The phenomenal year for pitchers in Major League Baseball continued on Sunday, as Brandon Morrow of the Blue Jays came within one out of a no-hitter, striking out 17 in a 1-0 win against the Rays.

The only hit Morrow allowed was was an infield single by Evan Longoria with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. Aaron Hill, the Jays' second baseman, just could not corral the seeing-eye single, which bounced off his glove as he dived in the hole between first and second. Morrow struck out the next batter, Dan Johnson, to end the game.

Morrow is the ninth pitcher this season to take a no-hitter into the ninth inning. Five of those pitchers have completed no-hitters, and of those, two have thrown perfect games.

In an age that has been dominated by offensive outbursts on the diamond, and scandal related thereto, this year is certainly special. It is wonderful to see dominant pitching making its triumphant return to Major League Baseball.

After all, our national pastime was founded on pitching and defense. As these two dimensions of the game take center stage, so does the relentless strategy that attracts me so strongly to baseball. If the guy on the mound is lights out, and the defense isn't making any blunders, all of a sudden every single base runner becomes crucial. "Small ball" becomes the name of the game, as each team tries to outsmart, rather than physically overpower, its opponent on the way to victory.

Here's hoping this upward pitching trend continues. Baseball needs great pitching to put the steroid scandal in the rearview mirror once and for all.

Tiger Not So Tough

Tiger Woods just finished the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio today with a 77, bringing him to an alarming 18-over par for the tournament. He tied for 78th place out of 80 golfers.

In 11 previous appearances in the tournament, played annually at Firestone Country Club, Woods won seven times and never finished worse than a tie for fifth place.

Clearly, the man is still dealing with issues. I just wonder if we'll ever see the old Tiger again, the Tiger who once looked like he would break Jack Nicklaus' record for career major victories by the time he was 35. Tiger, who will turn 35 on December 30 of this year, is still four majors short of Nicklaus' 18 and is showing no signs of getting any better; in fact, he is regressing so horribly that I would not count on him making the cut in next week's PGA Championship.

Tiger blames his recent decline on the rough year he has had off the course and on his recent swing change. He says it took two years for him to regain his game following his first swing change after his 1997 Masters victory.

It has to be difficult for him to focus out there, and I just have a feeling his tumultuous year off the course is one obstacle Tiger may not be able to overcome.

Irish Ranked No. 34 in Coaches' Poll

The preseason USA Today college football coaches' poll was released yesterday, and the 2010 Fighting Irish actually got some respect.

Notre Dame received 38 votes, which ranks God's Mom's favorite school 34th in the nation.

When asked how she felt about the team's preseason ranking, Our Lady responded positively.

"You know, I feel pretty good about it," she said. "I mean, we are coming off a few rough seasons, so you can't expect people to predict a national championship this year, even with a great new coach like B.K. But then again, no one thought a virgin peasant girl would be the Mother of God, so that just goes to show that with God, anything is possible."

Alabama received 55 of 59 first place votes to gain a firm hold of the No. 1 ranking. The other four first place votes went to Ohio State, who will start the season ranked No. 2.

For the complete poll:

http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings

Favre to Retire...Maybe

According to reports, Brett Favre has decided to retire. Nothing is official yet, but then again, is it ever official with Brett Favre?

In 2007, after his 16th season with the Packers, Favre decided to hang it up in an emotional press conference. He then decided to return to the Packers, but he had not met his former team's timeline for a decision, so the Packers had already moved on to quarterback Aaron Rodgers. That situation, of course, set off the nasty breakup between Brett and Green Bay.

Then, after playing the 2008 season with the Jets, and amid speculation that he would suit up for his long-time archrival, the Minnesota Vikings, Favre said he was done with professional football but changed his mind again and joined the Vikings after they began training camp.

So, needless to say, I am not convinced one bit that Brett Favre is going to retire, even if this goes official. The man breathes football, and the whole reason for his flip-flopping the last few years is that he doesn't know what to do with himself when he is not on the field. One would think he has to retire eventually, and I could be wrong, but I don't think he is ready to hang it up just yet. However, he is a grandpa now, so that could be influencing his decision.

Trade, Trade, Trade

The Tribe has been busy the last few days. Three regulars on the roster, including two longtime Indians, have been traded prior to today's 4 p.m. deadline.

The most notable deal was just completed. As part of a three-team deal, The Indians sent ace Jake Westbrook and cash to the Cardinals. The Tribe received Double-A righty Corey Kluber from the Padres. Former Indian Ryan Ludwick was traded from St. Louis to San Diego, and San Diego sent minor-league left-hander Nick Greenwood to St. Louis.

Also today, the Tribe traded Austin Kearns to the Yankees for a player to be named or cash.

Wednesday evening, Jhonny Peralta became a Tiger, as the Indians dealt him for Class-A lefty Giovany Soto.

Overall, I can't complain about these deals. The post-All-Star winning streak was obviously a tease and we are quite clearly not going to be making a run at the playoffs, so we might as well get some prospects for some of the good players we have.

My only complaint is that I wish we could have gotten someone a little more definite for Kearns, who has been having a solid year.

I am glad Peralta is finally gone. How overpaid was he? He never lived up to the hype. He is the reason we got rid of Omar, who, at 43 years of age, is still a better ballplayer than Jhonny has ever been. Heck, Omar is hitting .285 this year and is still a wizard on defense.

I am happy for Jake Westbrook. He is a hard worker and has fought through Tommy John surgery, so he deserves to be with a contender.

EDIT: Make that four trades. Right before the deadline, the Tribe traded Kerry Wood to the Yankees for a player to be named or $500,000 cash. The team has until Oct. 15 to decide between the two options. The Indians have to pay all but $1.5 million of the more than $3.6 million remaining on Wood's $10.5 million salary this year.

So end two very disappointing and injury-plagued years for Kerry Wood in a Tribe uniform.

Oswalt to Phillies

Roy Oswalt, formerly of the Houston Astros, is now a Philly after waiving his no-trade clause.

The red-hot Phillies acquired the ace today in exchange for left-handed starter J.A. Happ and two prospects, outfielder Anthony Gose and shortstop Jonathan Villar.

Oswalt has been the talk of trade rumors for some time now, but his move to the Phillies is somewhat surprising, given his prior desire to be traded to St. Louis.

With the Phillies already breathing down the necks of the Braves, this makes the National League East race very interesting.

T.O. Misses Flight

New Bengals wide receiver Terrell Owens missed his overnight flight to Cincinnati last night. His press conference, originally scheduled for this morning, had to be rescheduled for this evening after practice, and it was unclear whether he would make it to training camp in time to work out today.

Given T.O.'s history with off-the-field antics, this leads me to wonder why he missed his flight. So, I am taking a poll, which will be rendered irrelevant once the real reason surfaces. What do you guys think?

1) He went clubbin'.
2) He fell asleep.
3) He went clubbin' and then fell asleep.
4) He was on the phone all night having a heart-to-heart and tearful conversation with Carson Palmer, his new quarterback.
5) He did it just to draw attention to himself.
6) Chad Ochocinco recommended he do it to draw attention to himself.
7) He was up all night thinking of touchdown celebrations.
8) He was running late for reasons beyond his control.
9) Any other ideas?