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Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

A week ago Sunday night, Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save. Which should make us realize a few things about closers:

• The truly great ones are the those who can sustain it for a long time. Getting 40 saves a year for 12 years would still leave one short of 500.

• Even getting to the second tier isn't easy. Only 18 players have had as many as six 30-save seasons: Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith, Billy Wagner, Troy Percival, John Wetteland, Dennis Eckersley, John Franco, Jason Isringhausen, Robb Nen, Jeff Reardon, Todd Jones, Jose Mesa, Roberto Hernandez, Randy Myers, Rick Aguilera, Tom Henke and Todd Worrell.

In other words, the shelf life for a typical closer is a short one. They can burst onto the scene – and flame out quickly (right, Mr. Gagne?)

• But it also means that teams can find short-term solutions for the ninth inning any number of ways.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That reigning NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum is actually better this year, which makes it seem like a long time ago that we wondered how he'd top his 2008 season. Lincecum has erased all memory of that slow start by stringing together 23 consecutive scoreless innings, including seven against the Astros on Saturday.

Lincecum is now 9-2 with a 2.23 ERA, lower than last year's 2.64 ERA. He's looking like a strong candidate to start the All-Star Game in St. Louis, which would be a nice way of making up for last year. Lincecum was picked to go to the game in New York, but he was too sick to attend.

"It would mean a lot -- the hard work paid off," said Lincecum. "If I do happen to start, it will make up for the fact I didn't even make it to the field last year."

As a team, the Giants have now pitched two shutouts in a row for the second time in a week. Previously, they hadn't done it since 2002.

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Lou Gehrig did not Twitter.

Never mind that such social networking wasn't around 70 years ago. Typing minutiae and thinking it's important simply wasn't Gehrig's style.

He was unassuming, lived with his parents until he was 30 and didn't crave his own reality TV show. Let's hope players are paying attention Saturday when baseball does something unusual.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Braves have their longest winning streak of the year.

OK, it's only four games. But before Thursday night, Atlanta was the only team that had not won four straight at some point this season.

And where has it gotten the Braves? Not out of fourth place in the NL East – yet within two games of the first-place Phillies, their victims the past three games.

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Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Mets not only snapped their five-game losing streak, but they did their part to save the world on Wednesday. After manager Jerry Manuel's team meeting in the wake of Tuesday's loss, the Mets all came to the ballpark on Wednesday on buses, instead of players arriving individually in cabs. Although the team-building experience may have actually done more to save on fuel than to actually bond, the result was a 1-0 victory.

Manuel wasn't going to take credit for his speech firing up the team, especially since pitcher Mike Pelfrey missed it. Pelfrey had left the ballpark early Tuesday night to get some rest.

"I told him, 'If he'd been at the meeting, he would have thrown a no-hitter,' " Manuel joked.

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NEW YORK – An interesting coincidence Tuesday night that Brandon Morrow got to pitch against Joba Chamberlain at Yankee Stadium.

Both were taken within the first 41 picks of the 2006 draft.

Both made it to the majors as a reliever.

Both have undergone an awkward relief-to-starting midseason transition while staying in the majors: Chamberlain last year with the Yankees and Morrow this year with the Mariners.

Even after the transition we've been left wondering, are they better off in the rotation or the bullpen?

When the St. Louis Cardinals traded for Mark DeRosa over the weekend, it was basically the unofficial start of teams swapping players before the July 31 trade deadline. Traditionally teams wait for one big domino to fall before they start wheeling and dealing, so it's no surprise that the Yankees and Pirates have now worked out a deal amongst themselves.

In a Tuesday morning deal, the Yankees acquired Eric Hinske from the Pirates for two minor leaguers.

NEW YORK – Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman got to 500 saves in different ways.

Rivera, who earned No. 500 on Sunday night as the Yankees defeated the Mets, did it in the New York spotlight, with his biting cut fastball.

Hoffman was in the relative shadows of San Diego with a changeup as his signature.

But they are more alike than they are different.

"They joke around, they have personalities, but when they get locked in, it's a whole different beast," Brett Tomko, who has sat in the bullpen with both men, told FanHouse.

ATLANTA -- This isn't quite baseball's Hula Hoop, but it is close. In other words, the suddenly loud and colorful explosion throughout the universe for anything involving the Boston Red Sox is a fad.

It's just lasting longer than usual. So Red Sox fans should enjoy all of this before it is going, going, almost gone, because it is fleeting.

Here's the latest: The dominant color of the Atlanta Braves is blue, so you would expect their fans to dress accordingly. That said, when you studied the packed stands during each of the Braves' past three games inside of what had been a fairly barren Turner Field this season, there was nothing but red.

Red Sox red.

Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

"This concludes our test of the emergency attendance enhancement system. We now return to the regularly scheduled season."

Yes, the 13th season of interleague play wraps up Sunday, except for a Cubs-White Sox makeup game. We have survived six San Diego-Seattle games (that's more zeroes than an A-Rod paycheck).

We didn't learn much we didn't already know: the system has inherent flaws and the American League rules.

For the sixth straight year, the AL has had** the better record in interleague play – 129-108 going into today.

Take out Cleveland and Oakland, and the AL is 119-84.

"It probably is" as big a gap between leagues as in past years, one AL team official said, "until you get to the World Series. Then it doesn't matter."