Brian Wilson was calmly packing up for the Dodgers’ road trip to Arizona after another loss to the San Francisco Giants, wearing a black sport coat, a pink T-shirt underneath and a rastafarian hat. Just another day at the office.

Wilson faced two batters in the seventh inning of a tie game Sunday and retired both. This has become Wilson’s new normal: pitching in high-leverage situations in every inning except the ninth. Eight of his last nine appearances have come in 0-, 1-, 2- or 3-run games. None have been in the ninth inning.

And Wilson is thriving. He’s allowed one run in 12 appearances (the lone run he allowed got him stuck with the loss in Cincinnati on Sept. 7).

“I didn’t start off pitching the ninth inning in my career,” Wilson said. “As long as I’m out there competing, I think every inning’s just as important.”

But is the adrenaline the same?

“I don’t pitch off adrenaline,” he said. “I don’t pitch with emotion. I’ve been playing this game for a while now, and I pitch to my strengths. There are some situations that dictate higher levels of energy, but sometimes it can get a little out of control if you don’t use it the right way.”

So there you have it. One of the most demonstrative, colorful players in baseball doesn’t pitch with emotion.

I suppose you never know until you ask.

Some bullet points for a Mexican Independence Day:

• Contrary to the headline, I don’t think this photo means that Wilson forgot what team he was playing for on Sunday.

• If Don Mattingly was joking about Yasiel Puig‘s injury timetable, he picked a bad time, colleague Jill Painter writes.

• Another writer takes a stab at guessing what it would cost to re-sign Ricky Nolasco.

• Adrian Gonzalez is one of six finalists for the 2013 Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award. Ballots will be distributed to all Major League players on Tuesday.

• Gonzalez is also the Dodgers’ nominee for the 2013 Roberto Clemente Award. Clayton Kershaw won the award last year.

• Japan has a new home run king.

• Vladimir Guerrero, Todd Helton and Mark Kotsay all announced their retirements this week. Which one is a lock for the Hall of Fame?

• Hint: Expos fans recorded a song about him in 1999.

• Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel had a song written and performed about him recently. And you’ll never guess who performed it: