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Sports by the Numbers MLB Stat of the Week

557 The ERA (5.57) for Giants pitcher Jesse Burkett in 1890. Burkett began that season 0-8, and in 21 games posted a record of 3-10 on the year. Barry Zito lost to the White Sox on Saturday to become the first pitcher since Burkett to begin a season 0-8 for the Giants. In case you are wondering, Burkett became an outfielder in 1891 (in Cleveland) and went on to enjoy a Hall of Fame career. At least Zito and his $126 million contract are back in the starting rotation.

Honorable Mentions

11 Brandon Webb has won (11) consecutive starts dating back to last season - and he has won his first nine starts of this season. He improved to 9-0 after picking up an 8-5 victory over the Rockies this past Thursday. Webb said after the game, "It's getting to be amazing - things are just happening." He has won all nine starts on the season, a total that is the highest in baseball since Andy Hawkins won his first ten starts for the Padres in 1985.

49 Josh Hamilton has (49) RBI for the Texas Rangers. Yes, we double-checked. That Josh Hamilton, yes - the former #1 pick of the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays. He reemerged in baseball last season with Cincinnati and hit 19 homeruns with 47 RBI in 90 games, but this season he is just ridiculous. He has ten homeruns and his 49 RBI in 43 games leads the majors - and he has three homeruns and 13 RBI in his last eight games.

136 Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer has never been a big power guy - only 29 homeruns the last three seasons - but this year has been a real power outage for him. The former A.L. batting champion has not hit a homerun through his first (136) at bats of the season. This isn't a slap hitting second basemen either - the guy is 6-5 and weighs 230.  

412 Chipper Jones leads the majors in batting with a (.412) average as the third weekend in May draws to a close. In case you are wondering, the N.L. average right now is .263, and his former teammate Andruw Jones is currently batting .172 for the Dodgers. Chipper only needs three more big flies to join the 400-homerun club.

581 The Tampa Bay Rays have a (.581) winning percentage after posting a 25-18 record through 43 games. The Rays are actually tied with the Boston Red Sox on top of the A.L. East standings - on May 18 - but perhaps the most obscene number of them all is the five games the Rays lead the Yankees by in the standings.

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