Shea Hey

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

Rangers, Reds, Padres.

In a hard-to-believe first half featuring four no-hitters, including two perfect games - and another that was stripped - three of the divisions are led by unlikely teams. Make that four if you didn't expect the Braves to stick around this long.

It's the Year of the Pitcher, and nobody has thrown better than Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez in the National League and Seattle's Cliff Lee in the American League. At midseason, they're our picks as leaders in the Cy Young Award races.

Not much seems to stop Jimenez (14-1, 2.27 ERA, even after the Giants' offensive explosion against him Saturday), but one thing that could stop Lee (78 strikeouts, five walks, 95 2/3 innings, five complete games) is a trade to the other league.

Jimenez has gotten all the pub, but Florida's Josh Johnson has a better ERA, WHIP and strikeout-to-walk ratio. Likewise, Lee has stiff competition in Tampa Bay's David Price and Boston's Clay Buchholz.

Midseason MVPs? The big sticks on improbable teams: Texas' Josh Hamilton (.340, 19 homers, 59 RBIs) and Cincinnati's Joey Votto (.314, 19, 57). Miguel Cabrera or Justin Morneau could be the AL choice, as could be Albert Pujols or Adrian Gonzalez in the NL.

In the rookie chase, one Detroit outfielder (Brennan Boesch) edges another (Austin Jackson) - and Rangers closer Neftali Feliz and Indians catcher Carlos Santana. In the NL, it's the Braves' Jason Heyward (off the DL after the break) over the Nats' Stephen Strasburg and a bunch of others.

Managing props go to Ron Washington in the AL and Dusty Baker/Bud Black in the NL. Yeah, Rangers, Reds, Padres.

This article appeared on page B - 6 of the San Francisco Chronicle