You have probably heard that Francisco Liriano threw a no-hitter last night. You may have also heard that he posted the lowest Game Score of any no-hitter in history, or that his xFIP for the game was 5.96 (yes, seriously). Essentially, as soon as the game ended, the “Liriano Throws a No-Hitter” headlines were replaced by “Reasons Why Liriano’s No-Hitter Wasn’t Very Impressive.” The guy’s 15 minutes of fame didn’t even last 15 seconds before his accomplishment was overcome by a wave of explanations on why it was more of an historic fluke than a spectacular pitching performance.

While I understand the sentiments of my fellow writers, and agree that it’s worth pointing out that Liriano’s no-hitter was, err, unconventional, I also think we shouldn’t overlook the obvious — Francisco Liriano threw a no-hitter.

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In a way, this is all Ian Stewart’s doing. After spending the beginning of spring training on the shelf, he opened the season in abysmal fashion, hitting .074/.138/.074 through his first 29 PA. Of course, anything can happen in 29 PA, but Stewart was getting nothing done. He either struck out or hit the ball on the ground in 20 of his PA, and hit no line drives. He might have been out of whack, having missed the start of spring training, so the Rockies optioned him on April 19th. But by then he was hardly playing anyway. That’s at least in part because Jonathan Herrera was capturing Colorado’s attention.

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Phil Collins is uncommonly excited for Zack Greinke’s Brewer debut.

This edition of One Night Only contains:

1. Expanded previews for three games: Milwaukee at Atlanta, Cleveland at Oakland, and Colorado at Arizona.

2. Pitcher and Team NERD scores for every one of tonight’s games.

3. Entirely relevant and timely pop-culture references.

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No legs were broken in this celebration.

Twins 1, White Sox 0

Moving the Needle: Jason Kubel homers, +.123 WPA. His fourth homer of the season was all the Twins needed in this one. Well, that and some nice work on defense.

Notables

Francisco Liriano: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 6 BB, 2 K, 9 GB. Yes, that’s 20 balls in play and only nine on the ground for Liriano. Another nine were hit in the air, though to be fair four of them were of the infield variety. And yet, no hits. Yes, it’s a rare achievement that he’ll remember for the rest of his life. But that he did this on a night when he didn’t do the two things that normally help him win ballgames — strike out guys and get ground balls — says as much about the current state of the White Sox offense as it does Liriano himself.

Edwin Jackson: 8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 12 GB. Just 4 K in 17 IP for Liriano and Jackson? Yikes. It must have been odd for Jackson, being on the other side of a walkathon no-hitter.

Also in this issue: Red Sox 7, Angels 3 | Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 3 | Astros 10, Reds 4 | Tigers 4, Yankees 2 | Cubs 4, Dodgers 1 | Royals 6, Orioles 5 | Giants 7, Mets 6 | Indians 4, A’s 1 | Phillies 4, Nationals 1 | Mariners 4, Rangers 3 | Cardinals 7, Marlins 5 | Rays 3, Blue Jays 2 | Padres 6, Pirates 5

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Adam Dunn is one of the most durable, consistent power hitters in baseball. When Chicago inked the 31-year-old to a four year, $56 million deal last offseason, there was no reason to suspect anything less than the .250/.380/.520 that he puts up seemingly every season. However, through the first month of the season, Dunn is hitting .171/.308/.316. Is The Big Donkey going to rebound, or should the White Sox be concerned about their DH?

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To be fair, it’s not like people really expected Vernon Wells to be that good this season. The Angels’ decision to bring in Wells and his colossal contract was universally panned. But even though Wells wasn’t going to be worth $23 million in a season, he did show signs of life in 2010, posting a .362 wOBA and 3.8 WAR for the Blue Jays. The Angels thought they were at least getting a solid, if overpriced, player in Wells. Instead, Wells has posted a .214 wOBA so far. What gives?

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It’s May 3rd and Vladimir Guerrero still has not drawn a walk. He’s come to the plate 113 times and refused to take a free pass in any of them, a pretty remarkable accomplishment. Well, it seems like a remarkable accomplishment anyway, but then you run a query and see what Mariano Duncan accomplished and then you just think Guerrero is slacking.

On June 19th, 1994, the Phillies beat the Expos 13-0. In the process, Mariano Duncan started at third base and contributed a single, a double, and a pair of walks. They would be the last two walks of his Phillies career, which wouldn’t be so notable except that he wasn’t claimed off waivers by Cincinnati until August 8th, 1995. He then spent another three weeks with his new franchise before drawing his first walk as a member of the Reds, and the first walk he’d taken in 14 months.

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There’s a general tendency to classify our surroundings. In order to save space in our brains, we label routines, constructs and actions, and store them away. On the positive side, this allows us to master complicated concepts with relative ease. Imagine if you went into your morning commute with a fresh approach every day. You’d be late often. The negatives — perhaps outlined best by Aldous Huxley in The Doors of Perception — are that we fail to fully enjoy how fascinating daily moments can be.

Our appreciation of sports is no different. Even as we revel in the superlative singular performances, we often hasten to label them. Last year was either The Year Of The Pitcher or The Year of the Rookie depending on your focus. Plenty of energy has gone into parsing the former, but let’s instead look at the latter and maybe open a shut door. Was last year exceptional when it came to rookie performance? Were there more debuts, more average rookies or more exceptional rookie seasons last year than there have been in the past?

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That the Cardinals lead the majors on wOBA is not that huge a surprise. They brought back an elite core of hitters in Colby Rasmus, Albert Pujols, and Matt Holliday, and then added a number of complementary pieces. The most prominent, of course, is Lance Berkman, who currently leads the NL in wOBA. But there is also David Freese, who, for April at least, was back on the field. And so the Cardinals offense, ripping through the league, currently sports a wOBA 16 points higher than the next closest NL team, and leads batter WAR by 3 wins.

What might surprise you is that they’re doing all this without a significant contribution from Pujols.

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