THT Daily: 15 innings
by Dave StudemanAugust 08, 2009
Major League News for August 8
Player News
Yesterday’s Results
Standings
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
Player News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldIt looks unlikely that Jason Bay (hamstring) will play in the final two games of the Red Sox/Yankees series.
"I wouldn't write it off," said Bay. "But, it's kind of the same issue as in Tampa. I came back a day or two before I should have, and I set myself back." If the injury lingers longer than the Yankee series, the Sox might as well put Bay on the disabled list. The Sox outfield is very banged up at the moment.
Alex Rodriguez slugged a walk-off two-run homer to break a scoreless tie as the Yankees topped the Red Sox in 15 innings on Friday night.
Without question, one of the more dramatic games of the year. A-Rod snapped a career-worst 72 at-bat homerless drought with the blast off of rookie Junichi Tazawa, who was making his major league debut. With 573 lifetime home runs, Rodriguez is now tied with Harmon Killebrew for ninth on the all-time list.
Roy Oswalt (back) tossed a successful bullpen session Friday.
Oswalt will throw with more intensity Sunday. If he continues to show improvement, he'll be allowed to start Tuesday against the Marlins. "I'll see how I feel Sunday." said the Astros ace. "The biggest thing is bouncing back tomorrow. Then Sunday go full-tilt and see how you feel the next day."
Wandy Rodriguez (hamstring) tossed a bullpen session Friday and declared himself fit for his next scheduled start.
"I'm ready for Sunday, brothers," he said. "Today I threw about 40 or 45 pitches and I feel great. I'm ready for Sunday. I threw 100 percent today." Wandy, 10-6 with a 2.63 ERA, will face the Brewers.
Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said Friday that "it's probably a longshot" Erik Bedard will pitch again this season.
Bedard felt a little discomfort in his shoulder during a bullpen session Tuesday and an MRI revealed "fraying." He may be headed for surgery. "I think so much of it depends on what they find if they decide to go in there (in a surgery)," said the general manager. "If they go in there, who knows the degree of whatever is in there. That will determine how long he'll be out."
Chipper Jones was scratched from the starting lineup Friday after straining his left oblique during batting practice.
If the strain is bad at all, Jones could miss a significant chunk of time. Oblique injuries are rarely cooperative, espcially with 37-year-olds.
Carlos Zambrano was scratched from Friday's start against the Rockies with back stiffness.
Big Z had to leave his last start after just three innings with the same problem. The Cubs could throw him on the disabled list for a couple of days, as the move would be retroactive to August 2.
Red Sox designated RHP John Smoltz for assignment.
Smoltz appeared overmatched Thursday against the Yankees, and his long, impressive career may be over. Smoltz has an 8.32 ERA in 40 innings with Boston. If this is it, he finishes with 212 wins, 154 saves, and a 3.32 ERA in 3,435 innings pitched.
Athletics released 1B/DH Jason Giambi.
Seems like there's more here than meets the eye. Earlier this week, Giambi said he was healthy, while manager Bob Geren cryptically refused to say why Giambi hadn't been activated. Seems like some contender will likely take a flier on him as a pinch-hitter, though he's hitting just .193 this year.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League NYA 2 BOS 0 (Recap and Boxscore) BAL 7 TOR 5 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 6 CHA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 10 MIN 8 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 9 KC 4 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 11 LAA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) SEA 7 TB 6 (Recap and Boxscore) National League FLA 3 PHI 2 (Recap and Boxscore) WAS 7 ARI 6 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 6 MIL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 6 PIT 4 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 6 CHN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) ATL 9 LAN 5 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 6 NYN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 10 SF 5 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.
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 NYA 67 42 .615 0.0 63 4BOS 62 46 .574 4.5 62 0
TB 60 49 .550 7.0 63 -3
TOR 51 57 .472 15.5 58 -7
BAL 46 63 .422 21.0 48 -2
American League Central DET 58 50 .537 0.0 56 2
CHA 56 54 .509 3.0 56 0
MIN 53 56 .486 5.5 54 -1
CLE 47 62 .431 11.5 53 -6
KC 42 67 .385 16.5 42 0
American League West LAA 64 43 .598 0.0 60 4
TEX 61 47 .565 3.5 58 3
SEA 57 52 .523 8.0 49 8
OAK 48 61 .440 17.0 51 -3
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 61 46 .570 0.0 61 0
FLA 56 53 .514 6.0 53 3
ATL 56 54 .509 6.5 58 -2
NYN 51 58 .468 11.0 51 0
WAS 38 72 .345 24.5 45 -7
National League Central STL 60 51 .541 0.0 59 1
CHN 57 50 .533 1.0 57 0
HOU 54 55 .495 5.0 49 5
MIL 54 55 .495 5.0 51 3
CIN 47 61 .435 11.5 45 2
PIT 45 64 .413 14.0 50 -5
National League West LAN 67 43 .609 0.0 67 0
COL 60 49 .550 6.5 60 0
SF 60 49 .550 6.5 59 1
ARI 50 60 .455 17.0 53 -3
SD 46 65 .414 21.5 41 5
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