MLB Bullets Has Seen Fiers And Reign

I stole the idea for that headline from Jonah Keri. Just so no one sues me.

• You probably heard this by now, but the Astros' Mike Fiers threw a no-hitter against the Dodgers on Friday. Cliff Corcoran has a breakdown of the no-no and some background on Fiers.
• If you missed the no-hitter, here are all 27 outs in 6½ minutes.
• Some people watching at home thought they spotted an illegal substance on Fiers' glove. Fiers denied he did anything illegal and both the Dodgers and MLB said they had no concerns.
• Rob Neyer is heartened by the fact that Mike Fiers no-hit the Dodgers and their $300 million payroll.
• Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has benched slumping outfielder Joc Pederson.
• Christina Kahrl says the Astros are a team with the stuff to go far into October.
• David Schoenfield marvels at how bad the NL East is.
• Hey, aren't the Nationals in the NL East? Weren't they supposed to win the World Series this year? Jonah Keri breaks down the disaster that this season has been in DC.
• Harper Gordek also looks at where the Nats have gone wrong this season.
• David Schoenfield has a look at Braves pitcher Shelby Miller's hard-luck season.
• I'm not sure the Nats could beat a Little League team right now. One of the teams in the Little League World Series is from Uganda, and you really need to read this piece by Joseph Swide on youth baseball in Uganda. Swide thinks that Uganda will be the next hotbed of international talent heading to the major leagues. That would be really pretty awesome.
• I've said it in this space several times before: baseball is better in Korean. Donald Kirk explains how and why baseball is so popular in Korea. (h/t Hardball Talk)
• Ken Rosenthal explains how the success of the Pirates Jung-Ho Kang will increase interest in Korean slugger Byung-Ho Park, who is expected to be posted this winter. (Video)
• The New York Times Magazine has a photo essay on what they're calling "The Last Escapees," highlighting all the Cubans currently in the major leagues. The point is that with the normalization of relations between the US and Cuba, future Cubans will come to America just like any other international prospect.
• MLB has announced a new policy to deal with cases of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.
• Dirk Hayhurst looks at the problems facing David Denson on the field and worries that teams may shy away from giving openly-gay players a chance in the future because Denson isn't likely to be very good.
• Justin Verlander and other Tigers players are calling for MLB to add protections for fans against foul balls.
• Christina Kahrl agrees.
• Kahrl also explains how the Pirates use their advantages to create their own unique form of winning "Moneyball."
• David Schoenfield lists the players having the most surprising seasons of 2015. He means good surprises.
• Schoenfield notes that ex-Red Sox GM Ben Cherington had a pretty lousy off-season, but he found at least one GM in history who had an even worse winter.
• Gordon Edes lists candidates to be the new Red Sox GM and our old friend Jim Hendry is on the list. Remember though, this would be a Jed Hoyer-type position who would be junior partner to president Dave Dombrowski.
• Jose Reyes doesn't want to stick around in Denver. He's hoping the Rockies trade him, either this season or over the winter.
• The Mariners designated Fernando Rodney for assignment.
• Adrian Beltre became the all-time leader among Dominican-born players in game played.
• Beltre also isn't as sneaky as he thinks, as he tried to kick a slow roller foul. You know they have replay now, Adrian, don't you?
• The Marlins are open to bringing Ichiro Suzuki back next season. Suzuki will have to play next season if he wants to get 3000 hits and to unofficially pass Pete Rose's hit total.
• Jackie Bradley Jr. is great at damage control. His misplayed a ball off the Green Monster but then recovered to throw Omar Infante out at home.
• The Rangers Derek Holland cut his hair to look like Charlie Sheen's character Ricky Vaughn from the movie Major League. Sheen was flattered by the move.
• And finally, Dan Epstein remembers the White Sox shorts from 1976 and Jack Brohamer, the only player in major league history to hit a home run while wearing shorts. He also traces some minor league precedents for Bill Veeck's (in)famous fashion move.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.