Baseball News: Pitching Highlights Of The Week

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By SBRForum.com

They say pitching is the key to winning World Series and who can argue with that? There have been a number of surprise throughout the 2012 season and we’ll focus on three of them this week as three veteran arms are shining fairly bright these days:

Bartolo Colon, Oakland Athletics

One of the main reasons the Oakland Athletics are competing for a Wild Card spot is because starting pitcher Barolo Colon has been so effective this season (3.38 ERA, 1.21 WHIP). He’s on fire right now as he hasn’t allowed an earned run in 22.2 innings. He’ll aim to extend that streak against the Kansas City Royals next Tuesday.

The A’s weren’t among anyone’s MLB picks to make the postseason but if Colon keeps this up, they could surprise come October.

SAN DIEGO, CA – JULY 29: Huston Street #16 of the Colorado Rockies pitches during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on July 29, 2011 in San Diego, California. The Rockies won 3-2. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Huston Street, San Diego Padres

The Padres picked up Huston Street off the scrap heap, just hoping the veteran could fill the closer’s role for them this season. As it turns out, he’s been nothing short of awesome – especially recently.

He, too, has a scoreless streak going as he hasn’t given up a run in 20.1 consecutive innings. He has a microscopic 0.77 ERA. Too bad the San Diego Padres are nowhere near contending on the this season. They are 15.5 games out of a Wild Card berth.

Are Verlander’s Pitch Counts A Concern?

The Detroit Tigers have surged to the top of the AL Wild Card standings thanks to a healthy winning streak entering Wednesday (also a half-game out of first in the AL Central). One of the main reasons they are in place for the postseason is because ace Justin Verlander is leading the staff.

But he threw 132 pitches in Monday’s win during his eight-inning outing against the Yankees. It’s the fourth time he’s thrown 130 or more pitches.

Manager Jim Leyland doesn’t seem to think much of it but the Tigers should be careful with their ace. Yes, they need him to get to the playoffs but they surely don’t want him to have a fatigued arm if they get there.