THT Daily: A new GM in Houston
by Matthew CarruthSeptember 21, 2007
Major League News for September 21
Today’s LinksPlayer News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
THT Links
Wearing it Literally on Your Sleeve - What does the jersey you wear say about you as a fan? This is a Twins-specific list but I'm sure you can generalize from it.
It's Like a Contract Extension for Us - I have a theory that one reason baseball has such an active blogosphere is because front offices constantly do obviously stupid things, causing aware fans to turn to the internet to commiserate in despair. If it's true, we'll be getting a lot more traffic from Houston in the near future.
And with More Money! - Another theory I have about baseball's online presence is that the traditional media outlets, team broadcasters and mainstream writers are so often clearly inept, spewing factually incorrect information all the time, that people turn to bloggers for refreshingly fact-checked information. So thank you Brian Costello, please keep up the good work. (Note: both links contain strong language used to make emphatic points).
Hope in the Midwest - A reminder that even for teams that are way out of the race, there are always things to root for.
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 RotoworldThe Astros have reportedly chosen former Phillies GM Ed Wade as their replacement for Tim Purpura. Free agent middle relievers rejoice! The other finalist for the job was former Wade assistant Ruben Amaro Jr., who still works in the Phillies' front office. That the Astros are seemingly aspiring to duplicate Philadelphia's success should be of some concerns to their fans.
Jeff Kent reached 550 plate appearances Thursday, guaranteeing his $9 million option for 2008. Kent still makes enough plays at second to justify using him there, and he's certainly a far better option than any of the free agent options at the position. The Dodgers are fortunate to have him for one more year at that price. Still, it'd be nice if they had a quality backup so that they could use him at first when James Loney needs to sit against a tough lefty.
The Giants have shut down Tim Lincecum for the rest of the season. Pat Misch will start in his place Friday. It's always seemed likely that this would happen, though the Giants kept indicating that it wasn't in their plans. Now they're announcing it the night before he was due to make his next-to-last start. Including his time in the minors, Lincecum had thrown 177 1/3 innings this season. He was 7-5 with a 4.00 ERA and a 150/65 K/BB ratio in 146 1/3 IP for the Giants.
J.R. Towles went 4-for-4 with a homer, two doubles, an Astros-record eight RBI and a walk Thursday as the Astros crushed the Cardinals 18-1. Yeah, the same guy the Astros were afraid to use against contending teams earlier this month. Towles drove in each of the Astros' five runs through six innings. He added another one on a bases-loaded walk in the six-run eighth and then capped his night with a two-run bomb off Aaron Miles (don't laugh, he was better than any of the Cardinals' actual relievers) in the ninth. Towles, who is getting a very late audition for a starting job next year, should make several more starts before the season ends.
Vernon Wells will have season-ending surgery Tuesday for a cyst and torn labrum in his left shoulder. So, the decision is made right after a series with the Red Sox and right before a series versus the Yankees? According to the Jays, the surgery, which was originally expected to take place after the season, is being moved up to to accommodate Dr. James Andrews' schedule. He could still play this weekend anyway, but he apparently won't. The Jays will likely go with Reed Johnson in center and Adam Lind in left the rest of the way.
Trevor Hoffman notched his ninth career 40-save season with a scoreless ninth Thursday against the Pirates. He's had four in a row since missing most of 2003 following shoulder surgery. Hoffman, of course, holds the record for 40-save seasons. Mariano Rivera, who won't get there this year, is next with six. John Franco, who is fourth all-time in saves, never had one.
Ben Sheets appears to be doubtful to start Sunday after being diagnosed with a slight left hamstring strain. "It's not a signifcant strain," said assistant GM Gord Ash. "But it's a day-to-day proposition as far as Sunday goes. We can't rule out anything at this point. There's no benefit to that." The Brewers figure to turn to either Claudio Vargas or Chris Capuano against the Braves.
Ken Griffey Jr. will miss the rest of the season with a high left groin strain. It looked like a groin when it happened, but then the Reds called it an abdominal strain after the game. Griffey, who was really slumping this month, ends the season at .277/.372/.496 with 30 homers and 93 RBI in 144 games. It was the most games he had played in since 2000, his first year in Cincinnati. Jason Ellison and Buck Coats will play right field for the rest of the season.
Yesterday’s Results
American League KC 3 CHA 0 (Recap and Boxscore) Greinke: 8 IP, 10 K, 0 R LAA 9 SEA 5 (Recap and Boxscore) BAL 6 TEX 3 (Recap and Boxscore) BAL: all runs in last 2 innings National League ATL 3 MIL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) MIL 1.5 games back; lose to Bennett in first ML start FLA 8 NYN 7 (Recap and Boxscore) 10 innings; see below PHI 7 WAS 6 (Recap and Boxscore) PHI comes back from 6-2, 1.5 games back HOU 18 STL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU rookie Towles: 2 2B, HR, 8 RBI COL 9 LAN 4 (Recap and Boxscore) Tulowitzki: 2B, HR SD 6 PIT 3 (Recap and Boxscore) Pads within half game of first CIN 4 SF 2 (Recap and Boxscore)You can download a compact version of yesterday's boxscores from Heater Magazine.
