Last night Justin Duchscherer won his tenth game of the season. He’s 10-2 with a 1.78 ERA and a 0.88 WHIP. It won’t last; don’t think that it’ll last. But it’s interesting to analyze the guy who’s suddenly the best pitcher in baseball.

As a way of explaining behaviour, Manny being Manny is right up there with the cornmeal theory of infectious disease. It’s the perfect shield for sports announcers who might otherwise be forced to give some kind of personal insight, some kind of tendentious offering, some kind of…you know…opinion.

This morning a friend emailed me a link to a Kevin Kaduk blog post presenting (rather than dissecting) the “feud” between Jays’s GM J.P. Ricciardi and Reds’s man-mountain Adam Dunn. I hesitate to call it a feud, because, really, it has all the electricity and potential for violence of a Chad Michael Murray haircut.

Greg Smith’s cooled down a little after a hot start, but he’s still someone to look at as a source of long-term value. As a lefty pitching in Oakland’s massive meadow, he’s got the benefit of history on his side. Mark Mulder, Barry Zito, and Dana Eveland: all lefties with cutters who’ve made their bones in Oakland.

As a Clay Buchholz owner I’ve kind of been a little impatient with the Sox’s strategy of calling up every AAA pitcher who can’t be moulded, fired, glazed, fired, and glazed again. Other than reading a quick paragraph in one of my fantasy magazines, I had no idea who or what Justin Masterson was. And now I understand why he was ranked as the third-best prospect going into 2009: This guy is good.

With Pena’s ERA down to 2.84, I thought I’d show him a little respect and take a quick look at this guy’s situation. Pena, 26, is pitching the eighth for Arizona. He’s blocked by Brandon Lyon, who, at 28, is getting both drumsticks and the end-piece of the meatloaf.

With 105 games left in the baseball season, Rios has grounded into ten double plays. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but consider this: In 711 ‘07 plate appearances, Rios grounded into nine twin killings; in 498 ‘06 at bats, six.

The last couple days the big story’s been Willie Randolph’s spot on the firing line. The Mets aren’t sharp, and it’s Willie’s turn to answer for their sub-.500 record. But at 24-26, it’s hardly a crisis. I can’t say the same about the Indians.

I’m busy dodging the treacly stories on Jon Lester’s triumphant return to health/MLB/no-hit status. Not because I’m a bitter cynic (which I am) but because this story’s Hollywood ending was never in doubt…

Griffin’s quiver has one arrow: J.P. Ricciardi is an idiot. He doesn’t say it in those words, but the thrust is clear. Ricciardi’s in his seventh year as the G.M. of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the club still hasn’t won a pennant.