THT Daily: 10,000 losses
by Matthew CarruthJuly 16, 2007
Major League News for July 16
Today’s LinksPlayer News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Top Minor League Performances
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THT Links
Washing Away Your Freedom - Wilfredo Ledezma will probably be a lot more careful with his wash from now on. The Braves LHP accidentally left his passport, and therefore his visa, in his clothes and both got damaged in the wash to point of unusuability.
Land of Good Press - David Pinto doesn't think that Alex Rodriguez would leave New York no matter what simply to get away from the press hounds and then run into the hands of Boston, a city even more notorious for its angry press.
Remaking the Champions - The Cardinals need to re-tool in the least, but given their payroll situation, they might have another year struggling in the future. Another victim to non-fluidity in the baseball world.
Rebuilding Incorrectly - I mentioned in this week's dartboard that the Reds trading away their only good hitters didn't make much sense to me. Apparently, they might also trade away their only good pitchers too. Should someone tell GM Wayne Krivsky that he's doing it wrong or should we just sit back and watch the ensuing accident with grim glee?
Not Quite the Hall of Fame, but Getting There - Bill James, a man completely worthy of whatever highest honors that baseball can bestow, is getting inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals in Pasadena.
THT Links represents the best efforts of our editors in scouring the various tubes of the interweb for both relevant and irrelevant news items. If you have happened upon a story that we have overlooked or wish to give feedback of any sort, please notify us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldAlbert Pujols had three hits, including two of the Cardinals' six homers, as St. Louis handed the Phillies their 10,000th loss in franchise history on Sunday. Chris Duncan, Juan Encarnacion, Adam Kennedy and Ryan Ludwick also homered and Adam Wainwright pitched seven scoreless innings in the 10-2 victory. The Phillies didn't get their runs until the ninth, when things had long since been decided. Pujols now has four homers in three games since the break. It seems like he's just getting started on what could be a terrific second half.
Phillies activated RHP Tom Gordon from the 60-day disabled list. Gordon will be eased back into a late-inning role, so expect him to pitch in middle relief his first couple of times out. Maybe he'll resume closing over Antonio Alfoneseca in a week or two.
Pirates placed third baseman Jose Bautista on the 15-day disabled list with a left hand laceration. Bautista was injured on a steal attempt Saturday. Jose Castillo will get most of the playing time at third base over the next couple of weeks, giving him some value in NL-only leagues.
Al Reyes (shoulder) is scheduled to pitch one inning Monday at Class A Vero Beach, have Tuesday off and be activated from the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday. "I feel very good," Reyes said after throwing 27 pitches, mixing in his changeup and slider - to Rays hitters Jorge Cantu, Josh Wilson, Dioner Navarro and Dustan Mohr. "I'm ready to go Monday down at Vero Beach." Gary Glover will return to setup duties.
Jason Giambi (foot) is in Tampa Bay and is expected to begin working out at the Yankees' minor-league complex this week. He has told people in the organization he might need two weeks to get ready. However, it's more than likely Giambi won't return until the middle of next month. He'll probably share time with Johnny Damon at DH when he is able to return.
Yesterday’s Results
American League BAL 5 CHA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Dye: 2 HR TOR 2 BOS 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Litsch: 6.2 IP, 1 R; Beckett: 8 IP, 2 R NYA 7 TB 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Jeter: 3 RBI, HR; Wigginton: 4-4 CLE 5 KC 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Hafner: 3-4, HR; Carmona: 7 IP, 2 R MIN 4 OAK 3 (Recap and Boxscore) See below TEX 5 LAA 4 (Recap and Boxscore) 11 innings; Teixeira: 2B, GW HR; Weaver: 7 IP, 2 R DET 11 SEA 7 (Recap and Boxscore) Thames: HR, 4 RBI National League ATL 5 PIT 1 (Recap and Boxscore) Carlyle: 8 IP, 1 R; Renteria: 4-5 FLA 5 WAS 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Cabrera: 2 HR; Olsen: 5 IP, 2 R NYN 5 CIN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Reyes: 2-3, HR; Perez: 6 IP, 2 R STL 10 PHI 2 (Recap and Boxscore) Wainwright: 7 IP, 0 R; Pujols: 2 HR CHN 7 HOU 6 (Recap and Boxscore) Lee: 3-3, HR, 3 RBI MIL 4 COL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Cook, Suppan: 6 IP, 2 R SD 4 ARI 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Germano: 6.1 IP, 0 R; Giles: 3-4 (.490 OBP in leadoff) LAN 5 SF 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Kemp: 3-4, 2B;