| First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports: |
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 PM (L) Paul Maholm (10-16) vs. (R) Jason Marquis (12-8) Milwaukee Brewers at Atlanta Braves, 7:05 PM (R) Carlos Villanueva (8-4) vs. (R) Tim Hudson (16-8) New York Mets at Florida Marlins, 7:05 PM (R) Pedro Martinez (2-0) vs. (L) Scott Olsen (9-14) Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals, 7:05 PM (R) Adam Eaton (9-9) vs. (R) Shawn Hill (4-4) Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (R) Brandon Backe (1-1) vs. (R) Joel Pineiro (5-3) Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Esteban Loaiza (1-2) vs. (R) Livan Hernandez (10-10) Colorado Rockies at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (L) Franklin Morales (2-2) vs. (R) Jake Peavy (18-6) Cincinnati Reds at San Francisco Giants, 10:15 PM (R) Matt Belisle (8-9) vs. (L) Patrick Misch (0-3) American League --------------- Oakland Athletics at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Joe Blanton (14-9) vs. (R) Fausto Carmona (17-8) Toronto Blue Jays at New York Yankees, 7:05 PM (R) Roy Halladay (15-7) vs. (R) Chien-Ming Wang (18-7) Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 PM (R) Billy Buckner (1-1) vs. (R) Jair Jurrjens (3-1) Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10 PM (R) Josh Beckett (19-6) vs. (L) Scott Kazmir (13-8) Baltimore Orioles at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (R) Victor Santos (0-1) vs. (R) Luis Mendoza (0-0) Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins, 8:10 PM (L) Mark Buehrle (9-9) vs. (L) Johan Santana (15-12) Seattle Mariners at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 PM (L) Jarrod Washburn (9-15) vs. (L) Joe Saunders (8-3)
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 90 63 .588 0.0 95 -5NYA 88 64 .579 1.5 92 -4
TOR 77 75 .507 12.5 81 -4
BAL 65 87 .428 24.5 66 -1
TB 63 90 .412 27.0 63 0
American League Central CLE 90 62 .592 0.0 86 4
DET 83 70 .542 7.5 83 0
MIN 75 77 .493 15.0 77 -2
KC 66 86 .434 24.0 70 -4
CHA 66 87 .431 24.5 62 4
American League West LAA 91 62 .595 0.0 87 4
SEA 81 71 .533 9.5 74 7
OAK 74 80 .481 17.5 76 -2
TEX 70 83 .458 21.0 73 -3
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 84 68 .553 0.0 82 2
PHI 83 70 .542 1.5 82 1
ATL 80 73 .523 4.5 84 -4
WAS 68 85 .444 16.5 65 3
FLA 66 87 .431 18.5 68 -2
National League Central CHN 80 73 .523 0.0 81 -1
MIL 78 74 .513 1.5 77 1
STL 71 81 .467 8.5 66 5
CIN 70 83 .458 10.0 71 -1
HOU 67 86 .438 13.0 67 0
PIT 66 87 .431 14.0 67 -1
National League West ARI 86 67 .562 0.0 74 12
SD 85 67 .559 0.5 85 0
COL 81 72 .529 5.0 84 -3
LAN 79 74 .516 7.0 79 0
SF 67 86 .438 19.0 73 -6
Wildcard Standings American League NYA 88 64 .579 0.0 DET 83 70 .542 5.5 SEA 81 71 .533 7.0 TOR 77 75 .507 11.0 MIN 75 77 .493 13.0 National League SD 85 67 .559 0.0 PHI 83 70 .542 2.5 COL 81 72 .529 4.5 ATL 80 73 .523 5.5 LAN 79 74 .516 6.5
Game of the Day
In one of the wildest games of the year, the Marlins came back to beat the Mets, 8-7 in ten innings, cutting the Mets' division lead to 1.5 games. The Mets seemed to put the game away in the top of the ninth when Marlon Anderson hit a three-run triple to put them up 7-4. But the Marlins scored three in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, then scored another on a Dan Uggla double in the tenth to put the game away.Misplays continued to haunt the Mets as David Wright's throwing error was a key play in the Marlin comeback. Lastings Milledge was ejected for arguing balls and strikes and Billy Wagner was unavailable due to a sore back.
NY METS (7) VS FLORIDA (8) - FINAL IN 10 INNINGS
NY METS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Reyes ss 5 1 1 0 0 3 3 .288
L Milledge rf 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 .273
G Mota p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
A Heilman p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-M Anderson ph 1 1 1 3 0 0 0 .297
R Castro c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .282
D Wright 3b 4 0 3 1 0 0 1 .318
C Beltran cf 5 1 1 1 0 2 4 .277
M Alou lf 4 0 1 2 1 0 2 .343
P Feliciano p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Sosa p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200
J Conine 1b 4 0 1 0 1 3 4 .257
P Lo Duca c 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .270
C Gomez pr-rf 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 .241
R Gotay 2b 5 1 0 0 0 3 2 .295
T Glavine p 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .214
J Smith p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S Schoeneweis p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-S Green ph-rf 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 .288
E Chavez lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .274
Totals 39 7 9 7 3 11 19
a-grounded to shortstop for S Schoeneweis in the 7th; b-doubled to deep right
center for A Heilman in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - M Alou (17, D Willis); J Reyes (34, D Willis); D Wright 2 (40, D
Willis 2); P Lo Duca (17, K Gregg); M Anderson (7, K Gregg). S - L Milledge.
