It was quite a day for a few of the major league teams that have been the biggest surprises of the new season. The San Diego Padres maintained a share of the National League West lead by roughing up Phillies closer Brad Lidge for four ninth-inning runs. They trailed by a run going into the final frame before ending Lidge’s streak of converting 47 consecutive save changes and claiming an 8-5 win.

The Kansas City Royals stayed atop the American League Central after Zack Greinke tossed his first career shutout in a 2-0 victory over the Texas Rangers. Going into the contest, the Rangers were averaging a major league-high 5.56 runs per game, but Greinke worked his third scoreless outing of 2009.

Pitching has been critical to this spring’s surprise teams. Each of the five biggest surprises in the early going have posted one of the top six team ERAs, after ranking in the lower half of the major leagues in ERA last season.

Team ERA & Starter ERA for MLB’s Surprise Teams, 2008 vs. 2009
(through games of 4/17, MLB rank in parentheses)

. . . . . . . . . . . .2008 ERA. . . . .2009 ERA. . . . . 2008 Starters. . . . 2009 Starters
Pittsburgh. . . . . .5.08 (28). . . . . . 2.90 (1). . . . . . . .5.36 (28). . . . . . . 2.95 (2)
Florida. . . . . . . . 4.43 (19). . . . . . 2.97 (2). . . . . . . .4.66 (22). . . . . . . 3.09 (4t)
Seattle. . . . . . . .4.73 (25). . . . . . .3.01 (3). . . . . . . .5.07 (26). . . . . . . 3.22 (7)
Kansas City. . . . . 4.48 (22). . . . . . .3.24 (5). . . . . . . 4.62 (21). . . . . . . .3.00 (3)
San Diego. . . . . . 4.41 (18). . . . . . .3.67 (6). . . . . . . 4.38 (17). . . . . . . 4.60 (14)

The biggest surprise has to be the 10-1 Marlins, who are off to the best start in franchise history after claming their 10th win of the new season Saturday night. Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez and rookie Chris Volstad had worked quality starts in all six of their outings before Johnson allowed six first-inning runs to the Nationals on Saturday. The Marlins rebounded to tie the game with three runs in the ninth, and won 9-6 in 11 innings when Jeremy Hermida hit his second homer of the game with two men aboard.

The Marlins also have been scoring with reckless abandon. They were averaging 6.10 runs per game before Saturday’s come-from-behind victory, the most in the National League. Also to the Marlins’ credit, they have been at least an average team defensively after finishing above only Washington and Texas in fielding percentage in 2008.

So far, the 6-5 Pirates are scoring nearly a half-run less per game in 2009 than they did a year ago, but this spring they are leading the majors in team ERA and quality starts. The Pirates recorded their eighth in 11 games Saturday when Ian Snell and two relievers combined on a 10-0 blanking of the Atlanta Braves.

It was the second time in less than 24 hours that the Pirates had shut out the Braves, thanks to Paul Maholm and two other Pittsburgh relievers. Three pitchers in the pen have yet to give up a run -- Matt Capps, John Grabow and Craig Hansen -- and Zach Duke (0.59 ERA) and Maholm (0.87 ERA) have allowed a total of three earned runs in five starts. A little more scoring by the Pirates would go a long way.

The 7-4 Royals remain second in the majors in team ERA after Greinke’s Saturday night shutout. They have quite a 1-2 combination at the top of the rotation with Greinke and Gil Meche, who has a 2.25 ERA in his first three outings of 2009. Plus, Kyle Davies has emerged as a solid starter in the early going. In two turns, he’s posted a 2.13 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 12.2 innings. So far, none of the three has been saddled with a loss in eight starts, and the Royals also have three relievers who have yet to allow a run: Juan Cruz, Jamey Wright and Robinson Tejeda.

Going into the weekend, the 8-4 Mariners had the lowest bullpen ERA in the American League (2.56), and the starters haven’t been too shabby either. Lefty Erik Bedard is fully healthy after a 2008 season shortened by a shoulder ailment, and he has worked three quality starts and allowed just four earned runs. He has a 1.86 ERA and has recorded just three walks and 23 strikeouts in 19.1 innings, though he lost a 2-0 decision to the Tigers on Saturday night. Another lefty, Jarrod Washburn, is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA after suffering through arguably his worst big league season a year ago (5-14, 4.69 ERA). The M’s also have budding ace Felix Hernandez, who is 2-0, though with a heftier 4.26 ERA.

The bullpen of the 9-3 Padres had been even better than Seattle’s, posting a 2.04 ERA in 11 games before allowing three runs over four frames to the World Series champion Phillies Saturday night. The rotation hasn’t been as good. Only two of the five starters have ERAs lower than 4.00. They would be ace Jake Peavy (2-1, 3.98 ERA) and newcomer Shawn Hill (1-0, 3.60). The big difference for the Padres, however, has been run production. They are averaging exactly five runs per games, compared to a major league-low 3.93 a game in 2008.