Speaking of pitchers running a long good-luck high-wire act, Gavin Floyd took a no-hitter into the ninth inning last night before Joe Mauer broke it up with a double. Floyed nonetheless collected his third win of the season in Chicago’s 3-1 victory over Minnesota.

Before we go any further, if you haven’t yet read what Mike has to say about Gavin Floyd’s season, do so now. Now that we all know how to temper our enthusiasm for Floyd, let’s take a look at his numbers from yesterday: he pitched 8.1 innings to give up one unearned run, one hit, and three walks, and struck out four. He brought his ERA back down to 2.50, and his WHIP to 0.96. His K/9 and BB/9 are about even, at 4.31 and 4.08, respectively, and there’s now a 2.92 difference between his xFIP and his actual ERA. Now, sit down for a moment (not sure why you were reading standing up, but anyway). His current BABIP is .147.

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Nick Blackburn was the losing pitcher for the Twins, and he struggled through six innings to give up six hits, four runs (one of them unearned), and three walks, while striking out one batter in the first inning. He went to 2-2 with a 3.65 ERA and 1.40 WHIP, and, just for the sake of comparison, an xFIP-ERA of 0.72 and a .327 BABIP.