RBI - M Alou 2 (40), D Wright (103), M Anderson 3 (27), C Beltran (103). 2-out
RBI - M Alou 2, C Beltran. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Conine
2, C Beltran 1. Team LOB - 8.
FIELDING: DP: 1 (R Gotay-J Reyes-J Conine).
FLORIDA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
H Ramirez ss 6 1 3 1 0 0 2 .333
D Uggla 2b 6 1 4 1 0 1 2 .246
J Hermida rf 5 2 3 0 0 0 2 .287
M Cabrera 3b 4 2 2 3 1 0 1 .322
J Willingham lf 4 0 2 0 0 2 3 .266
A Amezaga pr-cf 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 .266
M Jacobs 1b 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 .276
R Abercrombie pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .205
T Tankersley p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
C Ross cf-lf 5 0 2 0 0 0 2 .340
M Treanor c 5 0 0 1 0 1 1 .279
D Willis p 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 .271
a-A De Aza ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .216
L Gardner p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Miller p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-T Linden ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .231
K Gregg p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
M Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
c-J Wood ph-1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .245
Totals 46 8 21 8 1 4 16
a-flied out to left for D Willis in the 6th; b-doubled to deep center for J
Miller in the 8th; c-fouled out to first for M Lindstrom in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - D Uggla 2 (46, T Glavine, J Sosa); D Willis (2, T Glavine); H
Ramirez (44, T Glavine); T Linden (5, A Heilman); M Cabrera (35, J Sosa). 3B -
M Jacobs (2, T Glavine). HR - M Cabrera (33, 5th inning off T Glavine 2 on, 1
Out). RBI - H Ramirez (75), M Cabrera 3 (109), A Amezaga (30), M Jacobs (52), M
Treanor (17), D Uggla (84). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Wood 1,
M Cabrera 1, C Ross 2, J Willingham 2, D Uggla 1, J Hermida 1. GIDP - M Jacobs.
Team LOB - 12.
BASERUNNING: SB - A Amezaga (13, 2nd base off G Mota/P Lo Duca). CS - H
Ramirez (14, 3rd base by T Glavine/P Lo Duca).
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NY METS - 201 000 004 0 -- 7
FLORIDA - 000 040 003 1 -- 8
No outs when winning run scored.
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NY METS ip h r er bb so hr era
T Glavine 5 11 4 4 1 3 1 3.97
J Smith 2/3 2 0 0 0 1 0 3.24
S Schoeneweis 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.27
G Mota 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 5.91
A Heilman 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.08
P Feliciano (H, 21) 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 3.02
J Sosa (L, 9-8; B, 2) 1 5 3 3 0 0 0 4.61
FLORIDA ip h r er bb so hr era
D Willis 6 5 3 3 1 6 0 5.32
L Gardner (H, 6) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.10
J Miller (H, 15) 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 3.26
K Gregg (B, 4) 2/3 3 4 4 1 1 0 3.67
M Lindstrom 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.34
T Tankersley (W, 6-1) 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 4.14
P Feliciano pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.
J Sosa pitched to 2 batters in the 10th.
IBB - M Alou (by D Willis). HBP - L Milledge (by D Willis); D Wright (by D
Willis). Pitches-strikes: T Glavine 107-64; J Smith 12-7; S Schoeneweis 3-2; G
Mota 13-7; A Heilman 12-9; P Feliciano 4-2; J Sosa 29-21; D Willis 108-64; L
Gardner 13-9; J Miller 11-9; K Gregg 31-17; M Lindstrom 3-1; T Tankersley
17-10. Ground balls-fly balls: T Glavine 5-6; J Smith 0-1; S Schoeneweis 1-0; G
Mota 1-2; A Heilman 1-2; P Feliciano 0-0; J Sosa 2-1; D Willis 6-6; L Gardner
1-1; J Miller 0-1; K Gregg 2-0; M Lindstrom 1-0; T Tankersley 2-0. Batters
faced: T Glavine 25; J Smith 4; S Schoeneweis 1; G Mota 4; A Heilman 4; P
Feliciano 1; J Sosa 8; D Willis 26; L Gardner 3; J Miller 4; K Gregg 7; M
Lindstrom 1; T Tankersley 4.
UMPIRES: HP--Jim Joyce. 1B--Adam Dowdy. 2B--Jim Wolf. 3B--Tim Tschida.
EJECTIONS: NY METS' Milledge by Joyce (7th).
T--3:52. Att--15,132.
Weather: 87 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 13 mph, right to left.The 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.
Access THT’s stats here…
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Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.