Gerrit Cole

Former UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole has achieved historical significance … in just two starts. Cole, who made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates last week, is the first to beat Cy Young winners in his first two starts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Cole beat San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum in his debut and followed that with a victory over the Dodgers' Zack Greinke. Some 1960s hipster praise came from Pirates catcher Michael McKenry after Cole went 5 2/3 innings to beat the Dodgers on Sunday.

ST. LOUIS - Gerrit Cole shouldn't be here. Shouldn't be in the major leagues. Shouldn't be in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform. Definitely shouldn't be scheduled to start Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals in the deciding game of a National League division series. "I should be watching this game on TV," Cole said with a grin. "It's kind of surreal. " Cole was supposed to be the Pirates' future, not their present. As the first pick in the 2011 draft, he was expected to develop like fine wine - getting better with age and maturity.

UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole pitched like an ace on Friday night in the Bruins' NCAA regional opener against Kent State. The sophomore, a former first-round draft pick by the New York Yankees, overmatched the Golden Flashes while Bruins hitters unloaded en route to a 15-1victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium. UCLA (44-13) will play tonight at 6 against defending national champion Louisiana State, an 11-10 winner in 11 innings Friday over UC Irvine. Irvine plays Kent State in an elimination game at 2 p.m. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Cole (10-2)

The Angels lost one starting pitcher when they placed Jason Vargas on the disabled list Friday afternoon. Then a few hours later they appeared to have misplaced another. Oh, sure, that looked like Jered Weaver on the mound at Angel Stadium -- stringy blond mane, scruffy facial hair, big red No. 36 on his back. But that guy sure didn't pitch like Weaver, giving up four runs and a season-high nine hits in six innings of a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. "There's not one issue that Weav's dealing with.

ST. LOUIS - Gerrit Cole shouldn't be here. Shouldn't be in the major leagues. Shouldn't be in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform. Definitely shouldn't be scheduled to start Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals in the deciding game of a National League division series. "I should be watching this game on TV," Cole said with a grin. "It's kind of surreal. " Cole was supposed to be the Pirates' future, not their present. As the first pick in the 2011 draft, he was expected to develop like fine wine - getting better with age and maturity.

Rarely has one college team had two such dominant pitchers. UCLA was a handful with Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer as starters in 2011. Cole was the first overall pick in the major league draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bauer was taken No. 3 by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cole has progressed steadily through the Pirates' organization, and appears on the verge of a major league debut. He has a 5-3 record with a 2.91 earned-run average at triple-A Indianapolis. He has thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings after holding Durham scoreless for seven innings Wednesday.

Have a No. 2 pencil handy. A pitcher is in motion, coming forward at 5 mph before releasing a 90-mph fastball. The ball takes four seconds to travel the 60 feet 6 inches to home plate. At what point does the batter have to decide whether to swing? FOR THE RECORD: College baseball: An article about UCLA pitcher Trevor Bauer in the Feb. 18 Sports section said it takes a 90 mph fastball four seconds to travel 60 feet, 6 inches to home plate. Four seconds is the approximate span from the time Bauer begins his pitching motion to when the ball reaches the plate.

Little more than a year after being selected with the third overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft, 21-year-old right-hander Trevor Bauer is scheduled to make his big league debut Thursday night in Atlanta when he pitches for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Braves. Everything about the former UCLA All-American is quirky, including his decision to skip his senior year at Newhall Hart High to play college baseball; his unorthodox training routines; and his YouTube channel, where he shows video in super slow motion of his delivery.

The MLB draft started with a surprise and a bit of history Monday when the Houston Astros selected 17-year-old shortstop Carlos Correa as the top overall pick. Correa pulled a small Puerto Rican flag out of his pocket as he approached the podium and waved it at the cheering crowd to share his moment with the folks back home. He's the first-ever No. 1 overall pick to come from Puerto Rico, which has produced such baseball greats as Roberto Clemente, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado.

Although the Red Sox are among the teams exploring the shortstop market, don't be surprised if they do little other than add a bullpen arm or two before the deadline. Scouts who saw them play the White Sox believe they could be stronger than the Yankees once David Ortiz joins a lineup that has Carl Crawford playing at a level he rarely showed a year ago.... What does Alfonso Soriano have in common with Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Stargell, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Les Bell, Heinie Manush, Jimmie Foxx, Duckie Medwick, Adam LaRoche and Dustin Pedroia?

