+2 Points to 94.5

JJ Putz continued his run as the Mariners' lucky charm last night, picking up his 3rd win since Sunday. I admit it's more than a little lucky, especially when you consider that it's taken Johan Santana since June 1st to collect his last 3 wins, but I like to think that these things even out over the course of a season. I looked up the last time a reliever won as many games in such a short span of time, but it's more common than I expected. Joe Beimel did it from April 27 to May 1st of this season.

JJ wasn't the only winner for me yesterday, because Mike Mussina won his 15th game of the season. Last time he pitched against the Rangers, I benched him and got burned by it, so I was relieved to see him pitch so well. As Craig Brown points out on THT, Mussina's reduced his walk rate to a career best 1.28/9IP while inducing more ground balls. Because of the low walk totals, a solid K rate and all of the grounders, Mussina should be able to finish the season strong. Could this be the year he finally wins 20?

And even though I don't really need another light-hitting speedster, Don Sutton was raving about Emilio Bonifacio on the Nats broadcast yesterday, and I have to admit that Bonifacio's speed is awesome.