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Today’s Games
National League --------------- Cincinnati Reds at Atlanta Braves, 7:05 PM (L) Bobby Livingston (1-0) vs. (R) Kyle Davies (4-7) San Francisco Giants at Chicago Cubs, 7:05 PM (R) Tim Lincecum (4-2) vs. (L) Rich Hill (5-6) Colorado Rockies at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (R) Taylor Buchholz (4-3) vs. (R) John VanBenschoten (0-3) St. Louis Cardinals at Florida Marlins, 7:05 PM (R) Braden Looper (6-7) vs. (R) Byung-Hyun Kim (4-4) Houston Astros at Washington Nationals, 7:05 PM (R) Woody Williams (4-10) vs. (L) Mike Bacsik (2-6) Arizona Diamondbacks at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 PM (R) Micah Owings (5-4) vs. (R) Dave Bush (7-7) New York Mets at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (R) Jorge Sosa (7-3) vs. (L) David Wells (4-5) Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 PM (L) Jamie Moyer (7-7) vs. (R) Brad Penny (10-1) American League --------------- Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) Josh Towers (4-5) vs. (L) Kei Igawa (2-2) Kansas City Royals at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 PM (R) Brian Bannister (5-5) vs. (L) Kason Gabbard (2-0) Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (L) John Danks (5-6) vs. (L) Cliff Lee (5-5) Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 PM (R) Jamey Wright (2-2) vs. (L) Joe Kennedy (2-7) Baltimore Orioles at Seattle Mariners, 10:05 PM (L) Brian Burres (4-3) vs. (L) Horacio Ramirez (4-2)
Standings
The graphics next to each team are called "sparklines.” They depict each team’s performance over the last month. Each "up" bar is a victory and a "down" bar is a loss. There are horizontal lines for home games and red bars represent games decided by two runs or less. "PWins" is short for Projected Wins, based on each team’s Run Differential, and is often a better measure of a team’s true strength. Other team graphs and stats can be found on our Team Page.American League East Pwins Diff BOS 55 36 .604 0.0 55 0NYA 45 44 .506 9.0 52 -7
TOR 45 46 .495 10.0 46 -1
BAL 41 50 .451 14.0 45 -4
TB 35 56 .385 20.0 34 1
American League Central DET 54 36 .600 0.0 55 -1
CLE 54 37 .593 0.5 51 3
MIN 49 43 .533 6.0 51 -2
CHA 40 50 .444 14.0 38 2
KC 39 52 .429 15.5 42 -3
American League West LAA 55 36 .604 0.0 51 4
SEA 51 38 .573 3.0 46 5
OAK 44 48 .478 11.5 48 -4
TEX 39 52 .429 16.0 41 -2
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 51 40 .560 0.0 48 3
ATL 50 42 .543 1.5 47 3
PHI 46 45 .505 5.0 46 0
FLA 44 48 .478 7.5 43 1
WAS 37 54 .407 14.0 34 3
National League Central MIL 51 40 .560 0.0 50 1
CHN 47 43 .522 3.5 49 -2
STL 41 47 .466 8.5 37 4
PIT 40 51 .440 11.0 38 2
HOU 39 53 .424 12.5 41 -2
CIN 37 55 .402 14.5 42 -5
National League West LAN 52 40 .565 0.0 51 1
SD 50 40 .556 1.0 53 -3
ARI 49 44 .527 3.5 43 6
COL 45 46 .495 6.5 45 0
SF 38 51 .427 12.5 44 -6
Game of the Day
In what could be a harbinger of the remaining season, the Twins finished a four-game sweep of the Athletics yesterday, 4-3. The A’s were winning, 3-2, in the eighth, but Justin Morneau tied the game with his 25th homer, and Joe Mauer ended it with an RBI single in the ninth. The Twins are very much in the hunt for the AL Central title, but Oakland is quickly fading in the AL West.OAKLAND (3) VS MINNESOTA (4) - FINAL
OAKLAND ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
T Buck rf 5 0 1 2 0 3 2 .275
S Stewart lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .306
N Swisher 1b 2 0 0 0 2 1 1 .256
E Chavez 3b 4 1 2 1 0 0 2 .245
D Johnson dh 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .257
M Kotsay cf 2 1 1 0 2 0 1 .237
M Ellis 2b 4 0 0 0 0 3 4 .258
B Crosby ss 4 1 1 0 0 1 3 .222
J Kendall c 3 0 0 0 0 1 2 .226
a-J Cust ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .258
K Suzuki pr-c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .269
Totals 31 3 6 3 6 10 17
a-walked for J Kendall in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - M Kotsay (9, B Bonser). HR - E Chavez (15, 4th inning off B
Bonser 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - E Chavez (46), T Buck 2 (22). 2-out RBI - T Buck 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - B Crosby 1, T Buck 1. GIDP - D
Johnson, E Chavez. Team LOB - 7.
BASERUNNING: SB - B Crosby (8, 2nd base off M Guerrier/M Redmond), M Kotsay
(1, 2nd base off P Neshek/M Redmond).
MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
L Castillo 2b 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 .309
J Bartlett ss 4 0 1 0 1 0 2 .256
J Mauer dh 4 0 3 1 1 0 0 .312
M Cuddyer rf 3 0 0 0 1 2 3 .284
J Morneau 1b 4 1 1 1 0 0 5 .293
M Redmond c 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 .292
J Kubel lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .241
a-J Cirillo ph-3b 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .278
J Tyner cf 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 .284
N Punto 3b 3 0 1 2 0 1 1 .212
b-T Hunter ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 2 .300
L Ford lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .247
Totals 34 4 11 4 5 5 17
a-struck out swinging for J Kubel in the 8th; b-struck out swinging for N
Punto in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - M Redmond (10, S Casilla). 3B - N Punto (3, D Haren); L Castillo
(3, J Kennedy). HR - J Morneau (25, 8th inning off S Casilla 0 on, 1 Out). RBI
- N Punto 2 (18), J Morneau (76), J Mauer (40). Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - J Morneau 4, M Redmond 1, T Hunter 1, J Bartlett 1. Team LOB
- 11.
BASERUNNING: SB - J Mauer (6, 2nd base off D Haren/J Kendall). CS - J Tyner
(2, 2nd base by D Haren/J Kendall).
FIELDING: DP: 2 (L Castillo-J Bartlett-J Morneau 2).
----------------------------------------------------
OAKLAND - 000 100 200 -- 3
MINNESOTA - 000 200 011 -- 4
No outs when winning run scored.
----------------------------------------------------
OAKLAND ip h r er bb so hr era
D Haren 6 7 2 2 3 3 0 2.33
S Casilla (B, 1) 1 1/3 2 1 1 0 0 1 0.81
A Embree 2/3 0 0 0 1 2 0 4.05
J Kennedy (L, 2-8) 0 2 1 1 1 0 0 4.53
MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
B Bonser 6 1/3 5 3 3 3 6 1 4.68
M Guerrier (B, 1) 2/3 1 0 0 0 1 0 1.63
D Reyes 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 3.57
P Neshek (W, 4-1) 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 1.59
D Reyes pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.
J Kennedy pitched to 3 batters in the 9th.
WP - D Haren, P Neshek. Pitches-strikes: D Haren 108-64; S Casilla 23-14; A
Embree 21-16; J Kennedy 14-6; B Bonser 101-66; M Guerrier 13-9; D Reyes 18-8; P
Neshek 13-9. Ground balls-fly balls: D Haren 7-7; S Casilla 3-1; A Embree 0-0;
J Kennedy 0-0; B Bonser 5-8; M Guerrier 1-0; D Reyes 2-0; P Neshek 1-0. Batters
faced: D Haren 27; S Casilla 6; A Embree 3; J Kennedy 3; B Bonser 26; M
Guerrier 3; D Reyes 4; P Neshek 4.
UMPIRES: HP--Lance Barksdale. 1B--Gary Cederstrom. 2B--Jim Reynolds. 3B--Tim
Welke.
T--3:06. Att--36,737.
Weather: INDOORSThe following graph tracks the game's Win Probability, courtesy of Fan Graphs. You can also view live WPA graphs at Fangraphs during any ballgame all season long.
Top Minor League Games
The following list, provided by First Inning, includes the top minor league batting (based on Runs Created) and pitching (based on Game Score) performances from yesterday, with a focus on each team’s top prospects.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes SEA AAA Adam Jones........ 4 3 0 0 1 0 0 ARI AA Carlos Gonzalez... 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 CHC AAA Felix Pie......... 5 3 1 0 2 0 1 3 R LA AAA Andy LaRoche...... 4 2 1 0 0 0 0 ARI AA Justin Upton...... 4 1 0 0 1 0 1 BAL A Brandon Snyder.... 5 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 R SF A+ Travis Ishikawa... 5 3 3 0 0 0 0 COL A+ Eric Young........ 4 3 0 1 0 2 0 2 SB ATL AA Brandon Jones..... 5 2 0 1 1 0 1 BOS AAA George Kottaras... 4 1 0 0 1 1 1 DET AAA Brent Clevlen..... 5 3 1 0 1 0 1 BOS AAA Jacoby Ellsbury... 5 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 SB ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes TOR AA Kyle Yates........ 7 7 0 0 7 2 0 CHW AAA Lance Broadway.... 7 7 3 3 8 2 1 WAN A Jhonny Nunez...... 6 1 0 0 4 0 0 DET AA Jair Jurrjens..... 6 5 1 1 9 3 1 TEX AA A. Galarraga...... 7 3 1 1 9 2 1 KC AAA Luke Hochevar..... 5 5 5 5 7 1 3 SEA AA Andrew Baldwin.... 6 5 2 2 6 0 1 MIN A Alex Burnett...... 7 6 2 1 6 1 0 CHW AA Gio Gonzalez...... 7 6 5 5 7 4 1 STL AAA Anthony Reyes..... 6 2 1 1 8 2 0 TEX AAA Eric Hurley....... 6 7 2 2 2 1 0 11 OF CIN A Alexander Smit.... 3 0 0 0 4 1 0
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Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.