Shadows covered most of the infield at Angel Stadium when Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole took his place on the mound and brought the heat back to a cooling Friday evening. Pitching quickly and efficiently in only his third major league start, the Orange Lutheran High graduate and three-year UCLA product handcuffed an Angels lineup that had recently found its collective batting stroke. As Cole threw two- and four-seam fastballs that topped 100-mph a half-dozen times and stayed in the 90s into the seventh inning, he generated a strong sense that something big was happening and a promising career was being launched.

Former UCLA pitcher Gerrit Cole has achieved historical significance … in just two starts. Cole, who made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates last week, is the first to beat Cy Young winners in his first two starts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Cole beat San Francisco Giants' Tim Lincecum in his debut and followed that with a victory over the Dodgers' Zack Greinke. Some 1960s hipster praise came from Pirates catcher Michael McKenry after Cole went 5 2/3 innings to beat the Dodgers on Sunday.

PITTSBURGH - Speaking for the first time since he was in the middle of a violent brawl between the Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks last week, Yasiel Puig had little to say. To the surprise of even of some of his teammates, Puig wasn't suspended when Major League Baseball issued penalties Friday to players and coaches for their roles in the melee. But evidently, Puig didn't share his teammates' concerns. Asked whether he feared he could be suspended, Puig smirked and replied, "For what?"

Gerrit Cole had an impressive major league debut Tuesday … a nd he pitched well too. Cole, a former UCLA pitcher, was called up by the Pittsburgh Pirates and sent out to face the San Francisco Giants. Cole had already pitched two scoreless innings when he came to the plate with the bases loaded. He fell behind, 0-2, worked the count full and then singled to right to drive in two runs. “I got a little lucky,” Cole told reporters after the game. “That was my first hit since high school.” Lucky or not, the Pirates' Andrew McCutchen told reporters, “He looked like a big league hitter working the count like that.” As for the pitching part, Cole lived up to being the first overall pick in the 2011 draft.

Rarely has one college team had two such dominant pitchers. UCLA was a handful with Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer as starters in 2011. Cole was the first overall pick in the major league draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bauer was taken No. 3 by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Cole has progressed steadily through the Pirates' organization, and appears on the verge of a major league debut. He has a 5-3 record with a 2.91 earned-run average at triple-A Indianapolis. He has thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings after holding Durham scoreless for seven innings Wednesday.

Although the Red Sox are among the teams exploring the shortstop market, don't be surprised if they do little other than add a bullpen arm or two before the deadline. Scouts who saw them play the White Sox believe they could be stronger than the Yankees once David Ortiz joins a lineup that has Carl Crawford playing at a level he rarely showed a year ago.... What does Alfonso Soriano have in common with Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Willie Stargell, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Les Bell, Heinie Manush, Jimmie Foxx, Duckie Medwick, Adam LaRoche and Dustin Pedroia?

The Angels lost one starting pitcher when they placed Jason Vargas on the disabled list Friday afternoon. Then a few hours later they appeared to have misplaced another. Oh, sure, that looked like Jered Weaver on the mound at Angel Stadium -- stringy blond mane, scruffy facial hair, big red No. 36 on his back. But that guy sure didn't pitch like Weaver, giving up four runs and a season-high nine hits in six innings of a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. "There's not one issue that Weav's dealing with.

Reporting from Omaha — Matt Purke wears black eyeglasses and his baseball cap sits tilted on his head, as those worn by many left-handed pitchers seem to do. He's a bit quirky, too — another trait shared by lefties in baseball lore — and his Texas Christian teammates have nicknamed him " Harry Potter." You could say he also has some other wizard-like qualities. Purke, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound freshman with a fastball that tops out at about 97 mph, has a record of 15-0 in 17 starts.

Little more than a year after being selected with the third overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft, 21-year-old right-hander Trevor Bauer is scheduled to make his big league debut Thursday night in Atlanta when he pitches for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Braves. Everything about the former UCLA All-American is quirky, including his decision to skip his senior year at Newhall Hart High to play college baseball; his unorthodox training routines; and his YouTube channel, where he shows video in super slow motion of his delivery.

The MLB draft started with a surprise and a bit of history Monday when the Houston Astros selected 17-year-old shortstop Carlos Correa as the top overall pick. Correa pulled a small Puerto Rican flag out of his pocket as he approached the podium and waved it at the cheering crowd to share his moment with the folks back home. He's the first-ever No. 1 overall pick to come from Puerto Rico, which has produced such baseball greats as Roberto Clemente, Ivan Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado.