Starting Five: Alan Embree Works the Minimum, Literally

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That every once in a blue moon, a pitcher doesn't even have to throw a single pitch to get a win. How? Rockies reliever Alan Embree demonstrated Tuesday night against the Nationals. He entered the game with two outs in the top of the eighth and the score tied at 4-all and Washington outfielder Austin Kearns standing at first base.

Embree caught Kearns leaning off the base a little early and ensnared him in a rundown -- a rundown in which the southpaw hurler ended up making the putout.

The Rockies scored in the bottom of the inning and the journeyman gave way to closer Huston Street, who locked up what became easily the least work-intensive victory of Embree's career.

"Then I end up with the ball [in the rundown] somehow, and I'm going, 'What just happened?'" Embree said. "And then I came in and they went, 'You're done. Do you think you can go tomorrow?'

More Coverage: Scoreboard | Standings | Statistics

"I'm still in a daze."

So how rare is Embree's feat? Since STATS Inc. began tracking pitch-by-pitch data in 1986, only one other pitcher -- B.J. Ryan in 2003 -- has won a game without throwing a pitch.

From the Trainer's Room ...
The Braves sat third baseman Chipper Jones Tuesday because of a sore right groin. In other news, the sky is blue and the Nationals aren't very good at baseball. Jones, who said he tweaked his groin coming out of the box on a single Monday night, does not expect to be sidelined more than "a day or two," but any nagging injury to the fragile star bears monitoring.

Numbers Game ...
In most places, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is criminally under-appreciated and underestimated, but, as David Pinto of Baseball Musings points out, that's probably not the case in Milwaukee. Wainwright tossed 8 1/3 shutout innings against the Brewers to extend St. Louis' lead in the NL Central to two games. Wainwright has a 0.77 ERA against the Brew Crew in three starts this season

In Their Own Words ...
"We're still in first place. Let's not go jumping off a bridge." -- Angels ace John Lackey, who was shelled in an 8-5 loss to the Rangers. A day after Los Angeles seemed to restore some order in the AL West with a rout of Texas, which has spent more days atop the division in 2009 than the Halos, the frailties of the reigning division champs were on full display. Lackey's ERA swelled to 5.18 in the loss, once again raising concerns about whether he'll ever get on a roll in 2009. To make matters worse, Vladimir Guerrero injured his leg during his second start in right field this season.

Advance Scouting ...
Ryan Sadowski, whose amazing journey to the major leagues was detailed by FanHouse's own Jeff Fletcher Tuesday (it's a must-read, seriously), puts his streak of 13 scoreless innings to start his career on the line against the Marlins (3:45 PM ET). Florida sends Chris Volstad to the hill to oppose him. Volstad is 1-4 with an 8.51 ERA over his last five starts.