," Hickey said.
While Price's command can be erratic, Hickey went on to explain that he wanted to give the pitcher time to settle in, and he didn't want to overload Price with too much information. The Rays worked to ensure that concept Thursday. That's when Tampa Bay manager
Joe Maddon asked Hickey not to review any of the scouting reports of the Toronto hitters with Price. What Maddon wanted instead was for Price just to throw with his mind uncluttered, just to execute his pitches and not worry about some kind of game plan.
This seemed to work: Price had his best day since being recalled. It was his most efficient day as well -- he didn't issue a walk until the fifth inning, and he threw all of his pitches for strikes. Seventy-three percent of the sliders he threw went for strikes, partly because he was getting ahead in the count and could throw the pitch with the hitters on the defensive, and partly because the quality of his sliders was simply better.
And when Price's slider is effective, he is a completely different pitcher. In the starts in which he has thrown his slider for strikes 68 percent of the time or more, he is 3-1 with a 2.88 ERA; when his ratio of good sliders has been below that threshold, he has gone 0-2, with a 7.11 ERA. Consider these numbers, compiled by Matt Lyon of ESPN Stats & Information:
Price is like a lot of young pitchers in that he's capable of having really bad days, and he has often been inefficient, approaching the 100-pitch mark in the fourth or fifth inning. But what separates Price from other young pitchers is that when he's good -- and he's gradually gotten better since being recalled from the minors -- he can beat any lineup. Like Toronto's lineup. The Blue Jays went 0-for-7 on pitches out of the strike zone, with eight swinging strikes and four strikeouts. He threw a first pitch strike 72 percent of the time (his second highest total of the season). His season average entering the game was 53 percent.
Price beat Roy Halladay and completed a sweep for the Rays on Thursday. It was a terrific day for Price, writes Joe Henderson.
Clearing the notebook
From Thursday's games:
• Twelve of Bengie Molina's last 27 homers have come in games started by Tim Lincecum.
• The Cleveland starters' ERA: 5.58. Even when the Indians win, as they did Thursday, victory is still excruciating.
• Chase Utley and Jayson Werth each hit their 20th home run of the season Thursday, giving the Phillies four players with at least 20 homers. (Raul Ibanez has 22, and Ryan Howard has 21.) The only other team to have four players with 20 or more homers before the All-Star Game was the 2000 Blue Jays (Carlos Delgado, Tony Batista, Raul Mondesi, Jose Cruz Jr.). The Phillies staged a huge comeback.
• I don't know whether the Mariners are going to win the AL West, but I would say this: There's a whole lot to like about Seattle -- as in, Felix Hernandez, Jarrod Washburn, Erik Bedard and others on their pitching staff. Hernandez was great Thursday in the first game of a four-game series against the Rangers, giving Seattle a chance for its dramatic comeback victory over Texas. There is a very different feel about this team right now: They pitch well, they're a good defensive team, and they're playing with a lot of energy.
Franklin Gutierrez, who got the big hit for the Mariners on Thursday, is the answer in center field for Seattle, writes Steve Kelley.
• Tim Lincecum's delivery is somewhat reminiscent of the delivery of Orel Hershiser, with the tilt of his back and the angle of his body; he even wears the same number as Hershiser, No. 55. He took a no-hitter and a scoreless-innings streak into the seventh inning of the Giants' victory Thursday, and Tony Gwynn Jr. broke up the no-hitter with a single to left field. Shortly after that, Lincecum's streak of consecutive scoreless innings ended.
From the great Kevin Hines of the Elias Sports Bureau: "Like father, like son. Tony Gwynn Sr. broke up a no-hitter in the 7th inning or later five times. Most notably, he broke one up against a pitcher who was quite similar in style to Lincecum, Orel Hershiser (1985), [and it was] also leading off the 7th inning.
"Hershiser had a scoreless string during his career of 59 IP. Lincecum had one of 29 broken today."
Lincecum is pitching as well as anybody Bruce Bochy has seen, the manager tells Andrew Baggarly.
Trade stuff
To see Buster's trade notes from D.C., Toronto, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Boston and many more, you must be an ESPN Insider. 
To continue reading this article you must be an Insider
Buster Olney
